The pungent and cloying scent of rotten apples tainted each breath she took, and the sounds of pixies chattering to each other in their creepy language that sounded like insects clicking and chirping grated on her already frayed nerves. Desperately she wanted to struggle and get away from these things, but she held still because the water below contained things that terrified her even more.
Wondering how Nadia was dealing with all of this, she cracked one eye open and peered sideways at her friend, making sure she didn’t look down again. The horrible little things held Nadia practically face down because they’d latched onto the back of her clothes, and ran the length of her pants. In a way, it was probably more comfortable than how she was being held by only her top, with her legs dangling. The seams were digging painfully into her sides and armpits. But Nadia had her hands over her face. Danielle figured it was so she wouldn’t have to stare at the blue surface below them either.
“Nadia, are you okay?” she croaked out.
Her friend nodded but didn’t uncover her face. Long strands of shiny black hair fell down around her face and rippled in the breeze like a silken flag. On a muffled sigh, Nadia said, “I’m all right. You?”
“I’m not okay, to be honest.”
Those words earned a look from Nadia from between a pair of parted fingers. “Are you hurt?”
“It’s not that, it’s—” Suddenly their elevation dropped. Both of them screamed, and instinctively, Danielle’s hands went out to catch herself, then swung back in to her hoodie because that’s all she had available. The only comfort she had was that she could tell the pixies still held fistfuls of her clothes. Looking over her shoulder she could see land finally. While she was relieved by that, she also feared what the pixies’ intentions for them were. Danielle gulped as her imagination ran away with her. Graphic images of their sharp little teeth rose up in her mind.
She shared a fear-infused look with Nadia, but neither of them said anything more. Nadia’s normally red lips were bleached of color, as was her face, and Danielle worried her friend might be feeling motion sickness. Releasing one sleeve, Danielle touched her own stomach as it complained. This wasn’t helping her much either and she was glad she hadn’t eaten breakfast yet, or else she might have lost it over the ocean.
Suspecting they were in England, because this trip seemed as long as the boat ride with the fairies, Danielle jumped when tree branches brushed against her as the pixies dropped again. A stab of pain shot through her arm when one of them caught the sleeve of her hoodie and tore through the soft material. They were going down fast, and it seemed the pixies didn’t care much about their safety when more branches struck her, knocking air from her lungs as they battered her body.
She felt confused when her vision was suddenly filled with thin white strands of intersecting thread. Before she could figure out what it was, her feet hit something solid and she fell backward, her back slamming against the hard ground. “Oomph!”
Nadia made a similar grunting sound when she landed flat on her stomach and her chin smacked against the dirt.
Trying to gather her wits, Danielle stared up at the canopy of trees as the strands of thread grew and practically knitted themselves closed. A scream clawed its way out when she realized what it was. Spider webs, woven by what looked like hundreds of spiders were closing in around them. The pixies were more connected with the things than she’d realized, because the spiders were building a cage for the pixies to keep them in.
Scuttling backward on her hands and feet, Danielle moved to the center to get as far away as possible from them as she could. Her back came up against Nadia’s.
“The pixies sent the spiders?” Nadia gasped, voicing the most logical assumption.
“I guess so.”
With her fingers curling around Nadia’s for any comfort she could grasp, she looked over her shoulder at her friend. Dirty scrapes ran along Nadia’s chin, a bit of blood oozed from each one. “Are you okay?” Danielle asked.
Nadia licked her pale and cracked lips, lifted a palm to the injury on her chin and pressed. When she pulled it way dots of crimson mingled with bits of debris. “Just a bit scraped up and bruised, but I think I’m all right.”
Twisting, Nadia touched Danielle’s torn sleeve. “What about you?”
“Definitely bruised too.” Looking into Nadia’s eyes, Danielle noticed streaks of blue in the reflection and she knew the pixies were flying around their cage.
Swallowing, she watched as they flew, pulling all kinds of hideous faces.
“What do you think they want with us?” Nadia asked.
“The fairies seemed to think they wanted to eat me under the assumption that I have vampire blood in my system because I’d bitten one.” A quiet that was so still it intensified her nervousness settled around them at the gruesome idea. “I’m sorry I got you into this,” Danielle said, feeling guilt slam into her. “I’ll bet you wish you’d stayed a vampire.”
After sighing and re-linking their fingers, Nadia admitted, “There are times when things like being able to eat food aren’t quite worth the trouble.”
“I’m sorry, Nadia, you should really stay away from me.”
“Don’t be an idiot!” snapped Nadia. “I don’t blame you for any of this. We’ve always known pixies like to snatch females. They would have taken me given the chance. It’s not just because of you.”
“But they’ve been hunting me—”
“I chose this, Danielle, just like Ethan and Max did.” Nadia fell silent after that for several beats, but Danielle was still surprised when she felt Nadia’s shoulders bumping against hers with her weeping. “We have to trust that they’ll find us. I know Max will be devastated if his child is lost. And Ethan, I can’t imagine what he’s going through right now fearing he’s lost his second.”
Everything inside her froze at that. “You’re pregnant?”
“Just like you.” Nadia sniffed.
