Page 47 of The Tree of Spirits
“Not all of them were terrible. The solution to our problem came to me in a dream. I escaped the draft and then we ran through the Spirit Tree, hand in hand, off to build a new life together.” Xael gave her such a genuinely affectionate look, even I couldn’t help but root for their love story.
Though the overabundance of sappy looks and coy smiles bouncing between the two of them also made me a little nauseous.
“Go.” I sighed, waving them away. “I won’t try to stop you.”
Relief flashed in Xael’s eyes. “Thank you.”
Then he and Miatrix sprinted for the tree. The trunk opened for them, and they disappeared inside, catapulted to somewhere in the Many Realms.
“Wow,” Ansel said when they were gone. “I can’t believe you let him go.”
“I can.” Rane grinned at me. “Savannah is such a romantic.”
“I didn’t have the heart to stop him,” I said. “Yeah, he made some majorly bad choices?—”
“Nearly blowing up his family,” Rane inserted.
“—but he’s kind of a victim of this whole broken system you explained to me, Rane. And he is trying to break free of that system. He even fell in love with an Elf!”
“Oh, come on, Savannah. Admit it. You’re just a hopeless romantic at heart.” She winked at me.
“If that means I want people to start accepting other people for who they are, then, yes, call me a romantic.”
“No, that just makes you an awesome person.” She linked her arm with mine. “But I’m ready and willing to help you with the whole romance part.”
“You and everyone else in town,” I sighed. “But if you want to help me, there’s something you can do.”
“Anything.”
“Talk to Raytan and Isidora. Tell them whatreallyhappened. Before this whole thing blows up even more.”
She dropped her arms to her sides. “Yeah, I guess it’s fair that I do that since I’m the one who dragged you into this whole mess to begin with.” She pulled out her buzzing phone and read the message. “Huh. That’s interesting.” She glanced up from her screen. “My dad just wrote that an appointment opened up with Intelli-move. They can remove our tree tomorrow afternoon!”
“That’s great,” I told her.
“Yeah.” She tucked her phone into the pocket of her shorts. “Well, I guess I’ll start with Isidora. Do you think she’ll still agree to move our tree after I break the news to her that her niece ran away with a Metamorph?”
“If it helps, blame the whole thing on me,” I said. “It’s what everyone does.”
Rane giggled. “Na, I think I can handle her. Thanks for all your help today, Savannah. It’s certainly been interesting.” She gave me a little wave, then skipped off down the street.
“She’s right,” Ansel told me. “It has been interesting. Now, might I suggest we hurry back to the conference center before our mentors send out the Watchers to look for us?”
“Good idea,” I agreed.
“Ok, but let me go first. Then give me a few minutes before you follow. We wouldn’t want everyone to suspect thatIam your secret boyfriend.” He gave me a final parting wink before he left.
EPISODE 3
THE HEIST
CHAPTER 1
A SAMPLE SPELL
The humid days had surrendered to a dry, scorching heat. The sky was orange and the air tasted like hot ash. Somewhere nearby, the forests were burning.
I really hoped that wasn’t a bad omen.
