Fear (4 page)

They‘re gaining on me. I know it.

What about Natalia? I have to find her.

Eventual y, I break through the trees and onto another trail, and Hadley is there, waiting for me.

―Your car is just down the road, over the hill ,‖ she says, breathing heavily. ―Go.

Now.‖ She thrusts my car keys into my hand.

―Did Raine make it?‖ I ask.

―Don‘t worry about her. Just get out of here.‖ She turns and starts to run.

I look toward the hill . My car should be there, right on the other side. The sound of the siren is fainter now, and I don‘t hear any yelling.

But Natalia is back there, too. I can see her face so clearly. I can feel her nearness, hear her voice and her laughter.

You can‘t do this. You can‘t go back there.

It‘s true. I‘d have to be a fool to go back. My physical strength is nothing compared to their magic. I‘m not strong enough to protect Natalia, or to stop Reed from hurting her if that‘s what he wants to do.

But I can‘t leave Natalia there alone, either.

Because I love her.

It‘s the first time I‘ve al owed myself to think the words. And I I‘d like to be able to say them out loud to her before…before whatever‘s going to happen, happens.

I turn around and head back into the woods. I might not be able to save Natalia, but I can‘t just leave her here. I have to do something. I feel icy calm. In my heart, I know I‘m doing the right thing.

But when I crest the hill , I see him.

Reed. Hadley‘s on the ground at his feet, sprawled out, looking stunned. Reed‘s eyes glitter, and a strange smile spreads across his face when he sees me coming.

―You idiot!‖ he shouts. ―Who do you think you are, trying to escape?‖

Quickly, I step behind an enormous tree. If he catches my eyes he might try and control me, make me come to him. I start scanning the forest. There‘s a dense patch of brush just a few feet from me, and if I can make it there in time, he MIGHT not be able to fol ow me through it.

But just as I‘m about to make a run for it, I hear a tremendous cracking sound, and the tree I‘m hiding behind rips from the ground, roots and al .

I‘ve never seen anything like it.

The tree soars overhead and lands at least twenty yards away with a crash.

I‘m completely exposed and Reed‘s laughing at me now.

He whispers some word I‘ve never heard, and before I know what‘s happening, I‘m

flying off the ground and through the air. My arms pinwheel as I careen towards him.

His hand reaches out grabs me, and pulling me out of the air like a wide receiver catching a pass. He shakes me back and forth as if I weigh twenty pounds instead of two hundred. ―I should kill you!‖ he screams.

He sets me on the ground, then pulls me toward him so that his face is pressing against mine, his breath hot against my cheek. ―You should have kept running, little boy, you real y should have kept going once you started. If you‘d gotten away I might have let you crawl under a rock and live out the rest of your pathetic life in obscurity.‖

―Calm down, Reed,‖ I say, my voice surprisingly composed.

He drops me like a sack of potatoes and then laughs uproariously, as if I just told him the best joke of all time.

Hadley is sitting up now, shaking her head, still clearly dazed.

―What did you do to her?‖ I say, kneeling and looking into her eyes.

―I‘m fine,‖ she says, shaking her head. She looks at me. ―Why did you come back?‖

―Nat,‖ I say. ―I can‘t leave her.‖

Reed guffaws. ―Oh, how cute. How real y fucking cute. As if she needs you to save her.

From what exactly? Ruling her kingdom? You think she‘d prefer to come back and hang out with you in Santa Anna?‖

―I know she doesn‘t want you,‖ I say. I stand up and offer Hadley my hand. She takes it and I help her to her feet.

Reed smirks. ―We‘ll see about that, Campbell . We‘ll see about that.‖

―Fuck you.‖

―Wow, more words of wisdom from the articulate Campbell El iot. It‘s going to be a

pleasure to watch you suffer at the bond breaking ceremony.‖

―God, you‘re a dick,‖ I say, shaking my head.

A moment later we‘re surrounded by guards.

Probably ten or twelve of them at least. ―Bring him to the clearing for the ceremony and don‘t let him out of your sight,‖

Reed tell s them. ―If he says a word, you have my permission to beat him senseless.‖

***

They found Raine too, of course. Not long after my encounter with Reed, I see them dragging her along, same as me.

It seems like we never real y had a chance.

