It wasn’t until midday when Micah realized he’d been staring into nothing for hours. At the edge of the sheltered forests behind Applewood, he had sequestered himself, unable to control his thoughts and unwilling to speak a word about them. He needed to be alone, and confinement is what he found.

  Her laughter had frozen him. Broken him. As he stood just outside the door of the hut and listened, nothing had ever seemed more trivial yet at the same time profoundly core-rattling. Jasper mocked him… and Charlotte enjoyed it. She laughed so hard, it gave her fits. The act was nothing, and yet it seemed like everything.

  He should have intruded on their revelry and inquired about it. He should have asked if that was really what she thought of him. But instead of responding logically… he fled.

  He didn’t understand why. He just knew he couldn’t be there any longer. To the wall of the city and over the edge, he plunged, dropping from the sky and away from that cursed city, gliding down to the ground and running with all his speed through Astenbury and back to Applewood. He never stopped. He never paused for breath. Anger and jealousy fueled him. Along with something else, a new emotion he had never felt before. He’d heard of it. Even spoken of it, but not until last night had he truly known what it felt like.

  Humiliation.

  Micah clutched his chest. It hurt so much. He didn’t know the cause, but he wanted it to go away. He’d tried Cure Stones and incantations, but nothing healed the burden deep inside, squeezing his throat and pounding like a hammer.

  “Micah.”

  He looked up to find Cal in a nearby tree, gazing down at him with concern. The Murr hopped to a lower branch to meet his eyes.

  “What happened?” he persisted. “You look terrible. Where are the others?”

  Micah looked away. His throat throbbed something fierce. The words to reply just didn’t seem worth the effort.

  “You’re coated in dew. Have you been standing out here all night?”

  “What does it matter?” he croaked, folding his arms.

  Cal said something else, but he didn’t register the words. The once-pleasant breeze seemed harsh against his face now, and the lush colors of the forest lent him no comfort. All was drab, dreary to the point of long memory. It was like before he met her, when nothing was beautiful. When nothing was new and wonderful to behold, yet accompanied by much more pain.

  Was this what Charlotte thought of him? That was all he could think, over and over again. Her laughter still rang in his ears, full of approval of Jasper’s ridicule. It was the most devastating thing he’d ever heard. The musical laughter he loved so much… the smile that filled his dreams each night. All turned to a nightmare.

  What did you really expect? All this time, you’ve placed unfounded hopes in your own inexperienced emotions and the advice of a fourteen-year-old girl. Of course Charlotte could never fall in love with you! What were you ever able to offer? Jasper was right… you’re just a bodyguard. A tool. A weapon.

  This whole time, I’ve just been kidding myself.

  “Everything I’ve done until now has been foolish, hasn’t it?” he whispered.

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “What are you talking about?” Cal asked eagerly. “What happened in Sky Blue City? Micah, talk to me!”

  He lifted his head. Sunlight streamed through the ramose trees, scattered by the ever-present wind. “My chest hurts… and I don’t know how to make the pain go away. I’ve tried so hard, but nothing works.”

  “Were you attacked?”

  He wanted to say yes. But he didn’t. Instead, he simply asked, “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why did I think I could… what made me believe… I…”

  Footsteps interrupted him, and they both looked up the hill to Applewood Manor. Charlotte’s face appeared over the hilltop, and Micah’s heart lurched with a painful twist. He quickly grabbed his chest, wincing. What was happening to him?

  The moment Charlotte spotted them, she gasped and rushed down the hill as fast as she could. “Micah!” she shouted, fear spreading across her face.

  He looked away when she reached him. He couldn’t look at her.

  “Where did you go?” she pleaded, nearly shouting. “My gosh, we looked everywhere! I was so afraid something happened to you!”

  “I returned to Applewood,” he replied.

  “I can see that! But why? Micah, look at me.” When he didn’t face her, she drew closer and grabbed his arm. “Micah, please tell me what’s happening. Why did you leave?”

  “Jasper was there,” he replied quietly, a sharp edge lilting his voice. He took his arm back and stepped away. “You said he could handle himself. Am I to tell you everything I am doing?”

  She stamped her foot. “What’s going on with you?” she cried. “I don’t understand. Weren’t you having a good time?”

  He finally looked at her. “No.”

  A tear trailed down her cheek, and her lip quivered. Her arms were rigid, and dark circles emerged beneath her eyes. She’d been up all night. The devastation on her face made Micah’s heart twist again, and he looked away.

  “If you had told me, I would have left with you,” she whispered. “Why couldn’t you just say so?”

  “Why should I have to? You were enjoying yourself without my help. It seemed perfectly natural for me to leave you to your own devices.”

  “Micah!” Cal growled. “What has gotten into you?”

  She was about to say something when another voice interrupted them.

  “Charlotte, are you alright?”

  Jasper appeared from the wood, looking disheveled and very much the worse for wear out of all of them. His eyes were bloodshot, and his curly mane was completely out of sorts. He looked from her to Micah in anger, but his temper couldn’t have been worse than Micah’s.

  “Jasper, go home,” she replied, trying to wipe away her tears. “I need to speak with Micah alone right now.”

  He breathed deep, clenching his fists. “I will, but first there’s something I need to say.”

  She turned in surprise. Micah scowled.

  “You were right,” Jasper said, holding out his hands pleadingly. “I should have come after you that day. I was too afraid of your father to consider it, but that’s what I should have done.”

  “Oh, Jasper, you don’t—”

  “Charlotte, I love you.”

  He said it with such force, Micah knew he couldn’t have misheard. Jasper drew closer to Charlotte, heaving in anxiety. Micah was so perturbed, he felt like he was about to lose it himself.

  “I love you more than anything,” he repeated. “It’s always been that way, and my feelings will never change. Maybe I wasn’t the man you needed, but I’ll do whatever it takes to become that man now. It’s the promise of a lifetime.”

  Charlotte was so flustered, she had to take a step back to steady herself, but Jasper came closer, taking her hands into his.

  “Marry me, Charlotte.”

  A sound issued from Micah’s mouth without his consent, guttural and raw, like the grunt of a feral beast. Jasper didn’t seem to hear it, but Charlotte looked back and forth between the two of them, eyes batting furiously.

  “I… I don’t know what to say… I…”

  “Say yes,” he said quickly. “You know how much I love you. I’d do anything for you, if only you would accept. Please accept.”

  She couldn’t find the words, but something came over her face in that moment. Perhaps resolve or some sense of calm, but it could have been happiness. And as Micah’s heart lurched in the worst way yet, he instantly realized how important it was that he not hear her answer.

  “Cal, let’s go,” he said.

  “What?” the Murr asked, stunned.

  Charlotte looked at him, eyes wide with teary alarm, but he turned his back on her.

  “I said, let’s go. They should be alone.”

  “But—”

  Micah turned his head and narrowed his eyes. A hostile voice he’d not heard in a long time issued from his own lips. “I said… let’s go.”

  For a moment, Cal seemed ready to argue. But a short moment later, his head and tail slumped, his ears lowered, and he fell in line behind Micah as he trudged up the hill, away from Charlotte and, perhaps, from the worst pain he’d ever known.