The Changelings (War of the Fae: Book 1) (17 page)

And then he was gone ...
poof ...
like he'd never even been there.

Finn let out the breath he'd been holding in one big whoosh, bending over and holding his hand over his heart.
 

I totally understood what he was going through right at that precise moment.
 
I was having a small heart attack myself, and I hadn't just stuck a blood-sucking creature from my worst nightmares through the chest with a stupid arrow.

Tony looked over at Finn, his own face so white it looked nearly blue.
 
"Where'd you learn to shoot like that?"

Finn stood up and shrugged his shoulders.
 
"I come from a long line o' rednecks; we bowhunt all kinda shit in Central Florida.
 
Nothin' like that though."

I decided right then and there I was never going to mock or disrespect a redneck ever again, for as long as I lived.
 

I put my hand on his shoulder.
 
"Finn, my friend, you have nerves of absolute steel.
 
I almost peed my pants when that gargoyle just appeared in front of you like that.
 
I didn't even see him move."

"He reminded me of a rattler.
 
Just waitin' to strike.
 
We got lots of rattlers out where I'm from."

My newfound admiration for Finn's redneckery was interrupted by the sound of Chase's moaning.
 
In all the excitement I had kind of forgotten the poor guy.
 
Thank God he was still alive.
 
My brain was not ready to accept death yet.
 
Anyone's.
 
Not even that freaky deaky monstrosity that had just vanished into thin air.
 
It's not that I minded him being dead, so much as I just didn't want to have to look at him anymore; and if he had died, he'd still be here with us, as a reminder of the deep the shit we were in right now.
 
I don't think they make wading boots tall enough.

Becky was the first to reach Chase.
 
She knelt down, peering at his face, careful not to touch him.
 
"Hey, Chase.
 
You okay?"

I wasn't so worried about the touching part.
 
I bent down and tapped his cheek a couple times.
 
"Hey, Chase ... you in there?"
 
I figured he'd appreciate the tough love approach more than the fawning and sniveling stuff.

His dry lips parted a little and he said weakly, "Yeah ... barely."

"Can you open your eyes?"

He opened them and I couldn't help but gasp in surprise.
 
The light of the moon was shining down onto his face, lighting it up almost as well as a flashlight.
 
What were once the brightest cornflower-blue eyes I'd ever seen, were now a dark and dull ... I don't know ...
blah
.
 
If 'empty' was a color, this was it.
 
"Holy shit, Chase ... your eyes."

"I can't see anything in this light," said Becky, pulling her flashlight out of her bag and shining it in Chase's face.
 
As soon as she saw them, her eyes got even buggier than they already were, welling up with tears.
 
She snapped off her flashlight and turned her head to quickly brush some tears away.

Chase struggled to sit up, blinking the remnants of the brightness away.
 
"I can see fine, but it is a little dark."

Tony and Finn came up to see what the big deal was.
 
They both got on either side of Chase to help him stand.
 

He swayed a little on his feet at first, but then he seemed to get his equilibrium back.
 
"Dizzy ... "

"Still a man of few words, I see," I said, jokingly.
 
It was time to get some positive vibes back into this group, so I was determined not to start shrieking and having a total mental breakdown, even though that's what felt like the natural thing to do.

Becky choked, laughing and crying at the same time.
 
"Sorry," she said, embarrassed about her tears.
 
I thought she was the only one having a normal reaction right now though, so I patted her on the shoulder to make her feel better.

Tony and Finn leaned in and got a closer look at Chase's eyes.
 
Finn shined his flashlight on Chase's face.
 
"Dude, what color are your eyes s'posed to be?"

"Blue."

Finn let out a low whistle.
 
"Well, they ain't blue no more."
 

"Yeah, they're a kind of, I don't know ... gray?
 
Is that gray, Jayne?" asked Tony, concern marring his face.

"That's what I'd call it," I answered.
 
That was better than saying 'lifeless' or 'empty'.
 
I changed the subject to something more pressing.
 
"So, where the hell are Jared and Spike, and what the
fuck
was that monster doing to Chase?"

"Looked like it was eatin' him, to me," said Finn, matter of factly.

"I don't think it was eating me," said Chase.

The teeth marks and blood streaks on his neck said differently.
 
"What was it doing then?" I asked.
 
Maybe it had injected him with a poison that was making him stupid.

"It was draining my life force away, I think, not just blood.
 
After it got the drop on me and nailed me to the ground, I tried to fight it; but almost right away, I got tired.
 
Then stuff just stopped mattering to me and I kinda zoned out.
 
I quit fighting on purpose."

"Stuff?
 
What stuff?" asked Tony.
 

"Life.
 
Living."

A life-sucking creature.
 
Here in this forest.
 
With us.
 
"
Sonofa
bitch
!
"

"Shhh, Jayne, not so loud," said Tony, panicked.

"What?!
 
Those assholes put us in this forest with humanoid creepers that like to suck the life outta people!
 
You know what that means
,
Tony?
 
Vampires!
 
And not the hot,
Twilight
kind either.
 
How am I supposed to remain calm about
that?
"

Becky spoke up quietly.
 
"He's right.
 
We have to be quiet.
 
That thing might not be the only one out here.
 
Maybe he has ... friends."

I looked at Chase.
 
"How do you feel now ... about life, I mean?"

He shrugged his shoulders.
 
"Better.
 
Tired."

"I've read a lot of vampire books and I've never read one that said they suck the will to live out of you," said Tony, keeping his voice down.

"What's the difference?
 
Blood ... life ... the end result is the same," I said, pissed off all over again.
 
