Chapter 21
How to Pet Fire and Not Get Burned
CalliyaBack to the Present
It was about time we went back outside. The manor was a claustrophobia-inducing nightmare, and I hated it. Sure, the backyard was still boxed in by hedges, but at least there was the open sky above my head. I leaned against the side of my hut. Nor stood by the cherry tree with eir arms crossed and a look of impatience on eir face. Luiz was halfway between us, patting his pockets in search of the pencil tucked behind his ear.
I rolled my eyes. “It’s behind your ear, dipsnark.”
Grinning like an adolescent, he reached behind his ear and withdrew the teal coloring pencil from its hiding place. As he did so, a vine sprouted from the ground beside his feet, budding small blue flowers and one oversized bud that bumped L
