Black Ruins Forest (The Elder Series Book 1)

by Karen DuBose

  “Ok, how about you do it,” I say, pointing at Kiernan.

  Kira bursts out laughing so hard that she’s snorting. I’m laughing as well when I see Kiernan’s face. There is a true look of horror there.

  “It would be perfect, and I bet he never tries to scare us again.”

  “Let me get this straight. You want me to go take advantage of him. Like, hit up on him?”

  I look at Kira. She’s trying so hard to keep from laughing. I know I’m asking a lot of Kiernan, but Rome needs to be put in his arrogant place.

  “Yes, my love. That’s exactly what I’m asking you. I’m sure we can get one of the other guys to play along as well. I know one of them will want to put Rome in his place. This is the perfect way.”

  “I will agree to this only if someone else does this with me, and they all have to know this is a joke.”

  “Perfect! Now we have to figure out a way to get Rome to leave for at least ten minutes, so we can tell the other guys.”

  We start walking faster. We can still see them just ahead, but they’re getting too far from us. Kira and I have to run to keep up. Once we catch up with them, I can’t keep the smile off my face. I just hope one of the others will play along⸻or a few.

  We walk into a clearing and there’s a mountain across from us. I look up, but I can’t see the top. All around us is woods. How is this supposed to keep us safe from anyone?

  “We’ll sleep against the mountain. That way, we can see if anyone comes at us. We’ll take turns keeping watch. I’ll take first watch. So, I’m going to take a quick nap,” Aidian says.

  They take their packs off and put them on the ground. Crap. I left mine back at the cabin. Great!

  The guys talk about getting wood for the fire and getting things set up. This is the perfect time to get Rome away from here. I nudge Kiernan and give him a look. Then I look to Rome and back. He nods his head.

  Kiernan hollers. “Hey, Rome, why don’t you go collect the wood while we get things set up.”

  “Sure, I’ll be back soon.” He walks away, whistling a tune I’ve never heard before.

  I wait for him to be out of hearing distance and wave my hand for the rest of them to come closer to me, so I can tell them my plan. Once I’m finished, I have them all laughing.

  “Oh, I am so in on this. This is going to be epic,” Taz says.

  “You can count me in, too. It’s about time someone gets his ass back,” Errol says.

  This is great. I can’t wait to see the look on his face. He deserves much more, but this will do. We get everything set up for the night.

  Kira and I get the food ready. I count the packs to see how much food we have to last us. There are fifteen. Someone must have gone back and grabbed all the packs. I will have to find out who, so I can thank them.

  Kira stops what she is doing to look at me. “Do you think this will work?”

  “I hope so. He needs to learn not to mess with us. If he does it again, he’ll get what’s coming to him again. Plus, I love pulling pranks on grumpy people. It’s fun.”

  “Since when do you like to do pranks? You’ve never done one before.”

  “Don’t burst my bubble. There is a first for everything. I’ve always wanted to do a prank. Now I get to.”

  “I just hope it doesn’t backfire on you. He might be the type to get revenge. Just saying; sleep with one eye open from now on.”

  I never thought of that. Oh well, it’s in motion now. There is no turning back. I’m sure it will be fine. We gather up some hot dogs and chips. I hand Kira the chips, so I can grab some waters.

  “Here he comes. I hope you’re ready for this,” Kira says.

  I look up to spot him with an armload of wood.

  When she says it like that, it makes me nervous. I still want to go through with this. If anything, it will be funny. I hand Bruno the hot dogs and pass out all the water I was able to carry. I will go back and get some more in a minute.

  Rome drops the wood in a pile. “Thanks for the help, guys. I figured one of you would come with me to help.”

  Kiernan walks up to him and grabs the wood. He walks to the middle where everyone is sitting and turns back around to Rome.

  “Here, why don’t I help you to your seat?”

  “I think I can manage, thank you.”

  Taz and Errol walk up behind him. Rome turns around, trying to figure out what they are doing.

