Deep in the woods behind us, a flock of birds panic and flee to the sky. I gasp at the same time Jack twists around, pushing
me behind him protectively. A few seconds pass, then another flock of birds take to the sky, this group a little closer to us.“Do you
think they’ve noticed I’m gone?”“Maybe. I wasn’t planning on ditching the lantern or the metal clamp outside their campsite, but I
knew I couldn’t flee fast enough with any additional weight.” I’m grateful he did drop them, because that raccoon barely missed us as
we ascended. “If they went out there to see what the commotion was about and came across the clamp, they would’ve immediately
searched the prison.”
A third flock of birds abandon their trees. I’m ready to run now, as fast and furious as my heart will allow. I pull on Jack to come with
me, but he surprises me by suddenly jerking me behind the trunk of a wide oak tree, then peeks his head around. What are we
doing? Why aren’t we running? We can’t stay here! When he turns back, I don’t like what I see. There’s sorrow in his eyes, defeat,
and his jaw goes slack, like he doesn’t know what to say.“Jack?” I ask fearfully. My hand still grasped in his, I outstretch my arm and
struggle to pull him into motion, but he doesn’t budge. “Let’s go.”
He yanks me back, and I snap towards him faster than the whip-tail of a scorpion. Our chests are flush and his free arm wraps tightly
around my waist. Thanks to the pixie dust, we’re close enough that his lips could skim my forehead. My heart thuds rapidly, and it
has nothing to do with the spriggans I fear are chasing us down. My head tilted back, our lips are just centimeters away...all he has
to do is lean down... There’s an urge within me, and I yearn for him to pull me in just a little closer.
But what he says breaks my heart, and turns that hunger into absolute panic. “I have to go to them.”“What? No!” My chest constricts,
and my breath is suddenly painful.
My head shakes vehemently as he tucks a stray wisp of hair off my face. His hand returns to the small of my back and shivers run
down my spine, but there’s still panic in my heart. He’s leaving me. He can’t leave me! Not now. Not ever. I want to shout these
words out, but my mouth has gone numb, my voice completely useless.
He grabs my face with both hands, immobilizing my head, and I desperately latch onto his forearms. “I have to. They’ve picked up
our trail. If I don’t… I won’t let them take you again.” His eyes are literally trembling, and I feel the tears swell up behind mine, stinging
so much I gasp. “Roll in the mud. Hide beneath the leaves. Don’t forget your face. I’ll lead them away from you.” The tears burst
through, and my head shakes roughly as he tries to keep me still and our eyes aligned.“Don’t leave me,” I whisper. “I need you.”
The corner of his mouth rises. If he weren’t holding me back, I’d already be assaulting his lips because they’re finally within reach.
“Rosalie, you’re the strongest fae I’ve ever met. You can do this.” His thumbs sweep the tears from under my eyes, but they’re
quickly replaced with fresh ones. “Get back to your Hollow as fast as you can. Find the path and follow along side it. Don’t ever get
on the actual path,” he reminds me.
When he releases me, I almost fall forward. The bag sloughs off my shoulder and tumbles to the ground. I suddenly feel exhausted,
and heavy. And there’s a pain in my chest practically suffocating me. He edges around the tree and takes another peek. My chest
constricts and expands briskly, and I’m overcome with so many emotions, I don’t know what to make of them. I’m never going to see
him again. He’s going to give himself up to the spriggans, possibly be blamed for my escape. They could lock him up and throw him
into a hole like they did me, and I’ll never know it. I’ll be living a free life, while the faerie that saved me starved away in a pit.
I hear another flock of birds. Whatever’s coming is getting closer. Jack rocks on his feet, preparing to disappear forever.“I love you!”
I blurt. Oh. My. Mother. Nature! Did I just shout that? Those words were meant to be beautiful. The way I just blurted them out, tears
rolling down my face, mucous making my voice sound distorted, this was anything but beautiful.
A wave starts at the hips and travels up his body, making his head snap to attention. His eyes widen in…surprise? Shock?
Disbelief? Thinks I’m crazy for loving someone outside my species? I really can’t read him. Or I’m afraid to.
I shake to the core when I first spot movement. With three large steps he’s grasping my face and smothering his heavenly lips on
mine. Explosions erupt throughout my insides that I can’t believe don’t burst right through the skin. My lungs scream for air, because
I refuse to use this precious moment for anything but kissing. I reach my arms around and grasp the back of his shoulders snuggly.
Jack wraps one hand behind my neck and the other on my tail bone, and pulls our bodies closer than I ever thought possible. The
spastic fluttering in my abdomen extends upward into my chest, and deeper into my tummy. There’s something desperate about our
kiss, hungry – aggressive even – yet beautiful at the same time. He pulls away, and we stare each other down with fire and desire,
our lungs out of breath.“They’re close. I have to go.”“No!” I argue, pulling him back for one more kiss.
