Of the Woods

by J A S Bennet

  He didn’t answer so much as grin and nod while he poured the tequila. She thought of a follow-up. “Does that mean I’m going to be that fast when my powers kick in?”

  Jenny reached them as he answered, “If you three stick together, ye’ll all be much faster and stronger than even I am.”

  Ava raised her shot glass, then waited for Sheridan and Jenny to do the same. “To sticking together…”

  Jenny started to repeat the toast, but Ava wasn’t done yet. “… so we can be faster, stronger, and smarter than every man in this place.” She gave a pointed look at the bouncer standing at the door.

  Sheridan just drank even though it was probably a big mistake. She didn’t need to be feeling what she was feeling being near this man. If she kept on drinking, she may be feeling the bathroom floor soon. Fine. Whatever. Just not this knotted-up yearning.

  Jenny tried to repeat the toast, but didn’t care enough and just gave up. The music was calling her back to the dance floor, and so were the alluring eyes of the leader of the band.

  Deaglan cleared the glasses away and offered, “I never said ye’d be smarter.”

  “Didn’t have to, sweetheart, we already are.” Ava blew him a kiss and joined Jenny on the dance floor. He seemed completely okay with that remark as he answered to the back of her head with an amused smile.

  Turning to Sheridan, he spoke. “She is a tough one, isn’t she?”

  “Oh, she isn’t as tough as she makes out to be. You will see. I see it. I may actually like her, just a little.” She was watching the two women take over the dance floor.

  “Have you eaten?” He was looking at her with a concerned knowing look on his face. “You haven’t, have you?”

  His look shocked her. She was one of those people who faded into the background. She liked it that way. She didn’t need someone to take care of her. She had done it every single day of her adult life. People didn’t ask her questions about her well-being.

  “Uh … what?” She didn’t have an answer because she had no idea what his reason for asking was. Yes, this was a bar and grill and this was his job. Good lord, Sheridan, get a hold of yourself. He asks everyone that question.

  He said nothing else and disappeared behind the swinging door to the kitchen. Her attention went back to her friends on the dance floor. Friends? Is that what these people were going to be? She didn’t have friends. She honestly hadn’t felt the need to have them before. Now everything in her life was changing at full speed ahead and she didn’t know if that was good or bad, but it sure was happening.

  Her cousins were so different, but they each seemed to have something the others needed. Ava seemed to be damaged and fighting her way back to being whole, Sheridan was learning how to stand up for herself from her. Jenny managed to fill in the peacemaker role whenever there was tension, and Sheridan was teaching her a little bit every day about how to care a little less about what others thought. Ava was hopefully paying attention to Jenny’s ability to find the bright side of every situation.

  A clunk on the bar top in front of her broke her free of her reeling thoughts. Before her sat a plate of … what was this? Her questioning look told Deaglan that she had no idea what it was.

  “It is called colcannon. I could feel you were hungry and thought some comfort food would do the trick for not only your belly, but your heart.” He stood there looking at her like a kid presenting a work of art to their parents.

  “It looks like mashed potatoes. I love potatoes, but what is colcannon?”

  “Just try it, please.” He begged. “You need food.”

  Sheridan knew she wasn’t wasting away, she had curves to spare, so his wording seemed odd. She gave him a look. One of those, “You are weird,” kind of looks. She picked up her fork, dipped it in, and smelled it. Cocking her head to the side, she opened her mouth, and took her first taste. Deaglan seemed to glow with anticipation.

  “I love cabbage. How did you know I would love this?” She smiled up at him and he disappeared behind the door to the kitchen again. He returned with warm soda bread and fresh butter. Heaven from the most beautiful man she had ever seen in her life.

  “That’s it!” she exclaimed. “I’m dead, right? I died and went to heaven. That explains it.” He burst out laughing and walked away to fill an order from a fawning female customer. He threw that chick a smile, too. Sheridan ignored it because she had heavenly food before her, amazing live music to listen to, and she could see his nice jean-clad ass from where she sat. All was good with the world.

