The Hunt (The Wilds Book Two)

by Donna Augustine

  I saw understanding there. I also saw the tension that he’d hidden from me under his ice ease from his frame. He was as relieved as I was as we left the place.

  Chapter 10

  We didn’t go straight to the farm after the hole, and pulled up to the dead tree after it was already dark. I got off the bike without asking what we’d stopped for. My hand went to the knife at my boot, my fingers feeling the well-worn wooden handle that felt so right in my palm.

  “No. You need something harder.” He reached to his hip and handed me his gun.

  There would be no lucky shots with a gun. I wasn’t good enough with it to leave any room to pretend that the magic had helped. I scanned the area for an impossible target and found it on a twig hanging low, about fifty feet away.

  I closed my eyes, concentrating on the glow, the burn I needed to build in my chest. Try as I might to build it, the tinder would barely light. I felt like my magic was a match in a strong gust, doomed to extinguish before it could really take hold and burst into a flame. No matter how hard I concentrated, it snuffed out, like it couldn’t get enough air or something was suffocating it. I opened my eyes and aimed, already knowing the outcome before I pulled the trigger.

  The twig was still there.

  I could feel Dax staring at me from where he’d moved back, ten or so feet away to give me space. I knew what he was thinking. I was thinking it too. My so-called magic seemed to be stalling. This was the time I should be stepping up, not falling down.

  I closed my eyes again, trying to draw forth the burning glow. I didn’t open them back up, and aimed without looking, anything to trick the magic into kicking back in and hoping it would force whatever was in me to wake up. I pulled the trigger again.

  I opened my eyes to see that stupid twig still there.

  “Fuck!” I screamed at the trees and into the air, to no one and everything. I couldn’t seem to get the magic to take hold, no matter what I did. It was getting smothered.

  A shudder ran through me, as I thought of the dream I’d had and the eerie coincidence of the timing. Could it have been something else that did this to me? What about what Tiffy had said about her friends? No, that was crazy. We’d been alone in the middle of the forest. No one had been there. It had been a dream.

  Dax walked over and took the gun from my hand and holstered it before he said, “Let’s go back. It’s been a long day.”

  “That’s it? You don’t want to keep trying?” I asked, wondering if he’d feel the same if we’d still been waiting to see if I could spot Dark Walkers. We’d sat there for a lot longer and he hadn’t suggested we leave once.

  “I’ve been gone for more than a day. I want to check in.”

  “I guess it’s okay because I can still do what you need.”

  He shrugged. “Yes, that’s part of it. This isn’t the end of the world. You have magic. It’ll come back. Stay close to the house and don’t leave the gates,” he said, as if that fixed everything.

  I shook my head. “You don’t get it.”

  He rolled his eyes, and I could tell he thought I was kicking into dramatics and showing my age. How did you explain to someone who could become a beast what it felt like to be vulnerable? I’d been so close to being able to defend myself, not need anyone to back me up, and it was gone. There was nothing okay about that.

  “You aren’t any worse off now than you were last month. I’ll keep you safe until we get it worked out.”

  “You are the one that doesn’t get it. I can’t be weak. I’m tired of being weak. So tired you can’t possibly understand. How could you? You’re”—I waved my hands at him in frustration—“you.” We stood a few feet apart, but the differences, especially now if I’d lost my magic, were more like miles. “You’re strong. You’ve been strong almost your whole life. You don’t get it. I don’t want to need anyone.”

  “Fine, but I’m heading to the house because there are people there who do need me,” he said.

  I watched him walk off and realized he couldn’t understand this. I didn’t care if he left me here alone. I didn’t want someone to protect me. Needing someone to protect him was utterly alien to him. He thought I was being ridiculous, maybe even selfish, but he’d never been weak. He couldn’t understand what that was like.

  I turned back and stared at the tree, but knowing there was something else I needed to do. There was someone I had to talk to. It was a crazy long shot, but I had to find Tiffy. Even if there was the slightest chance “her friends” had something to do with this, I had to explore it.