“But—” Honestly, Danielle was stunned by this news ... however, as she thought about it, she knew what she hadn’t yet known. “How could you tell?” she asked. Did everyone know what she didn’t? Did the guards know?
“You’ve been a little more emotional lately. Like me. Like right now.” Danielle felt Nadia swipe at the tears on her face.
With her nostrils flaring, Danielle felt the sting of tears in her eyes too. It was true, and this explained it. This explained her cravings for chocolate, her emotional overreaction at the fire last night, and.... “But Ethan doesn’t know.”
“I’ll bet he suspects.”
“You’re right. They must be flipping out right now.”
Another silence held them as they watched the pixies dance around their cage, mocking them in their horrible language. It certainly sounded like taunts to her, even though she couldn’t understand them.
With her gaze traveling over the design of their cage, she decided that despite hating spiders, it was beautiful. Danielle didn’t know spiders were capable of weaving their webs into such ornate and artistic designs. The strands intersected and curled like the wires of a fancy birdcage.
“They’ll turn back,” Nadia said with a hint of sadness in her voice, and Danielle knew she was right. There was no way they would be able to resist the temptation of once again being powerful vampires with the goal of destroying these pixies for taking their wives. They’d commit to that change tonight. Her lashes lifted as she considered where the sun was at. It sat low in the west and would be nightfall very soon. It took all night for the turning process to complete, so it wasn’t likely they’d be able to get to them tonight. Again, she took in their surroundings and wondered if pixies were nocturnal or daytime creatures. Would tomorrow be too late?
The pixies began to make a noise that sounded like singing and Danielle worried it might be some kind of ritual they performed before they killed them. But it wasn’t long before the pixies left them alone. Leaning forward she peered past the gaps in the webbing and tried to see where th
ey’d gone. She couldn’t see anything. Relieved by the moment of peace, she started to think of ways they might be able to escape. They had to try something in case the men couldn’t get to them in time. “These are just webs, right?” Danielle forced herself to ask the question as she watched spiders creep around the surface of the woven cage.
“I think so,” replied Nadia.
“Do you think we could break past it?”
Moving onto her hands and knees, Nadia said, “It’s worth a try.” Danielle watched as Nadia reached forward and tried to push her hand through. The web resisted her touch, the whole thing wobbling with it. The spiders started moving to where she touched the web and Nadia tried to yank her hand back, but apparently the web was sticky and she couldn’t do it. Becoming frantic in her movements, Nadia jerked and yanked trying to get free. Desperate to help, Danielle pulled off her belt and tried to get her friend free by sawing at the webs with the buckle part. It worked, but Nadia was left with sticky webs all over her hand, of which she tried to rub off onto the dirt as they both scooted back. The spiders simply filled in the hole left behind.
Looking down at her belt buckle, Danielle muttered with a sense of frustration. “If only we had a knife with us.”
Hours passed until they both fell asleep huddled together for warmth against the cool dirt, both of them suffering from emotional exhaustion and hunger. Danielle’s dream started out like all of the others. She found herself with Ethan in that white-washed world from their pre-earth life together. Not only did she now understand the recognition they’d shared when they first met, but she also understood that her spirit had existed before she was born into this life.
Desperately she’d wanted to cling to dream-Ethan, to be with him again, because, even though the dream felt real, she also knew she wasn’t with him in reality at the moment. The coldness from the ground was seeping into her dream. While these dreams had been enlightening at first, now it was simply frustrating to be with him in a way she knew wasn’t real anymore, was just the ghost of a memory. But as the dream progressed, she began to hear a soft mumbling, like the volume on the television was being turned up. It wasn’t long before she could hear what Ethan was saying, and her responses to it.
“It isn’t fair. Why does it have to be this way?” she heard herself ask. Danielle didn’t know why she was asking that question.
Luminescent blue eyes looked down into hers. Every shard of color was brilliantly visible in his irises—the blue as bright as the sky, the blue as dark as deep waters, the gray, the green, his love for her. A sweep of sandy hair hung over his forehead, each strand catching the light and bouncing it back at her like strands of spun gold. “I’ve been told we’ll be brought together anyway,” he said with hope in his tone, and hope in his expression.
“But how? I just don’t see how it’s possible for us to be together in life if we’re born so far apart.” By her own words, and without a memory of speaking them, realization of what they were talking about struck her. They knew they’d be born in different eras? The time that she’d been crying made perfect sense now.
“Trust me,” he said. It was one thing he’d said to her many times since they’d met. Apparently that wasn’t new either.
Her eyes flew open when the dream faded to black. Immediately she knew where she was. Trapped by the pixies. Despite that distressing knowledge, she lay there for a moment listening to her heart thud within her chest, and her almost erratic breathing become more regular. Pale moonlight filtered down from above, lighting the world in shades of bluish-gray as she wondered if he’d shared this dream with her. If he had all of the others, then of course he’d shared this one, she reasoned. He must have done something to turn up the volume like they’d discussed. Whatever it was, she mentally thanked him for it, because, in a way, she now felt closer to him than ever before.
