Forged in Stone (11 page)

J
ames was even crazier
than I thought, and I was even dumber. What if he’d planted that piece of paper? I wasn’t sure how he could have turned on the light from upstairs, but anything was possible. We were in a different world after all. My chest clenched, and I could feel bile rise to my throat. If this was reality, and not some horrible nightmare, I’d made a huge mistake.

Debbie had said Charlotte was fine, but what if she was in on this too? Debbie was the one who came over to say he could stay there. What if this was all an elaborate trap? I tried to slow my breathing as I walked carefully through the woods. I needed to find a place to hide. Once James gave up I would get back to the gate and find a way over. There had to be a way to climb it.

I was lucky we’d run into his friend before we reached the castle. If there was even a castle. Maybe everything he’d said was a lie.

And how about meeting up with his friend? Was that planned? Nothing made sense. If James had wanted to hurt me, he could have done it back at the house. There was no reason for him to go through so much effort. For some reason he wanted me in his world, but I had no idea why.

I looked first at the tall trees around me. Not a single one had low enough branches for me to climb, so I looked to the ground instead. I found a hole big enough for me and jumped into it, squeezing between the large complex roots that took up most of the space. I covered myself up the best I could with leaves before glancing up at the slowly darkening sky.

“Ainsley?” James called out lightly. “Are you okay?”

I ignored him. Hopefully he’d give up easily.

“Ainsley?”

I heard the crunching of leaves and sticks. He was getting closer.

“Ainsley?” The crunching got louder, and his voice came from right above me. “Come on, please do not play around. We have to go.”

I held my breath. If he looked down he’d see me. And I couldn’t let that happen.

The crunching started again, and I heard another voice. “Did you find her? Where could she have gone?” Nathaniel asked.

“This is your fault. You scared her.”

“No. You cannot lay blame on me because your ill thought out plan blows up in your face.”

“I had no time to formulate a better plan.”

“You care about her?”

“It does not matter now. We have to find her.” James sounded panicked, but it could have been for a million reasons. None were worth me going along with him again. I needed to get home. “She must have gone back to the gate. All that kidnapping talk spooked her.”

“Should I wait here in case she returns?”

“Yes. If you find her, take her back to your farmhouse. I will check back with you.”

“Good luck. I hope you find her easily, and she is not too angry with you.”

“Right now my only concern is finding her.”

Their voices disappeared.

Now what was I supposed to do? I couldn’t go back to the gate because he’d be waiting. I was going to have to wait him out. The hole wasn’t comfortable, but it wasn’t awful. I didn’t have a coat, and it was already getting cold. I would likely be freezing by nightfall. But not so freezing I’d die. Uncomfortable beat death any day. I moved from my knees into a fully sitting position. I was going to be there awhile.

T
he woods were
silent except for the occasional bird chirping. The few birds I saw were brightly colored red and blue with crests of other bright hues. I wondered what other animals were out there. Hopefully nothing big. James hadn’t seemed nervous about wildlife, and I hoped that was because there was nothing to worry about here. That hope disappeared when the sound of a howl filled the night. I closed my eyes until it faded away. I hoped whatever it was would move far away, but creaking and whooshing noises continued. I flashed back to a Halloween night as a kid when my friends and I snuck into an abandoned house. Every squeaky floor board had us screaming. I only hoped these noises turned out to be nothing more than the wind in the trees like the abandoned house experience.

Time passed, and the sky grew darker and darker. As I’d predicted, the temperature dropped. I wondered if James still had my bag and coat. Would he toss them when he discovered he couldn’t find me? It didn’t matter. If I could get back home I could replace everything.

I fought my eyes as they longed to shut. I couldn’t afford to fall asleep. I needed to be ready to run at any second. I still didn’t have a plan, but I would make one. I would survive this. Somehow.

