Page 35 of When Ashes Fall

Or maybe I had to see it to make an initial connection, as I did with Gizzi and Toric. Taking a deep breath, I lifted my basket and made my way over to the next cluster of mushrooms.

“Why won’t you talk to me?” the voice asked. “I like your voice.”

I glanced at Knox as I gathered more mushrooms. I wanted to reply to the creature; it sounded desperate for a friend, but I didn’t know how to do so without making Knox more suspicious.

“Thank you,” I tried again to connect with the voice.

Cool air brushed against my shoulder, and I turned toward it as the smallest breeze tickled my cheek. “You’re very pretty. My mom was pretty too.”

Those words made my heart constrict. I had to give it some response. “You’re so sweet.”

“What’s sweet?” Knox demanded.

“The mushrooms,” I lied. “They’re sweet for giving themselves to me.”

“You meant me, didn’t you?” the voice asked excitedly. “You don’t want him to know I’m here.”

When I nodded, cold air caressed my other cheek.

“But you can still hear me?”

I nodded again.

“Do you want to talk to me?”

Another nod.

I looked up at where Gizzi sat in the branches, watching me instead of the woods now. “You okay?” I asked to make sure I could still connect with him.

“I’m fine; are you?” he inquired.

“Yes.”

I placed some more mushrooms in my basket and rose to move on to the next grouping. I looked over at where Knox stood, watching me. I tried to act as casual as possible, but though we’d spent a decade apart, he still knew me better than anyone else.

I wasn’t fooling him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Briar

The voice whispered across my mind. “You’re so close to me.”

I froze and looked around again but didn’t see anything other than the trees and mushrooms surrounding me. I picked a couple more of the fungi, placed them in my basket, and stepped to my right.

“Now you’re getting further away.”

I moved to my left, toward another cluster of mushrooms. “Yes, keep going!” the voice excitedly whispered. “Now move forward.”

As I followed the directions, I picked more mushrooms and tried to remain casual. There was a good chance the voice belonged to a monster leading me to my doom, but I slept beside one of the most poisonous creatures in the kingdoms and was at the mercy of one of the strongest, so let it try to kill me.

My life is extremely messed up, I inwardly sighed.

Was it ever normal?

No, but this is still insane.

“Right there! I’m right there! Before you!” the voice squealed.