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Forty-One

DRAVEN

I sat in my empty tavern, mug in hand, already on my third round.

“So you’re just going to mope?” a voice said from the doorway.

I looked up to see Elm standing there.

“What else is there to do?” I raised my mug in his direction. “Pull up a seat and join me.”

He scoffed and shook his head. “I have more important things to be doing.”

“Like leaving Thistlegrove?” I asked. “Going back to work with your father?” Elm and his father ran a successful restaurant together, and if I knew his father, he’d be seething over the fact that Elm had been gone so long.

He stepped forward, his large frame taking up so much space. “I’m going after Adelaide. She’s gone. Elspeth is gone. And since you’re here sulking, you must know about it.”

I heaved a sigh. “Adelaide left, Elm. Isn’t that enough of a sign? She doesn’t want you.”

Elm’s jaw ticked, and he ran a hand through his wild curly hair. “Fuck that. ”

My gaze snapped to him. “You can’t force her to be with you. Be realistic, Elm. The Moonflowers were never staying.”

“Then I’ll travel with them.”

I rolled my eyes.

“I’ll follow Adelaide to the ends of the earth.”

“Even if she doesn’t want you to?” I stood. “You’re acting like a fool.”

“No, I’m acting like a man in love. Unlike you, acting like some poor, helpless man who has no power, no control over what happens.”

“I don’t!” I gritted out. “Elspeth chose to leave. I asked her not to, and she didn’t listen. What am I supposed to do?”

“Did you tell her?” Elm crossed his arms.

“Tell her what?” I asked.

“That you love her.”

I swallowed. “Elm?—”

“You do. Even if you haven’t realized it yet. You do love her.”

“Yes,” I said. “But it doesn’t matter.”

“Yes it does.” He surged forward and took me by the arms, giving me a shake. “My biggest regret is not telling Adelaide. My biggest regret was holding back because I was afraid she didn’t feel the same. But I’m not letting her leave without telling her how I feel, without doing everything I can to make her see that she’s the one for me.”

I stared into his dark brown eyes, swirling with so much emotion, so much determination. I’d never seen Elm this serious about anything. Or anyone.

“If I tell her I love her, that I can’t live without her, and she tells me she doesn’t feel the same, then I’ll let her go. But I’m sure as hellfire going to try. And if you don’t try, too, it’s going to be the biggest regret of your life. Isn’t Elspeth worth fighting for?”

“But why would they just leave like that?”

“I don’t know,” Elm said. “Adelaide told me they moved around a lot. Never settling in one place.” He paused. “I think Elspeth has been hurt in the past.”

I stilled. “What?”

Elm let go of my shoulders and stepped back. “Adelaide didn’t give me a lot of details. But it sounds like there was a guy who led Elspeth on. Johanes. He made her believe he loved her, then changed his mind, broke her heart. Ever since then, Elspeth has been guarded. When people get too close, she runs.”

Fury swept through me. If I ever found the man that hurt her, I didn’t know what I’d do. I knew Elspeth was guarded, and I thought maybe it was because of her father. She’d told me he left them. The bastard. But she hadn’t told me about this.

“So you think Elspeth got scared?” I asked. “Because of me?”

“Because she loves you, and love is terrifying,” Elm said.

She loves you. I didn’t dare hope that Elm’s words were true, but if they were... if there was even a sliver of a chance that they were true, I had to find out. I owed it to myself. To Elspeth.

The door burst open again. “We’re closed,” I barked.

“There’s a problem,” Morty said.

I looked at the witch, her brows pinched. “Make it quick, Morty. I have somewhere to be.”

Morty’s jaw locked. “Witch Superior is here.”

Fuck.

“And Georgie ran away.”

My entire body went cold.

“Several townspeople saw her and the dragon fleeing Thistlegrove.”

I stepped forward. “When?”

“I just found out, but I think it was over an hour ago.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“Where is my grandmother?” I ground out.

“She’s at your manor. Servants are attending to her. But she’s asking for you and Georgie.”

I thought about what I’d said to her in the forest. This was all my fault. “I have to go after my sister.”

“I’ll help you.” Elm clapped my shoulder with his hand. “We’ll find Adelaide and Elspeth later.”

I swallowed, thinking of Georgie out there all alone. It wasn’t safe for a young girl to be traveling by herself. Any number of things could happen to her. I shouldn’t have been so harsh, so cruel. Even if our grandmother was a better option to raise Georgie, I could’ve told her in a gentler way. I’d been so upset about Elspeth, I hadn’t been thinking clearly.

I’d well and truly fucked everything up. But now I had to fix it .

I looked at Morty. “Head to the manor and distract my grandmother. She likes you. She always has. I’ll find Georgie, and we’ll be there as soon as possible.”

Hopefully by the time I could find Elspeth, it wouldn’t be too late. I ran for the door, grabbing the handle and swinging it open, coming face-to-face with Elspeth Moonflower.