Her frustration level was at its breaking point but it was nothing next to Syrus’. He imagined that his mouth was a walled-over gate that could not be opened. There was a raging beast behind the composed exterior of his body that he must keep jailed. He had an idea he was sure would work but the words he desperately wanted to let loose had to wait for the proper time, if there was one. Waiting to speak to Forest, to present her with his proposition, was taking all of the force of his mage power. And so, they went in circles through the trees and inside themselves, searching and reaching for things just beyond grasping.
When they stopped for lunch, Forest could tell Syrus was on the edge of losing it, though she was unsure as to what ‘it’ was, exactly. Forest felt like the taut string of an instrument, constantly being picked by a ragged fingernail. Fraying had begun, and she too would snap eventually.
She kept her distance as they sat down to eat. He unscrewed one of his bottles, but he didn’t drink. His jaw clenched so tight, she could see his facial muscles tremble with the strain. How long had he been like that? What could he be fighting that hard not to say?
“Syrus, what is wrong with you?” she demanded.
Syrus’ teeth stayed locked together. He really had no idea how she would respond to what he had to say. He wondered if he could just swallow it. It was the worst timing imaginable. He needed to focus his mind on finding the wizard. He’d been telling himself that over and over since the idea popped into his head, but he couldn’t focus on anything other than Forest. Now that he knew the truth about her life and what she was forced to go through on a regular basis, and now that he was sure he could make things better for her, it made looking for the wizard seem like an annoying fly in the background.
Indecision and pain twisted all over Syrus’ face. It was obvious to Forest that he was going through some internal battle, and the moment dragged.
“Oh, for goodness sake! Just say it, Syrus, and get it over with!”
Even in the face of her irritation and the pressure she’d just put on him, he mulled it over. He put his bottle back inside his backpack and stood up, moving closer to her.
She watched him warily as he sat down again, cross-legged in front of her so that their knees touched. Whatever he was about to say, it was heavy and Forest held her breath waiting for the weight to fall on her.
Syrus held both of his hands up in surrender before he uttered a word. When finally he did speak, his voice was quiet and collected, though obviously nervous underneath. “I have no idea the right way to say this. Please realize that I would never intentionally hurt you, and I speak out of genuine friendship.”
Oh, crap. Forest took a deep breath. “All right.”
“I can remove one of Leith’s marks from you. If you’d let me. I cannot, unfortunately, remove the slave mark. At least not yet. But I promise to find a way.”
“How could you remove the lovers mark?” Forest asked.
“I could replace it.”
Forest let his words sink in, and she fought down the knee jerk reaction to knock his head clean off his shoulders. She took a slow calming breath, remembering that he said that he was speaking out of genuine friendship, and that she hadn’t acted as though she had any aversion to him as a lover last night under the waterfall. However, a one night fling was something worlds apart from the commitment of a mark. Everything was just backwards and wrong. There was no way she could or would take a lovers mark from Syrus, especially when it came out of pity.
“Thank you, but no.”
“But Forest, don’t you understand that…”
“No!” she said forcefully. “Look, I appreciate your concern for me, and yes being tied to Leith is a terrible way to live, but I’m used to it. I’ll find my own way out, eventually.”
He looked not only shocked but also hurt and disappointed. Why at this moment did she feel guilty for hurting his ego? She wanted to kick him.
His cheeks looked a little red. “It wouldn’t have to be anything other than an arrangement if you found being with me like that… objectionable.”
“Oh? And what about you? Why would you give up the chance to be with someone else in a real relationship? You might find being with me objectionable. It wouldn’t work anyway. No one would allow it. You’re the prince, and I’m a disgusting Halfling, unworthy of the air I breathe. I don’t think you realize all that you would be giving up just to help me out. And for me, I’d just be trading one kind of slavery for another.”
Syrus’ mouth fell open, but before he could protest, she pushed on. “I know that you are nothing like Leith, and that you would be good to me, but even though it’s trading up, it’s still trading one kind of prison for another. Like I said, I appreciate it and all but…hey!”
