He let out a deep laugh, and I felt a little bit better about him. He might have wanted me to be impressed with his title, but he didn’t seem to take it too seriously.
“You see those two men?” Jacob asked quietly, pointing toward the Skinners. “They want me to hand you over to them tonight and then kill your companions.”
My first reaction was to look over at Dax. I knew he was listening to our conversation, heard every word with those beast ears. His face, which was only in profile, turned toward me, and he winked his left eye.
“Are you going to?” I asked, still uneasy but feeling better than I would’ve before seeing that wink.
“No, but I want something from you in return.”
“Which is?” Did this guy have any idea I had nothing?
“You’re a Plaguer, are you not?” he asked, and I knew he was looking down at my hand.
“Got the scar to prove it,” I said, holding it up for him.
“And you can see the Dark Walkers?”
The Pirate King believed in the Dark Walkers too. This was pretty interesting. “Yes. I can,” I said, as I watched the people on the deck, all of whom were holding off their own business waiting for us to finish. If I had been looking at Jacob instead, I might have missed the slight tensing on Dax.
“I might call you from time to time to vet certain people. Do you agree to do this in return for today’s favor?” Jacob asked.
Considering the circumstances, I didn’t feel like I could say no, but I wasn’t about to agree to an open-ended favor, either. “Perhaps we could help each other, favor for favor.” That’s right, bucko. There would be no indefinite service.
He nodded after a moment. “I can work with that.”
Nodding back, I said, “You have a deal, then.” I thought about sticking my hand out to shake on our agreement, but I stopped myself, not wanting the moment to become awkward.
“I want you to know that I had my man, the one who assaulted you, killed.”
Whoa, now this was getting heavy. I hadn’t liked the guy and all, but yikes. Didn’t seem exactly fair, as I was walking around fine. Note to self: Don’t piss off the Pirate King, as he might have a tendency to overreact.
I forced a “thank you” out, knowing it was expected.
“You’re welcome. As the only known Plaguer in existence, if he had killed you, he could’ve cost me much.”
Only known Plaguer in existence. I nodded and switched my body to autopilot while I digested his words. I was it? The last? At least until another wave of Bloody Death came through and wiped out the entire human race, that was. Then there might be none at all.
I remembered getting to the farm that first day and Fudge saying that Dax had been gone a while. How long had he searched? Was it really true? There had to be some in hiding. I couldn’t be the only one.
“Be careful, Dal. Before long, I think the tides will turn, and the unwanted will be the most sought after.”
I nodded, and the Pirate King left me. He briefly paused to nod to Dax, Rocky, and the Skinners before he returned to below deck. The two Skinners watched him closely him as he went, probably puzzled and wondering why he wasn’t going to allow them to follow through on their double cross.
Dax took a step forward, angling himself in between me and the Skinners while Rocky came and stood beside me.
Dax, sticking his hands in his pockets as he faced the Skinners, made it clear he didn’t consider them a threat.
“Why didn’t you bring her?” he asked.
“We brought this instead. It’s proof enough.” The Skinner to the right held out Tiffy’s stuffed rabbit.
I stepped around Dax and ripped the rabbit from the Skinner’s hand. I wasn’t sure what I would’ve done next, but it would’ve been violent if Rocky hadn’t tugged me back over by him.
“We leave with the Plaguer and the girl will be returned the next day,” the Skinner who had held the rabbit said.
Not tonight, tomorrow—just long enough for them to get back behind their walls. I knew then that they didn’t have her. They wouldn’t have killed her, not on purpose. But maybe by accident?
“Don’t call another meeting without bringing the girl. We aren’t talking until we see her.” Dax gave them his back as he turned to Rocky and I.
“We’ll kill her,” the Skinner said.
“I doubt that,” Dax said, and motioned to the side of the boat where the rope ladder was. He wasn’t surprised. He wasn’t even frustrated. He’d expected this outcome.
* * *
The trip back was the same distance but felt like it took three times as long. I wasn’t sure if it was because I wanted to get Dax alone so I could nail him with questions or because I felt drenched in disappointment.
We got back to the Rock, and as we paused before the gate opening, I said, “We need to talk alone before we go back.”
This conversation needed to take place outside the walls, where no one could overhear us.
Dax signaled to Rocky, and we pulled off from the gate as he went inside. Dax stopped a few miles away from the Rock.
I got off the bike, needing to see more than the back of Dax’s head for this conversation. He got off after me and waited. Even seeing his face, this was one of those times I had no idea what he was thinking, and nor was he giving me any idea.
I tilted my chin up, my eyes narrowing as I shot out my accusation. “You knew the Skinners didn’t have her.”
He didn’t budge for a minute or say anything, and for once, I waited patiently.
“I didn’t know anything for sure, but I had my suspicions.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I’d hoped I was wrong.”
Hoped? It seemed such an odd thing to say considering who might’ve had her, unless the alternative was death. For the first time, my body refused to go on autopilot, and I had to reach a hand out and lean on the nearest tree or I would’ve fallen.
