And my goddamn tree finally fell.
I hurried to cut the remaining bits still attached to the trunk, and then I dropped the handsaw and my safety gloves on the ground. My palms were still red, but the protective gloves had done their job.
The guy who had been next to me was already across the lake and running up the shoreline to the agility course.
My boots trampled the grass as I charged to the lake. I debated removing them, but I had no idea what the agility course was. There could be glass to walk on for all I knew. So I dove into the water once I was waist deep—boots and all.
The water was refreshing, but I was exhausted.
I turned onto my back. I used the backstroke to swim across the lake. It actually loosened my tight muscles, and I ended up passing two men in the water—though, there were still a lot ahead of me. I had lost count of who had finished cutting down their trees before I had.
I turned in the water when pebbles brushed underneath my fingers. The rocks were slippery, so I was careful as I scrambled out of the water and onto the shoreline. My boots were waterlogged. If I didn’t need them on the agility course, I was going to ditch them in a hurry.
I wiped lake water off my face as I came to a halt where the last task began. I stared at the massive red wall before me with tiny fake rocks sticking out for hand and foot holds. It was like rock climbing. I had done that with my father as a child when we would go hiking, but it had been years since my last time. However, I did remember one important point of it.
I had to be able to reach the first hold.
The instructors were sitting on folding chairs in the shade to my left, which meant the course wasn’t long. They sat silently and watched the proceedings. Close to fifteen recruits were sitting behind them on the grass, already done—lucky sons-of-bitches.
And there were a whole lot more in front of me fighting on the wall or at the bottom of it. It didn’t bode well for me at all.
I quickly ditched my boots and socks and ran to the wall. But I stayed back a few feet from the fray of flying fists. Bodies dropped from the wall directly on top of the fighters, only for it to start all over again. It was a goddamn heartless mess.
The first hold was too high for me to reach by myself. I could tell that easily from where I stood. I nibbled on my bottom lip and walked back and forth from one end to the other. All of them were too high.
“That is not fair,” I griped under my breath.
No one was going to give me a boost.
I eyed the fighting men in front of me.
No, they definitely wouldn’t help.
My eyes narrowed on the two men at the end.
Perhaps they could help.
They just didn’t know they were going to…yet.
I backed up on quick feet and shook out my arms.
I had to do this super-fast or I was screwed.
Then I moved.
I raced as hard as I could with my arms pumping and my bare feet digging down into the ground. The two men had hold of each other’s heads, bent over each other as they pounded one another in the stomachs. They didn’t even notice me coming. I jumped into the air and scrambled up on top of them. They both jerked up in surprise, and I leapt with my arms extended upward and snagged a hold.
My body smacked against the wall.
I groaned from the pain but quickly heaved my right leg up to a hold on the right. One of the men grabbed at my dangling left leg, cursing at me, but I kicked him straight in his throat. He fell back on his ass unable to breathe.
The other guy took advantage of his rival falling and jumped to grab a hold next to me.
I eyed the recruit as I heaved and flew up to the next hold, my fingers digging into it. I asked in a breathless pant, “Are you going to fuck with me?”
His muscles bulged as he used just his arms to toss himself up next to me again. “I’ve seen you fight. I’ll leave you alone.”
I still watched him.
Near the top of our severe climb, I muttered, “You’ve got incoming below you.”
He glanced down. “Thanks.”
Then he kicked his foot hard into a man’s face.
The poor bastard fell backward through the air.
I looked away, not wanting to see the landing.
We were up high at this point.
The wind whipped my ponytail as I stopped to catch my breath for a second. My muscles quivered, and my fingers were shaking. I grunted and dug my toes better into the hold below me, pressing my body flat against the wall. I twisted my wrists to stretch my fingers.
I heaved myself one more time and slapped a hand down on top of the wall, a husky bellow passed my lips as I pulled my aching and exhausted body up with the last of my strength. I sucked oxygen for a second, lying on my back, and staring up at the blue sky, the sun beginning its descent.
“Get up,” I hissed to myself.
I rolled and stood to my feet, preparing myself for more hell. But I stared at the finish line down below. It was right there. And there was only one more step I needed to take.
I sat down at the back edge of the wall and pushed.
I tucked my arms in as my body flew down the slide.
Then I was clawing at the ground and thrusting myself up to my feet. The man I had helped slid down next to me, still lying on his back. I stared down at him for a second, his gaze freezing on mine in his prone position. I could kick him and debilitate him.
I chose not to.
I sprinted across the grass as fast as I could, my chest heaving and my arms pumping by my sides. His feet pounded behind me, gaining on my position. My mouth opened, and I squealed in excitement with a victory punch in the air, my tiny feet passing the white line painted on the grass.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
I stopped and sucked air as I punched my fist into the air again with a little hop. I looked back at the guy, and he was grinning too as he fell onto the grass and lay flat on his back, his arms spread wide.
I hissed, “We did it!”
There weren’t over twenty recruits sitting behind the instructors—only nineteen. We had just made the cut.
“To not killing each other.” He held his hand up into the air for me to high-five.
