THRAX

by Bonnie Burrows

  But soon, other thoughts crowded that one out of my head. I began thinking of the skeletons in the moss-covered plane in the forest. I began thinking about how they'd never gotten a proper burial. And I began thinking about ghosts.

  I'd never really believed in ghosts, although I'd never exactly disbelieved, either. And now, as the minutes ticked by in the quiet dark at the foot of the massive gray mountains, the existence of ghosts was beginning to seem more and more likely. A branch in the fire popped, and I jumped about a mile.

  After several more minutes went by, I tried to redirect my thoughts by recalling some of the jokes Katie had told, but I couldn't even remember any of them anymore. My hands began getting just a touch trembly, and I considered calling out for her and Sam, but ultimately decided against it, telling myself that I was a big girl; I wasn't in danger, and certainly I could handle a few more minutes alone, even if I was a bit spooked.

  However, a short while later, I just couldn't take sitting anymore and got to my feet a bit unsteadily, my head still spinning from the wine. "Hurry up, you guys. Just come back already."

  I still wasn't going to shout, though it was becoming increasingly difficult to fight the urge to do so. I whipped my head in all directions, looking for any sign of ghosts, but saw only the campfire and blackness. Until all of a sudden, I didn't see just the campfire and blackness. I suddenly spotted some sort of gray, misty shape rising above the campfire.

  I gasped, heart pounding. "Oh, my God. Help."

  I felt like a complete and total idiot a moment later when a second gray, misty shape rose above the campfire, and I realized that what I was seeing was just plumes of smoke.

  I actually managed a weak laugh. "Dummy."

  Just then, I heard a noise behind me and whirled around, gasping again. But it wasn't any kind of a sort of a ghost or a specter. It was Damien, walking out from the cave.

  Without even a moment's hesitation, I took off toward him, stumbling over my own feet a bit, and just about hurled myself into his arms. "Oh, Damien. Oh, my God. I was just so freaked out before you got here. See, there was a plane in the woods with skeletons in it, and the people who the skeletons were never got a proper burial, and then Katie and Sam just went for a walk, and then I just started thinking about ghosts, and...." Suddenly crying, I buried my face in his muscular shoulder. "I just got a little scared."

  Holding me in his strong arms tightly, he moved his mouth to my ear and spoke in a voice so low and gentle it was barely audible. "Sh. Sh, sweet girl. I'm here now, and I'll never let anyone, or anything, hurt you. Ever. And that's a promise. You're safe."

  I cried into his hard chest, nodding, while he began rocking me almost imperceptibly.

  "You're safe now."

  With his strong arms around me, I did feel safe. Completely. And it felt really natural to be in his arms. It felt surprisingly right.

  He stroked my hair, still saying comforting things near my ear while my sniffling subsided. I rested my cheek against his chest, realizing that the woodsy, masculine scent emanating from it was absolutely heavenly. Maybe even a shade more heavenly than Nick's woodsy scent, if that were possible.

  After inhaling Damien's heavenly scent for a brief while, I suddenly lifted my face, embarrassed. And on a number of different levels; for having gotten a little too tipsy, for having been afraid of ghosts, for having cried, and for having spent even a moment inhaling my possible future brother-in-law's intoxicating scent.

  "Sorry. I'm such a complete idiot."

  His full mouth twitched with a smile.

  "That is categorically false. However, I do think I might detect just a hint of blackberry wine on your breath. Do you think that might have anything to do with you getting so worked up and scared?"

  A little giggle escaped my mouth. "Maybe."

  I tried to take a step back and extricate myself from his arms, but I began stumbling, realizing that I hadn't quite sobered up yet.

  He tightened his arms around me. "Whoa. Easy, little miss. Seems to me that I might have to give you some help walking back to the campfire."

  I suddenly shook my head. "No, I don't want you to help me walk back to the campfire. I want you to kiss me."

