First Kiss Read online

  We cross a field as the sun goes down. Mist starts to creep along the grass, freaking me out. I have a feeling that the horse might know how to listen to me. I whisper to the horse, “Look, I am a little scared and I don’t know if you can understand me or not. But can you find safety for us for the night?” He instantly veers off to the right and I see something I have never seen before, besides a horse who understands people talking. There is a tree like a willow but it’s really pale, like ash. The branches dangle down to the ground completely. The horse rides us right to the pale tree but doesn’t slow down. I put my hands up to protect my face as we ride through the branches. I hear something, giggling and voices, but when I take my hands down, there is nothing but a large pale tree trunk. I look up and see the branches start high up and hang down. It’s lighter in here than it was outside of the tree.

  I can just see the night sky through the top of the tree, and as it turns dark, the tree gets lighter. It’s weird. When I drop down to the ground, my feet crunch on the branches that have fallen. I look around at the underside of the tree, shaking my head. “What is this, boy?” I rub my hands along his side. The giggling voices drift in and out of the branches as if they are the wind as the sky darkens even more. I can see the stars starting to pop out between the branches.

  I stumble, exhausted and starving to the side of the tree. I lie down on the only soft-looking spot and look down at my skirts. I am a mess. No one will ever believe I am who I am. I look up through the branches at the sky and feel the weight of my eyelids getting heavier.

  I close my eyes and in the wind I hear her voice. I would know it anywhere. I can’t fight the smile nor the tears, and I can’t be sure I am awake or asleep.

  She is the cool wind against my cheek and she feels like home to me. Her words are a whisper inside of the wind. “I tried to warn you. I tried to keep you safe, sister. You must run from our family—they are evil. You must suspect our aunt is leading you to a trap. I have a dreadful feeling about her. I assume this journey you are on is the same trap she and Mother laid for me. Aunt Cecile told me to go through the mirror to find Mother in Lakeland. Our own aunt told me of the place I was to meet her—an old mansion with a curse like ours. She said I had to find the ancients who began the curse. I crept up to that petrifying mansion to meet with Mother, so she could conjure a passage for me. Mother desired for me to seek out the coven to ascertain their knowledge in hopes that I could break the curse for you. She believed I was the one destined to save you from the black blood. I knew I needed to do it and free you. I had sent you there to that terrible place, so I had to be the one to free you. I drank the potion Mother made, and when I fell asleep, she murdered me. I don’t know why, but I woke as part of the wind, hovering over my dead body as our own mother traded places with me. I watched as she drew all my magic and suddenly she resembled me. I don’t know why our mother sent you to Lakeland or why she killed me. I don’t know what she has planned for you, but you can wager that it’s bad. You must always remember, she only resembles me. Mother is evil inside and always plotting. Go back to Lakeland and hide. I wish I had taken you and Rosie and ran. Instead, I helped them make a portal, excited to be getting rid of you. I wanted to be queen so badly. I was naïve and jealous. I’m sorry.” Her words end and my breath turns soft. I feel myself fall into a deep sleep.

  When I wake, the horse is next to me lying on the ground. I nestle into him for warmth. He makes a noise, and when I lift my head, I see his fur. I run my hands through it and he gets up, shaking his head. I get up, noticing how cool it is inside of the tree when the sun is up. It seems like it is magical. This place is so crazy, it probably is magical.

  I climb onto the horse, wincing at the soreness of my poor butt cheeks. I don’t know if I should go back, or if I should just find a piece of glass to turn into a mirror, if it will even work again. I have only done it on mirrors my family had already spelled.

  I whisper to the horse, running my fingers through his dark chestnut mane. “Where should I go? Take me to the place I will be safe.”

  The horse doesn’t move. I smile nervously, “Okay, but I can’t live here under this tree.” I take a breath and try to muster something of a spine. “Take me to the ancients. I just want to see.” He stomps his feet, dusting up the branches below us. I run my fingers through his soft hair, “We won’t go all the way to where they are. We will spy a little. See if maybe one isn’t good. I just have to see.” And I do. I don’t know why but I need to know.

