The Wicked Born

Chapter 22

Author's note: Back to the present!

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Tabitha shifted silently on her branch, running her hands over the bark. The texture was almost smoothed down completely from the hundreds—if not thousands—of times she had visited and sat in that exact same spot. She watched as Dacre stared listlessly over the top of her shoulder, immersed in his own thoughts. She ached to ask him where his mind was at the moment but decided instead to leave him alone instead. They hadn't had many moments of peaceful quiet since she'd captured him weeks before—he deserved all of the fleeting moments of respite that he could get.

After a couple more minutes of mounting silence between the two, Tabitha heaved a sigh. Dacre's green eyes snapped out of whatever trance he'd been stuck in and found hers almost immediately. She watched wondrously as his pupils dilated to the point that his pine-colored irises were almost completely engulfed in blackness.

"I need to make a confession," she started. He furrowed his eyebrows at her and nodded for her to continue. "We're not just here so I can try to get some Felaria antidote from my aunt. I do need some, but there is so much more to it."

The worry that was evident in her wavering tone was foreign even to her. Dacre's concern expanded across all of his futures, his lips down turning into a frown that made her heart stammer inside of her chest for reasons that she couldn't begin to fathom. "Like what? Is something the matter?"

Tabitha chewed on the inside of her lip, contemplating whether to let him in on all that had been weighing on her. Despite their only knowing each other for a small amount of time, she knew innately that she could trust him. However, the part of her that had grown up trusting no one and asking for no help reared its ugly head at the notion. The battle inside of her mind raged on--one side begging her to give in and let him help her, the other side demanding that she handle the issues herself.

Her focus shifted back to the present when a warm, large hand reached across and captured her own as it fiddled nervously in her lap. She stilled completely, watching as his thumb twirled comforting strokes over the exposed flesh between her thumb and forefinger. Her skin was ablaze in each place that he traced, and she was sure that he could feel her skin heating up despite the fact that he was nowhere near as in-tune with his senses as she was.

Hearing an almost imperceptible crack, Tabitha realized a moment too late that it had come from the branch across from hers. Dacre's branch gave way, sending him falling quickly to the forest floor. She watched as his hand slipped out of hers completely before she shoved a wild arm down, grasping at anything that she could get ahold of.

Her fingers caught on the back of his cloak, wrapping tightly around the fabric until it was balled in her hand. His full weight yanked against her hold and she felt her arm give a sickening yank. A sharp pain laced itself around Tabitha's shoulder, but she ignored it and focused on keeping her grip on the back of Dacre's clothing. Her other arm was wrapped around the trunk of the tree nearby, keeping her from falling off of the branch with Dacre. He gave out a strangled cry when he looked down, taking in the distance from the ground to his current dangling position.

"Don't look down," Tabitha spoke in an authoritative tone. "I'll get you back up here, but you need to stay calm. If you move too much, the fabric will tear and I won't be able to save you then. So stay calm."

Dacre nodded vigorously in response, keeping his eyes closed tightly shut so he wouldn't be able to make himself panic anymore. She watched as his legs swung in the open air. She knew that she was strong—she was a witch, after all—but she wasn't entirely positive that she would be able to lift his entire body weight with just one arm. She inhaled deeply and sharply pushed out the same breath, considering all of her options. She briefly thought of the possibility of trying to swing him toward another lower hanging branch but immediately knew that that wouldn't work. The only one within reasonable distance was much thinner than the one that had originally broken off.