Syrus had heard enough. He stood up abruptly and grabbed Forest by the shoulders, lifting her to her feet. Before she could ask him what he was doing, he crushed her mouth with his. The fiery snake inside her uncoiled and snapped painfully. Her head spun, and she clung tightly around Syrus’ neck. His kiss didn’t push or demand, it just gave warmth and sweetness and sorrow.
“Forget friendship. I only said that to soften you up. My offer is real, and it stands until you accept it. It’s not charity. I want you. I want your heart.”
Forest buried her face in his chest and cried. “What good is my heart? It’s angry. It hates.”
Syrus took a deep breath, holding her tightly against him. “All hearts are capable of hate, Forest. That doesn’t make them worthless. I understand your hate, now. Hell, I even condone it. But you don’t hate me.”
Forest wailed. “Oh, I do! I most certainly do! I hate you more than anyone or anything else.”
Syrus let go of her and stepped back, his face shocked.
“Yes,” she said tears running down her cheeks. “I hate you more than Leith.”
“How could you say that?” he asked in a deadly whisper.
“Because, look at what you’ve done to me! You’ve weakened me! My hate for Leith made me stronger, but you make me weak. You don’t have to ask for my heart, black as it is, it’s yours already. My love is not a blessing to you, Syrus! It’s a damn curse! You are the necromancer of all that was dead in me. I hate you for that! I feel pain and fear…fear above all else. I had killed my fear. Buried it. And now it’s back, choking me! Damn you!”
She reared up and struck him in the chest over and over and hard as she could. He grabbed her arms, restraining her. She pushed against him with everything she could as though she could crash through him. A feral growl broke out of her. “I want to hurt you, Syrus! I want you to feel the agony you’ve created inside me. But you never will. You’ll never understand.” She let herself go limp, and she slid back to the ground sobbing. “How could I not hate you? You’ve robbed me of my spirit. I can’t trust you. Can’t trust what you are. You think you mean well, but I’m nothing but a toy to you.” She wept bitterly.
He knelt with his heart ripping in pain and reached for her. She didn’t pull away. As soon as he touched her, she curled up in his arms.
“It’s not true,” he whispered.
She raised her tear-streaked face, and again he kissed her. He meant to show her, if only he could, if only she would let him. Love seemed to flow from her mouth into his, staggering him. His fangs began to throb, not from a desire to drink from her, but a scorching rage to tear Leith’s throat out.
“You don’t belong to him. You belong to me,” Syrus said through his clenched teeth.
Forest stiffened in his arms, and he knew that in his rage he had said the wrong thing. She pulled away slowly, stood, picked up her backpack, and strapped it on. Syrus didn’t move.
“I can’t belong to you, Syrus. I don’t even belong to myself.”
The next second, she darted through the trees and was gone, leaving him all alone.
Chapter Eighteen
FOREST RAN, the world around her blurred by tears. She ran like a small child to its mother for comfort. But the mo
ther she was seeking was her surrogate, Shi. Everything she’d felt since the first moment she’d laid eyes on Syrus seemed to meld and roll up into a ball. The combination equated only to sorrow.
Forest tripped and fell on her face three miles from where she left Syrus. She pulled herself into a sitting position, her tears momentarily stymied as she looked at her surroundings. She was in the Dryad graveyard. The monuments of stone trees were broken and toppled. The whole graveyard was a ruin. The destruction had happened long before she had been born, and it was the one story Shi would never tell her. She said it was too painful for her to discuss.
Forest sat against a large broken trunk and pulled her knees into her chest. “Shi?” she said quietly. “Shi, please answer me.”
She felt the breeze first then she heard the faint, whispering voice. “I’m here child.”
Forest looked around. Shi materialized in a sitting position next to her. She looked the same as she always did, green and long, twiggy arms and legs with large wise eyes that were reflective and insect like. Forest immediately placed her head on Shi’s lap, and Shi stroked her insubstantial fingers over Forest’s forehead.
