Page 17 of Whispers of the Dryad

“It was,” I said and laughed.“You don’t have a lot to do with humans, do you?”

Artemis shook her head.“No, not in centuries.It seemed safer to stay away from them, and when Ash got hurt as badly as he did, it just solidified my decision to keep my distance.All my friends are here or on Mount Olympus, and since the times have changed and humans don’t really turn to us for help and guidance anymore, it doesn’t matter.”

“What did you come here to find out?”I asked.“If I’ll hurt Ash?”

Artemis nodded.“I wanted to know if what you feel for him is real enough that you’ll sacrifice anything, whatever it takes, to be with him.”

“I don’t know,” I admitted.Artemis frowned.It wasn’t the answer she was looking for.“I wasn’t brought here by consent, and I’m not staying here by choice, either.I was kidnapped, and I escaped, and then I became bound to Ash, which means I have no choice until All Hallows’ Eve.”

“The bond,” Artemis breathed.Did she know what it meant?Maybe she knew better than I did.“The thing is,” I said, “I know what I feel for him, but I won’t know what I want until I have the chance to decide for myself.”

“That doesn’t sound right,” Artemis said.“Isn’t free will something you’re accustomed to?”I asked.Artemis frowned.“Of course it is.”

“Well, then you’ll know that unless you get to choose for yourself, you fight whatever is forcing you to do something.”

“Hmm,” she said.She seemed to say that a lot.

“Ash is a great guy,” I said.“But I have a life.I have a sister to look after, to get back to.On the other hand, I have hell on my heels, and I don’t want to involve Ash in that forever, even though I’m scared of what may happen if I don’t have him to protect me anymore.My life isn’t the best kind of life to offer, and if Ash has a life filled with magic and beauty and no pain or death, then it wouldn’t be right to ask him to leave all of that behind, any more than it’s fair of him to ask me never to see my sister again.I’m not the only one who will have to make sacrifices.”

“You’re right about that,” Artemis said.“I guess all I’m trying to say is that I care enough about him that I don’t want to be the reason he’s unhappy.Even if that means that he should lose me rather than have me in his life.”

Artemis finished her coffee and stood, as if the meeting was suddenly over.“You’ve told me everything I needed to know.”

“Really?”I asked.“I didn’t say anything at all.”

Philippa stood, too, but Artemis shook her head.“You can stay.I have something to think about.”She walked to the door without saying goodbye, and a moment later, she disappeared.“That was weird,” I said.“Yeah.”Philippa looked as confused as I felt.“She’s not usually like this.I don’t know what’s gotten into her.I’m sorry I jumped her on you like that, but she was insistent to meet you.”

“Well, I guess it was nice to meet her.Sort of.I have no idea what all of that was, aside from her trying to figure out if I was good for Ash.Do you think she thought I am?”I felt like I’d had to please Ash’s parents or something, and I was suddenly nervous about the outcome.“I have no idea what she thought,” Philippa admitted.“I’m not sure of anything right now.”She giggled.“But I do know I want to go for a swim in the stream.Join me?”

I smiled and nodded.“I think cooling off in the stream after all this is a great idea.”

We left the cottage and walked to the water.I couldn’t help but wonder what all that had been about and why I still hadn’t seen Ash.Was it something I needed to worry about?I hoped not.I just wanted to see him again.

ChapterSixteen

Ash

“What am I supposed to do?”I asked Rowan.We sat next to each other on the shore of the lake, watching the dryads play.“I don’t know,” Rowan said.“It sounds to me like you’re stuck.”

“Thanks for that, jackass,” I said, shaking my head.“I could have told you that.”

Rowan laughed, not caring that I just called him a jackass.“Why don’t you just let her stay here, and then all your problems are solved?”

I frowned at my friend.I’d just described my dilemma about either letting Lorraine go forever or losing my mortality.“That can’t happen,” I said.“Humans can’t live here.The only reason the magic isn’t tearing her up right now is because she’s bound to me, so my magic protects her.Or something like that.I’m not sure exactly how it works.Humans don’t usually come here to stay.You don’t see a hell of a lot of them hanging around, do you?”

“No,” Rowan said with a shrug and leaned back on one elbow.“But there have been humans who stayed and became immortal.”

I narrowed my eyes.“What are you talking about?Who?How did I not know this?”

“Don’t you ever pick up a book?”Rowan asked.“It’s all in the archives at the Great Library.”

I shook my head.I’d heard of that place, but that didn’t mean that I ever went there.Reading wasn’t my thing.“Haven’t you ever visited it?”Rowan asked, surprised.

“The place is filled with every story of everything that ever happened since the universe came into existence.It’s how we learn and grow—we look back at what already happened.”

“I don’t read,” I said.Rowan snorted.“Yeah, it shows.”

I bristled, but my curiosity got the better of me.“Are you serious?There’s really a human who ended up living here?”

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