The Hunt (The Wilds Book Two)

by Donna Augustine

  I grabbed the lousy book I’d been trying to get through and opened it to a place I’d already tried to read. It didn’t matter. I wasn’t going to read it now either, but I could feel Dax still staring at me.

  I heard him walk over to the couch, and then he was sitting beside me, his side brushing against mine. His strange magic was still pouring off him in waves and, as I sat there next to him, somehow creating a warmth in me as well.

  “You can stop pretending to read the book,” he said.

  “How did you know I was pretending?”

  “You’ve never carried the same book around with you for more than a day or so. You’ve been looking at that one for a week.”

  “Oh.” I plopped the book down on the table. “You don’t have to stay.” Even though this was the first time he’d ever admitted it, I knew it was hard for him to be around people after the change, especially me for some reason. Maybe it was just people with magic? I didn’t know.

  “I’m a little raw, but not the worst.”

  I knew he was lying, but I didn’t argue with him. “Thanks.”

  He nodded.

  Chapter 32

  It was the middle of the night when I bolted upright in my bed. Last thing I remembered was sitting on the couch. Dax must have carried me here at some point. I looked around trying to figure out what had woken me this time, but when I looked around, no one was there. My back hit the bed again, lids shuttered closed, but my heartbeat was chugging along at a nice pace. That was when I realized my chest felt hot—burning, almost. I bolted back up. My magic was back. I remembered feeling warm next to Dax as he sat next to me. Had his own magic jump-started mine somehow?

  The sound of chimes tinkling in the distance drifted to me. It was them, the Wood Mist. They were calling me, perhaps to my death, but that was a chance I’d have to take. I grabbed my shoes. Nearly tripping, I hopped on one leg while trying to pull them on and walk out of my room at the same time.

  Not only was the door to Dax’s empty room open, so was Tank’s. I didn’t have time to waste looking for anyone else. I needed to follow the chimes until I found their source and hopefully found Tiffy. I was on my own.

  I ran out of the house, only hesitating for a few seconds to nail down the direction the noise was coming from.

  It was the same direction where I’d sat on the wall. I hightailed it toward the back of the community and scaled the wall. I climbed over the edge until my feet were dangling and then dropped and rolled the last fifteen feet to the ground. My knees felt a little bruised by the drop, but I ignored it as I took off at a run in the chimes’ direction.

  I didn’t hear footsteps behind me until I stopped to reassess the direction. I turned quickly to see Rocky running to catch up to me.

  “What are you doing out here at night? It’s not safe.”

  “I’m fine. Go back,” I said, knowing it was highly unlikely he would.

  “I’m not leaving you out here alone.”

  How did I tell him that I didn’t think the beasts would bother me, but might take a nice chunk out of his thigh muscle if they needed a snack? “I’m fine, really.”

  I had to stop talking to him and follow the chimes. The sounds were already dying off. Where did they go? I spun, trying to listen in every direction at once.

  “Dal, what are you doing?”

  “Rocky, I don’t have time for this talk.” I must’ve appeared crazy, but I couldn’t worry about that. I had to find the chimes. I took off running again in the last direction I thought I’d heard them, knowing Rocky was following me, but he’d have to fend for himself. Sorry, Rocky. You’re an adult and I have Tiffy to worry about.

  I ran until I couldn’t hear the chimes over my own breathing, and stopped.

  They were gone.

  “What are you doing?” Rocky asked again as he stopped next to me, not huffing nearly as badly as I was.

  “I thought I heard something.”

  “What?”

  It was a hunch, but I thought Rocky would believe me if I told him. Maybe he’d even know something. “Have you ever heard of—”

  “What are you doing out here?” Dax asked as he stepped into the small clearing Rocky and I stood in.

  “I heard chimes. It’s them, just like the stories you told me about. I know it’s them. It’s going to lead me to Tiffy. I’m positive.”

  “Heard what, and who are you talking about?” Rocky asked.

  Dax spared a brief moment to look at Rocky before saying to me, “We’ll talk about it at the house.” Dax’s skin was still flushed, and I could see telltale signs that he was still dealing with the aftermath of being in beast form for so long.

  “I can’t right—”

  “Why do you think you can order her about?” Rocky said.

  Why, of all times, did Rocky have to do this now? “He’s not ordering me around,” I said, even though he was. This was not the time to get into it with Dax, though, or for the two of them to start. I needed to figure out where the chimes were coming from.

  “He acts like he owns you,” Rocky continued, but I wasn’t so naïve to think this was all on the up and up and Rocky was simply trying to be a good guy. I hadn’t liked what Dax had said, but there was some truth to it. Rocky wanted me pissed off at Dax and was trying to provide me with some reasons, like I didn’t already have some.

  Rocky got in Dax’s face in a way I’d never imagined anyone would have the nerve to do. Dax’s expression alone should’ve been enough to make Rocky back up.

  And then Rocky continued, either missing the signs of imminent danger or overestimating himself. “You aren’t allowed to put her on ice until you decide whether you want her or not.”