It was still very quiet here, and it seemed the pixies had not returned. Turning her face, her chin bumped against the top of Nadia’s head. Apparently her friend was using her shoulder for a pillow. Carefully sliding out from under Nadia, Danielle supported her head until she was resting on the ground beside her. While Nadia appeared to be sleeping peacefully, her eyes danced back and forth behind her eyelids, and Danielle believed her dreams were tormented with distressing things.
A small rustling sound drew her attention to movement outside the cage of webs. Leaves on the forest floor were being moved by something, but she couldn’t see what. Without touching the walls, she moved closer trying to see. Whatever it was, it was very dark in color and any hopes that it could be fairies coming to free them slipped away, because fairies glowed. As the things neared, she realized several small ... creatures, the size of insects, crept through the leaves and grass toward her. Breath lodged in her throat when she saw long, thin legs carrying round bodies above the ground. Spiders. More of them than they’d seen on the fairies’ land crept her way. Rocking back onto her heels, her hand swung out and landed on Nadia’s arm. With fingers clasping onto Nadia’s sleeve, she gave Nadia a firm shake. “Nadia, wake up. We have a problem.”
“Mmm, what is it?” Nadia asked, rubbing at her eyes.
“Spiders, look! Tons of them!”
Surging up to a seated position, Nadia looked out where she was pointing. She gasped. “What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know,” Danielle replied slowly.
In shocked horror, they watched as spiders crawled up the walls to the top of the cage where they killed the spiders that had created it and then began eating away at the webs. What? Within moments, the cage was gone and the spiders divided, creating a path for them.
“Are they helping to set us free?” Nadia asked, the stunned note of her words unmistakable.
“I—I don’t get it.”
When the spiders stayed out of the way, Danielle decided it was worth a try and, after taking Nadia’s hand into hers, they moved cautiously forward. Her eyes darted to every dark shadow with the fear of something springing out at them. If only she still had her nunchakus she’d feel a bit safer. As it was, the dark shapes surrounding them could be anything, or anyone. Her imagination brought them to life and she was motivated to move faster. They broke into a run. Sparing a look backward, she wondered where the pixies were and how long it would take for them to realize they’d escaped. Apparently not long. When they got perhaps fifty feet, that buzzing sound they’d first heard near the waterfall came from behind them. In a swarm formation, the pixies took pursuit and were gaining fast. They’d simply be captured again, because there was no way they could outrun those things. Trying anyway, they increased their speed. Suddenly an explosion of light hit them. Surprised as she was, Danielle dug her heels in and came to an abrupt halt. The sudden stop made her lose her balance and she fell backward. Nadia fell with her. Scrambling up to her elbows, she froze when a new sound drew her attention. Footfalls. Watching in curious wonder, or horror, she hadn’t decided which one fit the situation yet, she watched six figures materialize from a glowing mist drifting along the forest floor. The mist hadn’t been there before, and it appeared as though these people had been the ones to create the light and the mist.
Peering down at them like they thought it was funny they’d fallen stood six beautiful women, all of them clad in snug-fitting black leather and spandex. Witches. Danielle’s breath hitched, because witches were the most beautiful women she’d ever seen in her life. The beauty of vampires and mermaids couldn’t surpass, or even compare to their flawless skin, their full red lips and their perfectly symmetrical features. Had she really thought the mermaids were pretty? In comparison to witches, they were rather plain.
The witches’ attentions shifted from her and Nadia to the pixies. Frowning, each one of them jammed their hands into a leather pouch hung from their hips and withdrew a handful of something that slipped out from the cup of their palms like salt. In an arcing motion they tossed whatever it was at the pixies. Closing her eyes, she dropped her chin so it wouldn’t ge
t in her eyes when it struck the pixies just above her. Immediately the pixies hissed and screeched in pain and she thought that perhaps this was more than just ordinary salt. Salt had repelled them before, but it hadn’t ever made them shriek out as though it burned them. When she stopped feeling the shower of salt hitting her, she looked up and watched as the pixies fled.
Trying to decide if she should be grateful or not, Danielle’s gaze swung back to the witches, and she noticed something else. They wore bows and arrows strapped to their backs. She hadn’t expected that at all. Ethan had only told her they liked to dress in black, and that she should avoid them. That appeared to be true. But at first sight, witches seemed too pretty to be dangerous. The fact that they were armed proved that that probably wasn’t true.
“They sent the spiders to find you, not the pixies,” said Nadia. Danielle felt Nadia tense when she noticed the spiders going to their masters like loyal dogs. She decided perhaps it wasn’t time to be grateful yet. They’d been wrong, and apparently both pixies and witches had used spiders to hunt and capture her.
Shoving to her feet, Danielle stared into a pair of brilliant blue eyes. “Let Nadia go. All you want is me.”
“Danielle!” complained Nadia.
Turning to her friend she gritted out, “Run!”
“I can’t leave you—” Nadia tried to whisper so the witches wouldn’t hear.
“It’s true, she can’t leave you,” said one of the witches, proving they’d heard her anyway.
Swinging her eyes to the witch who’d spoken, she gaped at the gorgeous brunette. “What do you mean?”
Forever (Book #3 in the Fateful Series) Page 16