Oaken (The Underground Series Book 1)

by Melody Robinette

  Kyndel stared wide-eyed at her with tears streaming down her face. “Let’s get out of here,” Autumn said to her, grasping her trembling arm and guiding her back towards the club’s open doors. Kyndel let Autumn lead her without saying a word. Instead of taking her straight to the group, though, Autumn led her into the girls’ bathroom.

  Two girls dressed as a devil and an angel stood touching up their makeup in front of the mirror. “Get out,” Autumn said.

  “Excuse me?” one of them said indignantly.

  Autumn glared at them and they glanced over at Kyndel, taking in her blotchy, tearstained face and smeared makeup. The girls put their makeup back into their purses and left, shooting Kyndel a pitying look. Autumn grabbed a handful of paper towels and ran some cold water on them. Kyndel stood there in silence, tears still leaking from her eyes.

  “Here,” Autumn said, handing her the damp paper towels. “Fix your makeup.”

  Kyndel took a deep breath as she gingerly accepted the towels and dabbed at her face with shaking hands, looking absently into the mirror. Autumn began rearranging Kyndel’s disarrayed hair back to the way it was before.

  “Why are you being so nice to me,” Kyndel asked, her voice wavering.

  “I don’t know,” Autumn said through a mouthful of hairpins. “I figure you don’t need someone acting like a jerk to you right now.”

  “Thanks,” Kyndel muttered. She pulled out a jar of the shimmer powder that Charlotte had earlier and applied it again to her face, which covered the blotches nicely. She took a deep, shaky breath and made eye contact with Autumn. “How do I look?” she asked.

  “You look fine,” Autumn said, opening the door for her.

  “Just fine?” she said, sounding slightly put off.

  “Sorry. You look positively stunning, Kyndel.”

  “That’s better,” she said.

  They made their way back to the others who were looking around worriedly. Avery and Luke, in particular, appeared slightly panicked. Autumn assumed this was because she had been gone for a good fifteen minutes.

  “Rose!” Luke said in relief when he spotted Kyndel and her approaching them. He pulled his sister into a bone-crushing hug. “Why do you always disappear like that?” he said with a mixture of anger and relief.

  “Sorry,” she said, her voice muffled against Luke’s chest.

  Avery looked as though he wanted to wrap her in a hug too, but knew that wouldn’t quite look right. She gave him a reassuring smile, which seemed to calm him slightly.

  “Where have you been?” Charlotte asked Kyndel in concern.

  “Er…” Kyndel began, glancing at Autumn.

  “She was outside,” Autumn said, causing Kyndel’s eyes to widen in horror. “She was just cooling off,” Autumn added hastily. “Cause it’s so hot in here.”

  Charlotte looked at Kyndel for confirmation, and she nodded. “It’s disgusting in here,” she said with a look of revulsion.

  “Well, do you guys want to go to the next place?” Luke asked.

  Autumn saw a look of panic and fear flash across Kyndel’s face.

  “It’s getting late, Luke,” Autumn said. “Maybe we should just go back.”

  “What?” Luke said, looking incredulous.

  “She’s right,” Avery added, looking at Autumn in concern.

  “Yeah. I’m pretty tired,” Crystal said.

  The others nodded in agreement.

  “Don’t you want another drink?” Luke directed desperately at Forrest and Jastin.

  Jastin frowned and looked back at his now warm Guinness that he’d abandoned. Forrest shook his head, looking a little queasy. Cera looked as though she could go for another one, but didn’t speak up.

  “Fine,” Luke said. “Let’s go back.”

  They traveled out of the pub and down the street to where the cabs lined up waiting for fares. As they walked, Luke told Forrest about the lingerie girl and how she wasn’t quite as into him as the elf girls were. Jastin had his arm slung around Charlotte, who was leaning tiredly up against him. Crystal and Cera were giggling about the Outsider men’s costumes. Kyndel had her arms folded tightly across her chest. Her eyes were staring, unfocused, at the ground. Autumn frowned at her in concern, her urge to help people more overpowering than her dislike of Kyndel.

