Allie POV
I should have known our conversation about school would end like that. Josh’s life had been completely different to mine in just about every way. He was one of those people who could be friends with anyone, and everyone probably wanted to be his friend, too. Of course he would enjoy the social aspect of school more than anything else. I didn’t want to think about it anymore.
A familiar-looking lake came into view ahead of us, and I realised where we were. Olive’s tree was just up ahead. I felt a small jolt of excitement and raced over. Olive heard me coming and spun around with the widest, most genuine smile I think I’d ever seen, plastered to her face.
“Oh, my darlings!” she said, embracing me warmly and smiling over my shoulder at Josh. As he got closer, she opened an
Allie POVToday had been the longest day we’d experienced so far, in terms of time. We’d covered good ground once I’d taken over navigation. We were just descending into a valley when I heard a familiar little giggle, and both of us turned our heads to find her.“You!” barked Josh, pointing his finger at Poppy the pixie.She smiled brightly and giggled again, fluttering in front of us.“You tricked us!” Josh continued.“You’re very dramatic today,” she replied lightly. “I was just having fun.”“Fun? Why you little…” Josh shot his hand out, lunging for the flying little pixie in the blue irid
Josh POV I couldn’t get Allie out of my head. She’d fallen asleep a while ago, and I shamelessly watched the rise and fall of her chest and the cute little way she pouted her lips in her sleep. I could have used a nap too, but every time I closed my eyes I saw the way her wet underwear had clung to her as she exited the lake. Her nipples had been hard and pointed through the fabric–just like a certain part of my own anatomy. I heard her move next to me, but wasn’t sure whether I should look. I didn’t want to be too obvious. She’d been sneaking looks at me when she thought I wasn’t watching and I’d been doing the same to her. She moved again and I couldn’t help it. I opened an eye and found her rolled on her side, watching me. “I’ve been waiting for you to wake
Josh POV “Sorry, Tatiana, you can’t come with us,” I stated, taking a few steps closer to Allie. Tatiana pouted and started crying loudly, cuddling her head against my chest as she sobbed. She looked broken-hearted and I felt terrible. I didn’t want to be with her, but I couldn’t just leave her in a state like this. I stroked her back gently, trying to calm her, then noticed Allie. Over the course of the day, I felt like I’d finally broken through to her. She’d forgiven me for my stuff ups, and she’d loosened up and had fun at the berry patch–I was sure she’d never done anything like that before. She was warming to me. But now, her expression had changed, and her features had hardened. Her guard was back up, the one I’d worked so hard to get her to lower.
Allie POVTatiana woke me a few times during the night, bumping into me as she draped herself all over Josh. Each time I glared at her, she’d scowl back with equal intensity. She didn’t like me and I didn’t like her, but the level of frustration I felt with her confused me.I’d used my Alpha tone for the first time. In all the years of my father treating me like a disappointment, and then watching the way he controlled Mum, I’d never come close to using it. It felt wrong that what angered me enough to evoke that tone, was a water nymph falling for Josh.It made no sense. Josh meant nothing to me. He was my guard, and he was unfortunate enough to be stuck with me. Yes, he was a good person–and an incredible specimen of the male form–but I shouldn’t feel any kind o
Allie POV Josh laughed, and we headed for the rocky path that led up and around the mountain. It didn’t take long for my legs to burn thanks to the constant incline. Even Josh had worked up a sweat. “As much as it pains me–physically–to say this, we need to move faster,” he said, looking at the sky. “It looks like there’s a storm coming, and these paths are slippery enough without rain and possibly wind to deal with.” I reluctantly realised he was right. We increased our speed, and I began to wonder whether we should just abandon the mission and take our chances making our own way out of the Jade Willow Forest. Surely I was only increasing my chances of dying by trekking up this mountain. My heart thumped violently in my chest, my lungs burned, and my legs ache
Allie POV The alarm that had spiked in my body quickly turned to dread when I realised Josh wasn’t trying to escape. He was almost three times the size of the boggart, yet he just stood there. “Josh! Run!” I shouted. He lazily lifted his head to look at me, and a jolt of fear coursed through me. His eyes could not focus and his body swayed. The boggart had magic. I frantically tried to recall as much as I could about boggarts, but I couldn’t remember reading anything about them having magical powers. Josh leaned forward and vomited on the boggart’s feet. His skin was pale and a fresh sheen of sweat coated his face. He really was unwell. Could the boggart kill him? The thought sent even more worry coursing through me, along with a surprising amount of anger directed s
Allie POV A familiar smell tickled my nose, and I jerked to attention. Smoke. Fire. I stood and followed my nose. The smell was coming from further up the mountain, and I could just spot the top of a chimney. Someone lived here! With a burst of adrenaline surging through me, I ushered Josh into a standing position and forged on. I burst into tears as a small hut appeared, hidden deep within the trees. Without the fire, it would have almost blended into the scenery. I left Josh sitting against a large boulder and eyed the bear that had followed us the entire way. It hung back, not daring to come near us, and I just hoped it would stay that way. I ran and knocked several times on the door, praying to the Moon Goddess that someone friendly was home. I breathed a s
Allie POV Josh remained unconscious all night and most of the following day. He roused periodically without fully waking, moaning and drenched in sweat. Samson made him a broth with a few ingredients he said would help get the poison out of his body quicker, but getting it into Josh had been difficult when he barely woke. We’d ended up slowly dribbling it into his mouth and hoping that he wouldn’t choke. During the night, Samson had let me rest and kept watch over Josh. I was utterly exhausted. The physical trek, combined with the emotional energy I’d spent, plus my own brush with the boggart’s poison, was a lot to handle. In the morning, I had discussed the Ivory Queen's request with Samson, but he wanted nothing to do with it. He was being more than hos