by Ellie Margot
“He drains Elves?”
Trinity looked over his shoulder. “I don’t know, but if he juices and he takes too much, none of us would have what it took to overpower him. He’s an addict. You can see it in his too pretty bloodshot edged eyes. It’s too risky.”
Riette narrowed her eyes. She turned and walked back to where Mark stood waiting.
“How do I know you won’t take too much?”
“How do you know I want you?”
“I’m good,” said Riette.
“I’m sorry, but how would you even know?”
Riette swallowed. “There was a guy who seemed to think I would be.”
“There’s a lot of guys who don’t think clearly around you, I’m sure,” Mark said, whispering as he leaned forward. He put his face next to her ear and eyeballed Cassian in the process. “Like doll baby behind you.”
Riette rolled her eyes. “Not together. He’s with Trinity.”
“Who?” he whispered.
“The redhead.”
“Do we hate her?”
Riette closed one eye, considering. “No. She’s good people.”
Mark stood up fully. Then he shrugged. “Okay, it would be more fun if we did, though.”
“I have no reason to hate her.”
“Finding a reason is the easiest part of the process.”
Riette smiled but rolled her eyes again. “What’s the failsafe?”
“Like a safe word?”
“A what?”
“You poor little forest baby,” said Mark. “I can pinky swear I won’t drain you dry?”
“That would mean I have to trust you.”
“I’m trustable.”
“I don’t trust easy.”
“Smart. Well, we’re at a stalemate. We do it, or I fly yonder, I’m afraid. And that’s if I even think it’s good. I reserve the right to say your shit is shit, you understand?”
“Of course.”
“Let’s do it then.” Mark turned toward the others. “There’s some backing the fuck up in order,” he said in a sing-song-y voice.
They circled themselves around Mark, but Cassian hesitated. Trinity touched his arm and whispered something, but the look never left his face.
“I usually don’t have an audience,” said Mark. “I’m not saying I’m opposed, but it does add another layer to things.”
“Do it before I change my mind,” Riette said. She stretched out her arm and closed her eyes to summon the energy.
Things started to tingle on her shoulder. The tattoo burned again.
Mark made a noise in the back of his throat and reached out his hand, pushing his sleeve up as he did. He touched her, and his head jerked back. Riette didn’t see it since her eyes were still closed, but she felt the motion from the way he held her forearm.
She opened her eyes after a second, but the energy still pulsed. Mark twitched, and his hair stood up on its ends. He released her a moment later, and a shudder ran through him.
Riette let him collect himself and then spoke. “You okay?”
Mark still had his eyes closed, but a goofy smile found his lips. “I’m good. I’ll take you.” Bliss colored his features, but then he opened his eyes with a start. His eyes widened, and the redness showed. He looked like a fallen god, and they were all still. “But if so much as one of you little freaks utters a word to anyone about me working for free, I will make you a bad fucking memory. We clear?”
And they were.
Chapter 27
Taking down camp was easier than putting it up. Mekhi volunteered to hold the weight. Mark instructed them to stand in a circle around him and touch hands, but he insisted Riette be at his left side.
Cassian made a face.
“Don’t worry,” Mark said. “I’m not hitting her up again. We’re practically family at this point.”
Riette laughed, but she sobered at Cassian’s expression. Mark rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue when Cassian wasn’t looking and grabbed her outstretched hand.
“I must have fucking lost all of my mind,” Mark said, quietly enough that Riette assumed he was talking to himself. “Every corner of it.”
“I wasn’t worth it?”
Mark had closed his eyes but opened them again. “No, you’re good. But I wouldn’t go around advertising it. Others don’t have the restraint I have.”
“They’re not as pretty either, I’m sure,” said Riette.
“Look at us. Moving quickly and giving no shits about it.”
“I normally suck at making friends.”
“Friends are overrated,” said Mark. “Friends are fair-weather, bullshitting no-goodniks, okay? We’re beyond that.”
As the rest of them got their stuff and joined the circle, Riette thought to herself that it did feel that way, as improbable as that would be.
Once the circle was complete, Mark closed his eyes.
“How does this work?” asked Guy.
Mark cracked an eyelid. “I need total silence.”
“To make the magic work?” asked Mekhi.
“No, to tune the radio,” he said, and then he winked at Riette before closing his eyes again.
The air shifted. Riette felt as if she were on top of a large cliff, balancing on a blade’s edge to keep from falling. She heard the intake of breath from the others. She felt the earth contract. The air sizzled.
Time did not stand still. It warped and accelerated at breakneck speeds that Riette didn’t dare open her eyes to view. Wind whipped around her face, and Riette held her breath and waited for the world to stop its spin.
A second later, there was a jerk, a rearrangement of parts back to where they had previously been inside of her body.
Before she opened her eyes, she heard the distinct noises of someone losing the content of their stomach onto the ground in front of them. She didn’t want to, but eventually, she opened her eyes to see Corin on her knees and a puddle of sick laying in front of her feet.
Riette looked around. She saw the sea at her back and the port in front of her.
