by Eve Langlais
She murmured aloud, “The trees don’t mind the rock.” Indeed, the serpentine foliage slid along it quite easily. “But they’re not touching the water.” She did a full circuit around the stone island. “At all.” She cocked her head. “Why?”
“Because it’s deadly to them. I don’t know the exacts of it, just that there is some kind of mineral in the water that is harmless to us but pure poison for them.” He dug out dry clothes, spread the wet ones to dry, then pulled a cube from his pack. He brought it to a small depression at the far end of the small island. Probably ten paces wide, about five deep, and at least fifteen paces to the shore.
The branches gyrated all around the shore, but more disturbing were the roots, which eagerly slid over the rock, perfectly tracing their trail, only to stop at the water’s edge. The tip of a root reared up as if to peek at them.
“It’s looking for us,” she remarked as the last of day turned to night. “Can they reach the island?”
“Not yet, but I’m sure they’ll try. Perhaps one of the branches will be long enough since the last time.”
She blinked at him. “You’ve been here before.”
“Many times,” he said with a grin as he ignited the cube simply by scraping it against the stone. He dropped it in the bowl. It flared.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Making a fire. It can get chilly at night.”
“If you knew the woods would wake up, why did you bring us here?”
“Because it’s safe. If you stay on the island,” he reiterated.
“I’d have preferred to sleep in the buggy.”
“It wouldn’t have protected us. The trees would have peeled it open and plucked us out.” He’d seen the ruins left behind, the bodies gone, the vehicles partially absorbed.
“Why does it prefer the night?” she asked.
“Why does any creature like dark over light? Instead of worrying about it, look up.”
She glanced overhead as stars emerged, hundreds of them.
“There’s so many,” she breathed. “We don’t see them in the domes.”
“A full moon provides more clarity to see, but this will do to practice.” He waited.
“Practice what?”
“Your power.”
“Why would I practice?”
“To control it.”
She held her breath. “I’d rather ignore it.”
“That won’t work for long. It’s triggered by emotion. Like fear. You can’t let that be what shapes it. You need to rein it in.”
“You don’t understand; I can’t control it. It just builds up inside me.” She looked so lost as she said it, and yet he caught a hint of exhilaration.
“I never said you couldn’t use it. I said control it. Focus it on something like you did with the ghouls. You took care of the threat.”
“I had no idea what I was doing.”
Frightening, in its admission. “Your lack of shape on your power showed. You let the terror consume you, literally, until you passed out. Which you can’t allow. Always hold a little back. Use small bursts, not big flashy pushes.”
Her brow wrinkled. “How do you know all this? Are you saying you’ve got the same power?”
He shook his head. “My skills lie elsewhere, but the concept remains the same. You are the master. You shape everything that emits from you, including your power.”
“Power?” She snorted. “I’d rather not have anything at all. This complicates things.”
“It’s only complicated if you live in the domes,” he hazarded. “Out here, we judge a person on how they act and not how they look.”
She eyed him. “You an invisible deviant, too. What’s your superpower?”
Something he kept tucked away because it would be all too easy to give in. His lip quirked. “I thought I already showed you.”
Even in the dark, he knew she blushed.
She changed the direction of their conversation. “How do I practice using this thing inside me? The trees are not exactly in reach.”
“The plan is to keep it that way. It’s the perfect chance given they are far enough there is no harm, close enough you can throw stuff at it and see what sticks.”
She eyed him. “What kind of instruction is ‘throw stuff’?”
He rolled his shoulders. “I don’t have your magic. How would I know how it feels?”
“Magic.” She sighed the words. “It almost seems like it, doesn’t it?”
“If they’re going to call us Deviants, then we should own it.” He winked. “Now, give it a try. See if you can shove at those roots over there.” He pointed.
“Just point my hand and poof?” She exploded her hands.
He almost ducked. Nothing happened.
“You might have to focus a little harder than that. Find that power inside you.”
“It’s not there,” she interrupted.
“Of course it’s there. It’s always there.”
“It’s not right now. Maybe if you scared me?” she offered with a shrug.
“I am not scaring you.” He eyed the shore and the writhing limbs.
“And I am not going over there to charge up my magic battery.” She shivered and wrapped her arms around her torso as she stared outward.
“Then come sit by the fire, and we’ll practice smaller.”
A blue-green flame licked the cube, fairly compact but efficient. The tiny fuel source would last for almost two days, emitting no smoke but plenty of heat.
She squatted beside him. “I still want to know why the trees are alive when they were quiet earlier today.”
“It’s night.”
“You say that as if it explains everything.”
“They slumber during daylight hours and only rise as the sun starts to set.”
“But they’re trees. I’ve seen trees before. They don’t move.”
“Dome foliage is a different kind of alive. The Seimor trees are not deeply rooted. They can shift and will move if they want to overtake territory.”
“They war on each other?” The very concept had her looking to the forest. “You are claiming they are sentient.”