He grasps my face and levels his eyes with mine, the orbs of green seemingly alive, hypnotizing me, bending my will. “I’ll come when
it’s safe. Just get home. I promise I’ll find you. I love you, Rosalie.” He gingerly kisses my lips one last time, then dips around the tree
before I can protest further.
I stand there like a dazed doe until I hear Jack call, “Hey! What do you think you’re doing following me? Have you ever heard of this
thing we call privacy?”
My body snaps into motion. I quickly cover the bag with loose leaves, then brush as many aside as I can, leaving the wet earth
exposed beneath. Ten points to Jack for thinking to give me a dress the color of Mother Earth. I slather my skin until it’s brown all
over. Strong earthy smells pierce my senses, and my already stressed-out insides become a little nauseous. Of course my sense of
smell is going to start coming back now.
A gruff voice bellows close by. Too close. “Where is she?”“Where’s who?” Jack asks candidly.“The pixie,” another husky voice says,
coming from the opposite side of where I heard Jack. They’ve sandwiched him. I pray there aren’t more than two spriggans giving
chase.
Making sure my damaged wings are folded down as best they go, I gently lay on my back, cringing with anticipation that the
additional pressure will make them sting in protest, but thanks to Jack’s phenomenal ointment, I don’t feel whatever pain I’m
causing. I sweep the pile of leaves over my body, paying particular attention to covering my wings.“If you need a pixie, go snatch one
up from their Hollow. They don’t just roam aimlessly in the wild.”
Annoyed, the first spriggan yells, “The pixie in the hole is gone. Where is she? We tracked her here from the cave.”“Sorry guys. You
tracked me here from the cave. And there’s no way that pitiful pixie could get out of there. She’d have to climb up the wall in the
dark, jump through the waterfall protecting the cave, run to the prison’s boundary, sneak through your campsite undetected when you
’re all there, then make a break for it in the woods. All on what? A few morsels a day? Have you seen what she looks like? She’s on
Father Time’s doorstep. Even if she’s managed to climb the hole, there’s no way she’s made it out of the prison yet. It’s not
physically possible.”“She ain’t there! We looked!”
One of the spriggans is flying above me! I stop myself from gasping, fear pulsating through my body, completely incapacitating my
motility. I hold my breath as he flits in and around the trees surrounding me, obviously not believing a word Jack is saying.
Even with mud in my ears and buried under a ton of leaves, I can hear Jack’s sigh. “Did you try going the other way in the cave?”
“Huh?”“For the love of Mother Nature,” he whines, exasperated. “Did you go the other way in the cave first? You’re assuming she
went the way that leads out, but she doesn’t know which way to go. She could have easily gone deeper into the cave, not out. Did
you even check before getting your posse together for this search party?”
The spriggan hovering above me pauses to look at the second spriggan, wherever he is. This one shrugs.“You have to return with
us,” the gruff voice out of sight says. The spriggan above me disappears around the tree, heading toward Jack. “Finley wants you.”
I moan quietly. I was hoping they’d leave Jack behind with me. And now he has to go face Finley’s wrath? No way Finley won’t
blame him for this, nor cease to exact punishment for it.“Oh, whatever,” Jack spits.
No, no, no, no! Don’t go with them!“It’s not like she won’t be in the freakin’ cave.” Jack’s voice fades away, obviously taking flight.
Nooo…don’t leave. Please don’t leave me, Jack. The back of my eyes are stinging again. Don’t those dang things ever run dry? I try
desperately to fight off the tears, not wanting to ruin my cover by making the mud run off my face. My chest gets away with a few
deep gasps, but I force it back to shallow breaths again, not truly trusting that I’m alone in the woods just yet.
I lay there for hours hidden amongst the mud and leaves, too terrified to move. It’s not until an hour past dawn that I find the courage
to rise and stand my ground. I promised Jack I would make my way home, and after everything he’s risked, I will not fail him. I dig out
my bag and sling it over my shoulder, flaking off some of the dried mud encapsulating my skin, and continue the route we were
already taking toward the first trail. From there I’ll travel until the road bends, but I’ll continue on. I’ll travel downstream until I reach the
waterfall, and then make my way to the trail that will lead me home. But my journey will not end there, for I made a promise to Willow.
And I will not fail her or the others wrongfully wasting away in that hellhole.
My name is Rosalie. I may be smaller, I may be weaker, but I was born free, should die free. You will not take this from me.
Devon Ashley resides in Texas with her husband and son. She has a Master of Science degree in Biological Sciences with an
emphasis in Microbiology. In her (not so) free time she loves to write, design, knit and read. (Super exciting, right?)