‘Laura held back a hundred Wicked?’
Gemma recovered quickly, ‘I mean, it wasn’t just Laura, she’d been the one to come up with the plan, the others helped hold the Wicked back. They were desperate, I was dying. They risked everything to get me out.’
She could feel Mitch’s eyes on her, and at a glance, she was relieved to see he’d taken the bait. She continued, despite hating having to relive the experience.
‘It was James, a former friend and student of the Corin Manor who did this to me. He must have changed sides, he’d been in the Manor when Laura’s Mum came to Stella and Leo begging for help. I guess he’d sworn allegiance to the Wicked. To Erebus. And when he heard about the existence of Laura, he passed on the information.’
Mitch was quiet for a while, and Gemma wondered what he was thinking. Wondered if he thought she was as weak as she believed herself to be.
‘Will you heal completely?’ Mitch asked after a while, and Gemma glanced up.
She shrugged, ‘yeah, eventually. Granted, I should probably be resting, not running across the world after a crazy Wizard. But in time I’ll heal. My face will always be scared though, if that’s what you’re wondering.’
Mitch straightened immediately. ‘No that wasn’t what I was wondering. Never be ashamed of your scars. They make you who you are. They prove you fought in battle and survived. They’re a sign of bravery.’
Gemma shook her head. ‘Wasn’t very brave of me to lay there in a pool of my own blood unable to defend myself because I let my guard down. I chose to let a Wicked go free rather than killing him. What did I get in return? A medal of cowardice that’s what.’
Mitch stared at her disbelievingly. ‘You gave someone a chance, and they chose the wrong path. That’s not cowardice. That’s its own kind of strength. To put down your sword and walk away shows compassion. It shows honour.’
‘Sure. And I would have died for it.’ Gemma retorted, resorting to playing with blades of grass again.
‘I would rather die knowing I did the right thing than go through life remembering the people I’ve killed that I didn’t have to.’ Mitch said softly.
Gemma didn’t know how to respond, she didn’t know if she quite believed his words to be true, however for some reason, those very words coming from him were exactly what she needed to hear. She raised her eyes and gave him a small smile. To her great surprise, he returned it with a real one of his own.
‘Guys!’ They suddenly heard Robin hiss as their three companions rushed into the campsite. ‘You’ll never believe what we just heard.’
Chapter Fourteen
Burnt and Marked
While the scene wasn’t yet crawling with Police, at least two men had arrived and were checking the body.
‘Be careful.’ Drew told Laura. ‘We haven’t got much time before Enchanted Force members arrive to take the body, so we can’t risk jeopardising our chances at getting a look. Let me do the talking, I’ll have to convince him we’re here on assignment.’
‘How will we do that without credentials?’ Laura questioned cautiously.
‘You may not have any, but I sure do. A must have for Enchanted, in case we see something we need to conceal that risks our exposure.’
‘Isn’t that dangerous? What if people use them for the wrong reasons? And why don’t I have one?’ Laura asked as Drew started towards the two Police.
‘You do have to take a number of tests and oaths and all that important stuff to get them. And it hasn’t really been our top priority recently.’ Drew murmured.
‘Good point.’
‘Hey Fellas, Drew Crescent of the Corin Force, just heard in town about a murder and wondered if we could take a look.’ Drew said, flipping out his ID.
The two Policemen rose to stare at him wearily.
‘Corin, that’s hours away. What are you doing all the way out here?’ One of the men, a tall lanky guy with thick brown hair and dark skin, asked while the second man, short, pale and bald, eyed Drew’s ID.
‘We’ve had reports of a few deaths in the area and were called in to check on it. Not quite in time it seems.’
‘Sure, all right, take a look.’ The taller one of the two said.
The men stepped away from the body allowing Laura and Drew to catch their first glimpse of it. Laura held back a gasp at the sight of the poor boy laying crumpled on the ground. He was young, her age perhaps, and his blond hair was the only thing visibly undamaged. His face was unrecognisable from deep, patterned scorch marks all over it. The same burns covered his whole body and despite the unfamiliar patterns, Laura couldn’t help but wonder if maybe she had seen something similar to them before. The boy’s eyes were wide open, pecked out by birds, and his back arched in a shape indicating he had been in severe pain when he died.
Laura had to look away after only a moment, unable to stomach the horrific vision any longer. To her relief, Drew stepped into her line of sight, inspecting the body closer.
‘We suspect he’s been here two hours tops.’ The bald police officer said.
‘Is he from around here? Does he look familiar?’ Drew asked over his shoulder.
Both officers shook their heads.
‘It’s hard to tell with all the… damage, and he didn’t have any possessions on him. But we’ll run some DNA tests and see if there are any matches for missing people.’ The taller man told them.
Drew straightened. ‘What about clues around the site?’
‘Nothing. No tire tracks leading off the road to here, no signs that the body was dragged. Though living out in the desert makes things easier to clean up.’
Sirens blared in the distance and Laura’s heart began to race as she locked eyes with Drew. He gave a nod. It was time to go.
‘Thanks for the information. We’ll be in touch later on. Do a thorough sweep of the area, upturn the sand if you have too. We’ve got another assignment to be getting to.’ Drew told them, moving quickly towards the bike.
