Page 37 of Whisper Woods

“If the Gods will it.” Fully dressed, he rushes to me, cupping my jaw in his hands, pulling my face to his. His one good eye flicks between mine. “Sweet kushinavya, take care of yourself.”

One last kiss is all I get, and he’s stepping back, taking a part of me with him I don’t know if I will ever recover from.

“Bye.” My wave is small, and he only nods, a tight smile on his face as he steps into the darkness.

Honestly, I’m almost glad to see him go, if he is truly leaving. Because I don’t know how much longer I could have kept myself from actually kidnapping him and running off into the Woods.

When his smokey, sweet scent finally disappears from the edges of my awareness, Wolf lets out a painful howl.I know, buddy. I know. I reassure him, walking back to the rocks by the creek where I started the night, the tears trailing freely down my face while I watch the sunrise over the trees.

Soon. Soon, I’ll go back.

But not now.

Not yet.

Rafe

The room seems togrow smaller and smaller as I wait for Seff to return. With each long minute that ticks by, the irritation grows, made worse by my scattered brain. I cannot seem to catch a single thought, my brain rendered useless by the horrible, unfamiliar anxious feeling making me nauseous. I throw myself uselessly onto the bed, before hauling myself up to once again pace around the room. I poke at the curtains to look at the gardens and the Woods beyond them. I poke at my belongings in my bag but can’t seem to figure out what to do with them.

After the Gods know how long, I feel it.

Seff is gone. I have no idea how I know, but Iknow.

He has left the Godsdamned building.

From the window I watch his white truck drive away from the tavern on the path back to Twin Heads. The anxiety twists into something else, anger, disappointment, confusion boiling over while I watch the taillights disappear.

“Heleft.” I growl the incredulous words to the empty room. The empty room that still smells like him and me. Us together. The sheets of the bed are still twisted together from where we had lain. The towels are still damp on the floor in the bathroom from where I’d taken care of him last night.

And now he’sgone. Without so much as a word.

Impotent rage makes me want to tear the place apart. My teeth clamp together, grinding painfully to hold myself back. We have left each other before, butneverlike this. Like it waseasy.

There is another tearing sound as I wrench the curtains back across the window, the sunshine a sudden affront to my horrendous mood. Turning onmy heel I stalk away from the window. But there is nowhere to go.

Blinded by my temper, my foot connects with the chair, and I don’t hold back the snarl as my toes catch. The pain isn’t severe, I’ve certainly had worse injuries, but it feels good to give into the dramatics, snarling and cursing while I massage my foot.

It allows the fire of my anger to smoulder into something more controllable. Something that allows me to acknowledge the bruise to my pride. Even if I don’t like it.

My bag catches my attention again while I breathe my way back to sanity. The aged burgundy dragon-hide is well loved and well used. I received it as a gift from my parents before my first journey as a Tavisher. Swallowing down the last of the vile feelings inside, I haul the bag on to the bed.

My job. I am here to do my job and my job is what I am going to do.

I only just manage to unpack my portable phone charger and plug in my phone when there is a knock on the door. Between my emotionally heightened state and the thick wards padding the door, I failed to sense the approaching being.

Letting my instincts wander, I am not at all surprised to feel Tarook’s energy on the other side. He’s inspecting the door frame as I open it, tapping at the wood muttering to himself.

“Interesting wards you’ve got for yourself here.” He says in way of a greeting. His eyes bore into me for a moment, his eyebrow questioning as I prop my shoulder on the doorway, folding my arms over my chest and crossing my ankles.

“Yes, yes they are.” I smirk—he did teach me at least a half of them. As a dragonkin, magic isn’t something that is natural to me. It’s learned, drawing upon the skills we are taught as children in Tathys, where magic is an integral part of our daily life. But in my travels I’ve learned a trick or two, and so my magic has a rather unique quality to it. A fusion of all the flavours I’ve picked up along the way, if you will.

A gentle breeze blows through the hallway, ruffling the layers of the mages' robes dramatically. I know for a fact that he is doing it himself. Not just because the window at the end of the hall doesn’t open, but because he always has beenfar too much of a showman.

Tarook huffs, rolling his eyes, his robes flopping back into place. “Are you truly going to make me have this conversation in the hallway Rafe?”

Snickering fondly, I unfold myself, gesturing for him to enter.

“Thank you.” He huffs in his melodic voice. “I wasn’t sure what reception I was going to receive when you failed to acknowledge us at breakfast this morning.”

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