Chapter 10
“Levi didn’t come back last night.” My statement pushes the boundaries of my relationship with Bastian, but if I’m part of this family, I need someone to open up to about what’s going on.
“He didn’t.” He keeps his back to me and continues his trek to the practice field. Instead of expounding, he changes the subject. “We’ll head to the Grove today after our archery lesson.”
Fantastic. I can’t wait to spend quality time with Bastian’s girlfriend and her squad.
“Why can’t we continue our private lessons? I need to save my energy for my job in the city.” I tug at the leather on my thigh, trying to keep it from riding up my crotch as we walk.
He stops. His shoulders move up and down with his breaths. “The less time we spend alone together, the better.”
“Because you can’t stand me?” Heat rushes to my extremities as anger builds. I have tried everything to fit in with Bastian and Evie. I’ve followed their directions, staying out of their way as needed.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he hisses, never turning to look at me. “We shoot a few arrows and get over to our group practice. Believe me, the less time we spend together, the better it will be for both of us.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” How did I ever find this man attractive? He can’t stand to look at me, let alone take time teaching me the skills I need to survive in the wilderness. Why didn’t he let the vampire drain my blood and save both of us a bunch of trouble?
In the field, he allows the quiver to slide from his shoulder and land with a thud in the tall grass. Arrows scatter. It’s unlike his normal calm and brooding disposition. He bends, scoops up an arrow, takes his stance, and shoots. The arrow pierces a hanging piece of fruit and drives it into the bark of a nearby tree, reducing it to pulp.
Holy mother of badasses. I’m sorry. As much as he’s not my favorite person right now, that was hot, and at the same time, scary.
I pick up an arrow and tap its shaft against my palm. “How many practice sessions do you think I’ll need to do that?”
“About a million.” He hands me the bow but doesn’t make eye contact. His thick lashes cover the hypnotic crystal blue. It’s better, anyway. I don’t need to waste my thoughts on a person who hates my guts.
I set my stance, raise the bow, and nock an arrow. The forest is full of wide trees to hit. It can’t be that hard. The past two times I tried, I instinctually closed my eyes right before releasing the arrow. Bastian had said to keep my attention on the target—to see the head pierce the wood. I pull back on the string, keeping the arrowhead in line with the center of a tree and my eyes wide. When I release, I keep the bow raised and my attention on my target. It splinters the wood and sticks.
A rush of adrenaline hits me, and I throw my arms around Bastian’s neck. “I did it!”
He laughs, but his body is stiff, not reciprocating my hug. “Yes, you did.”
I drop my arms, and he backs away slightly, enough to show me he didn’t want me entering his personal space.
“Again,” he says, lifting another arrow from the quiver. “It’s not enough to hit a target once every ten times. When you have Avrenian’s army marching toward you, you can’t miss.”
I nock my second arrow, set my stance, and focus on a tree to the left of the one I just hit. Adrenaline rushes through me with the high of possibly being good at something. I pinch the arrow tight between my fingers, ready to release.
A cool stream of air brushes along my neckline, breaking my concentration, and I release, sending the arrow high into the canopy above.
“What did you do that for?” I whip around to face him.
He’s so close, I can feel the heat radiating from his body as we’re inches away. I want to step back, but an invisible string ties me to him, and I’m rooted to the ground.
“Distraction.” His lips are so full, making me wonder what kissing them might be like. “If you can’t keep your focus, mentally and physically, you’ve already lost.”
An awkward half-smile crosses his lips as he steps away and gathers the arrows into the quiver. “I think that’s enough for today.”
I lift the bow, blood pumping hard through my veins. The rush of having him so close and hitting the tree a second time makes me feel alive in this strange world. “But I want to try again to see if it was only a fluke or if I’m onto something. Give me another arrow.”
He lifts the quiver to his shoulder, still refusing to look at me. “The others are waiting. We’ll see if you can master your kicks with the same precision.”
Although disappointed, I puff out my chest and straighten my back as we walk through the woods to the Grove. For the first time since entering the wilderness, I’m proud of myself. In Avren, I had plenty of accomplishments, but here it’s like I’m starting over.
Bastian walks ahead of me—never beside me. He’s the Commander, and I’m the inadequate soldier. I thought I had broken through his icy shield, but that’s not the case. Today he has made it clear that we’re not to be friends.
The others already wait in the Grove when we arrive. I want Bastian to proclaim my victory, but he remains tight-lipped. The men scuffle in the grass while the women sit on the logs, chatting.