  Ava walked up and waved her hand in the air in the shape of a circle. Deaglan got the gist and came over to fulfill her wish of more alcohol. He had brought a glass of merlot with him, as well.

  “I thought this might suit your meal better than tequila. I will take your shot for you.” He set the wine before her in a delicate tree-etched wine glass. Deaglan threw back the shot and was off to work again. She had a feeling that he took the shot just so she didn’t have to. To her knowledge all he ever drank was water and some green gross smoothie thing in a mug.

  Was he taking care of her because he wanted to or was he just doing his guardian job? She didn’t know and maybe she didn’t want to know. She took a sip of the wine and then saw him smile at another woman ordering a drink. Fuck it. There went the rest of the wine. She sat the glass down harder than she intended. His head snapped to look at her and their eyes met. She didn’t smile. Neither did he.

  Her spine straightened and she deliberately looked away first. She focused on the dance floor and noticed a man she had not met had joined Jenny and Ava on the dance floor. He looked as if he would smell of beer and sweat, but he had a nice smile. Being as though he was one of the contenders for Auld Triangle’s Next Top Model that was evidently filming here tonight, they let him stay.

  Ava didn’t let him think it was his choice, of course. “What’s your name?”

  He had to talk loudly to be heard over the music. “It’s Liam.”

  “Itsliam, nice to meet you. I’m Ava.” She pointed to Jenny. “This is Jenny. We are kind of a big deal, don’t know if you’ve heard about us.”

  “Everyone knows who you are. My name isn’t Itsliam, my name is Liam.” He continued to smile.

  “You are not off to a great start in the honesty department, dude. Why would you lie about your name? Men can be so stupid.” Ava turned her back on him to dance beside Jenny. Jenny didn’t care about Liam, she only had eyes for the Tadhg character Deaglan had yelled at when they first arrived. Her girl crush had reached the googly eyes stage.

  “I offer my sincerest apologies for the miscommunication.” Liam wasn’t going to be scared off too easily.

  “Yeah, yeah, that’ll do. Just dance.” Ava was shocked to find that he did just that and made it look good. Seriously, what were they feeding these guardians?

  Sheridan kept her seat at the bar. She watched Ava on the dance floor and tried to focus on what was happening. That was becoming more and more difficult, as she couldn’t see. Well, she did see, but it was really blurry. At least she had lost her focus on Deaglan. That was a plus. However, she had a bad feeling of foreboding. This night was not going to end well.

  After another round of shots, Ava made her way back to the dance floor, but found herself a bit unsteady on her feet. It’s a good thing she had forgone the heels after all. Liam put his hand under her elbow to help her maintain balance. For some reason, she didn’t push him away. In fact, as a slower song began to play, she found herself leaning into his chest for stability as they swayed back and forth. His hands made their way around her back. As the music played, his arms must have grown tired, because his hands started to slip closer and closer to her ass. The alcohol was busy telling her all about how Liam would be a good one-night BOB. She started to move her hands to his ass in return, just to see what she would be working with.

  Next thing she knew, Liam was being carried by the scruff of his neck out the door of the bar by one angry Irishman named Ci
an. Ava lost it. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “How would you say it?” Then he snapped his fingers. “That’s right. I’m taking out the trash, what does it look like? ‘Tis my job.” Cian didn’t say another word to her, he just resumed his post at the door.

  Ava hands flew to her hips, well her right hand did, her left one missed. “You want to trash play, huh? I’ll play with your trash. Wait...”

  Cian laughed at her. She was so polluted she didn’t even know what she was saying. But it all made perfect sense in her head. She got so frustrated that the words coming out of her mouth weren’t matching her thoughts that she leaned up to Cian’s face and just blew raspberries. “There, take them berries.” She turned back toward the dance floor, brushed her hands off, and said, “Showed him, didn’t I?” to nobody in particular.

