Chapter 15 #3
Corey pointed at him. “That’s not a whole foot, that’s seven inches. So, stop exaggerating.”
Byron shrugged, smug as ever. “Close enough.”
Ethan laughed, shaking his head, while Nick rolled his eyes and went back to folding the suits carefully into their protective cases.
The brief humour faded as the conversation shifted back to tactics.
Davina spoke next, “I know you’ll be worried about me, but I can fight from the woods. Use the forest as my weapon. They won’t even see me coming.”
Corey’s head snapped around. “Absolutely not.”
Davina smiled gently, not arguing, but the look in her eyes said enough. She’d already made up her mind. These people had saved her life, and she wasn’t about to stand aside while they fought for hers.
“Let’s just focus on preparation,” she said quietly, to keep the peace.
Before Corey could argue further, a rich, savoury smell drifted through the air, warm spices, herbs, and roasted vegetables.
Mary’s voice carried faintly from down the hall: “Dinner’s ready!”
Even amidst tension, the aroma stopped them all for a second.
Corey sighed. “Food might help. Everyone, take a break. Ten minutes.”
They made their way back to the dining room, the air heavy but comforting with the smell of Mary’s cooking. Lucy was stirring on the sofa as they entered.
Byron was the first to notice. “Hey,” he said softly, crouching beside her. “You with us?”
Lucy groaned, pushing herself up. “A whole bloody day,” she muttered. “Remind me never to rejig someone’s mind again.”
She blinked at Byron, her eyes still a little dazed. “Did you know you can rearrange someone’s thoughts? You can take things away, bend them, fix them?” Byron Said no, “but no one warns you that you feel them too.” Lucy added.
Byron frowned slightly. “What do you mean?”
“I mean,” she said tiredly, “I didn’t just see Michael’s memories. I lived them. I saw my parents. I saw myself as a child. It was like a nightmare on loop the same images repeatedly. My mind’s still sorting through them all.”
She pressed her fingers to her temples. “It’s like it unlocked something in me, fragments of my own memories, mixed with his. It’s chaos in there.”
Byron reached out, steadying her shoulder. “How do you feel now?”
“Weak,” Lucy admitted. “But better. Hungry, though. Is food ready?”
“It sure is,” Mary said, appearing in the doorway with her usual warm smile. “Come on, let’s get you fed.”
They walked slowly toward the dining room, Lucy leaning lightly against Byron’s arm. The table was already set, candles flickering, food steaming in bowls across the surface.
Everyone took their seats. The mood was heavy the laughter gone, replaced with quiet, unspoken fear.
Barnaby looked around and sighed. “This feels like… last meal vibes.”
Mary shot him a look, but her voice was soft. “Nonsense. This is not your last meal, silly boy.”
But her reassurance didn’t stick. Everyone felt it, it was that quiet sense that something was coming, that this peace was temporary.
Corey cleared his throat, glancing around the table. “Eat. Rest after. We’ll take turns watching. Mandy, I’ll need you at full strength tomorrow. You’ll be the one sealing the house while we’re outside.”
Mandy nodded firmly. “If they reach halfway through the forest and we are still asleep, I’ll wake. They’ve stopped to rest now; I can feel it. Their energy is still.”
A silence settled again. Forks scraped gently against plates. The fire crackled. Somewhere in the distance, the vines hissed softly, they were alive and waiting.
Chapter 16
The candles burned low, casting amber light across the room.
Byron and Lucy lay side by side, the chaos of the day finally giving way to a fragile kind of stillness. His face was close to hers, his breath warm against her cheek.
“How are we going to get through this” Lucy whispered, her voice barely more than a breath.
Byron slid an arm around her waist, pulling her closer until she could feel the steady beat of his heart. “I don’t know,” he said quietly. “But I do know this, you’re strong, I’m strong, and Davina, Sam, Corey… us five together, that’s a combination they can’t prepare for.”
Lucy chuckled softly, her lips brushing his chest. “You’re right. We’re a force. I mean, if we can handle ten at a time each, that’s...”
Before she could finish, Byron tilted her chin and pressed his lips against hers. The kiss was firm, grounding, filled with unspoken promise.
When he pulled back, his voice dropped low. “If you weren’t so weak tonight…” He smiled faintly. “I’d make sure you remembered this moment for a very long time.”
Lucy smiled, tracing a finger down his jaw. “I think I’ll remember it anyway.”
He kissed her forehead, then settled back against the pillow. “Sleep now,” he murmured. “You need it.”
