The Tainted (The Tainted Series Book 1) (21 page)

Rebecca nodded, unable to speak for fear that her emotions would get the better of her.

Liam nodded back, then began quickly making his way through the woods, motioning for her to follow.

Rebecca kept her eyes straight ahead as she made her way after him, not allowing herself to glance down at the body she knew lay lifeless at her feet. Though every muscle was shaking and she barely had enough strength to stand, let alone race through the woods again, Rebecca pushed on, wanting nothing more than to be as far away from this nightmare as possible.

For the next hour or so, Rebecca fought against her fatigue and pain, refusing to give in to the overwhelming exhaustion that was rapidly taking its toll on her body. But even with their slow pace, there were several times when she was forced to stop and lean against a tree in order to catch her breath. She felt bad for holding them up, but Liam said nothing when she stopped. He never pushed her, only waited patiently until she nodded for him to continue.

Though he remained silent while they pushed forward through the woods, it became increasingly obvious that Liam was watching her closely. At first, she was worried that it was out of fear over what she’d done earlier, but she soon realized she couldn’t have been more wrong. Every time she stumbled, or she swayed, or her knees buckled beneath her, he was instantly at her side, helping her to stand. He was watching out of concern, as if he genuinely cared for her.

She didn’t know what to make of Liam. While he’d done so much to help her, he’d never exactly seemed very friendly or warm toward her. He was so blunt when he spoke, so straightforward and direct about everything, that she’d at first thought he was emotionless.

Still, from the start, he’d been so unexpectedly accepting of what she was, so much so that it had even calmed some of Rebecca’s fears. She felt safe around him. It was as if she could completely be herself and he would never judge her. Only Emily had ever made her feel that way before.

Rebecca tripped over a protruding root, shattering her train of thought. She stumbled forward, nearly slamming into the ground, before Liam caught hold of her.

He lifted her back up and stared at her for a moment, trying to decipher if she could take anymore.

“Thank you,” Rebecca finally said, feeling awkward under his gaze. “I’m fine, really.”

“No, I don’t think you are.” Liam scanned their surrounding area and, spotting a fallen tree, guided Rebecca over to it. “We both need some rest. There’s only an hour or so until sunrise. We’ll continue on once we have some daylight.”

Rebecca sat down on a soft patch of moss that was covering the ground beside the large, decaying tree trunk. It wasn’t until she leaned back that she finally realized how exhausted she truly was. She didn’t even have time to fully situate herself before her eyelids began to droop down over her eyes.

The last thing she remembered was Liam sitting down beside her and, just as her head rolled forward, she whispered, “Thank you, for everything.”

Rebecca awoke slowly. She’d fallen so deeply asleep that pulling herself out of it was like pulling herself from drying concrete. Her whole body felt heavy, reluctant to wake. She could also feel some sort of strange pressure on the side of her head, like a heavy weight was pushing down on her temple.

When her eyes finally adjusted to the bright light of day, Rebecca looked down to find that her head was resting on a shoulder, her body leaning against a green, uniformed torso. A hot breath suddenly caressed her cheek and she realized the weight pressing down on her temple was someone else’s resting head.

Rebecca’s eyes shot wide open. She yanked her head free and leaned back, staring in uncomfortable shock at Liam.

Without her there for support, Liam’s head fell forward, causing him to wake with a start. He gasped and his eyes popped open, immediately searching for any danger. He stopped, however, when he noticed Rebecca staring at him, her cheeks flushed a deep crimson.

Liam raised an eyebrow, unable to ignore her embarrassment. “Are you quite alright?” he said as he rolled his shoulders, cracking his back.

Rebecca laughed uncomfortably, trying to hide her unease, “Who, me? I’m--I’m fine. I just, you know, well, I didn’t expect to, um, wake up with you so, uh, close…”

Liam’s other eyebrow raised and he stared at her in confused silence for a moment before moving to stand. “If you feel up to it, we should get going.”

Rebecca took a deep breath, inwardly chiding herself for her reaction.

“I’m fine,” she said as she started to stand. She’d barely gotten halfway up, however, when her knees buckled, sending her falling back towards the ground.

Liam caught her before she could collapse fully and, with a gentle pull, he lifted her upright.