  From the corner of the bar, Eoghan hollered. It was muffled and she wasn’t sure she heard correctly over the music, but it sounded like, “You go, girl.” He had a raised fist as if in solidarity. She blew him a sloppy kiss as she stepped on the dance floor.

  When Cian was finished wiping the spit off his face he pointed at Ava, whistled, and shouted across the bar to Deaglan, “Boss?”

  Deaglan nodded. Then he leaned over and told Sheridan it was time to go home. He got his second taste of a Sheridan look. Oh, she was not liking this whole scene and him telling her what to do. Hell no. While he went to the dance floor, she slipped out the door mumbling to herself about being told what to do. Although, slipped wasn’t exactly what she did. Stumbled was a better term. That glass of wine had hit home.

  He talked to Jenny on the dance floor as he watched Sheridan stumble out and the two of them met Ava on their way to the door.

  “What’s happening? The night is young, you can’t expect us to leave because he says so. Geez, buzzkill.” Ava put her hands on her hips to show she meant business.

  Without saying a word, Cian bent over and picked her up, throwing her upper body over his shoulder like she was nothing more than a sack of flour.

  Ava pounded on his back and screamed at him the whole way out of the bar. This only served to show Deaglan the night for these three was definitely over.

  Deaglan felt a pull in his gut that led him outside. A fear that something was wrong. He knew this fear and knew it was real. His people were under attack on a regular basis. This time it was closer to home. Closer to his soul. He immediately thought of Sheridan. Where was she? Cian had Ava and Jenny on the way up to the copter. Where the hell was Sheridan? His heart stopped.

  She was at the edge of the woods. Standing still. No movement from her or the woods. Deaglan slowly approached her. He didn’t feel a direct threat, but his hand was on his dagger on his hip just the same. “Sheridan.” He said her name lightly; she felt it like a breeze against her soul.

  “Something wants us. It is calling to me, but it’s dark and I can’t see. I know that it wants me.” She didn’t speak to him, she said the words to the night. “I need to see its face.” She took a step and Deaglan grabbed her arm. She didn’t protest this time. It broke the call from the woods. He immediately dropped his hand. “Sheridan, it’s time to go home. It’s been a long day.”

  She turned and walked toward the helicopter without speaking or looking at him. She was tired. Completely worn out to the core of her being and she longed for home.

  Deaglan escorted the three of them home in the helicopter and met Fergus at the door to ensure they all made it safely to their rooms. They were all going to have a rough time in the morning. He wasn’t sure what tomorrow would hold for him either. His plan to stay away from her all night to protect his heart completely failed. It wasn’t a fun night, it just further reminded him how fucked he was. Totally and utterly fucked, his heart was an absolute goner. He knew what he was feeling, and though it wasn’t yet love, it was something he could not ignore.

  12

  Decisions, Decisions

  If Sheridan thought her dream the night before was crazy, this dream was certifiable. In it, she sprouted wings and flew around with them.

  In her hazy wakefulness, she replayed the events at the pub over and over in her head. She thought Deaglan inviting the girls to the pub was a sign he might be interested in her, but after his initial viewing of her chest, he hardly looked at her again the whole night. Well, he did insist on serving her some food and brought her wine, but he let her sit alone the rest of the evening while he smiled and flirted with everyone else. Flying them home, he buckled her into the front seat, despite Ava’s protests about her pilot lesson being ruined. But even that didn’t really mean he was interested in her. She was never any good at reading mixed signals. They always pointed to “no” for her.

  Why did this man feel the need to play games? She didn’t even care very much at first, since she wasn’t planning to stay long anyway. But now that she was considering staying longer, it would have been nice to see what he thought about it.

  What were they going to do? She still had so many questions about what was being asked of them. Maybe they could sit down with Derek and Fergus to get things spelled out in human English today. No riddles, no word games, and no stopping until they all understood.

