Chapter 6 #3
“Fine.” Cassie dropped her pack and flopped onto a mossy rock. “Five minutes. Then we keep moving.” She didn’t know why she was so driven to keep going. She was exhausted, too.
Elora sank onto the log across from her. For a few breaths, neither spoke. The forest settled around them, thick with pine and earth and that strange, humming tension.
Cassie rubbed her palms against her thighs. “We’re idiots.” She could admit it, out here where no one else but her best friend could hear her.
“Obviously,” Elora said. “But we’re committed idiots, so that’s something.”
Cassie laughed despite herself. “Our Chosen are going to kill us.”
“Oh, Cush absolutely is,” Elora said. “Murder. Immediate. Then resurrection so he can scold me properly by seducing me until I’m begging, then denying me, then killing me again only to repeat the whole process.
He’s diabolical. Explains why I’m so attracted to him.
” Her smile softened. “Trik will punish you probably in a similar fashion, but instead of denial, he’ll just sex you until you want to die. ”
The ache in Cassie’s chest pulsed, but her friend’s words helped her ignore it, mostly. “Sex me? I think you’ve hit your head one too many times in training.”
“Sexing, it’s like sexting, but without the phone and in person,” Elora said matter of fact like.
Cassie blew out a breath with a laugh. “I highly doubt that’s going to be his reaction. He’s going to lose his ever loving mind.” When he finally realized she was gone, that is.
Elora shrugged. “He drove you to this. Just like Cush did. We only did what we had to do.” She sounded like she was trying to convince herself.
Cassie swallowed. “It’s more complicated than that.”
Elora nudged her foot with her boot. “Isn’t it always?”
Cassie dragged in a steady breath. The air felt thick, like it wanted to hold her words in place. Her throat tightened.
“Elora . . . there’s something I need to—”
Elora shot upright like a wolf on alert. “Oh gods. You’re dying.”
Cassie blinked. “What?”
“You haven’t been sleeping,” Elora said, counting on her fingers. “You’ve been dizzy. You barely eat. If you say ‘I’m fine’ one more time, I swear—”
“Elora.”
Her friend froze mid-gesture.
Cassie’s voice went soft, trembling despite her best effort. “First of all, have you been hallucinating? Because I don’t know where you got that list of things from.”
Elora looked a tad sheepish. “Maybe I let my imagination get carried away, but you do look tired. What’s second of all?
Cassie just ripped the bandaid off. “I’m pregnant.”
Silence cracked the clearing open. The trees seemed to hold their breath. Elora stared at her. Not blinking. Not breathing. Then slowly, “What?”
Cassie swallowed. “I found out a few days ago.”
Elora moved so fast Cassie didn’t see it, she just suddenly had an armful of best friend, warm and fierce and shaking.
“Cassie,” Elora whispered against her shoulder, voice thick. “Freaking hell.” She pulled back, cupping Cassie’s face. “Wait,” she frowned. “Found out how? Is there a store in this realm that sells pregnancy tests?”
She rolled her eyes, “No, dork. Monthly friend hasn’t visited in a while, and I’ve had some mild nausea for no reason, though it seems to have gotten better. Once I suspected, it’s like I could feel it. A magic separate from my own, it feels very much like Trik’s power.”
Elora seemed to consider this and then said, “Sure, makes sense. Not really, but we’ll go with it. Now, why didn’t you tell me?”
Cassie closed her eyes. “Because I haven’t even told Trik. I feel like he should have been the first to know.”
Elora blinked again. Hard. “Agreed. But, Cass. Why? Why haven’t you told him?”
Cassie’s throat tightened. “Because he’s not . . . with me. Not really. He’s shut down, and the Book . . .”
Elora’s face softened, all sarcasm gone. “Cassie. He loves you. He adores you. When he met you in your dad’s building that very first night, he practically imprinted on you like a baby duck.”
A weak laugh escaped Cassie. “A cocky, overbearing, assassin baby duck.”
“Yes,” Elora agreed. “But still your baby duck.”
