by Tara Maya, Elle Casey, J L Bryan, Anthea Sharp, Jenna Elizabeth Johnson, Alexia Purdy (epub)
I looked down at the wolves, deciding that it wouldn't technically be my fault if I warned them first. "Hello, werewolves? Excuse me!"
A few of them glanced up.
"Yoo hoo! Werewolves! Hairy motherfuckers! Yeah, you!"
The one who had gotten bonked was looking up now.
"Yo, listen, I gotta pee. You know, take a piss? So I'm gonna unleash up here. You might wanna look out below, if you know what I mean."
I watched in mid-unzip, while their leader, the one we had smashed, stood up and looked me in the eye. A shimmering formed around him, kind of outlining his body.
"What's he doing?" asked Tony. "What's that ... stuff around his head?"
"How the fuck do I know? Maybe he's going to turn into a vampire now."
We watched as his features quivered and changed. They became less wolfish and more mannish.
Becky whispered, "I think he's turning into a guy ... "
Sure enough. Where there was once a wolf standing, there was now a man. A very naked one. A very hot naked one.
He snarled at me.
A very hot, naked, angry one.
His voice was gruff. "What are you saying, human girl?"
I cleared my throat, now a tad nervous. It's not every day that I spoke to a totally hot naked man who I was getting ready to expose my parts to - and piss on.
"What I said, is that I have to pee, so if you don't want to get pissed on, I suggest you move your hairy asses out of the way."
His eyebrows screwed up as he processed what I said. "You are going to urinate." He said it like a statement, not a question.
"Yes, that would be the technical term for what I'm about to do."
"And you are telling us because you do not want to urinate on us?"
"Yes, that's the idea."
"You realize that we are going to kill you and eat you, yes?"
"Well, that did actually appear to be your goal - so yes, I am fully aware of your plan to kill and eat me and my friends. Not that I'm on board with this plan, mind you."
"Do not be foolish. You have no escape. We will wait for as long as it takes. You will have to come down eventually."
"Yeah, well, when I come down I'm going to have to kill you, so maybe you should take this opportunity to move along. I'm pretty sure the Loch Ness Monster's going to be paying us a visit soon, anyway."
He frowned. "Who is this monster you speak of?"
"The one in the lake."
The wolf looked out towards the water. "The Lady of the Lake has no quarrel with The Wolf."
Ah, so it was a Lady of the Lake and not Nessie. Cool. A chick I could handle.
"Yeah, well, I have weapons and I have friends, so I don't plan on being your next meal. Not today. Not ever."
The naked wolfman smiled. "You are brave."
I smiled.
"And stupid."
I frowned.
"Go ahead with your urination." He growled at his pack and they all moved away from the base of the tree. He was still looking up at me.
"Um, could you tell them to turn around?"
He looked at me, confused.
I signaled with my finger, turning it in the air. "Give a girl some privacy, would ya?"
He shook his head, but turned his pack around.
Imagine that - a werewolf who lets a girl pee in private. Little bits of coolness in my totally fucked-up life. This place was full of surprises.
"Come on, Becky, now's our chance."
Tony didn't waste any time either. We all dropped our drawers and peed for what felt like five full minutes.
As soon as the sounds stopped, the wolves returned, although wisely avoiding the areas too near the drop zones.
Now that I could think of something other than my full bladder, I had some questions. "So, wolfman, what are you exactly? A werewolf?"
He looked out into the forest, saying nothing.
"We're kind of new to this whole supernatural thing, so I was just curious. Maybe you're a shapeshifter. Do you turn into a vampire at night?"
The wolfman spit in disgust. "Vampires ... "
"Ah, so you're not a werevampire."
"Do not be foolish," he yelled, angrily, looking up at me. "There is no such thing as a werevampire." His eyes glittered with anger.
"Yeah, sure. How foolish of me not to know that." I rolled my eyes. This guy obviously didn't get out of the forest much. "So, do you know Mr. Dardennes?"
"All in the forest know Dardennes," was his curt response.
