Everwild (The Healer Series, #1) (26 page)

Just as his lips closed the distance and
formed to hers, the door burst open and they both jumped apart in
surprise looking towards the door.

“CHASE!” Willow screamed and scurried off the
bed towards the human form of the werewolf. She ran into his arms
and Chase embraced her in a large bear hug, picking her up off the
floor. Willow was so excited that she didn’t notice when Declan
came up. He cleared his throat loudly and Willow stiffened in
Chase’s arms. Crap.

And, of course, Chase couldn’t let something
like that go unnoticed. Chuckling, he said, “Sorry to take your
girl away from you, warlock. I have that affect, you know. Just
part of my sexy, girl can’t resist allure. No hard feelings,
though.”

Willow squirmed out of Chase’s hold and he
reluctantly let her go. She tucked her hair behind her ears and
looked at Declan embarrassed. “Sorry,” she said and went to hold
his hand. Declan didn’t seem mad, but took her hand all the same
and turned to Chase. The first thing out of his mouth almost made
Willow burst out laughing.

“What the hell are you doing here, Wolf?”

Chase rolled his eyes and gestured to his
body. “As you can see, I’m not a wolf right now.”

“Whatever. Stop avoiding the question and
answer it.”

Willow couldn’t help but smile. It was back
to the old Chase and Declan frustrated arguments. “You know how the
Fey can be really stupid sometimes? I know that a lot of people
think they’re the most powerful supernatural beings out there, but
that’s not everyone’s opinion. This one time…”

“Get to the point!” Declan and Willow
exclaimed at the same time.

Chase laughed and shook his head which
ruffled the black hair on top of his head. “Wow that was weird.
Okay, here’s the point. The Fey forgot one little aspect of
werewolves when they’re in wolf form. We can communicate no matter
how far away we are. Telepathically,” he wagged his eyebrows and
pointed to his temple. “At least one member of the pack is in wolf
form at all times just in case something like this happens. Long
story short, my Alpha is storming the keep as we speak, along with
my pack. He found out how the Fey played me and he’s…well…really
pissed off. King Diazinon is all worked up and the magical hold on
me was released so I can shift now. Probably without meaning to,
I’m guessing, but the King has got a lot on his mind right now,”
Chase crossed his arms smugly.

“Your pack is trying to break through the
barrier to Diazinon’s kingdom?” Willow screeched. “That’ll start a
war!”

“Psh,” Chase waved her off, “the Fey deserve
it, and we’re not the only ones who think that.”

Now Willow was the one to cross her arms.
“You’re such a troublemaker Chase.”

“You think this was all me? Healer, I may be
the sprinkles on top, but I’m not the whole cake, okay?”

Declan huffed beside her. “We’re leaving,
Wolf. Do you know the way outta here?”

“Oh…yea,” Chase said. “That reminds me. The
reason why I’m here….there’s word in the court that Hekate found
out about your talisman and she’s royally pissed off. She’s sending
her people here to collect you. So we gotta book it out of here,
pronto!”

“CHASE!” Willow cried. “Why didn’t you tell
us this before?”

“Because you guys distracted me! Asking all
sorts of questions and shit!” Chase said. “Now come on! I know the
way out of the castle. There’s a back entrance with a tunnel that
leads directly back to the Everwild. We don’t have to go through
the streets and the crystal cave. Hurry!”

Even as he was speaking, Declan ran to the
drawers and quickly pulled out a shirt and threw it on. It was
kind-of tight, but it worked. He rushed up to Willow, grabbed her
hand, and they were out of the bedroom in less than two minutes.
Chase ran down the long corridor with Declan and Willow on his
heels. For the first time in a long time, Willow felt free. Even
though Diazinon wasn’t technically holding them prisoner anymore,
she felt trapped in his kingdom. Getting out of that bedroom was a
relief in itself.

Declan had a strong grip on her hand, and as
they ran down twisting staircases and long hallways, she noticed
that the once filled castle was now vacant. There were no Fey or
centaurs, Fey knights, or any creature in sight.

“Where is everybody?” Willow asked.

“Helping to protect the magic that surrounds
their kingdom,” Chase said without looking back. “Fairies are
powerful in their magic, but so are werewolves. We find the weak
points and attack as a unit. Eventually, we can penetrate through
the barriers for good old fashioned combat.”

