Page 106 of Shifting Winds
I sat at the table piled high with petals and wanted to set the entire thing on fire. Flowers were a symbol of hope, and all my hope had died the moment I watched my best friend get absorbed into the ground like fae fertilizer.
Claws slid from my fingers, and I had to take a deep breath before I went into a killing rage. A warm hand reached over and squeezed my shoulder.
“Moira,” Ash said as he set a steaming mug of Earl Grey before me. “Have faith.”
I scoffed. “Four weeks, Ash. She’s been gone for four weeks. When does our faith die and we come to terms with her death?”
“Evie is a powerful being.” Ash’s nostrils flared. “So much power I can barely stand next to her without feeling like I’m going to burst into flames. And not only that, she has the Mother’s blessing. The world loves her and that matters.”
“Not even Cernunnos could save her,” I muttered. “If the Fae King could do nothing to save his daughter from such a terrible fate, do you think the Mother could?”
Ash’s measured look made me feel awful. He was right. Faith could bring you through the direst of circumstances, but we hadn’t just lost Evie.
Despite Cliona’s promise to the contrary, Tess had not returned.
The shop had lost its spirit. Both literal and metaphorical. With Evie gone, Little Shop of Florals had lost its heart. With Tess gone, we’d lost curious innocence and hope.
I swallowed hard and clenched a handful of petals in my fist, crushing them in my grip. The scent of rose and jasmine filled the air. It should have been pleasant, but all I could think about was our loss.
I was a thing of teeth and claws and burning rage, and Evie’s love and care was the only thing keeping me tethered to this world. Without her…
“I miss her,” I whispered.
“Evie is well-loved.” His lips twisted. “I wish she were here for us to tell her so.”
“I miss both of them. What happened? What brought this on? One minute she was there and the next, she was just…gone. What kind of world could let something like that happen? She mattered so much. And now she’s not here. Just gone. Like a fucking soap bubble or something.” I laid a fist against my heart. “She lives here, and I know she will always be there, but I want to hear her voice. I want—” My nostrils flared. I shoved the basket off the table, the air filling with a riot of pink and burgundy petals.
Ash’s face softened. “I know it’s difficult to have faith when circumstances seem so dire, but I choose to believe she’s still in there fighting to come back to us. Eventually, even I will lose that faith, and when that time comes, then we can discuss what happens next. But remember, Moira, Evie is not only fae. She’s kept one secret from almost everyone.”
My head snapped up. “You think the Chimera part of her might save her?”
“There’s no way to tell, but it’s unaccounted for. If the fae trapped her, maybe the Chimera will be the thing that frees her.”
I didn’t see how. She always felt the thing inside her was a monster, a ravaging beast raging to claim power, but I’d never seen that. I mean, yes, she ate way too much red meat since she’d accepted its claim on her, and I knew she hoped we didn’t notice, but there’d been no real change in personality other than her physical hunger and the occasional mood swing when she hadn’t siphoned off enough power.
Neither one of those two things was enough to make me believe she’d changed from the Evie we all knew and loved. It was only one more thing to deal with—a terrible thing in how it happened, but one that had saved her when all hope seemed lost.
Maybe it would do that for her again.
“She doesn’t know how to use the power,” I said, thinking through some things aloud.
“Evie has always been good with intuitive magic,” Ash said as he bent to scoop the scattered petals back into the basket.
I got down on my hands and knees to help. “She overthinks,” I mused.
“Absolutely. And what does she have plenty of time to do now that she’s been absorbed into a tree?”
I sat back on my haunches. “Think about how she’s going to get out. If she can think at all.”
Ash nodded. “Trust me when I say, she can. I’ve touched that tree. Evie’s essence burns inside the thing. She’s still there. I can feel her.”
Ash’s magic worked much differently than mine. I had little domain over the earth like he or Evie did, though I used its bounty in some of my work. If he said he could feel her, then I believed him.
“How can we help her?” I asked.
He scooped up the last of the petals. “She said you helped her heal after she was wounded when Cernunnos and Ben’s magic couldn’t. Is that true?”
I hesitated, unwilling to divulge everything, but still nodded. This was Ash, one of my closest friends. If my power could help Evie, I’d carve my secrets into my skin to assist.
