Page 64 of Brambles and Bellflowers
“Sure,” Damen replied. “There’s a dark and light side to every element. In your case, the powers are housed in the Seelie and Unseelie courts. Caleb was supposed to teach you about the Unseelie magic and the lore. I guess Gregory will have to do it now. Nobody’s heard from Caleb’s ghost in a while. He might have moved on.”
Mr. Weaver. My spine tingled as the familiar feeling of remembering something important slammed into me.
Crap.
No, Mr. Weaver hadn’t moved on. In fact, the last time I’d seen him, he was very much still here—spiritually. He’d been free to come and go as he wanted until, in my moment of panic, I’d told him he wasn’t allowed to leave Ms. Protean’s office.
Surely that didn’t mean he wasstuckthere?
Lord, I hoped not.
Guilt washed over me. When I’d left, he’d been visible to Ms. Protean, and they were bickering.
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. “Are you still upset about the mushrooms?”
“Not so much about that,” I replied. The mushrooms paled in comparison to 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 replied, gesturing toward the tree. “It’s all good.”
I narrowed my eyes on him.
Was he trying to rub this transgression in my face? Just seeing those orange atrocities grated my already raw nerves.
“I know.” 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 obvious. Every few yards, another unsightly bunch was growing, mocking me.
“Just how long has this been going on?” I muttered, not really expecting an answer.
But Titus heard and responded anyway. “We’ve been following his trail since we started tracking him.”
Okay, I needed to be more specific…
“Before this,” I clarified. “How long has he been using such tactics?”
Titus sheepishly glanced back at me again. “Lifetimes.”
I blinked at him.Lifetimes?
Damen was smirking as he passed 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 bread crumbs once, but it didn’t end well.” He sighed dramatically. “He got lost, then you got lost chasing after him. You two were younger in that life, and a cannibalistic witch was involved. It was an all-around bad situation.”
“What?” I asked sarcastically. Why were so many witches cannibals? “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?”
“All fairy tales have a hint of truth.” Damen petted my head. “It’s just a matter of separating fact from fiction.”
