“Because if I don’t, it will kill all the other plants.”
Amara blinked. That fiery something flickered to life inside her, the something that had reacted to the first book she’d ever seen. “It…will?”
“Yes.” Glinda gestured around the wild, secret garden they’d planted at the base of the mountain. Not even Rock knew about it, and he was her best friend. She bit back her sad sigh, not wanting Glinda to hear it. He was her only friend. “Do you see that vine climbing that tree over there?”
It was hard to miss. It was healthy, vibrant and glowing. The tree beneath it… Something was wrong with the tree.
“That vine will strangle the tree, killing it in order to survive. It feeds off the tree and the rain and the nutrients the tree should be getting. In the end, the tree will fall and only the weed will be left.”
The tree will fall.
She wondered what that buzzing in her ears was. Why was her vision blurring around the edges?
“Can my tree be eaten by a weed?”
“Yes.”
That fire was back in her belly, only stronger. “My tree could be eaten by a weed.”
“Amy?”
She didn’t understand why Glinda’s voice sounded so strange or why she suddenly moved away. All she knew was that the weed was going to kill the tree. “You pull the weeds so the trees can live?”
Glinda nodded, her eyes wide and frightened.
Well. She’d have to do something about that.
By the time Amara was done, not a weed was left standing. The tree that had been attacked was free and clear of the vine, free to live. The fire in her belly died, leaving behind a sense of accomplishment.
She’d done well.
She’d done her job.
Amara dusted her hands off and blew a red curl out of her face. “There.” Her stomach rumbled, reminding her it had been a while since she’d eaten. She picked a shredded leaf out of her pretty green skirt and gave Glinda her best doe eyes. “Can we have some ice cream now?”
Glinda, pale and shaking, led the way.
New York City, Sometime in the 2000s…
“You’re kidding me. Tell me you’re kidding me.” Parker stood outside the jail cell and tried not to laugh his ass off. Greg? In a fight? In a bar?
“Shut the hell up and bail me out.”
“Not until you tell me what happened.” He could smell the blood on Greg’s skin but knew his friend wasn’t too injured, or the cops would have sent him to the hospital.
“I had a fight. Didn’t like something the guy said. I kicked his ass. End of story.”
“Greg.” Parker could tell Greg was holding back. Why, he didn’t know, but he was determined to find out. “C’mon, man.”
Greg looked at him through the bars, and something in his expression sent shivers down Parker’s spine. Something was wrong with his best friend. Whatever it was, Parker would figure out a way to deal with it.
Nothing was going to put that scared look on Greg’s face ever again.
“Get me out and I’ll tell you. I swear.”
Parker nodded and went to bail him out. When Greg joined him up front, he opened the door to the police station without a word. He waited until they’d arrived at the tiny apartment they shared in Soho before starting in on him again. “So?”
“I’m gay.”
“And?”
Greg turned on him, his expression shocked. “What do you mean, and?”
Parker shrugged. “I’ve known for years. Why haven’t you?”
“I did… I mean, yeah, but I never mentioned it before. It…it doesn’t bother you?” And for the first time in years Greg looked unsure of himself, of Parker. Of everything.
“No. It doesn’t. Why didn’t you think you could tell me?” Parker had known for years. He’d thought it was a private matter, that eventually Greg would find someone and introduce them. But Greg hadn’t, not yet.
Or had he? “Did the fight have to do with a date?”
“No,” Greg scoffed. “Just some asshole who thought it was okay to hassle the black gay man.”
Parker grimaced and put his arm around his friend. “I’m sorry.”
“Why? You’re not the one who tried to punch my lights out.”
“Tell me who it was and I’ll put the fear of the fang in him.” Parker grinned and dropped his fangs. Thing was, he wasn’t kidding. He would put the fear in that man if it meant Greg would be all right.
Greg rolled his eyes. “Man. You’re weird.”
“Says the gay black witch.”
“Homophobe.”
“Perv.”
“You’re just jealous because I never hit on you.”
“Remind me to get you a nice pink Judy Garland T-shirt for your next birthday.”
“Asshole.” Greg hugged him. Parker could feel the tension seep out of his friend. “Thanks.”
Parker hugged him back. Finally there was something he could do for Greg for a change. “You’re welcome.”
Maggie’s Grove, Maryland, The Senior Prom…
Amara cried so hard she thought she’d never catch her breath again. The tattered remains of her dress floated around her, the words of her date echoing in her ears. Freak was the nicest thing he’d called her.
“Amy?”
She didn’t bother trying to dry her eyes. Glinda would know anyway.
“Why aren’t you at the prom, child?”
She couldn’t catch her breath to answer. She’d thought Jason Montanaro was different. He was a were, loyal to the bone, someone who would understand the needs of a young dryad.
But she’d forgotten for one shining, happy moment that a dryad wasn’t all she was, and now she was paying the price.
“Oh, dear.” Glinda’s arms went around her shoulders, but Amara couldn’t raise her head. Couldn’t look at the sympathy on Glinda’s face. Thank the Gods school was almost over. She’d commune with her tree for the entire summer, long enough for Jason and his friends to go away to college. Long enough for her to forget.
“What did that boy do to you?” Glinda smoothed her hair away from her hot forehead. “My poor child.”
She couldn’t breathe. It hurt too badly.
“I swear this to you, my child. Someday a man will come, one who will love you for who you are and what you are. When he does, hold on tight to him, for he’ll need you like no other.”
Her sobs quieted at the tinge of magic in Glinda’s voice. When Glinda spoke like that, things happened. Amara had learned to trust the promises spoken when Glinda used that voice.
“Let’s get you home and cleaned up. I know you’ll want some time with your tree, but promise me you’ll come out before the end of the summer. I have a graduation present for you that I think you’ll like.”
“Wh-what?”
“A trip to Disney World.”
“Disney?” Mickey Mouse and princesses and magical people who weren’t outcasts like her?
“Mm-hmm. When we get inside, I can show you the hotel we’ll be staying at, hmm?”
Well…maybe she could hold off on communing with her tree for a while. She followed Glinda home, knowing someday, somewhere, there’d be someone who accepted her the way Glinda did.
After all, a girl could dream, right?
Chapter One
Maggie’s Grove, Maryland, Present Day
Parker drove through the moonlight-drenched streets of his new hometown with a sense of peace he hadn’t experienced since Greg died. He hadn’t realized how stressed he’d gotten until he’d hit Tennessee and all the tension dissipated. Finding out Greg had cancer, helping him through the horrors of chemo and radiation, only to lose him in the end to an infection, had been devastating. Greg had been in his sixties, not old at all. At least not by Parker’s standards.