Page 18 of Beast and Remedy
My magic tugs, making me even more squeamish. I dry heave, shuddering as if I failed the snake. A touch pulls me back, and I glare at my sister.
She grimaces. “Sorry.”
“You’resorry?” I choke, swishing her hand away. “You almost killed me!”
“Thatviperalmost killed you!” she snaps. “I was lucky I saw its scales and tail sticking out when I circled around you.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose, taking a long breath. Exhaling, I calm the panic and ache in my heart from harming an animal.
Sweet Makers, what am I becoming?
This is exactly why I wished to live out my days inside. Nothing to care about beyond the realm of my study and my books.
“This forest is going to kill me,” I mutter.
“This forest is going to heal you,”a gentle voice sings, and I jump, clutching my chest.
Marian scoots back, surveying the woods. “What? What is it?” She grabs another arrow. “Do you smell something? Hear something?”
I dart my gaze throughout our surroundings, stopping at a familiar faint orange shimmer. It twinkles, becoming more like a floating ember as I squint. “Wha—”
“What? Where?” Marian aims her bow in my line of sight, the glow vanishing with a flourish.
I blink, trying to make sense of what I saw—what I heard. But I am met with the beat of my heart and birds chirping.
“It’s nothing,” I sigh and stand.
Marian lowers her weapon as I dust off my trousers. “What was it you were getting from the bush, anyway?”
“Witch hazel.”
She quirks her lip. “Better double-check the shrubbery before you get attacked.”
“Better warn me if you see something before aiming an arrow at my heart,” I retort.
“I wasn’t aiming for you. I was aiming for the snake. And besides, you know I’m a good shot.”
I incline my head, relief swimming through me at her proficiency with a bow and arrow.
Much like another hunter I know.
Patting her shoulder as we walk, I am grateful for her presence and protection, even when I least expect it. “That, you are.”
“It wouldn’t hurt if you said, ‘Oh, Marian! Thank the Makers! You saved me!’” She clasps her weapon to her chest and flutters her eyelashes. “You are the best sister in the world!”
I roll my eyes.
She cackles. “Come on. You know you’d be lost without me.”
Her laughter echoing in the forest and the breeze cooling me from my close call help unwind the strain in my heart.
I run my hands through the trees, the dry leaves brushing against my soft skin. “That, I would be, Marian. That, I would.”
She beams. “Good. Now, shall we keep looking?”
I sigh, drained from the instability of these last few days. As much as I want to keep looking, it feels hopeless in my human form. Deep in thought, I try to come to peace with the wolf’s absence and my need for a sense of normalcy.
I take in the woods once more, the day barely even begun. “Let’s just gather more ingredients.”
