Page 17

“Let me help you.” Jace and Enzo offered, lifting me from my arms and carrying me across the floor.

Calix poured everyone some stew in a bowl while Gideon hopped up to pour everyone a drink. From what I could surmise, it seemed everyone had a job. Calix was the cook, Jace, the healer, Dresden, the woodworker and builder, Barrett, the leader… but I still wasn’t sure about the others, even though I’m sure they somehow contributed.

“Thank you again. I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome.” Barrett nodded.

Everyone ate their dinner in silence and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was because of me or if this was how it always was. I had to assume I was the cause for the tension in the air.

I tried not to look at Gage, but there was something about his rough features that drew me in like a moth to a flame. He had a thin cut beard that was as dark as his hair, and his eyes, the way they sparkled...

As I was finishing my bowl of stew, I was hit with the sad realization this was the first time I had ever had dinner with another person for as long as I could remember. Here I was surrounded by a complete set of strangers and yet there was nowhere else I wanted to be.

Calix sat a muffin in front of me with a candle in it. “It’s nothing much, but you should make a wish.”

“A what?”

The already silent air became even more silent- like everyone had stopped breathing.

“You blow your candle out and make a wish for your birthday.” Enzo said slowly, tilting his head in confusion.

“Oh. I’ve never… I’ve never done that before.”

Enzo laughed, then stopped. “Oh, you’re not kidding.”

My lips flattened into a hardline. “Would you believe me if I told you this was also the first time, that I can remember anyway, where I had a meal with someone else?”

Gage’s eyes landed on me, but he didn’t speak. I felt like he was trying to stare into the depths of my soul, there was something there. A familiarity?

“My stepmother banished me away in the… house. She gave me a closet to sleep in, where she had a ser-… person, bring me food on a tray.”

“You were a prisoner?” Jace whispered.

“Well. I could go outside, but at night I had to be in and I wasn’t really allowed to see anyone or be seen.”

The room was so silent you could hear a needle drop.

I looked around and then my eyes landed on the melting candle so I gave it a blow. “I wish that-”

“NO! Stop!” they all yelled… well, all except Gage.

“You don’t tell us or it won’t come true.” Enzo said.

“You believe that?”

“Of course we do.”

“Not all of us.” Gideon chimed in.

“Well, of us, except for Gideon, who has to study everything and maybe Gage… who, well, is just an ass.”

“Oh, ok.”

“Close your eyes and make a wish.” Enzo encouraged with a smile spread across his face, leaning forward ever so slightly in his seat.

I closed my eyes and thought long and hard. I had never had a chance to make a wish for anything before and I felt it needed to be good, but there were so many things to wish for. So I worked through each one and settled on it and then opened my eyes.

“Thank God. She’s alive.” Gage mocked, no doubt commenting on how long it took me to come up with a wish.