Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
EMORY
N othing about this land made sense, yet my mind couldn’t help but constantly try to explain the impossible. To make it possible.
El and Aron knew the exact spots to avoid walking, places where mud would suck you in or vines would reach out and suffocate you, where skeletal birds would dive from the flowers where they perched and pluck out your eyes. They knew the shadows to stick to and the best areas to drink water that wouldn’t show you some future you didn’t want to see.
We’d stopped to camp for the night, Aron and Driscoll off hunting for dinner once again, while El and Maverick were speaking, Maverick likely telling El we were parting ways with them come tomorrow. A crystalline lake sat in the distance, surrounded by the hilly Wilds.
I didn’t know how to feel about separating from them. So far they’d kept us safe, but that didn’t mean we could trust them.
In the distance, six knotted trees spread out in a circle, trunks thick and twisted, long branches threaded like braids, vivid red leaves sprouting out. They were so vivid, gorgeous. With nothing else to do, I walked toward the massive trees, the foliage so thick you couldn’t see into the clearing they surrounded.
The trees looked harmless enough, though I approached cautiously and lay my hand on one of the trunks. The red leaves rustled, but otherwise the tree didn’t move. I rounded the large trunk and walked inside of the sheltered clearing.
Two arms wrapped around me, and I stiffened.
Lips brushed against my ear. “This is an excellent idea, little rabbit.”
I smiled as Maverick nuzzled my neck, heat stirring between my legs. “What idea is that?”
“To come somewhere private and dark and away from prying eyes.”
I turned in his arms as he walked me back into a tree. “And why would we need to be away from prying eyes?”
“So I can do this.” He pressed a kiss to my collarbone, and I shuddered. His hands slipped inside the waistband of my trousers. He stroked a finger down my center that made me gasp. “And this.”
“Mm,” I said in agreement.
“I’ve missed you,” he growled, trailing kisses over my neck while his hands worked slow, steady motions over my clit.
“We’ve been together all day,” I panted out.
“Not like this.”
His lips found mine, and we kissed with a kind of insatiable hunger I’d never felt before. I fumbled with the laces of his trousers, undoing them and wrapping a hand around his hard length. He groaned as I pumped my hand up and down, loving this effect I had on him.
He braced one hand against the tree behind my head while his fingers continued to work my clit. An aching throb pulsed in my core, and bloody frost, I wanted more.
I arched my back, lifting a leg to wrap around his waist, and he circled my clit with his finger while I dipped my hand lower, giving his balls a light squeeze. A low rumble escaped his mouth.
He swiped his tongue over mine, deepening our kiss.
I never knew pleasure like this existed. At the Academy of Ladies, all we learned was how to please our husbands. The right ways to touch them , to make them fall apart, to make them happy and satiated and wanting more. Always wanting more. I’d done it all with efficiency for my husband. But I’d never wanted to. It was always out of duty.
This, with Maverick. I wanted this. I wanted to hear all the sounds he made when I touched him. I wanted to explore his body and memorize every single part of it. I wanted him. All of him. In a way I hadn’t wanted anyone before.
Something slipped down my back, under my tunic, trailing down my skin. I moaned out again at all the sensations sparking through my body, igniting my blood. Maverick’s fingers plunged inside of my wet heat while I rubbed my hand over his shaft, a thick bead of moisture coating my fingers, making them slick and easy to slide up and down him.
“Fuck, I love how wet you are for me,” he murmured against my lips.
“I need more of you,” I said. “I need all of you. Inside of me. Now.” I positioned his cock right at where my entrance would be if I weren’t wearing pants.
Heat lit his eyes. “Emory,” he said, face taking on a pained expression. “That is so, so tempting.”
I let go of his cock and wound my arms around his neck, lifting my other leg and wrapping it around his back. “Then what are you waiting for? I’m right here.”
“Because, little rabbit”—he pressed his hard length against my thigh—“when I fuck you for the first time, it isn’t going to be against a tree. As much as I absolutely love the idea of burying myself inside of you, fucking you until you’re so sore you can’t walk—this isn’t where that’s going to happen.”
That area between my legs ached with his words. “Well, then you’re going to have to do something with those fingers right now because I need you.”
Our mouths crashed together again, and he let one of my legs go, pushing me further up against the tree. One hand trailed back down to my aching clit. The other cupped my jaw. Tingles shot across my back again as something stroked it.
I stilled. If one of Maverick’s hands was currently stroking me, and the other was cupping my jaw, then what was touching my back ?
“A threesome with a tree. Huh,” Driscoll said. “That’s a new one. And good piece of gossip. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you both anonymous.”
“Get away from the tree!” Aron yelled.
Cold doused me as Maverick jumped back. He fumbled with his trousers, lacing them while shooting murderous glances toward Aron, Driscoll, and now El, who’d emerged into the clearing, her usual glower on her face. Oh, wonderful. So we had a whole audience for this.
I tried to move but couldn’t, and it didn’t take long to realize I was stuck to the tree, a branch dipping down the back of my tunic.
Maverick’s eyes went wide when he had the same realization. “Emory!”
“Is the tree eating her?” Driscoll asked, tilting his head. “I don’t see a mouth anywhere.”
“Not eating, exactly,” Aron responded. “Absorbing. These trees are coated with a sticky sap that traps their victims, and they slowly squeeze them into their bark.” He gestured upward. “They don’t need water to survive. They need blood. It’s what gives their leaves that color.”
“Can we take a break from the history lesson and figure out how to save me before the tree absorbs me?” Fucking spirits below.
“How do we get her loose?” Maverick rushed forward, yanking me to no avail. He ran his hands over my body like there might be some key hidden that would unlock me from this situation.
