Page 54 of A Brighter Yellow
“Well,” said Scarlet, “we’ve all got our not-so-nice relatives. You’re telling me that every wolf is a saint?” Anna was still staring as if Scarlet had lost her mind. “Anyway, we’ve got to find the right flower. Otherwise, they’ll just grow back. We’ve got a Tam Lin situation here. In theBallad of Tam Lin,she had to pick the right flower—”
“I know the goddamn ballad,” yelled Anna. “I’m trying to remember which stupid flower the girl picked! Uh…” She hummed a few bars. “Double rose!” She looked around at the plants surrounding Ochre. There was a rose bush by his head—the sharp twining vines were growing down his arm. Without hesitation, Anna reached over and broke off a nodding double bloom of red. Scarlet breathed a sigh of relief as the flowers retreated, revealing her brother. He had a dark gash in his side, but he appeared to be sleeping peacefully.
“All right,” said Scarlet, “now let’s get the hell out of here before whoever sent those flowers shows up to claim him.”
They each took a side and hauled Ochre upwards.
“Why did he have to be so tall?” Scarlet groaned.
“So he could pick me up,” said Anna.
“Well, I mean, yes, there’s that, I suppose,” said Scarlet. She wasn’t sure that her brother’s height was foreordained by fate for Anna’s benefit, but this didn’t seem to be the time to argue. Ochre was draped between them, and they took a few staggering steps back the way they’d come when they heard a crashing noise from the woods.
“Oh, shit,” said Anna, looking over her shoulder.
“Can you lift him yourself?” asked Scarlet, looking at Anna.
“Yes,” said Anna, taking a firmer grip on Ochre.
“OK,” said Scarlet. She put her free hand to the knife on her belt. “Then get ready to run.”
“No,” said Anna, looking fierce. “We will fight together.”
A roar erupted behind them, and the trees around them swayed back as if scared of what was coming.
“It’s huge,” whispered Anna.
Scarlet took a deep breath, preparing herself to face whatever the hell it was when the sound of a hunting horn split the air. It was clear and deep and hit Scarlet right in her chest where hope lived. Then a man came through the trees in front of her. He held a long sword and had long dark hair. He ran past them, and Scarlet turned to watch him in shock.
“Scarlet, baby, hurry up now,” said a voice behind her. Scarlet turned and saw her mother. Her pale blonde hair was as long and straight as corn-silk, her eyes were as blue as Scarlet remembered, but this time they were smiling. “This way.”
“Mom?” Scarlet’s eyes started to water, and everything went rainbow-colored. She couldn’t tell if that was the woods or if it was just her.
“Yes, baby, but hurry,” Aderyn said, beckoning to them. The white sleeves of her dress made the movement a gentle ballet. Even when she was trying to hurry, everything about Aderyn was graceful.
“Anna,” said Scarlet, grabbing Ochre and helping Anna get him moving, “these are my parents.”
“Nice to meet you,” gasped Anna, as they drug Ochre past her mother.
Time in the in-between woods was never a sure thing, but they followed Scarlet’s mother for what seemed like several minutes. The sound of the battle behind them quickly became muted.
“Shouldn’t we stop and wait for… my father?” asked Scarlet. She had no idea what to call him. She only remembered meeting him twice.
“He’ll be back in a moment,” said her mother with a serene smile.
“All right. Mom, this is Anna. Ochre’s mate.”
“Yes!” said Aderyn turning and smiling brilliantly at Anna. “It’s so nice to meet you. I wish I could meet Liam and Rafe too.”
“You can meet Liam,” said Scarlet. “He’s just across the street from the park.”
“Oh, no,” said Aderyn shaking her head sadly. “I can’t go out to your side anymore. I’m sorry. I tried when you had that lovely moment with the trees. But I can’t. I was sick for days afterwards. The woods are as far as I can go.”
“Oh,” said Scarlet. “Mom, I thought you went away and left us. I didn’t know… I didn’t know you still looked in on us.”
Aderyn stopped and turned back to her, wrapping her arms around Scarlet. For a moment, Scarlet felt like she was five again. “I love you. And what good is your husband owning a magic mirror if you don’t use it to check on your children?”
“Um,” said Scarlet, wondering just how often andwhenher mother had checked on them. “Well, sure.”
