Deadlands (The Healer Series, #2) (14 page)

“I wish it were that simple…” she said gloomily.

“Is there something else that happened between you two?” Willow pressed.

Elirana didn’t say anything, but looked at Chase again
and froze. He was awake and staring at her through his big blue eyes. They glowed from the back of the cave where he lay. She heard Elirana let out a shaky breath as she had a silent stare-down with the wolf (for the second time). Willow hoped some of her encouragement got through to her. Elirana seemed rather set in her decision, even though it was the wrong one in Willow’s opinion. Chase was worthy of a great love, and if the only one he wanted to love was Elirana, then he deserved at least that much. She hoped that someday, it would work out between those two.

“The
rain’s letting up,” Declan announced. “It should be safe to leave soon.” He came up to Willow and sat next to her. “Did you rest, baby?”

“I didn’t sleep…”

“Was it because you were scared? You could’ve told me and I would’ve held you.”

“No,” Willow said looking at Elirana. “
I just wasn’t sleepy tired. I just needed a rest break. What about you? Are you okay?”

“I feel fine. You know, having a Healer girlfriend is amazing. I am energized and ready to go. This could be useful for
all
activities in our future…”

“All activities?” Willow
gulped watching Declan’s hazel eyes dance in pleasure.

Declan cupped her face and kissed her deeply. When he touched her tongue, she gasped and pulled back. “Yes,” he said
smiling devilishly. “All activities.”

“I’ve created a monster,”
she whispered and rolled her eyes.

Willow stayed protectively in Declan’s arms until the rain completely stopped. He slowly massaged her shoulders and she tried not to be affected by his hard body behind her. It wasn’t working. “You don’t have a shirt on, you know,” she said quietly.

“Yea, I know,” Declan sai
d, then whispered in her ear, “does it turn you on?” He took her hair and twisted it around his fingers, running it through her long tresses. Willow always let her hair do whatever it wanted. She felt Declan comb her hair down to the small of her back, and Willow wondered when her hair had gotten that long.

“You always turn me on, Dec,” she grumbled, loving how good it felt when he played with her hair.

“So should we set the date for our wedding or just skip it and start making babies now?”

Willow froze. What!! Wedding? She twisted in his arms and looked at him
surprised. “I’m sixteen, Dec,” she panicked. “Sixteen! My sisters are over one hundred and they don’t even have husbands yet. I mean…”

“I’m just kidding, Willow Tree,” he said and fisted her hair with his hand, keeping her head still. She loved the dominate move, but would never admit it. He moved in for a kiss when someone cleared their throat. Willow turned. Chase!

“What did I tell you about PDA?” he scolded them, crossing his arms. He was standing up, and the darkness of the cave hid his lower half. He was clearly naked. His head nearly hit the top of the small cave-he filled up the space with his massive form.

“Chase!” Willow said smiling
and getting to her feet. “It’s about damn time!” Everyone else stood up as well. Chase attempted to explain himself.

“Well…” he
said, “I was trying to be a gentleman. I don’t have any clothes on you know.”

There was a great ripping sound
and Willow turned to see Elirana using her sword to cut off the bottom half of her dress. Willow watched in awe as the Elf took off her belt and walked up to Chase, totally unfazed by his nakedness and handed him the material. Chase took it and wrapped it around his body, securing the belt tightly around his middle. He looked like he was wearing a Roman soldier war skirt. Chase was well built with rippling muscles, and seeing him wearing a skirt did not lessen him any as a male. In fact, he looked more intimidating when he fastened his sword around his middle completing the makeshift outfit.

“At least I’m cooler
,” Chase said optimistically, “now I know why you girls wear skirts, there’s a nice breeze flowing under here.”

He swayed his hips back and forth and
Willow giggled. Chase was back to his usual self. She still suspected he was deeply hurt, but the Chase she knew would always sugar coat his feelings, covering his misery with jokes and a carefree attitude. If he was upset, it didn’t show now. Elirana stood back. Her dress was exponentially shorter now, coming to her mid-thigh. She, of course, had the perfect figure, but always hid it with a long dress. Willow could see how Chase would fall for a beauty like her.

