The Poison Season(56)

“I’d say I’d protect you, but I think we both know it would be the other way around.”

She had blushed with pleasure, and Jaren had felt like he finally understood how Summer felt around her carpenter, and how Story must have expected him to feel with Lupin.

But with Leelo, things were so much simpler. He didn’t have to worry about what any of this meant. It was forbidden, which he knew added at least some element of excitement to it, but it was also pure. They both knew they could never marry, that this relationship wasn’t advantageous to either of them or their families. They were not supposed to want anything to do with each other, just two strangers brought together by dire circumstances. But instead, Jaren wanted everything to do with Leelo. There was attraction, yes, but it was also something else. Jaren admired Leelo, her determination, her bravery. She was unlike anyone he’d ever met. He had a feeling that even on Endla, Leelo was special.

She arrived late one blisteringly hot afternoon. It was hard to believe an entire month had passed, with the days being so long and dull, yet also so similar that they bled into each other, distorting time. He lived for the moment she knocked lightly on the door, entering without waiting for an answer. And every time she left, he knew he would be counting the hours until she returned.

“Here,” she said, tossing him a parcel of food the moment she entered. He wondered how she was managing to sneak food without anyone in her house realizing, and he hoped she wasn’t using her own rations on him.

He opened the wrapping and tore the sandwich in half, offering it to her, and was a little relieved when she shook her head no. He was famished.

“Thank you,” he said before tearing into the sandwich like an animal.

“Slow down,” Leelo cautioned. “You’ll make yourself sick.”

He drained the first waterskin she brought him. “I’m sorry. You’d think with me lazing about all day I wouldn’t have much appetite.”

“My mother says young men are always hungry.” Their eyes met, and she blushed. She was wearing a dress again today, a soft gray linen embroidered with little pale blue stars that matched her eyes. “She says it’s because they’re still growing,” she clarified.

Jaren glanced down and patted his now full belly. “Up and out, as Story says.”

Playfully, she pinched his arm. “You could stand to have some more meat on your bones.”

“Is that so?” He was tempted to pinch her own slender shoulder, but he knew it was very different for her to touch him than for him to touch her. If anything physical were to happen between them, it would only be if she initiated it.

“The winters on Endla are harsh,” she said. “We can’t hunt, so we generally eat more in the warmer months.”

“Why can’t you hunt?”

“Because the ice freezes. Our songs might lure the animals out of their dens, but they could also bring an outsider across the lake. If we’re lucky enough to come across a deer or a rabbit, we can try to kill it, but our odds of success are much lower.”

“So Endlans don’t deliberately try to bring outsiders over?”

Her brow immediately furrowed. He’d offended her. He wished he could take back the words, but it was too late. “Why would we do such a thing? We’re not monsters.”

“I know that,” he said quickly. “Now. But some of the people in Bricklebury tell stories. One girl’s father was killed entering the lake. From the way I heard it, his death wasn’t an accident.”

She shook her head. “That person was wrong. We live on Endla for our own protection. We aren’t the ones indiscriminately killing people. What could we possibly stand to gain from that?”

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Jaren still regretting that he had ever mentioned Maggie’s father. But eventually, his curiosity got the better of him.

“Leelo, why do you think I was able to hear the singing and not cross?”

Her brow furrowed again, but this time he could see she was thinking. “Honestly, I have no idea.”

“Have you ever heard of that happening before?”

“No. But that doesn’t mean it never has. Which reminds me. The summer solstice festival is tomorrow night. There will be a lot of singing. It won’t be near here, but it’s important you don’t leave the cottage.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a little tuft of wool. “I thought you could put this in your ears, just in case.”

“Thank you. I won’t leave.”

She smiled, but there was a strain to it. “I don’t know when the boat will be repaired. I have another day off after the festival. I’ll check then.”

“It’s all right. I know you’re doing everything you can. And I truly am grateful.”

She fiddled with the wool in her fingers, stretching it out and then rubbing it between her palms back into a ball. “What were you doing that night you heard me singing?”

Jaren explained about how he got lost often, beginning when he was just a child. “I was only five the first time. We were visiting friends at their country home. My oldest sister was supposed to be watching Story and me, but she got distracted. I went outside, presumably just to explore near the cottage. But there was a frog hopping about in the grass, and I started following it. The next thing I knew, it was nearly dark.”