I stood, my legs shaking, breathing hitching. I took a step back. And another. And another. And then I turned and ran toward home.
I was seventeen years old when I brought a bird back to life.
I had taken life from the earth to do it.
And I never breathed a word of it to anyone.
UNTIL NOW.
Chapter 10: Randall’s Great Love
IT DIDN’T take him as long as I thought it would. I tried not to focus on how many times he turned the page so I wouldn’t be able to figure out specifically what he was reading in any given moment. I almost grabbed the damn thing out of his hands once or twice, intent on throwing it in the fire so he couldn’t read any more.
Because it was all there.
Everything I’d learned since this started. All my secrets.
And the bird.
My biggest secret of all.
It felt almost… wrong that it was him and not Morgan. Or Ryan. Or Gary and Tiggy. There were so many people who deserved to know everything more than Randall did.
Was that fair?
I didn’t know.
But somehow I stayed where I was.
Randall, for his part, kept a mostly blank look on his face the four hours it took for him to get through what I’d spent the past few days writing. Once, an eyebrow rose, and his mouth thinned a little somewhere around hour two, but I didn’t try to sneak a peek at what he was reading, absolutely sure that I didn’t want to know.
The fire kept up as it always had. I didn’t know if it was Randall’s magic or Castle Freesias that kept it going. Maybe I’d find out the answer one day.
Finally he closed my Grimoire, keeping it in his lap. He shut his eyes fo
r a little while, and I thought maybe he’d fallen asleep. Which, of course, I tried desperately not to feel disappointed by, seeing as how I’d just essentially bared everything and Randall’s response was to take a fucking nap? How dare he, that old asshole—
“The bird,” he said.
I started choking.
He opened his eyes, glaring at me.
“Sorry,” I gasped. “Swallowed spit.”
“Must you always be awkward at everything you do?”
I nodded furiously. “Probably. It’s my gift. It’s also my curse. Sorry.”
He waited until I’d gained at least some semblance of control again before continuing. “Have you done anything similar since?”
“Bringing something back to life?”
“Yes,” he said.
I shook my head.
“And any time before.”