Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 269

Chapter 269: Forest
“No, there isn’t just one tree. There are hundreds. Thousands, even,” Mia recalled from the whirlwind of images of the path through the underground labyrinth.

“That’s… where did Ford go?”

The question came from Seth, and it seemed to boil with anger under the surface. Mia could tell that despite her assurances, her father didn’t quite believe that she’d left of her own free will.

Which, on the one hand, was entirely fair since it was out of character to act so heedlessly of everyone else’s feelings and run off with only a simple note left behind.

On the other hand, she’d now told him twice that it wasn’t Ford’s fault, and his continued disbelief felt like he was calling her a liar, or stupid. That would sting more if he weren’t so distraught over her absence.

But right now…

Ford was gone.

She reached down and picked up one of the lamps, holding it higher and casting her eyes across the cave. The natural secondary pull towards Ford was gone!

A chill ran down her spine. The only reason she could think of for it to disappear was–

No, no, now that she decided to search for him, she felt it, faintly.

“Ford?”

The pull wasn’t towards the exit, but towards the place where Ford had stood until a few moments ago… but moving.

Mia stepped forward, perplexed, straining her eyes to look more closely. As she had so many times before in her life, she stepped gently towards the pull, though there was nothing she could see ahead of her.

Growing confused she moved forward faster until she bumped into something quite solid that knocked her backward.

“Ow!” Ford’s voice rang out. “What are you doing?”

“Looking for you!” Mia retorted automatically as she glared at the man who had seemed to appear out of thin air, “Where were you?”

“What do you mean? I was right here!” Ford complained, rubbing his side. “You ran right into me!”

Mia stared for several moments, baffled. “But you weren’t.”

The words were offered lamely, and Ford lifted an eyebrow the way he did when she said something he found truly stupid. She hated that look, and it had been a while since she’d seen it from him.

“I was right here,” Ford insisted, and Grandpa cleared his throat.

“I saw stones fall from the tree, but of course my attention was focused elsewhere,” The old man looked closely at Ford. “Did one of them hit you?”

Ford hesitated, then nodded. “A ruby, I think.”

“What does that mean? He has magic now?” Mia’s eyes widened. “He can turn invisible?”

“Invisible?” Ford seemed surprised and looked down at himself. “That doesn’t seem right.”

“It is right, because you just did it!” Mia exclaimed. “I didn’t see you at all even when you were right in front of me!”

“But, I was making pain go away,” Ford frowned. “Do people usually get two powers?”

“Not in our experience,” Grandpa scratched his scruffy chin, which had obviously gone days without shaving. Fresh shame assaulted Mia as she looked at the state of her father and grandfather, both a bit haggard and unkempt, and all because of worry for her.

“Why are we wasting time on this kidnapper?” Seth snapped. “Let’s go get my brother.”

“You were the one who asked where I was,” Ford seemed to have lost a lot of the veneer of polite manners he’d worn while he was staying at their home.

Mia was glad he was no longer hiding as much of who he was, but now was not exactly the ideal time to provoke her father!

“So I can hogtie you and drag you home behind my horse to face my wife’s wrath, which I’m sure will be much worse than what even I feel right now,” Seth glared, and Mia winced.

Her usually-softspoken mother did have a fiercely protective streak. Grandma always said those who loved the deepest had the greatest fury when something happened to their loved ones.

“Papa,” Mia gritted her teeth. Ford hadn’t done anything wrong, and didn’t deserve the threats.

“Let’s go,” Seth made a face and turned to pick up a dropped torch and stride towards the exit, expecting everyone else to follow.

Grandpa paused long enough for a brief but tight hug with Mia.

“It’s good you’re ok, Bug,” He whispered affectionately. “Scared your Grandma and parents something good, you did.”

“I’m glad you weren’t scared,” Mia smiled against the man’s chest.

“You know me, never scared of anything,” He pulled away and his smile faltered. “Bit worried about your Uncle, though. But our family’s tough. You’re all right, and he will be, too.”

“You’re right, he will,” The young woman nodded. “He has to be.”

If her only uncle got killed because of her… well, she didn’t want to think about that right now. She’d think about it only if and when it happened.

Grandpa walked with her after Seth, settling one arm around her shoulders. The cave was already considerably cooler without the dragons’ fiery presence, and Mia shivered slightly from the change in temperature.

“Want to tell ol’ Grandpa what went wrong? Your note didn’t exactly give a lot of detail about why you left.”

The old man seemed oddly calm, but Mia’s family was like that. If one person’s emotions became extremely heightened, like her father right now, stomping up the trail, another would become proportionally more even-keeled as if to balance out the total amount of emotion in the family at a given time.

It generally worked out for everyone’s benefit, and Mia appreciated the out of place serenity her grandfather was showing moments after his younger son had been kidnapped by magical creatures.

And so, Mia began to pour out her heart to the old man as they walked up the long trail to the mouth of the cave. It felt like an enormous release, until she glanced over her shoulder.

Ford was gone again.