“Do not move another inch,” another familiar voice calls out from one of the hooded figures as they approach with another arrow pointed at Embrys.
“Ollie?” Embrys says, squinting in the dark and tilting his head to one side to try and see under the hood. The figure motions for the other two to go to Embrys with a nod of the head, which causes the hood to fall back, revealing the unruly red curls of Oleander.
“How did you locate us?” Oleander does not even deign to look at me and just keeps her very lethal looking stare set on her brother.
“Um… hello, hi,” I say, waving a hand in her face while still holding Marissa’s hand with my other one. “What the heck Oleander? You traitor! You left me for dead andstolemy sister. You made a promise! How were you even capable of breaking it?” I say, stepping into her space. She slowly peels her eyes away from Embrys and meets mine. I feel my face burning with rage and accidentally squeeze Marissa’s hand really hard in my anger.
“Ouch!” Marissa pulls away and steps up beside Oleander.
Wait a second,I look between her and Oleander.“You’re working together? She literally knocked you out and kidnapped you Mar!” I seethe.
Oleander cocks an eyebrow. “First of all, I said, and I quote,I promise not to rescue her without you.Honestly, one would think you would have learned by now that semantics matter in this realm. I did not rescue her without you. You just unfortunately got left behind once the rescuing was done,” Oleander says and I go to smack her but she catches my hand mid-air and holds on tight, pulling me closer.
Her eyes soften slightly but she does not relent in her grip. “Look, I am really sorry but the place was swarming with vargsand you were about to give away my location. I got her out of there, and to safety. The knock on the head was just a security measure so she wouldn’t alert them to our whereabouts. I did not exactly have time to explain who I was now did I? And it is your fault for not telling me whoyoureally were. If you were honest from the start I would have still helped you to free your sister,” Oleander says, still holding my wrist. I can feel her heat running up my arm from where our skin meets. I yank it away and cross my arms, denying the thrill her touch just gave me.
Seriously Nuria, you’re into siblings? Get it together.
“Well… shit,” is all I can say as a reply because her logic is annoyingly sound and her touch has me all flustered.
I can hear Embrys struggling behind me and look back to see him trying to fight the other two rebels but clearly losing since he can barely move his right arm. I try to ignore that issue for now and turn back to Oleander and my sister.
“I wasn’t even surewhoorwhatI was in the first place all right? I only knew that my birth mother was fae and I had just found that out not even twenty-four hours before meeting you. You never told mewhyyou wanted Marissa so how could I have trusted you with the truth? And why is she still bloody here? Did you have no decency to just return her home?” I say, finding my words again.
“I didn’t want to go. Nuria you were either dead or imprisoned and you came all the way to a different flipping realm to rescue me! I had to stay and fight for you. No way I could let you upstage me, right?” Marissa chimes in, giving me a wink. Her cockiness that usually infuriates me is a comfort, making me smile instead.
I’m so happy you’re ok,Ithink as I look her in the eye and her jaw drops.
“I heard that. You were right, sheisan Etherealist!” she says, turning to Oleander with wide eyes.
“How do you know what that is? And how do you knowwhatI am?” I ask Marissa, then Oleander.
“I’ve been with the rebels for over a month Nuri, I know everything,” Marissa says, flipping her hair over her shoulder and rolling her eyes.Same old Mar.
Oleander cuts in, “look we can stand here and chat all night but I would rather not wait and see ifhisfurry minions show up to back him up.” She tilts her head to a now subdued Embrys. “So if you would kindly follow us, I will tell you what you want to know in a more secure location,” she says, waving the other two over who now have a shackled, blindfolded Embrys held between them.Now that’s a nice sight.I raise an eyebrow and bite my lip. Oleander catches my eye and I clear my throat and look away, as if I was not just checking out her brother.
“Fine, let’s go.” I nod, giving one more glance back to where Embrys and I had fought. I notice a patch of white flowers that I swear were not there before, but Marissa links her arm through mine, giving me a little tug to follow Oleander before I can inspect them more closely.
Chapter Fourteen
We are being led through the forest, keeping quiet by Oleander's strict instructions, until we are far away from where Embrys found me. All I can hear is Embrys tripping and cursing as the rest of us walk along in silence. I keep my hand locked in Marissa’s the whole time, feeling that if I let her go she is going to be taken from me again, and still not quite believing that I found her… or she found me, I guess. I continue to stare at her and squeeze her hand a little harder. She looks back and gives me her cheeky little smile, squeezing my hand in return.
She looks so sure of herself and comfortable playing this new role of rebel. I think I never really knew her before.Was that popular girl act fake? Do we have more in common than I thought?The Marissa I thought I knew would have been grossed out by the dirt under her nails and the bulky clothes that don’t show off her assets.Who is this girl?
I really like her.
Oleander halts by a moss covered stone wall and lifts her hand, motioning us to all stop. She knocks three times on the stone, one slow and two fast, and then waits. The stone makes a grinding noise as a door that was perfectly concealed withinthe designs of the moss and lichen rolls open, revealing a hole, barely big enough to fit me standing upright.
We squeeze in, some having to crouch, as we make our way down the pitch black tunnel, single file. The floor is fairly even and the walls nearly hug my sides so it is easy to feel our way through. I can hear the grinding of the stone door as it closes behind us, leaving us in true darkness as it shuts with a suctioning sound. The tunnel turns a few times, first right, then left, then right again before straightening out. The rasping of breaths and shuffling of boots are the only sounds.
“Stop,” Oleander says, and I halt, unable to see anyone or anything and just trusting that we are all still together. I can hear her repeat the knocking pattern of before and another door swings open, letting the bright orange light of dozens of candles flood into the tunnel, momentarily blinding me. The sound of many voices overlapping signals a room full of people.
“We are here,” Oleander says as she moves into the large cave that houses the rebels.
The cave itself is three times my height and is deep enough to fit two long wooden tables flanking the left side wall, with cut up stumps for chairs and a woodless fire, no doubt Oleander’s handy work, with logs for seating situated in a circle in the middle of the space.
To the right there is an alcove that appears to be some sort of communal kitchen space with a big stone slab jutting out of the wall for a work table and little shelves dug out for storage. On one end of the alcove there is a little waterfall pouring through the rock and into a carved out trough that then drains back down into the stone floor. I wonder if this is natural or being manipulated by a water Elemental like Nerius did at the estate. I can see the openings to two more tunnels at the back of the cave that I assume lead to sleeping quarters or perhaps an alternative exit.
The place is full of fae, and creatures-of-fae, some sitting at the tables and some around the fire all conversing and filling the space with sound. When we enter the chatter quickly dies down and Oleander motions for another large fae male with foxy looking ears and grey curly hair to come assist with Embrys.
