Page 37 of Of Poison & Pumpkins
“What did I say?” Viv asks.
Elias and I exchange a wild glance, spooked. Then he sets Viv back on her feet but stays close, his arms hovering around her waist.
“That we have nine days.” I say, then nervously scan her body. “Um, are you okay?”
“Yeah, as dandy as a dandelion.” Viv starts walking ahead, unfazed by the whole event. “Premonitions were my spell choice of the month, to give a countdown to those who needed a warning. Yesterday in the grocery store it happened in the fruit aisle. Apparently, I told an elderly man that he had five days to see a doctor before it’d be too late to have surgery on his tumor.”
“That’s high-level magic. Your council approved that?”
“Council?” Viv made an ‘ick’ face. “Uh, honey, no. We’re not like them city folk out here. We perform our own ritual, whether we’re with friends or at home in our pajamas.”
My world tilts on its axis. That’s possible? I’ve wanted to separate myself from the required Ceremony for as long as I can remember. How has news not spread that some Fuzers have taken a stand against the law?
“Can you tell us what happened to Alex?” Elias asks.
“It all started when she missed dinner. She loves my cooking, so it was unheard of.” She pauses when her phone buzzes. “Hold on, I got a text and need to run to the office. Check out the barn until I return,” Viv says, disappearing around a corner.
We weave through a maze of tractors, hay bales, and wheelbarrows towards a large blue barn. Our shoes crunch on the fallen leaves covering the grass. Unicorns whinny inside and glitter swarms me like Maya does whenever I walk through Tinsley’s front door.
“What did I do wrong?” Elias whispers as we enter the barn. “You’ve barely said a word to me for hours.”
The intensity of his gaze lasers into my cheek. He rubs a hand over his dark scruff. Does he have plans to grow a beard? Can’t say that I’d mind if he does. Ahead, unicorns toss their heads in excitement.
“My little sister eloped. I’ve been processing after I got that call. It freaked me out.”
“And you hate that news? Because marriage is terrible?” Elias studies me like he used to stare at the periodic table during chemistry class, with that all-consuming focus.
“Marriage is fine, for people who want it. But Brooke married a Fuzer.”
“Ouch. That’d sting. It doesn’t help that your little sister was a terror.”
“You remember Brooke?”
“Of course. I can’t believe she started that rumor that your magic made it impossible for you to have sex. Be warned, when you eventually fall in love with me, I may never warm up to your sister because of that. It was a nasty thing to do.”
There are too many things to unpack. That was not a rumor I had been aware of.
“She convinced my friends to blackmail me,” I add. “Even my best friend, Lori, made me use a month’s magic so she’d get perfect scores on all her exams,” I say, ready to fade away into the breeze.
“Your friends broke your heart,” he remarks as we step out of the sunlight and into the barn. “But your hardships also helped make you strong.”
“Oh, really?”
“You stand up for the weak, like when someone is taking advantage of an animal. You advocate for them because no one did that for you.” He heads towards the stalls. “I bet you thought leaving Indiana would save you from bumble-butts bullies, but you’ve seen there are awful people everywhere.”
I shake my head, unwilling to open this can of worms. “Everything’s better in Oakmar. It’s one reason why I need to win. So I’ll never need to return home.”
He lifts my hand to stroke a nearby unicorn’s long nose. Complete relaxation washes over me, like I’m meant to live in this moment, this space, this breath, for eternity. Animals are my home, always have been and always will be. Viv is lucky to own this place. Here, I feel safe and free.
“You come alive here, Rynnlee. It’s like your energy has awakened.” His voice grows serious, layered with unsaid thoughts I can’t risk unburying.
Elias presses his hand down on top of mine, still stroking the unicorn’s forehead. Slowly, I look up into Elias’s dark eyes, lit with a new spark. The devious smirk twitches in the corner of his lip, unraveling me a bit more.
His half-smile teases me again as he tilts his head in question. “Maybe it’s not the unicorns that have centered you.”
“Wh-what do you …? Why would …?” My heart races, hammering in my chest.
“Sunflower?” His crooked grin destroys my soul, in all the good ways. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
