Page 147 of The Last One
“That would’ve been the biggest lie I’ve ever told.” He pauses, then mutters, “Though that’s not true, either. Shit. Look. I’m reluctant to…go thereeven though Iamthere. I know we’ll have to separate soon—I promised Olivia that I’d take her to Pethorp—and so I thought, ‘What’s the point?’ I’ll end up hurting you anyway, so I decided to hurt you now, and this sounds awful now that I’m saying it aloud, but I’d rather hurt you and get it out of the way before we…before we…”
He holds his breath, and I can hear his thoughts as he counts to ten like he does anytime someone sneezes or coughs. At eleven, he sets his hands on his hips and drops his head. “Guess I’ve succeeded.”
My heart wobbles, but my knees, my core, remain rigid. “Do you think I’ll say, ‘Great. I forgive you’ because you apologized? You think I’ll trust anything you say or claim you feel? I’m not one of your farm girls back in Maford. I don’t believe you fell from the heavens or rode down in a golden chariot to light the world by simply existing. Do you think I believe that?”
“I don’t.”
“What’s all this, then?” I ask, taking my turn to dramatically extend my arms. “We’re in the middle of nowhere and we’re talking aboutwhatright now?”
Jadon shakes his head.
The worst part is, I want to forgive him, but he doesn’t deserve it. Not yet. “We should keep moving.” I back away and start walking to catch up with Veril and Philia, who are a good distance ahead.
I look back over my shoulder.
Jadon hasn’t moved. His hands are still on his hips. His head still hangs low.
Just as I face forward, a growl pushes through the trees. A growl so hard and dry that it leaches any life remaining in the dirt path we’re on.
“What was that?” Philia asks, her voice trembling.
“Don’t know.” I slowly turn to look left.
The glow of the creature in the brush confuses me. Gold. Blue. Horizontal. Vertical.
“Leave my woods,” a jagged voice rumbles.
“Did you hear that?” I whisper.
“The growls?” Philia whispers back. “Yeah.”
“But you didn’t hear a man speak?” I ask.
Both Veril and Philia say, “No.”
I steady my shoulders, then shout, “We mean no disrespect. We’re anxious to leave—”
The creature growls again, closer now. “I will rip your heads from your bodies and drink the blood from your necks.”
Philia draws in a breath, but she’s present enough to grip the mace.
“Draw your weapon if you dare, child,” the creature threatens.
“Philia,” I whisper, “just relax.” Who am I talking to?Whatam I talking to? How much danger are we in? “Please leave us alone. I want no trouble. Just let us continue on our way.”
The last time I reacted against a threat, sight unseen, I’d nearly killed Tazara, the king of the night-dwelling creatures. I don’t want to make the same mistake this time, killing whoever’s growling at me, another last of his kind.
See, Sybel? I’ve learned my lesson. I’mnotchoosing violence.
That curious glow is moving closer to us…closer…until a beast emerges from the shadows. He has the short, woolly fur of a bear but eyes that gleam with the intelligence and evil of man. Those massive paws—that’s bear. The upright carriage—that’s man. “I will not warn you again,” he growls. “You are trespassing in my woods, and for that, you will die.”
Fear flickers through me, but then I remember what Sybel told me.
This realm, this land, every forest and glen, the mountains and desert, every piece and parcel is yours—and you must heal it and you must protect it.
Yes, I must heal it and protect it—and I will.
Because I am the Lady of the Verdant Realm, and these woods aremine.
