Twigs, leaves, and grasses had been braided together in a crook of the tree, along with several candy bar wrappers. Looked like this troll really loved his chocolate. I scooted up higher on my branch so that my head was level with the nest. A moment later, another tree troll—a female given her dark gray fur—popped her head up out of the nest, along with a much smaller, fuzzier head. A pair of tiny, innocent green eyes stared back at me. The male tree troll handed the rest of the candy bar to the female, and she and the baby vanished back down into the bottom of the nest, out of my line of sight.
So the monster was watching out for his family, which was the reason for all the fruit bombs. No doubt the creature saw everyone who approached the tree as a potential threat. Well, I couldn’t blame him for that. I might be a thief, but I knew what it was like to try to protect your Family—mob and otherwise.
And to fail miserably.
The old, familiar, soul-crushing grief stabbed my chest, but I shoved the emotion deep down into the bottom of my heart where it belonged.
“All right,” I said. “You can stay here until your baby is big enough to travel. If you’re looking for someplace a little quieter, there are some nice, tall trees over by the lochness bridge. You should scout them out.”
The tree troll cheeped at me again. I hoped that meant he understood me.
I pointed at him. “But no more throwing fruit at people, okay? You leave them alone, and they’ll leave you alone. Capisce?”
The troll cheeped at me a final time, which I was going to take for a yes.
I unhooked my legs from around the branch and started climbing down. The troll watched me all the while, jumping from one branch to the next and following me all the way down the tree, but he didn’t throw any more blood persimmons. More progress. Maybe I really was a monster whisperer after all. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
When I was about ten feet off the ground, I sat down on a branch, flipped over, and let go. I plummeted through the air, letting out a happy laugh at the rush of the wind through my hair, before landing in a low crouch. I made a gallant flourish with my hand to add to my dramatic dismount, then got to my feet.
Felix grinned. “Show-off.”
I grinned back. “Absolutely.”
Devon craned his neck back, trying to see the troll. “So what did he do?”
“He’s got his family up there, so he’s not going anywhere,” I said. “I told him to stop throwing fruit at people, and it seemed like he agreed to it. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Devon nodded. “Thanks, Lila. Good job.”
His face crinkled into a smile. I looked away from him before my soulsight kicked in, but the dizzying rush in my heart had nothing to do with my magic. It was just Devon being Devon, and how hopelessly into him I was, despite my need to keep my distance.
Devon sensed my mood swing, and his grin dropped from his face. I felt like I’d reached up and snuffed out the sun with my bare fingers, and more than a little guilt curled up in my stomach. He really was a good guy, and I kept pushing him away, hurting him without even meaning to.
But I’d been hurt too—horribly so—and I didn’t want my heart to be broken again. Not even for someone as all-around hot, charming, and wonderful as Devon Sinclair.
Devon waited until Felix had handed over my black leather belt and I’d buckled my sword around my waist again before jerking his thumb over his shoulder.
“Come on,” Devon said. “Let’s go home and get cleaned up.”
He and Felix turned and headed out of the square, but something made me stop and look back over my shoulder. Thanks to my sight, I easily spotted the troll staring at me through the leafy branches, his green eyes brighter and more wary than ever before, as if he knew about some lurking danger that I didn’t. Our eyes locked, and once again, the creature’s worry, fear, and dread made my heart sink, my stomach churn, and a chill slither down my spine.
I shivered, dropped my gaze from the monster, and hurried after my friends.
CHAPTER TWO
Devon, Felix, and I left the square, strode down a walkway, and stepped out into the Midway, the commercial heart of Cloudburst Falls.
The square and its shops had been busy enough, but the Midway was jam-packed, as throngs of tourists moved from one side of the enormous circular area to the other, flowing into the shops and restaurants, and back out again. Every single business tied in to the town’s overall fairy-tale theme, from the smallest Olde Tyme Fudge Shacke to Camelot Court, one of the largest hotels. Oh, there were plenty of real magical attractions, like the zoos where you could pet rockmunks and other small monsters. But really, the Midway was nothing more than the world’s largest—and cheesiest—renaissance faire.