Now we were getting somewhere. Tony and Becky were listening attentively.
"What about Jared Bloodworth, do you know him?"
Becky shot me a dirty look. Tony just looked off into the distance, shaking his head.
The wolfman spat on the ground again.
Hmmmm, interesting. "So you do know him?"
"Human, stop this useless interrogation. Come down here and save us the trouble of coming up there. I will make your death less painful."
I stared him in the eye, giving him my 'take no shit' look. "No, I don't think so. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever." In hindsight, the stare-down I gave him was probably not the wisest thing to do to a werewolf.
The wolfman snarled, shaking his head violently. We watched in disgusted awe as he changed from a man back into his wolf form. It was horrible and amazing all at the same time. He was agitated, and his anger got the rest of them all riled up. They were pacing under the tree again, several of them doing the vertical jumping stuff once more.
"Jayne, if enough of them start getting up here, I'm not sure that the trees are going to be able to beat them off," said Tony.
He was right. We were in a shitload of trouble, and I had probably made it a tad bit worse by antagonizing their leader.
Suddenly, one of the wolves yelped in pain, dropping to the ground. I looked down, trying to see what the hell was going on. "Can you guys see what's happening?"
"No!" said Tony, desperately searching for clues as to what was freaking the wolves out.
And freaking out was definitely what they were doing. All but one of them were lined up at the base of the tree, facing into the woods, snarling and growling. The fur on their necks and backs was standing on end, their ears flattened, tails held straight out behind them. The one on the forest floor wasn't moving, and it had an arrow shaft sticking out of its body.
"That's a fucking arrow! Finn's here!" I yelled.
Becky shouted, "Finn! We're in the tree! Be careful, there are seven of them!"
Another wolf yelped and fell, then got up, shaking its head and whining. It took two steps sideways and then walked face-first into the tree. It turned around, obviously confused, now walking towards the lake. One of the other wolves went over to it, nudging it in the side with its nose. The injured wolf looked up, sniffing the air, but apparently blind. I could see blood oozing out of its eyes and down around its ears. What the hell?
"Becky!" came a voice from the woods.
Spike!
Becky answered. "Spike! I'm here. I'm with Jayne and Tony in a tree near the lake!"
We heard the distinctive sound of a flying arrow as it entered our little area and then buried itself into another wolf body. The beast went down without a sound. The pack was down to four wolves now, the one with the eye problem - no doubt a victim of Spike's slingshot - having stumbled down to the lake, of no use to their cause anymore.
"We need to get down and help them," said Tony, putting his hand on the head of the axe that was sticking out of the top of his belt.
"Shit," was all I could think to say. He was right. We couldn't sit here on our grandstand and watch our friends get maimed, or possibly killed, trying to help us. I put my arms around the trunk of the tree. Help us down.
I could tell the tree didn't like this idea. I knew it would never deny my wishes, but I could sense a sorrow or empty feeling where normally all I felt was joy and abundance. The tree offered branches for us to climb down with so we could joi
n our friends.
The wolfman leader looked up and saw what that we were coming down, weapons in hand. Then he looked off into the forest at our approaching friends. His head swiveled back and forth a couple more times. I could tell he was doing some wolf math in his head, trying to calculate his odds of winning.
A gunshot rang out and one of his comrades fell stone dead right next to him. That made the wolf math a lot easier. He let out one sharp bark at his pack and they all took off, running away from our tree and our friends, back in the direction we had come from.
Seconds later, we reached the lowest branch and Spike, Chase, and Finn showed up under our tree. Spike flashed me the most amazing smile I'd ever seen, even for him. "What's up, guys? Mind if we join the party?"
Chapter Twenty-Three
I jumped down from the last branch and ran to Spike, jumping into his arms, wrapping my legs around him, too. Having multiple near-death experiences apparently made me less inhibited.
He hugged me back fiercely, putting his face in my neck and inhaling deeply, sending shivers up my spine and down to my special places. "Nice to see you too, Jayne," he said softly.