Laura followed and before the two Policemen could say a thing they were roaring off down the road again, away from town and the body. They rode for half an hour before pulling up in the desert sand by the track to regroup.
‘What do you think did that to him?’ Laura asked the moment the engine had been cut.
‘I’ve never seen anything like it before. Never heard anything like it either.’ Drew said, pulling lunch from his bag for the two of them to share.
Dry biscuits and butter.
Laura fell into her thoughts for a moment before jarring herself back to reality. ‘Hey, didn’t Mitch and Robin say a body turned up at the station not long ago, a girl our age. Markings burnt into the skin. Doesn’t it sound the same as this boy?’
Drew nodded in agreement, ‘but they didn’t say anything about what had happened.’
‘No, just said Mr Stark dismissed it.’
‘We should call them, see if we can get any other information.’
Laura was already pulling the walkie-talkie from her pocket. She pressed the button, holding it firmly until the radio came to life.
‘Hello, can anyone hear us?’ She said into the mic.
To Laura’s relief, they received an immediate reply.
‘We’re here, what’s up?’ Came Logan’s voice.
‘We’ve found something very interesting. Can we talk to… the officers?’ Laura asked, remembering only at the last minute to be cautious with her words.
‘I’m here,’ Mitch said.
‘Remember the night in the Library, you said something was brought into the station?’
There was a slight hesitation before Mitch’s reply came.
‘Yes, I remember.’
‘Well, we’ve found a similar case. Same problems.’
There was a second hesitation and Laura’s heart began to race.
‘You’re sure?’
‘Yes.’ Laura said, her voice firm. ‘Why?’
‘Because we’ve found something similar too.’
&nb
sp; ~
‘This can’t be a coincidence,’ Robin said after Mitch ended the call with Laura and Drew.
‘He’s right,’ Grace agreed. ‘We hear about bodies turning up all through Mandra, burnt to the bone by strange markings, and suddenly Laura and Drew come across one? They have to be connected.’
‘But what could be doing this? I’ve never heard of anything like this happening before.’ Logan said, arms folded.
‘We need to go to Mandra.’ Gemma uttered, climbing to her feet. ‘If we can study a body, we can find out more.’
‘What about tracking down Erebus?’ Logan asked.
Gemma shook her head. ‘I have a funny feeling that this is linked to Erebus. And right now, it’s the only clue we have. We’re not going to get the chance to search the place properly with all these guards around anyway.’
‘I agree,’ Mitch told them, ‘If Erebus is behind this, then all the more reason to go after this clue. It may lead us to him. And if he isn’t behind this, well I’d like to prevent any more deaths from occurring anyway.’
Robin felt a swirling in his stomach as he began to realise what Mitch was implying; he believed Erebus was back. And while Robin had spent all his time following Mitch’s orders because he thought the Enchanted were in danger, he’d never once allowed himself to truly consider that Erebus had risen from the dead. But it was clear Mitch believed that was the case, and it took a lot to convince Mitch of something.
Robin blinked three times fast, then found himself rubbing his eyes. He felt nervous, sweaty. He wasn’t ready to take on Erebus. He couldn’t even take on a badly trained Wicked.
‘Hey, you all right?’ Grace asked, resting a hand on his shoulder.
He removed his fists from his face and nodded, ‘yeah, just tired.’
There was a crackle from Gemma’s radio.
‘We’ve heard the news.’ Came Leo’s voice.
‘Yes. We’re following up the lead and changing locations.’
‘Copy that. Keep safe, radio in the moment you get there.’
‘Could be more than eight hours.’ Gemma informed them.
‘Understood.’
‘We better get a move on.’ Gemma said, switching her radio off.
They each began packing their bags and buckling them shut.
‘Hey, you ready?’ Mitch asked, and Robin cursed himself silently for not hearing his approach.
He peered up at his cousin, ‘yeah, just finishing up.’
‘We haven’t had a chance to talk much since this all began, but if you want to leave, I won’t think any less of you.’
Robin felt as though he’d been punched in the stomach.
‘Leave?’ he scoffed. Great, even his own cousin didn’t believe in him. ‘No. I’m here to protect my race.’
‘Hey, I didn’t mean anything by it. I just know how you are with the big cases. I wasn’t sure if it would be too much for you-‘
‘I can handle it.’ Robin snapped, hoisting his pack onto his back and taking three large strides towards one of the birds.
He mounted quickly before Mitch had the chance to jump up behind him and nudged the bird off into the bush.
~
Mitch swivelled to face the rest of the group. Logan and Grace were already atop their respective birds, following quietly after Robin. Gemma, however, had pulled up short.
‘What was that about?’ She queried, brow raised.
Mitch shrugged, though his mind was whirling.
‘Couldn’t possibly be your inability to think before you speak?’ She prompted.
‘You’d know all about that.’ Mitch remarked.
‘Sure. Catch you in Mandra.’ She replied, kicking her heels into the bird’s side and trotting off.
‘Hey! Wait!’ Mitch hissed, rushing after her.
She slowed to a walk, allowing him to catch up.
