Loch

sorry. I didn’t mean to hold up your lunch.”
“Nonsense,” Grace waved her off. “You’re part of the Silver Spruce family now. You’re part of our family.”
Unexpected tears welled in Holly’s eyes. She buried her nose in a menu before anyone could notice.
Orders were placed. Food arrived. The conversation at the booth turned to more regular matters.
Holly was grateful for it. Ever since she had arrived in Silver Spruce, she felt as if all she’d done was talk about her grandmother’s passing, shifters, and the Maiden. She needed a break.
She listened in silence as Garret, Jess, and Grace fell into normal family chatter. Holly was reminded of family dinners back home in Louisiana before she had moved to California.
She missed her sisters. She hadn’t seen Jasmina and Rosaline in over a year. Not for the first time, she wondered if they knew about Silver Spruce and the shifters. Their faces weren’t painted on the family tree in Pearl’s study. That had to mean something.
When her food arrived, she barely ate a bite. As much as she wanted to sink into the normalcy around her, she couldn’t. If she wasn’t thinking about her sisters, she thought about the Maiden. If she wasn’t thinking about the Maiden, her mind drifted to Trevor.
She had to figure out what the Maiden meant when she called him lost, she needed to figure out Elise’s part in all this, and she needed to do it fast. She hated keeping something so monumental from the others.
Her biggest fear was that if she told them the truth, she would be powerless to stop whatever revenge the other firstborns wanted to enact. She wouldn’t blame them for wanting to rip Trevor limb from limb, but that couldn’t happen.
Trevor was a firstborn. Like it or not, his and Holly’s fates were woven together.
“Holly?” Garret said gently.
Holly looked up from her untouched plate, startled. “What? Sorry,” she mumbled.
“I thought you were starving.” Garret looked at her place with growing concern. “You didn’t have breakfast today, either.”
“Are you feeling all right, love?” Grace asked.
“My appetite’s been really inconsistent through everything,” Holly said dismissively. “I’ll box it up. I’m sure I’ll be ravenous again the moment we leave. Funny how that works, huh?”
“I suppose,” Grace said slowly.
“My appetite always used to go wonky before a rowing competition,” Jess offered. “It’ll even out once your nerves settle.”
“I hope so,” Holly replied. The question was, would her nerves ever settle? Would this ever get easier?
“I hate to eat and run, but I have an appointment to get to,” Grace said, gathering her belongings. “Holly, I hope to see you again soon.”
“I’m sure you will,” Holly assured her. “It was so lovely meeting you.”
“Likewise. Garret, a word?”
Garret’s brows shot up. He lowered the fork that was halfway to his mouth. “Sure.” He wiped his mouth on a napkin before sliding out of the booth.
“They’re going to talk about you.” Jess giggled.
Holly must’ve looked terrified because Jess quickly amended her statement.
“Not in a bad way! Mom likes you. I can tell.” She smiled. “I bet she’s going to tell Garret not to mess things up.”
“Garret couldn’t mess anything up if he tried.” Holly smiled.
“I know.” Jess grinned. “He’s the best, isn’t he? It’s so easy to forget he’s not my biological brother. You like him, don’t you?”
“You’re a very direct person, aren’t you?”
“I guess.” Jess shrugged. “I just never saw the point of skittering around saying what I want to say. If you don’t want to answer, you don’t have to, but he’s my brother, and I want to know if he’s going to get his heart broken.”
“I can’t imagine hurting him,” Holly said. “But in the end, it’s not really up to me. It’s up to the Maiden. The Maiden selects who she wants as a partner.”
“The King,” Jess murmured.
“Right. I’m not the Maiden. I’m her vessel.”
“What happens if the Maiden picks someone you don’t want?” Jess asked.
“I don’t know,” Holly answered honestly. “I’d like to think she’d take my preferences into consideration since I’m doing her bidding and all.”
“What does she make you do?” Jess asked.
Holly opened her mouth to speak, then reconsidered. “Not much, actually.” Holly chuckled. “She pops in every so often to give me cryptic warnings and berate me over being a worthy vessel.”
“Seriously?” Jess laughed.
Yes, seriously? The Maiden’s voice echoed in her mind.
She asked. Did I lie? Holly replied.
“I’m sure she has a whole laundry list of duties for me when she believes I’m mentally and physically strong enough to handle them.”
I should open the earth and let it swallow you whole.
Holly might’ve been mistaken, but she swore she heard a note of humor in the Maiden’s voice.
The longer we do this, the less I’m sure that you really are an immortal, formless being. Reassure me. Prove to me that you aren’t just a product of my insanity. Open the earth.
The Maiden laughed. She actually laughed.
You’re an odd one.
You chose me.
So I did.
“Well, if you ever need any help, feel free to call me,” Jess said. “I’d like nothing more than to bash some dark shifter skulls. They’ve caused a lot of pain in this town. It’s about damn time they pay for it.”
“Are you getting her all fired up?” Garret appeared by Holly’s side.
“Oh, definitely.” Holly grinned up at him. “We’re forming a three-person army as we speak. Well, a two-person and one mythical being of unknown origins.”
I’m to be in your army? How quaint.
A wry smile passed over Holly’s lips. If I didn’t know better, I’d say we were bonding.
I do not bond.
Maybe you should.
“The Maiden is weighing in on this?” Garret laughed.
“She ought to.