Page 68 of The Witch's Spell
Allday, she’s acted distant. It’s driving me mad. Was it something I did? Something Ididn’tdo? I’ve never made a woman cry after sex, so I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around what could have Aurora so upset.
If all the others weren’t here, I’d ask her. But no luck with that. The snow is coming down even harder now. No one’s going anywhere. So I’ll have to wait and wonder and try not to go crazy in the meantime.
“When are we doing this, then?” Rowan leans back into the couch cushions, hands interlaced behind his head.
“Tomorrow.” Aurora’s tone is resolute, but her eyes look unsure. “That is, if Thorne is okay with it.”
Everyone looks at me right as I sink my teeth into one of the warm sugar cookies Aurora baked. Faolan smirks. I ignore him. I’m getting better at it already.
“Of course,” I say, then wipe my lips with my thumb. “Whenever you want. It’s up to you.”
“Then tomorrow. The sooner the better. I’m sure everyone wants to get back to their lives. Right?” She tips her head, regarding me with a look I can’t even begin to understand.
Cautiously, I say, “Right.”
She gives me a smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.
THE NEXT DAY, ALL FIVE of us bundle up and trudge out to the fairy meadow, Harrison riding along on Alden’s shoulders. Nervousness coils in my stomach as my boots crunch through the frozen snow. I might be wrongabout all of this. Yesterday at the apothecary shop, I felt sosure, sure enough that I had no hesitation in sharing my ideas with Aurora. But today, under a blanket of gray clouds, with the air biting my skin and the wind whispering through the bare aspens, I’m not so sure.
Thankfully, Aurora’s pain remedy kept me comfortable through the night and into the morning, and I’ve not yet needed to take another, despite all the walking I’ve done these past few days. I’m slower than the others, walking at the back of the group, but Alden adjusts his pace so he can fall in alongside me.
“Is everything all right between you and Aurora?” he asks quietly, keeping his voice low. Faolan is up at the front of the line with Aurora, one arm over her shoulders, and he’s the only one who might be able to hear from this distance. But I’m grateful nonetheless.
“I...” I think about lying, keeping everything to myself. But Alden already saw me kissing Aurora in the library—or I think he did, at least. I turned away so quickly in an effort to cast my glamour over myself that I’m not sure how much he even saw. But he knows—that much is clear. “I don’t know. Yesterday, at the apothecary, we...”
Alden looks down at me, brows rising. A smile tries to pull at his lips, but he holds it back. “Yeah. And?”
“And she’s barely spoken to me since.” I let out a sigh and cast my gaze upward, to the thick branches and boughs stretching over our heads. “I don’t know what I did wrong.”
“Hmm.” Alden scratches his beard, then lets out a sigh, his breath steaming around his lips. “Don’t think I can be of much help, except to say that Aurora is sensitive. She’ssoft. Gentle. If she’s acting different, she’s probably worried about something. But it’s not my place to say.” His dark eyes widen as if he just realized something. He shifts his gaze to Harrison, who’s still riding along on his shoulders. “And it’s not yours either, Harrison. Let them work it out on their own.”
My gaze flicks to the cat. He’s staring at me intensely, green eyes vibrant even in the gray light. After a moment, he sighs and looks away, readjusting on Alden’s shoulders. Hopefully that means he’ll keep this conversation to himself.
A short time later, we push through the snow and close-knit oak trees and emerge in the fairy meadow. Alden and Faolan look around with wide eyes, as if this is their first time seeing it. But Rowan doesn’t look surprised. He just removes the pack from his back, into which Aurora loaded even more crystals before we left, and then puts his hands on his hips. His red hair is the most vibrant thing out here.
Along the trees, fairy creatures emerge. But the others don’t react to their presence. Harrison is the only other one who seems able to see them. He pads around on Alden’s broad shoulders and flicks his fluffy white ears forward curiously.
I hope we can send them all home today. They must be missing their families.
Faolan removes his wide arm from Aurora’s shoulders. “So, this is the place?”
Aurora gives him a small nod. Her gaze flicks to me before flitting quickly away. “This is the place. Rowan?”
Rowan is walking around the meadow, his boots leaving deep imprints in the fresh snow. But at the sound of his name, he pauses and turns to face her. “Hmm?”
“Could you help me set out the crystals? One in each direction.” She points—north, south, east, and west—and Rowan abides immediately, fetching the bag he dropped and fishing big hunks of crystal quartz out of its depths.
I stare at Aurora. I wish I understood what’s going through her head right now. She won’t even hold my gaze for longer than a second or two.
A heavy hand falls on my shoulder, and I look up to find Alden smiling at me. He squeezes. “Talk to her,” he says quietly, low enough the others don’t hear as they move through the meadow, talking amongst themselves. “It’ll work itself out.”
I give him a subtle nod. “Thank you.”
With a humph, he moves away from me, off to trail after Rowan as he finds good places to set up the crystals.
After taking a steadying breath, I move to the center of the clearing, aware of the many pairs of fairy eyes watching me from the trees. My heart is beating rapidly beneath my thick tunic. I don’t want to fail them. They’re all depending on me—on meandAurora. And I know how badly she wants this to work.
Last time we were here, when our plan failed, she looked devastated. And I realized then that I never wanted to see such a pained look on her face again. Whatever I can do to prevent that, I’ll do it.