“How many of you are there?” she
wondered.

“Our pack runs about two hundred members,
give or take,” Chase said looking around. He slowed down as they
neared a long staircase that dropped deep into the ground. He
looked at Willow before continuing and said, “You know, if you’re
so interested in werewolves, how about you dump this loser and hang
out with me? I’ve got a lifetime of knowledge, and we can spend the
rest of our lives learning about each other’s ways…”

“In your dreams, Wolf Boy,” Willow said and
started down the steps after him.

“You’re always in my dreams, my sweet healing
witch girl,” Chase said. His voice echoed off the walls that were
beginning to look like the inside of a mountain. Dark, rocky, and
dank, the surroundings made her feel claustrophobic, as if the
walls were slowly getting narrower and narrower the further they
traveled down. Willow’s heart picked up speed as they made it to
the bottom and all she saw ahead of her was a dark and narrow path.
They were once again plunged in darkness.

“This is it, folks. You’re one stop shot to
get out of Fey Kingdom.”

“We don’t need a freaking play-by-play,”
Declan growled. “Just hurry. I feel like something’s coming.”

Willow shrunk closer to Declan and took his
arm. A breeze blew from the other end of the tunnel, and it was
cold and chilling. “Ah, this feels so familiar!” Chase’s voice
reverberated off the stone walls. “The amazing trio is together
again. We’re capable of defeating any enemy that dare challenge
us!”

“You know,” Declan told Willow, “I didn’t
miss him one bit.” Willow giggled.

Chase’s growl rumbled off the walls. “I heard
that.”

They traveled down the tunnel until they came
to a three way junction. To the left were flickering lights. The
one straight ahead was completely dark, and the hallway to the
right of them had a strange red glow to it. Chase stopped and
rubbed his head sighing deeply. This wasn’t a good sign.

“Which way?” Willow asked, looking behind her
in the darkness. There was no movement, but that didn’t mean
something wasn’t there.

“Shh,” Chase told her. “I’m listening.” He
turned around and faced the two. “My instincts are telling me
straight, but there’s a breeze that’s to the right. That always
indicates fresh air coming in from somewhere.”

“I thought you knew the way out of here!”
Declan declared frustrated.

“I do, I just don’t
exactly
remember
this part…”

“Great! I’ve just about had it with you,
Wolf! You can’t lead us anywhere for shit! You call yourself a
werewolf? You’re nothing more than a good for nothing--”

“Aha!” Chase interrupted as if he never heard
Declan’s rant. Either that, or he was smart enough to ignore him.
“Right we go. As Gandalf always says, ‘When in doubt, Peregrin
Took, follow your nose’.”

“Who’s Gandalf?” Willow whispered to Declan.
He rolled his eyes and continued to follow Chase once again.

They walked at a faster pace. Willow felt
like she was being followed. She kept glancing over her shoulder,
feeling like eyes were on her back. Declan could feel it too. He
was tense and had his magic zinging next to her. Willow could feel
him tapping into his magic and decided to do the same. The talisman
on her wrist glowed faintly and she felt absolutely incredible. Her
magic came to life inside her faster than before. It coursed in her
veins, igniting under her skin at the ready. Of course, her magic
was only as good as the spells she cast, which is why becoming a
Second degree was so important. There was a plethora of information
she hadn’t even learned yet; her magic only touched the surface of
the great depth that dealt with her race. Powerful defensive spells
was on the top of that list. Her sisters were nearly one hundred
years old and were still learning spells that Seconds can cast. So
of course, she felt highly vulnerable at the moment.

Finally, Willow saw a light at the end of the
tunnel. They booked it to get there, the light becoming more and
more intense until they burst forth into a great hall and came to a
screeching halt. A small group of Fey soldiers stood at the
entrance into the Everwild. A tall open archway that showed the
gloomy trees beyond was blocked by the guards. Standing in the
front of the group was none other than Eeydyn. Cool, calm, and
collected, Eeydyn nonchalantly rubbed the long, sharp Fairy blade
in his hand and never even looked up when they entered the hall.
When he finally did, his silver eyes flashed mischievously and his
wicked grin darkened the air around them.