“I want to say holy shit, but that’s not enough,” said Mekhi. “You fucking zapped us across the fucking world.”
“Say fuck again,” said Guy as he pulled his jacket around him tighter.
“Fucking incredible,” said Mekhi.
“That was something else,” said Cassian.
“I’m tripping,” said Trinity.
“In those shoes,” Mark whispered into Riette’s ears.
She snickered but then stopped. Trinity was her friend now. She wasn’t going to laugh at her.
“Oh, relax,” said Mark. “Blame me. Don’t go getting all internal and woo-woo-wah, okay? I can be a bit of a bitch, but owning that is what makes it part of my process.”
“Does calling it a process absolve all of your sins?”
“I’m an Angel darling. I could shit right here in this busy street, and people would stop and take pictures with it.”
“Mark,” Riette said with a laugh.
“Look around you, darling,” Mark said. “I am the big deal.”
Riette did. People were staring. Most eyes that weren’t focused on the actual work in front of them were focused solely on her—or rather, who she was with.
Mark continued. “I very rarely write checks I can’t cash, yeah?”
“But that means sometimes you do.”
“I’m not perfect. I just look it.” Mark laughed.
She reached up and hugged him and didn’t stop herself when she almost thought to hesitate.
Mark hugged her back and then fully embraced her. A moment passed. “Okay, you need to let me go, honey. Your guard dog looks like he wants to bite me.”
Riette released and turned around to find Cassian glowering at them.
“He thinks you’re trying to get another taste.” Riette stopped for a moment. “Wait, did you?”
Mark laughed. “It’s like a charge cord. You have to be plugged in, if you will, to let me sync up,
okay? You didn’t give access, and I didn’t root around and take it. I’m not all bad.”
“I’m not calling you bad,” said Riette, touching his arm.
But Mark turned away.
Riette reached after him, but he turned around quickly. “Just kidding. You should see your face. I would take it with me, but you probably need it.”
“Thank you for bringing us,” said Riette.
“Yes, this was a bajillion times easier than hoofing it,” said Mekhi.
“Thank you for your assistance,” said Cassian.
“Honey, you sound so formal,” said Trinity. Cassian frowned. “Thank you, Mark.”
“And we’re totally sure we don’t hate her?” Mark whispered again.
“No, we like her.”
“Fine. Fine. Whatever.” He turned toward the rest. “Of course. Happy to help.”
“Liar,” said Riette.
“Fine. I hate helping, but I did it, and you all are here and not dead, so I did a bang-up job. And just for the record, it takes some next-level Angel shit I won’t even get into with you because you would not even understand the tips and edges of it to get this many of you tall fuckers this far in one piece. Just saying.”
“That was a mouthful,” said Riette.
“I’m always more than a mouthful, honey, but that’s not what we’re talking about here.” He leaned down to kiss her cheek. “You are something else though, you know that?”
“Oh, stop.”
“I’m serious,” Mark said, and after a look, she knew that he was. He snapped out of it quickly though. “Whatever you are, however, I’ll take it. You just name the place. Fire bits and all.”
“Higher highs mean lower lows,” said Trinity.
The group looked over at her.
“Mmm hmm, yes, quite,” said Mark, barely veiling his rolled eyes as he touched Riette again. Then he vanished before she could tell him goodbye once more.
“People think we’re the shit now,” said Mekhi.
“We’ve been through this,” said Guy. “Your smell—”
“Stop him before I wash him out to sea.”
Riette rolled her eyes again and looked at Guy as the group continued their walk down the port side of the main street. They were still the center of attention, but now for entirely different reasons.
Riette felt the urge to bark at the people looking at her, which made her think of Bark. She had stolen away to check on them and the book in the brief moments where the group tried to collect their bearings before their walk.
Guy scratched the skin behind his ear and cleared his throat again.
“What’s wrong?” asked Riette. She looked at Trinity too and saw the same unsettled energy on her features.
“This is your home,” Trinity said. “Not ours. What if they don’t take us?”
“It’s my mother—”
“Exactly,” said Guy and Trinity at the same time.
“Kicked out of paradise, party of one, anyone?” asked Guy. “I don’t think they’ll be reaching out with open arms to greet me.”
“I’m not going to say she’ll be happy, but that doesn’t mean you need to be worried.”
“That not-happy thing makes me worried,” said Trinity.
Riette let out a breath.
“She’s worried about her mother’s reaction to her too,” said Cassian.
“Not helping, bro,” said Guy.
“Whatever the case may be, we’ll handle it together, but we can’t handle shit at the bottom of the big ass hill, right?” said Mekhi.
“That was almost inspirational, babe,” said Corin, holding his side.
“I try.”
“That’s you at the ‘try’ level?” Guy asked. “Shit. We’re in trouble.”
“Dude, dicks can’t be helped,” said Mekhi. He looked at Riette. “Exhibit D. Guy. Another reason you can’t call yourself one.”
“But if I believe in myself—”
“We need to get a move on,” said Cassian. He stopped to look at her face again. “Your eyes aren’t getting better.”
“They haven’t been treated with anything,” said Riette more harshly than she intended.
