The Forest of Sleepers (Nowhere Book 2)

t h i r t y : b r e a t h e

All this time, Gwydyr had been trying to warn Wyatt. The cat, the visions, the grave...it was trying to tell him that justice had to be met for his family's crimes and he was the only one left to pay the penalty.

Maybe Gwydyr didn't want Wyatt dead, but it had to be appeased in some way or another, and death, it seemed, could only be paid for in another death.

"How could you?" he asked his mother softly.

Evelyn had lost the spark that had been ignited by their conversation and now looked even more sallow than before. The pillows and bedsheets swallowed her tiny form and her eyes were sunken in like a corpse. She did not answer, but it didn't matter. Wyatt already knew.

He'd known his parent's love for money far exceeded their love for anything--or anyone--else.

He would have felt betrayed if he'd been more surprised. But really, it was only more of what he'd come to expect.

They'd done what was fitting for the Bests and, as always, came out on top.

"What does it mean to rule Gwydyr?" he asked apprehensively.

Evelyn didn't open her eyes when she murmured, "The rulers must protect and guard it, just like any kingdom."

Wyatt's brain was too tired to figure out if that was a metaphor or not. But hadn't the cat told him that the sleepers were the ones who guarded the forest?

He thought back to everything that had happened to him.

His father's death was the push that sent everything into motion.

Once the king died, his predecessor could take his place. Gwydyr could come alive again once the crown was moved to Wyatt's head.

That was why Gwydyr chose Nowhere because it knew that it was where Wyatt would end up.

It wasn't because of Nowhere's strangeness that such a coincidence happened like they'd all assumed. It was because of Wyatt.

"I'm too tired to talk anymore," Evelyn complained.

Wyatt sat for a few more minutes, studying his mother's face.

He had seen that face his entire life. It was once more beautiful than it was now, but it was familiar. Was familiar. Because as he watched her drift off to sleep, he didn't recognize her.

She'd become a different person within a mere few minutes.

He thought of all the things he'd been through in Nowhere. Had it been Gwydyr punishing him all this time?

He didn't know how long he sat there, but the candle burning beside the bed flickered out as the flame dipped into the melted wax.

Wyatt stood up to go find Birdie. He didn't know why. All of this was news to her, too, but for some reason he just wanted to be close to her.

He looked at the clock above the kitchen door.

It was almost four o'clock in the morning. Had he really been sitting in his room for three hours?

He almost went back upstairs, but then something on the couch stirred.

Birdie was buried under a blanket, two empty mugs sitting on the coffee table.

Wyatt inched over to her.

She was asleep with only part of her head visible beneath the covers, her dark hair splayed out in all directions across the cushions.

Wyatt was frozen in place for what seemed like forever.

He couldn't go back upstairs. Not with Evelyn there.