  CHAPTER 9

  I stood with Damien's arms around me, hardly even daring to believe the words that had just come out of my mouth. Though, unbelievably, I made no attempts to take them back.

  Looking deeply into my eyes with his expression serious while the campfire crackled and popped behind us, Damien spoke in a husky whisper. "Are you sure?"

  He'd shuffled his feet a bit, lightly pressing our lower bodies together, and I could feel the considerable length of his already-stiffened manhood against the curve of my belly. I nodded, thinking that I not only wanted him to kiss me, but maybe even do much more.

  With his eyelids slowly closing, he brought his face to mine. I began closing my own eyes as well, anticipating the feel of his full mouth on mine. But suddenly, I thought of Nick. Nick, the man I loved. Nick, the man who I was planning a future with. Horrified at what I was about to do, I opened my eyes and pulled my face away, seeing that Damien was doing the exact same thing, simultaneously.

  He gave his head a little shake, cringing. "Oh, I just...hate these. I just could not possibly hate these any more. These little sudden attacks of conscience that I get from time to time. But I'm sorry to say, I can't do this. I want this...I want this more than anything; I want you...but not like this. I won't kiss you while you're still my brother's girl, and I won't kiss you when you've been drinking. At least not when you've been drinking under these circumstances. I want you to choose me; I don't want to take advantage of you when you're clearly more than a bit buzzed." Closing his eyes briefly, he paused, sighing, before looking deeply into my eyes once again. "When we finally come together, and I know we will, I want it to be right. Do you know what I mean, Daisy?"

  I suddenly didn't know anything anymore. All I knew was that I had to get out of his arms, fast.

  "Please just walk me back to the campfire, and let's just forget about this whole thing. I'm sorry; I just don't handle alcohol very well. I'm just not in my right mind. I'm loyal to Nick, and I always will be, because he's the man I love. Let's just forget about this whole thing."

  With a little nod and an almost-inaudible sigh, Damien released me from his embrace and began walking me back to the campfire with an arm around my shoulders. After sitting me down on a low, flat rock, he boiled some water and made me some tea.

  While handing me the steaming cup, he glanced at the two empty wine bottles with his gray eyes twinkling in the golden light from the fire. "Looks like I missed quite a party here."

  I took the cup, cracking a smile. "Kind of. I get the feeling that Katie is the fun, crazy friend I would have had in college, if colleges even existed anymore."

  After giving me a grin, Damien returned to the fire and began heating up some leftover bacon for a sandwich. While I sipped my tea, I began to feel myself sobering up. And once Damien sat down a few stones away from me with his sandwich, I felt the need to say something, and so I did, forcing myself to look him in the eye.

  "Again, really sorry for that back there. And again, I'd really appreciate it if we could just forget the whole thing...and never speak of it again. To anyone."

  With his expression unreadable, he took a bite of his sandwich, chewed, and swallowed before responding. "You have nothing to be sorry for. Sometimes when a person's been drinking, emotions come out that a person wouldn't normally allow to rise to the surface otherwise. But as far as forgetting about what happened, I can't. And that's because I'll treasure the memory of holding you in my arms until I can hold you in my arms again. However, as far as speaking about it, don't worry. I won't say a word to Nick. And I promise you that."

  At the mention of Nick, I suddenly felt a little warm and even claustrophobic somehow, despite being in a very wide-open space, to say the least. I unzipped my hooded sweatshirt, took it off, and set i
t on the rock beside me. "Can we please just change the subject now?"

  Damien said sure and went back to his sandwich. Yet we didn't go back to talking. Which was fine. I was beginning to feel profoundly exhausted.

