Ivy was just as good at cooking breakfast as she was dinner, and as Ru slathered a pat of butter on top of her stack of pancakes, it occurred to her that she’d either need to up her exercise or rein in the calories a little bit. At this rate, the nickname Chubs, which her adoptive mother had given her, even though she was nothing more than a stick figure as a child, might be a little more fitting.
She hadn’t spoken to Cutter much about what had happened the night before. When she’d opened her eyes to discover she was back in her body, she hadn’t really known what to say, and after he told her how proud he was of her, she’d gone to bed almost immediately. If what he’d said before was true, this meant he’d take her to the Keepers’ hometown of Los Angeles soon. She’d have the chance to meet her grandmother and find out more information about where her real mother, Seraphina, might be. However, she still
Ru was halfway up the stairs when she heard Cutter’s footsteps behind her. She slowed down, and he caught up. “You okay?” he asked as they proceeded to the hallway in unison.“I’m fine,” Ru replied, hoping her smile was counterfeit enough to fool him.“You don’t have to go through with this tonight if you don’t want to. We can wait until you’re ready. I can even tell Ivy to hold off on the travel arrangements if you want.”She turned to face him and saw nothing but sincerity in his expression. His hands were shoved down deep in his jeans pockets, his handsome face crinkled with concern. “No, it’s not that,” Ru assured him, though she wasn’t completely sure that was true. “It’s just… I can’t go to Wyoming without talking to my mom—to Liddy.”Cutter looked surprised. “You&
Darkness enveloped them completely, rendering Cutter’s visuals useless but heightening the rest of his senses so that the faintest brush of Ru’s skin against his sent sparks through his bloodstream, causing gooseflesh to crawl up his arm. The scent of warm vanilla and nutmeg would’ve been intoxicating if he wasn’t constantly reminding himself he was in the dark room with her for a reason other than to revel in her fragrance. While part of him was overjoyed that she was finally beginning to understand how to transform to her spirit form, he knew he’d miss these intimate moments alone with her. It had also occurred to him that their cessation might be his salvation as it was abundantly clear that Ru thought of him only as a friend at best and an antagonist from time to time.He sat next to her, his right arm held firmly in the grasp of both of her hands. She’d mentioned how it seemed to help her last time to anchor herse
Unlike the real woods that stood near Angel Grove, only a few miles away from the historic home, these woods were shrouded in eternal night. Being part of a dream realm heightened the more sinister qualities of the location. The real woods would’ve appeared less menacing during the day, while it would always be just as dark, foggy, and uninviting here no matter the time, although it didn’t help that it was almost eleven at night when the team began their search.Cutter kept Ru within eye sight, which wasn’t difficult considering she was more than a little scared to step out of his line of vision. She was also more than a little distracting, not only because he felt he was constantly checking on her location, but because it was her. While he was surrounded by twisted trees with long, scraggly branches, thick roots reaching up from the ground to snare a misplaced step, she was the embodiment of all things lovely and good, even in jeans an
Ru headed off in the direction she’d gestured in, and Cutter followed behind, watching as she picked her way through the dense foliage, stopping from time to time as if she was trying to sense her way forward.It took nearly half an hour over the rough terrain for Ru to see something in front of them and hasten her pace. Cutter didn’t see it a first, but once the fog lifted a bit, he saw where she was headed. In front of them, three trees, remarkably shaped even more oddly than the others, stood out against the black backdrop. Unlike all of the other twisted, tangled trunks, whose bark was deep brown or even black, these trees were a dirty white, as if they’d once been made of chalk and had grown dingy over their years of standing amidst their darker neighbors.Ru stopped about ten feet away from them where there was a clearing. The fog here was thinner, more like a mist, and it didn’t encumber their vision at al
Popping antacids seemed to be a new trend, at least in Ru’s world; she shoved three more into her mouth and steered her car onto her mother’s street. She must’ve taken half a bottle of Tums between the time she’d gotten back to her room after the hunt last night and now, and she was thankful Rider seemed to have a never-diminishing supply, though he’d warned her they were not a long-term solution. Right now, she was just hoping to get the burning under control before she walked into her mother’s house. She needed to focus on what she wanted to say, not the fact that she might spew acidic vomit all over her mom’s pristine carpets.She wasn’t sure what had been so difficult the night before. Unlike the first time she’d gone with Cutter to the other realms, the woods had been painful in a way she hadn’t expected. It didn’t help that he couldn’t explain it. She’d done her best to d
Clearly, Liddy was not expecting that question, nor the commanding tone in which it was asked. The shocked expression on her face lingered for a long moment. If Cutter had taught Ru anything it was that she was more powerful than she’d ever given herself credit for. “Cutter grew up in the same town Seraphina did. He knows her mother. He came here looking for me, Mom.” It was difficult to let the word slip out of her lips, but then, she’d been choking on it for years. “I’m living with him and three other people now, all of them from the same place. And we’ll be going there in the next few days, looking for clues as to where she might be.” She said all of it with her jaw set, her gaze even, her insides on fire.Shaking her head, Liddy said. “I have no idea why you would do something so reckless, Ruin. And totally unnecessary. To give up everything you’ve worked so hard for to find a woman who cast
The flight from LaGuardia to Jackson, Wyoming, was a long one, almost six hours. Ru couldn’t believe how much more complicated it seemed to even get to the plane than it had when she was younger, though she likely wasn’t paying much attention when she was ten since she was in awe of the thought of getting on a plane at all. She’d felt so lucky her mother’s uncle had insisted on flying them all out for the funeral, Ru couldn’t believe she was actually awake—not dreaming—and included. Not that her mother could’ve explained to her distant family why she’d left a ten-year-old at home unattended.Ru had supposed she’d sit with the girls or Cutter on the flight, but she found herself nestled into a seat next to the window with Rider on the other side of an empty seat between them. He needed the aisle because of his long legs, or so he’d explained it. Ru could believe that, but she was pretty tal
“They’re definitely gone,” Raven said, her voice cutting through Nat’s thoughts like a heated blade through a block of ice. “Where they’ve gone, we can’t say for sure, but we expect it’s likely to their village.”“I would think that would be easy enough to establish.” He had his back to her, so rolling his eyes would lose its effect. That didn’t stop him from doing it anyway. “Check the airlines, Raven.”“Right. Anything else?”Rather than turn and address her, he dismissed her with a wave of his hand and listened for her footsteps to echo down the hall.It had been weeks since his failed attempt to take Rune in the woods, and since then he’d had nothing but time: time to reflect, time to regroup, time to regret. He’d been so close, and yet he still wasn’t sure exactly what it was that bet