United (The Guardians Book 2) (14 page)

Gable looked down at her hands in silence. They both knew that she didn't need to answer.

The night grew darker as they sat around the fire and ate warmed tinned beans. Through the small gaps in the tree tops they could see the sky was a deep, velvet blue with swirls of green and the stars. . .the stars were incredible. They seemed to be closer and in all different colors, like a billion fireworks that never died out.

Firefly like bugs buzzed around them, though they were at least twice the size of the fireflies back home and had two heads. They were quite charming, in a bizarre little way.

But the sky and the bugs weren't the most unusual aspects the night had brought. Strange things had begun to happen amongst the trees. They appeared to have awoken with the darkness; they creaked and twisted into ghoulish shapes, moaning quietly like a soft wind. Each time, they somehow managed to move when none of the team were looking.

Eerie creatures fluttered, like the shadows of birds, perching on branches and peering at them through glowing red eyes. They looked scarily like demons.

“They're watching us,” Gable muttered, shivering. Ward noticed and pulled his jacket out of his pack to place around her shoulders.

“Don't worry, you guys,” Queenie assured them all. She tried to sound strong, but the birds were clearly making her uneasy too. “They won't hurt us. . .I think. I remember reading about them – they're called faihrn. They're nothing more than spies for the dark faeries. They're just here to watch us and observe, but they won't hurt us.”

“Weird little bastards,” Hue complained. “But I guess if the dark faeries haven't already come for us, we're safe from them for now.”

“They're probably watching to see how our rescue mission turns out,” Gable agreed.

Doing their best to ignore the faihrn, they finished their gourmet meal of warm beans and Zay checked over their supplies once again. “If we ration, we should have enough food and water to last us a week,” he told them. “Let's hope we're not here that long.”

Hue had pulled out his gun and had taken it apart to clean. It was a nervous habit that Gable recognized well, though she was more of a knife sharpener. “Am I going crazy,” he spoke up. “or are those damn trees getting closer?”

Startled, the rest of the team glanced around. He was right, the clearing was significantly smaller than it had been when they'd first arrived.

Cadby shook his head in wonder. “How are they moving without us seeing?”

“Can you get anything off them?” Zay asked Ward.

He shook his head regretfully. “I can't figure out what they want from us. I'm usually so good at understanding trees, especially old ones – and these are older than anything on earth. But these guys, they're talking in an impossible language I could never hope to understand. I can hear them whisper, but the moment I think I'm about to catch something, it escapes me. They want something, I'm sure of that. I just don't know what.”

Queenie, looking suddenly nervous, nibbled on the nail of her pinky finger. “I think I have an idea but. . .it's freaky. And you guys aren't gonna like it.”

“Well, we're living freaky right now, honey.”

“It's just that I can't stop thinking about those veins on the trees, and how they kind of look like they're filled with blood. There's this one tiny passage I read about the faeries gifting trees in exchange for passage. It didn't say what, but what if that's it?”

“You think they want our
blood?
” Gable demanded, totally icked out.

“It would make sense.”

“Would it, though?” She really didn't want it to be true. It was one thing having a hot vampire stick his fangs in her, but a creepy tree. . . Just no.

Cadby grimaced. “Well that's horrifying. Vampire trees. What next?”

“So what, we just get a knife and cut ourselves?” Zay asked. “Maybe squeeze the blood onto the branches? Okay, this is insane.”

Queenie shrugged. “I don't know, it's just a theory. But I think we have to try something. There's no way I'm sleeping tonight with them sneaking up on us like this.”

Hue nodded in agreement. “She's right, boss. We need to deal with them.”

Standing, Ward brushed himself down and sighed. “Let me go touch them first before we do anything else. Maybe I'll be able understand them if I'm closer.”

He approached one of the trees hesitantly. It seemed to grow taller as he neared, looming over him menacingly. So very slowly, Ward raised his palm and placed it on the trunk. Nothing happened for a few endless seconds, then purple vines, as thin as needles and just as sharp, curled out of the branches and began to move over his skin, probing, searching for something.

