Levi nodded, kissing Daphnaie on the top of the head. Stepping back, he swung his backpack off and began setting up his tent. He tossed his bucket at Alex. “Since I know you use that useless silicon piece of crap.”
“You know I carry both, dipshit.” Alex smirked, catching it. “But this way, I don’t have to dirty mine.”
The two nymphs hugged and promptly took over his sleeping bag and began trading whispers, giggles interrupting every so often.
Smiling, Alex grabbed his backpack. Rummaging around inside, he pulled out his tripod. He quickly set it up and positioned it over the fire. Lightweight and easy to carry, he used it to cook and to catch water when it rained. Alex grabbed Levi’s bucket and hooked it over the fire on the tripod. No use dirtying his. Fifty percent of survival was making sure your equipment was always ready to use.
Grabbing his backpack again, Alex pulled out his freeze dried supplies. While they talked, dinner would cook. Soup was simple and easy enough to make. He poured water in, covering the ingredients and spices he dropped inside.
Levi finished setting up his tent, an all-weather one like his own. A little scruffier, but it had probably travelled around the world with Levi.
“Safe water?” Levi nodded in the direction of the river.
“Yes.” Alex nodded back. Seeing Levi so relaxed, a smile edging his mouth, lifted a weight from his shoulders he hadn’t realized he carried. Watching Levi’s eyes caress his little nymph, it was obvious who to thank.
Levi grabbed his coffee pot and headed toward the river.
Alex stirred the soup, the dried flakes floating in the water. His mind swirling while his eyes followed the dehydrated food spinning below. Once heated up, it would be delicious. He listened to the whispers of the nymphs and the low tones of his parents. Absently stirring while watching them, he wondered what they were discussing. Joy filled his heart with each giggle and whisper. His family, the beauty of the forest around him, and the gift of Willow to his life. He couldn’t think of a better way to live.
Alex started when Levi loomed in front of him, laughing. “Earth to Alex. Where’d you go?”
“Nowhere, just thinking.” Not that he’d speak his thoughts, he’d never been a PDA kind of guy.
“Hmm.” Levi crouched down and settled the coffee pot in the fire, adding grounds and putting the lid on. It would percolate fast at the feet of the fire.
Alex breathed deep, enjoying the aroma of the ground beans wafting from below. Slim arms encircled his waist. Willow. He enjoyed the feel of her wrapped around him, though he’d much prefer a different position.
“What are you doing?” Her voice tightened his gut, her soft body stiffening his.
“I’m getting dinner ready.” His parents still whispered, but moved so his father leaned against his tree. He looked tired. Alex figured he’d only come out to talk to his mother. He begged Alex to call her right away, fading back into his tree after the request. His dad needed more rest. Frowning, he wondered if he should intervene, force his dad back into his tree. Sighing, he knew it wouldn’t do any good. Neither of his parents ever listened to anyone but themselves.
****
Willow glanced wide eyed at Sarah. She appeared too rigid to be the Oak King’s mate. How she managed to get pregnant boggled her mind. She just didn’t seem the type to let a dryfaun near her, let alone seduce her. But she had. There had to be more to her than Willow could see.
Alex seemed nothing like his mother, but he was different than Peter, too. He roamed freely, not anchored to a tree, but he felt as if he belonged here, in the forest. He was touched by Gaia, but, how, Willow wasn’t sure.
His presence anchored her. His strong form called to her, settled her. With him, she could bear the loss of her tree if she needed to. With him, she would not wither and die. She could sense the connection to the land in him.
Sarah didn’t have a connection. Peter did. He was so old, he would die if his oak did. Dryfauns, even the Oak King himself, couldn’t survive, even if Sarah stayed around. But Sarah didn’t live nearby, not near enough. Willow just couldn’t picture it. From two different worlds, they never should have met, let alone become entwined.
Looking at Sarah with Peter, Willow thought maybe she was wrong. Maybe Sarah would stay. Just the presence of her might help. If she knew.
