Slumber (Beauty Never Dies Chronicles Book 1)

by J. L. Weil

  Holy crap.

  The first thing to catch my eye was the leaves on the trees. They varied in shapes—some hearts, others like stars—but it was the vibrant colors that stole the show: pink, purple, turquoise, vivid and bold like an artist’s palette. Sparkles of yellow lights frolicked in between tall blades of grass, skipping off the water’s surface. “What is this place?” I asked in awe, spinning in a circle with my head back. There were a few trees whose trunks were so tall it was as if they reached the clouds.

  “The Wisps,” Dash spoke softly, coming to stand beside me.

  “It’s beautiful.”

  “And beauty here is deadly.”

  In the distance, the rumble of thunder matched my mood. If felt as if we’d been roaming aimlessly and going nowhere. I didn’t know how Dash knew what the right direction was. And if a storm was coming, that meant I was going to get wet.

  Lightning struck across the sky in a bolt of blue, and I lifted my hand, mesmerized by the enchanting display. It struck again, but this time, something strange happened. The lightning didn’t just strike in a flash and disappear. It came directly at me, and I thought for sure the spear was going to hit me, but it did something outlandish instead. The power of light encompassed me in a circle, static electricity humming all around me.

  I stood in the center of an electric storm dumbfounded and in awe at the same time. It didn’t make sense, but this time it hadn’t been an accident. I had done this, summoned a bolt of lightning from the sky.

  Once was a happenstance, but twice within forty-eight hours was no coincidence.

  My entire body was charged, and the hairs on my arms were standing up. Reaching out with my hand, I touched the patterns of current dancing around me. The light bent around my hand, traveling up my arm like a ribbon.

  Dash regarded me strangely. “Charlotte? Are you okay?”

  “I-I think so,” I said, gaping down at my hands and backing away from Dash. If he got too close, I might accidently hurt him. And that would be bad. I needed him.

  Dash took a step forward.

  “Don’t touch me!” I hissed, retreating and throwing up a hand to warn him from coming any closer. Big mistake. Like an extension of my hand, the lightning burst from my fingertips, zapping across the forest in a javelin of light. Lucky for Dash, my aim was utterly horrible. It bypassed him, hitting a tree. Ka-boom! The halo of light struck, cracking the trunk down the middle and dissipating with the impact.

  I stood, feet planted, with my jaw on the ground and an expression of disbelief on my face. What. In. The. Hell.

  “Charlotte,” Dash spoke softly. “It’s okay. This is normal … probably.”

  “Normal?” I shrilled, my eyes slamming into his. “How can pulling lightning from the sky and hurling it across the woods be normal?”

  He ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, it might not seem like it yet, but in Starling Heights, normal doesn’t exist.”

  “So the mist gave me the ability to manipulate lightning?”

  “Seems like it,” he drawled.

  “I guess there is worse abilities I could have been given.”

  “You have no idea,” he muttered.

  I bit my lip. “I don’t even know how I did it.”

  “You’ll learn,” he assured. “But I think your eye color has something to do with it.”

  I angled my head to the side, still staring at the charred spots on the fallen tree. “How so?”

  “The color turned again when you, uh, did that thing. They were bright purple, and. …”

  “And what?” I prompted impatiently.

  “I can’t be certain. It happened so quickly, but I think they were glowing. And before you get your panties in a wad, glowing eyes is a pretty common occurrence nowadays.”

  Dread settled like a cannonball in the pit of my belly, heavy and explosive. I struggled to keep my composure. There were about a million and one emotions coursing through me. I didn’t know how I felt about this new development. Did I even want to learn to control it? “Is it possible to suppress the … gift?” I recalled Dash calling them a curse.

  “Anything is possible, but whether you want the gift or not, it has a way of making itself known. Take it from my personal experience.”

  I still had no idea what Dash’s curse was, but the truth of his words rang true inside me. The aftereffects of the lightning buzzed through my veins like a drug. One taste and I was ready for more. It scared me. “Wonderful, so at any time, I could electrocute someone or myself.”

