The Wishing Tree - Book Two [Completed]

Time to Heal - Part 24

"Did it look like this last time you were here?" Riven asks.

      "Not even close. I don't understand." I navigate through the dead bodies to the base of the tree and I rub its bark, tracing some of the burn lines. "They're definitely deliberate, maybe even strategic burns." The stench of death almost chokes me and I try to take shallower breaths that I hold for longer.

      I hear a heavy footfall and turn to see Mason approaching the tree from the direction of the encampment. As soon as he's close enough for me to see his face, I know we're in trouble. He looks murderous. He storms up to me, stepping on bodies as though they aren't there.

      "Your face." His green eyes search mine, looking troubled. "Can I – Will you let me fix it?" He runs a finger along the areas that are still throbbing from when I pressed them earlier.

      I'm startled by the intimacy, but grateful that we're no longer locked in a standoff I don't fully understand.

      "Yes," I whisper.

      "Rocco, do you remember what I had you get for Riven when he broke his legs?"

      "Yes," Rocco looks between me and Mason. "We'll all go collect the things from the woods."

      Mason's eyes are still locked on mine as he speaks to Rocco and I can't seem to look away either. I want to ask; it's on the tip of my tongue. Were we... In another life, did we... But, I don't want the frost to cover us again. Instead, my brain catches on the word 'break' and I find a question I can ask.

      "Is my face broken?"

      "Smashed to pieces. It looks pretty painful, but I know you've had worse."

      There is a measure of caring in his green depths that scares me. Either whatever he remembers about me wasn't all bad, or this, whatever this is, is new and in some ways, even scarier.

      They all come back and stand just outside the circle of bodies, hesitant. Mason breaks our eye contact and takes my hand, dragging me back through the bodies. I try to skip over as many as I can, but he doesn't seem bothered by their remains.

      "They're dead, Queenie. Whether you step on them or not doesn't change that." Mason motions at Rocco. "Ground it up like I taught you last time. I need a paste."

      He doesn't wait for Rocco's response and continues to pull me away from the bodies towards a clearing. Letting go of my hand, he wanders back over to Rocco to supervise the medicine making and then he says something to Clara that I can't quite catch, but she moves toward the tree. When he's satisfied, he takes the small collapsible bowl made of thick leaves and comes over to me. Motioning for me to sit down, he sits cross-legged and balances the bowl on a knee. Avoiding my eyes, he smears the paste across my nose, cheekbones and under my eyes.

      As he's applying it, I work up the courage to ask him one of a million things that keeps niggling my brain. "What'd you do to those people back there?"

      "They wanted to go to another realm; I sent them."

      "To the Ether?"

      "The minute his knuckles grazed your skin, there was no other way this was going to turn out. You don't do that and live to brag." His green eyes are flinty. "I'm not playing around Queenie. If they go to the Ether, they can't come back. They aren't lackies or enemies – they're nothing. They're gone." He smears more on my face, making it thicker and then leans back to take a look at his handiwork. "Your soul is safe; mine's still dark. All is right with the realms."