Willow wiped the sting from her eyes. Peter treated her like a daughter. Finding her tree uprooted by storms and washed ashore in this little grove far from home, frightened her. She’d just been a babe. Homesick, knowing she’d never return again, she’d lived up to her name. Her weeping drew the Oak King to her side. His shoulder became familiar, eventually replacing the family she’d left behind.
Seeing him so stricken, Willow just wanted to wrap her arms around him and hold him close. Letting out a shaky breath, she knew it was Sarah’s place, not hers.
“We’ve done all we can.” Alex’s comforting arms surrounded her. “We just have to pray it’s enough.”
“I know.” She turned in his arms. Sliding her arms around his waist, Willow burrowed her face into his chest. “I just can’t lose him, too.”
“Me either.” Alex’s voice roughened, his arms tightening around her. “Especially now I know why he never lived with us.” He pulled her closer, plastering her against him. “I can forgive him. I just wish he’d told me.”
“You would have thought him crazy.” Willow melted into his embrace, his arms a safe place. If she could climb inside him she would, but he wasn’t a tree even if he radiated the same comfort to her.
“Maybe.” Alex sighed. “I know I hear the whispers of the wind. Sometimes the trees and land around me seem to speak to me.” He shook his head. “I thought maybe I was just a bit more sensitive to my environment.”
“I think your mom’s side mixed with your father’s made you unique.”
Alex’s sudden laugh sent shivers up her spine.
“That’s one way of looking at it.” He sniffed. “I better get back to supper or no one will eat.”
His kiss on top of her head wrapped around her heart. She never imagined Alex would be hers. In the face of the worst tragedy of her life, her wildest dream came true.
Reluctantly, dropping her arms from his waist, Willow stepped back. Sighing when his arms released her. She would be happy to stay in his arms all day and night.
Alex turned to the fire, tugging her along next to him.
“I think this will help revive everyone.” Stirring the contents of the kettle, Alex leaned over and took a deep breath of the rising steam.
Willow couldn’t help but admire him. She’d always dreamed of him. She pretended playing alongside him and his sister growing up. She’d dreamed of frolicking in the river with him as a teen and necking beneath her tree. All she’d done was dream. She never came out when he arrived. Peter tried to encourage her to come out, but she didn’t want to intrude.
She’d heard the shouting when they refused to leave. Peter staying behind, urging them away, their mother stiff, pulling them home. The children grew and Willow heard accusations she knew hurt Peter, but he and Sarah refused to explain. Willow was afraid showing up with Peter would have tossed gasoline onto the fire, causing irreparable harm. She never understood why he didn’t tell them.
“Penny for your thoughts.” She blinked and smiled, looking up at the sound of Alex’s deep voice.
“I just wondered why Peter never explained what he was to you.”
“I wondered the same. I never would have guessed the truth.” Alex looked toward his parents. “Obviously my mother knew. I would bet it was her doing.”
“You don’t know for sure.”
“Oh, I bet I’m right. She’s as uptight as Grandmother. But I don’t know why Grandmother is so bitter. She wants to sell this land. Most of the family could care less. My mother and Grandfather are against it. Some of my cousins, too. Especially the ones who occasionally come here.”
Willow giggled. “I can guess why! The nymp
hs like your family. Strong and tall, they protect what is theirs. Occasionally they visit with them.”
“Visits like mine?”
Willow and Alex looked up questioningly at Levi. Willow could guess. Levi wore the definitive air of someone desperately seeking peace. His pained aura would be like cotton candy to a child to the nymphs. Healing his weary soul would be something they couldn’t resist. His weariness dropped away when he glanced at Daphnaie.
“Probably.” She couldn’t stop a snicker.
Alex frowned. “How many nymphs and fauns are there?”
“And dryads. They’re known by many names around the world.” Willow glanced around the clearing in the forest. “Too many to count.”
A rustle sounded around them, the wind softly encouraging. From each healthy tree, a figure stepped forward. Those older, the ones who could no longer leave their trees, pressed their faces out, features forming in the bark.
CHAPTER SIX
“Holy crap.” Alex froze, ladle in his hand.
“Son of a bitch.” Levi echoed him.
