Chapter twenty-two

Even with the added weight of two humans on their back, Emandi covered a lot of ground in a short amount of time. A distance that would take Audrey five long strides to cross took Emandi a single bound. Within minutes they were already a safe distance from Ardent, which was a good thing because Connor was not making their escape easy.

"Stop!" he bellowed over the sound of Emandi's thundering footfalls and the whipping of passing foliage. He clung to Emandi's traveling cloak for dear life while Audrey was forced to cling to him, partially because she had nothing else to hold on to but also to keep Connor from flinging himself into the woods. At this point in their journey, he'd already tried to leap to freedom twice.

It wasn't until they found themselves at the bank of a wide and swiftly flowing river cutting through the forest that Emandi finally slowed to a halt. Audrey released her arms from where she'd locked them around Connor's middle and watched impassively as he flailed himself onto the ground in an undignified heap.

"You're embarrassing yourself, dude," Audrey said as Connor staggered to his feet in a huff. As if to show him how it was done, she slid carefully from Emandi's back. "It's the same as riding a horse."

"I resent that!" Emandi balked.

"Sorry."

Connor rounded on her, his eyes wild. "Seriously? That's not why I'm upset!"

Audrey frowned and crossed her arms. "Then what's your problem?"

"My problem is that you kidnapped me!"

"What are you talking about?" Audrey cried. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "We were literally being chased by an angry mob, Connor! Would you rather we left you behind?"

"You have to take me back." Connor ran a hand back through his hair and paced. "I'm already in enough trouble as it is."

Shocked, Audrey looked to Emandi for support but instead found them lapping up mouthfuls of water on the riverbank. She turned back to Connor and studied him in the moonlight. "And do you really think going back is going to change that? I know you heard the same thing I did: your uncle has already decided that we're partners in crime, and I doubt he'll believe you when you tell him otherwise. He's going to hurt you again, Connor — you know that."

"I do, which is why I'd rather get it over with now."

"Bullshit," Audrey said, tempering her argument with a touch of softness. "I get that it's scary, but it's okay to admit that you don't want to go back there."

Connor stopped his pacing and glared at her. "What makes you think that?"

"C'mon, dude.You're probably the strongest person in the world — there's no way I should have been able to stop you from jumping ship if you'd really wanted to bail back there."

Even in the darkness, Audrey could tell Connor was blushing. Embarrassed, he clamped his mouth shut tightly and dropped his gaze to the forest floor. Meanwhile, Emandi lifted their head from the river. Water dribbled messibly down their chin.

"I'm no more a ship than I am a horse," they complain, wiping the water from their face with the back of their paw. "You youths have no respect."

Audrey motioned for them to join the conversation. "Maybe you can settle something for us, Emandi."

"Oh, here we go," Connor huffed with an exasperated roll of his eyes. Audrey waved him off.

"Are there any other Wishes out there? Or is Connor the sole survivor?"

Emandi sat back on their haunches and stared at them thoughtfully. "There are others. Most were put into hiding shortly after the wishing star scandal was discovered, and regrettably an unlucky few have been murdered over the years. But, no, to the best of my knowledge Connor is hardly the last of his kind."

"See? What did I tell you?" Audrey crowed as she turned triumphantly to face Connor. But her smugness was short-lived. What she assumed would be good news to Connor only seemed to distress him; his expression fell and, for a split-second, Audrey thought his knees might buckle beneath him. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"But they told me the Wishes were dead," Connor said, his voice weak and quiet. "They said this was the only way to keep me safe."

Audrey and Emandi shared an uneasy glance. Connor wobbled, suddenly unsteady on his feet, and Audrey rushed forward to offer him her shoulder to lean on. He stared at her in the darkness, his gaze glassy and unfixed.

"Why didn't they come back for me?" he whispered.

His words broke Audrey's heart in two. She had almost forgotten that Connor's parents had willingly sent him to live with his hateful uncle under the guise of it being the best of only terrible options. In her stubborn quest to be right, she hadn't considered what the truth would mean for the boy who had spent years surviving on the fragile back of a lie. Her heart sank into a tar pit of shame.

Emandi cleared their throat. "For what it's worth, I didn't say that the world is necessarily safe for Wishes — only that there are other survivors. None of their lives have been easy."

Overcome with guilt, Audrey wracked her brain for a way to make things right. "I'm sure your family has a perfectly good reason for leaving you here. Maybe they really did believe it was the safest place for you to be. But, hey — this is a good thing!"

"Oh, really?" Connor said flatly. "How do you figure?"

Audrey gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. "Because now you get to decide how to live your life! Maybe you do decide to go back to your shitty uncle — if that's what you really want, I won't stand in your way. But now you know you don't have to stay there if you don't want to."

Connor responded with a hollow laugh. "And where am I supposed to go instead?"

"Home?" Audrey offered. "Like, your real home, not that stupid shed. We could find your family and you could get some answers. Or maybe we can meet up with Rue and the two of you can actually have a proper life together."

This seemed to pull Connor from his funk, if only a little bit. He perked up ever so slightly and raised an eyebrow at Audrey. "'We'?"

Now it was Audrey's turn to blush. "Well, I kind of blew up your entire life. I think helping you land on your feet is the least I can do. Besides—" she glanced at Emandi "—until Welkin comes back it's not like I have anywhere else to be."

With a low hum, Emandi tipped their head back and studied the sky above. "It does seem as though they may have met with a touch of trouble, doesn't it?"

The memory of the Stars' messages from the connection ritual reverberated in Audrey's mind. Now that they weren't running for their lives, she finally had a chance to consider what it all meant. She thought about the unknown Star warning the crowd about her — how they spoke of her like she was some kind of unstable threat who couldn't control her powers, and who undermined the Stars with her very existence. It made her feel like a fugitive on the run, accused of a crime she didn't commit.

"Stop it," Emandi demanded, startling Audrey away from her own thoughts. "I can feel you blaming yourself from here."

Audrey swallowed hard. "But the Stars said—"

"The Stars say a lot of things." Emandi gave a careless wave of one of their giant paws. "Besides, I'm the reason Welkin is up there conferring with them in the first place. If anyone here is at fault for the state of things right now, it is me."

This did little to make Audrey feel better, though it did raise a thought. "But... did you actually hear what they said?"

Emandi nodded.

"Wait, does that mean you were at the connection ritual too?" Connor asked. "We've been looking all over for you!"

"I know,' Emandi replied with a shrug. "I was always close by — I just wanted to give the two of you a chance to get to know one another. Excellent work with your training, by the way. Welkin will be so pleased with your progress when they return."

Audrey's heart swelled with pride and ached with worry at the same time. "You mean if they return."

Emandi shook their head. "No. Welkin is as strong as they are clever. Trust me when I say they've gotten themself into more trouble than this before and lived to tell the tale." A cheeky grin turned up the corners of their mouth, exposing the sharp edges of their fangs. "I'd go so far as to say you inherited your knack for audacity from them. I have the utmost faith that they will be just fine, and you should too. You just need to be patient."

A breeze rattled its way through the trees as Audrey sifted through her emotions and thoughts. Beside her, Connor rubbed his face.

"Well," he said quietly, "if you really don't have anywhere better to be, I wouldn't mind having some company."

Audrey's head shot up with surprise. "Really?"

"Well, yeah." Connor laughed. "I haven't left the compound in ten years. If I'm going to find my family, I'm going to need as much help as I can get."

Elated and relieved, Audrey couldn't stop herself from throwing her arms around his shoulders and wrapping him in a crushing hug.

"Okay," she said, smiling so wide that her cheeks ached. "First thing's first: let's get the fuck out of these woods."