Page 41 of Cherish

Seed You Later

“Of course we’re not going to let you go find some Bittersweet Tree alone.” Heather is the first to speak after I outline the situation while we’re all eating breakfast outside the next morning. “I don’t even know what makes an elixir celestial, but I’m totally in.”

She looks at the others questioningly.

Hudson doesn’t answer, because he doesn’t have to. I know he’s got my back, that he’ll always have my back. That’s never been a question. Besides, I already told him everything from the meeting with my grandmother last night, and he is in agreement with me. We save Mekhi, whatever the cost. And when we succeed—and we will—we come back and kick the Crone’s ass to the curb as well.

“We’reallin,” Jaxon says, thankfully drawing the attention away from me. “You know that.”

“Yeah,” Flint agrees. “When have we not been in?”

As we clean up our breakfast dishes, I think back to the time he and Macy were so full of anger that they left us at the lighthouse without so much as an explanation—and dragged us straight into the mess at the Vampire Court. But that was then, and this is now. Besides, I’ve hauled them into messes plenty of times myself. Messes that, in the end, were a lot worse than what happened in London.

For a second, Liam’s face flashes before my mind—the way he looked right before he died. We still haven’t discussed why he betrayed us. We can’t face it yet. And because the thought has bile churning in my stomach, sadness welling up inside me, I push it away.

I push everything away except for the task at hand—namely, finding the Shadow Queen and striking a deal with her that will help us save both her and Mekhi.

“Thank you,” I tell them.

“You don’t ever have to thank us, Grace.” Eden wraps an arm around my shoulders as we make our way through the castle to the front door. “We’re in this together.”

“I do have a question, though.” Heather looks back from where she’s the first one out the double doors. “What happens if we get to the Witch Court and no one knows how to activate this magical portal fountain?”

“Someone will know.” Hudson speaks up for the first time in a while.

We turn as one to look at him, but he just lifts a shoulder in a negligent shrug. “When people live as long as paranormals tend to, someone always knows something.”

“Yeah, but witches don’t live as long as dragons and vampires,” I respond.

“Still, Hudson’s got a good point.” Jaxon grins. “Try keeping a secret when half the Court can brew a truth serum. Or cast a location spell. Or use a scrying mirror to—”

“We get it,” Eden says with a roll of her eyes. “No one’s got any privacy in the Witch Court.”

I hope that’s not true, considering I need to have a private moment with the one Witch Court insider I actually trust to give me straight answers.

“But first,” I say, “we need to go to the Vampire Court and fetch Mekhi.”

Pandemonium breaks out. Everyone starts shouting—we need to let him rest, he can’t make this journey with us.

I hold a hand up. “I know. I know.” My gaze lands on each of my friends’ concerned faces, one by one. “But Hudson and I have a theory that the poison’s effects will slow in the Shadow Realm.” Without going into detail about Artelya, I quickly explain that we knew someone suffering from the poison, but it was acting much more slowly on their body than on Mekhi here. “Either because time works differently there or because it’s where the poison originated—whatever the reason, we think it’s our best chance to buy us the time we need to make this bargain with the Shadow Queen.”

Jaxon starts to say, “I don’t want him—”

But Hudson nails him with a piercing look. “He’s dying, Jaxon. We can’t stop that right now. At least we have a chance to slow it in the Shadow Realm.”

Jaxon’s jaw muscles tighten, but he gives a quick nod. I don’t miss that he leans back against Flint’s chest. I can only imagine how hard this is for him, and once again I’m grateful he and Flint have found each other, even if they appear to be having troubles. At the end of the day, they know they can count on each other, and that’s all that matters.

“So who’s flying with whom?” Eden breaks the silence. “I’m assuming there’s no always-open portal between here and England, is there?”

“No, the Vampire Court is not interested in a direct line of communication at this time,” I answer, glancing at Hudson.

“Oh, wait!” Flint reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small black velvet bag. “I almost forgot that Macy gave me these.”

“Gave you what?” Hudson asks, brow raised as he looks doubtfully at the bag.

“Magic seeds!” he answers triumphantly.

“I don’t think a giant beanstalk is what we need right now,” I tell him.

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