Sliding down his body so I could get my feet and brain back to earth was nearly mind-blowing. Holy hotness. He smelled and felt so damn good. I smiled back at him and then turned to Chase. I walked up to him more sedately, laying my head momentarily on his chest as I hugged him around the waist.
He reached around and awkwardly patted me on the back. "Hey. You okay?"
"Yes. And damn glad you're alive, Chase." I pulled back and smiled, noticing that he couldn't help but smile back.
His face had a slice on one cheek, but looked surprisingly good, considering the beat-down he had probably received from that thing Becky had told us about.
I stepped over to Finn who already had Becky fawning all over him. His shirt was covered in old blood and smelled none too pretty. "I'll save the hug for later when you don't smell like death warmed over."
Finn smiled weakly at me. "Yeah, I'll take a raincheck."
Becky turned to me, alarm in her eyes after having peeked under his ragged shirt. "Jayne, you have to do something to help him."
I saw Chase raise his eyebrow at that, but of course he said nothing.
"Dr. Jayne, calling Dr. Jayne," said Spike, imitating a hospital page. Becky frowned at him and Spike had the good sense to look adequately chagrined. "Sorry, not a good time for jokes." He swung his slingshot around, whistling nervously.
"Nice shot, by the way," said Tony, looking pointedly at Spike's weapon.
Spike gave him an upward nod of his chin. "Yeah, thanks. I'm getting pretty good with this thing. Nothing like a life or death situation to help speed up the learning process."
"I think you blinded that wolf," said Tony, respect lacing his voice.
"Yeah," said Spike, sounding a little sad, "not the best way to go, but what was I supposed to do?"
Becky walked over to him and put her hand on his arm in a comforting gesture. "You did what you had to do. We're grateful. They told us they planned to kill and eat us, so don't feel bad."
Finn looked up from my amateur inspection of his chest, which had revealed a big, nasty-looking hole. "What do you mean, 'they told you'?"
Becky answered. "Well, they weren't just wolves, they were werewolves. One of them changed into a guy and had a conversation with Jayne. He pretty much told us their agenda then."
Finn shook his head. "Jayne-Girl, you are somethin' else, you know that? My momma would'a just loved you. She always liked girls with sass." He was smiling, even though I could tell he was in pain.
I stood up straight and took his hand. "Finn, I think maybe I can help you, but it's gonna be a little weird, so I just need you to go with it and don't give me any shit until it's over, 'kay?"
"You gonna do a little voodoo on me, or what?"
"Yeah, something like that - minus the sacrificial goat."
"Whatever. I'm beyond arguin' at this point. Just put me outta my misery if you can't fix me. I've done gone about as far as I'm gonna go."
I pulled on his hand. "Just a few more steps, and after that I won't make you walk anymore unless you want to." I led him over to one of the Ancients. I knew I was going to need some big guns for this one.
"Can we watch?" asked Becky, eagerly.
"Yeah. But I need you to keep an eye out for those wolves and the bitch from the lake."
"Bitch from the lake?" asked Spike.
"I'll tell you later. Just assume she's a mean-ass motherfucker if you see her coming and shoot her in the eyes."
Spike barked out a burst of sudden laughter but took something out of his pocket and put it in the pouch of his slingshot. He was locked and loaded, apparently.
I looked Finn in the eyes. They weren't very bright and he looked really tired. His skin was a pale gray, the sheen of sweat making it look even worse.
"I feel sick," he said softly.
"Finn, I need you to put your hands on this tree with me."
He had questions in his eyes, but lacked the strength to ask them. He reached over to put his hands where I showed him. He was leaning his cheek and upper body on the tree, the rest of him remaining on the ground among its roots. I went behind him, kneeling down so I could wrap my arms around him from behind and touch the tree above his arms.
He sighed. "This is nice. Cuddlin'."
I nipped his ear.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"We're not cuddling. You're getting healed. Now shut up and feel the energy."
I sent out my request. Trees and all creatures connected to us, I need your healing power for my friend. I felt the responding surge almost instantly.
Finn had started to complain. "I don't know what yer ... " Then he suddenly went silent.