Susan jumps up to greet Bastian as we approach, but not before taking a moment to rake her eyes down my leather outfit. “Looks like the Kindred Few finally accepted the princess.” She wraps her arms around his neck, where mine had been minutes before, and pulls him into a kiss.
He keeps it short despite her efforts. “It was Evie’s idea. Thought she needed to look the part of our sister.”
Evie. Despite her gruff exterior, maybe the idea of another woman in the house is important to her. Between this and my success with the bow, I’ll check this off as a banner day.
Rafe approaches and circles me, appraising my new garb. “You brought her wrapped as a present for me today, Commander.” Once again, I want to knock the goofy grin from his face.
“Leave her alone,” Bastian all but growls, and my stomach tightens. “I know Susan and Laurel plan to have us all matched, but she’s my sister, and I don’t want her with you.”
Rafe holds a palm to his chest and stoops forward as if in great pain. “That hurts, Commander. After all we’ve been through?”
“Mari will choose who she wants to be with when the time is right, if ever.” The authority in his voice puts a period on the end of the conversation for Rafe, who slinks away from us.
My insides are in turmoil. On one hand, he’s acting like a protective older brother; but on the other, this is coming from someone who just told me he wants nothing to do with me except our obligatory time to train. “I’m ready to fight.”
“Laurel can teach you the leg sweep today,” Bastian says flatly, removing his weapons. “She has a little less bite than Susan.”
Confusion still clouds my thoughts as the next words slip out. “I want to fight you.”
“No.” He tosses his weapon belt to the ground, its clatter emphasizing his word.
Ready to leave my old self behind, I shove him in the chest. “Afraid of me?”
He crosses his arms over his massive muscles. Clearly, fear isn’t the first word coming to his mind. “No.”
I shove him again, and he snatches my wrist, pulling me close. Our faces are inches apart. The intensity of the heat radiating between us as his blue eyes pierce mine brings me back to the meadow. In a matter of seconds, it is as if the entire world around us disappears, and he is all that exists.
“I will not fight you, Mari.” He releases me, storming to the center of the Grove to join Mav and leaving me feeling like a pile of mush.
I shake my head. It’s a bunch of nonsense conjured by a stupid teenage girl with a crush on a totally unworthy person.
My goal is to survive, and it starts with learning from Laurel. Unlike Susan, who wears tight leathers like me, the other woman has on a green tunic and brown leather pants. She’s sharpening a stick with a knife beside the fire. Her auburn hair and sun kissed freckles give her a natural beauty, missing from the people of Avren. A woman born of the wilderness, living like this her entire life.
“The Commander said I’m supposed to practice my leg sweep with you.” I sit down beside her to watch her whittle.
She smirks, a dimple forming on her left cheek. This close, I see a smattering of freckles beneath her eyes more clearly. “It’s ‘Bastian’ unless he’s in earshot.”
“Got it.”
“He’s already got a big enough head.” She tosses her stick to the side, lays her knife on the log, and stands. “But I think you already know that.”
I smile, grateful for a friend. “Mav seems like a good guy.” In the city, we never talked aloud with our friends about boys. To admit we had a crush on someone might negate them from our match pool if the Council got wind of it. Flynn and I were too reckless.
“He is. And Rafe’s decent too.” She watches the two of them sword fight along the perimeter. “It’s been a while since he bedded a woman, and he’s a bit desperate.”
I catch my breath, unsure of how to respond. She has confirmed the reality of the rumors I’d heard in Avren about the wilderness. “Well, desperate doesn’t look good on him.”
Laurel laughs, tossing an arm around my shoulder. “I think I like you.”
For the next half hour, Laurel works with me on the ins and outs of a good leg sweep, teaching me every trick she knows. If I can master this move, I can bring my opponent to the ground, where I will have the upper hand.
She stands before me, arms raised and ready to fight. I block her incoming punches, catching her off guard. While she’s vulnerable, I bend my left leg slightly to give myself more power in my sweep, knocking Laurel to the ground. Rubbing her butt, she adjusts to her hands and knees, a position where I could easily kick her in the face if this were an actual fight.
I hate that my brain works this way now.
“That was great!” She brushes her pants with her palm as she stands. “I’ll let Bastian know you’re ready for the next step.”
But she doesn’t have to. He approaches with a wide grin—one I don’t see too often. “Excellent work, Laurel.”
