The Changelings (War of the Fae: Book 1) (14 page)

I looked over at the rest of the crew.
 
Everyone was standing stock still, frozen in place.
 
I guess I'd surprised them with my G.I. Jayne act.
 
I caught Chase's eye and he winked.
 
He winked!
 
Now I knew he had my back; and he was pretty big too, so that made me feel a tiny bit better.
 
I looked over at Jared, but he was looking at Dardennes.
 
Dardennes was looking back at him.
 
I saw Dardennes give him a very slight nod.
 
What the hell was that all about?
 
I looked at Spike, but he was still looking at me, so he missed it.
 
No one else said anything – everyone was waiting for me, I guess.

"Well,
shit
, people – are you just going to stand there while our captors come waltzing in to give us another shot of elephant tranquilizer?"
 

Spike let me go.
 
I guess he could tell I was willing to wait a few minutes before unleashing my wrath on them.
 
He stayed close, though, ready to give me another tough-love hug if necessary.
 
Man, I had so wanted our first physical contact to include kissing.
 
Now he'd gone and ruined it.
 
Guys are all jerks.
 
I looked at him angrily.
 

He grinned back at me, flashing those damn fangs again.
 

Argh.
 
He
had
to know what that was doing to me; there was no other explanation for that much smiling.

I felt Tony come up on my other side and take my hand in his.
 

I laced our fingers together, glad for his support.
 
I think I was almost ready to fight to protect him, more than myself.
 
It was my fault he was here in the first place.
 
It was his chivalry awakened by my pitiful family problems that had made us runaways.
 
"I'm so sorry I got you into this Tones," I whispered.

"You didn't get me into anything, Jayne," he whispered back.
 
"We're a team, we stick together.
 
Just don't get yourself knocked out again."

Dardennes cleared his throat.
 

I couldn't wait to hear what he was going to say –
probably a bunch of lies
.
 

"Hello, everyone, thank you again for being here.
 
I'm sorry if our methods for keeping our operation confidential were upsetting to you," he gave me a small bow, which made me want to pound him all over again, "but I assure you, it was necessary.
 
All will become clear to you, eventually.
 
But for now, we must commence the test, as we are running out of daylight.
 
Please follow us outside."
 
He and the other two turned, leaving the lodge through the front door.

I looked around at everyone, noticing Becky moving towards the door.
 
I lost my cool again.
 
"Oh, so we're just going to do whatever they say now, is that it?
 
They say jump, we ask 'how high?'"
 

Becky shrugged her shoulders.
 
"I don't know.
 
What else are we going to do?
 
We have no idea where we are ... ," she finished lamely, looking to Finn for help.

"Them people are our only way outta here that I can see.
 
Chase and I checked the place out.
 
We're out here in the middle of bumfuck Egypt," said Finn.

I looked over at Chase.
 
He shrugged his shoulders and started walking towards the front door.
 
I guess that was his way of saying he was going to go see what they had to say.
 
Finn and Becky went to follow him.

Jared's eyes were aimed at the floor when I glanced over at him, but he quickly looked up and started walking towards the front door too, not once even acknowledging me.
 
I decided right then and there that there was something fishy going on with him; he was acting very strange.
 
Maybe no one else had seen his little exchange with Dardennes, but I had.
 

"Et tu, Spike?"
 
This was the surest sign I was stressed; now I was quoting from my Lit teacher's favorite Shakespearean tragedy.
 

He shrugged.
 
"Might as well.
 
Beats sitting in here waiting for something to happen."

"Maybe ... maybe not."
 
I turned and looked at Tony.
 
"So, what do we do?
 
Go out there and face the music, or arm up and wait for them to storm the castle?"

Tony sighed.
 
"I appreciate your concern, Jayne, especially since you were basically attacked while we all slept.
 
But I think they're right – we're not going to get anywhere staying in here.
 
At least out there maybe we'll get an explanation, or an opportunity to run away.
 
In here, we're sitting ducks."

"Fine.
 
Let's go then.
 
Just promise me you'll be ready to kick some serious ass."

"I promise.
 
I'm ready – as ready as I'm going to be, I guess."

We followed Spike out the door, joining the others already standing in front of the lodge.

Dardennes, Céline, and Ivar were joined by another one of their group.
 
My parents always told me not to stare at people who look different than me, and for the most part I was able to control myself; but this time ... not so much.
 
He was a dwarf; and I'd never seen an armed commando dwarf before, so it totally wasn't my fault that I couldn't look away.

He stood about three and a half feet high, wearing camouflage clothes and combat boots.
 
He even had a black bandana tied around his oversized head,
and
a bowie knife strapped to his tiny thigh.
 
It was only Tony's suddenly very strong grip on my hand that kept me from laughing out loud.
 
I was totally on the edge right now – anything could have set me off; but seriously, no one could blame me for this one.

"This is Niles, your field contact.
 
He will instruct you on the test conditions and supply your provisions."

Céline stepped forward.
 
"We realize that you have arrived here under stressful conditions – some of you more stressful than others.
 
"
 
She looked at me and I gave her my best
screw you
look in return.
 