I felt a sudden pain in my ankle and looked down. Everything was dark in the hole. I tried to move my leg in order to see better, but it wouldn’t budge. Something tightened around it. I felt another sharp pain in my other ankle. Once again I couldn’t move it. I used my arm to try to move my legs, nothing. I reached down, half expecting to find a snake coiling around me, but it was hard, not the soft body of an animal. The tightening continued, and I could see it now: a dark mass of roots tightening all around my legs.

My heart started beating a mile a minute. What was happening? I tried again to move my legs, but the roots were moving higher and higher. They were almost to my knees. I started to yell.

The coiling of the roots continued. I screamed at the top of my lungs as the roots coiled up over my stomach and chest. I continued screaming until it wrapped around my throat so tight I couldn’t breathe. I was going to die at the hands of a tree.

“Over here!” Through the fog created by the lack of oxygen I heard a voice. Had James come back for me?

Suddenly the roots loosened, I could breath. I gulped in big breaths of air as someone pulled me out of the hole. I tried to scream again, but I still hadn’t regained enough air.

Arms tightened around my waist. “Gotcha.” A low and hoarse voice spoke in my ear. “We have been looking for you.”

I said nothing. I was too afraid to speak. Instead my entire body shook. His hands tightened on my waist, pressing into my skin in a painful way.

Another man walked around in front of me. He was holding a small lantern. His eyes were black, and his lips were twisted into an evil grin. “You should not have run from James, girl. You made our job too easy.”

James. They knew his name. Was there any hope they’d take me to him? I already knew running from him had been a huge mistake. “Can I see him?” I managed to get the words out.

The men laughed. It was a horrible off-kilter laugh that chilled me to the bone. “No. That would defeat the purpose of all of this now.”

“Why? Don’t you work with him?”

Both men laughed. “No, but you are going to wish we did.”

“I am going to look for the others. Watch her.” The second man walked off, taking the lantern with him.

I was left in the pitch blackness with the man holding me in the painful grip. He tightened his hold, and I winced.

“Am I hurting you?” He laughed. “Let me fix that.” He moved a hand from my waist and cupped my breast. He squeezed it hard before running it down the front of my body. His lips brushed against my neck. “Such a pretty girl. I bet you are fun.”

His touch and words snapped me out of my fear-induced daze, and I took my chance. I kneed the man holding me hard in the groin. He grunted and let go. I didn’t wait to see where the other captor was, I just ran.

“Where do you think you are going?” He yelled.

I kept running. The one thing I had was my speed, but in the pitch black night I could see absolutely nothing. After running a few hundred feet my foot caught in a root, and I fell down flat on my face. I felt the pain in my ankles again. The roots were back. How was it possible? How did these men control it? The loud laughing right above me let me know exactly how much trouble I was in. The roots continued their climb up my immobile body. The roots moved faster this time, and within seconds they’d reached my chest.

“Stop running little girl. You are never getting—” The man suddenly grunted in agony.

“You are dumber than I thought.” James’ voice came from nearby.

“James!” I couldn’t see anything, but the coiling stopped.

“Oh, now you will answer me.” He lit a lantern, and his face came into full view.

He set the lantern down, and I watched as he pulled a long sword out of the man’s torso. The blade was glowing bright green and lit up the dark forest.

“You killed him.”

“I did.” His face was somber as he used the sword to cut away at the roots.

“And your sword is glowing.”

“It is.”

“Why do you have it?”

“The sword? It’s required of Guardians.”

“What’s a Guardian?” Even in my exhaustion, I had to ask questions. I needed answers to hold onto.

“What I am.” He handed me the lantern before lifting me up into his arms. “Please do us both a favor and do not run or hide again.”

“I busted my ankle.”

“Good.”

“It’s good I hurt myself?”

“No. It is good you fell here where I could find you. You don’t want to know the things those men might have done.”

“I can imagine.” I wouldn’t forget the dirty hands roaming my body.

“The roots? How did they control the roots?”

“They worked for my father.”

“And he could do that?”

“My father could do a lot of things.” He started moving. “We have no time to waste.”

“Is anything you told me the truth?”