  That seemed like a great plan, and enough to ease her mind back to sleep. Her head was pounding, so more sleep would help. She made use of the bottle of water and Excedrin on her nightstand then put her head back on her pillow. Sleep was good.

  Ava woke as the sun was starting to shine through her bedroom windows, reflecting off the metal weapons on her walls. She’d had a much better night’s sleep than the night before. It was easy to sleep with her mind erased by alcohol. It was not easy to face what she had done the night before. Had she really spit on Cian’s face?

  Hindsight being what it was, she realized she shouldn’t have had that last shot of tequila. Maybe then she wouldn’t have groped Liam’s ass, and then she might have avoided the argument that got her and the other two women kicked out. Things definitely didn’t go the way she thought they would. Today, however, was the day she was going to make somebody explain everything to her until she absolutely understood it. Also, she needed to meet the Rosin person to get her access to the internet situation figured out.

  Jenny was mad at whoever had turned the lights on. They were far too bright for her aching head. Seriously, how rude. Looking at her phone, she realized it was later in the morning than she was used to getting up. Maybe she’d already missed breakfast.

  A tap on her door nearly knocked her out cold from the pain that radiated through her head. “Come in.”

  Ava let herself in, already dressed in another suit with her hair pulled up in her usual braid. Her feet were clad in heels again; she must have meant business.

  “Time to get up. I brought you some coffee with milk and sugar, a bottle of water, and a couple ibuprofen. We have contacted Derek and Deaglan about coming over to answer our questions today. They will be here in an hour. Get your ass out of that bed and let’s get some answers.” She set the goodies down on the bedside table and turned to leave.

  “Ava?” It took a lot of effort for her to call out like that. Ava sensed that and moved to the end of the bed again. “Thank you for bringing me that stuff. Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “Are you scared? I mean, what if all these people are just lunatics and we are their next playthings?”

  “Every time my mind starts heading down those lines, I just remind myself that this tattoo appeared while I was awake, and it reminds me that what they are saying could be true.” Ava smoothed her finger over the tattoo, then looked at Jenny. “But even if I were scared, you’d never hear me complain about it. The fear is what fuels me.”

  Deaglan and Derek were waiting in the great room with what seemed to be a whole herd of guardians. They’d brought in some back-ups this time. Derek cleared his throat and the dull roar ceased. “We brought some people in to share their stories, because we know this is a lot to t
ake in. Knowing how important these grounds are to the people who live on them is vital in understanding the mission we are asking you to take on.”

  One by one, their guests told stories about how Shawn had found them and brought them here and that it was the island of misfit toys they had all been seeking to call home. As each person finished their story, they put their hands on their chests, bowed to the three, and left.

  The first thing Sheridan noticed was that many of those who spoke had an aura of different about them. She could have sworn more than one had pointed ears and one even seemed to have a tail. The second thing she realized is that they had all suffered. Stories of famine, disease, lost children, and fire were but a few of the things these people had suffered. The most important thing she noticed was that these beings seemed to be asking them for help. These people thought that she, Ava, and Jenny could help them. Somehow save them.

  When the last creature walked into the room Sheridan gasped, while Ava murmured something about hugging that tree. Immediately, they felt a kinship with the dryad who appeared to be half human, half tree. It took a few seconds of wide-eyes staring to accept the vision in front of them. Once they swallowed their disbelief, he spoke with a deep, growly voice. “You have been called to bring peace to this land. The root of the power is based in this castle, its trunk is this community, and the three of you are the branches, reaching out to help those in need. There is only so much we can take before we begin to lose everything. My only offspring suffered greatly at the hands of the Darkness and never recovered. Within you three is the power to defeat evil, if only you will embrace it and accept the challenge. Please hear me, we need you to do so. Thank you.” With his hand on his chest, he bowed and left quickly.

  Sheridan kept her eyes off Deaglan and tried to focus on the stories, but it was difficult. She could feel his presence like a tree could feel its roots. There was no better way to explain it.