Eden Forest (Part one of the Saskia Trilogy) (13 page)

you do that for?” Was it because of what happened at the ball?

Before I can ask, I can see another man coming towards us, the

man who attacked me.

“Tristan, that’s him.” I can hear the fear in my voice, but

Tristan just stands there doing nothing.

The man approaches us. “You got her?” he says to Tristan. I

was so foolish to trust a stranger.

Looking down at Josh, I can see he’s still breathing, but he’s

unconscious. My anger flares. “You asshole.
”
I scream at him. I stand and push Tristan away from Josh. He doesn’t even blink an eye. My attacker walks up to me, visibly angry. “How dare you

put your hands on him!”

Tristan speaks then. “Legis, stop.” He turns to me. “You,

move.” The stiffness and coldness of his posture makes me

realise how stupid I was to fall for his charming act at the ball.

Anger bubbles up inside me. “Like hell I will.”

Tristan comes right up to me, his cold gaze intent on my face.

“If you don’t, I will carry you, princess.”

Chapter Seven

(Sarajane)

I
t’s so dark I can barely see two feet in front of me. Tristan

walks behind me, and Legis leads the way. I don’t know

where they’re taking me. Or what they want. Neither of

them has said anything since taking me.

Legis stops abruptly, causing me to smack into his back.

He swings around, grabbing my arm to steady me. These guys

move unnaturally fast.

“Legis, what’s wrong?” Tristan asks from behind me.

“Sir, I need some light.” He looks back at Tristan as he

speaks.

“I shall lead and you stay behind her.” Tristan pauses as he

walks past me. “Don’t try to run. I am in no mood to chase

you.” He takes his position in front of me. Tristan does not

move straight away. Instead, he holds out his hand in front of

him and whispers, “Lux.” I can see a light radiate in front of

him. I jump back, slightly startled.

“Let’s move,” he commands. Legis nudges me on. We start

walking again. I’m trying to peer over Tristan’s shoulder to see

where the light is coming from, but he’s too tall, so I just stare

at his back.

After a few moments, Tristan makes a hand motion for us to

stop. Then the light goes out. He swings around and places his

hand over my mouth, startling me, while pulling me back into

his chest. Legis stands as still as stone, not even blinking. We

wait. I can’t hear or see anything, only Tristan’s heart beating

fast. I’m too close to him for comfort. I can feel his muscles

tense in his chest and stomach.

He makes a hand motion to Legis to get down. Then slowly

he lowers himself and me to the ground, never taking his hand

off my mouth. He lies down on his side right against me and

pulls my hands to his chest, holding them with his other hand.

The heat radiates off his body against mine, making my back

feel cold. I can now hear the shuffling in the distance. Maybe

it’s Josh.

I try to scream, but my sounds are muffled. Tristan whispers

in my ear. “Stop or we all die, you stupid girl.” I try to scream

again and pull my hands free, but I can’t get them out of his

iron grasp. So I bite his hand until I taste blood. He doesn’t even

flinch. I know it’s hopeless.

The movements pass us and I can now hear there’s more than

one person. Tears roll down my cheeks when I realise I will not

be heard or rescued.

Tristan looks at me, his jaw muscles tensing. It feels like

forever we lie like this; then Tristan speaks. “I am taking my

hand away.”

I look up into his eyes and know straight away I shouldn’t

have, as my stomach flutters. I drop my gaze and manage a

nod of my head. Tristan removes his hand slowly, but he still

holds my hands against his chest. He doesn’t say anything, just

watches my face. His green eyes have softened. A blush rises in

my cheeks. I can’t take much more of his closeness.

“What are you staring at?” I’m getting annoyed now. Well,

I’m uncomfortable with this gorgeous guy staring at me. He lets

go and stands up.

Legis moves up beside us. “Was it Clive?” he asks.

“I think so. It sounded like there were three of them. It must

have been Taurus and Felix, also.” Tristan looks down at me

still on the ground and grabs my wrists roughly. I’m about to

protest when he pulls me off the ground.

I look at his hands still on my wrists. There are no teeth

marks. “I bit you. I… I tasted your blood.”

He withdraws his hand. “We need to move now.”

“But I bit you.” Tristan ignores me and starts walking away.

We come to a clearing where two huge horses, black as coal,

are waiting. They don’t stir when we come closer, just stand

there obediently.

“I’m not getting on that horse until someone tells me where

I’m going. And why.”

They both ignore me. Instead, Legis retrieves a leather roll

from behind a tree and unravels it, revealing three black cloaks.

Legis and Tristan put theirs on and fasten them around their

necks. I start to panic. These guys are lunatics.

While their backs are turned, I slip off my high heels

and move quietly away. My heart is racing now. My mind

screams, Run! So I do. The minute my feet hit the woods’

floor, noise rises, alerting Tristan. I run and don’t look back.

I can hear Tristan calling my name as he takes chase after

me. The rocks and sticks dig into my feet, but I ignore the

pain and push my body harder. I can hear Tristan behind

me, his heavy boots breaking every twig under them. He

reaches out to grab me. I try to pull away but fall awkwardly,

taking him down also. I land beside the trunk of a large tree,

slamming my side into it before falling onto the ground. I let

out a whoosh of breath.

Tristan rolls off his back and comes over to me. “Move your

hands. I need to see if you’re hurt badly.”

