Defiance Rising (21 page)

The trees groan as a perfect, circular crater forms around us, revealing the maze of roots that burrow deep into the ground.
 
The fallen tree I occupied only a few moments before is caught up on the outside of the sinkhole and rolls into a nearby tree, startling me.
 
Reality comes crashing back in with the thunderous boom.

I push against Bastien’s chest, frantic to be free of his embrace.
 
He rolls onto his side, his brow furrowed with confusion at my sudden panic.
 
“What’s wrong?”

“This…this is wrong!”
 
I scramble out from under him, clawing my way to a tree a few feet away.
 
I cling to it, waiting for my heart to stop racing as I try to slow my breathing.
 
The taste and feel of Bastien lingers on my skin.
 

“Are you ok?” He asks.

Bastien makes no move to come closer and I’m grateful for it.
 
My mind screams to run, to flee this utterly embarrassing debacle but another part, one that I fear might just be the stronger side, begs me to sink back into his embrace.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper without turning.
 
“I don’t know what came over me.”

I expect him to break out with some witty comment that will embarrass me further, but instead, he remains silent.
 
His silence actually unnerves me more than sarcasm would have.
 
I can’t help but wonder if he is mad at me for stopping or for starting this in the first place.
 

I slowly turn, never dreaming to see such tenderness from him.
 
His gaze is kind, his body relaxed and completely undemanding.
 

“Are you ok?” He asks again, softer this time.
 
So soft that it makes my heart melt.

I tuck my legs into my chest and stare at him, unsure of how to answer.
 
Although I may be physically ok, I am an emotional wreck.
 
I don’t know what I was thinking to kiss him like that.

“I’ll be fine.
 
I just…I think we should just keep this between us for now.”

His nod of agreement is immediate.
 
“Of course.”

“I just…” I close my mouth and try to think of the right thing to say, but know I’m about to fail miserably.
 
“I’ve never been good with guys.
 
I’m not really sure what to say right now.”
 

Bastien’s hair blows across his forehead and
 
I’m gripped by his sheer, rugged beauty.
 
My gaze lingers on the scar that peeks out around his dark stubble and I feel a slight pinch in my gut.
 

I know nothing about him.
 
Nothing, beyond the fact that he has been willing to risk his life for me twice.
 
He gave unselfishly of his provisions to see to it that I could survive.
 
He’s shown compassion to a complete stranger when it wasn’t in his best interest to do so.

He brushes his hair back out of his eyes and smiles.
 
“You don’t have to say anything, Princess.
 
Besides, I kinda like you like this.”

“Silent?”

He leans in close.
 
“Speechless.”

I watch him with growing curiosity.
 
“Why aren’t you afraid of me?
 
You saw what I did to those Squaddies at the factory and it barely phased you.
 
Now I tell you I’m hearing voices in my head and practically jump you and you don’t even bat an eye.”

Bastien shrugs and leans back, shifting his legs.
 
“Maybe I like a little danger.”

I laugh, slowly coming down from my high.
 
I’m grateful that our conversation has veered into more neutral waters.
 
“Well that’s obvious, but I think it’s more than that.”

The slight narrowing of his eyes tells me I’ve hit a bit too close to home for comfort.
 
“Contrary to what you might think about me, I am a gentleman.
 
I always keep my word, but I’m also a believer in forces in this world that go beyond our understanding.”

“Like God?”

His eyebrow rises.
 
“Who told you about God?”

“My mother.
 
She said there were many, or just one, depending on who you spoke to.”

Bastien nods.
 
“That’s about right.
 
But I’m not talking about an all-powerful being.
 
I’m talking about fate, destiny, the forces that drive us to be who we are.”

“And what drives you?”
 

“Adventure.” He grins.
 
“Always searching for the unknown.”

“And you view me as a puzzle to solve?”

He shrugs.
 
“You are a mystery to me, that’s for sure, but what I’m searching for is the source.
 
Where did your abilities come from?
 
How did you create that pulse that changed our DNA?”

I crinkle my nose, thinking back through the years of boring lectures I was forced to endure in the Temple as a child.
 
“That’s what we are made of, right?”

“Yes,” he affirms.
 
“It’s the very fibers of our being.
 
Somehow, I’m guessing you altered us.
 
I, for one, would love to know how you pulled that off.”

I chew on my lip as my index finger carves a swirled path through the dirt.
 
The soil is damp and cold to the touch.
 
It won’t be long before the land is encased in ice, dormant for another season.

“There’s something I think I should tell you.”
 
I scrape at the dirt embedded under my fingernails as I tell Bastien about my brief conversation with Kyan the night we were attacked by Commander Drakon’s men.
 
