I called his name several more times, but to no avail. He did not come. I backtracked, winding through the trees from the direction we had come from. I could not see him, or hear him. I began to panic now, my chest rising and falling quickly with each breath. I was alone. Where was Hawthorne? Had he left me too? I spun on the spot. The only sounds I could hear were the whistles of birds and the trees rustling in the wind.
I wasn’t sure how long ago Hawthorne had left me. Had he run off as soon as I had sat down to take a break? He could have gotten very far in the last forty minutes.
Footfalls.
I spun around and stared through the dense trees.
‘Hawthorne?’ I called.
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch.
Heavy paws on dry leaves.
Yes, I could see his white fur shining in the light that streamed through the canopy above. He was walking slowly, as though encumbered by weight.
I started forwards, he was walking so slowly I was worried he had been injured. but I stopped dead when I saw who Hawthorne was carrying.
Hawthorne stopped too, only a few meters from me and the passenger upon his back slid down and looked at me, a relieved expression upon his face.
‘Hawthorne, why have you brought him here?’ I said to my fox. Hawthorne averted his eyes and pawed the ground nervously.
‘He knew I was coming to find you-’ Jack began, taking a step forwards.
I held out my hand warningly. ‘Don’t take another step.’
‘Hawthorne found me,’ Jack continued quickly. ‘He brought me to you.’
Jack took another step towards me, his arms outstretched as though he wanted to embrace.
‘You stay away from me, Jack Greenwood!’ I yelled to him.
Jack stopped dead and looked at me pleadingly. ‘Let me explain what happened.’
I ignored him. ‘Hawthorne, come.’ I pointed to my side. He obeyed and slinked next to me. I would fly away from Jack without a backwards glance. Jack seemed to sense my imminent departure and panicked.
‘You have to listen to me!’ Jack said quickly.
‘I don’t want to see you,’ I hissed over my shoulder. I made to mount Hawthorne, but Jack grabbed my arm and spun me around.
‘Avalon!’ he pleaded.
‘Don’t touch me!’ I wrenched my arm free.
It was instinct; flames appeared in my hands and Jack took a step back warily.
‘Touch me again and so help me, I will set you alight.’
Jack looked at the fireballs in my hand apprehensively, ‘Just calm down, okay?’
I sent walnut sized balls of fire at his clothes, one after the other.
‘Ow! Avalon! Stop that!’ Jack put his arms over his head to shield his face. The fire singed his clothes and left holes in the fabric.
I could not help myself. Instead of leaving, I found myself advancing on Jack. He backed away and cowered before me.
‘You left me, Jack,’ I yelled at him.
‘I didn’t!’ Jack protested, still covering his face. ‘Argh! Just let me explain!’
‘What is there to explain?’
‘Maybe if you stop hitting me I can tell you!’ Jack was getting mad now. His fingers curled around my wrists and prevented the next blow from making contact with his body. We struggled for a moment while I tried to break free of his grip, but his hands were like vices around my wrists.
‘Let go of me!’ I struggled.
‘Avalon.’ Jack took the opportunity to explain. ‘You were tricked. It wasn’t me who sent you away, you have to believe me.’
‘It wasn’t you?’ I scoffed. ‘You told me to leave and then you slapped me!’
‘I would never hurt you,’ Jack said with wide eyes. ‘I would never lay a hand on you! You should know that.’
‘I did,’ I said. ‘Until this morning.’
‘It was Georgia,’ Jack said hurriedly. ‘She’s a shape-shifter! She can take on the appearance of anyone she likes. She sent you away because she thought you were competition.’
My struggling faltered and I stared at Jack.
‘A shape-shifter?’ I repeated.
‘Yes,’ Jack said with a sigh, glad that I had stopped struggling.
‘Why should I believe you?’ I asked.
‘You burned her,’ Jack said quickly.
‘No, I burned you,’ I glowered.
‘Exactly,’ Jack said. ‘So why didn’t I heal?’
After Jack had slapped me, I had erupted, sending burns across his hand. He had howled in pain, but I was already out of the door by that point.
‘Think about it,’ he said, seeing my confusion. ‘Why would I send you away? And why wouldn’t I heal? Georgia’s Power to shape-shift doesn’t give her the ability to use my gift.’
‘Georgia?’ I said slowly. Did I believe Jack?
I recalled how his eyes had been dark and cold; so unlike his pale blue ones.
‘Yes!’ Jack felt it was safe to release my hands now. They dropped to my side and I frowned.
‘But … why?’ I asked.
‘When I got back to her apartment, Georgia was there – as herself. Well … actually, come to think of it, I’m not sure what the real Georgia looks like. She can look like anyone she wants to, can’t she?’
I frowned.
‘Anyway,’ Jack shook his head a little. ‘She was there, hurt. There were burns on her hand. While I was healing her she told me that you attacked her out of jealously. I thought that it was really strange and I believed her at first.’