  I was almost to the gate when I heard a tinkling melody, like wind chimes hanging from a porch on a day with a gentle breeze.

  I was surprised that there were people living over here. I’d thought that everyone that didn’t live on the farm itself was to the south. I changed directions and took a couple of steps north, trying to pin down the location so I could hear them more clearly. The chiming picked up slightly, now sounding almost like a chorus, but it was still a strain to hear. I walked farther north, but as soon as I walked a step too many, it seemed like they were coming from the west. I circled the area, trying to find the source of the noise that sounded so similar to the noise I’d heard that night I’d awoken before we went to the Rock.

  The chiming sound died. Maybe it was the wind passing an odd branch and causing the noise, or perhaps I was too tired and starting to lose my mind. I hadn’t felt right all day.

  I finished my walk to the house and was glad Dax wasn’t there. I heard a humming Fudge, who I’d greet afterward, in the kitchen. I didn’t want witnesses to the coming conversation, and I was hoping to find Tiffy alone. I did. Tiffy was curled up on Fudge’s bed with a picture book in her lap.

  “Tiffy, I need to talk with you.” I sat down on the edge of the bed.

  She smiled and placed the book beside her, giving me her full attention. “Yes?”

  “Did your friends do something to me?”

  “I don’t know. Might have. I haven’t spoken to them since the other day, so I don’t know.”

  “Do you know what they might have done?”

  “I’m not sure I’m allowed to tell you.”

  On to the next awkward question. “Tiffy, are your friends human?”

  Her mouth scrunched to the side. “I don’t think so, but I’m not sure. We don’t discuss that either.”

  This wasn’t going as well as I’d hoped. “If you see them, can you tell them I’d really appreciate a chance to speak to them?”

  “Sure. I’ll pass the message along.” She picked her book back up, clearly finding that much more interesting than I was at the moment.

  I got up but stopped at the door, “Tiffy, one last thing. Does anyone live over in that direction?” I asked, pointing north.

  “Nope.”

  “Thanks.”

  I walked from the room realizing that I was so desperate to figure out what was wrong with me that I’d just asked a six-year-old to put in a good word with her invisible friends. I nearly reeked of my own desperation.

  Chapter 11

  I got up at the crack of dawn, without anyone making me, and ate jerky for breakfast, by choice, rather than waiting for Fudge’s breakfast. I was in a hurry to get to the tree. I knew what the stakes were, that Dark Walkers would be coming for me. I refused to take a baby step back, let alone a giant leap into a pile of dung.

  I’d stay out here all day if I had to. I’d brought enough jerky to get me through until dinner if needed, and would do this every single day until I forced the magic to come back.

  My target before me, I didn’t waste time greeting my assassin, and got right down to business. I closed my eyes and concentrated. I had to feel it, the burning. If I could feel it burn, I was getting it back.

  Raising my arm, I visualized the knife flying from an impossible distance as I tried to stir the inner flame within me. I could feel it start, but it sputtered out quickly. I’d never noticed it in the beginning either. Maybe it didn�
��t have to be there every time? I let the knife rip from my hand and did a small prayer like Fudge did, even looked upward while doing it. Just because the burn hadn’t come when I’d thrown didn’t mean the knife hadn’t hit its target.

  I opened my eyes and looked in between the assassin’s carved ones, hoping to find my blade sticking out. It wasn’t there. My eyes dropped lower to the forest floor and then higher on the bark. What the hell? Not even close?

  Dax walked into the clearing, knelt down, and picked up my knife. “Looking for this?”

  It had fallen wide—like eight feet wide. I wrung my hands together before I caught myself. What had just happened? I’d made that throw over and over again without thinking and I’d never missed. I’d always nailed it. It must have been a fluke. I couldn’t be hitting the skids that bad.

  “What are you doing?” Dax asked as he stood, tossing my knife and catching it.