“Oh, Shi, tell me what to do.”
“About what?”
“Me…and Syrus.”
“In the past I would have, but not now. Not with this problem. You alone must answer it so you have no one to thank or curse but yourself when you finally land on your feet.”
“You don’t hate me for having a vampire as a mate?” Forest asked.
Shi chuckled lightly. “You didn’t choose him. I don’t know why you are always mixed up with their kind. But I am a little amazed at what is inside you for him and also what is inside him for you, especially since he doesn’t even know that you are mates.”
“What is inside him, Shi?”
“Hmm…It feels like cheating to tell you anything else.”
“Is he sincere, or just confused by our partial connection?” Forest asked.
“Are you confused by your partial connection?”
Forest was quiet, biting on her lower lip. Shi continued to stroke her hair back from her face. It felt more like a light breeze than tangible fingers.
“My strong adopted daughter, how I long to see you free from that which binds you.”
They both were quiet for a few moments.
“You are so tangled up inside, Forest. Just answer one simple question. Are you really willing to turn your back and never see him again?”
“No. That’s the simple truth, Shi. No.”
“There you are then. I’ve always told you to simplify things, haven’t I?”
Forest chuckled. “Yes, you have, countless times.”
Shi continued to stroke Forest’s hair. After a moment she laughed. “Silly girl, you haven’t even asked me where the wizard is.”
Forest gasped and sat up. “Yes! The wizard! Where is the wizard?”
Shi smiled and pointed straight ahead of her. “How many times have you sat in this graveyard, Forest?”
Forest shrugged. “Too many to count.”
“And since you know this place so well, tell me, do you recognize that stone tree over there?”
Forest looked where Shi was pointing. Sure enough, there was a stone tree more intact than any of the others. It was an anomaly among them. She had never seen it before.
“Look there at the base, the fracture line running down the length of it. Do you see?” Shi asked.
Forest nodded, and standing up, she took a step toward it. “It’s an illusion! That’s his front door!”
“Yes indeed. Now you know where he is, and how I wish we could sit here and have a nice long talk, but right now you must run.”
Forest felt it a millisecond before Shi said anything about running; her heart seized in a terrible panic. It was unlike any distress she had ever experienced. She started her hand over her heart, unable to breathe.
Shi’s form was still there next to her, but Forest could tell that her eyes were elsewhere in the wood.
“What has happened?” Forest gasped.
“They’ve taken him. Eight wolves in man form. He surrendered; too outnumbered. He’s injured, but alive. What you’re feeling is your connection to Syrus, alerting you that he is in mortal danger. They are taking him to the Lair.”
Forest hesitated only long enough to shift into a form she had not used since she was a youth, a she- wolf. Shi watched her fly, contemplating how best she could help. She had no powers past the boundary of the Wood. She traveled to the other side of the Wood in the blink of an eye and looked down on the troop of vampires she had confused. She appeared before Redge.
Shi had to admire the way the vampire covered his alarm at the sight of her. The rest of his troop was more obvious. One even made to run in the opposite direction.
“Listen well, Redge of Halussis. Your prince had been captured by werewolves and is being taken to the Lair as we speak. Forest will do all she can to save him, but I fear she may need your assistance in the end. I have kept you here wandering in a loop, but I now release you. Follow me swiftly. I will cut a path for you straight through the wood to the Lair. I will keep any wolves away from you. Come now!”
Redge didn’t need telling twice. He waved for his men to follow, and they all fell in behind him, single file. With Shi flying ahead, they moved like a bullet train, the sun glinting off their clinking armor.
Forest ran on all fours, faster than she had ever moved before. Her sword, clinging awkwardly around her animal body, was the only catch in her fluid speed. Panic made her crazed, and the fear of loss drove her focus to unnatural heights. The trees and foliage and uneven terrain was nothing to her—she exploded through it all, gaining in speed and momentum. She knew she couldn’t just charge in, kill them all, and take Syrus back to Maxcarion. She needed a watertight plan.