Willow hugged Alex’s arm, laughing softly. Too stunned at the sight before his eyes, he barely registered his arm pillowing between her breasts. Glancing at the woman with Levi, he saw her greeting and hugging those who stepped forward, out, whatever you wanted to call it. Surely, this couldn’t be happening.
“Am I dreaming?”
“No. Every living thing has a soul. Humans have little regard for other living things.” Gaia stepped out, gesturing around her. “Your family has sworn to protect us. Sometimes, the river brings refugees. Infants from others desperate to save their offspring.” She pointed at Willow. “The wind directs others.”
Willow gasped beside him, hugging his arm even tighter.
Alex’s mother stepped into the circle. “Don’t forget sometimes this land steals souls.” Her voice was sharp and bitter. She looked at Alex. “It is why your Grandmother hates this place.”
Gaia narrowed her eyes. “We don’t steal souls. Your father brought Lucille here.”
“Over my mother’s protests. I remember the fights. I remember crying when my little sister disappeared. We never saw her again.” She walked toward Gaia. “I understand why my mother hates this place. I know why she wants to sell it to developers.”
Alex heard gasps from around him. Obviously Gaia told no one about the threat. One stepped forward hesitantly. Alex watched his father slide an arm around her waist, whispering in her ear. She stopped, watching his mother.
“If it wasn’t for Peter, I would back her one hundred percent. You’re nothing but a murderer.”
The nymph cowered. She struggled to disappear back into the shadows, stopping when Peter wouldn’t release her.
“Never. Humans are the ones who kill. If your father stood by, doing nothing, your sister would have died. Even now, she is delicate. If your mother never saw Lucille again, she can blame herself. You don’t know how she cried for her mother, her sister. Neither of you cared to come.”
“Lucille is dead. My mother told me. I attended her funeral. Mother took me to her grave.”
Alex locked eyes with the woman held by his father. Her eyes unfocused, a shocked look on her face. The wind urged him to move, to save her. She slithered to the ground, Peter too slow and injured to catch her. His gut clenched.
His mother whirled around at Peter’s grunt.
The shock on the nymph’s face tugged at Alex’s heart. There was a connection between them. He just didn’t know what it was yet.
“Peter, don’t injure yourself.” His mother moved forward. “Alex, Levi make yourselves useful. Help her.”
He’d started moving before his mother’s command. The woman was important to the whole equation. He knew it, without knowing the whole story. The wind, the trees, even the earth beneath his feet whispered it to him.
Levi moved with him, his motions in sync.
“Levi, spread out a sleeping bag for her.” Alex scooped her from the earth, turning toward the tent. Levi and Daphnaie spread out a bag near the fire, close to his family.
The unknown woman stirred in his arms. His steps faltered. His mother’s, his grandmother’s eyes stared out of her face. His lungs seized. He sat, his legs giving way. It couldn’t be.
“Lucille?” His whisper drew Levi’s gaze.
She burrowed into his shoulder. She couldn’t be his aunt. She looked younger than him. He gazed at her. Her translucence gave evidence of her delicacy. Most of those supernatural beings stepping from the trees looked healthy, vibrant with life.
“Your mother is a stupid, ignorant, vindictive bitch.”
Glad Gaia’s vicious tone wasn’t directed toward him, Alex shivered nevertheless.
“How dare you!”
Alex winced. The outrage in his mother’s voice boded ill. This would not end well.
The figure in his arms struggled to stand. Levi reached a hand to pull her up from Alex’s arms.
“Stop!” Lucille shrugged off Levi’s hands. Bracing her shoulders, she rounded toward his mother. “Sarah. It’s me, Lucille. I don’t know why mother said I was dead.” Her face crumpled. “I missed both of you so.”
Sarah stepped back, her face losing color. “It can’t be true.”
“It is.” Gaia glared at Sarah. “Once your mother realized she wouldn’t get Lucille back, she refused to come out. She blamed her husband, your father.”
“Why would she?”
“She thought there was a miracle cure. She never understood occasionally there will be nymphs, and dryads born into generations. The only way to keep them alive is to put them where they belong. Lucille is such a one. A beautiful Aspen. Your father understood. He granted her what she needed to live. What would you have chosen if it was your child?”