Declan was
staring at Elirana and jealousy got the best of her. Without warning, Willow used all her might and pushed Declan to the cave wall behind him. He grunted when his back hit, but it didn’t last long until his grunts turned into moans of passion as Willow assaulted his lips. She pressed her lips to his and roughly kissed him, lust and desire tearing through her. Declan was hers and no others, and she would remind everyone here, even him, that he was hers. She ran her fingernails down his abs, tracing his six-pack, and his body tightened and trembled under her. Willow would make sure he thought only of her. It surprised her how possessive she was acting towards Declan, but dammit if her emotions were all over place right now! She couldn’t control herself.

Declan tried to move from where Willow pinned him against the wall, but she shoved him against it again.
Hard. Declan breathed into her mouth and Willow used the opportunity to slide her tongue over his, forcing the kiss to deepen. Declan moaned and squeezed her hips. When she pulled back, Declan’s lips were red and smooth. He licked his lips and sighed with a husky voice. “Wow.”

“And don’t you forget it. You’re mine,”
Willow growled domineeringly. What caused her to act so out of character? One word: jealousy.

She turned around and faced the Elf an
d Werewolf. They both looked pissed off and their arms were crossed. They had such similar facial expressions, Willow had to smile. “Ready to go?” She said sickeningly cheerful.

“We’ve been ready,” Chase said angrily. “Are you finished or should I pull out my video camera and start recording? It might sell great on Witches Gone Wild.”

Willow waved him off, “You’re just jealous.”

“Ha!” Chase bellowed. “Sorry, Witch chick, but I don’t play for the other team like that. If it was a life or death situation, and I had to kiss Pretty Boy, I’d choose death
any day.”

“That’s not what I meant!”

“Let’s just go, okay?” Elirana intervened sharply and walked to the entrance of the cave. She looked out warily. “I don’t see the Cù-Sìths. Let us hope they died in the fire.”

Chase ca
me up and shoved Elirana behind him so he could take a look and get a second opinion. Elirana frowned and then looked at Willow as if saying. “See how impossible he is?” Willow just smiled and shrugged. Declan came to stand beside Chase. Chase was slightly taller than him, but they both blocked the cave doorway with their bodies, and they were both shirtless now. Willow found herself admiring Declan from behind; the way his muscles moved when he shifted was super sexy.

“Coast is clear,” Chase said looking at the girls. “Follow me.” Elirana muttered something in Elvish under her tongue. She wasn’t happy that Chase was taking charge.

They emerged out of the cave and went right. The fire that had fell from the sky melted in with the molten black tar of the terrain creating a hard, sticky surface. It had not yet dried, which made for a difficult journey. Willow clung to Declan’s arm desperately trying not to fall. The gooey tar stuck to the bottom of her shoes and smelled like burnt rubber. She slipped several times, and was thankful for Declan’s support. The ground shifted into a small descent as they came to the last remaining hilltop.

When they reached the bottom,
Willow gasped. There was nowhere else to go! A giant crater circled around the entire perimeter of the remaining land. Deep, deep below them, a bubbling lake of fire circled a giant black castle. Willow doubled back in shock. Was that real? A thunderous noise came from the right and Willow saw the lava falls cascading down the cliffs to dump into the lave pool below them. The falls dropped nearly fifty feet below them and as the lava hit the bottom of the pool it erupted into fire and flame. Gas steamed up from the bottom of the lava as it churned and bubbled. The gas rose into the air making the atmosphere smoky and suffocating.

The lava flowed slowly like sap, creating a moat around the dark castle below them. The castle loomed magnificently in the distance, standing
strong like a steal, impenetrable fortress. There were a dozen poky spires on the castle and only one way in. A long pathway led up to an iron portcullis. Willow gasped when she saw Wakwak birds flying around and around the castle, cawing and screeching menacingly. Whoever was in that castle owned those birds. She shrunk into Declan’s side. Goblins and trolls dressed in armor were walking in ranks down the pathway, entering the castle gate. The heart of the Deadlands was a giant fortress wrapped in boiling hot lava.