  “What really happened?” Avery asked Autumn under his breath.

  She looked up at him with raised eyebrows.

  “What do you mean?” Autumn asked.

  He took her right hand in his, palm-side down and pointed to her bloody knuckles. She pulled her hand back, tucking both hands under her arms.

  “Nothing,” she muttered.

  “Autumn.”

  She glanced up at Kyndel who appeared to be lost in her own thoughts. Autumn sighed and said, “That guy Kyndel was dancing with took her into the alley and was…” she hesitated. “Well, he was about to make her do something that she didn’t want to do. Luckily, I stopped him before he could go through with anything.”

  Avery made a disgusted face, which quickly turned to anger. “Did he touch you?”

  She resisted the urge to laugh. “Not quite. I didn’t exactly give him time to touch me.”

  Avery shook his head looking impressed and a little exasperated. “You really know how to handle yourself, don’t you?”

  “I suppose I do.”

  They took two cabs again like before. Luke paid the drivers and trudged back up the path the Blarney Castle. It took twice as long to get up to the castle and through the tunnel because everyone was so exhausted. Luke admitted that it had been a good idea to leave when they had because, by the time they reached the waterfall, it was already almost 3am and they had school early the next morning. Luke, Avery, Crystal, and Autumn stepped through the boundary at the same time.

  They landed on the spongy moss in front of the waterfall and climbed wearily to their feet.

  “Nice of you to return,” a voice said from the shadows. They all jumped and turned to see Atticus step out of a thick clump of trees, looking livid.

  Making Friends and Drinking Cocoa

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Atticus’s arms were folded tightly across his chest, his eyebrows knit together. Autumn, Luke, Avery, and Crystal looked guiltily up at him, not speaking. Suddenly the rest of the group burst through the waterfall, knocking them to the ground.

  “What the—? Why didn’t you guys move?” Cera groaned, pushing Forrest off of her.

  There was a collective gasp from the others as they took in Atticus, who was standing ominously before them.

  “Oh crap,” Forrest muttered.

  “My thoughts exactly, Mr. Akerley,” Atticus said. “Would someone like to inform me as to why you found it necessary to venture into the Outside with no adult present?”

  At this, everyone focused their attention on Luke. He raised his eyebrows, looking around at the group.

  “Mr. Oaken?” Atticus inquired.

  Luke gulped. “Um… Well, you see, today is Halloween and everyone thought that it was about mocking magical creatures. So, Autumn and I wanted to show them that it wasn’t really like that in the Outside. You know, so they didn’t have the wrong idea about Outsiders. Really, it was a valuable learning experience for everyone.”

  Atticus raised an eyebrow, looking amused. “Even so, Mr. Oaken. It was an extremely risky learning experience. If I hadn’t known that you and Ms. Oaken were familiar with the Outside, I would have been forced to go up there after you.”

  “We just figured that since we’re Warriors and everything—” Luke began.

  “Because you are Warriors, it is crucial that you abide by the rules. You are future protectors of the elves of Arbor Falls and, as such, you should be setting an example for those who look to you as leaders.”

  The Initiates looked guiltily down at the ground, muttering apologies.

  “As punishment,” Atticus began, everyone’s heads snapping upwards, “you will be training for an extra hour every d
ay this week. Including Sunday.”

  Groans resounded around the group.

  “Where is Mr. Lavigne?” Atticus asked, scanning the group.

  “He didn’t come,” Autumn said.

  “Ah. Well, I suppose you all will have to explain to him why he will be working an extra hour every day as well.”

  “What?” Autumn protested. “Victor has to work extra too? But he didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “The sooner you all realize that the Warriors are a team, the better. You’re in this together.”

  Autumn frowned, not seeing how this was fair. Victor was going to be furious.

