Page 107 of Brambles and Bellflowers
“You will,” Kathleen pursed her lips. She glanced between us once more before waving her hand, “I only came to picksomething up—I’m not wasting time standing around here, and from the looks of it, neither should you. We’ll continue this once we’re sheltered and fed.”
My pulse was racing as I looked between them. Should we trust her? Miles had visibly relaxed and certainly seemed inclined to.
19
The open stonehearth was tiny but gave off enough heat to warm the rest of Kathleen Geier’s house. She lived in a cozy, one-room shelter made of dried mud and stone. We had to be miles from civilization, so I assumed this was a repurposed hunting cabin; otherwise, it was hard to believe she’d built this place herself.
Kathleen was almost as short as me but seemed very strong, which was probably how she’d survived so many years out here by herself. It also hadn’t escaped my notice that, upon our arrival, she had no problem pushing around a large, cast iron cauldron without breaking a sweat.
Miles sat beside me on the packed dirt floor, sharing his body heat with me even though we’d been given two quilts. While we warmed, Kathleen continued to busy herself at the fire.
“Kathleen,” he said, looking over the navy mug she’d handed him, cautious wonderment barely concealed in his voice and posture as he asked, “Did you do all this yourself?”
She’d tied her white hair into a loose bun on her head, and her black dress brushed across her legs as she turned to him. I was trying to stay open-minded, as Miles was quite sensitive onthis topic, but I still couldn’t help but see the correlation between her and every fictional witch I’d ever seen on television.
Despite her innocent eyes, she gave off evil witch vibes.
Miles and I had lost our trail, got lost in the woods, and stumbled upon a witch’s cabin. Now, she was going to feed us.
Damen had said fairy tales had roots in reality. Only a fool couldn’t see how this would end.
Besides, it wasn’t like I was assuming anything unusual. The woman was a powerful witch. Before Miles’s questions, she’d even been stirring her cauldron, throwing random herbs in there.
Was she working on a spell? What was she going to do to us? If she was related to my adoptive parents in any way, she couldn’t be trusted.
“Of course not.” She frowned at him. “Use your brain.”
Miles’s face turned pink, and he sipped his tea. “I do…”
“You don’t even recognize this potion, do you?” She waved her wooden spoon at him.
“Should I?” He glanced toward the cauldron.
“Oh well.” She sighed. “It’s probably better if you don’t. You wouldn’t believe me even if I explained it to you.”
Yeah, she was up to something. She had that look about her. Someone in this room was going to die.
I was squishy in the middle and didn’t have much muscle. I’d taste terrible. So that left only Miles—and the dude was built. This waspreciselywhy working out and getting buff was detrimental to your health.
Why wasn’t he more concerned about this?
“In any case,” Kathleen continued, closing a lid over her steaming creation, “you need to graduate soon.”
Miles flushed and pointedly looked away from me. “I’m working on it—”
“I don’t know what Jonathon is up to, letting you wander about untrained, but he’s bordering on negligence,” she said. “He is your Paragon Er Bashou. He knows better.”
“You ran away entirely,” Miles muttered. “Plus, he’s been somewhat busy.”
She paused and glanced at me. “I see that,” she crossed her arms. “Care to explain why my son’s invested so much energy into you?”
“W-what?” It was my turn to hide behind my drink. “I don’t know?”
“Kathleen,” Miles cut in, leaning forward between us. “Jonathon and Abigail adopted Bianca ten years ago. They retired.”
“We can’t retire,” she said, disapproving. “It is a lifetime commitment. We can only be displaced if a Xing strips us of our position.”
“What commitment? You still ran away,” Miles repeated. I bit my lip at his sharp expression.