  “Pretty much, Freckles. Kind of cool.” He grinned.

  I rolled my eyes. He just earned a few kiss-ass points. The dimples helped, and I’ll be damned if he didn’t know how to use them when it was convenient. “You know what I think?”

  “You’re going to tell me whether I want you to or not. So go for it.”

  I straightened my spine, hiking the bag higher on my shoulder. “I think you’re mental.”

  His grin turned part sinister. “Glad we got that out of the way. You better believe I am taking shelter during the next storm. I don’t want to risk being zapped.”

  I glared at his back, contemplating zapping him now.

  We left the Wisps behind, and I was sad to see it go. It had been the only real beauty I’d seen here. I was a hundred percent sure the Plains of Despair were going to live up to their name.

  One of the first things I noticed as the woods gradually began to dwindle was the change in temperature. In the woods, there had been a cool breeze, but that died, making the air warmer.

  What I found most noticeable was the landscape. The lush and vibrant colors of the trees gave way to barren branches, dried and thirsty. The whole place looked like it could use a torrential downpour. Occasionally we’d pass a tree with leaves that looked like they were made of silver metal, similar to the color of Dash’s eyes.

  I cringed. Did everything I see somehow have to remind me of him?

  Curious, and not really thinking about what I was doing, I lifted my hand as we passed under one of those silver trees. I ran my finger along a leaf, expecting it to be smooth and waxy. It was neither.

  “Ouch!” I yelped.

  Dash whirled around. “What?”

  I sucked on my finger, trying to ease the pain. “That thing just cut me.” I held out my hand, showing him the drops of blood pooling at the end of my finger. It wasn’t a deep wound, but thin like a paper cut.

  He had the sleeves of his shirt rolled up. “You touched the tree.”

  So what if I did? “I was curious. I didn’t think it was going to assault me.”

  “You remember the saying, ‘Curiosity killed the cat’?”

  I gave him a dull glare. “I remember the phrase, ‘Silence is the best reply to a fool.’ ”

  His lips twitched. “I think you’ll live.”

  “You never know here,” I said, frowning and glancing around. The Plains of Despair were definitely living up to their reputation.

  He scratched his jaw. “At least you’re catching on. Come on, we need to keep moving. The sun is going to be up soon.”

  I could already see soft rays of amber and rose cresting over the horizon.

  Dash’s eyes moved upward, following my gaze. “It’s going to be a scorcher today … and every day as long as we are within the boundaries of the plains.”

  My eyes were drawn skyward, seeing streaks of cheerful sunbeams setting the sandy floor to flame. “I could use a little sun,” I replied, thinking how pale my skin was after being tucked away inside for so long.

  Dash snickered. “You’ve never felt heat like this. It can fry a chicken.”

  “Swell, I love this place already.”

  As the sun inched its way higher and we went farther into the plains, frustration prickled at my skin like a heat rash. “Is there no other way to travel in this godforsaken land?”

  “Depends,” he mused. “If you can tame a horsea, they might grant you permission. Of course, inside the walls
of the white city there are refurbished recreation vehicles, but nothing that runs on gas. Petroleum hasn’t been discovered here, not yet.”

  Sweat dotted my brows. Tendrils of red hair clung to my neck. My legs were achy. Blisters covered my feet, and I was pretty sure there was a waterfall of perspiration dripping between my breasts. I didn’t bother asking what a horsea was, because I was sure I didn’t want to know.

  The day dragged on, making the air sticky and humid from the glare of heat. A bug of sorts landed on the tip of my nose, and I went cross-eyed looking at it. The desert-like temperature, the never-ending trek, and being hangry all soured my mood. I was close to either throwing myself over a cliff or slapping the dog shit out of someone.

  Dash must have picked up on my weariness. “We need to find shelter before this heat kills us.”

  I didn’t even bother asking if that was a thing. “Please tell me we’re not looking for another cave.”