I smacked his hand in giddy delight. “To not killing each other.” My smile had to gleam in the sunlight. “What’s your name?”
“Ben Prac.”
“I’m Poppy Carvene.”
He snorted. “I know who you are.”
One more man crossed the finish line behind us.
The instructors instantly stood to their feet.
Recruits resting behind them followed their lead.
Godric was watching me under hooded eyelids, a tiny smile curling his lips. He winked at me in private congratulations. Godric the Great appeared damn pleased that I had passed.
My grin was glorious. I had done it!
Ben lifted his hand from his horizontal spot on the grass, muttering, “Give me a hand up, yeah?”
I grabbed his hand and yanked him to his feet.
Then I froze as a silent man came out of the tree line behind the train. He wore a silver fur hooded coat with the hood up over his head. Silver hair stuck out from under it in chaotic strands. He had a black pair of leather pants on and a white t-shirt. Two swords were crossed against his back, the black handles seen above his shoulders. There were no shoes on his feet.
He stalked right toward me.
I turned to him with wariness. I didn’t know him.
His eyes were the color of shining silver blades.
Ben mumbled, “Who the fuck is that?”
Godric and Finn charged by us, marching at a fast clip toward the stranger. They didn’t have weapons in their hands, but their shoulders were tight with tension as they stopped in front of him.
Godric growled, “You are not wanted here.”
Silver eyes didn’t flinch, his tone bored. “Oh, you’ll want me here, God.”
My head co
cked with the use of his nickname.
Finn held his hands up between the two. “Let’s take this discussion somewhere else.” His head snapped to the newcomer. “That is if you came here for a reason, Cassander? Not just to piss him off?”
Cassander with the silver eyes yawned. “Of course, I came here for a reason. I wouldn’t show up after all these years without one.” He looked between the two of them, straight at me. He tipped his head in my direction and then pointed an accusing gaze on Godric. “I came to protect her.”
Godric’s eyes narrowed. His fists clenched.
Finn’s head darted back and forth between the two of them, and then he speared the silver-eyed man with a look. “Quit fucking around, Cass. He’s about to snap.”
Cassander’s lips tilted up. “Fine. I am here to protect her. But not from the asshole across from me.”
“What are you talking about?” Godric growled.
Cassander lifted his hands above his head and drew his swords, the sun bouncing off the metal in a brilliant gleam. He tipped his head back toward the wooded area he had come from. “We’re about to have company.”
Godric’s gaze slammed toward the trees, and his nostrils flared. He stepped forward, his eyes trained on the tree line. His voice was whisper quiet, deadly, and fierce. “Finn, get everyone out of here.”
Finn was already walking away. “On it.”
Ben leaned toward me, also staring at the trees. “Were they talking about you?”
“I think,” I mumbled in confusion.
There were bigger problems than that right now.
I quickly trotted across the grass to stand next to Godric as the instructors and Finn herded recruits into the train. “Are we about to be attacked or something?”
“Yes,” Cassander and Godric stated together.
I snapped my attention to the trees. “By who?”
Godric’s nostrils were still flared. “I don’t know.”
“Not by who,” Cassander drawled. “By what.”
I stood on the grassy field with bare feet.
And I froze.
Black creatures with razor sharp nails were creeping closer to the edge of the tree line, moving as if they were floating, with no particular straight pattern as they crossed in front of each other and back again. They moved so slowly that a one-legged dog could beat them in a race.
My hands shook down by my sides. “Someone pinch me. I’m dreaming again.” I wanted to wake up now.
“Not a dream,” Cassander murmured.
Neither of the two took their eyes from the monsters.
Finn shoved the last of the recruits, who had made it to this side of the lake, inside the train, then barked at the instructors, “Hurry the fuck up, people.”
They ran inside, the confusion evident on their faces why they were leaving in such a hurry. But they obeyed the orders and raced up the stairs, disappearing inside.
My shoulders stiffened. “We need to get on that train.” I grabbed Godric’s hand with my shaking ones. “Come on, big man. Let’s go.”
“Finn, get Poppy on there!” Godric ordered.
But the door on the train shut on its own.
The train lifted into the air and shot over the lake.
I trembled where I stood, my lips quivering.
Godric bellowed, “What the fuck, Finn! She can’t be here.”
Finn jogged to our small group. He shook his head, his eyes wide in shock and confusion. “I didn’t do that.”
“I snuck in there earlier and set the timer.” Cassander yawned again. “Because she can be here.”
“Are you crazy?” I screamed. I pointed at the monsters heading toward us. “I don’t want to be here for whatever the hell you guys are up to.”
Cassander sighed. “Ms. Carvene, take the knife that God’s hiding against his right ankle.”
“I don’t want a weapon. I want to leave.”
“Just take it out.”
I ground my teeth together.
Nevertheless, I bent and grabbed the knife that was indeed hidden under Godric’s pant leg. I straightened with the polished blade in my hand. “It’s pretty. But I still want to go. Call the train back, someone.”
Cassander snickered. “Do me one more favor.”
“What?” I snapped.
