“
And you can feel it now?” Lucas asked Rachel.
She nodded unhappily. “Yeah, I feel it.”
“
Whoever has brought us here has dispensed with subtlety, then. They dropped the magic that kept you from noticing.”
Val bit her lip. “Wait. Do you see it?” she asked Lucas.
He gave her a haughty look and didn’t answer.
“
What does that mean?” Jack said.
“
It means we’re in deep shit,” Rachel said.
Lucas ignored her comment. “Whoever has done this knew we were in Roanoke and brought us to them intentionally. So they can open the portal, take people, but cannot leave themselves.” It was clear he wasn’t looking for an answer.
He continued, “After the incident with the Lost Colony, there are no known incidents of people disappearing over the last few centuries. No mysterious circumstances surrounding kidnapped people occurring in the woods. Either something has changed, or the Fey felt no need to take anyone.” His gaze landed heavily on Valerie. “Perhaps there was no one interesting enough to take. Until now.”
Valerie looked up at Lucas, arms crossed, shoulders hunched a little. “Hey, you’re the one who killed them all. Maybe they brought us here because of
you
. Have you been here before?”
His cheeks hollowed, jaw hardened. A sign of defiance? Anger?” No. A vampire’s powers are greatly reduced in their world. Witches kept us apprised of where the portals were and we avoided them. Occasionally a vampire disappeared into the Fey realm.” A lengthy pause. “Rarely did they return.”
Valerie turned to Rachel. She didn’t trust her. Couldn’t believe she’d want them here on purpose but felt the need to ask. “Why didn’t you feel it, then? You’re a witch. Shouldn’t you have noticed?”
She scowled. “Yeah. And I probably would have if I’d ever felt Fey magic before. Or if I hung out with other witches and swapped trade secrets. I just didn’t feel it.” She shrugged then leaned in towards Val a little. “But next time, I’m on it! Won’t fool me twice.” Her words were vicious somehow and Val turned, stalking away.
She wasn’t going to fight with Rachel right now.
Maybe later.
Jack reached out, put his hand on Rachel’s arm for a brief moment, getting her attention. He shook his head at Rachel, telling her without words to settle down.
Rachel rolled her eyes.
Val gasped. “Is that
snow
?” In the distance, white clouds were rolling in, a massive storm coming towards them.
“
We need shelter. We are here and we are at the mercy of the Fey for a reason. To assume they don’t wish us harm is folly. Let us go.”
“
Shouldn’t we try to find a castle or something? Seek refuge there?” Rachel asked.
“
If they had wanted us at the castle, we would be there. They would have brought us there. This location was chosen for a reason. Survival is everything now,” Lucas said.
“
My instincts tell me we should stick together and not give the Fey a chance to separate us. However, we could find shelter faster if we roamed ahead and tracked back, Rachel said to Lucas.
“
You’re a witch. You may be more valuable than I to their survival at this point. But I will not leave her undefended…and I imagine they want us separated.” Lucas sighed, a frustrated sound. “We stay together. It is not worth the risk. Do you know how to send out your will?” he asked Rachel.
“
Yes,” she said hesitantly.
“
Do it.”
“
I need to lay down to do it. Lay down or fall down.”
“
Would you rather be carried?” Lucas asked.
“
No
. No, thanks.” She seemed nonplussed and Valerie wondered at the byplay. Whatever the reason was for her not wanting to be in Lucas’ arms, it was clearly something that she had a strong reaction to.
Rachel was many things, but afraid of Lucas didn’t seem to be one of them. She back-talked and seemed to relish being insolent.
Rachel lay down on the ground, propping her back against a tree trunk. She laced her fingers in her lap and then looked up at Lucas. “It takes a lot of energy,” she said quietly.
Lucas nodded, faint lines bracketing his mouth. Valerie knew she was missing something, but she didn’t know what.
Rachel closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Then another. Val and Jack exchanged a ‘now what? ’ expression. Two gray wolves appeared out of thin air, taking shape beside Rachel.
The shape was right, but they were like ghosts, their bodies see through. They leapt off, each of them going in different directions, bounding silently through the forest.
“
Jesus Christ,” Jack muttered, pacing away from Lucas and Val.
Rachel stayed propped up against a tree trunk with her eyes closed, but it didn’t look like she was sleeping. There was no one home. The spark of vitality was gone, and her skin was chalky and lifeless. She looked dead.
Minutes passed, and Valerie could see the storm moving closer to them. As if a giant was dropping a white sheet over everything and blanketing the forest in sections. They needed shelter before the storm hit. The temperature began to drop, and she could see her breath fogging in front of her, felt her hands go numb. Val jumped in place, trying to get warm.
Lucas was almost as still as Rachel while they waited. Val had the urge to throw a rock at Lucas or do something to get him to move. Looking at him when he became statue- still creeped her out. It wasn’t hot. She closed her eyes and thought about him, what he might be feeling.
Nothing.
But when she opened her eyes, Lucas was watching her. Had he felt her reach out to him? She gave him a small smile, almost apologetic, and then turned back to Rachel.
Rachel’s skin was gray, the flesh under her eyes sunken and the greeny-blue quality of her veins more pronounced. As though her flesh had thinned and the trace amounts of fat that kept her skin young-looking, and healthy, were gone.
Her eyes flicked open as she stared sightlessly into the distance. It reminded Val of a doll that would open its eyes when she turned up-right. She’d had one of those. It had blinked on its own and scared the crap out of her.
Rachel gasped. Like her soul was thrust back into her body, and the only way to keep it there was to lock it in with air.
