Wicked Waves: Solsti Prophecy #2 (24 page)

The elf gawked at Kai, trembling. “I-I mean no harm, demon,” he stammered.

“What is your business here, elf?” Kai asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“We were looking for food. The drought—”

“We?” Kai’s voice took on an ominous edge.

“My brothers and I. But they were t-taken. By a group of Serus demons.”

Brooke’s eyes shot to Kai’s face.

He glanced at her and then back at the elf, his face expressionless. “How long ago?”

“Two days. We were foraging and we knew this area had berries. The drought is so bad, you know, we have almost nothing to eat… Anyway, I strayed away from the rest. Then I heard shouts and…and swords clashing…” The elf dropped forlorn eyes to the dirt.

“Go on,” Kai said. Not brusque, but not gentle either, he was all business. Brooke wondered how many times he’d done this.

“Th-there were so many Serus. My brothers tried to fight.” The elf paused again and took a deep breath. “There was a Lash demon there, too. He yelled at the rest to keep my brothers alive.
 

“I tried to follow the group. But I’ve never been a very good tracker, and I guess the Serus demons knew. I thought they were going to grab me, so I ran. I didn’t even know where I was going, I just…ran.”

Keeping his arms crossed over his chest, Kai rocked back on his heels and studied the diminutive male. “That’s a disturbing story, elf,” he said.

The creature nodded. “Yes. But I’m not done looking. I’ll do a better job of hiding my trail, and I’ll find them.”

“You’d best be wary before tangling with a Lash and Serus demons,” Kai warned.

“I’ll be careful.” With that, the elf backed away.

“Not so fast.” In a flash of movement, Kai grabbed the elf by his shirt collar and lifted him off the ground. “You’re coming with us.”

“What?
 
No, I have to find my brothers!”

“You can still look for them, just not right now.”
 
Kai turned to Brooke. “We can’t let him run around when Cale or Draven’s men could find him. Not when they may be looking for us. If they question him, I don’t know if he’d be able to keep his trap shut. Especially if they use his brothers for leverage.”

She nodded. She hadn’t planned on an extra traveling companion, but his reasoning made perfect sense.

Kai set the elf down. “You walk in front of us. Don’t even think about running,” he growled.

The elf jumped. “Got it.”

They resumed walking along the graveled, packed-dirt trail. Brooke worried that the elf’s little legs would slow them down, but he managed to maintain a brisk pace. He shot a worried glance over his shoulder now and then, but kept quiet. The landscape remained the same as they marched up and down the slopes.
This forest is endless.

After an hour, they found several small boulders and stopped to rest. Brooke clasped her hands together and stretched them high over her head. She arched her back and made a contented noise as her tired muscles flexed. Lowering her arms, she caught Kai’s carnal stare.

She held his gaze and tilted her head. He looked like he wanted to devour her. Butterflies zoomed around in her belly, and she couldn’t suppress a smile. Not breaking eye contact, he stood and stalked over to her. The heat rolling off his body made her cheeks burn as he loomed close. Grabbing her upper arms, he pulled her up and leaned in close enough so his lips brushed her ear.

“I’m going to do wicked things to you when these goddamn cuffs are off.”
 
His words came out as part whisper, part growl.

A jolt of fire shot into every fiber of her being. She sucked in a breath, about to tell him that she was on board with whatever he wanted, when the elf shrieked.

“I smell them!
 
My brothers!”
 
He jumped off his rock and looked ready to bolt.
 

Kai moved in a blur, grasping his arm. “Quiet!”

The elf went silent. Kai inhaled deeply, then tugged on the elf’s elbow. “This way. But the scents are old.”

Brooke followed them off the path and into the thick trees. After about twenty yards, they came to a flat clearing. Not as big as the one where the Serus demons had held her and Kai that first night. Under her feet, the scrubby grass lay flat and the dirt held dozens of footprints. The fragrance of pine, as well as smoke and the reek of garbage, lingered in the air.

“This was one of their camps,” Kai said. “But not the one they left this morning.”

Instructing Brooke and the elf to stay put at the edge of the clearing, Kai inspected the site. He walked back to them, shaking his head. “They didn’t leave anything behind. And they could be miles from here by now.”