  “What are you guys doing? Are you trying to feel me up or something?”

  Without a word, they all go up to him and start rubbing up and down on him. The look on his face is priceless. His wide eyes and open mouth say it all. But they aren’t finished. They push him onto the ground and tear his shirt off. They start rubbing his stomach and chest. He finally can’t stand it and pushes them off.

  “What the hell is wrong with you? Are you under a spell or something?”

  I try holding my laughter in, but I can’t anymore. I’m laughing so hard, I have to bend over. Tears are streaming down my face. I can’t get enough air into my lungs. I hear them all laughing just as hard. This is great.

  “You! This was all you, wasn’t it?” he says, pointing at me.

  I laugh even harder at him. He’s so mad that a vein pops out on his neck. That will teach him to mess with me.

  “Who, me? Was I the one rubbing up on you?” I say as innocently as I can, but I can’t stop laughing. He storms off, cussing and mumbling something I can’t understand.

  “Well, that was fun. I haven’t seen him that mad in a long time. I feel sorry for you guys. I’m sure he is plotting revenge as we speak,” Taz says.

  I stop laughing and look at Taz worriedly. He wouldn’t dare, would he? Great! What did I just get myself into? I think this is the reason why I’ve never done a prank on anyone before.

  “Don’t worry, he won’t come after you, just those three,” Cicero says, pointing at the guys who were on the prank.

  “It was funny. I give you that. If he comes back tonight, it will be a miracle,” Desean says as he gets the fire started. It’s getting cold out.

  I kind of miss the cave. At least there the wind wasn’t going straight through me. As the fire is getting hotter, I get as close to it as I can. I start to wonder about my mom. Where is she? Is she ok? Will, I get to see her again? There are so many questions and no answers. What was with that vision they threw at me? I’m starting to get a headache from all this. I just want my mom back.

  Hirman sits next to me. “Dariya, are you ok? You’re not worried about Rome, are you? He won’t do anything to harm you.”

  “No, I’m not worried about Rome. I’m worried about my mom and that vision I had back at the cabin.”

  Kiernan grabs both of my freezing hands and starts to rub them in his to warm them up. “Tell us about it, so that we can keep an eye out for it.”

  I tell them what I can remember from the vision. I try pulling it back up like I have been able to do with all the others, but it won’t come. Maybe Bruno is right about it being fake.

  “I can’t bring up the vision. It’s like I’m being blocked or something.”

  They all look at me with confusion.

  Errol sits by us to join the conversation. “I think that gives us our answer about it being fabricated.”

  Something’s just not settling with me. This place is really getting to me. Why would my father have told me to come here? This feels so wrong. If he trusted these people, then he was wrong. We haven’t been here that long, and they took my mom. Kiernan wraps his arms are around me, I lose it. I cry my heart out. How could I have lost my mom⸻and right under my own nose?

  “Shh! It’s going to be ok, baby I promise we will do everything to get her back.”

  I sniffle. “Why was there screaming at the cabin?”

  Knox leans back against the mountain not far from us. “There were bears and lions… attacking the fae and elves that were by the cabin. Once we came out to see what was really going on, the bears and li
ons took off. We tried to follow them, but they know this place better than we do. We didn’t want to wander too far. Isobel was attending the wounded fae and elves.”

  So, he does speak. Those are the first words he’s said. For a minute there, I thought he was a mute. I’m sure the look on my face says it all.

  “Yes, I do talk when I need to. I just don’t see the point in small talk”

  I shrug my shoulder to hide my surprise. “I didn’t say anything.”

  “You, didn’t have to. It was written all over your face. You really need to work on your poker face. Your expressions give you away too much.”

  Now he wants to be bossy? I think I liked it better when he didn’t talk.

  “Thank you. I’ll work on that. Can we get back to why the bears and lions were at the cabin please?” I say, rolling my eyes.

  “It was a distraction, I’m sure, to get your mom. But why, I don’t know,” Brody says.

