Boon watches the Woodsman sleep, cautious and pensive. Shiori had loaded the stranger with restweed and now he lays unconscious, handcuffed to the bed post. How many of his kind has he killed? How many innocent lives has he taken?

Boon knows he’d be in trouble if he smothered him with a pillow, but can’t help but fantasize about it.

Marie’s coven was yet to be contacted. Stella had left on her broomstick to go talk to the elves around a week ago, and was due back any day. He wonders what her take on the situation would be; she’s empathetic, so she would probably believe only a light punishment is warranted.

Stella and him had been best friends since she arrived, back when she was Ben.

“You can be whoever you want to be here,” Boon had told her. “If you want to be a girl, I’m sure there’s magic that can make it happen.”

Stella became invested in illusion magic, and went on a long quest to find a hologram crystal. She managed to obtain a hair from the famous bard, Hannah Haze, while she was on her continental tour. (Why exactly a musician would travel around when one of the kingdoms were at war was beyond his understanding. Stella had explained that Hannah Haze was a hero, but Boon still smelled bullshit.) Now, Stella hides herself behind Hannah’s likeness, uncomfortable in her own appearance.

Boon isn’t a fan of his own image; his face is splashed with red and horns protrude from his scalp, and his eyes are a rusty orange color. But it’s his own, and he owns it.

Hattie peeks in through the crack of the door, dark eyes glimmering. “Family meeting,” she whispers.

“He’s not going to wake up,” says Boon, walking over to flick the Woodsman on the nose.

“Oh. Family meeting!” she screams, cackling down the hallway as she departs.

~~~~~

Boon helps Carmen out of bed and into her fuzzy slippers.

“What’s this all about?” she croaks as she takes off her reading glasses. “I was in the middle of the good part of my book. The part where I finally find out what the hell is going on.”

“I think it’s about the Woodsman,” says Boon, taking her by the arm that isn’t holding her cane.

“The one we should’ve killed?” she quips.

“Yes.”

Carmen rolls her eyes. “It’s about time. It’s been what, three hours? It’s two in the morning, isn’t it? Jiminy cricket, that’s way too long if you ask me. Boon, what do you think about this? And when is Stella coming back?”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“I don’t like it. And soon.” I hope.

The two emerge in the living room where Rowan, Shiori, Hattie, and Elijah are sitting around. Their living room is cozy, but unusual in the sense that on the wall is a bulletin board with maps, ideas, and other little notes stuck in with tacks.

Rowan is the only one on the floor, playing with his horse figurines. Hattie is looking at him like she wants to play, too, but remains by Shiori’s side.

Shiori’s face is expressionless as usual, while Elijah is pacing the room in an uncharacteristic manifestation of anxiety. The light of the lamps dance off his dark body, illuminating the markings on his caramel skin.

“We’ve gathered everyone together because Shiori has an announcement she would like to make.” Elijah clears his throat and gives her a pointed look.

“Are you having a baby?” Hattie blurts out. “Because I’d love another baby.”

“I um,” Shiori rubs the back of her neck, and Boon’s heart sinks. Shiori is never nervous.

“I Linked with the Woodsman,” she says, voice unusually quiet.

“You what?!”

“Fuck,” says Boon.

Hattie gasps, gesturing towards Rowan, who’s just a toddler, at the same time Carmen snaps back, “Watch your mouth.”

“Are you two breaking up?” Hattie asks, feet swinging in excitement from where they dangle off the couch.

“Yes,” says Shiori at the same time Elijah says, “It’s complicated.”

“So, the Woodsman is getting off scott-free?” accuses Boon. “After how many of us he’s murdered?”

“We never said that,” says Elijah.

“I bit him. He’s one of us now,” Shiori adds.

“What does it feel like? To be in love?” asks Hattie, clearly curious.

Shiori moves from where she was leaning against the wall. “That’s enough for now. He’ll be up soon.”

“He’s a Woodsman. He’s not going to love you back,” Boon says, voice rising.

The room is dead quiet for a moment, and Boon wishes for a split second that those words hadn’t just leapt from his mouth.

“That doesn’t stop some of us from trying, now does it?” asks Shiori calmly.

Boon thinks of Stella and is so angry in that moment that he decides to remove himself from the situation completely. He storms off, grabbing the enchanted stone off the kitchen counter and headed to the door when he hears the familiar shuffle of dirt from above.

Stella comes running down, leaping into his arms in a hug that temporarily dissipates her facade of Hannah, blonde hair disappearing to show a tangle of brown curls and a distinct nose. “What have I missed?”

Boon would’ve been happy, but the sharp edge of Shiori’s comment still cut him deep. Stella pulls back from him and her grin falls. “What’s wrong?”

“A lot of things. Er… I need some air.”

“I’ll come with–”

“I need to be alone.”

Boon heads up the stairs, out into the night.