Why was it always the kids that slayed me? It had been the same in the Cement Giant. Seeing anyone hurt and abused was hard, but the little ones—watching them lose their innocence as their blind trust in humans was betrayed was always the worst.
It was the betrayal of trust that made everything so much more painful. By the time most of us hit our teenage years, we expected to be betrayed, and somehow it made it easier. All I could think of was Tiffy lying there with me, so sure she would be safe, and I’d let her down.
The words stuck in my throat, but I finally forced them out. “You think she’s dead.”
“No.” A scintilla of relief came, but was quickly washed away by his next words. “I think other things might have her.”
“Other things? What kind of things?” I didn’t know if I felt better or worse. My legs hadn’t decided either, and I kept a hand firmly on bark.
“There’s certain things that aren’t spoken of, even between those who have magic. Things that go on in the Wilds that people like to pretend don’t exist.”
He walked closer to me and I wasn’t sure I wanted him to, or more accurately, I didn’t want to hear what he was going to tell me. But Tiffy’s life was at stake and I didn’t have a choice. “What things are you talking about?”
“The things that Tiffy calls friends.”
“You’re saying her friends exist? They aren’t make-believe?” Dax had been the only one I hadn’t asked about Tiffy’s friends. Even when he hadn’t been avoiding me, it just hadn’t occurred to me to ask him. Or maybe it had, but the lines of communication were shaky at best, and opening up with did you see the invisible tea party last week seemed like an awkward start.
But I’d talked to others, a lot of them. It was why I’d kept telling myself not to listen to her or my gut, and that they didn’t exist. “How can that be? No one’s ever seen them.”
“They’re real. The people who do know, they won’t admit to it. Too scared. I don’t know what their real name is, but they’ve been referred to as the Wood Mist. No on
e knows exactly what they are, except that a shimmering cloud has been seen after strange happenings.”
“Strange happenings?”
“Crop failures or sometimes an unexpectedly abundant harvest—”
I scoffed, finding holes and knowing that this was crazy. “You’re saying people believe this because they grew some vegetables?”
He walked a couple of steps away, as if he sensed I needed space, as he kept explaining. “Best crop in a decade after a three-month drought?” He waited until that sank in.
Okay, that might have some merit, but still. “I need more proof than some crops.”
“Things happen. People being lured into the woods, saying they heard the sound of chimes, only to be found dead the next day.”
I swallowed over the huge lump in my throat. “Hardly irrefutable proof.”
“I’ve seen it myself, the mist. It was like a shimmering gold cloud. When you were bringing the bombs back from that place with Bookie, it led me to your stash.”
I’d thought that he had spies in the woods. I knew how well Bookie and I had buried those bombs. My legs gave out and I ended up sitting in the dirt. I didn’t care anymore if I looked weak. “So you saw them.” My back hit the tree, and even my spine gave out. “Are they dangerous?”
“They’re powerful if that’s what you mean, but I don’t think they’ll hurt her.”
My head rolled to the side as I watched him come in closer now, and I rubbed at an eye quickly before evidence could escape. “Why not?” I asked, hoping this would be one story that I couldn’t punch holes in.
He sat down next to me and leaned against the trunk, his shoulder brushing mine.
“Because of how I found Tiffy. I’d gotten done with a trade in a hole about a day away. I was on my way back to the farm, heading on my usual route, but there had been massive flooding in the area, so I had to detour.
“I realized this was going to cause me to pass by a farm I hadn’t been to in years, but they grew the best coffee beans of anyone. I swear, even if I hadn’t remembered, I thought I actually could smell coffee as I was riding.
“I got there and found the entire family dead. Looked like it might have been a small outbreak of the Bloody Death. From the looks of it, it hadn’t just happened. I went through the house looking for survivors, but all I found were bodies decomposing.
“Then I found Tiffy. She was sitting on the floor with blocks and in clean clothes, clean diaper, and was well fed. I waited the entire day for someone to come back to the house, the person who must have been caring for her. No one ever came.
“For whatever reason, her whole life they’ve protected her. I think the Skinners tried to get her and they took her from them.”
I realized I was leaning my head on his shoulder, and I left it there. “Why didn’t you tell me this?”
“Because if they have her, we might never see her again.”
“They wanted to talk to me.”
“Do you know why?”
“No, but Tiffy told me more than once. It was before I lost my magic. Dax, I think I have to get it back. I think if I can, they’ll talk to me.”
I left my head on his shoulder as I stared at the stars, wondering if Tiffy could see them too.
Chapter 22
I woke the next morning to Dax standing at the foot of my bed with an intent look that was reminiscent of a certain little girl who had appeared so many times in the same manner. Was this where Tiffy learned it?
But Tiffy wasn’t here. It was a recent wound and it cut deep. If we didn’t find her, I didn’t think it was one that would ever heal. I closed my eyes, wanting to fall back to sleep and not think of Tiffy. Maybe it would have the added benefit of sending Dax the hint I didn’t want to get out of bed before there was sunlight.
“Get up. I want to try something.”
Dax didn’t take hints so well. Lids opened against my better judgment. “Is this something that could be tried at, say, I don’t know, sunup?”