They take us both to a clearing in the middle of the forest. The light pours in through the trees giving the place a glowing, eerie look, like something out of a horror movie. The air is damp and slightly misty.

We‘re at one of those old fashioned theatres they showed us in pictures at school.

What was it called? An amphitheater. Where people do Shakespeare and that kind of shit.

They‘ve stripped my shirt off and handcuffed me to Raine, parking us in a small area behind the stage.

They‘re not allowing us to speak to one another.

When Raine tried to say something to me, one of the soldiers slapped her. Hard.

There‘s still a group of people guarding us, although less than before. Some of them have gone off to do another job. The soldiers haven‘t said anything to me, but I recognize the guy that I punched last night.

His bruises have mostly healed, but he‘s still got a decent shiner on his right eye.

―You al don‘t talk much, do you?‖ I say.

He stares ahead.

―Still a little banged up, huh?‖ I smile at him. ―Don‘t be mad. So you got your ass kicked, there‘s no shame in that.‖

He starts to take a step toward me, but one of the older guards stops him. ―Don‘t.‖

―Reed said we could beat him senseless if he opened his stupid mouth,‖ the first solder says.

―Can‘t you see he‘s trying to bait you?‖ the second one says. ―Don‘t worry, you‘ll get a chance to see him suffer plenty during the ceremony.‖

The first soldier shakes his head, but takes a step back.

The older guard looks at me, then bends down and whispers in my ear. ―Listen,‖

he says, ―if I were you I‘d keep my mouth shut.

Maybe do some praying or something.

I saw one of these bond-breaking ceremonies about twenty years ago, and I‘ll never

forget it. I‘ve seen some terrible things in my life, but I wouldn‘t wish that on my worst enemy.‖

I open my mouth to say something smart, but then I realize he isn‘t trying to scare me.

He‘s serious.

I keep my mouth shut. I can hear people filtering into the amphitheater and starting to take their seats.

―Cam?‖ Raine whispers.

―Yeah?‖

―If things don‘t…work out…I just want you to know I‘m sorry for all the trouble I

caused,‖ she says.

―Apology accepted,‖ I say, and mean it.

We‘re quiet after that. There‘s real y nothing left to say. The ceremony is starting.

Chapter Five

Natalia

I‘m still on the porch of the cottage with the younger witches when the alarm starts going off. The witches are trying to show me how they can make the wind gather and move through the bushes, rustling the leaves.

―See?‖ Danata‘s saying proudly. ―My wind is very strong.‖

―That‘s great,‖ I say, and give her a smile. She smiles back at me, seemingly happy that I‘ve shown her some attention.

And that‘s when the alarms start to sound.

Instantly, the vibe on the porch changes. Just a second ago, everyone was chattering excitedly, trying to show off for me, and now, they all look at each other, panic on their faces.

―What?‖ I ask, my heart already starting to pound.

―What does that mean?‖

―It‘s probably just a false alarm,‖ Danata says. But she doesn‘t sound sure. I think of Cam. And how he‘s with Raine. And how Reed made me stay here with these people, while he went off to take care of something.

And then, before I can even think about what I‘m doing, I‘m running through the woods, back toward the town hall . Danata‘s calling after me, but I ignore her. Branches are cracking under my feet and whipping at my face, and I can feel them scratching my skin and grabbing at my hair. Still , I push through the trees, faster and faster, feeling in my heart that Cam‘s in danger.

I try to fol ow the path as best as I can, but I don‘t know exactly where the town hall is from here, and so I don‘t know exactly where it is I‘m going. I‘m getting al turned around.

I can hear voices in the distance, shouting. It‘s probably guards. I wonder if they‘re looking for Cam.

I wonder if they found me wandering around out here what they would do. For the

millionth time since this whole thing started, I have no idea what to do or who to trust, and I have to bite my lip to keep from screaming. I bite so hard I can taste blood.

The bitterness fills my mouth, but I keep moving, mostly because I don‘t know what else to do. I‘m completely disoriented.

And then I hear the crackle of a guard‘s walkie talkie.

The sound is very close, and so I quickly duck behind a bush. I crouch down, watching through the leaves, as two guards circle through the grass in front of me.

They seem to be looking for someone. I hear a voice come through the walkie talkie, a voice that says not to worry, that Campbell and Raine have been apprehended.