  He snorts and bursts into a sprint, leaving the safety of the pale tree. When we shoot from the branches, the day is warm and sunny. He dashes across the field and into the woods on the far side. He rides hard and I grip to him. I don’t know where we are until I see a road marker. I suppose it is our world’s attempt at a street sign. It says Gale and points to the right. It must be a Norland town.

  He rides in a different direction, taking the path to the left. I almost close my eyes and try to hear her voice again. Here in the wilds, I cannot feel the wind. It is as if she is trapped in Lakeland and the tree somehow made it possible for her to visit me.

  Or it was a dream.

  But I don’t think that is it.

  He doesn’t slow in his pace. We ride so hard, I swear my butt is chafed from the saddle and the stupid dress. Finally, when I can’t take one more minute in the saddle, he stops. I am nearly thrown from the seat, his stop is so abrupt. Dirt skids onto the path in front of us. He spins in a circle, he’s agitated. I grip to him, catching a glimpse of something along the path. It’s dark and crosses in front of us. The horse turns again, seeking a way out maybe.

  I turn back to the dark thing to see a man. As he gets closer, I can see he is not a good man. He holds a dagger and a crooked grin that I imagine matches his crooked heart. His eyes are dark, like the window to his soul is closed off.

  He nods, shouting at me. “Milady, you look lost.”

  I am about to shake my head, when I hear a voice from behind, “I would say she looks fine. Look at that figure. Even in a riding dress, I can tell she is ripe for the picking.”

  I turn to see another man. He too holds a dagger. The horse turns and I see a third man approaching us from the woods. They match, like creepy pirates from a story. “Don’t force us to injure the horse.”

  I turn to see a fourth man with a bow and arrow. He has his arrow pulled like he’s Robin Hood, but he’s pointing it at my horse’s heart. I put my hands up instantly, “I won’t. Please don’t shoot him.”

  My heart is racing. I am from a place bad enough that I know exactly what it is they want from me. “I don’t have any money or jewels.”

  The first man I saw smiles, “I’m certain you have something we lack.” And there it is. I shake my head, feeling close to tears. “I can get you money and riches.”

  The man shakes his head, getting closer. “Milady, we have riches enough. We are highwaymen. We see sufficient numbers of men on these roads. It’s the lone ladies we are always shorted on.” I feel a hand on my leg. I look down as one of them has reached my horse. I kick at him but the man with the arrow looses it. It soars directly below my nose. I jump, screaming. More hands reach my legs. I grip to the horse as he tries to take off, but the reins are taken from me. The saddle is undone from below and I’m pulled from the horse with it. I scream again but a greasy hand crosses my lips. Another hand slides across my chest, hugging me tight to someone. I close my eyes, screaming and kicking. My legs are grabbed. I feel the fresh air reach my bare legs as they are flung about.

  “What sort of nickers are those?” One man asks and the others laugh. A hand slides up the back of my leg.

  “NO, NO, NO!” I kick again, knocking someone back.

  The strangest thought reaches my mind. I know a rhyme I used before or I saw used. I whisper into the tight grip of a man’s arm against my muffled mouth. “Mother of love, mother of grace, teach these men a lesson on disgrace.” Images of fire burning flesh fill my mind. I can al
most smell the char of their bodies in the air. As hands paw me, I hear a scream that is louder than mine. I open an eye to see only three men, each with a startled look on their face. They are frozen and all looking in the direction of the blood-curdling scream and rustling bush.

  Did my rhyme work?

  The man screams like he is burning alive and then stops. The man with the bow stands, pulling an arrow. A flash of black is there and he is gone from my sight, but screaming from the rustling bush. One man runs from us and the last man holds his dagger, ready to fight whatever the dark thing is.

  Did I conjure it? I back away from the man, scrambling to my horse. I am completely under the horse who is tied to a branch and pulling at his reins. His feet scratching at the dirt only adds to the things freaking me out.

  The man with the dagger screams into the woods, “COME AND FACE ME LIKE A MAN!”

