Page 14 of Finding Her (Lore of the Fields #1)

“No, stop that,” I snapped, relieved to feel my fist had suffocated my wrath of its fuel.

“You’re the only person who can help me.

I can’t do this alone, Mykie. You will make mistakes.

I’ll make one hundred more mistakes than you.

We need to adapt, stay calm, and hope we don’t scare her off.

” I was speaking to myself as much as her.

She leaned back on her hands and looked up at the leaves. “That’s going to be the hard part, friend. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but she’s just as in over her head as you. She’s desperate to acclimate. It doesn’t bode well for your need to fly under the radar.”

“We’ll just have to keep her out of town as much as possible. Changing her hair color will help, but it’s still risky.”

“Avoid” Category #1: Somebody recognizing her.

“You can’t keep her locked inside the house forever.”

“She made that clear,” I groaned, reflecting on how angry she had been at the notion of not being able to leave.

She had called herself my “ pet” . Had I done that bad of a job of behaving normally when I brought her here?

It wasn’t exactly typical circumstances, and I had never been the best actor.

“I need more time. I need a safe environment where nobody can interfere. Long enough to gain some trust and clear my head so I can think straight.”

Mykie picked up a fallen pink leaf from the bench and twirled the stem in her fingers. “Sounds like you need a vacation.”

Hm . Not a bad idea at all. Eitrea Island, the home of the flowering tree we were below, would suit my requirements.

Perhaps a hard sell given she was still getting settled, but absolutely a sheltered option for Faeryn to explore herself and her environment.

She had so many questions; guiding them to safe topics would work in my favor.

I was under no illusion that her optimism last night hadn’t been from the alcohol.

She would wake up disoriented, on high alert, and solution hungry in just a matter of hours, expected of any sane person with decent survival instincts.

The situation may be even worse with a hangover and any memories of my feral form shift.

One of the “monsters” . Earning her trust was my number one priority, and I couldn’t do it in an environment tainted with so much fear and rage.

“I would need supplies,” I mumbled, my brain already rattling over the checklist. “Not to mention calling out of work.” Not that my job was high on my list of concerns at the moment.

In fact, my only reservation was asking for time off without raising suspicions.

I didn’t want Theo asking any questions. People talk in small towns.

“Avoid” Category #2: People talking.

“Sure.” She ran her hand back over her smooth hair, which reflected the pink highlights from the canopy of flowers above her.

“If you trust me, I can watch Faeryn. But for the love of fuck, run your errands while she sleeps. Set me up for success here, or I’m going to have to use my emergency supplies if the situation spirals. Guardianship isn’t my forte.”

“You will not use your work tools on Faeryn,” I snarled, my lip pushed up by my growing canines at the thought. A protective instinct rumbled in my chest.

“Nothing dangerous.” She locked eyes with me and saw me unmoved.

“Look, Gray, I don’t want to touch a hair on her pretty head.

I’m just thinking through options to prevent crises here.

If you’re going to drag me into this, you have to trust me.

” Her typically hard expression fell. “I know I let my vices win yesterday, but I’ll do better. I promise.”

“Sure.” I tapped my foot anxiously on the dirt. “Then I’ll prepare tomorrow morning. I think that Drooler you gave her will have her out for a while, but I’d rather not risk it today. The markets open at star rise, and I can be out while it’s still dark and back within an hour.”

“My shift will end right when you’re supposed to leave, then.

” She fumbled around in her small leather bag.

“It’ll work.” She pulled out a joint of herbs and held it out to me.

I lifted my hand for her to press its tip into the small flame at the center of my palm.

Her lips closed around it, and she took a long drag, exhaling the musky smoke into the soft summer breeze.

“Who’s lined up for tonight?”

She grinned with the joint hanging loosely between her teeth, “Now you know I can’t tell you that. They’d cut out my tongue, which I’m quite fond of.” She ashed her joint on the edge of the bench.

“Of course. But if it concerns her—”

“ If it concerns her— and you would benefit from knowing the information—I will part with my tongue.”

I scowled, but dropped the topic. Mykie was doing everything she could to help.

My frustration wasn’t with her; none of this was her fault.

I was just furious at the world because I hated what it was making me do.

I didn’t see a single passage to a happy ending for myself.

Having Faeryn sleeping alone nearby was a painful reminder that I was destined for a life of misery, anger, and regret.

And I fucking deserved it . Compound that with several days without sleep, and I was on the verge of apocalyptic levels of self-destruction.

Which wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have a job to do.

Unfortunately, failure wasn’t an option, so I’d live through the pain of what had to be done.

Eitrea would be a welcome side quest while I attempted to regain my composure, and gods know it would be a special experience for Faeryn.

She deserved a little enchantment in her life.

And with the magic of the island in the air, who knows, maybe it would right my wrongs.

Maybe it would give her the peace I couldn’t.