  “Uh, not precisely, but I doubt you’ll find our accommodations any less appealing.” His eyes scanned the area, several dark waves falling across his forehead. “Okay, stay here. I am going to check to see if the road is clear. This is usually the time when the Night’s Guard start making their rounds.”

  “You’re leaving me alone? Do I need to remind you what happened last time?”

  “Freckles, this time, don’t wander,” he said, walking backwards with a twist to his lips.

  I pulled out my bottle of water and pulled a swig. “Douchebag,” I grumbled as he darted between the trees. I should follow him just to piss him off. Maybe it would be the last time he left me behind.

  He was coming back? Right?

  Déjà vu smacked into me, causing my heart to jackhammer. Only a complete asshat would drag me all the way out to the desert and leave me. Dash might be a jerk at times, but I had to believe he wasn’t cruel.

  After a few calming breaths, I shifted uncomfortably. This time it wasn’t an abandonment issue. Instead, I got this feeling that wormed inside me of being watched, yet I stared down the empty path. No sign of life. Nothing but sand, tumbleweeds, and barren trees. Maybe it was my own delusional imagination, but I kept thinking, I’m in the Plains of Despair. Disaster is its name.

  Stop being paranoid, I told myself.

  The air became eerily quiet, like the calm before a storm. I leaned back against a bare tree and shivered, despite the hundred degree temp. Goosebumps covered my arms.

  No joke, I wasn’t alone.

  I craned my neck upward, peering at the branches over my head. An enormous black bird was perched on the tip of the tree. His head angled from side to side, watching me with golden eyes the color of whiskey.

  He was regal and pretty, perched with his head held high, regarding me with mirrored intrigue. His feathers glistened like raindrops after a storm.

  Mesmerized by the way he watched me, I didn’t notice the other danger that creeped around me, not until it was too late and it coiled around my arm like a python.

  Chapter 9

  Fear rose in me like thin smoke. “Let go!” I screamed, jerking my arm free and trying to run before that thing caught me again. The thing being the tree. I was sure it had some epic name, but thing was the best I could come up with under pressure.

  Its branches became arms, twirling and lashing in the air toward me. Instinct fired inside. Whipping out my blade, I slashed in the air the next time it reached for me, just barely nicking it, but giving me a window to escape. I whirled around, tensed to bolt, and bumped into Dash. His chest was firm. Too firm. Colliding into him rattled more than my brain cells.

  His hands steadied me, on either side of my shoulders, but his silver eyes were zeroed in on the thing. “What are you, a magnet for every beast and creature out here? Put that thing away before you hurt yourself.”

  I wanted to tell him this was his fault for leaving me alone … again. But that thing was still after me. It managed to wind its limbs around my ankle, twining up my calf. “Are you just going to stand there? Do something!” I shrieked, shaking my leg to no avail.

  Dash sighed. “Duck.”

  I pouted my sullen lips, unfazed by his tone. “Huh?”

  “Get on the ground. Now,” he hissed through his teeth, grabbing my blade.

  I hit the deck, flattening myself in the sand and dug my heels in. My resistance did very little to keep the thing from dragging me, and I cursed Dash under my breath. “What are you waiting —?”

  My blade whizzed over my head—so close, the rush of air whizzed over my face—before embedding itself into the base of the tree. A heinous sound screeched, piercing the air in decimals that could shatter glass. My body tensed, willing the horrible sound to stop.

  And then it did.

  I let a sweet sigh of relief. There was definitely going to be some eardrum damage.

  Dash’s lips moved, but I heard nothing.

  “What?” I hollered above the buzzing in my ears.

  He bent down at the knees and repeated, “I asked if you were okay.”

  Don’t even get me started. I sat up, my gaze landing on his. “You could have killed me.” The branches from the tree were no longer slapping in the air, but lying limp on the ground, shriveled and curled inward, as if the tree was hugging itself.

  “You were never in danger.” He held out his hands.

  I placed both of mine in his, my skin tingling where our hands connected. Irritation snapped. “Are you kidding me?” I broke the contact as soon as I was on my feet.