I move away. “Don’t touch me.”

“Fine. Get up, then, and walk.” I stand using the tree for

support. My side is burning, but it doesn’t feel as if anything is

broken, just a lot of bruising.

“You’re an asshole.”

Legis comes rushing through the forest, a little out of breath.

“You got her.”

Tristan just nudges me on. “Move.” We make our way back

to the clearing.

Since they grabbed me from the ball, neither of them have

hurt me or threatened me, and Tristan only knocked out Josh.

Which meant, more than likely, they wouldn’t hurt me. But why

take me?

We reach the clearing again. Tristan comes towards me with

the black cloak and places it around my shoulders. As he ties it

at my neck loosely, I watch his hands. Definitely no teeth marks.

I don’t know why, but tears run down my face silently.

Tristan’s hands pause and he tilts my chin up so our eyes meet.

His gaze is soft, concerned, and my stomach flutters. I feel so

angry with myself—that I can find him so attractive under the

circumstances. He lets my face go abruptly, the coldness seeping

back into him, and he jumps up on the horse and stretches out

his arm for me to take. I could run, but he would just catch me,

so I have no choice but to take his hand. Tristan pulls me up on

the horse as if I weigh nothing.

“Hold on tight,” he commands.

“Why?” I ask. He kicks the horse and we launch forward. I

grab his waist tightly.

“That is why,” he says.

I don’t reply. I’m just praying I don’t fall off. We dodge trees

so closely I can see the veins on the green-brownish leaves. My

heart is in my mouth. I close my eyes tight. My stomach isn’t

holding up well. Maybe not seeing every tree in such detail will

help. We come to an abrupt stop, and I open my eyes. We’re fifty

feet from the cliff.

Tristan speaks in a language I don’t understand. He says a

few sentences gently, but his body is tense.

Just then, the ground trembles under us.

I grab Tristan tighter. “What’s happening?”

Fire shoots up through a long crack that has opened just at

the cliff’s edge. It roars up into the air. Tristan kicks the horse

and charges for the wall of fire, Legis beside us. Just as we hit it,

they both say “Aeirus” in unison, while I scream and shut my

eyes tightly. My ears pop as if I’m on a plane just at take-off.

Now I can’t hear anything at all. I feel the sensation of flying.

Have we gone over the edge? It doesn’t feel like falling, and I’m

still holding on to Tristan’s waist.

I open my eyes slowly and wish I hadn’t. We’re in a large

bubble, the two horses side by side. When I look down, their

hooves aren’t touching the bubble, but floating. Outside, the fire

rages all around us. It looks like we’re moving at an incredible

speed by the way the fire licks past us so quickly.

I start hyperventilating. Oh God, what’s keeping the fire

away? What if it breaks? My breathing becomes harder.

Tristan’s voice is strained as he calls to Legis. “Can you hold

it? She is panicking.”

“Yes, sir,” Legis replies. Their voices seem far away and

everything is turning dark. Tristan swings himself around and

grabs me before I fall off the horse. He places me in front of

him so I’m facing him. His lips are moving, but I can’t hear

anything, and then I black out.

In my dream, faces of tormented people race through the

fire, reaching out for me to save them. The smell of burnt flesh

makes me gag, and I recoil. As the hands come through the

bubble, reaching for me, all the flesh melts away, leaving only

bones. I scream and fall off the horse into the waiting hands of

the dead.

I wake with a thud. My eyes shoot open. I’m lying against

Tristan’s chest, his arm firmly around me. His other hand holds

the reins. I can feel the horse beneath me slow down. Tristan

relaxes his grip around my waist, and I look up at him.

“Let me off now.” He stops the horse immediately. I jump

down, clumsily landing on sand, white sand. I look around me.

There’s nothing but sand for miles. Oh God, I feel sick. Tristan

jumps down and walks towards me. “Stay away from me,” I

roar.

Tristan stops abruptly. “I know you’re upset.” But the way he

looks at me says he doesn’t care. He holds out his hands in front

of him, as if he’s trying to calm a wild animal.

“Upset? Upset? Not even close. Where the hell am I? And

what was that… fire?” I ask.

Tristan approaches me slowly with his hands still outstretched.

“We need to move now.” His voice is full of irritation.

I let out a roar. “Like hell I will. Answer me now. Where

am I?”

He looks at Legis who says nothing. “I will tell you where

you are, but then we have to move.” I don’t answer him. He

comes right up to me then, still taking caution not to get to

close. “You’re in Saskia and the wall of fire is the passage to

get here.”

I don’t even know how to respond. Maybe all this is one

big nightmare. I pinch myself hard on the arm and let out a

little squeal. I’m not dreaming. I take some deep breaths to calm

myself.

“Okay. Okay, so I’m in Saskia… And why am I here?” I can

hear the hysteria in my own voice.

“I can’t answer that.”

I let out a roar of frustration. Tristan uses this opportunity to

grab me and throws me over his shoulder caveman style.

“Let me down now.”

He climbs up on the horse and places me in front of him. I try

to wiggle out, but he restrains me with his arms. “I told you we

need to move. So calm down and soon all your questions will

be answered, princess.” He spits out the last word. He kicks the

horse and off we ride.

“How far back do you think Clive and the others are, sir?”

Legis asks. “They would still be looking, so if we make it to