The elf looked crestfallen. “My brothers.”
 
He hung his head.

Brooke knew how it felt to need your siblings. “I’m sorry, elf,” she said. It felt weird to address him by his species, though Kai hadn’t seemed to mind.
Of course not, he grew up here
. “What’s your name?”

“Jason.” The elf met her eyes, caution etched on his face.

“I’m Brooke.”

Kai scowled. “That’s enough. We need to get to Rosa.”

“R-Rosa? The w-witch?” Jason stammered.

“Yes, Rosa the witch. She’s as old and powerful as you’ve heard. And if you don’t keep quiet she might zap you.”

Jason scurried in front of them as they made their way back to the path.

“You were kind of harsh with him,” Brooke said.

Kai shot her a glare, eyes narrowed. “We have no idea who he is. He could be a spy.”

“He doesn’t seem competent enough.”

“Maybe he’s a good actor.”

“How long are we going to keep him?”
 
Brooke stepped over a gnarled root.

“Until we get to Rosa’s. She can scrub his memory and send him back to his home.”

“Scrub his
memory
?” Brooke repeated.

They reached the trail, following a few yards behind Jason. Kai rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s better all around if he doesn’t remember meeting us.”

“If he’s not going to remember us, what’s the harm in talking to him?”

Kai frowned.

“He doesn’t know what happened to his family. He feels guilty and scared. I’m going to chat with him.”
 
She jogged a few steps to catch up to the elf. “Hey, Jason.”
 

The elf looked surprised to see her drawing near. He turned, his eyes darting to Kai before coming back to her. “My lady,” he said softly.

“You can just call me Brooke.”

“All right. Your name is beautiful.”

“Thank you. I know what it feels like to miss people you’re close to,” she said. “Can you tell me about your brothers?”

Brooke talked with Jason for the next hour, learning about his brothers’ fondness for practical jokes and their superior archery skills. They trudged through the unchanging landscape until Kai called for them to stop.

“We’re almost there,” he said. “She’s just through those trees.”

They moved off the path toward a group of sugar maples.
 
Leafy branches met overhead, and they crept deeper into a grove where the trees grew close together. Thick shrubs clustered around the trunks, their spindly branches snapping against Brooke’s legs. She didn’t complain, seeing as Jason was having even more difficulty navigating the mess.

They pushed through another clump of greenery to stand on a separate, narrow dirt trail. She blinked.
Where did this come from, and why couldn’t it have been connected to the main path
?
 
More trees and bushes grew wild on either side. Her eyes followed the earthen walkway, which led a hundred yards into the sea of green and gray. At the end stood a small one-story clapboard house.

Its wooden boards were the same silver-gray color of the dead trees. A small porch sprouted from the front, the steps worn enough that they bowed in the middle. Paned windows with white curtains flanked a sturdy-looking door.

“Go on. She’s gotta know we’re here.” Kai’s deep voice tickled her ear.

Brooke glanced over her shoulder at him. He gave her one of his dazzling smiles and ran his hand down her back. Then she turned to Jason, who stood trembling in front of her.

“How about I go first,” she murmured, and stepped around the elf. Before her nerves got the best of her, she marched the length of the narrow trail and up the sagging steps.
 

C
HAPTER
17

A
BOUT
TO
KNOCK
ON
THE
wooden front door, bound hands raised in front of her, Brooke hesitated.
Am I supposed to knock?
 
Is there some kind of witch-visiting etiquette?

The door opened, rendering her questions moot, and Brooke took an instinctive step back. A petite woman walked onto the porch, piercing her with brilliant turquoise eyes. Those eyes flicked past her and the witch chuckled.

“I have the right number of guests, but the wrong mix of species,” she said in a soothing and melodious voice. She couldn’t have been more than five feet tall, and Brooke was struck by her shimmery silver hair. Not gray, not salt-and-pepper, it shone like a new dime. She didn’t seem at all surprised to see three strangers at her door. Brooke had no idea what to make of Rosa’s comment, so she introduced herself.

“I’m Brooke.”
 
Out of habit she started to extend a hand. She halted, wrists in front of her, eyes dropping to the cool dark metal. “Um…”

Rosa’s gaze zeroed in on the cuffs.
 
