Wyrd: Book One of the Witch War Trilogy - WATTYS 2018 WINNER!

Chapter 14: In Which Sky Meets Will's Mom, Again

Will, Will, Will. Damn Will.

"In the Arms of an Angel" had been playing when Ollie turned on the car radio – Sky suspected it wasn't due to coincidence but rather to Fate's screwed up sense of humour – and Sky could feel Will staring at the back of her head around the headrest adamantly. Of all the factors she'd calculated, Will's undeniable adoration had been a surprising happenstance she'd overlooked. But, she should have suspected, she berated herself.

Once again, she was reminded that the Fates were cruel. They wielded the sharpest knife, always, always, trying to get Sky to bow to their whims. They wanted her to remember what she was, but she wasn't one of them.

Will had opened the car door for Sky, like the gentleman he was, ushering her into the front seat of the beat-up silver vehicle. She had tried not to look into Will's eyes, but she'd sought them instinctively in the rear-view mirror. She was apprehensive about the ride – she'd never been in an automobile before and she knew how her mother, Uror, liked to cause car crashes. She would have much rather relied on her own wings, or ridden on the back of a horse, a flying wyvern, a griffin or even an angry unicorn.

Observing Will was like sailing an emotional current through the turbulent and ever-changing winds of a stormy sky: hope, pain, guilt, attraction, sadness, joy, and grief waited, just on her periphery, to consume her and war for prominence.

His eyes. His kind and beautiful eyes. They were so similar: the flecks, the lines, and the rings, even the shape and intensity with which he peered into her soul. It was like taking a trip down memory lane, wishing to stay in their inky depths, to get lost permanently, only to be jolted back to an aching reality. Will's eyes were gray-blue. His had been deep brown. And yet ... they were the same. It felt like home when she looked into his eyes. And then it felt like hell.

It wasn't going to be Will, she begged, rejecting the notion viscerally. And then, It still might not be Will, she tried to convince herself. But she admitted it only a few seconds later – It was Will, of course it was Will. The more she tried to bargain with her beliefs or deny the thoughts in her head, the more certain she was that he was the one. She wished it weren't him. But her heart knew; it was written in his sweet nature, his goodness, his awkwardness. It would be Will. She hadn't known it with Nora or Eldron – there'd been no hint or clue – but this time she was sure.

For a moment, Sky's eyes watered and she was boughed by the weight of the truth. She felt like the pain might break her.

Will had been watching her face in the side mirror, and his hand squeezed her bare shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. It was electric and yet, soothing, like bathing in someone's energy after an eternity of absence. "Don't be scared," Will said. "We'll be there soon. It'll be okay."

Don't be scared. You're strong and brave, my love. His voice, a remembrance so strong it was like he was behind her, whispering in her ear. He had left her no choice in the end, but to be strong.

She gave Will a wan smile.

She sighed, looking over at Olleander, then back at Laina, and out the window to the people driving beside them in vehicles and walking along the sidewalk of the small Muskoka town. She'd learned to love people when she'd fallen for someone a lot like Will, a long, long time ago. They passed a playground; a child with a red balloon was exuding pure joy, pulling on it's string and running around with wild abandon. It was beautiful, to be human.

The intellect and the emotion came together, and with free will they were allowed to pursue the pull of their nature of impermanence – something most Gods saw as proof of their innate inferiority – incentivizing them to make a mark on history, live a happy life, devote themselves to procreation. They were precious, the moments of meaning they contributed to the universes.