“Depends on your definition of sentient. Let’s compare humans and the Seimor trees.”
“You can’t compare. We are vastly different.”
“Not really. What does a human need to survive?”
“Water. Food. Sleep. Exercise.”
“Exactly. Just like the trees.”
“You said the water was poison to them, so we are not the same,” she exclaimed.
“Maybe not entirely, but enough that you can begin to understand them.”
“Why would I want to do that?”
“Because that will allow you to protect yourself against them. What do you think causes them harm?”
“Chopping.”
“Yes, but do you want to get that close to deliver the blow?”
She shook her head.
“What’s another thing you could do?”
Her lips pursed in thought. “Knock down the trunks. Make them into a tangled mess.”
“Better. What’s the number one thing you could do to scare them out of your way?”
She blinked at him then the fire. Stared at the flames before whispering, “Fire. They’re afraid of fire.”
He chuckled. “You’re thinking of the ancient forests. They burned quite easily. The Seimor doesn’t burn. It’s afraid of—”
“The water!” she blurted out. “You can use the water to push them back.”
“But only if you have to. When you can, avoid a fight, conserve your strength.”
“Don’t fight?” She turned to look at him with a frown. “Seems contrary to your actions. You have been stealing from the Creche for a long time.”
He smiled. “Appropriating.”
Her teeth gleamed as she grinned. “I’m surprised you’re not stealing from them tomorrow.”
She talked easily about the trade. Talked as if
it would still happen.
“Who says I’m not?”
Her gaze settled on him. “What if I want to return to a dome?”
“Do you really?”
She didn’t answer but looked away from him. She crept to the edge of the island and watched the writhing mass on the shore.
He didn’t feel the prickle that indicated her magic.
Was she even trying?
“Come and sit by the fire. No point in getting chilled.”
“I’m trying to make it work.”
“Any luck?”
“No.” Spat in a low grumble. It took her only a few paces to join him, slumping to a spot beside him. “Maybe it’s gone. Could be I used it all up.”
“You had some earlier. You’re just not tapping it.”
“Meaning I’m not scared enough.” She sighed.
“Which isn’t a bad thing. You’re doing better than I did the first time I got stranded here.”
She glanced at him. “As if you were ever scared.”
“I’ve been scared plenty of times. Especially the first time I found these woods and I thought them benign.”
“The first rule of Wasteland is never trust the Wasteland.”
He gaped at her. “You’ve been chatting with Gordie.”
Her shoulders lifted, but a grin pulled at her lips. “He’s got some interesting stories.”
“They’re not stories,” he grumbled.
“I want to hear the one about the night you were scared.”
There were many, but he chose the one most apt for their situation. “It happened here. I’d lost my wheels; the engine seized while I was out in the Wastelands. I set out on foot. Days of nothing, no water or food, just dusty hard ground. Then I found this forest. Shade, with quiet. A bird for a meal. Then this lake. I thought it was paradise.”
“You just jumped right in?”
He grinned. “I told you I was young. And invincible. After an epic swim, I fell asleep on the shore. Almost became dinner. The root that tried to drag me wasn’t all that big. I hacked it with my knife and dove into the water. That’s when I noticed the trees wouldn’t touch it. I spent my first night in the forest in this very same spot.”
“How did you ever sleep?”
He chuckled. “Who says I slept? I watched those bastards all night. Thought for sure they would get me the moment I closed an eye.”
“And knowing this, you still returned?”
“The island is safe, and these waters are epic. Can’t you feel it?”
She cocked her head. “I feel clean.”
“And?”
She smiled. “Good. Very good.”
The way she purred it had him making a noise as he dragged her onto his lap. “Now that’s what I like to hear.” Especially since he knew that the first time hurt.
It blew him away she’d chosen him to be her first.
Her only.
No way was he giving her to the Enclave. Which meant in the morning they’d head back to Haven.
“How far is it tomorrow?”
The query was so at odds with his thoughts it took him a moment to register. “We can make it to a spot just past The Ruins tomorrow if we push it.”
She frowned. “Why would you go back? I thought we were close to the meeting spot.”
He leaned away from her. “I’m not taking you.”
“Why not?”
“I’d say that’s pretty obvious,” he growled.
“You’re going to keep me.”
“I’m not going to keep you. You’re a person, not a thing. I will, however, free you from the Enclave’s yoke.”
“What’s that mean?”
“That you can do what you want.”
“Where? How?” She shrank. “I don’t know if I’m ready to live out here.”
The glare was probably a bit meaner than it needed to be. “No one is. Deal with it.”
“If you don’t trade me, then you won’t get the gemminar.”
“I’ll get it another way.” Surely, he could find another one to steal.
“The easiest way is to trade me for it,” she pointed out.
“I’m not selling you.”
“Because of what we did?” Her cheeks pinked.
He sighed. “Yes. But also because I knew selling you was wrong.”
“I wanted you to.”