“All of it. I would think you would accept that now.”

“Then why did you lie about Charlotte?”

“I did not lie. I took her home because my father asked me to. I had to trick her, but in the end it saved her people.”

“What about me? You lured me into the garden.”

“To protect you.”

“I want to go home.”

“You will eventually, but now we have to get to Bellgard.”

I nodded. I was done arguing. If I had to leave my fate in the hands of anyone, I’d take James rather than those men.

“I know your ankle hurts, we will get you medical attention at the castle.”

“I will survive.” I rested my head against him. I was too tired to hold it up any longer.

“I know.”

“You found her!” Nathaniel rushed over.

“Tell her. Tell her the truth, Nathaniel.”

“James is not bad. Well, not really bad.” He laughed. “What I mean is he is not going to hurt you. We will bring you to the castle, and Charlotte will see to everything. You will like her. She is a wonderful Essence.”

“What’s an Essence?”

“You have a lot to learn.” Nathaniel held out his hand. “I can take that light for you.”

James nodded so I handed it over. We moved through the darkness toward where two horses waited. They weren’t tied up which must have meant they were so well trained they wouldn’t run away.

“I will be as gentle as I can on this ride, but it is rough terrain.” James lifted me onto his horse before stowing our bags in a saddlebag and mounting behind me.

“Just get us as far away from that forest as possible.” My body had finally stopped shaking. James’ presence put me at ease, and I wanted to believe that was for a reason, that he really was safe.

Nathaniel mounted his horse and waited next to us.

“I can do that, you don’t have to worry about the two men as I have taken care of them.” The horse took off.

I leaned back into James and held on like my life depended on it. It probably did. If I let go and fell off the horse, I’d have injured far worse than a turned ankle.

We road into the night, and with the minimal light created by the lantern Nathanial held I saw the landscape illuminated. The effect was almost dizzying, but I fought to keep my eyes open. I tried to remember the way to get home. Who was I kidding? I wouldn’t be able to find my way back by myself. Finally, I gave in and closed my eyes. James arms wrapped around me while he held the reins. In another context, I would have enjoyed the contact, but considering we were riding through the cold night, my ankle was throbbing, and I had no idea what fate I was heading towards, enjoying James’ touch wasn’t high on my list.

“You are safe. Relax.” He said the words against my ear.

“I will believe that when I am back home.” Although where was home? The house certainly wasn’t home anymore, and I had no interest in going back to my mom’s house.

“Are you okay?”

“Are you really going to ask me that?”

“Did those men do anything before I got there?”

“No. Just scared me half to death.” I shivered thinking about the man’s touch.

“Good.”

“You killed them.”

“Yes.”

“Why?” I wasn’t complaining about being saved, but did he have to take it to that extreme?

“You cannot seriously be asking me why I killed the men who kidnapped you.”

“You almost kidnapped me, and I wouldn’t want anyone to kill you.”

He laughed. “Glad you are not in too much shock and you don’t wish me dead, but those men were different. They were touched with the darkness.”

“With the darkness? I assume this has to do with your dad again.”

“It is all a long story.”

“I need to hear the story. I need to understand all of this.”

“And I will explain everything at the right time. It is too hard to talk now.”

For the first time, I noticed his voice was strained. “Are you hurt?”

“Not anything serious.”

“But something?”

“Only some busted ribs. Nothing to worry about.”

He had broken ribs, yet carried me without any complaint?

“We are getting close. I know you probably will choose to ignore my advice, but I would appreciate it if you let me do the talking when we get there. It will move things along smoother.”

“What would I say anyway?”

“Who knows? I just know you do not like to listen to me.”

“I ran because I thought everything you said was a lie.”

“Because Nathaniel made a joke. I am glad you have such confidence in me.”

“You did lure me into the garden.”

“To protect you. All I have done is try to protect you.”

“Thank you.”

“For?”

“Getting rid of those men. I know what they would have done.” I tried to sit up. I didn’t want to hurt his ribs.