Unchained Hearts

by Ash Night

A squirrel scurried past with an acorn in its mouth, breaking me out of my thoughts. I rolled my eyes. I was being silly. Positivity was key to surviving this. Cam knew what he was doing. Liam and I would follow his lead and everything would be fine. I could make it through this without killing anyone. I would make it through without killing anyone.

  My feet ached, reminding me I had been on them all day. I didn’t smell any fresh water nearby. Too bad. Dipping them into a cool, refreshing spring sounded wonderful right now. Oh well, it was dark out, anyway. As good a swimmer as I was, I didn’t want to risk getting pulled in by a siren or playful water imp.

  “Look what I caught, Sunshine!” Cam wore a wide smile, like a child in a candy store, as he walked up to the fire, hauling a giant boar on his back as if it weighed nothing. It landed with an earth-quaking thud when he threw it down. I couldn’t pull my eyes from his washboard abs.

  His jacket was open and the bottom half of his shirt was tucked up into his collar to make a makeshift pouch. It looked close to bursting. “This oughta feed us for a week or two. Well, me and Snowflake, at least.”

  I smiled. “I’m glad it went well.”

  “I also found you some peaches, plums, apples, and pears, as well as blackberries and snowsweet berries.” Cam untucked the bottom half of his shirt and a bounty of fruit rolled out. Reaching into both of the pockets of his jacket, he pulled out two full handkerchiefs full of berries.

  “Thank you so much, Cam.” I hugged him tight. “Everything looks delicious!”

  He chuckled. Heating a knife with flame magic made it easy for Cam to slice into the boar’s thick skin as through it were butter. “It was no problem. Getting the fruit was the easy part.”

  My stomach growled, sounding very bear-like. I blushed. “We should wait til Liam gets back.”

  “The hell we should. Ain’t our fault he’s slow. I’m starving!” Cam exclaimed, snapping off a branch and jamming the sharp end into a hunk of boar meat he’d cut up. He sat close to the fire, controlling the flames for perfect cooking. The fire was much warmer now, compared to when all it had was my measly twigs to keep it going.

  Giggling, I bit into a pear. The tartness of the juice was refreshing and it tasted amazing after the long day.

  “Yum, bet these would taste great over the fire!”

  Cam handed me a stick and I speared a pear. It wasn’t very big so it only took a few minutes for it to cook. The overly sweet taste had turned bittersweet after the heat singed it. I’d never tasted anything quite like it. I didn’t think I’d ever eat a pear without cooking it again.

  Liam appeared a few minutes later, walking over to the fire. “Well, I sure hope you found something ‘cuz I got zilch.”

  Cam laughed. “Are you kidding? This forest is crawling with deer!”

  “Well, I couldn’t find any of the deer crawling in the forest!”

  Spearing another chunk of meat, he roasted it. “You’re blind, Snowflake.”

  I giggled as I sat close to the fire, eating my fruit. “Cam got me a ton of fruit so I’m good.”

  Liam facepalmed. “I was so busy trying to look for food that I didn’t even think to get you any fruit. I’m sorry. Sometimes I think too much with my stomach.”

  I patted the spot next to me and he sat down. “It’s fine. Like I said, Cam got me a lot. More than I could possibly eat in a day.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure? Cuz ya know I’ll go back out if you really need me too.”

  “Oh, I know,” I replied around a bite of roasted pear. A red apple caught my eye. It was definitely going over the fire next.

  Cam smiled at me, his cheeks full of food. He looked like a chipmunk. I stuffed my face and grinned back at him.

  For the first time since we’d run from the village, the one and only home I’d ever known, I felt my nerves settle. I could worry about everything tomorrow.

  “Good morning,” Cam greeted early the next morning. It was so early in fact that the sun had barely peeked over the horizon. It was hardly light enough out to see.

  Raising my hand to my mouth, I stifled a yawn. “You’re up early. Again. Do you even sleep?”

  Cam chuckled, offering me a steaming tin cup of coffee. “I assure you, Sunshine, that yes, I do sleep.”

  “Thank you,” I said, lightly blowing on it before sipping the smoothest coffee I’d ever tasted. “Mmm, this is amazing!”

  “It’s Calderdash coffee, the best on the market.”