  “Do we know who took my mom? Was there a scent that you guys picked up?”

  I should have asked these questions earlier. I was just too upset to even think right.

  “We found a lot of scents, from bears, lions, to fae, there was no way we could have picked out just one without knowing the scent first,” Bruno says

  That really sucks, but at least they tried. I get up and stretch my legs before I find a soft spot on the grass to go to bed. We all need all the rest we can get. The stress is taking a toll on me.

  Bruno comes over to me and gives me a hug. I guess I looked like I needed one. It feels nice to know they all have my back. “We’ll find her somehow. We didn’t come this far to lose anyone now. Go get some rest. We’ll need it.”

  He walks toward Kira. He holds out his hand and she takes it. I’m happy for those two. She’s had some bad apples in her life cycle. I thought she was never going to date again after her last boyfriend. He was only with her to try and sleep with her. She deserves someone who wants her for her.

  Kiernan walks over to me with his hand out. I take it and we walk over toward the middle of everyone already lying down. Kiernan lays down, and I lie on top of him like we did in the cave. I know if I try to lie beside him, he will just put me on top of him. I think it really is a dragon thing.

  “How are you holding up, love? I know this has taken a toll on you.”

  “I feel lost, scared, angry, and tired. I wish I could wake up from this nightmare. Reality sucks right now. Maybe I will dream we are all back together or figure out how to get my mom back⸻or even who has her.”

  “I know, love, I know. Get some sleep. We’re going to head out when the sun rises. I love you, Dariya.”

  I look down at him and smile. This is the first time he has said that since we were at the public house. It gives me butterflies.

  “I love you too, Kiernan.” I kiss him before I lay my head back down and close my eyes. It doesn’t take long for sleep to claim me.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The sun is just peeking over the mountain when I get woken up. Hasn’t Kiernan learned not to wake me up when I’m not ready? I feel like I just fell asleep. I roll over and come face-to-face with Rome. I jump up and look around. Everyone is still sleeping. Was he the one trying to wake me up, or did my brain warn me to wake up? Either way, this is creepy.

  I give him a death glare. “Do you know it’s not nice to stare at people while they’re asleep?”

  He shrugs his shoulders like it’s no big deal. “No, not really. I wanted to talk to you before the others wake up.”

  “Talk to me about what? It’s too early to have questions answered. My brain doesn’t work this early.”

  He asks me even after I warn him. “Why did you tell the guys what I said? Do you really think I would ever disrespect you like that?”

  “I did it because you scared the crap out of me, and I wanted to pay you back. It was supposed to be a funny joke; no harm done,” I sigh.

  He steps from one foot to the other. “Thank you for being honest with me and not blowing me off. That shows me you still at least somewhat respect me.”

  “Why would you think I didn’t respect you?”

  “I never met anyone like you before. Most people are scared of me and usually run the other way. I was kind of a troublemaker when I was a youngling. I was in a lot of fights.”

  “Was there a reason you got into a lot of fights? You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I’m just curious.”

  “I was small for my age. Other younglings thought they could pick on me. I didn’t become this big until I was nineteen. I just shot up and out,” he laughs.

  “I cannot imagine you ever being small. You were protecting yourself. How does that make people run the other way?”

  “I learned very quickly how to fight, and when I did fight, I let my anger take over. Most others didn’t look the same when I was finished with them. After a few cycles of them thinking they could take me, they realized I was not someone they wanted to mess with. I regret hurting them, but I don’t regret standing up for myself.”

  “Oh, when did the fighting stop?”

  “When I met my wife right after the change. She’s my true mate. She has taught me so much, especially how to control my anger. She is my saving grace.” He wears a smile on his face.

  “I want to thank your wife⸻if I ever get to meet her that is. When did you first shift? You don’t look that old to me.”

  “About fifty cycles ago. I’ve lost track of the cycles. There’s no point when we live so long.”