  Wow, Rocky did not just say that. I was ready to crawl into the first hole I could find. So this was what he was all out of sorts about? Oh geez. I didn’t know if I should run for that hole, or throw myself in between the two of them, before Dax killed him where he stood.

  “She’s not ready for what you want,” Dax said.

  “It’s not your call.”

  “Yes. It is.” The words were calm, but if Rocky still didn’t hear the warning in them, he was deaf. I wasn’t even looking at Dax. I was too busy covering the ten shades of red my face had probably turned, but I heard it clearly.

  “Rocky, it’s not like that between us,” I said, realizing I was going to have to forgo my hole and stop hiding, or my face wouldn’t just be red from embarrassment but also with splattered blood. The beast was just beneath the surface, and I wasn’t sure how much control Dax had of it.

  “Bullshit,” Rocky said. “He feeds you just enough to keep you emotionally hooked until he decides whether he wants to do something about it.”

  “If you aren’t man enough to win her, that’s your problem. You can’t protect her and you’d never be able to handle her.”

  “And you think you’re doing right by her?”

  “You can’t even get near her unless I let you. Remember that.”

  “When you leave, she’s staying.”

  My head jerked to Rocky. I didn’t know where that had come from. I’d told him I’d think about staying. I’d never agreed to anything. I felt Dax’s eyes on me and didn’t want to admit that I’d said that either, not right now.

  “She’s not staying anywhere with you,” Dax finally said when I didn’t say it. “She needs me and she knows it. She could’ve gone her own way a million times already.”

  “That’s bullshit. Admit it,” Rocky said.

  “Admit what?”

  “You say she can do whatever she wants, but you wouldn’t let her go even if she wanted to. But when she’s ready, and she will be, I’ll be the one to help her leave you.”

  I expected Dax to shut him down, tell Rocky he was being ridiculous. Everything Dax said was true. He’d told me time and again if I didn’t like the situation I could leave. I was with him by choice.

  I centered my attention on Rocky. “You’re wrong, and I can do wh
atever I want,” I said to him. It was the truth, but I would’ve said anything right now to defuse the situation. The last thing we all needed on top of Tiffy missing was these two fighting.

  When I didn’t hear anything, my gaze went from Rocky to Dax and my blood chilled. I’d seen Dax’s wall down, but I’d never seen his eyes glow like he was looking out of the beast’s red ones while he was still human.

  My breath caught and froze in my chest as I tried to figure out what to do first. Who to target my efforts on.

  “You. Won’t. Keep. Her. Anywhere.” The words weren’t as scary as the gravelly pitch they were said in. It was as if they were partially growled, and I swore I thought I saw a hint of fangs dropping just below his upper lip.

  Rocky, a bit belatedly, realized the nature of the threat he was facing. He didn’t look like he was breathing, either. I’d just gotten an answer to one of my questions. He’d had no idea Dax was a beast, but he was figuring out something was off, and quick.

  I made a knee-jerk decision that Rocky was the best bet. I was afraid if I did the wrong thing with Dax, he might turn into the beast right then and there. I went to Rocky and grabbed his arm. “Let’s go. I think you should talk about this at another time.” It was lame, but I couldn’t think of any gems under the current conditions.

  Then I heard the growling, and there was no doubt where it was coming from. I grabbed Rocky’s arm with both hands, tugging him in earnest now, but the growling only grew louder.

  My hands dropped immediately from Rocky as I realized that was making Dax even worse for some reason. Maybe Dax thought I was siding with Rocky?

  I didn’t have time to ponder the whys when I heard the chimes start. They were here. They were back. Tiffy!

  I stepped away from Rocky, the decision easy. If it was trying to save Rocky or finding Tiffy, there was no choice to be made.

  “They’re here,” I said, looking up and around. I was going to figure out where those chimes were coming from.

  I spun, trying to pinpoint the noise, and saw both Dax and Rocky looking up and around, the new presence, perhaps threat, defusing their own fight.

  Chapter 33

  The chimes grew louder as we all circled the area, the fight between Dax and Rocky pushed to the back burner as we all tried to figure out where the sound was coming from. It seemed to be coming from everywhere, almost on top of us, but I couldn’t see the source.

  One second we were alone and then we weren’t.

  They were everywhere, whatever they were, forming a circle around us. A quick count put them at twenty. They had no faces. Their heads and bodies were draped in robes that glittered like liquid gold, and thin hands, bordering on skeletal, peeked out of their draped sleeves.

  “She must come with us.” I spun, not knowing who had spoken. They had no mouths, no faces at all, and the voice had sounded like it came from all of them somehow speaking as one.

  They all lifted their fingers and pointed in my direction.

  “She’s not going anywhere,” Dax said.

  Rocky and Dax took up defensive positions with their backs to each other, and me standing between them.

  “What are you?”

  “We are as old as time. We have been here since the first sapling tree, and we don’t answer to you.”

  “Do you have Tiffy?” I asked as Rocky yelled to me not speak to them directly.

  “Yes.” I couldn’t tell how many voices spoke or if they were male or female. “You must be judged.”

  “Judged for what?” I asked.

  “Judged to be worthy.”

  “Will you give us Tiffy if I pass?” I asked.