‘Aren’t you going to give me a lift?’ He asked, frustrated.
‘Nope.’ Gemma replied, grinning down at him.
‘Come on, don’t be a jerk.’
Gemma kicked her heels again and Mitch’s heart began to race.
‘Hey, no, sorry, all right, I didn’t mean that.’
‘What did you mean then?’ She asked.
Mitch squeezed his eyes shut, unable to believe that the infuriating girl beside him was actually going to make him beg. He was not one to beg because, well, he usually got exactly what he desired.
‘I mean, can you please give me a lift.’
Gemma halted her bird, put her left index finger to her chin and remained silent as she pretended to think.
‘I suppose.’ She finally replied.
Mitch huffed, mounted quickly, and secured himself behind Gemma, who prodded the bird forward into a run.
‘Mandra, here we come.’ She whispered.
~
‘What now?’ Laura queried Drew after ending the call with Stella and Leo, who’d been just as shocked as they were about the bodies.
‘Well, if we go back, our chances of being caught by Enchanted are high. And there’s no guarantee the body will still be there. If we stay here, someone will come along the road and we’ll be seen. So our only real option is to continue on where we were heading.’ Drew reasoned.
‘What do we do about the body though? We can’t just ignore what we saw.’ Laura countered.
‘You heard Mitch, they have a lead and are following up on it. They’ll let us know what they find.’
Drew began packing his bag, taking a final sip from his canteen, which Laura realised must have been close to empty for her own wasn’t far from being so. Drew caught her eye as she secured her bag on her back and she could see he knew exactly what she was thinking.
‘We’ll have to restock at the next town. We won’t find a clean river for miles here. Savour what you can.’ He said.
Laura gave a tight lipped smile, she didn’t like the idea of running out of water in the middle of a desert.
‘Want me to ride for a while?’ She asked.
Drew nodded, ‘sure.’
‘Where should we head next then?’ She probed, swinging her leg over the bike’s seat and kicking up the stand.
‘The next safest town would be Orrica. It’s at least a three hour ride.’
Laura slumped her shoulders at the thought of another three hours on the desert road under the hot sun. She’d never pushed her body so hard before.
‘What about fuel? The tank’s less than half full, if you include the reserve.’
Drew groaned lightly at the reminder. ‘Keep an eye out for any place that looks safe. Maybe we can buy some from a farm along the way.’
‘Buy? Really?’ Laura eyed him sceptically.
‘All right steal, same difference.’
‘It really, really isn’t.’ Laura said, starting the bike as he jumped on behind her and steering it back onto the road.
‘We need to find some helmets soon too. We can’t keep riding without them, too much risk. It’ll help hide our faces on the road too.’ Laura shouted back at Drew, taking off before he had the chance to respond.
They rode for an hour and a half before the bike began to splutter and slow, and, to Laura’s dismay, there were no houses in sight.
‘Slow down a bit, just putt along in second.’ Drew told her over the roaring wind in her ears.
She clicked down a few gears, and it appeared luck was somewhat on their side, for only ten minutes later an old farmhouse became visible on the horizon. It was still well off, and Laura highly doubted they’d make it that far, so she quickened her speed, hoping that when the bike ran out of fuel they would coast a way too. They made it halfway to the house when the engine officially cut out, however the bike managed to roll another quarter before coming to a halt.
‘Good thinking,’ Drew told her as they climbed from the bike.
Laura gave him a smile of acknowledgement then pulled the bag from her back immediately, rolling her shoulders and savouring the freedom. The su
n was beating down on them, and she rolled up her sleeves, pulling a peeked cap from her pack to at least protect her face from the rays.
‘What are you doing?’ Drew inquired, raising his eyebrows.
‘I don’t want to get burnt.’ Laura refuted.
‘What do you mean?’ Drew asked with a frown, his eyes glowing emerald in the sun.
‘Don’t tell me you guys don’t burn. If fire can burn you the sun sure can.’
Drew genuinely looked confused. ‘Burnt from the sun? That’s ridiculous.’
Laura screwed up her face at him. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’
Drew burst out with a laugh, ‘yeah, nah I’m just messing.’ He said, pulling a peeked hat from his own bag and squashing it down over his messy mop of black hair.
Laura scoffed, crossing her arms. ‘You need a haircut.’ She muttered, then took to pushing the bike well off the road and towards the farmhouse.
‘Hey, you forgot your pack.’ Drew said.
‘I’m pushing the bike, you can at least take my bag!’ Laura uttered over her shoulder without stopping.
Drew caught up to her, one bag on his back, the other on his front.
‘You look ridiculous.’ Laura laughed.
‘You seem to care a lot about my looks at the moment, first getting burnt, then my hair, now my outfit.’
‘To be fair, I was more concerned about me getting burnt not you.’
‘So you wouldn’t care if I was burnt up by the sun?’
‘Not particularly. At least it would shut you up.’ Laura said between puffs. She was beginning to feel the weight of the bike combined with the heat.
‘Please, not even a little sunburn will hinder my ability to speak. Beautifully, I might add.’
Laura huffed, rolling her eyes. ‘Sure, whatever you think.’
The Sacrifice (Wicked Book 2) Page 17