CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 15

Before, the plants along the path had pulled back, making a way for me. Now, they stayed close to my feet, slithering like poisonous snakes and crowding the trail, ready to strike. Karter kept a death grip on my arm as I led him through the trees, which creaked and groaned as they arched toward me.

“Keep moving,” I said. “And stay close.”

We emerged into the clearing and Karter loosened his grip though I didn’t let go of him. Images of Alec being reeled in by vines as thick as my arm tumbled through my head. He’d been a threat to me, and this place had sensed that and acted accordingly. I still wasn’t sure what mechanism made that happen, but if I kept Karter close, I thought I could keep him safe.

The black bat flowers that blanketed the meadow shifted in unison. Karter looked beyond them, his gaze resting on the gate. “What’s in there?”

“More plants,” I said, unsure of how to tell him exactly what it was. “That’s what I wanted to show you.”

“If it’s just plants, why is it sealed up like that?” He gestured toward the lock.

“Some of them are poisonous,” I said. I took the key from my pocket and unlocked the gate. The bougainvillea pulled back as the rusted gates swung open. I took Karter’s hand again and we walked into the walled enclosure.

Karter moved closer to me. “The poisonous stuff—is it like poison ivy or somethin’?”

“No, more like oleander and belladonna.”

His eyebrows knitted together. “I have no idea what that means, but it sounds like something I don’t want no parts of.” He gazed up at the tree in the center of the garden and around at the plots. “Are these the poisonous ones?”

“No. These are pretty harmless, but . . .” I glanced toward the wall that divided the garden in half. “The plants back there are deadly. They could kill you by brushing against your skin.”

He swallowed hard but kept his eyes on the gate. “For real? So we can’t go in there?”

“No.”

He angled himself toward me. “But if they don’t touch my skin, I’m good? You’ve been in there, right? And you’re okay.”

“Yeah. But the poison—it doesn’t affect me the same way it affects other people.”

Karter raised an eyebrow. “Okay. So I’ll be careful. And I’m not really sure what you’re doin’ or how you’re doin’ it, but I—I want to see everything.”

There was a ring of excitement in his voice, but I had a vision of him tripping over his own feet and falling into a bed of stinging nettle.

“I promise I’ll be careful,” he said, as if he could sense my hesitation.

I wanted to share this place with him because I was done being afraid to get close to people. I didn’t want to hide anymore. “We can go right inside the gate. Don’t touch anything. Don’t even brush up against anything, okay?”