Page 20 of A Brighter Yellow
She broke away from the hug and frowned at him. Then she went to where she’d dropped the package and picked it up. He watched in fascination as she grew a talon from the tip of her finger and used it to cut open the tape.
The second the box was open, Ochre was hit with a wave of dread and a smell like acetone. He realized that the spell Anna had put on the box was more robust than he’d sensed when he’d been carrying it. She was better than he’d thought she was, which made her father’s complete disregard of her talents even more galling. Gingerly, Anna pulled out a small stone box about the size of a sandwich Tupperware. She eyed it in distaste as she set it on the desk.
“I opened it,” she said. “After I stole it. It’s full of black gunk, and it made me want to kill myself. I mean that literally. For about four minutes, I tried to figure out how to commit suicide in a rest-stop bathroom. And then I touched an amulet that Charlie made me, and I snapped out of it. But the shit in there is evil is what I’m saying.”
Ochre felt physically ill, and he couldn’t decide if it was the pervasive smell or the idea of Anna killing herself. Either way, he wanted to get as far away from the thing on the desk as possible. Then she rummaged in a trunk at the foot of her bed and returned with a metal container. She lowered the box into the container and sealed the lid, muttering a sealing spell over it. Ochre grunted in relief.
“I’m supposed to take it to Charlie, and she’s supposed to isolate it and figure out what the hell it is.”
“We should stick to that plan,” said Ochre. “We’ll leave in the morning, and we’ll take it with us.”
“Maybe we should leave now,” she suggested, but Ochre shook his head.
“No. Itraveledto get out to the town and back, and I’ve been up for about thirty-six hours and the spell work on top of that… I don’t want totravelwith that thing unless I’m fresh. I need the sleep.”
“Yeah,” she said. “And you’re going to have to climb down the tower too.”
Ochre sighed. Sex was officially off the table. “Can I at least have the rope ladder?” he asked.
Episode 11
Charlie’s House
Anna
Anna slipped out of the keep by the kitchen door, sliding past Lucky, who was passed out on the couch. She hoisted her pack on her shoulders and fought the feeling that she was running away from home. She’d slipped out plenty of times. She’d just never done it with a boy before. Not that Ochre was a boy. He was exceedingly on the manly side, but last night, she’d felt stuck in some sort of teenage sitcom. Her father made everything she did seem small and stupid. She knew he didn’t mean to, but that was how it felt.
The sun was sneaking up over the hill line as she hurried toward the grove of trees behind the keep. Ochre was waiting, and when he saw her, his face lit up in an instant smile that made her heart do little back-flips. He held out his hand for her, and she grabbed it.
“I started to worry you’d gotten caught and were being forced to listen to a lecture on being weird,” he whispered.
She snorted. “That would be about par for the course.”
Ochre’s shoulders shook with suppressed laughter.
“Shut up,” she growled.
“But I like weird,” he said.
She smiled up at him, marveling again at how far up she had to look. “Do you really?” she asked skeptically.
“Yes,” he said, nodding confidently. “It’s not like I’m destined for normal with these ears.”
She caught the little bitter note in his voice.
“What’s wrong with your ears?” she asked, tilting her head to look at them. She thought the points were sexy.
“My sisters didn’t get the ears,” he said, blushing and pushing his hair down to cover them. “I never understood why I drew the short straw.”
“It’s hard being different from the rest of your family,” said Anna. “I’m the only girl in like a century. I’m still not sure my father has recovered.”
Ochre grinned. “I’m glad you’re a girl,” he offered, and Anna giggled.
“Yeah, I noticed.” He really had made the most absolutely delightful noise when he’d seen her boobs. Anna thought she had a nice rack, but having independent verification was always enjoyable. Plus, now she knew what to use to melt his brain.
“OK, where are we going?” he asked. “I need a destination; otherwise, we’re half likely to get lost in the woods for the next eternity.”
“Charlie lives outside of Harrisburg, in Pennsylvania.” Ochre squinted as if he was trying to pull up a mental image of Pennsylvania.
