Page 46 of Poison Nights & Twilight Alchemy

Dulce took out the book from her satchel and flipped between a couple of spells she had in mind to try. She would combine them—she was almost certain what to do. A spell to help flowers bloom and another to rid someone of a fever. While the tree was a plant, there was a possibility that mixing it with what would be considered giving life might slow its death.

Together, they stepped out the now-unlocked castle door, and another heavy breeze rustled her hair.

“Wait here,” she told Reed.

He looked as if the very thought of leaving her alone was utter madness, but he didn’t stop her. “Remember. Don’t die.”

“If something doesn’t go as planned, save yourself.” She then walked through the light mist toward the Tree of Life, thankful it wasn’t the poisoned fog spoken of in her mother’s letter.

If Toffee hadn’t already disappeared, she certainly would’ve after this. No carcass lay on the ground, which was a good sign that the horse was on her way back to Moonglade.

Dulce clutched the orb encasing the stone, the way the Duke had, as she approached the bristlecone pine.

The tree’s shrill cries became louder, its roots snapping the earth harder. Just as a root lifted above her, moments away from crushing her, she hurriedly spoke the incantation.

The tree stilled, the root frozen, listening to her long and lyrical words. She approached the wide trunk and pressed her other hand to its unnatural stone bark.

Taking a deep breath, Dulce chanted louder, letting the magic weave within her and pour into the Tree of Life. She watched as the roots slowly lowered and sank back into the ground. The tree’s stone didn’t improve—however, the wild magic had ceased, and the world was quiet once more.

When she peered up, Dulce noticed along one of its branches, pearlescent flowers bloomed, and she took that as a sure sign she’d given the tree a little more time.

The fog hadn’t dissipated, and she couldn’t see Reed through its thick layer, so, clutching her skirts, she rushed through it until she found him waiting in the spot she’d left him.

“You survived.” He grinned, his tense shoulders relaxing.

“You doubted my talents?” She beamed.

“Never.”

Before burying the raven, Dulce took two of its feathers and placed them into her satchel for a future incantation. They then buried the raven near a sunflower bed in the castle’s courtyard, Dulce saying a few words of gratitude. A wave of melancholy washed over her at the thought of the poor creature’s life, wondering if it had ever known a moment of freedom.

Once Reed dropped the last handful of dirt on thegrave, he rubbed his chin. “Travel is going to be hard without Toffee. Do you think you can revive one of the taxidermy stallions?”

Necromancy wasn’t something Dulce had any wish to dabble in, not when her mother had warned her,we don’t know what the dead want. But she did know how the spell was performed. “I would first need the heart of another stallion.”

He pursed his lips. “No horse for now then. Let’s gather our things and leave this wretched place by foot, shall we?”

While their travels would be temporarily slowed, at least they had plenty of food and water to keep their hunger at bay for a few days.

After collecting their traveling bags in the upstairs bedroom, they pushed open the heavy castle doors and returned out into the fog before stilling.

Four men stood before them in the morning light.

Clearly leading the other three was perhaps the largest and most repulsive man Dulce had ever seen, his width nearly measuring his height, and as he grinned rotting teeth, she noticed open sores covered his bald head.

“The Leper, I presume?” Dulce whispered to Reed, having heard rumors of what the offensive man looked like.

“In the corpulent flesh,” Reed answered, stepping in front of her.

“Nothing personal,” the Leper hollered gruffly. “But there’s quite the bounty on that pretty white head of yours. I knew you’d want a friend to be the one to tell you.”

“Very considerate,” Reed said as the three men inblack moved steadily closer. “But if it’s all the same, I have somewhere I need to be, so if you’ll excuse us.”

“There’s been a mistake.” Dulce’s voice remained steady as she peeked out from behind Reed. The men must’ve sensed something in her beyond courage because they halted. “I’m clearly not dead, am I, gentlemen?” She held up her hand and flashed them her family ring. “I gave Reed the jewels myself as a reward. He never stole anything. It’s vitally important that you let him go since he never should’ve been arrested in the first place.”

“Vitally important, she says,” the man with greasy long hair and a wide scar across one cheek sang.

“Oh, well, if it’svitallyimportant,” a second man, his nose twisted, answered, and they all laughed.

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