“No. It has to happen now.”
Our eyes met and I could see he wasn’t going to budge. Stubborn male.
I closed my eyes again but said, “Then I guess I’ll get up,” with the fakest cheerful disposition ever heard. “What’s this for?” The question was partially garbled on a yawn as I dragged my body upward.
“I’ll tell you on the way,” he said.
“Of course you will,” I said, mostly to myself, since he was already leaving the room and closing my door. I wasn’t foolish enough to think that he would leave me alone long enough to catch another few minutes of sleep.
I wouldn’t complain about sleep, though. None of us were getting any. Every night I’d wake and see Dax’s bedroom door open and the room empty. Tank was late to sleep and early to rise. I knew Fudge wasn’t sleeping well, or Bookie for that matter, and neither of them even knew about the meeting with the Skinners yet. I wasn’t going to accept the idea I’d never see Tiffy again, and I didn’t want to crush their hopes.
It was too soon to lose another person. There should be some sort of rule in the universe that you can’t lose more than one person a year. Unfortunately, the universe didn’t listen very well, and I’d learned early that I definitely didn’t have its ear.
I was up and dressed in five minutes, and we were out the door in another five and shortly through the gate after that. We’d been walking through the forest for a few minutes and he still hadn’t told me our purpose yet, and I was waiting for my brain to wake up enough to care.
“Pay attention to where you’re going so you know how to get back.”
It wasn’t light out yet, but we hadn’t gone very far either, so I didn’t think it was a problem. Plus, I was too tired to bother arguing with him. I nodded, which he probably didn’t see, as he was walking ahead of me.
By the time we stopped walking, I’d woken up enough to start harassing him with some questions. “Why are we out here?” It might not have seemed like much of a question, but it was about all the heavy lifting I could handle without bacon.
“I want to try something.”
“What?”
“You know your way home from here?”
“Yes, but why?”
He took a deep breath, his head tilted back, making me wonder just how much he could smell on the air. Could he sense a predator or person nearby just from a downwind?
Whatever he sensed, everything must have seemed okay, because he lowered his head and said, “You are going to wait here and I’m going to turn into the beast. My connection to magic is much stronger in beast form at dawn. I’m going to try and sense what’s going on with you under the surface. After I’m done, I want you to go back to the compound. I’ll be back later tonight. Understand?”
“You can do that? Maybe figure out what’s wrong with me?”
“I don’t know.”
He walked off while I waited, wondering what he might discover. I used to want to be like everyone else. Now I was scared to death of what he was going to sense—or not. What if there was nothing but a trickle left within me? What if I really never could be that kickass girl he’d thought I’d become?
No, it couldn’t be. I could still see the Dark Walkers. I’d have bursts of magic when I needed them. That had to mean something. I knew there was some twinkle of magic left in me, but what if it was exactly that, some small amount that was slowly dying out?
He didn’t return for five minutes. Five of the longest minutes I’d ever experienced, while I stood there and wondered what would happen if I was losing my magic. By the time he returned, I’d talked myself in and out of the worst-case scenario ten times.
Dax the beast entered the clearing. He was massive, easily another hundred pounds and a foot taller. Between the red eyes that seemed to glow and the fangs that were visible even when his jaws were closed, I had to consciously keep telling myself that this was the man I knew. This wasn’t some wild creature that would tear me apart.
I forced myself to sta
nd still as it—he—neared me. It came closer, and again, just like my other encounters, it started to sniff the exposed skin near my neck. A low growling noise emanated from its chest just before its tongue lapped out and licked me, and I wondered if he had to taste me to sense my magic. My breathing kicked up as he laid his hand on my chest, and I could feel the warmth of it seep into my skin, his claws not so much as nicking me.
Could I ask him what he sensed now? Could he talk as the beast? Did he understand fully in this form? I cleared my throat and figured there was only one way to find out.
“Do you…”
He was gone, taking off in the opposite direction of where we’d come from. Damn, he could move fast, almost a blur. I was still standing there clueless and a bit in awe, as I had been the first time I was standing face to face with the beast and knew it was Dax. Although at least I’d tried to ask questions, even if it hadn’t worked out so hot.
The first rays of the sun hit my face with their warmth, and I knew that Fudge would be up soon. I started walking back. At least there was still bacon. And eggs. Of course, I couldn’t forget the coffee either.
Chapter 23
I’d had breakfast, lunch, dinner, more plates of bacon than was good for me, the sun had risen and fallen, and Dax still hadn’t come back. I was sitting on the couch near a lit lantern in my borrowed home with a borrowed book on my lap. It wasn’t a Moobie, but some knockoff detective story by a writer who wasn’t half as good. The people around here didn’t seem to have very high standards, but I was desperate for anything that would keep my mind off Tiffy and the Skinners and the Wood Mists and my magic fizzling, even though I’d tried to feel it near-constantly lately.
Bookie strolled in without knocking. His eyes passed right over me as he scanned the rest of the house. “He’s still not back yet?”
I shook my head, knowing he meant Dax.
The Hunt (The Wilds Book Two) Page 15