I couldn't tell if he was feeling the energy or not, but I sure was. This tree was big time - a granddaddy of a tree. The energy was a heavy rumbling, deep and dark green-blue, coming up from the center of the forest, channeling power from trees, plants, creatures, the lake, the air, everything.
"Finn," Becky asked, a look of concern on her face, "what's wrong, sweetie? Why are you crying?"
"I ... it's just ... I can't ... "
"Shhhhh," I said, whispering because it was all I could manage, "we're almost done." I could feel the Ancient reeling the energy back in to its lowest level, which was apparently all I had experienced up until now. My heart was in my throat. I knew why Finn couldn't get his words out. The beauty and the power and the awesomeness of it all ... it was too much for our puny minds to comprehend. I was hoping I hadn't fried his brain, putting him on this tree. Maybe I should have picked a smaller one.
The tree disconnected all but the most tenuous link. I knew it wasn't a rejection - just a signal to me that its business with Finn was done. I didn't want to overstay my welcome, so I pulled us both away from the trunk, wrapping Finn's arms around his torso with mine on top.
I looked at Becky, since I couldn't see Finn's face. I mouthed the words, 'Is he okay?' at her.
She nodded her head, amazement and relief written all over her face.
"I'm letting you go, Finn, okay? Don't fall back."
Tony stepped behind us to help me up and make sure Finn didn't pass out and collapse onto the forest floor.
Spike and Chase stood off to the side, speechless.
Tony eased Finn back against the tree.
Finn's eyes were closed, but his color already looked better. His cheeks were a nice, rosy pink and he had a very peaceful smile on his face.
Becky came and leaned over him. "Finn, are you okay?"
"Yep," he said lazily, "I'm just enjoyin' the moment right now. Jus' gimme a minute or twenty."
I stepped away, brushing myself off again. Seemed like I kept getting covered in forest crud. I looked at my hands. My nails were a disaster.
Spike and Chase came over to stand with me.
"Soooo, what was that all about?" said Spike, a neutr
al look on his face.
Chase just looked at me questioningly, letting Spike do the talking.
I looked down at my feet, a little embarrassed; I don't know why. "Since we've been here, I've kinda discovered I have a connection to the trees or something."
"A connection, huh? Like how so?"
"I don't know - a connection. I touch the tree, I talk to the tree, the tree answers." I shrugged my shoulders. That was the essence of it, anyway.
"So you say, like, 'Hey tree, fix Finn,' and the tree is like, 'Okay, shazam, done.' "
"Not exactly, but that's the idea. I don't really use words so much as I use images or feelings. It seems to work."
Finn slowly stood up and ran his hands all over his body, breaking out in a huge grin before suddenly grabbing Becky and lifting her up high, making her scream in surprise and delight.
"I'd say," said Spike. He looked up at Chase and I saw them exchange a look.
Chase lifted his shoulders. "Could come in handy."
I play-punched Chase in the shoulder. "Chase, you are the master of the understatement; anyone ever told you that?"
"Yep."
Spike and I laughed. Chase even smiled a tiny bit. We walked over to join the others. It was time to get some flags tied to waypoint number three. I was almost hoping the lady in the lake would come out to dance so we could kick her ass too. Almost.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I took a flag from each of the others and walked over to the obelisk to tie them on. Chase had retrieved Becky's bag from where she'd dropped it after getting attacked, so luckily she had her flags back.
We all saw Jared's flag there, but none of us said anything. As far as I was concerned, my suspicions had been confirmed. Two yellow flags - one old and one new. He was working with the enemy. I wasn't sure what everyone else's opinion was, but I didn't care anymore. So long as he stayed the hell away from Tony and me, he could go on running around and hiding every time a creeper showed up. Maybe I'd see him at the finish line so I could smack him with my stick.
I turned from the obelisk to face the others. Everyone but Chase was looking at me. I walked over, intending to discuss our plan for waypoint number four, but I got distracted by the look on Chase's face as I drew even with him. He was staring out at the lake, mesmerized.