Page 67 of Balance
What if hehad beenstuck all this time?
She was going to be angry. And him? He would be grumpier than usual.
I would have to check on them first thing when we got back.
“What’s wrong?” Julian asked, his focus suddenly back on me. He brushed my arm, seeking my attention. “Are you still upset about the mushrooms?”
“No,” I lied. While Iwasupset, this paled in the embarrassment at my amateurish mistake.
This was a disaster. Bryce could never find out. He’d never let me live it down.
“It’s just a little fungus,” Damen supplied, gesturing toward the tree. “It’s all good.”
Now they were only rubbing my face in this transgression—just looking at those orange atrocities grated my already raw nerves.
“I know it’s a fungus.” I shrugged, trying not to care anymore. “Let’s just go.”
The others glanced at each other only once before reclaiming their supplies and we fell into step behind Titus.
Now that I knew what to look for, the trail was maddeningly obvious. Every few yards another bunch of bright orange atrocities grew, seemingly mocking me.
“Just how long has this been going on?” I muttered, not really expecting an answer.
But Titus heard and responded anyway, glancing back only once as he held wayward foliage out of my path. “We’ve been following his trail since we left Pete’s Point.”
Okay, I needed to be more specific…
“Before this,” I clarified. “How long has Miles been resorting to such tactics?”
Titus sheepishly glanced back at me again. “Lifetimes.”
I blinked at him.Lifetimes?
Damen smirked, pushing past Julian to squeeze beside me. “He first started doing it to annoy you. It was his way to get you to pay attention to him. He used food once, but it didn’t end well.” He sighed heavily. “He got lost, then you got lost chasing after him. You two were younger in that life, and there was a cannibalistic witch. It was an all-around bad situation.”
“What?” I asked sarcastically. “LikeHansel and Gretel?”
I half expected Damen to laugh, but his expression only turned more severe.
He had to be kidding me.
“Seriously?” I stopped, staring at him in surprise. “It’s real?”
“Everything is real.” Damen tugged at my hand as he moved past me. “It’s all just a matter of what is correct.”
Chapter Fifteen
Titus
Breeze
Dusk was falling already, and we hadn’t found Miles yet. It wasn’t him I was worried for.
Bianca, who instead of complaining a single instance during this entire trip, had moved through the forest with practiced ease that both comforted and alarmed me. While it was true that we always inherited certain aspects of our past lives—and that Mu had a tendency to draw his power from the forest—her movements indicated that she had experience surviving in the wild.
And not in any past life either.
Still, even though darkness was growing stronger, I was tempted to press on. The humming under my skin had intensified—if we didn’t find him tonight, it would definitely be tomorrow.
