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Chapter Thirty-Three

Grim

“ Y ou want me to go into town and ask that blonde girl from the village to return your vials?”

“Her name is Daisy, and yes. She borrowed them last week and said I could have them back around this time. Could you please fetch them?”

Grim frowned; it was an odd request to make so suddenly, but then again, this was Serena. She probably had something stuck in her head that she wanted to do as soon as possible, and she wouldn’t rest until it was done.

“Sure,” he said, not wanting to deny her, not after what had happened last night.

“You do remember what she looked like, right? Nevermind, Glenn isn’t a large place, just ask someone where she lives. Her name is Daisy Summers.”

“All right,” he said and headed for the door when her voice stopped him again.

“Grim,” she said. “If there was a way for you to not have to go for the trials, would you—”

“No,” he said, sharply, “And you had better not be thinking of a way to make that happen.”

An odd expression crossed her face before she waved her hand irritably.

“It was just a question,” she said. “It’s not like I could actually do something about it.”

He looked at her with narrowed eyes, not quite trusting the guileless look on her face, but before he could ask any further questions, she was ushering him out the door.

Finding Daisy Summers’ house was not difficult at all, however the problem was that the girl herself did not seem to be home. He knocked for a good five minutes, waited another fifteen, and was just about to give up when he heard someone call out behind him.

“Oh, hello there!” came a cheery female voice. “Can I help you with something?”

He turned around to see a vaguely familiar girl with hair the color of wheat and large blue eyes.

“Daisy Summers, I presume? ”

“Yes, that’s me,” she said with a slightly quizzical smile. “Oh my, you’re the man from the square! You’re Serena’s friend, aren’t you?”

He inclined his head, choosing to not debate the relationship. Best to not give the gossip mongers further things to wag their tongues about, and while Daisy seemed like a pleasant girl, she did not exactly radiate secrecy.

“Sorry I don’t know your name.”

“You can call me Grim.”

“Grim, then. I meant to thank you both,” she said, her cheeks coloring. “Well, to thank Serena mostly. I was in an unpleasant situation that day, and I am very grateful that she stepped in when she did.”

“Well, that’s Serena for you,” he said with a slight grin. “Can never really keep her head down.”

Daisy looked at him, her eyebrows almost up to her hairline.

“Serena? Serena Rose? I don’t think I’ve ever heard her described that way before. She’s rather quiet. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her say more than a few words when she’s in town. Unless she’s healing someone, that is. Even then, she’s much more close-lipped than our last healer.”

Grim frowned, recalling his first meeting with Serena and the subsequent days where she would just follow him around chattering about nothing and everything. Daisy mistook his frown for judgement and she hurried on.

“Oh, she’s never rude, just quiet. To be quite honest with you, I don’t quite blame her; the things some of the villagers said when she first appeared!

I never believed any of it of course, but I…

well, I also never said anything to stop them.

Which is why I’m so ashamed, the way she stepped in when the Reverend was harassing me, I could never have done that for her. ”

Grim was only half listening. He recalled the look of hurt on her face when he had told her he had no interest in being friends.

It hit him now that he was probably the first person she had met in a long time who didn’t have any preconceived notions about her and was probably just looking for a friend.

Remorse overwhelmed him- it was so easy to forget that Serena dealt with such insecurities, because of the way she was always laughing and talking.

She had tried so hard those first few days to extend a hand and he had not only rejected it, but also proceeded to betray her in the worst way possible.

And even after that, after all his deceit, it had taken only a little for her to forgive him again. Just as how she had helped Daisy Summers even knowing that the girl would not have done the same in her position. Because that was just the person Serena Rose was.

He suddenly felt the urge to rush back home to her. To hold her and tell her that she was not alone anymore, that she would always have someone to stand next to her, to protect her, and cherish her.

Daisy was still talking, and Grim cut her off, not wanting to linger too long.

“Miss Summers, I’m afraid I’m in a hurry. Serena asked me to fetch some vials you borrowed some time ago?”

Daisy blinked. “There must be some mistake. I returned those vials ages ago.”

“What? That doesn’t make sense.” Unease curled in his stomach. “Unless…”

If there was a way for you to not have to go for the trials, would you—

It’s not like I could actually do something about it.

If not for me, you wouldn’t be in this mess.

“That little fool,” he whispered, fear icing his heart. “She couldn’t possibly be thinking of asking him. ”

“Mr. Grim, is everything quite all right?”

He shook his head, trying to fight the panic that curled up his throat

“Nevermind, Miss Summers. Serena must have made a mistake. Thank you for letting me know.”

He turned away from the concerned girl, and took off in a run, praying that he was not too late, and Serena had not made a terrible mistake.

Each footstep was a judgement cast upon him, a reminder that he had failed to predict danger once again.

How could he have been so foolish? How had he not seen how oddly she had been acting in the morning.

He had simply thought she was grief stricken and decided to give her some space.

He should have known, he should have stayed, he should have seen through the act.

But he hadn’t, and he prayed to the stars that it wasn’t too late.

His lungs were burning, and his muscles cramped with the speed his legs were running at. His vision began to blur but he kept going, pumping his legs even faster. All the while his mind chanted the same prayer over and over again.

Please be all right, please be all right, please be all right.

He couldn’t believe she would even consider asking Lore for help after everything he had put her through.

Whatever sick obsession the demon had with Serena, it was not going to stop him from taking advantage of her the second she reached out her hand.

The last tale should have proven that at least. He hadn’t hesitated to put her life in danger just to watch the two of them suffer, like worms he had caught on a hook.

He was almost there now, the cottage a faint outline in the periphery of his vision. His gut clenched. There was an unsettling energy radiating from the place. It was when he was almost at the door that he heard the scream that made his heart turn to ice.