What about me?
Laurel loops her arm around my back and squeezes me to her. “She’s an exceptional student, Commander.”
A man enters the Grove from the far end near the cottages. His face is as white as the snow I’ve seen in picture books as he approaches Mav.
“That’s Mav and Lyden’s father,” Bastian says. “Maybe he has news.” He leaves us and crosses the field to join them.
We follow close behind, not wanting to miss out on anything.
“Hello, Bastian.” The man addresses the Commander with as much authority as the rest of his followers. “We think we’ve found Lyden, but we need to form a reconnaissance team to investigate the trail before it goes cold.” His eyes well with tears. “I just don’t know what I’ll do without either of my two boys.”
“Any clue as to who has him?” Rafe hops onto a pile of hay, resting his hands between his knees. “If it’s a Supe, I’ve got his number right here.” When he taps his chest, his weapons jangle inside his coat.
“Can’t know for sure if it is a Supe, Citizen, or the Miscretes.” He lifts his cap and runs a hand over his balding head. “Ganon said an innkeeper saw him about a week ago heading into the Ringlet Forest, accompanied by unsavory hooded creatures.”
“What are Miscretes?” I whisper to Laurel.
“What was that, Mari?” Susan raises an eyebrow.
I clutch my hands, not wanting to proclaim my lack of knowledge to the entire group.
“If you have something to say, tell all of us.” Susan glares at Laurel as if she is an accomplice to my crime.
Part of me is glad Susan looks so petty calling me out while there are much more important things to discuss. “Who are the Miscretes?”
“The mutants who serve Arazian both willingly and unwillingly. The real term is Miscreations, but we call them Miscretes for short. When Avren’s little test tube experiments go wrong, the Dark King has someone there to clean up the mess and deliver more followers to his ever-growing army.”
“That’s terrible.” All my life, I thought growing babies in a test tube was a good thing—more parental choice, less disease, fewer Undesirables. But the idea of having a whole new class of people deemed mistakes makes me cringe.
“And that is one reason the Council needs to be stopped.” Bastian is beside me, a stalwart tower, his deep voice resonating through me. With relative ease, he scoops up a sword and sheathes it at his hip. “Have you gathered a group of fighters from the village?”
Mav’s father shakes his head, lowering his hat to his heart. “We’re simple farmers, you know that. Our pitchforks and shovels will be no match.”
“Then we’ll go.” It’s not a question but a definitive statement. “Gray and Evie can join us, making us seven strong. My lucky number.”
I silently count the numbers in my head.
“We leave first thing in the morning for the Ringlet Forest. Don’t worry, Carl. We’ll come back eight strong with Lyden.” He rests a hand on the man’s shoulder and gives it a reassuring squeeze. “Come, Mari. I have work to do.”
As he walks away, I rush over to the logs to gather the quiver and bow. Bastian’s ideas differ from mine. Earlier, I hit the tree with an arrow. Maybe it wasn’t a tiny piece of fruit, but since leaving Avren, it was the first time I felt proud of an accomplishment. With the bow and arrow, I could help on this mission.
When I finally catch up to him, I’m out of breath and determined to find my place in my new family. “The count back there didn’t include me.”
He keeps his eyes forward, pulling a square piece of paper and more powdery substance out of his pouch. Stopping, he strikes a match against a rock and lights the end of the paper like Evie had done on the way home yesterday. “No, it didn’t.”
“With my bow and arrow skills, I can help.” I slip an arrow out of the quiver, ready to prove myself again.
He lets out a stifled laugh. “What bow and arrow skills?” He snatches the arrow from my hand and taps it against the bark. “You mean hitting one tree earlier today?”
“Come on, Bastian.” I hate begging, but I can’t imagine sitting around the cabin with Levi, both of us locked inside and bored out of our minds. “If Gray and Evie go, who’s going to take me to work?”
“You won’t go. It takes at least a week for the dumbass soldiers of Avren to organize a search party for missing workers. Truth is, they’re too scared the Supes will snatch the Undesirables and all they’ll find is the blue anklet in their lair seconds before they’re the next meal.” He takes a long drag on the end of the paper, making me suddenly fascinated with his lips. A small scar is visible on them as they curve around the smoking stick, too alluring to focus on for longer than a few seconds. “There’s no telling what has Lyden. You being there puts the rest of us in more danger.”
With a little more drag in my step, I follow behind my commander, determined to help rescue Mav’s brother somehow.