Hollis
Eva shakes her head. "I just don't know how we didn't find each other."
"It's strange," I agree, my mark burning.
When I found her, asleep in the nook of a tree, I looked her over for a mating mark before I even woke her up. All the way over. Not a single sign of the snowflake shape. Not even a red spot that might turn into a snowflake when the swelling goes down.
"But it's a good sign neither of us found anyone else," I add.
She grins as she scrapes her red hair up into a bun. We are standing amidst the flow of people, all headed to the spot on the edge of the camp we were told upon arrival to avoid.
"Definitely better."
That fucking bite sears. I cling to the pain.
I stayed in my wolf form all the way back to camp, pretending I was still under the effects of the Haze. Sniffing Eva, running circles around her, just acting like an idiot. She laughed so hard she had to catch herself on my back a couple of times. Her fingers in my fur felt so normal, so familiar, that I almost forgot what I was hiding. Then, she'd say something about how it was weird we didn't mate, and it would start hurting all over again. As long as it hurts, I can't forget. The ruined land did something to the Haze. This is a mistake.
"Maybe it didn't work because we were at the edge," I say. "The Haze only affected us enough to make us shift, not to make us mate."
She scratches one of the matching scrapes on her arm-she burst out of the carriage as well. "Do you really think that's possible?"
"What else could it be?" If anyone could hear the real question in my voice, the hope for any other explanation for what the hell happened last night, it would be her.
"I don't know." She shakes her head. "I suppose you must be right. Why else would we destroy your father's carriages and not find anyone?"
"Exactly."
Eva adjusts the neck of her gown, framing her breasts perfectly. There's a small freckle on the top of the left one, a freckle I've spent half my life looking forward to tasting. I stare at it now, trying to remember why I wanted it so badly.
"Hey." She bumps her hip into mine. "Watch the eyes, or rumor is going to spread that we really did mate."
I jerk my gaze away. We stop at the edge of the crowd, almost too far away to see. There must be a hundred or more people here, even more than the gathering for Luna Estrella and King Anwen's wedding that wasn't.
"Do you actually think this is going to work?" I ask.
"Candace does," she says.
Another lance of pain.
"Yeah? Did you talk about it?"
"Not much." Eva's face glows with a smile. "We had too much else to talk about. Did you know they have ruddy-chested flycatchers in Dun's Crossing?"
I laugh. "I don't even know what that is."
She rolls her eyes. "I told you. They're descendants of-"
"Thank you all for coming to this miracle, this new beginning for my kingdom." King Cole's voice echoes over the crowd. "Our beautiful daughter has been working for months with the Luna of Sundrop Gem on what we all thought was impossible: a cure for wolfsbane poisoning."
Murmurs ripple through the crowd. I guess not everyone knew why we were all dragged out here. Eva takes my hand and tugs me forward.
"I want to see," she hisses.
I let her lead me and rub my thumb over the pen callus on her finger I know so well. My mark is going to kill me if Father doesn't.
"Thank you, Father," Luna Raven says. "I had a whole speech prepared, but then our little heir kept me up all night."
Laughter surrounds us. Eva pulls me up onto the wooden support around a tentpole, just high enough off the ground that we can see over the crowd's heads.
Luna Delaney and King Cole have stepped to the side, leaving Luna Raven, Luna Estrella, a woman in holy robes, and-I squint-a blonde with a lute in the middle of a clear space encircled by rocks, next to a massive dead tree. Luna Estrella squeezes Luna Raven's hand and steps forward holding a massive jug.
"Yana," she says, "will you perform the blessing?"
There she is. Right behind Luna Raven, next to the prison cart that holds Rowena Solberg. She's wearing a brown dress that almost reaches her chin. My stomach drops. My skin goes cold.
My mate doesn't look at me.
"By the light of the Goddess," the holy woman prays, "and by Her darkness, we find our way. For too long, we have been haunted by one impossible specter. One threat from which there is no recovery. By Her grace and wisdom, may we finally overcome it."
Father steps up next to the wooden structure Eva and I stand on. I raise my eyebrows.
'I thought you left,' I say to him through the mind-link. 'King Kieran delivered an insult too great to be expected to bear?'
'Hush,' Father replies without looking at me. 'We cannot look distracted.'
I exchange a look with Eva, who shrugs. She's right. There's no reason to reopen the events of last night any more than necessary right now. I just need to focus on the stupid ritual. If it works, there'll be a party. If it doesn't, there'll be some kind of celebration anyway. Then, we get to leave, and I get to spend the rest of my life figuring out how to destroy the false mate bond this place gave me.
The holy woman puts her hand on the trunk of the tree. "This is where the original injury was dealt. The heart of Escuro, its oldest oak, which extends roots into the waters from which the people here drew their life. Here, it will be repaired."
Luna Estrella hefts the jug. "In this, I hold redemption. Rejuvenation. The work of a woman harmed almost as directly by Gavin Solberg as her people's land-"
"And of one who ended a centuries-long feud between Dun's Crossing and Sundrop Gem," Luna Raven adds.
The other queen smiles. "Redemption. Rejuvenation. Forgiveness. With the Goddess' blessing, we give this to Escuro. To the world."
She upends the jug, and the whole crowd falls silent. Only the musician keeps playing.
A stream of burgundy liquid threaded with gold pours out, thicker than wine but thinner than blood. The smell is strange-half a dozen plants, something like dirt or grit, a warmth I can't quite explain. But the liquid puddles between the roots of the tree and just...sits there.
Shit. It's actually not going to work.
Eva leans up on her tiptoes. "Something's happening."
"What?" I grab her wrist to keep her from toppling over. I don't see anything.
Something gurgles before she can answer, and I do see it. The liquid is draining into the ground very slowly. Just like any liquid would. I open my mouth to tell Eva she's missing the clouds for the silver linings again.
Bright, golden light flashes like a single burst of fire. I wince and shut my eyes. Gasps echo through the crowd.
'Hollis, look!' Eva says in my head.
I open my eyes again, and for a split second, wonder if what the Lunas actually made was some sort of mass teleportation potion. The cracked, dead grass under their feet is replaced by a lush blanket of green. As I watch, a pale wildflower sprouts out of the ground and blossoms. But the biggest transformation is the tree itself. The blighted, leafless trunk behind them now spreads the first shoots of green overhead. Its bark is golden and lustrous, except in a few places where gray veins match the scar on Luna Estrella's neck. Actually, all the new growth has those, but just a little. A handful of blades of gray grass wave in the breeze with their neighbors, vital but forever marked by what happened here.
A fucking miracle. That's what happened here today.
Luna Delaney bursts into tears. Luna Raven races for her mother, and the two of them clutch each other.
King Cole steps forward and clears his throat. "A celebration is in order!"
Cheers ripple through the crowd. They did it. They fucking did it.
"Tonight, at sunset, on this very spot." His voice is thick with emotion, and I roll my eyes. I know he's out of practice, but a king should be able to hold himself together a little better. "We shall honor the restoration of Escuro!"
More cheers. I jump down off the platform and hold a hand out for Eva to do the same. "Can we talk about your departure now, Father?"
He stares down at me, eyes nearly hidden under his heavy brows. "I do not know what you mean."
Without another word, he turns and walks away. Eva hops down, and something crunches under her feet. I look down. The grass under our feet is still dry and dead. As delegates begin to filter away, the effect becomes clearer-a perfect circle of restored land, surrounded by the same destruction as before. Judging by the cluster of important people around the oak tree, they've noticed too. Candace looks worried.
"What?" Eva asks.
I shake my head, look at the ground. "Just thinking about how good this is actually going to be."