In the early morning, the clearing around the cottage seemed less menacing than it had the evening before. A breeze blew by, and I shuddered.
Nonna tsked, rushing inside the cottage. “Wait a moment, young ones.”
I watched her go; the door slamming shut behind her.
“It still looks like a murder cottage to me,” I mumbled.
Xander shot me a glare, his voice rising as he put his hands on his hips. Anger emanated from him in waves. “Seriously?” He made a face. “We’re going to do thisagain?”
“Seriously,” I mimicked his tone of voice, “it does.” I gestured to the cottage. “It was a simple comment. There’s no reason to bite my head off.”
He grumbled something rude under his breath that I chose not to hear.
“Why are you so quick to anger?” I knew I was pushing his buttons, but something about him just made it too easy. I couldn’t stop myself.
He raised a brow. “I’mquick to anger?”
I nodded. “That’s what I said. Do you need to have your hearing checked?”
“As I recall, you’re the one who attacked me yesterday.”
Groaning, I ran a hand through my hair. “That’s not fair. We have already concluded thatyouwere followingme,and you were aiming a nocked arrow at me! My blade just got to you first.”
“Fine,” he hissed. “I acknowledge that perhaps sneaking up on you hadn’t been the best idea.”
“You do?”
“I do. If I had known you were so ornery, I probably would have just left you in the woods.”
“Ornery? I’ll show you ornery!”
He turned, taking a step away from me, then two. A long moment passed where we just… stared at each other. The air was heavy as he sighed, running his hand through his hair. “Let’s call a truce. For the next few minutes. Please. For the love of the gods, we have enough to worry about without adding any injuries to the mix.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I’ll tell you what. You focus on your own behavior, and I’ll do the same.”
“Fine.” He huffed. Crossing his arms, he stared at the cottage door, waiting for Nonna to return.
A tense minute passed before the witch reappeared. She held a pair of navy-blue cloaks with large hoods.
“These will keep you both warm at night,” she said, seemingly oblivious to our previous interaction. “Now, Xander, don’t make me wait years before you come back to see your Nonna.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Xander replied gruffly. He uncrossed his arms, shifting on his feet.
I smirked. The witch’s head barely came up to the middle of Xander’s chest, but it was clear he was scared of her. She reached over, handing me the cloak.
“Here you go, dear,” she said.
Chuckling as I thanked Nonna, I clasped the cloak around my neck.
The old female smiled, patting Xander’s cheek before stepping back slightly. “Tell me your plan one more time.”
Xander sighed, crossing his arms. His muscles rippled as he huffed, leaning against a tree. “Nonna—”
“Please, Xander.Put your Nonna’s mind at ease.”
He sighed. “Fine. We are meeting Jo at The Opal Spoon tonight and we will be out of the city by sunrise tomorrow.”
“From there?”