ABBY
I hold my breath, waiting to see what happens next.
The silence from the ground stretches, and the unknown causes my heart to practically beat out of my chest.
What the fuck is happening down there? I stare down the tree trunk, waiting for a naked shifter to climb up and drag me down. He'll probably throw me straight to the ground, breaking my leg and leaving me exposed for the other shifters to lunge and rip me apart.
I hope they do it quickly.
"Abby?"
I release a breath I didn't realize I was holding.
"Climb down," Kie says, his voice low. "We need to get moving before more shifters show up."
More shifters are on the way? That haunting thought gets me moving, and I pray I don't lose my grip as I spin and begin climbing down. If I have to choose between Kie and the other shifters, I'll choose Kie.
At least he doesn't intend to tear and rip me apart into a million little pieces. He only intends to sell me to some unknown god—not that that's much of an improvement.
"Hurry up," Kie says after a few seconds. He sounds frustrated.
I groan. "I'm going as fast as I can."
Even though I can't see the ground, I know how far it is and I'm not trying to fall.
I wince, scraping my forearm against the bark of the branch I'm climbing down. It pales in comparison to my other injuries, and I take only a brief second to recover before continuing my descent.
My hands touch something wet as I climb onto the bottom branch, something wet that most definitely wasn't there on my way up. I bet it's blood, and I swallow past the lump in my throat as I ignore it and continue moving.
Kie grabs my waist, helping soften the transition between the last branch and the ground.
I'm so fucking glad it's dark out.
There are several large, furry lumps on the ground, probably dead shifters. Just a few days ago, being surrounded by dead bodies would have very likely thrown me into a panicked spiral, but now I feel only a mild disgust.
If I survive, I'll probably end up with nightmares of this entire clusterfuck, but I'm keeping it together pretty well for now.
Only a few tears have been shed, but I think most people would cry when they're being held down and stripped.
I was sure Kie and Mace were going to rape me, and I'm still not entirely convinced it's not what they had in mind. For all I know, the shifters' arrival is the only thing that stopped them.
The back of my neck is covered in a cold sweat, and I shove my hair out of my face as I look for Mace. The woods surrounding Kie and I are suspiciously still, not even the tiny critters and bugs that typically linger around able to be heard.
It's unnerving.
"Where's Mace?" I ask.
Kie takes his and Mace's bags from me, throwing one over his shoulder before ripping open the other. The two are identical, so I'm not sure whose is whose—not that it matters. Kie carries them both most of the time, anyway.
"Mason's hurt," Kie explains, over-enunciating Mace's full first name. I raise a brow.
It seems I'm not allowed to call him by the shortened version Kie uses. Too bad.
Kie clears his throat before continuing. "He's left to spread his scent and throw other shifters off our trail. He'll catch up with us later."
Is that so? I nod, trying to contain my excitement.
If he's out running around, there's a good chance he'll stumble upon some other shifters. I hope that, with him being hurt, he won't be as successful defending the next ones off. Sneaking away from Kie will be challenging, but it'll be monumentally easier if Mace is killed and never returns.
The odds of successfully navigating out of this forest by myself are low, but the odds of being gifted to Zaha should I remain with Kie are higher. I'll take the opportunity of freedom over that any day.
Kie steps forward, navigating around one of the large bodies scattered across the ground.
I remain where I am.
"I can't see," I say.
It's gotten too dark, and even the moonlight isn't providing enough for me to watch where I'm stepping. If I try to walk, I'm going to trip over absolutely everything in my path.
Kie's shadow stops moving, and I press my lips together before reaching for my flashlight.
"No," Kie says. "It'll draw too much attention."
Will it, though? The shifters were able to find us from scent alone, and I assume if they're close enough to see my flashlight, they're close enough to smell us.
"Well, then I can't walk," I argue. "And you're not carrying me."
I add the second part as an afterthought, scared that it will be Kie's first suggestion. I might've been open to it before he took it upon himself to hold me down while his friend removed my clothing, but now I won't consider it.
The thought of his hands on me makes me want to scratch off my skin, and even if Kie and Mace did only end up washing me as they said, the already limited amount of trust I had in them is gone.
They've proven they have no problem forcing me, and I'd be dumb not to be weary of where their comfort with force ends.
Kie makes his way toward me.
"Grab my waist," he says before spinning and putting his back to me.
What? I stare at his form, debating what to do. I doubt I'll be able to convince him to let me use my flashlight, and I'm scared if I try to use it anyway, he'll do something dramatic like break or take it away.
I realistically can't stop him from doing either.
This is a better solution than him knocking me out and carrying me, though, which he and Mace have already done once before. They may not care about my brain health, but I sure do. Especially if I hope to escape and return to the human realm.
I need to stay sharp if I intend to find another job, and I'll be damned if I let my overpriced degree go to waste.
I didn't spend hours upon hours drinking cheap, sludge-textured black coffee in the musty school library for nothing. Plus, if I don't manage to get any delysum tea and save Lill, I'll need a steady income to support the copious amount of alcohol I'll be drinking in my grief.
"Come on," Kie urges.
I suck my cheeks into my mouth and grab his waist, hating how he's got me voluntarily touching him. I wouldn't be if I could think of any other alternatives.