“Oh, for heaven’s sake!
 
How long have you been trudging around with these things on?”

“Awhile. I’m not sure how many days it’s been.”

“My dear child.”
 
Rosa shook her head and reached for Brooke’s hands. She closed her eyes and rubbed her thumb on the black metal, and within seconds the circular bands opened wide and clattered to the wood beneath her feet.

Brooke exhaled sharply and spread her arms. “Oh, thank you so much!”
 
She wanted to hug Rosa but didn’t know if that was appropriate.

Rosa grabbed Brooke’s hands and squeezed them. “You’re welcome, child.” The witch tilted her head. “Such a charming name, Brooke. You bear a slight resemblance to your sister.”
 
She turned to Kai, who stood at the base of the steps. “Hello, Watcher.”

“It’s an honor to meet you.” He inclined his head.

“And who is this?” Rosa asked, her gaze settling on Jason, who stood frozen on the middle step.

“We found him on the way here,” Kai said. “He told us he’s searching for his brothers, who were captured by a band of Serus demons. Once he saw us, he became a liability.”

“So you brought him to me?
 
If I wanted a pet, I’d simply conjure one.”

“With all due respect, witch, I didn’t think it wise to let him run around the forest. There’s a chance we’re being pursued. We discovered the remains of an enemy camp a few miles back.”

Rosa’s gaze shifted from Kai to Jason, who appeared to be staring a hole in the floor of the porch. She tapped her chin with one finger. “Hmm.”

“I would ask you to take his memories of me and Brooke, and send him home,” Kai said.

“But my brothers…” the elf whispered.

Rosa reached for Jason’s hand and he jumped back, nearly falling down the steps. She sighed. “I won’t hurt you, elf. Come here.”

Shaking and ashen, like the ragged leaves on the trees near Draven’s compound, Jason ascended the top step and stood in front of the witch.

“You need to let your family know what has happened. Together, you can do a better job of searching,” Rosa said.

He opened his mouth, but closed it when Rosa placed her hand on his forehead. She murmured soft words in a language Brooke didn’t understand, and the unmistakable tingling of power crackled in the air. It was the same feeling she got when she and Nicole worked in tandem, but this was as intense as a bottled hurricane.

A silver mist snaked across the worn porch. The sensation of tiny feather-soft wings brushed along her arms, and the air swirled gently with foggy tendrils. Brooke watched, rapt, as Rosa quieted.

Jason disappeared.

Brooke gasped. Goosebumps erupted all over her arms and she blinked, staring at the empty spot on the porch. “Where did Ja—?”

“He’s home with his family, child. He’s about to organize a search party,” Rosa said. “Now, come in. You need to eat, and we have much to discuss.”

She took one of Brooke’s hands and led her through the open door. Brooke’s jaw dropped in wonder.

From outside, the small house looked like it contained only one or two rooms. But standing in the foyer, Brooke could see a large living space that flowed into a spacious dining area. The floors shone with a darkly lustered mahogany, and the walls were painted a deep crimson above white wainscoting. Brooke couldn’t see the kitchen, but a delicious aroma wafted from deeper in the house.

Kai’s warm hand at the small of her back helped to ease the surreal feeling. First the elf had poofed into the ether, and now this house defied the laws of dimension.
Down the rabbit hole
, as Nicole liked to say about Torth.

Rosa held her hand for a second longer before releasing it. “Ah, child, you’re parched. Would you like some iced tea?”

“Yes, thank you,” Brooke replied automatically. The witch drank iced tea?
 
She had the fleeting question of whether Rosa set it out in the sun to brew, like Nicole did at home. Heck, Rosa could probably snap her fingers and a pitcher of it would appear, complete with lemon wedges.

Brooke must have swayed a little, because Kai tightened his grip on her waist and led her to a couch in the living room. Grateful for his strong presence, she sank into the soft brown leather. “This feels like a dream,” she whispered. She looked around for Rosa, but heard only the gentle clinking of glass in the kitchen.

“I’ve heard she’s a master of illusions,” Kai said. “There’s a good chance none of this is real.”

Brooke frowned and patted the supple leather next to her leg. “This feels real.”