"Be that as it may, I urge you,
we
urge you, to put that behind you and do your very best on this test.
 
There is not only money at stake here.
 
Those who complete the challenge, and do so in an exemplary manner, will qualify for additional remuneration."

Additional remuneration?
 
I wasn't sure what the hell remuneration was, but it sounded like more money, and that interested me.
 
Not enough for me to stop being mad, but at least they had my attention now.
 
I looked at Tony, and he nodded his head at me.
 
We were both willing to listen.

Dardennes started talking again.
 
"The object of this test is to make it through the course to the end."
 
Obstacle course.
 
I called that one.
 
I looked over at Spike who was already looking at me.
 
He nodded his head in respect.
 

"There will be four waypoints.
 
At each waypoint you will indicate your arrival by tying a flag to the waypoint marker.
 
Each of you will have a set of colored flags assigned to you.
 
There is no placing in this test, which means it doesn't matter who comes in first.
 
It only matters that you reach each waypoint and finish the course."

Pfft
.
 
Easy as pie
.
 

Tony leaned over to my ear and whispered, "What's the catch?"

Exactly what I was thinking.

"This forest is not your typical forest," he continued.
 
"There will be ... obstacles ... in your way; things designed to keep you from reaching your goals.
 
You are permitted to use whatever is at your disposal to ... eliminate or incapacitate those obstacles."

Incapacitate?
 
What kind of obstacles would we have to incapacitate?
 
That sounded a little too ominous to me.
 
I looked sideways at Tony and saw confusion on his face too.
 
Okay, so I'm not the only one lost here.
 
Chase looked like he always does, totally in control.
 
Spike had a big question mark floating above his head.
 
Finn and Becky were standing side by side, looking nervous, Becky hopping from one foot to the other like a little bird.
 
I looked at Jared and he just stared straight ahead, face revealing nothing.
 
Sneaky bastard.
 
He's up to something.

"The rules you are used to, the rules of our day-to-day society, do not apply here.
 
You are very far from home.
 
Consider this place to be ... a rule-free zone.
 
The only rule is: there are no rules."
 
He smiled, coolly.

Now, I'm normally a 'rules are made to be broken' kind of girl, but I was pretty sure he was talking about something more serious than curfews and smoking sections here.
 

Tony was whispering in my ear again.
 
"Does he mean what I think he means?"

God, I hoped not.

"Be mindful that this 'no rules' policy applies across the entire forest.
 
Anyone in the forest will be aware of this rule and will also be following it.
 
Your goal is to survive to the end."

I couldn't keep quiet any longer.
 
"Survive?
 
What is this, some kind of tacky reality TV show?"

Tony squeezed my hand.
 
I was taking that as his approval.

Céline answered me.
 
"This
is
all about survival, but it's not a TV show and nothing is being filmed.
 
What happens in the forest, stays in the forest."

That never meant anything good when it was used in Las Vegas, so it gave me a bad feeling to hear it said in relation to a forest I was about to spend the next couple of days in.
 
And I wasn't fooling myself anymore – into this forest I was going ... if not to complete this test, then to find another way out of here.
 
These guys were fucking nutballs.

"Does anyone have any questions?"
 
Dardennes looked out over our group, waiting for a response.

Finn raised his hand.
 
"How long do we have to complete the course?"

"As long as you need."

Finn looked as confused as I felt.
 
"Well, what if it takes us a whole week?"

"It won't," was the mysterious and very unhelpful answer.

Not surprisingly, no one had any more questions.
 
If the answers were going to be this ridiculous, there really wasn't any point.

"Okay, I will now turn you over to Niles.
 
The sun will be going down soon, and he needs to have you outfitted before sunset."

Dardennes and Céline went back to the lodge, stepping inside and closing the door behind them.
 
Ivar stood next to our commando mini-man who began speaking to us.

"Follow me to get your provisions and further directions." He turned and disappeared between the trees, Ivar closely behind him.

Jared went first.
 
Tony let go of my hand so we could go single-file.
 
Behind us were Finn, Becky, and Chase.
 
I found myself wishing Samantha were with us.
 
Her take-no-shit, badass attitude would have made me feel a little bit better being out here with these crazy fucks in no man's land.
 
I'd bet she would have spoken up.
 
They probably would have had to stick her with the tranquilizer needle too.
 
It was a sad thing, really, this nostalgia I was having for a girl who probably considered me her enemy.

A couple of minutes later, we ended up in a clearing.
 
In the center were a few tables made of huge slabs of sliced tree trunk propped up by thick stumps.
 
The trees around us were so thick they nearly blocked out the remaining daylight.
 
Our feet made no sound on the carpet of needles and long-dead leaves.
 
My feet sprung up with every step, telling me the layers of decomposing forest went very deep.
 
I turned around, realizing that I had already lost my bearings.
 
I had no idea which way the lodge was from here.
 

Tony stayed close, not saying anything.
 
The others stayed quiet as well, their heads swiveling in all directions, taking in the incredible majesty of the forest around us.
 
I wasn't so angry that I couldn't appreciate this kind of beauty.
 
It was truly breathtaking.