The Forest of Sleepers (Nowhere Book 2)

t h i r t y - f o u r : d y i n g

Silas led Marigold out of the cathedral.

Her heart hammered inside of her chest with excited anticipation. For all these months, she'd always felt an emptiness when her energy met Gwydyr's, like it wasn't fully in bloom yet.

But as she stepped into the sunlight, the world had blossomed unlike anything she'd ever seen.

Everything was golden and buzzing with life. There were no signs of decay or rot, only fruitful trees, lush grass, and rolling landscape.

There were animals Marigold had never seen before grazing in the open fields and rooting around trees. Some of them had large, spiraling horns with daintily long faces. Others were rabbit-like, but nearly four feet tall with deer antlers.

The whole scene was close to sparkling.

"It could be yours."

Marigold flinched at Silas's voice. She'd almost forgotten he was there.

When she turned to face him, she realized that the cathedral was gone and she was standing in the middle of a flower-clustered glade.

"Mine?" she repeated.

"Gwydyr repays blood for blood...and gold for gold," Silas replied.

Even he, with all of his dark storm clouds and violent features, looked beautiful in the golden light. There was a trace of the young man he could've been if nothing bad had ever happened to him. His dark eyes changed to a honey color in the sunlight and his sharp jawline relaxed for the first time.

"What are you saying?' Marigold asked cautiously.

To her shock, Silas held his arm out to her like some sort of Regency gentleman. Marigold hesitantly placed her hand in the crook of his elbow and allowed him to lead her through the glade.

Birds sang clear notes from the treetops above and an otter flipped around in a creek nearby.

Silas came to a stop and tilted his head to the sky.

"What--" Marigold began.

"Shh," Silas interrupted, "listen."

Marigold swallowed hard, her stomach twisting, but she inclined her head like Silas, allowing the sunshine to warm her face.

She took a deep breath and exhaled, feeling everything around her. There was energy and magic and...and the heartbeat.

For the first time, Marigold realized that the forest's heartbeat matched her own. Was her own.

"It's part of you and you're part of it," Silas said.

Marigold opened her eyes and blinked, looking at him with astonishment.

"Years ago, the forest was destroyed by those who were supposed to protect it," Silas said. "It has survived so far, but it's dying."

"How could it be dying?" Marigold asked, gesturing to the grandeur before her. "Look at it."

Silas gave her a sidelong glance.

Without warning, the landscape around them whooshed past in a flurry of leaves and wind.

Marigold gasped and clung to Silas, tucking her face into his shoulder to ward off the sting of the debris flying around them.

When the world stilled once again, she risked a peek.

Everything was black.

Behind the rows of gray, skeletal trees, was endless nothing. What bark the oaks had left were seeping with dark ooze that dripped into the brown grass below.