  But she was wrong. When Atticus informed Victor that he would be completing an extra hour of training that week because of the others’ choices, he simply nodded, saying nothing. The other Initiates raised their eyebrows in surprise at this and, without any effort from Avery or Autumn, the rest of the group seemed to respect Victor quite a bit more, shooting him an apologetic look as they began training. Victor worked the hardest out of everyone. Though that was partly because he was the only one who had actually received a decent night’s sleep.

  To everyone’s surprise, Atticus had not informed any of their parents or guardians about their Halloween adventure. When Forrest asked him why, Atticus simply shrugged with a crooked smile on his face as he asked, “Would you like for me to inform them?”

  Everyone shook their heads.

  After practice, Autumn walked with Victor to the point where the path split. Luke, Crystal, and Avery weren’t far behind. She could see Avery watching her intently out of the corner of her eye.

  “Are you angry with us?” she asked Victor. He shook his head. “Really?”

  “Really,” he gave her a small smile. “Besides, this extra practice will benefit us in the long run. We need to be prepared for the Warrior Trial.”

  Autumn raised her eyebrows. She hadn’t thought of the benefits of this extra practice. Her only focus had been how tired she was and how all she wanted to do was crawl back into bed.

  “You surprise me sometimes,” she said.

  He frowned at this. “How?”

  “I don’t know… I’m just impressed that you can be so positive when you don’t even deserve to be punished.”

  He shrugged. “Well, technically I should have stopped you guys from going, but I didn’t really think it was my place.”

  They reached the split in the path where Autumn went left and Victor went right. He kissed her softly on the forehead and she tried not to flinch, knowing that Avery was right behind them, looking stonily at the ground.

  The following week was nothing short of torture. End of semester tests were coming up, so all of Autumn’s magisters had nearly doubled their workload. Magister Monroe’s class, in particular, had become unbearably difficult. Autumn didn’t like math much to begin with, but now they worked from the time they entered the room to the time they left, their satchels full to bursting with even more homework.

  After days full of studying, reading, writing, and lab work, the Initiates had three hours of Warrior training to endure. This amount of work would have been difficult any day, but the Underground was becoming colder as winter approached, which made all of the training that much harder. Any free time they had was spent sleeping or eating.

  The only positive thing about the week—at least to Autumn and Avery—was the fact that everyone was being exceptionally friendly to Victor. His acceptance of the extra practice without complaint had impressed all of the Initiates.

  After finishing their last day of training punishment on Sunday, all of the Initiates decided to meet up at the hot chocolate shop downtown called Cup O’ Co after dinner. Victor, however, refused. Autumn frowned, frustrated at his lack of interest in making any friends. He was making her efforts to help him extremely difficult, if not impossible.

  “Um, Victor?” Autumn asked, when the others had dispersed.

  “Yes?”

  “Can I talk to you for a second?”

  “Of course.”

  “Do you…” Autumn hesitated, trying to find the right words. “Do you even want any friends?”

  He frowned at her for a minute before speaking slowly. “Why wouldn’t I want friends?”

  Autumn shrugged. “Well, you never talk to anyone but me, and on the rare occasions that you do hang out with the rest of the Initiates, you just sit there quietly without acknowledging anyone.”

  Victor’s brow furrowed. Autumn bit her lip, hoping she hadn’t upset him. “You’re right,” he said. “I’m just not used to being treated kindly by these elves. I still have my guard up, but I will make more of an effort.”

  “Really?” Autumn said with a hopeful smile. Victor nodded. “That’s great!”

  “Just curious,” he said, “but why do you want me to make friends so badly?”

  She felt her cheeks flush as she thought of the main reason she wanted this. Then she cleared her throat quickly and said, “I care about you, Victor. I just want you to be happy.”

  “You do?” he asked, studying her face.

  “Of course I do,” Autumn said sincerely.

  Victor’s face brightened and he pulled her into a deep kiss. She felt herself tense slightly, and couldn’t help but feel that she was betraying Avery, when in all actuality it was the other way around. Victor was the one being betrayed here.

  Their lips parted and he smiled warmly down at Autumn. “You make me happy.”