As he placed her firmly on her feet, Rebecca became acutely aware of Liam’s closeness and the warmth of his hands on her waist.

“I’m fine,” she repeated as she took a step back, creating some distance between them.

“We shouldn’t stay here any longer,” he said, ignoring her reaction, “but I don’t want you pushing yourself too much.” Liam looked over Rebecca as if he were sizing her up.

Standing tall, she stared at him defiantly, “Like I said, I’m fi--” But before she could finish, Liam’s hand shot up over her mouth.

He shook his head slowly and stared intensely at Rebecca. “Someone’s coming,” he whispered harshly, before lowering his hand and scanning the trees around them.

Liam repositioned himself directly in front of Rebecca, with one arm down blocking her and the other held tensely in front of his body.

Rebecca held her breath as she too searched the surrounding woods for any sign of someone, listening intently for any hint of approaching footsteps, but there was nothing. She was just about to say as much to Liam when she suddenly felt the world around her slow to a stop. Her lungs ached to call out a warning, her limbs fought to reach out and grab Liam, but she was completely frozen. She was forced to watch helplessly as, out of nowhere, Maverick appeared, racing toward them at full speed, his face awash with hatred and rage.

As he took his final steps toward their position, Maverick cocked his muscular arm back. Letting loose a deafening yell, he swung his fist straight into Liam’s face, putting all his body weight behind the blow.

Time accelerated back to normal as Liam flew backwards, knocked clean off his feet by the brutal blow.

Still caught up in his rage, Maverick was about to pounce on Liam’s already flattened form when Rebecca threw herself in front of him, screaming and beating at his chest in a desperate attempt to save Liam. “Stop! Stop! What are you doing?”

Pulling away, Maverick panted heavily as he looked down at her, his face now plastered with shock and confusion. “I’m--I’m saving you, Rebecca. I’m getting rid of that scum.”

Rebecca’s anger surged through her and she glared up at him. But just looking at Maverick, just being close to him again, made all her feelings resurface. Her body seemed to instinctively yearn to be held by him, to feel his warmth around her, to be kissed by him. And she hated herself for it.

Unable to speak as she fought to conceal her emotions, Rebecca shook her head at Maverick and then made her way over to where Liam was slowly sitting up. His hand was gingerly holding his already swollen face.

“Are you alright?” she asked, about to kneel down to help him when he began to stand on his own.

“I’m alright, it’ll just blend in with the rest of the damage,” he said, lightly brushing off his uniform once he’d stood tall beside her. “Care to more formally introduce me to your friend here?” He motioned at Maverick, causing Rebecca to look back over at him.

Maverick’s expression of shock and confusion had only intensified, his eyes now rapidly darting back and forth from Rebecca to Liam. After a moment, his face fell into a hateful glare, aimed directly at Liam.

“
You
! What did you do to her?” Maverick took a step closer to Liam, his hands balling back into fists.

Rebecca quickly stepped between them, cutting Maverick off. “He saved me, that’s what. If it wasn’t for Liam, I wouldn’t be alive right now!”

Maverick’s eyebrows furrowed and he started to speak when he was cut short by the crashing sound of several swiftly approaching footsteps.

The first to emerge was Faolan. Given her blisteringly fast pace, she came to a surprisingly elegant stop behind Maverick, remaining completely silent as she examined the scene that was unfolding in front of her.

“Rebecca!” Owen’s voice called out joyfully as he and Aedan arrived next, coming to a sudden halt at the outskirts of the growing group. Their happiness disappeared instantly, though, when their eyes landed on Liam.

Etain was the next to arrive, approaching from the opposite side. “Back off, Aillil,” she threatened, dropping into a fighting stance. Both Owen and Aeden followed her lead.

Rebecca sensed Liam grow tense behind her, ready to defend himself at any moment. In front of her, Maverick still held his tight fists tensely at his sides. The atmosphere was so intense that it felt like any slight movement would cause them all to attack.

“This is ridiculous! Stop it! All of you!” Rebecca cried out in frustration, pushing Maverick away from her and taking a step back so that she stood directly beside Liam. “Liam isn’t a threat, he’s on our side.”