And for once, she didn’t argue. She tucked herself against his chest, the rise and fall of his breathing lulling her into the edge of dreams.
“They’re coming!”
Mandy’s scream tore through the house, shattering the fragile silence of dawn.
Every door burst open. The manor seemed to come alive as feet hit the floor and voices called out in panic. Mandy stood at the centre of the hallway, her eye blazing violet, her entire body trembling from the force of what she sensed.
“They have something,” she gasped. “Something big. It’s pushing them forward fast. They’ve broken through the second ward. We need to get ready. Now!”
Within seconds, the entire household was in motion.
Corey’s voice bellowed from the staircase, barking orders. Byron was already pulling on his gear, strapping weapons across his back. Ethan and the remaining Doves were spreading through the hall, calling out positions.
Lucy tried to shake off the haze of sleep, the rush of adrenaline hitting her all at once. Davina appeared beside her, her reflective suit already on, the fabric rippling faintly under the lights.
“Lucy.” Her tone was quiet. She pulled Lucy toward the corner, out of sight from the others. “Listen to me.”
Lucy’s brow furrowed. “What is it?”
“Corey won’t let me fight the way I need to,” Davina said.
“He wants me close to the house. But my power works best when I’m in the thick of it.
” Her black-gloved hand rested briefly on Lucy’s arm.
“You can tell him once I’ve gone, but this is what I must do.
Trust me, I’ll be safe. And the second I’m not, I’ll come back. ”
Lucy’s jaw tightened. “There’s no stopping you, is there?”
Davina smiled faintly and shook her head. “Not a chance.”
Before Lucy could answer, Davina slipped away silently, she was almost invisible in her suit. The front door whispered shut behind her, and she vanished into the mist outside.
The forest swallowed her whole.
Davina moved like shadow and wind, gliding across the branches as vines curled around her arms, lifting and carrying her forward. Her eyes adjusted quickly to the dim light, every movement of the trees pulsing in rhythm with her heartbeat.
Then she saw them.
A column of figures moving through the fog, soldiers, armoured and armed, their insignias faintly glowing white against their uniforms.
They were close enough to see, close enough to reach. Mandy had been right; they were coming in fast.
“It’s not two hundred,” Davina whispered to herself, crouching on a high branch. “Closer to fifty… maybe less.”
She crept lower, close enough to hear their voices.
“…same trouble on the other side,” one of them was saying. “Chainsaws are cutting slower than expected.”
Davina’s eyes widened. “Chainsaws?” she mouthed.
Before she could stop herself, a quiet gasp escaped her lips.
One of the soldiers turned. “Did you hear that?”
“Probably a wild animal,” another muttered.
Davina’s expression darkened. “A wild animal? Really?”
She reached out, letting her power flow through the forest floor.
A vine slithered up from the soil like a snake, coiling around the ankles of two guards at the rear. They barely had time to shout before they were catapulted into the air, flung high above the treetops. Their screams vanished into the distance, leaving only chaos below.
The others panicked. Guns lifted. Orders barked. They split into smaller units, scattering through the woods.
Davina moved fast, a blur of motion between the trees.
She sent thorns shooting like arrows through the branches. One impaled a soldier through the neck, another wrapped a vine around his torso, pulling him upward until the forest swallowed him whole.
The trees themselves seemed to respond, shifting and cracking, impaling and closing in.
The forest bled around her, crimson splattering across her suit. The smell of gunpowder and sap filled the air.
Then came the return fire. Gunshots erupted from all sides, flashes of light cutting through the dark. Davina ducked, rolled, and ran the vines snapping up behind her to cover her trail.
Back at the manor, Corey froze. His head snapped toward the window. “Gunfire.”
Lucy’s stomach dropped. “Davina.”
Corey spun around. “What about Davina?”
“She went into the forest,” Lucy said quickly, panic rising in her voice. “She said it’s the only way she knows how to fight.”
“What?!” Corey’s voice cracked through the air like a whip. He was already moving toward the back door. “You let her go?”
“There was no stopping her,” Lucy shot back. “You know how she is!”
Byron was already beside them, weapons ready. The three burst into the garden together, the cold air biting their skin. The sound of distant gunfire echoed through the trees, then something else, deep cracks, groans, the sound of the forest itself coming alive.
Lucy pointed toward the horizon. “There! The trees, look!”
In the distance, massive trunks were bending, slamming shut and then snapping open again like living jaws. Between the movement, flashes of silver light darted through the undergrowth — Davina, running, closing off the forest as she passed.