Which means they must have tried to escape. But why? Why would they leave that room?

Something must have gone wrong, something bad that made them want to leave. But what?

I watch as the guards high five each other and then start to move through the woods. I get up from my hiding spot, and trail them until we‘re back on the path. I fol ow them, keeping my distance, until final y, off to the right, I can see the amphitheater in the distance.

I slip behind a tree and wait until the guards are out of sight, then head toward the entrance. The theatre is starting to fill with people, and everyone‘s mil ing about, wandering through the aisles and chatting with each other as they find their seats. No one seems nervous. In fact, they look like they‘re about to watch a movie or something, very relaxed and calm.

My lip is still bleeding where I bit it, and my tongue flicks out and licks the blood.

I don‘t know what to do. If Cam and Raine have been apprehended, and people are

arriving, they must be getting ready to start the bond breaking ceremony.

I walk to the front of the theatre, but before I can go inside, someone steps in front of me.

Reed.

―Where the hell have you been?― His eyes are dark, and he‘s not even pretending to be friendly.

―What do you mean?‖ I ask, deciding to play innocent. I paste a confused look on my

face.

―I mean,‖ he says, ―that I came back to find you, and Danata said you‘d run off.

Where were you going?‖

My heart is beating so hard that I‘m afraid he‘ll be able to hear it. But I force myself to look him in the eye. ―The alarms started going off,‖ I say, shrugging,

―and I got scared. So I tried to find you, but I got al turned around. I was walking for what seemed like forever, and then I final y found my way back here.‖

He searches my face, and I can tell he‘s looking for signs that I‘m lying. You believe me, I think, you believe what I told you. It‘s risky. If it doesn‘t work, he‘ll know I‘m trying to control him.

But after a second, he nods. His eyes are still bright and alert, though, and I get the feeling that he‘s decided I was tell ing the truth al on his own, not that I was able to control him.

―What happened to your lip?‖ he asks. He reaches out and tilts my chin up.

―I scratched it on a branch,‖ I say.

―You need to be more careful.‖

―Well , you shouldn‘t have left me,‖ I say, putting a fake pout on my face.

―I‘m here now,‖ he says, smiling. ―Do you want to watch the ceremony?‖

He seems like he wants me to say no. But there‘s no way I‘m going to let Cam go

through something like that without me being there. Especial y since I know he tried to escape, and might be in danger.

―Yes, I want to watch. Can I talk to Cam before we start?‖ I ask, trying to act like it‘s no big deal.

―Campbell ‘s already being prepared,‖ Reed says, shaking his head sadly, like it‘s too bad I didn‘t ask just a little sooner.

―Okay,‖ I say, shrugging. ―Where do we watch from?‖

―Backstage, of course,‖ Reed says.

We step into the theatre.

***

There are oversized cream-colored chairs set up backstage, in a special area that‘s roped off and private. They‘re bigger, comfier versions of the ones that are out there for the masses. I guess being a queen has some perks.

―Do you want something to drink?‖ Reed asks.

―I‘d love a water,‖ I say.

―Water?‖ Reed asks. ―Come on, you can do better than that.‖

He reaches into a brown leather cooler next to my chair and pulls out a bottle filled with a sparkling pink liquid. He pours some of it into a champagne glass and sets it down on the small table in between us. I reach into the cooler and pull out a bottle of water, making sure I check the seal on it before opening it and taking a sip.

―Oh, so it‘s like that?‖ he says, and grins. ―That‘s okay, I wouldn‘t trust me either if I were you.‖ He takes a sip of the pink drink, as if to prove he wasn‘t trying to poison me.

―It has nothing to do with trusting you,‖ I lie. ―I just wanted water.‖

―Are you going to be okay back here by yourself?‖ he asks.

I nod. Although I‘m not real y on my own. There are two guards standing behind us, still as statues, looking straight ahead.

―Natalia,‖ he says. He sets his drink down on the table, and then reaches over and takes the bottle of water out of my hand and sets it down next to it. Then he takes my hands in his. ―I need to prepare you for what you‘re about to see.‖

―Prepare me?‖

―Some of it might be disturbing,‖ he says. ―Cam and Raine might be in discomfort, and I need to make sure you feel like that‘s something you can handle.‖