  She looked up at him with wide eyes. “I’m glad,” was all she could get out because her immense guilt threatened to take over. “So, would you like to meet us at Cup O’ Co later?”

  Victor was silent for a minute before he said, “I’d love to.”

  When Victor and Autumn entered the hot chocolate shop, the others did a double-take.

  “Victor? I thought you weren’t coming,” Jastin said, seeming pleased by his appearance.

  “I decided that I would…if that’s alright.”

  “That’s great!” Charlotte said. The rest of the group smiled at him in welcome.

  Autumn and Avery shared a small, celebratory high five unseen by anyone else. They all ordered their favorite flavored hot chocolate and sat in a group at the back of the cocoa shop. They had a variety of flavors ranging from vanilla all the way to chili. Autumn ordered the peppermint.

  They sat in their corner talking happily about the end of their drawn out punishment and sipping their cocoa. To Autumn’s surprise and jubilation, Victor actually joined in the conversations. He even got into a deep discussion with Jastin and Forrest about unicorns and whether or not they were too dangerous to own as a pet. Victor spoke animatedly about his unicorn and the others listened intently, with obvious fascination.

  Autumn and Avery exchanged satisfied looks as they watched. Finally, Victor was beginning to open up to the others. This was the first step to him making friends and not needing her anymore. But Autumn had a bad feeling that this wouldn’t exactly work after what he had said earlier—that she made him happy. What if she was getting in too deep? What if, once she returned his rose, he went back to being introverted and alone? She glanced up to see Avery looking at her in concern. She shook her head slightly as if to say, “it’s nothing.”

  He frowned, but turned away to continue listening to the conversation between Victor and the others. They stayed at the cocoa shop until closing time at 10:00pm. Everyone left, chatting happily with Victor and waving goodbye as he walked back to his secluded tree house.

  “Victor is pretty cool,” Forrest said.

  “I can’t believe he has a unicorn,” Charlotte said in awe.

  “I can’t remember why we never really talked to him before,” Cera added.

  Autumn smiled inwardly at their comments. Everyone seemed to have forgotten why they were ever afraid of Victor in the first place. They all parted ways at City Circle, Luke, Crystal, Avery, and Autumn traveling towards Arbor Castle.

  “Victor seemed much more talkati
ve than usual,” Crystal noted.

  “Yeah,” Luke agreed. “I think that’s the most he’s talked the whole time I’ve known him.”

  When they reached Arbor Castle, Crystal headed down to the roots to her room and Luke, Avery, and Autumn trudged up the stairs. Luke said goodnight to them when he reached his branch.

  Autumn was about to enter her own branch when Avery said, “Can I come in?”

  Her mouth fell open slightly in surprise and she looked around to check for any onlookers before opening the door to admit him. She moved to sit in the armchair that was situated beside the fireplace. Avery took a seat in the chair opposite her.

  “I still don’t get how you can have an open fire in the middle of a tree,” Autumn said, not wanting to talk about Victor.

  “All of the trees in the Underground are fireproof,” Avery stated simply. “What was wrong earlier?”

  She sighed, already knowing what he was talking about. “It’s just Victor.”

  “But he did so well tonight. He talked to everyone and they all seemed to get along with him.”

  “It’s not that. He did do well tonight. It’s just…when he and I were talking earlier, he said that I make him happy. What if this doesn’t work, Avery? What if he goes back to the way he was after I return his rose?”

  “So, do you want to stop trying to help him?” he asked with a small hint of hope in his voice.

  Autumn shook her head vehemently. “No. I’m just worried, is all. I still want to help him, and I’m still going to return his rose once he’s made some friends. There’s nothing I can do if he goes back to the way he was.”

  “But you’ll feel guilty,” Avery said and Autumn nodded. “Just know that we’re doing all that we can to help him, Autumn. After that, it’s up to him. It’s not your job to keep him happy.”

  “I know.”

  “You know, you’re going to make a really great queen.”

  She laughed. “What?”

  “I’m serious. You care about people. You have empathy. Not many elves, especially royals, can say that.”