Cassie let out a shaky breath. She hadn’t realized how badly she needed to hear that.
To be reminded of how Trik had made it very clear from the moment he met her that he wanted her.
Those feelings had only grown over time.
But still, lately she had felt very unwanted.
“He hasn’t noticed,” Cassie whispered. “Cush did. This morning. The heartbeat, the magic shift, everything. But Trik hasn’t noticed anything. Not one thing.”
Elora’s expression went sharp. “Cass. He’s been buried in that damn Book.
His mind is focused on keeping you safe and keeping this realm and all its inhabitants safe.
He’s got a little bit of tunnel vision going on.
I’m not saying it’s okay, but that’s the only reason he hasn’t noticed. Not because he doesn’t care.”
Cassie pulled her knees up. “What if that doesn’t change?”
“It will,” Elora said instantly, her hands going up animatedly as she grew in excitement. “The moment he realizes? He will lose his mind. He’ll be like ‘Book? What Book?’ Then, he will have an absolute meltdown of joy. He’ll probably cry.”
Cassie blinked.
Elora shrugged. “Deep down he’s a deeply emotional elf, with all sorts of feels going on. He’s just been hiding it. A baby will break those barriers right the crap down.”
Cassie laughed again, head falling back. Relief loosened her ribs, unexpected and overwhelming.
Elora nudged her with her knee. “You should’ve told me right away. I’m your person.”
“I know.” Cassie wiped her eyes. “I was afraid you’d tell me to turn around.”
Elora snorted. “I’m pregnant with possibility and rage, Cass. I’m not giving up this adventure just because you’re cooking a baby.”
Cassie raised a brow. “Cooking?”
“Yes,” Elora said with a perfectly straight face. “Simmering. Slow-roasting. Whatever it is your body is doing right now.”
Cassie wheezed. “Elora—”
“But,” Elora continued, cutting her off as she gripped her hand, “I’m with you. All the way. You’re not doing this alone. I mean,” she waved one hand absently, "obviously, you have Trik, but that’s not nearly as important as having me.”
Emotion punched through Cassie so hard her breath hitched. “Thank you.”
Elora squeezed once more, fiercely. “Now. Tell me everything. Every detail. Every symptom. You said you felt magic? Has your belly glowed? If you say no I’ll be disappointed.”
Cassie laughed until tears ran down her face. “Elora, stop—”
“Never,” Elora said proudly. “I’m going to be the most annoying aunt in history.”
Cassie leaned into her. “You already are.”
“And you already love me,” Elora replied smugly.
Cassie smiled. “Unfortunately.”
They walked in silence for several minutes, brushing past ferns heavy with dew, ducking under low-hanging branches as the early morning sunlight filtered through the canopy in thin, golden blades.
Elora’s boots sank into the moss with each step.
The forest felt . . . too awake. As if it were breathing against her skin.
Cassie wiped at her face, the motion quick, embarrassed. “Sorry,” she muttered. “I didn’t mean to dump all that on you.”
Elora snorted. “You’re pregnant, Cass. You get to dump whatever you want on me. Anytime, anywhere. I’m your designated emotional support elf.”
Cassie huffed a laugh, even if her eyes were still glassy. “Pretty sure that’s not an actual position.”
“It is now,” Elora said gravely. “I claim it. No takebacks.”
Cassie finally smiled. “Love you, El.”
“Love you more.” Elora bumped her shoulder lightly against Cassie’s, careful not to jostle her too hard.
“And I’m incredibly proud of you, even if your mate is an overbearing, overprotective, over everything, pain in the ass.
” She tapped her chin. “He and Cush should swap notes. Dammit, I bet they already do.”
A wind swept through the clearing, sudden and cool, stirring Cassie’s hair. The leaves above them rustled, not randomly, but in a rising, coordinated shiver that made the skin between her shoulder blades tighten. Cassie slowed. “You feel that?”
Elora swallowed and nodded. “It’s like the whole forest is inhaling.”