As she drew near, she could smell Syrus’ burning flesh. They had chained him with silver. Since they were all in man form and she was in wolf, she had to wait for them to emerge from the wood before she could charge through the boundaries of the Lair. She quickly decided how she would handle the situation and hoped with everything she had that it would work.
Forest hunkered down, hidden from view in some bushes at the edge of the Wood. Remember the plan! Remember the plan! She screamed to herself as she saw Syrus pulled behind four of the wolves, the other four bringing up the rear. Silver chains wrapped around his wrists, one tangled around his neck. Smoke rose off his skin. They had obviously beaten him—he was bloody and bruised. The desire to kill had never pulsed through her so strongly. If you fight, both you and Syrus will die.
She stayed still as they emerged from the wood and approached the wolf community’s low-lying, solider training camp. Luckily for her, soldiers were whom she preferred to deal with in this circumstance.
“Hey! Hey! Hey!” one in front shouted to someone in the camp. “Look what we caught in the Wood!”
A wolf Forest recognized stepped out to meet them—Gahu. She had met him back when she was making regular tips to the Lair, bringing Philippe smuggled French wine. Gahu had purchased some grape soda and a package of Twinkies from her once and had been friendly to her every time she visited. It looked as if he had gained some rank. She hoped it was enough and that he remembered her fondly.
Gahu approached Syrus, his lips twisted back from his teeth. The wolves that had brought him in backed away.
“He was alone?” Gahu asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“Maybe you didn’t see anyone else, but I doubt he was alone. Look at him. Look at his hair. He’s someone’s servant.” Gahu turned his attention wholly on Syrus. “Who are you with?”
Syrus said nothing, keeping his face tilted toward the ground.
“How many of you are there? Where is your master?”
Still, Syrus said nothing. Gahu growled at him from deep in his throat. “It seems you have a high pain tolerance.” Gahu gestured at the silver chains. “I don�
��t mind a little challenge. Let’s see what it takes to open that sharp mouth of yours.”
More wolves had come out from tents and stopped their sparring exercises to see what was going on. As soon as they laid eyes on Syrus, they all had the same malevolent light in their eyes. Gahu drove his fist deep into Syrus’ stomach, sending him to his knees. Howling and barking erupted around them. It was time for Forest to make her appearance before Syrus was torn apart.
The crowd had their backs to her as she came charging towards them on all fours. She broke through, knocking aside those in her way. Shouts of surprise and alarm went up as she crashed into the center, using her body as a barrier between Gahu and Syrus. Gahu’s mouth fell open as this unknown she-wolf snarled at him, protecting a vampire.
“What the hell is this?”
The crowd fell silent in confusion. Forest saw Gahu’s nostrils flare as he caught her scent. She needed him to recognize her before he gave the word and they were both killed. Forest shifted back into a woman, pulling from her mind one of the sexiest forms she had ever assumed; long curly black hair, playboy bunny curves, and full pouty crimson lips. The response to her new shape from the surrounding soldiers was expected and exactly what she was wanting. They howled, whistled and made lewd comments.
Gahu looked closely at her pointy ears and her forever-unchanging eyes, and the light of comprehension dawned on his face.
Knowing she had bought them only a few moments she continued with her performance. Forest turned to face the group with a deadly stare. “Idiots!” She spat, reaching down to remove the silver chains from Syrus. “You’ll jeopardize my whole mission!”
She quickly felt his pulse. He was even weaker than he looked. The silver had burned its way deep into his skin. She pulled on it gently so she didn’t cause any more damage. Pretending to examine the wounds on his neck she leaned very close to his ear and whispered, “Don’t believe anything I’m about to say.”
She turned back to Gahu and threw the silver aggressively on the ground.
“Forest, what in all of Regia do you think you’re doing? Have you lost your mind?”
Forbidden Forest (The Legends of Regia) Page 21