“Prick the tip of God’s thumb with the blade.”
Godric blinked. He didn’t breathe.
“I’m not going to cut him.”
“Just a tiny prick. Then I’ll call the train back.”
I grabbed Godric’s closest hand and pressed the tip of the blade to his finger. “Sorry about this, big man. But that guy is crazy, and we need to get the hell out of here.”
Godric didn’t move a muscle as I put a little pressure on the knife. His eyes did lower though from the tree line to stare at his finger. A drop of blood beaded on his skin.
I pulled the knife away, and ordered, “Call it.”
Finn stared at the blood. He reached forward and brushed his finger over Godric’s, wiping the dot away.
Another blood dot formed slowly.
Finn choked. “Oh my. Fuck, God.”
Godric swayed where he stood, still staring at his finger. He whispered, “I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I,” I groused. I put a hand on his shoulder since it appeared he was about to faint at the sight of his own blood. “I want to get the hell out of here. And your friend is a liar.”
Godric argued absently, “He’s not my friend.”
He wiped off the blood, pinched his thumb, and stared in a daze as another blood drop beaded on his skin.
“Jesus, quit doing that. You look faint enough.” I rubbed his shoulder. Hard. “Godric, snap out of it. I’m seriously freaking out. The monsters from my nightmare are coming this way, and I’m afraid I’m either dead from the last test, have hit my head, or I’ve been drugged. I want to leave. Please.”
“You’re not any of those things, Ms. Carvene.” Cassander snickered, and then lowered his swords. He placed them on the ground. “This is so anticlimactic. The bastard must be weak. Those things are a lot slower than I thought they’d be. I imagined I’d rush to the rescue and get to kill some bad guys, but instead, they are slower than snails. Seriously. I’ve seen snails move faster than those rickety ass bad guys.”
“Call the train,” I hissed.
He ignored me. “I’ve got time to explain something.”
Then he did the unexpected.
I shook Godric’s shoulder again, my eyes widening in surprise. “Godric… Your crazy friend is stripping in front of us.”
“Not my friend,” he mumbled again.
Godric the Great stared at the tiny bead of blood.
“You’re not impressing me right now, big man.”
Finn blinked out of his own lethargy. “Just give him a minute, Poppy. He’ll be back to his controlling self in no time. Probably a whole lot more with you once he gets his shit together.”
“Watch it, asshole.”
“See? He’s already getting better.”
They were all losing it.
Cassander dropped his pants on top of the other clothes he had removed. He wasn’t wearing underwear.
I blinked at the naked man.
The pretty, pretty naked man.
Cassander lifted a finger. “Watch.”
“Call the damn train!”
“Don’t blink,” he ordered.
I froze in place, my mind instantly reeling.
White sparkles twisted like a tornado where he had stood, his body gone from sight.
“What?” I whispered, choking on air.
The tornado of sparkles disappeared.
A silver stalker fox sat on his haunches, and his tongue lolled out in a grin—where Cassander used to be.
I dropped the knife as my eyelashes fluttered.
“Someone, catch me,” I breathed.
The landscape sloped as I tipped to the side, my eyes closing on their
own. Godric’s arms wrapped around me right before I hit the ground and the world ceased to exist.
CHAPTER THIRTY
“Where are we going?” I asked softly, my arms wrapped around my stomach. My reality had changed when I’d woken up surrounded by monsters with their heads torn off.
Godric, Finn, and Cassander had killed them all.
Then a freaking train had arrived.
A private King Corporation train.
The clean blue energy vibrated under my bare feet.
Godric didn’t speak, his attention steadfast outside the window, with his chin resting on his fist.
After they had finished fighting, he carried me into the train, placed me on a chair, and wrapped a blanket around my shivering form. But he hadn’t said a word.
Apparently, he still wasn’t talking.
Finn cleared his throat after looking at his friend, the mute man. “I believe our destination is Godric’s home.”
I swallowed and finally looked at Cassander.
I whispered, “Did you really turn into a…”
His smile was gentle. “A fox. I shift into a fox.”
The air rushed out of my lungs in a shaky exhale. “What are you exactly?”
His brows rose, and he flicked his finger at Godric and Finn. “Don’t you mean, what are we?”
My jaw went slack in fear, and my voice was shrill. “All three of you turn into a fox?”
“No.” Cassander smirked. “I’m the only fox in this room.”
My brows furrowed as my gaze flicked back and forth between Finn and Godric. “What do you two turn into?”
Finn’s eyes didn’t leave mine. “I’m a white tiger.”
I pushed myself back against my seat.
“Lion,” Godric murmured absently.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and a horrible shiver plagued my frame. My teeth started chattering. When Godric had finally decided to speak, he destroyed my sanity.
I shook my fist at him. “I’m living in a different reality right now, and you are being an asshole. I need some goddamn comfort. It’s not everyday nightmares become real, and humans become animals.”
Godric sat back in his chair and turned his attention to me. His golden eyes pinned my shaking form in place. “We aren’t human, Poppy.”
Trigger (Origin Book 1) Page 12