Chapter Eleven – Taran
Chapter Eleven
Taran
My whole being vibrated for her. My leaves rustled, my vines swayed in the wind, reaching for her, and my branches wanted to wrap themselves around her and hold her close. I fought all these urges. She didn’t know who I was, that I was sentient, and that I was here for her. She was leaning against me now, and I could feel her soft hair on my bark, the strands catching in my ridges. I wanted to caress her. I wanted to feel her hands on me, without the gloves.
After a while, she pulled out a first aid kit and clumsily cleaned and patched up her wounds. There was one on her ribs, and she could barely reach it. She groaned in frustration, and I was this close to revealing my identity and helping her. I hated seeing her struggle. Luckily, her cuts were shallow, and they’d stopped bleeding. She changed her turtleneck sweater for one that was identical, and it felt like a privilege to once again see her in her tiny lace bra.
We waited for the rain to stop. When it did, she pushed away from me, grabbed her backpack, and started walking. I missed her closeness, and the thought that we only had two more days together, and one night in between, saddened me. What saddened me more was that she was promised to a man who I knew for sure wasn’t going to love her like she deserved. So, I followed Thea into the woods, moving gently, so she wouldn’t notice me, feeling more and more broken over something that hadn’t happened yet. If I wanted to stop it from happening... Could I?
I didn’t think so. Thea was my principal. I was supposed to do my job and keep her safe, then I’d get the second half of my payment and forget about her. It was a job like any other. Except Thea was human, and I didn’t work with humans. I’d made an exception because I’d thought I’d get something out of it – something akin to revenge – but now I was starting to realize the exception had been a bad idea for entirely different reasons.
Earlier, she’d...
It was dangerous to think back to what she’d done, even though the memory was etched into my mind forever. The stump she’d made grow out of me when she’d touched me in the morning was twice as big now, and twice as thick and hard. Her little moans and whimpers, the way she’d rubbed her pussy against my roots, how she’d grabbed onto them with her gloved hands...
No, I couldn’t think about it. My attraction towards her was beginning to turn into raw desire, and that just wasn’t something I was used to. What I was feeling for her now was... foreign. I’d been attracted to someone before. I’d had sexual encounters. I’d been... in a relationship, and she’d been...
No. I couldn’t think about her now. Not when Thea was walking a few feet in front of me, her hips enticing me to follow her. Even if I hadn’t been hired to follow and protect her, I would have. I barely knew her for twenty-four hours, and all I could think about was her. It didn’t even matter to me whose daughter she was, and it should have mattered. A lot.
By allowing myself to feel these things for Thea, I was betraying myself. I was betraying my own values. It was like I was denying the past and rendering it meaningless, when in fact it was full of meaning. What had happened five years ago because of Thea’s father had turned me into who I was today.
We walked for two hours without stopping, Thea only drinking a bit of water and not eating anything. She’d eaten a sandwich while we waited for the rain to pass, and it seemed to have been enough for her. It didn’t look like she was eating a lot. No wonder she was so frail.
I heard the footsteps before she did – twigs snapping under someone’s heavy boots. They were coming from the right, and I turned to look that way just as the footsteps picked up the pace. I thought it must’ve been the woman from the night before, here to show Thea that she hadn’t been kidding. But when the figure emerged from the trees, I saw that it was a man.
He was fast. I’d allowed some distance between me and Thea, so she wouldn’t realize I was a walking tree, and before I got close enough to shield her with my body, it was too late.
The man grabbed her from behind, pulling her backpack free and throwing it on the ground. That made Thea lose her balance. She fell on her butt, cringing from the impact. She didn’t have time to wrap her head around what was happening, because the man was on top of her.
He was dressed in black, just like the woman. His head and face were covered. Only his eyes were visible. He grabbed Thea by her sweater and shook her hard.
“You didn’t listen. Why didn’t you listen?” His voice was low and angry. “I told Kyla she should’ve been more convincing, but she’s a woman, and women are weak. She couldn’t do what needs to be done, so here I am, finishing what she started.”
“What are you talking about?” Thea tried to get away from him, but he was holding her tightly. “Who are you? What do you want?”
I was close enough now that I could cause whatever damage I wanted to her attacker. I hesitated. If I acted now, Thea would know who I was.
“You don’t deserve him,” the man said. “The Master is good, and pure, and you’re dirty. You come from a dirty, corrupted family that only cares about money.”
“I don’t understand,” Thea whispered. “We can talk about this, okay?”
“There’s nothing to talk about. You’re the daughter of a tree killer. That makes you a tree killer. And the Master is exactly the opposite. He is good, he cares about nature, he protects the trees, he loves the trees...”
What now?! The man’s words took me aback. Who was this Master that was against what Everhart Furniture was doing? And why did his people want Thea dead? Because surely, the two assassins were his people, and he didn’t know what they were up to. The man and the woman had taken justice into their own hands. They’d decided Thea needed to pay for her father’s sins, and the man especially didn’t look like he could be deterred.
He was right, though... Wasn’t he? The things he was saying... I’d been thinking them even before meeting Thea. Her beauty, her resilience... The mystery of her had changed my mind, but did that mean what this man was saying wasn’t true? She was who she was, and nothing could change that.
But no, I didn’t agree that she deserved to die. I didn’t agree that she had to suffer in any way, shape, or form.
“You must pay,” he said. His face was so close to hers that it enraged me. He had no right to be so close to her, to touch her and hold her like that. “You should’ve never left your ivory tower.”
He took out a knife and placed the blade under her chin.
I lost it. I saw red. I lunged at him so fast that my movement was a blur. With one long, thick branch, I pushed him off her, and when he was on his back, I placed myself between him and Thea and unleashed my vines upon him. I lifted him off the ground and wrapped him tightly in my vines. He screamed and dropped the knife.
There was another scream, and it didn’t come from him.
Holding the man off the ground, his feet kicking the air uselessly, I turned to look at Thea.
Our eyes met, and for the first time, she saw me. She looked right at me and saw me. She screamed again, so loud that the sound pierced through my vines and leaves. It hurt to know that she was frightened, and I was the one frightening her.
“It’s all right,” I said. “It’s okay, I’m here for you. I’m here to protect you.”
She looked like she was going to scream again, but she covered her mouth with her hand. She started shaking her head, as if she didn’t understand what was happening and was refusing to even believe it was real.
“Thea,” I said. “I will let nothing, and no one hurt you.”
Her green eyes shined with tears. If she hadn’t been paralyzed with fear, she would’ve run. And that would’ve broken my soul.
In that moment, I realized that I’d fucked up. I’d broken the contract and revealed myself to Thea. Yes, I’d done it to save her life, but I was going to regret it.
Because now that she saw me, and I saw the fear in her eyes, I knew there could be nothing between us.