They searched and searched and then. . .nothing. They let him go and retreated.

Ward stepped back, shaking his head. “They don't want me.” He looked back at the others. “I think y'all need to try.”

“I had a nasty feeling you were gonna say that,” Gable grumbled, even as she stood and stepped over to a nearby tree. She glared at it, daring it with her eyes.

Behind her, the others all did the same as Ward looked on, his face blank and shut off. Gable pursed her lips, wondering what he was hiding. Nicky gave a grunt in his sleep, startling her to attention, and she turned back to the gnarly looking tree. Rolling her shoulders to psyche herself up, she lifted her hand in the same way Ward had done. The tree didn't have eyes or discernible features of any kind, but she couldn't help but feel it was watching her. It creaked and expanded just a little, like it was breathing in her scent.

“You're a creepy son of a bitch,” she told it, wishing she'd brought over one of her wicked sharp knives just in case she needed to hack some gropey tree branches. Finally, and not without a pout, she closed the distance and pressed her palm against the trunk, careful not to touch any of the disgusting veins. She shuddered at the feeling; though the bark was hard underneath, the surface was soft and velvety like skin. Pressing her face into her shoulder, she groaned.

Just like with Ward, thin vines crept out of the cracks and ran over her skin, poking and prodding and looking for something. She held her breath, waiting for them to let her go.

But suddenly the tree made a loud, almost triumphant cracking noise, and a thick branch shot out, wrapping itself around her waist and spinning her around, pressing her back against the bark. She yelled out, both in horror and surprise, rubbing the skin on her fingers raw as she tried to pull the branch away. More branches spiked out, trapping her hands and legs in place and worst of all, one wrapped around her head over her eyes so she couldn't see a thing.

Panic overcame her. She tried desperately to break away but the branches were so strong. Too strong.

“Ward!” she screamed. She could hear others yelling too, perhaps held in the same terrifying situation as she, though she couldn't tell who.

“Just try to keep calm,” Ward instructed, which was easy for
him
to say. “Keep calm and let this happen.”

“
You
keep calm!” she yelled back. “I'm going to rip your arms off when I get out of this, Ward!”

If
she got out.

The branches around her arms tightened, one around each of her wrists and another around her elbows, with her forearms pointing out. There were sudden, sharp pricking pains in her arms, reminding her of the needle like vines from earlier, and then a draining sensation.

The tree was sucking her blood!

She struggled harder, whimpering in pain. It was too much. It was taking too much!

“Please!” she heard Ward call out. “You have to trust me. Keep still!”

Unsure of whether she'd ever trust Ward again – she was sure he'd known what was coming – she did as he said regardless, stilling until her only movements were her uncontrollable heavy panting pushing her chest against the branch every time she breathed out. If she hadn't been claustrophobic before, she sure as hell would be now. Once she stopped moving, the pain admittedly lessened, though she was growing light headed from loss of blood.

The tree continued to drain her for another thirty seconds before the vines left her arms and, with blessed relief, the branches curled away and released her.

Gable fell forward onto her knees, gasping as she crawled through twigs and leaves, desperate to get away. Ward knelt next to her and pulled her into his arms.

“I got you,” he murmured. “See? You're fine.”

She reached up and slapped him weakly across the side of his head, vowing to get him harder later. “Asshole.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“That was worse than drowning. It was horrible. So horrible.”

Her heart was racing and it took a little while of Ward's reassuring whispers and back rubbing to calm her down. Once her breathing had slowed and the panic faded, she pulled back from his comforting embrace to check her injuries. There were three fat pinprick marks on the inside of each of her forearms.

She glanced around at the others, remembering that she hadn't been the only one yelling out. Cadby and Queenie appeared to be fine, but Zay and Hue were just as pale and shaking as she was.

“They didn't want us Outcasts,” Cadby said. “Just you humans. I think it's because they're used to the magical creatures here in the rainforest.”

“So us non magical humans are a rare treat?” Zay muttered darkly. “Fun.”