  Dash rocked back on his heels. “You’re still alive, aren’t you?”

  My gaze narrowed. “How did you do that? Throw the blade like Rambo?”

  He walked to the shriveled tree and yanked out my knife. “It’s not rocket science. I aim and throw.” Twirling it up in the air, he caught it by the hilt before offering it back to me.

  I very much doubted that. His throw had been precise with hardly any aim. He literally picked up the blade and tossed it. The more I thought about it, the more I was sure he hadn’t even been looking at the tree, but at me. Though it all had happened so fast. Whatever. And to think I believed him when he said he wouldn’t lie to me. I took the blade and tucked it back against my thigh. “Did you at least find us somewhere to rest?”

  The corner of his lips twitched up. “How do you feel about tree houses?”

  “After what just happened … not too comfortable.”

  “Well, Freckles, you got about a two-minute hike to get comfortable.”

  I grumbled and dragged my feet in the sand the entire two minutes. We arrived at the tree, another giant oak. I eyed it warily. If this thing even so much as twitched, I was out of here.

  After eyeballing it for a good minute, I stood at the base of the trunk, wondering just how Dash classified this as a tree house. It was missing one of the key elements—the house.

  All I saw was a truly tall tree draped in moss and vines. The air around it shimmered from the heat, making me think I was seeing things. Or not seeing things. “Where is this tree house you speak of?”

  His answer was a wicked grin that never failed to give me those warm fuzzies, and I was so awestruck by his dimples, I almost missed the vines peeling away. They revealed a narrow opening into the tree, tangled roots supplying a floor.

  “This is your idea of a tree house?” I mumbled, following Dash into the small doorway. As we stepped through, I looked over my shoulder, watching the vines knit back together, hiding the entrance and providing safety.

  “The land here can be unforgiving, but you’ll find it can also be an ally.”

  I ran my fingers along the bumpy bark, and I swore the tree purred. “You talk about it as if it has feelings.”

  “You’d be surprised,” Dash replied, taking my hand as we climbed deeper into the tree, defying logic.

  How could the trunk of the tree be so expansive? And if I wasn’t mistaken, we were going up. At the top, the branches had woven together to make two hammock-like beds. “What i
s this place?”

  “It’s a hideout, only available to those the tree deems worthy of its safety.”

  “How do you know about it?”

  He shrugged. “I’ve passed through before and heard the rumors. Turns out the rumors are true.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “Pick a bunk, Freckles. Relax, sleep, eat. By nightfall, we’ll be back on the road, and the real fun begins,” Dash said, hanging his bag on one of the branches.

  Testing the weight of the twigs, I sat and sighed. It was amazing to get off my feet, yet slightly discouraging. I didn’t know what I expected from this journey, but the slow pace was disheartening. I wanted to find my family, and it was beginning to set in that it might take me days, weeks even to do that. Or my worst fear: longer.

  “I’ve seen that look before. It’s why I travel alone.”

  Above my head, the branches came together in a canopy that blocked most of the sun. “Are you going to tell me it gets easier?”

  He spread out in the other hammock, looping his hands behind his head. “No. I won’t lie to you.”

  I respected that, admired it even. Still, it didn’t make me feel better.

  “There are holding houses scattered everywhere. And the disappointment after each can be crippling. I want you to be prepared,” he cautioned.

  “When does the thought of sleep no longer send your mind into a frenzy?”

  The usually cynical lines around his eyes softened. “As soon as the reality sets in that this is now your life.”

  I shifted my head to be cozier on my hands. “I remember being at the park with friends, one of my favorite places in the city. We were sitting on a bench talking about starting our junior year and how great high school was going to be. There were swans swimming in the misty green pond, surrounded by towering pine trees. I remember kicking the fallen pinecones as we walked around the trails laughing.”

  The memory was so clear, as if I was living it now. “Sometimes I can’t decide if I’m afraid to sleep because I might not wake up or because I won’t wake up from this nightmare.”