  “Were you following me?”

  “No. Did I see you head this way and decide to come here? Yes.”

  I marched over to where Dax was standing and grabbed my knife from him before he could throw it again. I marched back to the spot I’d been and then went a few feet farther.

  He moved clear of the tree without me asking, not that I would’ve. I was going to make this shot without a doubt. He wasn’t in any jeopardy.

  I lifted my hand with the knife in my grip and let it fly.

  It landed ten feet wide this time.

  “So how’s this working out for you?” Dax asked, in perfect deadpan. Sure, now he decided to get a sense of humor.

  I ran two hands through my thick hair, pulling it back from my face as I tried to understand myself. “I don’t know.”

  He grabbed the knife from the pile of leaves it lay upon and brought it back to me. “Decide you are going to do it and then do it.”

  I nodded, taking the knife again.

  “Concentrate this time.”

  “Why are you here trying to help now?”

  “Do you want my help or not?”

  I couldn’t answer because I didn’t know myself. If he could help, yes. If he was going to end up being a bystander as I failed repeatedly, no. Too bad I didn’t know which way it was going to go so I could answer him.

  I closed my eyes, threw, and missed.

  I did it again.

  And again. Each throw, I became a little more desperate, and he got a little quieter until neither of us were speaking. I wasn’t looking over at Dax, having my answer on whether I wanted him there as he watched my utter deterioration.

  By my tenth miss, the silence was killing me, and I glanced over to where he was, not knowing what I’d see there. Frustration? Anger that I couldn't seem to get my act together?

  What I saw was so much worse than that. He looked like he… It was hard to even come to terms with the way he was looking at me, but it was suspiciously similar to the look I’d given Becca the last time I’d seen her.

  “I don’t need your pity. I’ll get this.”

  “I know you will,” he said. “But maybe you should take a break. You’re tired and your arm isn’t good enough to go this long.”

  Who was this man? Dax never wanted to give it a rest. He pushed. That’s who he was. It meant one thing. He didn’t think I could.

  “I will get this, and I’m not tired.” It was a lie. I’d woken up feeling exhausted, but I wasn’t quitting. I wasn’t a quitter.

  He did the opposite of what I asked and leaned against the dead tree.

  “Move!”

  He did, but instead of moving away from the tree and out of my line of fire, he headed toward me. “Come back to the house. Give it a rest.”

  “I have to get this.”

  “You’re not getting it today. There’s something wrong and it’s not getting fixed this way. You haven’t even come close. We need to try something different. ”

  “I can’t give up. I didn’t get this far to just give up now.”

  “For tonight you can. I don’t know what’s wrong, but we’ll figure it out.”

  I brought my closed fist to my mouth as I stared off at the trees. Dax was right. Whatever was off, it didn’t seem to be righting itself.

  “It’ll kick back in. Magic doesn’t go away. You have it or you don’t. If you have it, you always have it.”

  “Do you know that for a fact? How do you know there isn’t someone out there that lost it for good?” I asked, poking holes into his statement and hoping he’d be able to close them back up.

  “I don’t know, but it’s what I believe.”

  I nodded, realizing the holes were still gaping.

  Maybe everything he’d said was wrong. When he’d told me that day that I could be something special, I’d wanted to believe him. I’d stayed because of that.

  The special wasn’t shining through anymore, and I was starting to have some doubts about how much special I had in me. What if I was only ten percent special and he’d just noticed it on a good day? What if I didn’t even have a whopping five percent? I didn’t think that would make me almost invincible. By my guess, based on absolutely nothing but pure speculation, which of course made it accurate, almost invincible had to be closer to ninety percent special, at least. After all, we were talking invincible. People weren’t walking around like that all willy-nilly.

  I was so lost in my pity party, attended by just me in my morass of unspecialness, that I didn’t see the threat coming. I didn’t sense the attack until I heard a growl and a clawed hand was shoving me out of the way and into the bushes.