Kie's shirt is still damp, and even through the fabric of my gloves and his shirt, I can still feel how muscular his abdomen is. If he were lankier, I'd try digging my fingers between his ribs and inflict pain, but I doubt it would do much to him.
He probably wouldn't even notice.
Kie begins walking, leading the way. He moves slowly as we navigate over the dead shifters, and I count.
We step over and around five, but I'm sure there are several more scattered about.
How did Kie and Mace manage to kill so many shifters? Kie may be muscular, but I doubt he's as strong as the animals. They're easily twice his size, and all it takes is one good chomp to break his neck or tear off a limb.
Maybe that'll happen to Mace while he's out and about.
I don't think I'd mind him becoming one of these motionless lumps on the ground. In fact, I'd say I highly encourage it.
Kie and I continue forward, speeding our pace once we pass the bodies. I'm nervous he'll bring up my questioning delysum, but instead, he spends his time digging through his backpack.
There's a lot of crinkling, but I'm behind him and can't see what he's doing.
After a few minutes, I realize he's bandaging himself up.
I didn't realize he was injured, and I wish it were light enough to see how bad it is. That must be why he didn't insist on carrying me. He probably can't.
We walk for a long while without any sign of Mace. Assuming he doesn't die, I figured he'd catch up with us within thirty minutes—an hour at most—but what must be hours pass without him. I wonder if he got lost and can't find us.
It's not as good an outcome as him dying, but it's not bad. I'd be happy with it.
At some point, I consider asking Kie about it, but I don't want to initiate a conversation. He hasn't said a word since we began walking, excluding the occasional warning to watch my step.
It seems like he's forgotten about my delysum question, and I don't want to risk saying or doing anything that'll jog his memory.
Samuel was easy to lie to, but I have a feeling Kie won't be as gullible. As a prince, I'm sure he's spent his entire life surrounded by people lying to him. It'd be vital for him to learn the signs of deceit, and I've never been an exceptionally skilled liar.
Plus, my lie would be much more convincing if I knew what the damn plant was used for in the first place.
In the human realm, it preserves Lill's magic, giving her enough of a boost that she can survive in a world without any. In the faerie realm, a place absolutely surrounded by a thick layer of magic, I imagine delysum must act as some sort of magic-enhancing substance.
It's probably the human equivalent of steroids.
I can't imagine what else it would be used for, and it would explain Kie's reaction.
Considering I'm human and have no use for magic, it would be a bit odd for me to be asking about a plant known for enhancing it. It doesn't explain why he seemed so suspicious, though. It's almost like I shouldn't know what it is, which doesn't match my steroid hypothesis.
Most people know about steroids, even if they have no reason to or interest in taking them.
Maybe delysum is an underground, illegal type of thing.
I imagine if the faeries knew there was a plant they could be taking to enhance their ability to use magic, they'd be all over it. It makes sense the royals would try to limit its knowledge.
I bet they all secretly take it behind closed doors.
Samuel seemed to think the royals are strong because of bloodlines and all that, but I bet it's because of the plant. Knowing Kie, I wouldn't be surprised.
That's probably why he's so jacked. I bet he drinks a heaping cup before every workout, and he probably even has some stored away in his backpack.
I readjust my grip on his waist, my hold momentarily tightening before I quickly relax. If he has delysum in his backpack, I won't even have to go to Elora. That would save me a lot of time, and all I'd need to do is find a way to return home.
Samuel said the elders can open portals, so I'd just have to find one of them. I doubt it'll be as easy as it seems, but it's not impossible. If I managed to stumble upon another helpful faerie like Samuel, I could get them to help in exchange for a touch.
My excitement grows, filling me with hope. This could work.
I'm going to look through his backpack the next opportunity I get.
We continue walking, and the moment the sun is high enough that I can make out what's in front of me, I release Kie. He hurries ahead a few steps as I let go, acting as if he couldn't be more relieved to have me off him.
I resist the urge to roll my eyes.
If anybody should be disgusted by our touching, it's me.
"Mace," Kie breathes.
He turns to the left, staring into the trees. I don't see or hear anything, but Kie has better senses than me.
I sigh, upset the shifter is returning. At this point, I convinced myself that Mace was dead. I'm disappointed to learn that isn't the case, and I cross my arms over my chest as the giant shifter appears.
He's favoring his left side with a noticeable limp, and his fur appears wet.
It looks like he jumped into a lake before returning to us, maybe in an attempt to remove some of his smell. If the whole point of him running around was to spread his injured scent, it's not a very good idea to then lead it directly to us.
Mace makes his way over, and once he's only a few steps away from Kieran, his muscles begin to quiver and his body twitches until his animal form is replaced with a very naked man. In this state, I can see just how badly he's hurt.
Blood pours out of a wound on his right abdomen, and a decent chunk of muscle is torn out of his left bicep.
I cringe, uneasy at the sight of another person's internal bits.
"Fuck," Kie says, rushing forward.
Mace collapses in a sad heap of blood and limbs, and Kie drops to his knees beside him. I remain where I am, silently watching as Kie rips open his backpack and dumps all the medical supplies.
He's distracted, and Mace is unconscious.
This is the perfect time to run.
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