Free The Misadventures of Annika Brisby by Emigh Cannaday

temporarily forgot about what a jerk he’d been earlier. The two sat in silence for a few moments.
    “You have interesting names for your animals,” she eventually commented, trying to make polite conversation.
    “Thank you. I collect names from my travels,” Talvi said as he poked the fire with a stick. “Ghassan is Arabic for youth, and Cazadora—”
    “Is Spanish for the huntress,” she interrupted, showing off. “Do you use her to help you hunt rabbits and stuff?”
    Talvi smirked at her assumption.
    “No, only young ladies wandering about the forest after dark,” he clarified. “Wood elves don’t eat animals. She’s my brother’s pet, and he lets me take her out sometimes. She flies up ahead and tells me what she sees, whether there is a mountain I must climb or a river I must cross. She’d been out flying and saw that the samodivi were coming this way with a new friend. I left as soon as I woke up this morning.”
    “That’s amazing,” Annika marveled.
    “No it’s not. What is amazing, is how you acquired something so rare on your left hand,” he stated casually.
    Annika touched the huge ring on her finger. “A lot of people wear diamonds,” she said, trying not to think about the man who’d given it to her. “They’re not that rare.”
    “It’s not the stone I’m referring to,” he said quietly. She wasn’t sure if she should tell him anything more about it or not. He didn’t seem like the most honorable guy to be spilling secrets to, but the nymphs did say that he was very old and wise, even if he didn’t look it.
    “I…I got it just the other night,” she said.
    “Where?”
    “At the hot spring farther south. Why? Do you know something about unicorns?” she asked. Talvi looked at her with a serious expression.
    “Just be mindful of whom you tell,” he said. “The samodivi are lovely girls; it’s not them I worry about. Unless you tell them, they won’t notice it. They can’t read minds like I can. But what they don’t know can’t harm them. Do you understand?”
    “Yep,” Annika said. “I’ll keep it on the down-low.”
    “I don’t care where you keep it, as long you keep it to yourself,” he said, looking at her strangely. “Perhaps we’ll look at one of my brother’s books when we reach my home. He has a few on unicorns, and their powers.”
    “Should I take my ring off?”
    “I certainly wouldn’t,” he said, as he reached out to stroke her hair. “It’s not a bad thing. On the contrary, it’s very interesting that one of them chose you. They don’t bestow gifts very often. I wonder if it’s because you look so much like Magda.”
    Talvi was so close to her, his head just inches from Annika’s. Her eyes wandered up to his, and once again she couldn’t breathe. He was looking at her so curiously, like he recognized her from another life. Annika felt a flash of heat pass through her body; her veins carried it to her neck, her chest, and her thighs.
    Why can’t I breathe? Why can’t I move? Her body felt like a magnet, and Talvi was another one held just far enough away that they couldn’t connect. He reached out and touched the side of her head with his other hand, holding her carefully. He leaned down as though he were about to kiss her, but he froze in front of her instead. She was positive that he was peering into her soul. She could feel his slow, deep breathing against her face, and let her eyes study his nose, his ears, and his broad shoulders.
    “Oh, holy shit!” Annika cried, entranced by what she saw behind those shoulders. He twisted around abruptly, then sighed in relief at what had gotten her attention. Two moons were rising above a small tree-covered mountaintop. One was an enormous new crescent five times the size of the only moon she knew of, but very pale. It was only a sliver of light, but it was so large and so near that she thought she could throw a stone over it. The other moon was smaller and had a pink tinge to it. Annika