The Forest of Sleepers (Nowhere Book 2)

t h i r t y - o n e : r e s t l e s s

If Marigold had waited a mere hour before leaving the house, she would have seen Wyatt coming out of the barn.

She would have asked him what was wrong. He would tell her to follow him back into the house, where they'd have a family meeting and Wyatt would tell everyone about his history together.

Marigold would know about the sleepers and what would happen if they were awakened. She would know that Wyatt had decided not to awaken them because it was too dangerous.

But Marigold left an hour too early and knew none of this.

She'd been restless all night, plagued by dreams that felt like nothing and darkness at the same time.

Ever since her conversation with Wyatt, she'd been feeling this way. Like she was caged inside her own listless wandering, always walking but never reaching a destination.

I want Gwydyr to choose me, was a thought that came unbidden to Marigold's mind in the bleak hours of the morning.

She opened her eyes, staring up at the ceiling.

This was her chance to prove herself to Gwydyr. To allow their fates to intersect.

On the day they'd found out Wyatt was the dead king of Gwydyr, Marigold had been ashamedly jealous. As much as she hated herself for it, she wondered why Gwydyr had first chosen Birdie to save it, then Wyatt to be its king.

Even though neither player had a say in the game, Marigold desperately wished Gwydyr would choose her. For something. After all, wasn't she the only willing participant?

But if she proved to Gwydyr that she was something more than a conduit to Birdie's magic, then maybe her destiny could change into something more than a smalltown mechanic.

The feeling that bloomed in Marigold's chest was like the feeling one gets after seeing someone else do something incredible like playing the violin or shooting an arrow perfectly into the bullseye. The need to be like them, to do something amazing too.

Marigold couldn't get out of the house fast enough.

She was past the peach orchard before the sun had fully risen.

Though an imagination was not deeply ingrained in Marigold's DNA, her thoughts whirred with possibility nonetheless.

This was her chance. Her chance to prove to Gwydyr that she was a worthy advocate. Her chance to save Wyatt. Her chance to be someone.

All she had to do was ask Gwydyr what task it would assign to her and she would do it.

Her quick steps brought her past the Best farmhouse. It was a tragic sight, with half of its second story removed and the other half charred.

She paused in front of it for only a second before turning away.

For her, more things had burned that night than just the house.

She walked into Gwydyr.

The air immediately warmed, sending goosebumps over Marigold's arms as she sucked in a deep breath of the sweet air.

Home was a word she would use to describe the feeling.

She walked, hoping the forest would reveal itself to her in some way or another.

"I'm here to help you," she said.

In response, there was a rustle deep in the woods; leaves crunching like an animal's footsteps.

Marigold froze. "Hello?"

The leaves on the oaks above shivered.

She straightened, her muscles tensing.

"Who's there?"

The wind whispered in her ear, a language she didn't understand, and the forest quieted once again.

She swallowed before carrying on, feeling more watched, more aware, than before, until she reached the cathedral.

Her heartbeat drummed out the words, I'm here, I'm here, I'm here.

The cathedral welcomed her.

She stepped lightly down the aisle, through the underbrush and moss, and over the brooke that flowed through the center.

The statues lining the walls watched her now, she could sense it. Their concrete gazes followed her every move as if they knew that she knew their secrets.

She came upon the grave and touched it lightly.

There was so much she didn't understand. So much she feared about the forest.

A stale wind blew through the broken window behind the tomb and when Marigold looked up, a boy appeared--not there one second, there the next.

Marigold's breath caught in her throat as the wind tossed her hair about her face.

The boy in front of her was all dark clouds and violent expression and troubled past.

"Silas," she whispered.

He grinned. "Miss me?"

"How--how did you--" she sucked in a breath, taking in the impossibility of seeing him in front of her.

"You and Hal disappeared. We thought you were both gone forever."

"The forest raised me," Silas replied. "It looks after its own."

"Does it?" Marigold asked.

"Gwydyr brought me back to life once. Doing it a second time was second nature."

"And Hal?"

Silas's jaw clenched and he broke away from Marigold's gaze. "He's gone for good. The forest didn't need to waste any more energy on him."

"Good," Marigold replied.

"What brought you here?"

The question caught Marigold off guard. She turned, leaning back against the tomb, letting her answer simmer in her mind for a second.

Technically, it was Silas who brought her here the first time. But instead, she said, "I hope it was Gwydyr. I wish, more than anything, that it chose me to be here for a reason."

"It did."

His voice was so plain as if he was stating something he'd known for a long time.

Marigold's pulse quickened. "What do you mean?"

Silas observed her. Beneath his scrutiny, Marigold fidgeted.

"Do you want to see what Gwydyr really is?" he asked.

This also caught Marigold off guard.

She wanted nothing more than what Silas offered. For months, she'd been curious what the forest really was. What it could really do.

Still, she hesitated to take the hand he'd outstretched.

She hesitated for the same reason she hadn't wanted to explore the cathedral without her sisters. She hesitated because of the promise they'd made to each other.

Together it is, then.

But as Silas watched her with his stormy gaze and wicked smile, the world she wanted so desperately sitting between them, she nodded and took his hand.

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Hey guys! For my American friends, I hope you had a good 4th of July weekend! For my non-American friends, I hope you had a good weekend too ;)

~Were you surprised to see Silas again?

~Any comments on the chapter?

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