  The darkness that I imagined was a man, creeps from the woods. It is not what I thought. It is a beast. I scream, seeing the horse-like size of it. The man with the dagger trembles but tries to look strong. He swings at the huge wolf.

  The wolf looks at me. I stay perfectly still, shaking my head softly. “Please, don’t hurt me.” I whisper through my tears. It is then, when our eyes meet that I realize it is one I have seen before. Only then I watched him through a mirror, not face to face with him in the woods. His wolf face and body are completely transformed.

  Bash is not a man in any way. He is fully wolf. He lowers himself and growls, turning his attentions back to the man. Even past the anger in them, I can see the grey of his eyes is the same as it always has been. He snarls at the man, lunging. The man screams as Bash gets his arm in his mouth. The man grabs a second dagger from his belt and stabs it into Bash’s side. Bash cries out in a whine but doesn’t let go. He drags the man to the ground, moving at an alarming speed as he gnashes his teeth and tears the screaming man’s throat out. He licks the wound several times and then looks back at the dagger in his side. His wolf face lifts to meet mine.

  I’m crying and gripping to the horse’s foot. The horse sees Bash and tears from its reins and me. He dashes off into the woods, whinnying and kicking. I grip to the dirt as the wolf limps to me. He growls in my face, hot breath tickling my cheek.

  I sob silently as he turns and faces the dagger to me. He whines again and lowers his face. With a trembling hand and courage I did not know I had, I reach for it. I grab the hilt and take a breath. I close my eyes and pull the blade from his side. He drops to the ground in front of me and passes out. Blood trickles down his dark fur.

  “Bash!”

  I run my fingers through his fur for the wound. It’s deep and bleeding badly. I tear off a sleeve from my dress and hold it against the wound. There is something below the surface of his fur changing. It’s a strange sensation, like bones snapping into place. “Bash, be okay. Please don’t leave me here.”

  I hold the cloth to the wound, looking around for an idea or an answer. I don’t know how to help him. I don’t even know how he found me or why he followed. It makes me happy and sad all at once, regardless of the fact I don’t even think I have a heartbeat anymore. I think it’s frozen, stopped and scared. I am stunned, still gripping to his damp fur. The snapping and popping continues, like it is deep in his body. I grip the fur, lowering my head to his massive body. He is nearly the size of the horse that has abandoned me. I lie against him and close my eyes, holding the cloth to the wound.

  He is going to die in the woods, leaving me completely alone.

  I can feel my tears leaking from my eyes, rolling down my cheeks and dampening his fur. The popping and snapping gets worse. I jump when a loud one happens. He lifts his wolf face, howling into the silence of the woods. I jump back, scrambling away again. I reach down into the dirt and grab the bloody dagger I pulled from his wound. I hold it pointed at him and watch as his howls become screams. His body tears apart, and then from the bloody pulp I swear he has become, he turns back to Bash. Somehow, he is a man. A screaming man. I drop the blade and jump to him.

  I wrap my arms around his shoulders and sob. The blood from the changing, ripping skin covers me and him, sliding between us but I don’t care. He is alive. He is a scarred mess but he is him again. He is Bash and I am unharmed from the brigands who had attacked us.

  He lifts his scarred face slowly, “Why did you leave me?”

  I shake my head, “You scared me. You lied about the betrothal all along. You wanted my magic but it’s dangerous here.”

  He looks wounded. “I never meant it that way.”

  I shake my head, “I don’t know how you meant it, but I believed Baylor, that you were trying to steal my magic. It made sense, more sense than . . . just more sense.”

  “More sense than what?” He gives me a look. His grey eyes are wounded and filled with the tears from the change his body has endured.

  I feel sick saying it, “That you love . . . loved me and we were star-crossed soul mates.”

  He looks truly hurt, “I am the only person who has helped you and not betrayed you. Why would I start now?”

  “Besides Sam.”

  He laughs bitterly, rubbing the knife wound that is healing before my eyes. “Of course, Sam. Well, besides Sam, I have stood by you completely, trying to help you.”

