Page 43 of Iris
Dorian isn't in much better shape. He ends up with his back against mine, not caring about getting his clothes dirty, and his laughter rings out.
That's where Kieron and Noah find us several minutes later. I can't laugh anymore, it actually hurt, but I needed that. Dorian is still laughing softly as we lean against each other’s backs. Igor is humming in satisfaction.
"What'd we miss?" Kieron raises his right brow while Noah takes a picture of us with his phone. I stick my tongue out at him. it's later than I thought if they are back.
"Igor wins for today guys. No one can beat her." I send a big smile over to her. She preens under the attention.
"That wasn't even my best work." She flicks one of her leaves.
Kieron tips an imaginary hat toward her as he holds out his hands to both Dorian and I so we can get up.
Just as I stand with his help, a sharp tug in my mind from the security spell that’s always active in the building has me whipping my head around in the direction where my trees are, including the center piece. “Igor.”
“On it.” Igor disappears.
“Iris?” Kieron squeezes my hand.
“Somethings wrong with the trees.” I rush toward the trees. Since it's half a mile in, it would usually take me about fifteen minutes walking, ten if I run, but Kieron, Noah, and Dorian seem to understand this is important because I find myself swung up over Kieron’s shoulder with my head hanging upside down. “Uh, not that I don’t mind the ambience, you don’t know where you’re going.”
“We’re faster,” Kieron starts running, “so tell us where we’re going?”
I want to say I feel rowdy about being told I'm not as fast as them, but I’m not. I'm slow, and, honestly, all of these guys have such nice asses that I enjoy the view, even in the urgency of the situation.
“You’ll see Igor on your left. You won’t miss her.”
it's only a minute later that all three of the men skid to a stop. Kieron sets me slowly on my feet. I finally have the chance to see their faces and burst out laughing. They’ve seen Igor. She grows occasionally if there’s an emergency.
“Uh, why has Igor gone all Little Store of Terrors?” Noah sounds horrified.
Igor is now a good nine feet tall. She is no longer in her pot. Her roots have grown and spread out along the ground. She doesn’t look a thing like the plant from the movie, but pretty much everyone who has ever seen her this way references it. Too bad for them, Igor despises being compared to the evil plant.
“Seriously?” She snaps down at Noah. He flies backward quickly. “I am beautiful. Elegant! Nothing compared to that cheap knock off.”
“I think that cheap knock off might be older than you, Igor. Just saying.” Dorian steps back until he is about fifteen feet away.
“Vampires taste like chicken flies. So be wary of what you say next!” Igor’s roots shudder on the ground in agitation.
“Enough, please.” Walking up to her, I find that she is next to the little red banana tree that I’ve selected for the centerpiece. Its leaves have started to droop. “How is it?” I kneel on the ground as I run my hands around the soil of the tree. The colors have begun to fade to brown in front of our eyes.
“All the tree's roots have somehow been messed with. The roots have been aged and feel like they’ve been in a draught for years. They were fine about ten minutes ago. This one,” one of her roots runs over the leaves of the center tree, “is the hardest hit. I feel magic, but none that I recognize.”
Kieron comes to squat next to me. He runs his hand down the small trunk of the tree. “Sabotage?”
“Blimey! I think he’s got it!” The sarcasm drips from Igor’s tone.
“Igor, please.” As I push my magic out to the tree, it feels slimy. It reminds me of cleaning a rusted post with the black grainy rust. “It’s a curse.” My trees are going to slowly dry up until they are dead.
"Can you find any trace of where the magic came from?” Kieron is speaking very softly. He probably senses I'm right on the edge of violence.
I push my magic out to the trees that are affected. it's a soothing balm against the curse on them. it's only a Band-Aid until we reverse the curse. I will need to find the person who placed it before I can reverse it.
Rage fills my chest. I can feel the pain of the trees and it's gut wrenching. They don’t deserve this. They are just as alive as anything else. Not to mention, what reason would someone have to try to sabotage the center piece for the dance?
“Igor, what about the other flowers that we were working on for the dance? Anything there?” I could check but it would take time to go from section to section to be thorough when Igor could do it instantly in this form.
Counting down from ten slowly, I hold my rage in check. If I let it out right now, the plants will react and most likely I would end up destroying the greenhouse. That’s the last thing I want to do. These are my babies, along with my livelihood. I’ll take my rage out on the one who did this.
Igor sways as she spreads out her roots and senses outward. it's a larger version of what she did at City Hall when we found the spot where we are going to place the red banana tree. Under a minute later, she begins to shrink back to her normal size. One of her roots wrapping around her pot as she settles herself back into it.
