Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 296

Chapter 296: Forest at night
The watch that night was more strict than normal. There had been little to look out for in the grasslands, with visibility so low.

The chimera had scared them all, to varying degrees, and now to be in an unexplored forest? It set everyone on edge.

Mia insisted on taking a turn, constantly searching to see if there were a safer place to make camp for the night. There was nothing.

Ford’s secondary pull was back in place, which was both a comfort and a distraction. When he turned everyone invisible, it disappeared, confirming her very strong theory that his magic interfered with her own.

That was irritating.

The grasslands had had their sounds at night, which Mia had grown used to. Now, on the edge of the forest, it was different.

No more was the steady rush of the tall grasses flowing one stalk against another in the winds of the night. The flutter of leaves was less predictable, less constant as the breeze filtered through the trees.

A distant howl sent a shudder down her spine. The hoot of an owl drew her attention.

She spied its eyes faintly glowing in the darkness.

As the moon reached its zenith, her father emerged from his tent, either sensing the beginning of his watch naturally, or just feeling restless enough that he decided to come out of his own volition.

“Everything’s fine,” She told him.

“Is it?”

The words were quiet, and Mia looked at her father with mild concern. Had he seen or heard something she missed? All of the nighttime sounds of the forest seemed within the bounds of normal.

“Isn’t it?” She clenched her fists into her dress, and her father came to sit beside her.

“Mia, I wanted to talk to you,” He said.

“I’m right here,” She shrugged. Conversations that began this way were normally quite serious. She wasn’t particularly in the mood for whatever he was about to accuse her of.

“I don’t like us… being this way.” Seth told her with a sigh. “We used to talk about things. I don’t like that I no longer have any idea of what you’re thinking. Like you’ve very suddenly grown up and left me behind.”

Mia watched her father in the firelight. He looked older. Tired.

“I don’t like it either,” Mia admitted.

“How do we fix it?” Seth grimaced. “I know I’m the parent and I should know these things, but really, your mother took the lead on most of these situations.”

“For one thing, you can stop snipping at me, and stop blowing up at Ford,” She watched his face carefully. The corners of his eyes tightened.

“Do you… like him?” He ground the question out quietly with a glance towards Ford’s tent, which was the furthest from the pair. Obviously even in his sleep, Ford could irk Seth quite severely.

Mia’s face burned at the question, and she avoided it.

“He’s saved my life more than once. And now, all our lives. He deserves more than the disrespect you’re constantly throwing at him. The glares.”

“That’s true, but you didn’t answer my question. Maybe you don’t want to. Times like this I really miss your mother.” Seth threw a twig into the flames.

Mia considered his words for a moment.

“Is that why you’re so mean to him?” She asked softly.

“I don’t think he’s good enough for you,” Her father frowned. “I don’t trust him.”

“Did your mistrust start when he came to our house, or when he and I disappeared on the same morning?” Mia prodded. As long as Seth was in the mood for heavy conversation, she would glean as much as she could from him.

“We’re kind to strangers, even ones we don’t trust,” Seth defended himself. “When we found out about his association with Martin–”

“They worked in the same mine, and Martin saved his life.” Mia clamped down on her urge to defend Ford. It was stupid to remind her father of information he already knew. She’d also been the first one to condemn Ford for merely knowing the man, so her defense bore a lining of hypocrisy.

“My point is, there’s a big difference between trusting a man enough to help him heal his wounds and trusting him around your only daughter,” Seth concluded darkly.

Mia paused, debating whether to explain to her father why exactly Ford was increasingly important to her. The status quo was mostly working. Shouldn’t she leave it alone?

She hadn’t even told her Aunt about the pull, but her father knew at least a little of the truth. Abandoning caution for a moment, Mia plunged ahead.

“Do you remember what I told you when I found Ford on our property?”

Seth stared at her for a moment, eyes distant as he tried to remember.

“You said you felt a pull? Towards him?” He asked, and she nodded. His frown deepened.

“I did then, and I have, constantly, ever since,” She whispered.

Sneaking a look at her father, she noticed that his jaw was tightly clenched. The tendons in his neck stood out. A vein in his forehead looked like it was throbbing.

“What does that mean?” He finally inhaled enough to get the question out.

“I’m… not entirely sure, yet,” She hesitated to tell her father everything she did know. “But I want you to be aware that I’m not being silly. Or naive.”

If she were younger and ridiculous, she probably would have blurted out the truth to Ford immediately and expected him to propose on the spot. She was at least wiser than that.

“It’s not you I don’t trust,” Seth reached over to take his daughter’s hand.

“Isn’t it?” She made a face. “I did run away from home with only a stranger to protect me.”

Seth’s face scrunched, unamused. “You did, yes.”

Both of them stared into the fire for several minutes before Mia sighed.

“I guess since it’s your watch, I’ll head to sleep,” She covered a yawn and stood, stretching.

“Goodnight, Mia… thank you for telling me.” Seth didn’t look up from the fire, as if fighting resignation.

“Will you be kinder to him?” She asked before turning away.

“I guess I’ll have to try, won’t I?” Was his only reply.

It was only after she entered her tent that Mia belatedly noticed the absence of the very pull she’d been talking about.