Page 83 of Sugar & Sorcery
“Help?” suggested a third.
I tilted my head, feigning thoughtfulness. “Tempting. But no. Chaos suits them.”
Indeed, their massive Cursed companion finally intervened, plucking Chouquette up as though she were nothing more than a noisy leaf.
“Very well,” I sighed, returning my attention to the Spirits still latched onto me. “If you stay, don’t get in my way.”
I turned toward the lake. Toward the ritual I performed every year, without exception. I raised my hand and murmured the incantation. The lanterns quivered. Then, a moment later, themagic took hold. A burst of gold shimmered through the air, and the fireflies erupted into a luminous swarm, whirling above the lake like scattered stars. They danced around Yeun, brushing the water with trails of gold and lavender.
“So that’s your secret.”
I stiffened. Even the Spirits scattered like a flock of startled sparrows. Lempicka stood there, hands clasped behind her back, eyes sparkling.
“Yeun is convinced you never take part in this ceremony. But every year, you’re the one who makes these lanterns magical.”
“He must not know,” I growled, crossing my arms. “It gives him a reason to hope.”
“And you? What do you hope for?”
Hope.The word nearly dragged a laugh out of me. I allowed myself no such thing.
“Stupid hope,” whispered a Spirit in my ear before darting toward Lempicka.
I raised my hand, exasperated, but they zipped around me like tiny comets, impossible to catch.
“She’s your foolish hope!” one cried.
Lempicka blinked, lips pressing together, holding back a laugh.
“Do it!” shouted another.
“Show her!”
“I preferred you when you were quieter,” I muttered.
Instead of fleeing, they only cackled, whirling around Lempicka with unbearable enthusiasm. Why had they become so infuriating lately?
“Show me what?” Lempicka asked.
I cleared my throat and held out my hand, palm open. “Do you trust me, Sugarplum?”
She hesitated, then slid her fingers into mine, lashes lowering as if bracing for a storm. I drew her against me, and mywings of mist tore us from the ground. My antlers burst forth in a flash of bone. Once the transformation into stag dragon was complete, I lifted her onto my back without giving her a choice and launched into the sky.
Never before had I used this form for something so trivial.
But when I felt her clutch at my antlers, her cry breaking into laughter, a fleeting smile curved my lips. She reached out, brushing a swarm of golden fireflies suspended above the lake. And for the first time in a long while, I let the wind carry something other than ash and silence.
“This is incredible,” Lempicka cried.
Yeun cut through the air, spinning with grace. “It worked! It finally worked!”
“What?” she asked.
“Look down,” I told her.
She leaned slightly, peering at the lake beneath us. “What is…?”
The water glowed, pulsing, woven with bioluminescent light. The lanterns undulated beneath the surface, revealing for the first time the bottom of the lake. There, in the darkness, stretched the vast roots of the ancient tree, velveted in moss. On its submerged branches, tiny blossoms glimmered, blooming in golden light.