  “The black market?” I asked with a slight hint of fear in my voice. I’d known it existed, obviously, but I’d never been there or even known anyone who had. Like most good parents, my mother had only told me frightening stories of that place, and, nothing was stronger than the magic of fear. I’d never had any desire to go there.

  He smirked. “The very same.”

  “D-do you go there often?”

  “When I need to. Or if I’m bored and feeling adventurous. You can find really cool stuff there. My, my, Sunshine, you always full of questions this early in the morning?” Trying to hide his obvious laughter behind an amused smile, he sipped from his own cup.

  I laughed quietly as I heard Liam’s loud snores coming from his tent. It was a miracle he hadn’t huffed and puffed and blown it down.

  My body tingled, feeling jittery and wide awake, as if I hadn’t tossed and turned for hours before mercifully falling asleep just a few hours ago. The coffee was already kicking in after one sip, thanks to the magic beans used to make it. It was rumored that just one cup could keep you awake for hours. A pot could drive someone mad.

  There was a reason it was hard to get your hands on.

  Cam scowled in the direction of Liam’s snoring. “Does his body know how to be quiet, or is it some damn curse?”

  I nearly spat my mouthful of coffee. “Wow, all these years and I’ve never thought of it that way.”

  Came stared at me like I’d just sprouted a flower from my forehead. “And you’ve known him for how long?”

  I shrugged. “Liam is who he is. I like his loudness. Sometimes. I guess he could stand to be a little quieter at times.”

  Reaching for the pot suspended over the fire, Cam poured himself another cup of coffee. My eyes flicked the empty cup in his hand. How many had he had?

  “More, Sunshine?” He held the pot out to me.

  I shook my head. “No, thanks. I think one is my limit. If I had any more, I think I’d be able to run all the way to the Castle of Seven.” That might not even be a total exaggeration. Half a cup in and I already felt like sprinting a few miles. Better hide this stuff from Liam.

  “The rumors aren’t true, you know.”

  “Huh?”

  His eyes lit up and the grin on his face was almost sinister. “I got ahold of some of this coffee when I was ten, had to leaf through one of Glinda’s cookbooks to figure out how to make it. I was instantly hooked. Glinda found me in the forest hours later, bursting with magic, empty coffeepot a few feet away from me. I, uh, had to detox in the old garden shed before she’d let me back in the house. May have been drunk on magic, but I most definitely did not go mad.”

  “How did you afford it? The banned items must be expensive. Never mind, actually. More important question: how did a ten-year-old even manage to find it?”

  He took a big gulp before answering, setting the now-empty cup on his knee. “Even though I wasn’t allowed to touch my parents’ money until my seventeenth summer, Glinda, being the sweetheart she is, gave me a few silver coins every week to buy candy from the small general shop down the street from her house. I saved up for a few weeks. Found the market one day while out exploring. A boy with complete freedom, and a penchant for finding trouble, can find anything.”

  “What did you do to, um, detox?” I was slightly afraid of the answer.

  His smile softened. “I told you Glinda was a sweetheart. Instead of just leaving me out there to fend for myself and eventually blast my presence for the Shadow Knights to find, which she sh
ould have done—would’ve saved her a ton of trouble later—she hurried me into the garden shed and locked the door.”

  “Locked the door?” I shuddered at the thought of poor little Cam, hungry, cold, clawing at the door to get out.

  He chuckled, as if he could read my thoughts, raising yet another fresh cup to his lips. “Glinda brought me food. To starve a Fae of magic, you must starve the Fae. But, of course, she couldn’t allow herself to do that so I was allowed half a sandwich every day at noon for two weeks. She was very prompt.”

  “She sounds amazing. Will I get to meet her?”

  Cam smiled. “Hopefully. I’m planning to head back when I can.” He looked down at the cuffs encircling his wrists in disgust. The hatred in his eyes unnerved me. It was almost as if he was trying to burn a hole through them with his gaze.

  Of course, I understood somewhat. Now that my magic was unsealed, I’d die before I let anyone take it away again. Just thinking about it made my blood boil.

  “Whoa there, cowboy. Calm down, or we’ll have another forest to get through.”

