Chapter 36
Iris
Imumble a curse under my breath as I trip for the umpteenth time on yet another tree root.
Not only do I miss my enhanced vision that allowed me to see in the dark, but my legs feel as heavy as cinder blocks from trekking through the woods for three entire days.
I know it’s crazy, but it’s as though these roots have free will and they’re playing tricks on me because I could have sworn there weren’t this many on my way out to pee.
I knew it was a bad idea to drink so much water before going to sleep.
Especially since the flashlights we brought from home have already died.
Rhett said things from the human realm rarely function here for long or at all.
While my eyes are glued to the ground, a gnarled branch smacks me across the face.
It splits my cheek open like a serrated blade.
Motherfucker. Blood trickles down from the cut, and I wipe it gingerly with my fingers.
Once we started approaching the Wasting Woods, the trees became slimmer but denser and apparently deadlier, too.
I whirl my head at a twig snap behind me. Goosebumps break over my entire body as I tighten my grip on the dagger’s hilt. I might not have my abilities, but I still know how to fight. However, I will not wait here and be an easy target.
Hurring my pace, I spill into the clearing we’re using as campsite and freeze at the sound of muffled giggles.
Malik is fast asleep on the dead grass while four glowing dragonflies buzz above his head.
I have to do a double take at the image before me because the bag filled with all our food—the one we hung in a tree earlier—starts floating away.
What the?
“Malik. Wake up!” I shout while breaking into a run.
A collective gasp resounds before I’m swarmed by about a dozen angry dragonflies.
Once they’re close enough, I realize they’re not bugs but tiny, winged elfish creatures.
They let out a collective high-pitched battle cry as they attack me, pulling at me from all directions and halting my momentum.
As I swing my dagger into the air, one of them pokes me in the eye while another sinks its unnaturally sharp teeth into the meaty part of my hand.
Disproportionately blinding pain shoots up my arm.
There’s the distinct hiss of zippers being opened. “What the fuck?” Sam shrieks.
A gust of air blasts the little creatures. They screech as they disappear into the forest with freakishly rapid wingbeats along with our food.
Next thing I know, I’m being pulled into a warm chest. “You’re hurt,” Kaiden rumbles as he places a finger under my chin to tilt it upward. Butterflies awaken and start rioting in the confined space of my ribcage.
“I’m okay.” Cringing, I add, “But really fucking embarrassed.”
“What the hell was that?” Sam asks from behind us on a hearty laugh. “Dude, you should have seen yourself. I wish my phone worked so I could film you.”
“Pixies. They’re small but can be vicious. Especially when they’re hungry,” a sleep-rumpled Rhett says while approaching Malik and dumping water on his face.
He gasps, then shoots upright into a sitting position. “Those little—”
“I told you it wasn’t a good idea to keep watch so soon after your first night,” Kaiden tells Malik.
“I wasn’t sleeping. They blew some shimmering dust in my face and—”
“You’re bleeding,” Rhett interrupts as his gaze cuts to me. All color drains from his face.
I reluctantly step back from Kaiden. “Yeah. A branch hit me in the face earlier, and one of those damn pixies bit me.”
“Shit.”
As soon as he finishes saying that, a low growl vibrates the ground beneath our feet. About ten wolves step out of the tree line. We’re surrounded.
There’s something wrong with them, though. They’re so emaciated, their bones are sticking out through paper-thin skin. And there’s no spark in their eyes. Somehow, I know it’s because there’s a void where their souls should be.
“Can you shift?” Kaiden asks Malik in a strained voice.
“No,” he grits out.
“Grab your weapons,” Rhett bellows as the wolves pounce. He lifts his hands, and the beasts ricochet a few feet back when they smack into what I assume is an air barrier.
“Stay close to me,” I tell Sam, dashing toward our tent. Kaiden and Malik zip for theirs, too. “Here.” I shove the dagger at her before grabbing my whip and sword.
“I don’t know how to use this,” she blurts out, voice steeped in panic.
“You’re not going to need it, okay? Stay behind me.”
“I can’t hold them much longer.” Rhett’s T-shirt is drenched in sweat, and his knees wobble as the creatures continue throwing themselves at the invisible wall.
We sprint back to Rhett at the same time as Malik and Kaiden, who’s holding two swords. The second must be Rhett’s. We turn so we’re back to back, forming a protective circle around Sam. The wolves rush at us—all snapping teeth and deadly claws.