“I thought Mark would take the edge off.”
“No, she took Mark’s edge off,” said Mekhi.
“Yeah, super transactional,” said Guy, but he didn’t smile. He just adjusted the collar of his shirt.
“I know it’ll be fine, okay?” she asked Trinity. “Can you trust me?”
“I do trust you,” said Trinity, and the quickness with which she answered made a lump form in Riette’s belly at her talking with Mark.
“Then let’s go.”
They made it to the bottom of the hill.
“Cliff,” said Mekhi.
“If it makes me feel better to call it a hill—” said Riette.
“The worst lies are the ones we tell ourselves,” said Guy.
“Did you come up with that?” asked Trinity.
He scratched his ear. “Y—yeah. Who else could?”
“It was beautiful,” Trinity said in a quiet voice.
Guy blushed, at least from where Riette stood. His skin was only slightly lighter than hers, but she could still tell.
“It’s beautiful,” said Trinity, looking at the vines.
“Do. Not. Fuck. With the leaves,” said Mekhi.
“What?” asked Trinity.
“They’re killer leaves,” said Corin.
Guy and Trinity waited for her to laugh. She looked up. “No, totally not kidding. They’ll kill you up something fierce.”
Riette moved past them. “Let me go first.”
Cassian tried to stop her with his hand, but Riette was too quick.
“I’m going,” she said, and he put his hands up to let her.
She took a step toward the vines, but before she could take her first step on them, they parted at her feet, moving and contorting to get away from her.
“That’s different,” said Mekhi.
Riette looked back at the rest of them. She met Cassian’s eyes, but she couldn’t ignore the frown that had formed on his face.
“It’s a good thing,” Riette said. She turned back and tried to ignore the sensation that she was just trying to convince herself.
“They normally fight, though?” asked Trinity.
“Yeah, they just about fucked us up last time,” said Mekhi.
“I burned them for lack of better options,” said Corin. She looked up at the hill. “You can’t even see where I came down now.”
“That’s a good thing,” said Riette, not turning around.
Corin wasn’t lying. Where there had been scorch marks were now greener selections of vine, wrapping themselves up the side of the hill.
“Yes, we couldn’t possibly have the poor murderous vines damaged,” Mekhi said. “How would we ever survive it?”
“We’ll let her lead the path, and we’ll follow closely behind,” said Cassian. His voice was dark, and he left no room for questions.
Riette started the walk up the hill. She looked back to see the others’ progress, but only Cassian, who was directly behind her, was safe.
“Fuck,” said Guy. A vine was wrapping around his leg and up to his thigh.
Trinity grabbed the part of the vine around Guy that she could reach, but the vines near to her grabbed her leg and tugged. Spiking thorns cut into her calf, and she pushed against them as they struggled to bind themselves tighter to her.
Mekhi and Corin stood back to back to make a stronger base of protection for each other.
“This isn’t working,” said Riette. “They’re not fighting you.”
“I must be close enough to you that they see me as an extension.”
Riette moved past Cassian, and the vines stilled as she got closer to Guy.
She touched one of the vines that was busy at work trying to drag him to the ground, and at her touch, the vines turned to black, and Riette heard a hissing sound that only burni
ng can bring.
It retracted, and she moved to help Trinity.
The vines retreated before she could touch them, and she sensed the warmth at her fingertips.
“Little help?” asked Mekhi as he looked up at one particular large vine that was towering over his head.
Riette held up her hand, but the vine didn’t cower. It lowered itself to her as if it were doing an inspection. Riette grabbed it by its thickest part and squeezed.
The vine writhed against her hold, but she didn’t release it. The top of it turned black, and the rot started to run down the rest of the green, with her hand being the most concentrated spot.
“You can let go now,” said Cassian. He was now the one standing behind her, blocking her from all of the rest of the members of the group.
“It’s officially choked out,” said Mekhi.
But Riette didn’t release it, not until the vine started to break into ashen chunks at her feet. It fell to the ground because it couldn’t support itself anymore. There was hardly anything left of it.
She wiped her hand on her pants and turned to see the faces of the others.
“That was...” Trinity started.
“Let’s keep going,” said Riette. She continued to wipe at the blackness on her hands, and there was tingling still in her palms and digits.
She led their way up the hill, and there were things said by the silence of everyone who followed her.
She didn’t let it slow her down.
She couldn’t.
The rest of the walk up the hill went quickly. The vines at her feet parted as if they were being pulled away from her, and no one spoke behind her, so she knew they were leaving them alone as well.
Riette looked to the top of the hill and saw the tree line waiting to greet her. The forest was dense, and there was a warmth in her chest. Her tattoo burned on her shoulder, but she didn’t focus on that. She was too close to home to slow down, and she wouldn’t. She couldn’t.
Something moved at the tree line. Riette stilled.
“What is it?” asked Cassian. She could feel his breath on her back.
“I saw something,” said Riette.
“We know everything up there. It’s home.”
“Then why is it hiding from us?” Riette asked, fighting down the sickness that was trying to gather within her.