I can’t bring myself to look at him, to see his reaction.
 

He is silent when I finish.
 
“I think we should try to find this guy.”

“We aren’t out here for a man hunt.”

“No, of course not.
 
We’re still going to spy on the Grounders, but I don’t think it would hurt to look around while we are there.”

A gust of wind sends my hair into a tangled whirlwind about my face.
 
I hold it back, fighting to restrain it, but it’s a useless endeavor.
 
Bastien offers me a stick he’s been whittling down in his fingers, peeling the bark back from the flesh.
 
“Thought you might need this.”

“How observant.”
 
I can feel my defenses rising.
 

I pull back as much of my hair as I can in my fist and wind it into a haphazard bun, shoving the stick straight through the middle.
 

“I’m not saying we do anything reckless, Illyria.
 
I’m just saying we take a look.”

I blink, stunned.
 
“Do you realize you just called me Illyria?”

Bastien strips a layer of damp bark from another stick, the same thickness and length as the one that’s doing a pathetic job of holding my crazy hair in place.
 
“Must have slipped.”

His slip doesn’t feel all that accidental though, not after the heated moment we shared.
 
Is it a coincidence that he spoke my name for the first time right after he confessed he has feelings for me?
 
I highly doubt it.

I accept the second stick and spear it through my drooping hair.
 
I hesitantly thank him for his gift.
 
“You ready to move out?
 
Looks like that storm’s moving in fast.”

Raising my hand to shield my eyes from the sun, I realize with a start that, while we’ve been chatting, the dark wall of clouds has indeed gained ground on us.
 
“We don’t want to be caught out in the open when that thing decides to dump it’s load.”

Bastien offers me a hand up.
 
I rise and brush moss and leaves from my backside.
 
“Wouldn’t want to give you another reason to stare at my butt.” I joke.

“Who said I need a reason?”
 
He snatches my pack off the ground and holds it out to me.
 
“How far do you think we are from the outskirts of the City?”

I rise up onto my tiptoes and peer over the trees that spread out in the valley below, coming to an abrupt halt at the City perimeter.
 
“Two hours, give or take.
 
It’s pretty rough terrain.”

“Well then I guess you’d better try to keep up.” He takes off at a slight jog.

The winds begin to bend the treetops less than fifteen minutes after we set off again.
 
Each step becomes arduous as we burrow through the gale.
 
I’ve never felt the effects of a hurricane before but I have read about them.
 
About how the storm can topple small shelters and uproot hundred-year-old trees and the tidal surge that can flood an entire city.
 
As the gust lashes against my face, I wonder if the swirling clouds above might not be a cousin to a hurricane.

“What’s going on?” I shout to Bastien, who has moved alongside me, twining his fingers through mine to help me remain upright.

“I don’t know.
 
I’ve never seen clouds like that before.”

The muscles in Bastien’s arms pull taut as he yanks me behind a thick tree.
 
He presses me against the trunk, sheltering me with his body as he searches the sky.
 
“It doesn’t make sense.”

“What doesn’t?”
 
I shout to be overheard by the roar that’s emanating from the valley below.
 
The forest grows dark as the clouds consume the entire sky, blocking out the bright sunshine overhead.
 

“I think it’s a” he cuts off, his eyes widening with fright as the sound of splintering wood rises among the deafening roaring.

My stomach clenches with fear as I watch trees ripped from the earth and tossed into the air, spun round and round the exterior of a monstrous vortex.
 
“A tornado!”

Bastien’s hard gaze focuses on me.
 
“Are you doing this?”

I am numb from head to foot with fear.
 
“Not this time.”

His jaw clenches and when he glances back over his shoulder, his face drains of color.
 
The half-mile wide tornado is clearing a path through the forest, straight toward us.
 
“Run!”

I don’t have to be told twice.
 
My thoughts become frenzied as we scramble back up the incline, digging our boots into the earth as we fight to resist the strength of the whirlwind.
 
The sticks in my hair yank free, ripping strands of hair from my scalp, but I hardly notice the pain.
 

“Run faster!”

“I’m trying.”
 
I throw my weight forward to counteract the pull at my back.

The harder I try to run, the more my feet slip.
 
Bastien’s hands land on my backside and push me up the hill.
 
Any other time I’d take his hands off at the wrists for touching me, but right now I’m grateful for the extra help.

I grab onto tree branches, dragging myself the last fifteen feet up the embankment.
 
Loose soil shifts underfoot, threatening to spill me to my knees, but Bastien’s solid strength refuses to let me fall.