Page 72 of Iridian

“We’re okay,” said Taland eventually, but I no longer believed that. And not only because of a gut feeling, but because I’dseenthat. All of that—I’d seen it. I’d seenhim.

Slowly, I leaned back to look at his face, those strange white eyes that I’d gotten so used to that the memory of hisrealeyes had gone cold. Distant.

“Talk to me,” he said, and he was freaking out just as badly as me. His voice was shaking, which never happened. “Talk to me, sweetness. Why are you crying? Talk to me…”

It killed me worse than watching him just now when he wasn’t himself.

Hewasn’t himself.

I shook my head, but the memory stopped the tears for a moment, at least. “You…you were stabbing trees.”

As absurd as it sounded out loud, I didn’t expect him to laugh. He just followed my eyes, looked where I was looking—at those trees that had no bark left on them.

“You…you had a knife, and you were stabbing at the trees, and I called for you, but you didn't respond. You were talking, Taland, you were talking and talking…”

“Hey, hey, look at me.” He took my face in his hands. “What was I saying?”

He’d begun to get himself under control already, and sometimes I wondered if he did it formysake. If he held himself together to calm me down.

“I don’t know. You were talking in French.”

His brows narrowed. “I don’t speak French.”

“Yes, I know that!” Except now I couldn’t even laugh at the absurdity. “I know you don’t speak French, but you were speaking French! And when I tried to grab that knife from your hand you pushed me and I fell, and then the soldiers, they-they-they…” I stopped, took in a deep breath. “They pulled me away from you and got between us.”

This didn’t surprise him in the least. “They are ordered to keep you safe even from me if needed,” he said. “Come on, let’s get inside. You’re freezing.”

He stood up and pulled me to my feet.

I could hardly believe my ears, but he wasn’t even kidding. His face said so, and when he tried to pull me toward the house, I jerked my hand away from his.

“No, Taland—no!” I moved back, toward those trees, pointing at them without looking. “What the hell were you doing here? You’ve been talking to yourself and I hear you, but you never tell me—why,damn it?! Why are you talking to yourself like that? How can you speak French when you don’t speak French—why?!” Goddess, I was losing it, and the way he looked at me only made it worse. “Tell me what’s going on. Justtell me.”

He shook his head and looked so fucking hopeless that it killed me all over again. Clear to see that he didn’t want to tell me anything, but he knew. Hehadto know.

“Can we talk inside?” he tried.

“What.The. Hell. Is. This?!” I hissed, pointing at the trees behind me.

If he thought I was going to let him off the hook just like I did the first and second time, he was dead wrong. None of it had been in my head—none of it. Not at the waterfall, not in the bathroom, not those strange looks that came over him every now and again—it was all real, and tonight proved it. He couldn’t lie to me, not again. I wouldn’t stand for it.

And Taland must have seen it on my face because he sighed and lowered his head for a moment. Then he came to me slowly, like he thought I might be afraid of him again.

“It’s them,” he whispered, looking at the trees now, walking around me and toward them. I turned, too, followed him with my eyes, so I saw the small nod he gave to nobody in particular, a second before the five soldiers simply turned on their heels and walked away down the mountain without ever looking back.

Chills on my back as I watched them.

Meanwhile, Taland had stopped in front of the first tree he’d basically assaulted, and he touched the places where he’d cutinto the bark—senseless lines, I first thought, but now that I was seeing more clearly…

“It’s their names,” Taland said, and every thought in my head came to a halt.

I went to his side, looking at the lines his fingers traced.

“Hugo,” he whispered. “Warin. Richard. Philip, Ada, Symon…”

“The soldiers?”

“The soldiers,” Taland said with a nod. “They talkto me. I hear their thoughts. I know all their names.”

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