Page 13 of Sequel to the Easter Bunny

The next sound Jack makes is harsh and completely unintelligible.

They argue as my head starts to spin.

A dozen, fuzzy white shapes flutter through the air… dandelion seeds. The memory of my own fluttering addition to Ester’s menagerie makes me shudder and take a step closer to Jack.

He wraps his arm around me and I want to lean into the solid strength of him… but I’m too warm.

Squeezing his arm in a gentle thanks, I take a swaying step away.

There’s no point in listening to their conversation when I won’t understand a word.

Motion draws my attention, and it takes a moment to find the dark movement, but when I do…

I swat the butterfly away.

“Ew.”

It’s a whisper. But it’s not quiet enough.

The silence that descends makes me turn back to where Ester glares at me.

“You made your deal and now you have to follow through.” She stands and walks to me, her eyes narrowed as it travels down to my stomach. “You will complete your tasks. I will not let your incompetence lose my grandchild.”

Jack’s words are sharp enough they make me flinch.

They only draw a cruel smile to Ester’s lips.

I don’t like that smile. There’s something too pink about her eyes. Something too bright about her skin.

She is too beautiful to be real and everything tells me she’s the last being I should trust.

Too late for that.

Jack brushes a kiss across my forehead. “Wait here. I’m going to get this sorted out with Juun.”

He disappears into the dark as if it’s swallowed him whole.

And I’m no longer certain there’s anything safe about Ester.

She descends to me. Her pale robe flowing behind her like the mist that surrounds the spire each morning. “How do you feel about your bargain now, Lily?”

The way she says my name almost feels like a threat.

“I have no issues with the bargain we made.” I glance at the darkness that Jack disappeared into and when I look back, she’s closer than I expect.

“Did you gain more than you bargained for?”

This close, her eyes seem to be made of swirling glitter. If I look into them long enough, I imagine I’d never find my way out.

But behind those eyes, I see memories of a future I wouldn’t dream of asking for.

A future I never wanted.

“Why ask questions you already know the answers to?”

She holds out her hand, and an enormous moth flutters to her finger tips. “You got your Power… why, then, did you come back?”

I look at her instead of the moth—instead of wondering what it used to be. “I came back for Jack. I wanted to see him. I missed him.”

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