Alex watched his mother’s mouth, open and close. He’d never seen her speechless before. Tears welled in her eyes, intent on Lucille’s face.
“I would have wanted my child to live.” A tear tracked down her face. Her arms beseeched Lucille. “Can you forgive me?”
Lucille ran into them, hugging Sarah to her. Muffled sobs came from both women.
Seeing them together, the resemblance was striking. The years passed graciously for Lucille. Together, they appeared more mother and daughter, not sisters.
“Do dryads age slower than humans?” Alex glanced at Lucille, then at Willow and Daphnaie. They displayed a beauty, a freshness he’d never recognized before.
Gaia chuckled. “A bit, just a bit. You do realize they only live as long as their trees. Unless, of course, I grant them something or someone else to join with.” Her impish smile showed her true beauty.
“Oh.” Alex was slow to smile, his heart swelling. “So, Willow will have a long life. With me.”
“With you.” Gaia nodded.
“And Daphnaie?” Levi came over.
“Yes.” Gaia nodded.
Levi’s face blossomed with happiness. The fire missing from his eyes since his many deployments back in his face.
Alex felt tears spring to his eyes. He blinked. He wasn’t going to cry like a girl.
“But be warned. They are still tied to this land. Ultimately their lives depend on it staying healthy.” The implied warning of her words didn’t go unnoticed.
Levi and Alex exchanged glances, bodies straightening. Determination in their features. Alex would be damned before anything hurt Willow. From the fire in Levi’s eyes, their sentiments aligned.
Sarah and Lucille separated, hands clasped together, drawing his attention back to them. His mother turned toward him and Levi. His father leaned against his tree, tiredness showing in the fine tremble of his limbs.
“Dad, can you hear if you go back in your tree?” Alex worried he wouldn’t make it if he stayed outside. “Will you heal faster if you’re inside?”
He shook his head. “No. My tree needs to heal. We are one. I’ll go into a healing sleep if I go back. I’m not sure for how long. If my tree dies, I wil
l go with it. I’m too old to survive without it.”
His mother cried out at his words. “No. Peter. Don’t say so.” Releasing Lucille she rushed to him, arms surrounding him. “It can’t be true.” Her face turned to Gaia. “Can’t you do something for him?”
“There is nothing she can do.” Peter leaned back against his tree.
“No.” Gaia sighed. “Peter is the Oak King. All the oaks come from his branches. He is the oldest living oak. He is too much a part of his tree and this forest. He will die if his tree does.”
“He can’t.” Sarah wrapped herself tighter around Peter. His arms embraced her, pulling her closer.
“Our son did a fine job of trying to save me. He did his best. Only time will tell if my roots will survive.”
“I can’t lose you.”
“What do you think will happen if this land sells? They will clear out the trees for homes, murdering all of them.” Gaia’s tone was vicious.
Sarah jerked, crying out. “Not true.”
Alex caught his breath. This explained it. Gaia knew her best chance at saving this protected land stood here in this clearing. With Sarah, Peter and Lucille, Alex and Willow and Levi and his Daphnaie.
“Save this land.” Gaia turned a stern face and determined eyes to them. “Or know you are responsible for the deaths of all who call this mountain home.”
Alex blinked, his heart thundering. Gaia disappeared.
****
“Holy shit.” Levi shook his head, pulling Daphnaie into his arms.
Neither Willow nor Daphnaie spoke. Neither of them had spent much time with humans before. It seemed they rarely stopped talking. Even Lucille spoke more than Willow expected. Perhaps because she was born to humans.
“Mother can’t be allowed to sell.” Lucille shook her head. “Maybe if you brought her here, I could talk to her.”
“She can be a bit stubborn.” Sarah grimaced.
Alex snorted, and she heard Levi swallow a laugh.
Willow decided she didn’t want to meet this woman. If she did come here, she’d hide. Maybe she could find an abandoned tree somewhere. Glancing at Alex, the smirk on his lips sent her thoughts reeling to the ecstasy she found from them. Her abdomen tightened. Her sex heated, wanting Alex to fill her, taste her, and lick her to oblivion. Her cheeks heated. Shaking her head, she tried to pay attention.
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