Willow was expecting the heart to be made of magma and fire
-that was a give in. What she didn’t expect was to see a black castle deep into the volcano of Mount Eyja. The Deadlands were a cursed land, now made into some other realm; a realm of fire, ash, and demon hordes with steel weapons. Who had made this place their home? Who would live in this cursed society, creating order among the creatures condemned to a life of hell? Who was this master the goblins fear and obey?

The Deadlands were supposed to be a prison. The evil monsters living here were placed into cells and
dungeons, never to emerge, and certainly never to live in towns and thrive. But they had. Someone released them from their bonds and let them roam free to wreak havoc and chaos at their choosing.

Willow turned to Elirana, who was staring wide eyed at the black castle
. Her mouth was opened slightly like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. And it was just that-unbelievable. When she felt Willow’s eyes on her, she turned. A look of fear crossed her face when she said, “The key is there,” she pointed at the black castle. “There is a lot of gold in there. I can feel it. We’re very close.”

“Of course there’s gold,” Chase hissed, “it’s a damn castle! What is it doing down here, Eli?”

“I do not know. This is unfathomable! I—I uh, I don’t know what to do. I must warn my people.” Elirana put her head in her hands and Chase put his arm around her shoulder. Willow thought Elirana would scold him and shrug him off, but surprisingly, she didn’t. She let Chase hold her. She was that scared and that desperate for comfort to allow Chase to touch her that way.

“Who do you suppose lives down there?” Willow
asked. A million questions burned into her mind. “How are we supposed to get in? If we get in, how are we supposed to find the key? How do we get out of here if we do?”

“Relax, Willow, it’s okay.”

“It’s not okay, Declan!” She yelled at him. “Look at what we’re faced with! This is frightening! I don’t want to go in there! What if we never get out of here? What if it’s a trap? What if we die?”

“
All we can do is try Healer,” Chase said. “We’re in this together. You’re not alone in this. We’ll find a way in, hopefully undetected.”

Wil
low sniffed. Tears fell down her cheeks. This mission was impossible. She yearned for her sisters. She missed them so much! She missed Pertussia’s love and soft green eyes that always looked at her like she was the most precious thing on earth. She missed Portia-Anna’s laughter and jokes. She even missed Pandora’s sternness and how she would get so mad at her for the smallest things. Her sisters had been her life. Every single day they helped her, trained her, and were always there for her. She would go to the ends of the world for them, and now, she was staring at the end in the face. The Deadlands was a deep pit full of darkness and despair. To place the key here out of fear of losing her powers was a pure act of shame. Hekate was a coward and a ruthless bitch for doing this.

Willow
never in her lifetime thought she would be faced with such a life threatening task. All she wanted was to learn magic. All she wanted was to become a Second. She never wanted to have special powers. She never wanted to be fighting for her life. She wanted a peaceful, happy life caring for others and she hated Hekate for this betrayal. Hekate did this! She forced her here! She was the monster that should have been thrown down here, living in a special hell designed just for her! She deserved to die for her treachery!

“COME ON YOU SCUM!” voices came out of a tunnel to the left. Willow nearly screamed in shock. There was nowhere to hide!

“Back up the hill!” Elirana said desperately and took off running up the slope again. Declan pulled her up the hill with him. She felt him pulling her down and they lay on their stomachs, purely out in the open at the top of the hill looking down, but there was nowhere to hide, unless they backtracked to the small cave on Boiling Boulevard, which would be pointless.

Below them, coming out of the tunnels were an assortment of creatures. Vampires, goblins, hooded figures
with pale, bony fingers, ogres, imps, goblins, and trolls all came out of a tunnel in the crater. They were all evil, they were all different shapes and sizes, but they were all wearing armory. Carrying shield, swords, and strange weapons, they all had something in their hands. They argued and shoved each other as they started walking the perimeter of the crater, making a wide girth around it. They were spiraling downward on a small path around the caldera. They slowly made their way around, going down and down. The creatures coming out of the tunnels kept coming and coming. There were hundreds of them all gathering at the castle’s entrance. It looked like they were being summoned here.

A sinking feeling settled in Willow’s heart. This wasn’t just about saving
her sisters anymore. This army was brewing for war. They were getting ready to leave the Deadlands, to be released out of the hell destined for them, and make everyone pay for condemning them here in the first place. This was bigger than just her powers.

This was bigger than
anything Willow imagined.