My heart thumped furiously, but it seemed like the more I struggled, the tighter I became fused to the tree, my back already aching from the pressure.
“Oh, I see how it works.” Driscoll stroked his jaw. “She’s slowly sinking into it.” He pointed. “Look how her body is disappearing as the tree presses her tighter.”
“Why are you so blasé about this?” I yelled.
“Would you rather I be freaking out?” Driscoll studied his nails. “Honestly, I cannot win with you people.”
El signed, and Aron and Maverick both watched.
“Be still,” Maverick said. “The more you struggle, the faster the tree absorbs you.” He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “We will get you free. I promise.”
My chest tightened, making it hard to breathe .
“So how do we save her?” Maverick asked again through gritted teeth.
Aron pointed. “We need to tire out the tree enough that it’ll lose its strength so she can get free. As I’ve said before, elemental magic isn’t very effective here.”
“Let me guess.” Driscoll raised a finger. “That involves fighting the tree the old-fashioned way.”
Wolf Man didn’t answer. He simply slipped a dagger from his boot and lunged at the tree. One of its long branches swept down toward him as he swiped at it. El brandished her own dagger and threw it straight into another branch. The tree flailed above me, shaking this way and that.
Driscoll rolled his eyes, then gathered an armful of rocks, pelting the tree with them. A few stuck to the trunk over my head.
“The branches,” Aron said through heavy breaths, driving his dagger into one of the tree’s branches. “You need to go for the branches, and whatever you do, don’t touch the trunk.”
“Yeah, I gathered that from the fact that Emory is currently stuck to it.” Driscoll aimed higher, launching rocks up at the branches.
One of the branches swung down, attempting to knock Driscoll off his feet, and Maverick jumped onto it, climbing up it and tearing leaves from it. Blood sprayed down over us as the leaves floated to the ground.
The tree shrieked, branches flailing harder, but Maverick kept his footing, staying away from the trunk and continuing to yank leaf after leaf away, letting the blood flow down. I thrust my body forward but still couldn’t move.
Around me, my companions continued to fight. Branches slashed and shook furiously. One hit El and she flew across the clearing and landed on her back with a thwack. My heart stopped, but she popped back up, a determined scowl on her face as she rushed forward with her dagger clutched tight and drove it straight into the branch that had just hit her. Leaves continued to pepper the ground, blood dripping from the trees’ branches in fat splats.
I wiggled my shoulders. “I think it’s working,” I called out.
“Thank the spirits.” Driscoll launched another rock at the tree. “My arms are killing me. ”
Aron sliced at a thinner branch, the blow so forceful the branch cracked in two and came tumbling down.
I shoved forward with all my might, straining as the tree’s grip on me loosened. My shirt stretched from my back, and I dug my legs into the ground, screaming as I lurched forward and fell to my knees. I didn’t have long to rest before Maverick was grabbing my arms and launching me up, all of us running from the little clearing and back toward the flattened area around the lake.
We all collapsed, breathing heavy, chests rising and falling. None of us spoke, but Maverick reached over and grabbed my hand, squeezing it tight. Tears pricked my eyes as my heart slowly returned to its normal rhythm. I’d almost died. Again. It would be a miracle if we made it out of this place alive.
Maverick sat up, his white shirt completely unbuttoned, revealing his hard chest, gleaming with sweat. He rubbed his stubbled jaw, now splattered with blood. Everyone else sat up, too, all of us covered in dirt and grime, clothes torn, scratches adorning our bodies.
“We’re looking for my sister,” Maverick said abruptly.
I stiffened, and Driscoll shot me a questioning look.
Maverick took a deep breath. “If we’re going to find her, we’ll need your help.”
Aron crossed his arms over his chest, while El stared at the ground, then made a series of signs.
Maverick nodded in understanding. “She came here two months ago. It took a while before I could get here to find her. That’s all I want. To rescue her and escape. I didn’t trust you, which is why I never told you. But it’s become clear we won’t survive this place without help. We won’t find Annalee without help.”
“We’re looking for a girl also,” Aron said slowly.
“Why are you looking for a girl?” Maverick’s voice had turned from pleading to deadly.
El signed, motions fast and furious.
Maverick’s scowl dissipated the longer El signed. “So this entire time, that’s why you’ve been out here, away from your safe haven? You’ve been looking for her as well?”
El nodded .
“We’ve heard reports throughout the Wilds about a girl who suddenly appeared a few months ago. A girl with fire magic. We wanted to find her and keep her safe, though she seems to be doing okay on her own from everything we’ve heard.”
Maverick stiffened. “Have you heard what she looks like?”
Aron swiped the blood from his cheek. “Black hair in braids, comes up to my chest. Very social. Gets along well with many of the creatures here apparently.”
I laughed in disbelief. “Well that would make sense given how much she seemed to know about this place.”
Hope shone in Maverick’s eyes. “Do you know where she is?” he asked.
“We have an idea. El was tracking her before you arrived. Planning to find her and bring her to safety.”
“So you’ll help us?” The relief in Maverick’s voice was palpable, and it wrenched my heart. He wanted to find his sister so badly, and this was the first piece of good news we’d received since arriving here.
El signed, and Aron nodded. “We’ll help you. We believe she might be located in the old star court arena, where the gladiator fights would take place.”
“How far is that from here?” Maverick asked.
“A few hours’ trek.”
Maverick blew out a breath and looked up at the sky. “Thank you,” he said. “I don’t know how I’ll be able to repay you for helping us find her.”
“We do not need payment,” Aron responded. “We’ll help you find her because it is the right thing to do.”
Maybe once we found Annalee, we could ask them about the bolt. For the first time since arriving here, I wondered if everything actually might work out in the end.