The Three Who Chose Me

Josie

I blinked at him. "How did you know?"

Varen didn’t flinch. He just shrugged, casually, like this wasn’t earth-shattering information.

"We’ll talk about all that later," he said calmly. "Right now, you need to tell me what to do."

There were a thousand questions racing through my head, but I forced them down. His eyes were steady, unwavering. Whatever answers he had, they could wait. The boy inside that room couldn’t.

I took a long, slow breath, willing my heart to stop pounding so violently. Then I looked at the body still clinging to life in that sterile room. There wasn’t time for confusion or fear. There wasn’t time for second-guessing myself. This wasn’t about my anxiety or the unknown. It was about what was right.

I faced Varen. "I need sandy soul. One piece of wood. And one leaf. Just one."

Without hesitation, he nodded and left, his strides confident. I stood alone now, pacing slightly. My palms were sweaty, and my stomach was knotted.

What if I couldn’t do it?

What if I made it worse?

I clenched my fists. I had no idea how to channel life through a dying plant—through anything. I wasn’t trained. I didn’t even know the full scope of what I was. But I had to try. That boy had to wake up. He was the only link we had to the truth, and I couldn’t let him die. Not when I could do something about it. Not after everything.

I swallowed my panic and kept breathing through the fear.