  “You’re not judging anyone,” Dax said, grabbing my arm with a death grip.

  “Yes.”

  “Then I’ll be judged,” I said.

  Dax’s hand was on my arm and then it was gone. I didn’t know if Rocky and Dax had moved or if the faceless people had moved us, but I now stood within the ring of them alone. I turned and could see Dax and Rocky screaming as they tried to get to me, even though I couldn’t hear them. There was some sort of invisible barricade holding them back that they were pounding on.

  I could still see Dax screaming no right before he turned into the beast, Rocky looking stunned beside him.

  But there was no noise. All sounds in the background ceased to exist. I could see the birds chirping and flying overhead but couldn’t hear them. Within the invisible circle surrounded by these faceless creatures, it was only us.

  “Will you accept our judgment?” the faceless creatures asked.

  “Then I get Tiffy back?”

  “Only if you pass.”

  “What happens if I fail?”

  “You die.”

  “Try it,” I said. I didn’t know what these things were, but I wasn’t going down easy.

  They closed in on me, bony hands all reaching for me at once. It was no longer night—a blazing light, bright as the sun, shone on us.

  “Why are you doing this?” I asked as their hands all landed upon me and I felt the rise of panic.

  “Because for one to wield so much power, you must be worthy,” they answered, and now it seemed like I heard the voices in my head.

  “We have been blocking you, but we cannot do it for much longer. You must be worthy of this power or you must die.”

  “What is this power you are talking about?”

  “There is a well of power that feeds all. When there were many humans, no one human could wield much. Now that there are fewer of you, some take up more than other beings. You take very much. There were others that tried to take as you did that weren’t worthy. We didn’t kill them, and now we cannot. We will not make the same mistake with you.”

  “Do your worst.” It sounded like a dare. A smart person would grovel. I had nothing to be ashamed of, and I wouldn’t have anyone tell me I wasn’t worthy. I’d lived that life for enough years.

  I felt their magic entering me with a gentle probe. There were whispers but nothing I understood. It started with a warm tingle in my fingertips and toes, then slowly traveled upward until it encompassed my whole body. My vision went dark and then I was a child again.

  I was being left at the Cement Giant with Ms. Edith. My parents were there, my father stoic, my mother weeping. Then they were turning and walking away from me.

  Anger and hurt welled within me, and I could feel the light burning its way through my mind, probing and digging in my memories. Years of hatred unfolded before me. I could feel the disapproval around me growing at the negative emotions I’d generated at that point in my young life.

  Then the girls appeared, and Margo was so close. I wanted to reach out and touch them, wishing they were really here.

  Every beating, all the sessions with Ms. Edith, the madness that being in the hole at the Cement Giant had created. I was laid bare, all my hurts, every scar I possessed; they scoured them, prodding and prying. There wasn’t a spot left that they hadn’t touched. Or I thought they hadn’t. The whispers changed. I didn’t know what was being said, but I could sense the conflict, strange words being exchanged in heated tones.

  I felt some of the tendrils of their magic curling even deeper into me. It was like I could see everything that made me who I was through their eyes. The good and the bad, and they still weren’t satisfied. It was as if my very soul was unfurling before my own eyes and they tried to dismantle it.

  Then, when I thought there was nowhere else to look, I saw a light shining within me, covered in places with black-crusted patches. Even with the darkness dotting its surface, the light was so bright it was almost painful. In that instant, I knew exactly what they feared.

  It was like there was a black hole of power within me that was waiting to go supernova at any second and burst from me. Where had that come from? I also knew what they had done. They had tried to smother my magic, and those patches of black were the remnants of what they had done to it, still clinging even now.

  I felt tendril
s pulling on me. They were trying to block me from seeing the source of my own power, and I realized I wasn’t supposed to be there with them.

  I could feel some of them trying to get to it now. That was why they were arguing. They wanted to destroy it. They were fighting me and among themselves. Not all of them wanted to judge me. Some of them wanted to destroy me.

  But it was too late. I had seen it and I knew exactly where in myself my power was centered, deep within me. I knew what I had to do. I remembered what Dax had said about a give and take of power with everything around you. I reached inward to the place they’d shown me. I breathed deeply, trying to take in as much as possible, stoking the white-hot burning inside of me. I stepped forward and grabbed one of the faceless as if mine and Tiffy’s lives depended on it. I could feel the one I grabbed trying to struggle back from me and the interconnectedness of them, knowing that an attack on one would hurt the many. In one great whoosh, I forced it all out, every bit of magic within me, and directed it toward them.

  The black pieces left from their curse flew off me as the magic burst free, the warmth of it flooding every inch of me again and forcing them out, surging through my hands into them until I felt them disintegrating.

  My body gave out from pure exhaustion. I didn’t know what I’d done, but it had drained me of everything I had.

  * * *

  I woke up with Rocky kneeling beside me and Dax supporting my back.

  “What happened? We couldn’t get to you, and then there was a blast. Whatever was holding us back was gone,” Dax said.

  The silence gave me hope that the chimes and the faceless were gone.

  “Is she going to be okay?” I heard Tiffy say before she peeked over Dax’s shoulder.