Lullaby (The Fable Series, Book 2)

Chapter Eleven

By the time I reach the edge of the forest, my legs feel like they're about to collapse beneath me.

I catch my breath for a moment under the shade of a huge oak tree, trying to process everything that just happened.

I ran into Bea. I tried to speak to her. Then she burst into flames and disappeared.

Impossible. Just... impossible.

It's hard to accept the finality of what I saw. I need to know for sure whether or not that thing was really Bea. Even if it means I might be putting myself in danger.

I step out into the road, looking down Greenbriar Terrace. Bea lives just a short walk away, in Arlington Heights, neatly sandwiched between the forest and the Japanese Gardens. During the day, she's usually one of two places – managing the Rose Inn, which is on the front of her property, or doing random hippy stuff at her cottage hidden away at the back.

I know the whole thing is pointless – even if she's there, what then? How can I trust anything I see anymore?

But still, even if I'm stumbling around blindly in the darkness, I have to try.

I'm about to set off down the road when I realize that my route will take me past Zee's house. Under normal circumstances, that would be fine, but I don't want to risk running into Alix right now. I made a stupid impulse decision when I was explaining to Micah three weeks ago why I wouldn't be able to do any band practices for Wild Blue Yonder over the summer. I told him I was staying in New York with my aunt for a few weeks. Luckily, he doesn't seem to have realized that neither of my parents have siblings, and he seemed ok with the cover story. Alix, on the other hand, is still mad at me. The second he sees me walking past his house, my cover will be blown and he's guaranteed to lose his shit.

That's the problem with lies – big and small. They always come back to bite you.

Of course, the chances of him actually seeing me are practically nil, but I don't want to take the risk.

So I backtrack and slip into the forest.

The Wildwood Track carries on all the way down to the Japanese Gardens. All I need to do is follow the path to Fairview Road, and I'll be able to completely bypass Zee's house.

But as I set off down the track, I feel an uneasy prickling on the back of my neck.

I'm being watched. I'm sure of it.

It's still early afternoon, but the shadows seem longer; the trees whisper to each other in a faint rustle of emerald leaves. The image of Bea's face melting away into black flame is burned onto my retinas, and I keep on imagining dark tendrils reaching out from the shadows behind me.

I quicken my pace, reminding myself that it's only a few minutes walk until I come out onto a road again.

Still, the uneasy feeling won't go away.

I'm on the outskirts of the woods, yet somehow it makes me more anxious than I felt standing at the forest's dark heart with Bea. Maybe because civilization is so close, and the panic and adrenalin have set in, telling me I can make it, I should hurry, get out.

I break into a run, hurtling along the path without looking back.

The trees go by on either side of me in a flash, and I stumble out onto the sunlit road moments later.

The Rose Inn is at the end of the road, a spacious Edwardian style building with a formal rose garden at the front. It's Portland's best-kept secret – the place visiting celebs stay if they want to avoid the paparazzi and fans. I never thought much about how Bea came to own and manage it. The land itself must be worth a fortune, and I don't know much about Bea's life from before I was born.