“Yeah, you did at the time, but let me ask you, all jokes aside, do you still want to go back now?” He held himself still, suddenly worried about the answer.
It took her a bit to reply, and when she did, it emerged slowly. “I thought I did, but everything out here is so much more…” She paused before blurting out, “Everything. I feel. All the time. I want things. I’m not supposed to want things.”
“You can have things.”
“I can have things.” She repeated this as if it were the most wonderful things. “And yet…” She chewed her lower lip. “It’s dangerous out here.”
“People can live to a ripe old age. Just look at Dottie and Gord.” The pair were pushing past their sixties, some said Dottie was close to a hundred. No one knew for sure. She wouldn’t say.
She snuggled against him. “The food is incredible. The things I’ve seen are spoken of in the dome as if legend.”
“And you’ve barely seen anything yet.”
“I know.” She turned shining eyes on him. “A part of me wants to explore and learn. But if you don’t bring me, the Enclave will be angry. They will want to punish you.” Her brow knitted.
“Unless…” He shook away the idea before it could even form.
“What? You thought of something.”
“No. It’s nothing. Come here.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m going to kiss you again.”
“What about practicing my power?”
“Are you scared?”
She shook her head.
“Then why don’t we see if we can unleash it with another emotion.”
He brought her to climax and did indeed trigger her magic, but it only made everything more intense. A moment of connection where he could hear her, feel her, inside him, around him. Her intensity for him only making his need for her stronger.
They fell asleep, limbs entwined until the dawn woke them, its fingers warming across bare skin.
It took some teasing to finally rouse her. Food brought the most amazing smile to her face. Which meant he then had to get a better smile with something other than food.
It served to distract her from the mist. The shore was hidden because of it. He could understand her unease that she couldn’t see what the trees were doing.
“We need to cross back over.”
“Not until I can see they’re sleeping.” She shook her head stubbornly.
“It’s daytime. They’re not moving. I promise.”
“What about other animals?”
“Nothing I can’t handle. Trust me.” He’d bundled his stuff, and hers, stuffed it into their knapsacks, and threw it in the direction of shore. He didn’t hear a splash. Nor the scratching sound of a branch dragging it away.
He held out his hand. She grasped it and stepped into the water with him. They plunged off the edge of the rocky island, submerging into the warm water then rising to take deep breaths.
Well, he took a breath, she sputtered. “I think I got water up my nose.”
“Blow out when you go under.”
“Blow?” She grinned at him and blinked wet lashes.
He couldn’t help but draw her to him for a kiss.
Which was how Gunner found them and startled them with a drawled, “To cock block, or to not cock block. That is the question.”
Laura pulled away with a gasp.
“You’re early,” Axel grumbled, stroking to shore to join Gunner. Laura held on to his arm, kicking alongside him.
“I left The Ruins early. Place was hopping with ghouls. Something riled them up.”
Which led to Axel explaining
to Gunner what had happened—a condensed version that didn’t mention Laura’s power. Then going through it again when Cam and Casey appeared an hour later.
Laura didn’t say too much as they caught up and his crew went for a swim. He devised a dumb excuse to draw Gunner off for a private word.
“About the deal,” Axel muttered slowly.
“You’re canceling it. Figured you might.” Gunner clapped him on the back.
“Why must you sound so damned cheerful about it? Not making the trade means losing the gemminar.”
“Making the trade, we lose our immortal soul.”
Axel rolled his eyes. “We have no souls.”
“Maybe not, but we do have morals. Glad you found yours, because we were never going to sell her.”
Axel blinked. “Excuse me?”
His second pivoted, the most serious expression on his face. “We knew you’d come to your senses before the deal, and if not, didn’t matter because the plan was already in place.”
“What plan?”
“Why to use the Madre as bait, of course.”
Fifteen
The interruption still burned Laura’s cheeks long after she’d gotten caught kissing Axel. A part of her even feared reprisal.
Her fear must have shown because Axel drew her near and murmured, “You don’t have to be afraid. We did nothing wrong.”
And yet she couldn’t completely believe that given it felt incredibly good. Better than anything she’d ever imagined. She could see why the Enclave banned it. It made a woman feel things. Made her see a man in a different light.
Made her want more.
Not long after Gunner’s arrival, the twins, Casey and Cam, emerged from the quiet forest. They didn’t look much alike. One was big and serious, the other petite and brooding. Their biggest similarity came in their strikingly dark hair with its hint of blue, their smooth, light brown skin, and sharp cheekbones.
They spent the first part of their reunion getting caught up. Axel told them about The Ruins and the attack, leaving out the part about her exploding the monsters.
Gunner snapped his fingers and spoke to Axel. “Speaking of ghouls, I found something interesting while passing through The Ruins. Come with me and I’ll show you.” He turned to Cam. “You wanna see too?”
“Actually, I’m going to go take a gander up top. Someone should be watching for patrols,” Cam said. A rebuke that no one paid much mind.