Page 10 of The First Trial
‘Can you hear anyone else, or is it just me?’ he asked.
‘So far, it’s just you.’
‘Same. Do you think it’s a side-effect of whatever is going on?’he asked. ‘What if it’s only temporary?’
‘Then nothing’s really changed. If this is a side-effect, then we’ll deal with it, but I’m not going to look a gift-horse in the mouth. I can talk to you around others without anyone knowing, so the curse can’t hurt us. I’m not seeing any downsides to it so far, besides losing a big chunk of the forest to a massive black mountain. Maybe it’s not a bad thing?’
He mulled it over before responding, pausing momentarily before we had to go our separate ways. ‘We need to be cautious, Junie. We don’t know what’s going on, and we don’t know how this is affecting us. Hell, someone else could already be listening in, and we just don’t know it.’
All very valid points that I hadn’t even considered yet. ‘Okay, let’s pack our things and get settled into the youth dorms, and then maybe we can get together tonight and see if we can work out a plan?’
‘Good idea. I’ll see you soon.’
My fingers twitched with the urge to wave goodbye as he turned his back on me and headed in the opposite direction. It was going to be so nice to live in the same building, at least for the time being. I could feel it the longer our curse kept us apart, the need to be close to him. There was a pull that couldn’t be ignored, but we also couldn’t act on it, and though it had grated on us for many years, it had never been this bad before. It was starting to become painful. Headaches, insomnia, a metaphysical link that seemed to want to tear from our chests the longer we were apart.
I may have been cautious about what was happening, but I wasn’t afraid, and though that was likely incredibly naïve, I couldn’t help but be grateful for it. Whatever it was, it was giving us the opportunity to hopefully soothe our fractured bond, so I was going to thank whatever Gods were responsible and jumpinto what came next with both feet, a smile on my face and my brother by my side.
My gut was screaming at me that this was our chance. We were on the cusp of uncovering everything that was keeping us apart. I just knew it.
Chapter 4
Oswald
Aknock rapped on the other side of my door as I was zipping up my third suitcase. I finished my task before opening it to find Enid and Hawthorne ready to barge in as soon as the door was open.
‘What the hell, Oz?’ Enid demanded, and I frowned at her in confusion.
‘What?’
‘What is going on?’
I huffed, annoyed with her. We may have been friends, but it was Thorne who was the glue. Without him, I doubted I’d have the patience or willpower to suffer through her constant whining. Sure, we got along for the most part, but times like these, I just wanted to throttle her.
‘I know as much as you do, Enid. Why do you automatically assume I know more?’
‘Because Kendra was on the right track about one thing, Oz. Where were you last night?’
My nostrils flared as anger drilled through me, but I pushed it down with some deep breaths. ‘I was in my room just like every other Friday night, Enid. Why are you coming at me like this?’
‘Wasshehere, too? Are you fucking Juniper?’
The accusation landed like a battering ram to the stomach. My breath stalled for a beat before I composed myself, shutting down all emotion to avoid detection.
‘No. I’m not fucking her,’ I snapped, eyeing Thorne warily. That was an accusation that could damage our friendship and was the only reason I had for not wanting to break this curseseparating me and Junie. If we ever did manage to successfully release ourselves from the curse, I wasn’t sure how he would react to my hiding the fact that I was related toJuniper, of all people.
‘There’s no way Oz would fuck June, Enid. Don’t go trying to start shit where there isn’t any,’ Thorne retorted, his tone harsh. Junie really was a sore spot for him, and it killed me to see him hurting like this and not be able to do anything about it.
Junie would kill me, too, if she ever found out, but at least she would’ve understood my silence. Guilt twisted my stomach because I was the only reason they couldn’t be together, nor could I tell either one about the other’s feelings. Not without risking both myself and Junie, and we had no idea what could happen if we even attempted to bring someone else into our problems.
‘This is ridiculous. Why are you even here?’ I snapped at both of them. I knew Thorne didn’t deserve it, but Enid was getting on my last nerve, and he’d brought her here. I punctuated my annoyance with the thud of my suitcase as I dropped it onto the floor by the door.
‘We were worried about you,’ Thorne cut in before any sound could come from Enid’s mouth. It was times like this when I reconsidered the value of our friendship. It was becoming clearer to me that the only reason I even tolerated her was because Thorne wanted her around. He was my best friend, so I kept my mouth shut, but I hated the way she thought she owned the two of us.
I was tired of her treating my friend like a prize she’d won (she hadn’t) while I was the spare she was forced to interact with by extension. Fuck that. The fact that she was even in here, accusing me of sleeping with Juniper behind his back, told me she knew exactly where she stood in his heart. I just couldn’t understandwhy that didn’t stop her from trying to push him for a committed relationship when she knew it was never going to happen.
Mind. Boggling.
‘Why were you worried about me?’ I asked him, pointedly ignoring Enid’s glare.