The feeling deepened, soft at first, then insistent. A pull. Forward. Not to the right or left. Straight ahead, down the narrow, root-wrapped trail leading deeper into the old woods.
“Okay, that’s . . . new,” Elora murmured, trying, and failing, to sound casual.
Cassie pressed a hand to her chest, frowning. “You feel it, too?” She asked. “It’s like a tug. Not painful. Just . . . constant.”
Elora nodded. “Compulsion? Whatever it is, it feels a lot like what I felt when I was in Vegas. I do not like it.”
Cassie shook her head, then hesitated. “Not exactly compulsion. It doesn’t feel like magic being forced on us. It feels like . . . like a call.”
Elora didn’t like that answer at all. “From who? And why can’t I choose to end the call? Or simply hit ‘reject’ like when I get an unwanted call on my phone?”
“I don’t think it’s ‘from who,’” Cassie whispered. “It feels like ‘from where.’”
They shared a look, one that said this is stupid, we should turn back, and our mates are going to kill us, but neither stopped walking. The forest kept pulling, gentle but firm, like unseen fingers curling in the fabric of their shirts.
“Cass,” Elora said quietly, “I don’t think we’re the ones doing the finding anymore.”
Cassie slowed, brow furrowed. “We’re being drawn in.”
“Like we’re pieces of metal and the Chamber is the magnet,” Elora finished.
Cassie swallowed. “Do you think that is good or bad?”
“Yes,” Elora said instantly, giving a sharp nod.
Cassie blinked. “That’s not helpful.”
Her brow rose and her lips pursed. “I know.”
They kept moving. The trees leaned closer, actually leaned, their trunks creaking subtly as though bending toward the two females. Roots shifted beneath the moss, not enough to trip them, but enough that Cassie knew: the forest was not passive. It was guiding. Watching.
A branch brushed Cassie’s hair, and Elora’s hand darted up, grabbing her arm and pulling her close. “Okay,” Elora whispered. “Nope. We are not doing creepy tree pats. Absolutely not.”
Cassie exhaled a shaky laugh. “I think they’re trying to help us.”
“Then they can speak in complete sentences like reasonable plants,” Elora muttered. “Or blow some smoke signals. Anything less horror-movie.”
But even as Elora joked, Cassie’s chest tightened. Cassie knew she was right. She could feel it. The forest wasn’t hostile. It wasn’t trying to stop them. It was urging them onward.
“Your light,” Elora said suddenly, her voice softer. “It’s reacting.”
Cassie looked at her hands. A faint glow shimmered at her fingertips, not enough to cast light, but enough to brighten her skin. She then looked at her friend. “Elora . . . your shadows,” Cassie whispered.
Elora glanced down. Her hands were rimmed with a faint, smoky darkness. Not overwhelming, but undeniably present.
“Something is reaching for us,” Cassie said, knowing as she spoke that it was true. “Light and shadow. It’s calling us, it recognizes something in us.”
Elora cleared her throat, sounding as if she was forcing herself to remain calm. “How could that be possible when we aren’t actually from this realm? And, let’s think this through, as freaked out as I am. Worst-case scenario . . . we walk into some ancient magical trap that kills us instantly.”
Cassie made a strangled sound. “Really, El?”
“Medium-case scenario, we get to this weird Chamber and nothing horrible happens, but nothing good necessarily happens either and we just get to gloat that we didn’t die.”
Cassie’s lips twitched. “That’s better than the first option.”
“And best-case scenario,” Elora said, bumping Cassie’s shoulder gently, “we get there and somehow save the world even though we didn’t even know the world needed saving.”
Cassie finally laughed and stopped abruptly when the forest shivered again, stronger, pulling them forward like a tide.
Elora inhaled sharply. “And that’s our cue.”
Cassie nodded, determination settling in her features. “Let’s go.”
They stepped forward together, two threads–one light, one shadow–being drawn toward the same ancient center with some magical agenda that hopefully didn’t end with them dead.
Happy thoughts, Cassie told herself. Just keep thinking those happy thoughts.