Approaching the tree, I’m just trying to figure out the best way to tackle it when, all of a sudden, I feel a breeze slam into me. It knocks me forward, my hands slamming into the craggy bark next.
I struggle to right myself, trying to figure out what just happened when, holy shit, I notice that my boots are like three inches off the ground.
“What the— aaaarrggh!” My scream tears out of my throat, disappearing into the whipping wind as I’m lifted completely off my feet. One second I was barely floating, the next I’m sprawled out on my back, legs kicking and arms flailing as I’m launched fifteen feet straight in the air.
Now, I’ve never had a problem with heights. Roller coasters, either. I haven’t been on too many, but I remember having fun.
This?
This is not fun.
I feel like I left my belly on the ground even as I’m tossed into the air. My scream echoes into the shadows. The last thing I want to do is let the whole damn Unseelie Court know I’m here, but I can’t help it.
For about two seconds I’m hanging in the air, my frightened brain fixating on what’ll happen when gravity rears its ugly head and I sink like a stone. Only that doesn’t happen. Instead of dropping, I get flung at an angle, my whole side slamming into the bark of the tree before I’m being thrown upward again.
Over the roar of the wind, I hear giggling. It’s worse than the childlike laughter from last night because there’s more of it. I don’t know if it's the invisible force tossing me around like a ragdoll that’s laughing or if there’s an audience in the shadows who thinks this is funny. It doesn’t matter. I fucking hate it.
“Let me down,” I yell. I want to sound stern. It comes out like a squeal. “Stop this!”
In response, I get thrown at the tree again. I’m higher and I hit the top of the crown of branches, snapping some and leaving a gap. I’m lucky that I don’t get impaled, and when I’m thrown back, I see that my body broke through the protective branches, leaving me a path toward the plums.
Knowing what will happen if I try to get them to stop, I shout, “Don’t do that again. Put me down!”
On the next inevitable hit, I grit my teeth and—hoping like hell my arm doesn’t snap like one of those branches—shoot my hand out. My fingers close on one of the plums. Yes! I pull, snapping the fruit from the branch.
That’s the good news.
The bad?
As soon as the plum is in my hand, the air beneath me disappears. I have just enough time to reach out for the branch with my other hand before I start to fall. I’m not strong enough to pull myself up with one hand, but at least it slows me down enough that, when I land on the snow-covered ground below, I don’t break anything important.
I’ve got the plum. I haven’t lost my apples.
All in all, not too bad.
I’m feeling good.
Okay. No. That’s a lie. My back is throbbing, my whole right side one giant black and blue from where I got tossed into the tree. The top branches might’ve snapped when I hit, making it possible for me to grab one of those plums, but that didn’t make the impact any less. Actually, it was worse. I think I got jabbed with one or two broken limbs on my way back to the ground.
The look on Grimly’s face when I tossed the plum at him when he comes back the next morning? It might not have erased my pain, but it did make me forget about it a little.
He didn’t expect me to pull off the first task so quickly. Even though he said it was the easiest, his expression gives him away. He didn’t think I’d have the plum already.
And while I’d be the first to admit that it was a pain in my ass—and my elbow, and my hip—it wasn’t that bad. Uh-oh. Why does that make me worry about what he has in mind for the second one?
Because he really thought I’d need more time, he admits that he’s not ready. He promises he’ll return in another day or two to lead me where I’m going to find the stupid feather he wants. I didn’t even have to confess that I got lost looking for the plum tree. Grimly knows and, next time, he won’t make that same mistake. He’ll bring me himself.
Sure. Whatever.
The first task is done. Until he needs me for the second one, there’s no reason for him to linger. Me, I plan on staying inside of my circle where it’s warm and it’s relaxing and I can recuperate from banging into the plum tree like that.
I just want Grimly to leave me alone.
I can’t quite hide my annoyance when he lingers. It’s even more frustrating when I see what his big, black eyes are staring at.
My bag of apples is placed securely in the middle of the circle. Call me paranoid, but I refuse to let it out of my sight. Considering what a pain in the ass it was to retrieve one plum from that tree, I can’t let anything happen to my supply. So while I brought it with me while I went looking for the plum, I make sure to keep it next to me while I’m tucked inside the protective circle.
I noticed Grimly eyeing the bag yesterday. Today, he’s even more curious.