Bloodlines: Dragon Rider Book 2

Chapter 38: Glowy Worms and Spooky Stories

We are exactly one chapter away until Norah and Easton do the talk.  Is anyone else excited or nervous to find out what happens? Does Norah forgive him? Is Easton not sorry for what he said??? I guess we have to wait another week.

Norah

 Birds sing throughout the forest, perching on the massive branches or diving into the water and coming out with large fish curled within their talons. Gold refracts off the water, a beautiful sight that provides me no ease of mind. It only reminds me that I don't have much longer before darkness falls and I'll have to take my woodpile back to camp -- where Holland is.

Even thinking about returning doesn't feel the same. It never does after opening up, even with minor things. Like he'd never unsee the coward who left her life behind, who left him and Riveta behind because a few people didn't like her. Leaving might have well been a slap to the face for him, a great betrayal for not coming to him.

He only ever wants me to talk with him. To know a little bit about me, even if it's not the prettiest thing in the world or most interesting information. I don't know why I can't do something so simple for him.

Easton will be at camp too. With his piercing green eyes weighing the risk of talking to me, risking the attack of Clarika. It's been a miracle he hasn't lost his temper yet and talked to me, even out here. Part of me wonders if he tried but Holland stopped him.

Maybe it's another sign that what I felt wasn't what he felt. That I was just something he could play with when it suited him. Granted, I had never talked about forming a relationship. I wanted to but then my parents moved to the Island, making everything go wrong, and I certainly wasn't going to pull him aside and talk about the knife hanging over us. Because if everything had been a lie then I definitely wasn't going to bother feeling sad over him. Not when I obviously meant nothing to him.

Numbness had settled deep within me long before I left in search of wood. The dragons were still out and Rima was too busy eating to notice the walls I built to keep her out of my head. To keep her from prodding and knowing what I was thinking about until I was ready.

Sometime during my walk, Squirm leads me to the waterfalls flowing into the lake. They're tall, rising over thirty feet, before flowing into the many creeks below where the water finally joins with the lake. Some of the levels are shallow, jutting with smooth round rocks worn by the rushing current. Others go as deep as my waist, if I had to guess. Squirm likes the shallow ones, where he can flip over the rocks and show off his expert hunting skills to me. When I nod and hum my approval, he drops his catches back into the water and goes to find more. Then he saunters across the creek and disappears beneath the water.

I keep walking up the steep hill, not actually looking for sticks but staring off into space when something taps my shin. Like Holland's gait, I immediately recognize Squirm's nose and look down, expecting to see a new crustacean hanging from his mouth. Only it's not a creature he's brought back.

Blue, glowing strings tangle around him like cobwebs. He runs around my feet, avoiding my attempts to pick him up.

"Squirm, what happened to you?" He just dives into the water, where the blue strings drift into the waterfall. He runs off back in the direction he came. I chase after him with a frustrated growl, the water freezing beneath my feet.

He leads me across the creek, down a hill where the rocks rise up on both sides like walls. Cold, humid air fills my lungs, infused with a musty, mossy smell as I climb down the giant rocks blanketed in plush moss. I mind the slickness and try to get a look at the giant cavern Squirms led me into.