“
Where?” Lucas instantly asked.
“
That way.” She pointed to the left, almost horizontal to the storm. Her voice was grating and rough, like she’d been searching for water for days and only found more sun.
“
What is it?” Lucas asked.
“
A cottage.”
“
Inhabited?”
“
I don’t think so. But I couldn’t tell because the doors and windows were covered. I can’t go through something closed.”
“
Can you walk?” Lucas asked.
Rachel’s eyes were very wide. And she looked like hell. She licked her lips quickly, before turning away. “I need time.”
Lucas dropped to his knees beside her, arm extended towards her, palm up so that his wrist was before Rachel’s face. Val could see his back, knew he’d positioned himself on purpose—to keep Val and Jack from seeing some of what they were doing. A hint of privacy.
“
The time for hiding is done. You are what you are,” Lucas said quietly.
Rachel’s expression was almost sad. And Val wondered at their relationship again. Rachel nodded, watched the wrist Lucas extended towards her with banked desire.
“
I can bite? I mean, you don’t want to—” She seemed uncertain.
“
Would you prefer me to make the wound?” he asked, almost surprised.
She flushed.
His wrist was to his mouth in an instant, and then it was back, blood glinting in the light. A look of longing crossed Rachel’s face. Her head bowed over him like prince charming about to kiss sleeping beauty—A kiss of adoration without knowledge.
Her hands came up, cupping his wrist. Then her lips touched his flesh, clamping onto him. His arm was stretched out towards Rachel, and her body still rested against the tree. Neither of them making any effort to get closer to each other. It was as impersonal as possible.
As clinical as sucking someone’s body fluids could be.
Which means really fucking personal.
Rachel swallowed and made a low, almost sexual sound, deep in her throat. A sound so unequivocally of pleasure that it made a flash of jealousy tear through Valerie like lightning.
Rachel’s shoulders slumped, and her grip tightened on his arm, trying to pull him closer to her. Her skin changed almost instantly, restored to the state it had been before the invisible wolf business, but better. Her hair was smooth and perfect, and when her eyes flashed open, they sparkled like jewels in the sun. She was not only restored, but amplified.
“
Enough,” Lucas said, and Rachel instantly quit drinking, her head dropping back to the tree, eyes closed as she licked her lips.
Val looked to Jack, but he wasn’t watching. He was staring at the snow in the distance, arms tight against his chest, a muscle in his jaw jumping. He seemed as uncomfortable as a priest in a sex shop.
Lucas stood, extending a hand to help Rachael up. She took it and glided off the ground, her body as flexible as a flower in a storm.
“
This way,” Rachel said, her voice husky, and they set off into the woods.
Chapter
27
The temperature had plummeted. Their breath fogged, and Val’s legs were tired from the punishing pace. She was also thirsty and hungry.
Really thirsty and hungry
. The storm was almost on them, and everyone was silent as they hurried toward the unseen shelter.
And then they came to a little clearing in the woods where a cottage stood. It was quiet, and there was something about the little home that made it seem uninhabited. It also looked like it belonged in a fairy tale. “Who’s inside? The witch who cooked up Hansel and Gretel or the big bad wolf?” Val said, teeth chattering.
Lucas gave Valerie an odd look under his lashes. “As though we would be lucky enough to find food.”
Val recoiled a little.
Is he joking?”
Was that a joke?” Val asked.
“
I don’t know,” he said vaguely, attention fixed on the front door and the wooden shutters that covered the windows, “Was it funny?”
Yeah, kind of.
“
No, it wasn’t,” Jack said, almost vibrating with anger.
What is he so pissed about?
Sure, they were all irritated, impending doom seemed to have that effect on a person, but the rest of them were
trying
to stay upbeat.
Val felt a slight sting on her cheek.
Snow.
They’d only just made it. Val hoped the cottage was empty, because she suspected that Lucas was going to get them in there whether someone put up a protest or not.
“
Give me your scarf,” Lucas said, hand extended.
The question was unexpected. “Why?”
“
The metal on the door handle is silver. It will burn my flesh if I touch it without a barrier.”
She unwound her scarf from her neck and handed it to him. Lucas wrapped it around his hand and reached for the door handle. The door opened easily.
“
Why does that seem ominous? I almost wish we’d had to break in,” Jack said quietly.
Lucas stepped into the cottage, gesturing for them to wait while he checked it out. Jack stepped towards the door, a knife in hand, but Rachel caught his arm. “What do you think you’re doing? If there is something in there, he can deal with it.”
Jack’s jaw was tight, his arm rigid. “I can help.”
“
No.
You’d
die,” she said firmly, grip tightening. “I am stronger than you will ever be, and he makes me look like a child. You leave the dangerous things to us, or it’ll be aone-way trip to the land of Tinkerbell for you.”
Jack jerked against Rachel’s grip, but she didn’t let go. He stepped in towards her, crowding close instead. “Don’t underestimate me,” he said with quiet, angry intensity. Rachel let go, as if she wanted to keep some distance between them.
“
You may come in,” Lucas said from inside the cottage.
“
The vampire invites us in. Now I’ve seen everything,” Jack said, moving out of the way to let Val go first. Rachel cut in front of Jack, going in ahead of him, and Val thought she could hear Jack’s teeth grinding in irritation.
It was dark inside the cottage. Dark and small. There were two rooms. The main room had two wooden chairs, a hearth with a kettle on a black spit, some logs next to the fireplace and a few folded blankets, presumably for sleeping on.
“
Rustic,” Rachel said tonelessly.