When I got my hands on that Dardennes guy, he was gonna be
so
friggin' sorry.

"Where are Spike and Jared?" asked Tony, looking around.

"Maybe they ran off," said Finn.

"Maybe the creature got them and they're on the ground around here somewhere," said Becky, looking around fearfully, stepping over to hold onto Finn's arm.
 

Smart girl
. Go with the guy who has the poison arrows and knows how to use 'em.
 
I took a step closer to Finn too and immediately felt emboldened.
 
"Or maybe," I suggested, "they're hanging out with Niles having a nice little laugh at our expense."

Tony frowned at me.
 
"Jayne, how can you say that?
 
They wouldn't do that."
 
He was getting mad, thinking I was joking at an inappropriate time.
 
And to be fair, I have been known to do that before, but not this time.

"I'm not kidding, Tony.
 
Something was going on with Jared.
 
I saw him giving goo-goo eyes to Dardennes earlier.
 
After I caught him, he wouldn't look at me anymore."

That made Becky cranky, if the tone of her voice was any indication.
 
"Jayne, you're wrong.
 
Jared's been nothing but kind and helpful to all of us.
 
If it wasn't for him, we'd all still be out on the street, fending for ourselves."

"Yeah," I scoffed, "instead, you're here in the haunted forest, about to have the life sucked out of you by a flamingly gay vampire."

"Nah.
 
I ain't buyin' it," said Finn.
 
"Jared's a good guy."
 
He was shaking his head, refusing to listen to anything negative about his absentee leader.

"I agree with Jayne," said Chase.
 

No one was more stunned than I was.
 
"You do?
 
Why?"

"I saw the same thing.
 
And once that life-sucker guy appeared, Jared went AWOL.
 
Spike stuck around for a bit, but then he left too.
 
At least Spike tried to help.
 
Jared ... "
 
His shrug said it all.

"Ha!
 
I
told
you, Tony."

Tony shook his head.
 
"I still don't believe it.
 
Just because someone gives someone a look and runs away when a blood-sucking demon jumps out of the trees – like any smart person who wants to live would do – it doesn't make him an accomplice.
 
I'm withholding judgment until I have more proof."

"Ugh, you sound like a lawyer, Tony."
 
I hated lawyers.
 
I know they serve a purpose, but my dad was one and that was all I needed to know.

He shrugged an apology at me, but I know Tony well enough to know that when he puts his foot down, it's down.
 
He'd have to see Jared sucking the life out of someone with his own eyes before he agreed to my theory.

"It don't matter," said Finn.
 
"We hafta get outta here and find that first waypoint."

"Does anyone have any idea where we are?" I asked, bending down to open my bag and get my map out.
 
My hand brushed up against the sharp stick in there at the same time we heard a crashing in the trees nearby.
 
I grabbed it and yanked it out, ready to jab anyone who came too close.
 

I seemed to have pretty decent eyesight here in this forest, but when I pulled my weapon out, it looked blacker than black.
 
It seemed to meld into the shadows, almost impossible to see.
 
I had no time to contemplate this phenomenon, though, because someone or some
thing
was coming right for us.
 
And fast.

Becky was pointing her flashlight in the direction of the noise, the knife in her other hand.
 

The rest of us held our weapons at the ready.
 

Blood pressures were rising.
 

Anxiety was at maximum capacity.
 

This thing needed to come out and give us a damn good explanation for why it was scaring the shit out of us, and
quick
, or it was gonna get stabbed, arrowed, sliced, axed, and shot.

The branches parted and out stepped Spike, his slingshot dangling from one fist.
 
"Hey guys ... whoa, easy there ... don't shoot."
 
He held his hands up in front of him in a gesture of surrender, the rubber bands of his slingshot dangling limply.
 
He flashed his trademark smile at us.
 
Instead of turning me on this time, it creeped me out, looking all too familiar right now.
 
I could still picture the blood smeared on a very similar set of teeth not too long ago.
 
Everyone but me lowered their weapons.

"Not so fast, there,
Spike
, if that's your real name ... "
 
I stepped around Finn and Chase, advancing on him slowly.
 
"Lift up your shirt."

"What?"
 
Spike looked lost.

"You heard me.
 
Lift it."
 
I gestured with my stick, point first.

Spike looked at all our faces, one by one.
 
"Guys?
 
Help me out here.
 
Why the striptease?"

"Oh Gawd, Jayne!
 
Not again!" said a frustrated Finn.
 
"He ain't the bad guy here!"

"You heard her," said Chase.
 
"Lift it."

"You too?" Finn asked Chase.

Chase ignored him.

"Listen, guys, I don't know what's going on here, but I was lost for a little while and now I'm just glad I found you."

"Save it.
 
Lift up your shirt, or taste my pointy stick,
Spike
."
 
I was so sad right then, thinking I was going to have to stab the hottest guy I'd seen in a long, long time.
 
Maybe ever.
 
Those fucking teeth
.
 
I should have
known
they were too good to be true.

I heard a noise behind me.
 
It was the sound of Finn's arrow being notched and drawn back.
 
He sounded tired when he said, "You heard her, Spike.
 
Show us the goods."

Spike swallowed loudly.
 
I could see his Adams apple move up and down with the effort.
 
He dropped his slingshot on the ground in front of him, and slowly reached for the bottom of his shirt.
 
"Okay, guys.
 
I don't know what the hell is going on here, but if you want to see my chest that bad, go right ahead.
 
Get your fill, cuz this show is available for a limited time only."
 
He slowly lifted the bottom of his shirt to reveal his body beneath.