  “You’re still young. You still have a lot of living to do. Just remember to have fun while doing it. Cycles do go by quickly.”

  “I will keep that in mind. What’s the plan for today?”

  I shrug. “I don’t know yet. I think they were waiting for you to come back.”

  He looks around us. “Ok, I’ll go wake them up. It will be daylight soon.”

  I lay back down next to Kiernan. I snuggle up to him and start rubbing his chest to wake him up. He rolls over on top of me, still asleep. I try to wiggle my way out from underneath him. Man, he’s heavy! I try again with no success. I’m about to give up when he opens his beautiful green eyes.

  “If you don’t quit wiggling, you’re going to be in trouble,” he says with sleep in his voice.

  “I wouldn’t be wiggling if you didn’t roll on top of me. You’re crushing me.”

  He rolls over and takes me with him. I look into his alluring eyes. I just want to get lost in them and never return.

  His question brings be back to the present. “Are you saying I’m fat?”

  “Wait what? No, I never said that.”

  He starts laughing. Oh, he is so going to get payback for that. I smack him on his chest and get off him. I start walking toward Kira. Hopefully she’s awake. I don’t want to be the only female around all these males.

  You know, now that I think about it, how come Bruno didn’t have any of the females come along? I’ll have to ask him. Kiernan comes up behind me, picks me up, and spins me around.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “To wake up Kira. I need another female in my corner. There are just too many males here,” I say jokingly.

  “Ouch! That hurts, love. You don’t want to spend some time with me?”

  “I would love to spend all my time with you, but right now we need to figure out what the plan is. I need my mother back.”

  “Love, I hope you didn’t take that the wrong way. I want to find your mom as well. I was just hoping to spend a little bit a of time with you before things get chaotic again. This might be our only chance to spend some alone time for a while.”

  Now I feel like the bad person for not spending time with him. He is right. This might be the only alone time we get for a while.

  I turn around, putting my arms around his neck. I pull him down wanting to taste his sweet lips. He picks me up and I wrap my legs around his waist. I deepen the kiss, and he matches me.
<
br />   I get lost in this blissful state. I know we have things to do, but right now this is where I want to be. Just for a few minutes anyway.

  It’s me who pulls back this time. I’m breathing heavily. I put my forehead on his and breathe him in. With a heavy sigh, I jump down.

  “I love you, Kiernan. You have brightened my lifecycle up. Thank you.”

  “I love you as well. You have done the same for me. So, thank you back.”

  He takes my hand, and we walk over to the others. Errol has breakfast going. It smells so good. Right on cue, my stomach growls. I know we are getting low on food by now.

  These dragons can eat a lot. I can to for that matter. I grab a seat next to Kira and she hands us a plate. I’m too hungry to talk. I think I wolf mine down in record time. The only thing I ate yesterday was a sandwich and chips. With everything going on, food wouldn’t have been my friend. I don’t think I would have been able to keep much down.

  Kira nudges me with her shoulder “Someone has her appetite back I see. I was starting to worry.”

  “You know food is my second-best friend. I can’t stay away for too long.”

  “Tell me about it. I was almost your second-best friend⸻food being your first. You know this woman ate twelve pies once and was still hungry for more.”

  Bruno was sitting on the other side of Kira and starts to laugh. “I can believe it. I’ve seen her eat.”

  “I won first place for eating that many pies. I almost lost to that other girl, what was her name?”

  “Ola. She didn’t keep hers down. If she did, she would have beat you by one pie.”

  “Yeah, that’s right. Poor girl still can’t even look at pies without losing it.”

  Bruno stands up and stretches. “Let’s pack up and head out. I don’t know how much daylight we have.”

  We pack up and make sure the fire is out before we leave. We don’t want to start a wildfire. We take off at a normal pace for once. Everyone is quiet, lost in their own thoughts, myself included. I guess it’s best to stay quiet. We don’t know what’s out there⸻or who. I’d rather not give them our location.