  It was too late, though, as the group of Dark Walkers descended on us. Dax was human one second and then full beast, slashing through our attackers like they were papier-mâché as they swarmed. Blood was spraying as bodies fell—but there were a lot of them, and they kept coming. There had to be at least ten of them to our two—or our one, if you counted able bodies capable of defending themselves.

  Hell if I wouldn’t try, though. I couldn’t let him fight this out alone. I climbed back to my feet and out of the bushes he’d shoved me into with a knife in my hand. I’d die beside him before I hid like a weakling.

  I saw a Dark Walker coming at Dax’s back and threw my knife. It landed right in his throat, like I’d aimed. Even with all the chaos going on, I couldn’t help but realize I was throwing better then I should be. I’d used magic. I wouldn’t have been able to make the shot otherwise.

  That moment of shock cost me, though.

  Hands wrapped around me, one across my midsection and the other around my neck. I kicked backward hard enough that I threw my attacker off balance. We went down together. I heard a nice ummph as I landed on top of a male, if size was any indication.

  I wrenched free of his grasp while he was stunned, and turned on him. I didn’t have a weapon in my hand, and the guy outweighed me by a lot—like, a tree trunk lot. I heard chaos behind me and knew I couldn’t count on Dax, who had his hands full. I was going to have to fight this mammoth alone. This was not the day to come to terms with the fact you definitely weren’t invincible.

  I reached for the spare knife at my ankle, and it cost me leverage as he flipped me, gaining the top position. But I had a weapon in my hand again. I focused on his face. My chest felt like it was on fire as I eyed my target, and no matter how he tried to grab me, his hands couldn’t seem to stop the knife in mine from reaching its target.

  It was a beautiful shot, right through his eye socket. It would’ve been perfect if I hadn’t gotten a little squeamish. Stupid me turned my head at the last second, as I tried to spit out the black shit that got in my mouth as the weight of his dead body drove the hilt of my knife into my temple.

  * * *

  “Come on, Dal, wake up.”

  I’d barely opened my eyes, and the first thing I thought of was my knife repeatedly hitting its mark. “Dax, the magic came back when I was fighting.” Then I realized I was pressed against his naked chest, practically on his lap.

  “How do y
ou feel?” he asked, his voice sounding rougher than normal. Red still glowed behind his irises.

  “I’m fine. The guy fell on me after I killed him, is all.” The splitting headache wasn’t anything compared to the painful awkwardness I was feeling. I started to squirm off his lap before I gave him the impression I wanted to be there. I looked around and asked, “What happened to the rest of them?”

  His arm behind my back still, he carried me over to a tree and rested my back against it. There were dead bodies everywhere.

  “Oh. You happened to them.”

  “I’ll be right back.”

  I nodded, forcing my eyes to not look down there as he stood. Then I looked anyway. I was a human after all.

  Wow, okay then. That’s what that looks like completely naked.

  I pushed myself upward into a standing position, using the tree for leverage. It triggered a little fuzziness in my head, and I hoped some of the blood would drain from my face before he came back.

  I should’ve been scared. More Dark Walkers knew where I was, but there was a silver lining. I could still see them, and I’d used my magic. I was at a disadvantage, but I wasn’t totally helpless, either.

  Dax came back, his clothes tattered and barely holding together.

  “Come on, let’s get back to the house. Can you walk?”

  I pushed off the tree. I was a little wobbly, but stayed upright.

  “I can do it,” I said, while I calculated the distance.

  He urged me forward but didn’t touch me again until I almost tripped. His hand gripped my elbow but then let go of me right away, like he was trying to avoid touching me. It was for the best. I’d rather struggle along on my own, since he was throwing off that weird energy in droves, maybe the worst I’d ever felt from him.

  When we got to the gate of the compound, Bookie happened to be nearby, and came over right away when he saw us approaching.

  “What the hell happened?”

  “Group of bandits,” Dax said. “Take her into the house. I’m going to go find the doc.”