  However, once he'd finished his sandwich and a bottle of water, he looked over at me and spoke, the campfire illuminating the angles of his handsome face. "Despite how things may seem sometimes, I do love my brother, you know. I just haven't liked him since we were kids. He was our parents' first son, their golden son...even literally, with that dark golden blond hair of his. I was always the dark one, the naughty one...just the spare to the heir, so to speak. My father never had time for me, and my mother always seemed perplexed and disappointed that I wasn't an exact carbon copy of Nick. I don't even think Uncle Marshall has ever much liked me. Nick has always seemed annoyed by me at best, and disgusted by me at worst. So, you can see why sometimes I can come off like I have a chip on my shoulder. I've always felt like a complete outsider in my own family. I don't act the way I do sometimes for nothing. It's not because I'm an asshole."

  I nodded, feeling a little twinge in my heart. "I know."

  But before we could talk any further, Katie and Sam returned, hand in hand, both of them looking distinctly flushed and happy.

  Katie gave me a little smile. "Sorry we took so long on our walk. There was just...so much scenery to enjoy. So much...scenery that's even more interesting at night."

  Sam took a seat next to Damien. "All okay here?"

  Damien moved his head in the most perfunctory of nods. "Yep. Just got out of the cave. And with about a pound of crystals in my pockets. Whoever hid that damn chest sure didn't want anyone to find it. Was at the end of some tunnel at least five miles long."

  Still looking at Damien, Sam put his arm around Katie, pulling her close. "Well, Nick will sure appreciate what you did."

  Damien stared into the fire, stony-faced. "Yep."

  We all soon unrolled our bedding and went to sleep beneath the stars, Katie on my side, and then Sam next to her, and then Damien a good distance away from him.

  The trip home was uneventful and quick. I didn't sleep stretched out on Damien's back as I’d done on the way down to Tennessee. I just didn't want to get too close to him, being that I already felt guilty enough about doing so the previous night.

  When I hopped down from Damien's back in front of the cabin, Nick was already waiting outside, and he lifted me off the ground and just held me tight for a few moments before looking at my face.

  "Everything go all right?"

  I nodded. "Perfectly."

  He glanced over my shoulder at Damien, who was already walking away down the lane, having given the crystals to Sam back in Tennessee.

  "And did Damien behave himself?"

  I nodded again, willing my cheeks not to flush pink. "Yes. He was actually a perfect gentleman the entire time."

  Nick studied my face for a long moment before giving me a quick kiss and setting me down. "Good."

  "And how have things been with you and Alexandria? She still behaving in a friends-only manner?"

  I'd told myself I wouldn't even ask. But for some reason, I just hadn't been able to help it.

  Nick nodded. "Oh, yes. Yes, we've barely even spoken more than a few words to each other, actually."

  Alarmed, I thought I saw his eyes dart to the side for just a split-second before he'd answered my question, possibly indicating deception, though I couldn't be sure. And I decided to just let it go. I trusted him.

  Over the next several days, with a string of crystals around her neck, Alexandria did her spells over Nick while he sparred with Damien and other shifters while in dragon form. And this time, the spells worked. When Nick fought Sam at the end of day three, Sam said he could tell a marked difference in Nick's strength.

  At a council meeting that night, everyone agreed that Nick was ready to take on Ezra.

  Katie, who hadn't been turned off from drinking since our trip like I'd been, slugged back her last sip of wine before looking at Nick. "How exactly will you do it, though? And I mean...where will you fight him?"

  Nick looked thoughtful for a long moment before responding. "Ideally, I'd like to fight him in a neutral open space away from the citizens of our respective towns. The wide clearing just a short way outside of Howler's Creek would be nice. Though if I arrived there, which I'm sure his spies would see, I fear that he might not be man enough to face me. And I'm not quite sure how I might lure him out."

  "Well, I have one surefire idea." I paused, clearing my throat, knowing that Nick wasn't going to like it. "I could be the bait to lure Ezra out. When his spies see me, they'll alert him, rather than just grabbing me, because they'll probably be suspecting a trap. And even if Ezra himself suspects a trap, I still don't think he'll be able to resist. He's cocky and way too sure of himself. He'll probably think he can race in and get to me before whoever is waiting in the wings can attack him. And at that point, that's when you come flying on out."