Gable lay her head on Ward's shoulder, significantly weakened. “Great, so we're caviar. Next time I say we just light a match and torch the creepers.”

“I'm down with that,” Hue agreed, rubbing the marks on his arms.

“Hey guys,” Queenie interjected. “Look, they've moved back. It worked.”

“It better bloody well have,” said Zay. Queenie was right; the clearing was back to its original size, and though the trees were still creaking ominously, they were no longer making eerie shapes. It seemed they had been sufficiently sated. “Ward, did you know this was going to happen?”

He hesitated. “They couldn't tell me what they wanted, but they showed me when I touched the tree.”

“You think you might have warned us?”

“Would it have made it any easier?”

“I guess not,” Zay admitted.

“That's why. I knew they didn't want to kill you, otherwise I would've started hacking away. We're a team, you know, I've got your backs.”

They nodded, albeit reluctantly. The thing with earth elementals was – they would always put the earth first. Whether it was plants or animals or even mud or stone, it would always come before humans. It was just in their nature. But right then that didn't matter. What mattered was that they'd all made it, again, and none of them had been seriously hurt.

It had been an awful, nightmarish day for them all, but the worst of it was the knowledge that despite what they'd been through, all the panic and pain and terror, it was nothing compared to what the Outcasts trapped in the cells were going through every single day.

“We should get some sleep,” Zay instructed after Queenie had almost fallen down right where she sat.

They made arrangements for who would keep watch, and Gable yawned as she climbed into her tent, making a mental note to thank whichever guy had put it up for her. She was utterly exhausted. If there were any more beasties out there waiting to take a chomp on her ass, they'd better have to decency to at least wait until she was sleeping before eating her. That was all she wanted.

Tomorrow was going to be another long day.

“Man, I feel
good
!” Nicky boasted the next morning as he crawled out of his tent. He stretched languidly, like a cat after a long nap in the sun. He was looking a lot better than the night before – there was color in his cheeks and the mischievous sparkle had reignited in his eyes. “I had a seriously awesome sleep. Totally refreshed me. What about you guys?”
 

Gable flipped him the bird in response.

“Hey!” Nicky caught her arm as he knelt next to her by her tent, inspecting the marks leftover from the blood thirsty tree. Admittedly they were healing fast; they looked like they'd been there for days instead of a mere night. And now that she thought about it, Gable wasn't feeling the effects of blood loss, either. The air really was rejuvenating. “What the hell? Did you guys have a party and forget to tell me?”

“You missed a lot while you were snoring your head off last night, bro,” Zay told him, holding up his own arms.

They filled him in over a breakfast of ration bars.

“Hell no!” Nicky exclaimed when he'd heard it all, the expression on his face growing more horrified with every word. “Blood sucking trees? Now that's just all kinds of wrong.”

In the fresh light of dawn, the trees had stopped with their creaking and moving, though their veins still pulsed gently. It was chilling. The faihrn had vanished also, but Queenie cheerfully informed them that they'd probably be back with nightfall.

“I feel gross,” she complained. “I hope we come across some fresh water today to wash up in. A stream, maybe.”

“Talking of today,” said Zay, getting down to business. “We need to decide which way we want to travel. This island seems big and it's unlikely we'll stumble across the prison cells if we wander aimlessly – we'll get lost.” He turned to Cadby. “I know your powers aren't stable, but do you still think you might be able to find a link to the prisoners through your werewolf friend?”

“I'll try, but I'll need Gable's help.”

Zay nodded. “You guys get started with that and the rest of us will pack up camp so we can get moving as soon as we know which way we're headed.”

Their little camp suddenly came to life as they all went about their tasks. In the middle of it all, Gable and Cadby sat opposite one another on the leafy ground, folding themselves into the lotus position. They both had this part down – it was something they'd tried together many times over the past year. Though their attempts at finding Sacha had never been successful before, Gable was feeling optimistic.

“Do you know why I need your help?” Cadby checked quietly as they readied themselves.