  “Huh?” I followed Cam’s gaze and he was looking, one again while trying not to laugh at me, at a huge fifty-foot oak tree that had sprouted a few feet behind me. “What the Goddess?!”

  Wow, Roseheart, creating your own shade?” Liam chuckled as he looked up at the tree. “That’s pretty cool.”

  “Uh…h-how did I do that?” I asked, equal parts mega impressed and embarrassed.

  Cam got up from his spot on the ground and walked over to me. “What were you thinking about before the tree sprouted, Sunshine?”

  “Um…” I thought for a moment. “I was thinking about anyone taking my magic away. It made me sorta angry.”

  He smiled. “That will never happen, I promise you that.”

  “The old man would be proud,” Liam added.

  “But how did I do that?” I asked, pointing to the tree. “I can’t just go around growing trees everywhere. I thought the point of laying low was to, ya know, not attract attention. Fifty-foot trees will do that, especially if they pop up in the middle of town!”

  My breath came in short gasps as I spoke, trying to fight back the sudden panic. Tendrils of fear snaked around me, making it hard to breathe as they wrapped around me tighter and tighter.

  What if I was the one to blow our cover? What if I messed everything up?

  What if I was the single reason Cam’s dream would fail?

  Pain shot up my arms. Looking down, I saw the pain wasn’t exactly coming from fear, but from the very real vines that had sprouted and were currently squeezing the life out of me. What the hell was going on?

  As my panic climbed, I noticed one of the vines had grown a thorn. Poison glistened from the tip. When a drop of it hit the ground, it ate away at the grass beneath it. My eyes widened. The vines wound tighter and tighter until my chest could no longer expand.

  I was going to die.

  “Sunshine, look at me,” Cam commanded in a firm voice. I forced myself to pry my eyes away from the multiplying thorns that were close to spearing my thigh and look at him. His eyes were fierce, his voice quiet and strong. “I really need you to calm down.”

  How could I calm down? Easy for him to say! I was dying, for Goddess’ sake! My own magic was going to kill me before I’d even gotten an idea of how to control it.

  As I struggled like hell to inhale, I felt the vines loosen just a bit. I took a small breath, and then another, and another, the vines loosening a fraction more each time.

  Cam smiled. “You’re doing great, Serena.”

  The fear drained from my body as I focused on his face. Cam and Liam could control their magic. I could too. I’d waited forever just to feel it. It was not going to control me.

  Suddenly, I felt the vines slither away entirely, seeping back into the earth like a reverse seedling. I took a shaky step, falling into Cam’s chest with a soft oof.

  I felt a chuckle rumble in his chest. “No more coffee for you.”

  “There’s coffee?” I heard Liam ask.

  Lifting my head, I looked up at Cam. “I-I’m sorry,” I said breathlessly. He held my hand, guiding me to a sitting position on the ground.

  “Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve seen that happen. Probably won’t be the last. I’d bet a thousand gold Earth magic is your specialty.”

  “I’ve always thought so.”

  Liam hugged me gently, kneeling beside me. “I’m glad you’re okay. That was pretty awesome, gotta admit. Just wish that had been a Shadow Knight.”

  I let out a dry chuckle as I tried to get my heartbeat under control. “I’m sure it’ll be real useful. Certainly strong enough.”

  “You are a little badass,” Liam whispered, relief evident in his voice. “You just need to work out a few kinks, is all.”

  “Yeah, like not sprouting random plants whenever I have the faintest hint of emotion.”

  Cam laughed. “Don’t worry, happens to the best of us. Shoulda seen me after I woke up after the Cuffing. I was angry as hell. Blasted the hell out of a tree and nearly blacked out again from the pain.”

  “Sounds super painful,” I replied. “I’m wiped. Got any coffee left?”

  Though I was a little tired and had no intention of going anywhere near that coffee, neither of them found my joke very funny.

  Chapter Fourteen

  We packed up and started toward the next town a little after sunrise. Liam was still bummed about not getting any coffee. The way Cam had told him, “We’re all out,” after lifting the whole pot to his lips and downing the rest had sent alarm bells off in my head. Was he crazy? I mean, sure, he hadn’t gone mad that one time…

  Not wanting a repeat of this morning, I dismissed the thought. Cam knew more about that coffee than I did. It was silly of me to worry.