  I'd thought that Nick was going to shoot my idea down immediately. But, to my surprise, he nodded slowly, knitting his dark blond brows together.

  "That just might work. And I'm absolutely certain that I can get to Ezra before he would ever have a chance to harm you or take you back to Howler's Creek. I won't even let him get anywhere near you."

  Damien frowned. "I don't like this. There's too many variables. Too many things that could go wrong. And with Daisy's safety at stake...." He shook his head. "I don't like this."

  Nick narrowed his deep green eyes at him. "You don't have to. You're not in charge, here. I am."

  Damien scoffed, his dark hair glinting in the soft glow of a lamp hanging above the table. "How could I ever forget?"

  Nick took a deep breath, sweeping his gaze across everyone at the table. "It's settled, then. Daisy will be the bait, and I'll take out Ezra. We'll carry out the plan tomorrow at dawn."

  That night, I actually slept like a baby. I wasn't completely without anxiety about my role as bait to lure Ezra out to the clearing, though I had complete confidence in Nick that he would protect me and keep me safe.

  An hour or so before dawn, Nick and I met up with everyone at the council lodge to go over a few last-minute details. It was decided that Sam would fly me to the clearing, drop me off, and immediately fly away, and not all the way back to Crystal Falls, but far enough away so that Ezra wouldn't be discouraged from coming out to get me. Then, when Ezra did, Nick, who'd be not too far behind Sam and me, and who'd hide in the forest behind me, watching, would shift into dragon form and charge at Ezra before Ezra could even get near me. At this time, on a roared signal from Nick, Sam, who'd be hiding in the forest in human form, would immediately shift, come pick me up, and take me back to town. Damien offered to serve as backup, but Nick refused, shaking his head.

  "Thanks, but with my new increased strength, taking out Ezra should be a snap, and I doubt his men will even have time to approach and join the fray before I've killed him. You coming along as backup would only serve to alert more spies of our presence, something we definitely don't need."

  Damien shrugged at Nick and then gave me a little smile. "Good luck."

  Still confident that everything would go according to plan and Nick would keep me perfectly safe, I wasn’t terribly nervous. Which wasn't to say that I was completely not nervous, but it wasn't that bad. However, just before leaving Crystal Falls on Sam's back, I went back to the cabin and grabbed my longbow and some arrows in a drawstring backpack. Not because I thought I'd actually need to use my bow, but just because I felt much safer with it, and I figured it would help keep my nerves under control.

  And it did. When Sam set me down in the clearing near Howler's Creek just after dawn and flew off, I was actually beginning to think that some of Nick's new-found super-confidence had rubbed off on me. I felt fairly calm, cool, and collected and didn’t feel any anxiety. I actually felt like I just wanted to get the whole thing over with so Nick and I co
uld simply move on with our lives together. I still wanted that more than anything. He was the man I loved and I desired my future and life to be with him. Despite what had happened with Damien in Tennessee and the funny, conflicted feelings I had about him, which seemed to keep bubbling to the surface every so often, I truly wished to forget that I had asked him to kiss me.

  Standing in the clearing, I watched a small grayish-tan rabbit hop across the tall grass in front of me, and wondered how long I was going to have to wait. The early October morning was overcast and a bit chilly, and I didn't want to catch a cold. Realizing that my biggest concern in the midst of my current endeavor was catching a cold, I chuckled briefly, hoping I wasn't being as cocky as Ezra was.

  I stood around and waited, watching more rabbits hop across the clearing. Birds in the forest behind me seemed to come to life all at once and began chirping. I passed some time trying to identify exactly what kinds of different birds were singing. Eventually, maybe after twenty minutes or so, I strung an arrow in my bow and shot it at a small, skinny, orange-leafed tree by some shrubbery on the other side of the clearing, simply out of boredom. And that's when things went horribly, terribly, calamitously wrong.