Page 6 of Healing Elixirs & Wicked Crows

"I am."He nodded, hands still in his pockets."And you're a?—"

"I am no one," I hissed, interrupting whatever he'd planned to say.There were no people close enough to hear our hushed conversation, but the trees, the wind, all of nature had ears.With the vast majority believing that the seelie had vanished, I didn't want to give anyone reason to believe otherwise.

He rocked back on his heels, dipping his chin closer and lowering his voice to barely there."Oh, I disagree.I think you are lovely deep down...under all that seelie hate festering on the surface."

I sighed, irritated and wanting to go home to talk to Herb and check on Briar."Why are you following me?"

"I heard you ask about the Daemonacus flower."

"What about it?"I asked, trying to keep my voice even.I didn't want to let him know how important this was to me.

“Well, it’s just that I know where it is.”

Rose of Your Heart

ELIAS

She laughed, and it was like a sharpened knife straight to my rapidly beating heart.I tugged gently at her braid as she picked up her cart's handles, our old signal from when we were children.Nothing.Not even a flicker of recognition passed through her warm brown eyes.

Someone had stolen her memories of me.Stolen us.

With a derisive snort, she simply replied, "Yeah, I know where it is too.It's deep within the Everland Forest."

The words fell from her like she couldn't care less that the woods were vast and dangerous.But I caught the faint flicker of apprehension behind those eyes that should have remembered mine.I crossed my arms and leaned back, settling into the cockiest stance I could manage even as my heart pounded at her nearness.

"Yes, but I know exactly where the Daemonacus flower blooms, and I can take you to it."

Her entire body froze as the world seemed to hush for us.Her dark brows furrowed, creating that little dimple between her eyes, just like when we were young and she was trying to solve a puzzle."Why would you do that?"she asked, her unease clear in her voice.She didn't trust me, but I needed her to, even if she shouldn't.

I shrugged."I have my reasons.”

"Reasons?"she parroted.

"How about we make a deal?"I softened my jaw, giving her what I hoped was a disarming smile."I will tell you my reasons as we travel together to retrieve the flower you seek."She took a step backward, tugging the cart with her, and I felt the familiar sting of her retreat."Listen," I said, my voice rushed, "you can't go alone.It's too dangerous for anyone to travel alone, and I could use a companion.What do you say?”

For a moment, she seemed to contemplate my offer, and my breath stilled as that moment stretched between us.Then she replied, "No deal," before whipping around and hurrying away.Her cart bounced across the uneven stones, the sounds of jars tinkling making her escape noisy.

I stood on that dusty road, my heart still racing as I watched her retreat.Her hair swayed with her quickened steps as she raced away from me.All my charm hadn't reached her.I couldn't remember a time my charm hadn't worked in my favor.And yet, as my heartbeat returned to normal, it felt a little hollower.

She clearly hadn't remembered me.But this wasn't mere forgetfulness or the passage of time.I'd searched for any hint of recognition within her mind as we’d spoken, pressing against the edges of her consciousness.Only shimmering fog remained where I should have been.Magic.Someone had woven powerful magic around her memories, thick as morning mist and just as impenetrable.

But who?And why would anyone want to erase what we'd shared?

Watching her with the mortals, I saw the way she handled each one with quiet care.Genuine.Patient.They accepted her, if uneasily.They needed her healing, but I knew the truth.If another healer appeared in their cozy village tomorrow, they'd toss her to the pyre without blinking.Her safety was conditional.This war between fae and mortal had dragged on so long no one remembered how it had started.All they knew was fear and wild stories.

These mortals would turn on her eventually.I could feel it in the air of every village I traveled through.The animosity grew as the lines between the lands blurred.It was only a matter of time before Rosemary would feel their teeth.So, in essence, what I was doing would save her life.She'd have to thank me for it one day.

Oh, she'd hate me for it at first.Especially since someone had been thorough enough to steal even our sweetest memories.What kind of person would do such a thing?And…why?

Rosemary disappeared into the forest, and I waited several long minutes, testing the barriers around my own memories.They remained intact, every stolen moment with her sharp as glass.She'd been torn out of my life, leaving a void that nothing had been able to fill.Not alcohol.Not danger or risk.Not another's touch.

Nothing.

As I trailed behind her, I was torn between wanting to turn back and leave her to the quaint life she had built here, or following her.But I knew I had no choice.Not with what I needed from her.Not with the curse eating away at me with each passing day.

I paused out of sight as she reached her cottage.It didn't take me long to realize what I'd found, where she had unknowingly led me.I'd found them both.The gears of destiny clicked into place.There was no going back now.

As I stood hidden within the woods surrounding her home, the words of an old seer echoed in my mind, spoken to me just a decade ago on a frigid night deep within unseelie territory."The rose with no thorns cannot bloom without her true heart.The crow cannot find salvation without the taste of her nectar.You have walked the wrong path all these years, and yesterday still, the prophecy has begun."