  “Bash, that’s not entirely true. You left me when you thought you were here and not in Lakeland anymore. And you declared us engaged without talking to me about it. It was sneaky. And you’ve made a pretty simple story seem insanely complex.”

  “Simple? What about this is simple?”

  I shake my head, “It all makes sense. Baylor, as much as I hate to say it, is the victim here. Yes, I suffered but she lost her life. My mother and my aunt are scheming wicked witches, and my father is along for the ride. They sent you and I to Lakeland for something, I just don’t know what, and they never expected we would meet or come back. They clearly never expected us to find each other. I would bet they never expected you would forgive me for what my family has done to you either.” That reminds me of something I have yet to tell him.

  “You’re talking nonsense.” He shakes his head, “It was destiny. I was born loving you. I just didn’t know it until I found you in Lakeland. Spending time with you ruined me for all other women; I live and eat and breathe you.” He gives me a smile and look, “The story of us is simple. Your kiss healed me. That’s not a coincidence. The rest is convoluted and insane, as I can tell by you mixing the facts up. And I never hid anything. I revealed facts as I needed to. I didn’t want to burden you or drive you crazy. Not to mention, we were already betrothed. I never committed you to something you weren’t already committed to.” He looks hurt gain, “Do you wish our betrothal broken?”

  The answer leaving my lips surprises me. “No.”

  I swallow hard, trying to see the man behind the scars and blood and prepare myself for the story I have to tell him. The true story. We have both been so wrong about who to trust and where the fault lies.

  He rolls his eyes, nearly making me gag. “Just turn me back.” He grabs my chin and pulls my face to his. When our lips meet, I feel the change in him. He pulls back and he is just a bloody Bash. He smiles, “Now we have to find somewhere to clean up.”

  “I have something I have to tell you.” I look down, blushing instantly. “You have no clothes.” My head shoots back up.

  He laughs, “I don’t exactly have the option of keeping them on me when I become a wolf.”

  “Weird, and yet, I guess that makes sense. How did you find me?”

  His eyes grow sweet, charming—like they were in Lakeland. “I will always find you—always.”

  I don’t know what to say to that so I just shrug, “Well, thank you for saving me.”

  He steps to me, “You are mine—you always were. No one will ever hurt you, Lynnie.”

  A shudder rolls across my body, “I was so scared. I shouldn’t have made the horse bring me here. I should have gone through the mirro
r with Sam.”

  “What mirror?” He looks around, confused. “Speaking of which, where is Sam?”

  I nod, “I sent Sam back, into the mirror at my aunt’s house. I took his memories and sent him back to Lakeland. He doesn’t know me or remember this place. Now I’m all alone and my whole family is a friggin’ mess, and they all want me dead, I think.”

  “You never say that again. I am your family now and you will never be alone.” He takes my bloody hands in his. “I am sorry that you felt the need to run from me. I want you to remember I am on your team. I will protect you, forever. Even my death won’t stop me from being there for you.”

  My stomach burns, and the thing I haven’t told him yet trickles back in. I shake my head, “I still have something to tell you about that, something important.”

  He takes my hand in his and lifts me off of the ground, “Tell me later. I need to get this blood off of me and find some clothes.” He pulls me through the woods to where they dragged the saddle off of my horse. He grabs the blanket and wraps it around himself. He tucks the dagger on the ground in the skirt he has made himself and grabs my hand again. He pulls me through the woods.

  He seems to know where we are going.

  I feel the burden of my truth lingering on my chest like a great weight. Finally, I just blurt it out, preparing for him to kill me. “I turned you to a wolf. My mother told me it was me who did it. I cursed you.”

  He stops and looks at me, gripping the dagger. “What? Your mother? Your mother is dead.” His grey eyes turn cruel, “Besides, even if you did do it, you were a child.”

  I nod, “I am of the black blood, evil to the core.”

  He starts to laugh after a second. “Okay.”

  I shake my head, “It’s true. I will betray you again and again. I am evil, like my mother.”