Chaos ensues.
I flick my wrist, sending the whip cracking through the air.
It slices through the wolf’s chest. I expect blood to gush out of the deep wound, or at least a howl.
But there’s no reaction. The only noticeable thing is the horrid stench of rotting flesh as the creature forges forward.
There’s no explanation other than—“They’re dead!
” I yell. “Try cutting off their heads.”
In the corner of my eye, Kaiden is wielding the sword as though it’s an extension of his body—which equally shocks me and ignites my blood.
Malik and Rhett aren’t as graceful, but they’re holding their own.
I retract the whip, then crack it back. It wraps around the beast’s throat.
However, when I try to pull it toward me, the movement lacks my usual strength, so when it thrashes, I lose my balance.
A second wolf takes advantage of the situation and charges.
Inhaling deeply, I let muscle memory take over.
Tracing a perfect arc, I sever its head clean off with my sword.
It slaps the ground before rolling backward.
Sam gags at the foul smell emanating from the twitching corpse.
This time, I throw every ounce of energy I possess into yanking the whip to drag the wolf toward me and bring down my sword on its neck.
By the time I’m done beheading another, I’m panting as if I fought a horde of demons on my own.
A bead of sweat gets stuck in my eyelashes.
I blink to jostle it free as I take in our campsite.
Headless corpses are scattered all over, while two of the tents are destroyed.
“Good idea for everyone to have weapons,” I say to Rhett, who’s breathing as hard as I am. I spin to look at Sam. “You all right?”
She nods, but she’s getting greener by the second until she jerks forward, bends at the waist, and starts projectile vomiting. I don’t blame her because the odor is downright fetid, though not much different from that of demons. It just lacks the strong sulfur.
The need to make sure Kaiden’s not injured is all-consuming. However, I’m not prepared for my eyes to slam into the wall of glistening, rock-hard muscles on his chiseled chest and abs as he lifts his tee to wipe the top of his eyebrows. Dammit. He winks, and I damn nearly combust.
“We should do something about your cuts before we go. Otherwise, these wolves won’t be our only problem,” Rhett says, snapping me out of it.
“Do you still have the salve I gave you on the plane?” Sam chimes in, her eyebrow raised in a manner that tells me she caught the way I was ogling Kaiden.
“Oh yeah, I completely forgot about it.”
She pushes past me as if her ass is on fire to rummage through my backpack in our tent, which has been spared. I join her while Malik, Kaiden, and Rhett gather what’s left of their stuff.
Her eyes widen as she inspects the wound on my cheek. “You got this by smacking into a branch?”
“To be honest, it felt more like the tree whacked me.”
“This place is really trying its hardest to kill us,” she mutters as she pours water from a bottle into my awaiting palms. She uses the rest to rinse her mouth while I wash my face. I hiss when she applies a thick layer of the minty salve to the throbbing gash on my cheek.
Kaiden strides toward us. He showed me how to put up and break down a tent, but he’s still taken it upon himself to do it for us every day, so I guess he’s here to help.
“I wasn’t expecting you to be so good at wielding a sword,” I say as I roll up our sleeping bags.
He drops to his haunches next to me. A small smile tugs at his lips.
“I had an excellent teacher, who, even though I was a little shit and complained endlessly, instilled in me the fact that my power might fail me one day and I would be defenseless. It is one of the best pieces of advice I ever received. To this day, I train with it in mind.”
“And Malik? Where did he learn?”
“Well, I needed a partner, so I made him train with me. He usually asks for crazy shit in return, just to grate on my nerves, but I know he secretly loves it.”
We each take turns bathing in the stream’s icy water while vermillion and pink streaks clash in the sky with the approaching dawn. Though, by the time we finish, a thick fog envelops the forest in a misty blanket that even the sun can’t penetrate.
The silence is oppressive—the type that belongs in a cemetery.
Spiny bushes scratch at our legs while spindly boughs resembling claws seem to reach for us as we trek through the thicket of rotten trees.
Scavengers have long since picked apart the animal carcasses scattered across the cracked ground.
Everything here screams death.
“Holy Hecate! That’s big,” Sam says in a low voice as she stares at the skull the size of a truck peeking out the top of the steep canyon on our right. The haze covers the rest of the skeleton.
“That’s what she said,” Malik shoots back.
Kaiden shakes his head while Sam’s lips twitch slightly before she schools her expression into a scowl.