“Going somewhere?” he asked looking to each
of the three standing there shell shocked. Declan moved to block
Willow with half his body.

“How about through that door you’re blocking,
Fairy Boy?” Chase snarled.

Eeydyn smiled. “Chase! How good it is to see
you back as the petulant human again. It really is a shame how you
have to be half human, since humans are so ignorant and impossibly
unexceptional in every way.”

“Just let us through, Eeydyn! We have
permission to leave your territory!”

“My King says otherwise,” Eeydyn said and
approached them. “You see, you killed his precious pet, and well,
that was unforgiveable. Besides, Hekate’s retrievers are nearly
here. They’ll want to see the Healer, and I have orders to follow.
And I
always
follow through with orders.”

“Well, there’s always a first time that
you’ll fail, Eeydyn.”

“Not today,” Eeydyn said and approached them
like a jungle cat ready to pounce on his wounded prey.

“Oh yea? You may have an army, BUT I HAVE A
PACK!” Chase yelled and shifted into wolf form where he howled and
snarled viciously. His teeth dripped saliva and his hackles were
up, sauntering slowly up to the Fairy, assessing him, keeping him
in his narrowed sight.

Chase howled again; a loud, deafening cry.
Soon, it was followed by several more howls and deep, rolling
growls. Eeydyn turned back in shock to see that ten wolves were
running full speed towards the exit on the Everwild side of the
archway. Chase took that lack of awareness and pounced on Eeydyn,
who tumbled backwards to the hard floor. Chase snapped at Eeydyn’s
face, but he blocked him with the blade of his sword just in time,
almost slicing Chase’s muzzle until Chase dodged him and clawed at
Eeydyn’s arm to get him to release his sword.

Eeydyn scurried out from under Chase and
back-flipped up to his feet. Fury was behind the Fairies’ eyes as
he charged at Chase. Chase quickly looked at Declan and Willow and
motioned with his head to leave and went back to fighting the
Fairy. The Fairy guards were busy warding off the other wolves in
Chase’s pack, and it was an all-together terrifying and
breathtaking experience.

Willow and Declan dodged wolves left and
right. They were massive in size, coming to the waist and even
shoulders of some of the guards. There were wolves of all different
colors; red, white, black, brown. They hunted as a unit and it was
obviously so. Willow saw that when one wolf was struggling, another
wolf came to his aide in seconds. They were communicating through
telepathy, and a couple times Willow would see a wolf cock his head
or nod to another as they listened to each other’s thoughts. The
Fairies were overwhelmed by the power and dominance the wolves
portrayed. They tried fighting and using magic, but it was hard to
aim at the wolves that were so fast and expertly dodged the hits.
When the Fairies were confronted at such a short distance it was
more difficult for them to conjure and maneuver their magic to not
hit their own people.

Declan pulled Willow along the walls of the
hall and after much effort, made it to the exit. They stepped on
the grass of the Everwild and never looked back. A longing suddenly
pulled at Willow’s heart as she heard a great yelp coming from
inside the cave. One of the wolves was hurt! Her healer instincts
perked up and her feet started to move back inside until Declan
gripped her waist and held her back.

“They’ll be fine, Willow Tree. It’s us we
need to worry about now.”

“But what about Chase?”

“What about him? He can handle himself. I’m
sure he’s been through worse before. In fact, I wouldn’t doubt it.
Please just come with me.”

“Please?” Willow asked and allowed Declan to
pull her deeper into the forest. “Was that an actual please I just
heard? Wow, Declan, you usually just tell me what to do.”

“Are you mad that I asked you nicely?” He
laughed, “would you like me to tell you what to do? ‘Cause I’d be
more than happy to.”

“No, no. I like this Declan better.”

As Declan and Willow climbed over branches
and ducked under sticky brambles, the sounds of all fighting had
ceased until there was only silence. But there was still an eerie
feeling hanging in the air. Willow was getting finicky and turned
to look behind her every so often.

“Declan, should I summon my broom?” Willow
asked him stopping. They were out of Fey territory now, so it
should be safe to use magic. The magic protecting the Fairy lands
would stop them from using their own magic. If Willow summoned her
broom, it would return to Willow in a matter of minutes, flying
through the sky at lightening speed to reach her and they would be
able to get out of the Everwild for good.