“That’s just what he wants you to believe,” Maverick growled through clenched teeth, his stern gaze never wavering from Liam. “Aillil are all the same. They’re evil and corrupt, Rebecca. They’ll say anything to get what they want.”

“Really? That sounds an awful lot like someone else I know,” Rebecca spat back at Maverick.

Maverick finally broke his intense stare away from Liam and looked down to meet Rebecca’s glare. Her eyes filled with a mixture of anger and hurt. Seeing her pain, a realization dawned on Maverick and his face fell instantly.

“Becs, no, you don’t understand--”

“Save it,” Rebecca said, cutting him off. “I understand completely.”

“Care to fill us in on what exactly is going on here?” Owen said as he dropped out of his ready stance. “Why are you here, Rebecca? And more importantly, why are you with
him
?”

“
Him
is Liam,” Liam said as he turned toward Owen, his earlier tension fading away.

Aeden, who was more hesitant to let his guard down, let out a forced laugh as he spoke, “Did we ask you your name,
Aillil
?”

“No, but now that you know it, I’d prefer you call me by it.”

Aeden was about to snap back with another retort, when Rebecca waved him off. “Aeden, quit being absurd. I told you he’s not a threat, so please calm down.

“Like I was telling Maverick before you guys arrived, Liam saved my life. And he risked
his
life to do so. If it wasn’t for him, I would never have made it away from the Aillil. I have absolutely no doubt that they would have tortured me to death.”

Etain audibly gasped at Rebecca’s last statement, her face swiftly filling with pity and concern.

Rebecca ignored her, remembering that Etain was calling for Rebecca’s removal from the group not that long ago. “He’s no more a threat to any of you than he is to me, so step off and calm down. As for your concern Maverick,” she said, turning her attention back towards him, “I trust Liam wholeheartedly, which is more than I can say about some of you.”

There was a long silence following her rant. Rebecca could almost feel the group’s reluctance to accept what she’d said, hear the warring thoughts in their heads.

The silence was finally broken when Faolan stepped around Maverick and toward Liam, staring intently. “Why do you look so familiar?”

Liam’s face suddenly went straight and tense and he stared back at her. “It’s not me you’ve seen before, but rather someone who looks like me.”

Etain gaped inquisitively as she too took a step forward. “It’s your eyes.”

Liam lowered his gaze and focused on a seemingly empty space in front of him. Rebecca heard him catch his breath as his entire body went rigid.

“They’re my eyes,” a soft voice said, as Trysten’s form appeared in the spot where Liam was staring.

“Trysten,” Liam said breathlessly.

Trysten was shaking slightly, his eyes were narrowed and his mouth held taut. But he made no move to step away from Liam. “How do you know my name?”

“Because I’ve been searching for you for over half my life. Because…I’m your brother.”

At Liam’s words, Rebecca heard a quick intake of breath from every member of the crew. Even if they didn’t want to believe what he’d said, the truth was undeniable. Except for their age difference, they were nearly identical. From their hair color, to their eyes, to their facial structure, there was no refuting their shared bloodlines.

“They do look eerily similar, I’ll give you that,” Aeden said as he, along with the rest of the crew, glanced back and forth from Trysten to Liam in astonishment.

“But you’re an Aillil soldier…why in the world would you want to find your Truaillithe brother?” Etain asked.

Liam kept his gaze centered on Trysten as he answered, “For our mother.”

Trysten’s bottom lip began to quiver as he struggled to hold back his emotions. In the long silence that followed, he looked away from Liam, unable to maintain his stare.

“This is insane!” Maverick’s face had gone a dark shade of red as his fury took over. “You’ve got to be kidding if you think that I’m going to believe a word this Aillil says.” He took another step closer, pointing an accusing finger at Liam, “I should have finished you the moment I saw you with her.”

Trysten turned to face Maverick, placing himself directly in front of Liam. “Don’t touch him, Maverick! I won’t let you hurt him.”

Maverick refocused his attention on little Trysten, trying to fight back his rage. “Don’t tell me you believe him? He’s not one of us, he’s one of
them
.”

It was Rebecca who answered, “Not every Aillil is bad. You, more than anyone, should know that. What about your father?”