  “So, Cuff Boy, how did you get those cuffs? Masochistic jewelry?” Liam asked causally hours later. I glanced at Cam. The smile had left his face, but his pace hadn’t slowed. It wasn’t that I’d forgotten to ask him. Rather, I’d been afraid to.

  As Liam said, handcuffs made from activated Shadowsilver weren’t just for minor offenses.

  “I’m a murderer, Snowflake.”

  My blood froze. What? My heart pounded in my ears. Cam was gentle and kind. Murderers were cold-hearted and definitely didn’t feel guilty over a little burn mark. I absentmindedly ran my thumb across the white line as I waited for him to speak, to further explain his shocking revelation.

  “And Serena was angry with me when I didn’t want her near you.” Liam chuckled.

  Cam raised an eyebrow, turning to look at him.

  Liam stopped in his tracks. “I’m not stupid. I knew you were capable of murder the moment I laid eyes on you.”

  “You were correct to warn her.”

  You— You can’t be serious,” I blurted out. Both boys stopped staring each other down to look at me. Liam’s eyes were full of rage, his anger directed at Cam. Cam’s eyes were filled with pity for me.

  “Oh, Sunshine…” Cam sighed.

  “You bastard!” Liam grabbed Cam by the collar of his jacket and slammed him against the nearest tree. Cam’s body was slack, as if he’d let Liam beat him to a pulp without a fight. “You made us wanted criminals, made us believe you were the fuckin’ messiah we were look—”

  Liam flew back, landing hard in the dirt. Cam was breathing hard, his eyes like ice. “I made a promise. The reason I have these cuffs does not change that, understand?”

  I knelt beside Liam, resting my hand on his shoulder, silently begging him not to attack Cam. Despite how angry they were at each other, Liam had to know Cam was more skilled with magic. He had to know he wouldn’t win. He had to know he stood a real chance at getting hurt, or worse. This wasn’t anything like that night after the flood.

  Cam was serious.

  “Whatever,” Liam mumbled, shrugging me off and continuing to walk down the path. My heart sank as I followed Liam.

  Looking back
at Cam, I saw him tugging down his sleeves as far as they could go.

  The rest of the walk was silent. I wanted to scream. Why did boys have to be so stubborn? If they were girls, they’d have talked it out by now. Hours had passed and nothing. Not even a grunt.

  “Sunshine, are you hungry?” Cam asked.

  It took me a moment to answer. I’d been so worried about the two of them being mad at each other for the rest of eternity that I hadn’t even thought of food since breakfast. Glancing up at the sky, I saw we were stopping for lunch considerably earlier than yesterday. Good, maybe Cam wanted to talk. After all, he still hadn’t explained what he meant.

  “Sure,” I said, looking for a spot we could rest. Walking over to a shady spot, I sat down and rested my bag against the tree. Cam and Liam sat as far away from each other as possible while still being within grabbing distance of the leftover cooked boar meat Cam kept in a Freezing Kit.

  Liam ate his meal cold after failing to conjure up a flame with his own magic. That was how I knew he was really mad. Cam was happily eating a steaming hunk of meat. He had barely glanced at Liam, though I could see he felt a tiny bit bad seeing him struggle.

  He wasn’t completely heartless.

  Though I wasn’t eating meat, I tried to come up with even a spark to help. My efforts were in vain. I gave Liam an empathic smile. “Too bad I can’t sprout fire, huh?”

  “We don’t need you setting things on fire, Sunshine. Plants nearly crushing you to death and dripping poison is bad enough.”

  My face flamed with embarrassment. “I’m really sorry about that.”

  He grinned. “I’m only teasing. Given your love of swimming, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were also great at water spells, too. Water and earth go hand in hand, ya know.”

  “Can everyone only do one or two elemental types of magic?”

  “Not exactly. Depending on how skilled you are, you can do it all. I’m best at fire magic since it’s the one I use the most, but I can do a variety of other spells, as you saw at the river.”

  Liam’s eyebrow shot up. I shrugged at him. Remembering the rush of cool air entering my lungs, I knew I’d have to try that one for myself as soon as we passed a river or lake. I hadn’t gone swimming since that day and I was itching to get back in the water.