Christa’s Obsession (Obsessions #3)

Chapter Three

Wanda

Something in the surrounding air changed, she felt it despite how she struggled to surface from the darkness.

Silas.

She struggled to open her glassy eyes. To check this wasn’t a cruel trick of fate. His arms were as familiar as her trees’ branches, and she whimpered at the touch of them. She felt her bond to him give back some of what the demons had stolen.

Relief came with wave after wave of pain as the scent of the forest filled her nose when she took a ragged inhale into lungs that burned from the effort. She was unable to form words with how weak she was. The rocking of her body against Silas’s felt surreal, yet the pain told her she was alive.

It wasn’t until Silas got her to the edge of the forest, quite close to the road, that Wanda felt herself being welcomed by her trees. The living bond came through the roots and soil that Silas now ran across.

Their love, all four trees’ bond with Wanda, allowed the air to sink deeper inside of her, to the part that had suffered the most from the break of their connection. The love and care she had given to them, they now returned.

Their devotion to her was in the sway of the branches as they reached for her. The lush green leaves roamed her battered body, removing her dress, seeking her wounds and tending to them.

Through their bond, Wanda felt the pain her peach trees had suffered, yet they used their magic to heal her. Their love was unconditional, as hers was to them. What she’d been through —the shock and pain she had experienced—they suffered, too. That was the nature of a dryad bond and though Wanda hated that they had endured her pain, she could not regret their bond when they offered everything they were to heal her.

They made room for Silas in the nest, knowing she needed him to help her heal, too. All the trees combined their branches to create a canopy and block out the outside world. They covered her in leaves, cocooning her. Despite that, Wanda felt their sorrow that they could do no more to take her fear.

This is what I need. Your loving embrace. The feel of your touch, my beloveds.

You are the heart of us, Wanda. They…

I know.

She sighed, the pain easing with each loving touch. The words were unnecessary when they all knew what would have happened if she had died. They would have, too.

Her brother ever so gently wrapped his arms around her and Wanda felt his healing power combine with that of her trees. The gift was a precious one when Silas had a tree of his own.

The presence and magical gift from her trees and Silas worked in unison to heal the damage. Silas wouldn’t get the same energies from her trees as he did his own, yet that didn’t stop him from offering his dryad magic. His ability would assist them and quicken the healing for them all.

She breathed in the natural scents in the air, listening to her trees whisper of their love for her. It soothed the ragged effects on her soul.

Time passed and Silas stayed, holding her as her trees did. They all fed her with the life force of nature, healing her bones, her skin, and lastly, the slice to her heart.

Silas lay silent, but Wanda, as she regained her life force, felt his unease. His worry.

Attuned to Silas, she understood where his thoughts lay. Wanda tapped the hand resting gently on her thigh.

“I don’t hate him, you know,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

“Dakata? I only wish they had found me down by the river instead…”

She understood now that Dougal must have alerted Silas to what had happened.

“No.” Her throat was dry from the screams she had no desire to remember. She closed her eyes, requesting a glass of peach juice from her trees. A tingle of magic came with a slim glass filling her hand.

Eyes opening, she offered thanks before taking a sip. The sweetness and love within the peaches eased the tightness inside her.

She gave Silas a sad smile. “You will not think like that. None of this was on you, or your demon, or the bond you’ve made with him. Your bond was clearly inevitable, natural, and meant to be. My being taken resulted from someone else’s foolishness.”

“I don’t understand.” Silas winced, and Wanda got a feeling of his inner conflict.

“I heard the ringleader talking.” Wanda chuckled tiredly. Talking, no, it was more screaming while they…

She closed out the violent images. “Honestly, those thugs didn’t have two brain cells to rub together…” She relayed what she had heard. Making sure to keep everything else inside her, because Silas wasn’t guilty of anything. It was Fate herself that had marked him for his demon, despite the raving of those in the other realm.

“Do I want to know what Dakata has done?”

Silas didn’t sound like he did, but Wanda knew he needed to hear what those big thugs had said. “Yes, you need to know…” Repeating it helped when Silas lost the creases of worry that marred his forehead.

She answered all his questions, even as they reminded her of what those monsters had planned for her. “The biggest crime, according to the ringleader, was that Dakata thought himself far superior to everyone else because he didn’t spend his time in their realm engaging in endless orgies.”

Those same orgies they planned for her. Something else Silas didn’t need to know.

“Are you sure you’re all right? They didn’t do anything… you know. Your shift got torn, and there was blood…”

Her heart shuddered inside her. Broken bones, bruises, and touches that weren’t welcome were her own burden to carry. “No, my dear brother. Remember, the idiots who took me thought I had a blissful bond with Dakata? Turns out that is what kept me safe. He wouldn’t lower himself to engage in sloppy seconds, as he called it, and was going to wait and bait Dakata with the idea that he would, frequently, when your demon was dead.”

The threats as they’d touched her had felt real. Only, the demons lacked the understanding that being away from her trees would not have given them long to do anything more. That was what Wanda had clung to at the time, as she’d waited for death to claim her.

“My demon needs to fight just a little bit harder.” Silas winced again, clutching his belly, and Wanda realized that something was very wrong.

“You need to be back with your own oak,” Wanda fretted. “I promise you, I’m all right, and if I need anything, I’m equally sure that Dougal is camped just outside my grove as we speak.” She raised her voice, having sensed the troll’s arrival minutes earlier when she got an additional boost of energy from him. “Aren’t you, Dougal?”

“I’m not eavesdropping, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Dougal’s gruff tone let Wanda know how upset he was. “It’s just, with what you’ve been through, young miss, I thought you’d like some toasted marshmallows, and a bit of lunch when you’ve had a rest. Silas needs to get back to his tree because his energies are all over the place again. It’ll be because of that bond with that demon, I reckon.”

“You need to go. I am fine. Promise.” Wanda leaned up and kissed Silas’s cheek, using the last of her energy to get him to stop fussing and focus on himself. Her brother was not selfish and put others before himself.

“I knew you’d come, and you didn’t let me down. You and your demon both. Thank you.” Had she known that? She couldn’t say, but she was more grateful for it than she could ever express.

They’d both bear the scars on their souls for eternity, and there was little that could be done to change it. They both knew it, it was part of who they were.

“I’ll pop back later,” he said softly, stroking Wanda’s hair before one of her peach trees showed him the way out of the nest they’d made.

Before his feet had touched the ground, the nest shuttered around her again, making it impossible for anyone to see her. Wanda felt Silas as he rested his hand on the nearest peach tree, mentally sending his thanks.

Wanda smelled the fire Dougal had set in his fire pit, far enough from the trees to keep them safe. She heard the whisper of words as her glass disappeared and she sank into the nest of leaves that rustled and murmured healing songs. Her trees called to the forces of nature to continue to heal, not her body, but her soul.

Fear slithered around her thoughts, but the softness surrounding her reminded her she was safe.

But for how long? Would they come back for her?