Everwild (The Healer Series, #1) (13 page)

“YOU CAN’T!” Willow yelled above the shouts
and commotion of the ghouls. Gnatha whipped her head back to glare
at her. Willow spoke quickly. “We would not satisfy you then! You
see, the bigger the piece, the fuller you are. You chop us up small
to distribute the pieces, we won’t be as good. We are magic-lings.
If you eat us, you gain our power. So you have to eat a big chunk
in order to get it. If you chop us up, you’ll just be hungrier and
not have any of our power. It only works if you eat a big
piece.”

Declan’s left hand moved against her and up
her arm. It was out of the bond. They were practically free! Willow
gulped and moved her hand out of the rope as well. They still acted
like they were bound even though no one paid any attention to their
hands. The ghouls were upset and angry at this revelation. They
stared at Gnatha in bewilderment.

“What if she’s lying?”” a ghoul asked
her.

“It’s a trick! We can’t trust a
magic-ling!”

“Do you speak the truth?” Gnatha snarled at
Willow mulling over Willow’s words carefully. She spoke softly as
she addressed Willow, her eyes sparking with hope at the prospect
of gaining magic. “Will I truly gain your power if I consume you,
whole like?”

“I wouldn’t lie about magic! It’s in our
blood!” Willow said acting offended. It was the wrong thing to say.
The ghouls looked even more ravenous at the mention of blood, and
they howled and clawed each other to get in front of the ghoul
before them. The rope dropped to the ground and Declan grabbed one
of her hands in his and squeezed tightly.

“Let’s test this theory,” Gnatha said
menacingly. “I will eat your leg and see if I get power.” She
looked to the others and waved her hand in the air casually, “then
you all may eat.”

The ghouls looked stunned as they glared at
Gnatha. Then, all chaos broke out. Each ghoul turned to the other
and began arguing. They were angry, annoyed, and their faces turned
even darker in the flickering fire light. They showed their teeth
and snarled, growling low.

“That would only leave us thirteen pieces!” A
ghoul shouted and glowered at Gnatha. “You think just because
you’re oldest you get first pick?”

The other ghouls agreed. They all shouted
which body part they wanted, which led to even more arguments. “I
want a leg!”

“I want the head!”

“What makes you think you get the head?”

“Eh! I’m strongest, I should be the one to
get the head!”

Gnatha snarled at a ghoul that tried pushing
her away, and then all hell broke loose. Gnatha attacked the ghoul
with a shriek so loud it pierced Willow’s ears. The ghouls drew
their machetes upon each other and fought; the clinking of metal
and vicious snarls came from them. Chaos was all around Willow and
Declan.

“Let’s go,” Declan whispered frantically and
pulled her to her feet. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her up. A
flurry of movement flashed before her eyes as two dueling ghouls
stumbled and tripped right in front of them. Declan jumped over
them making Willow trip over the ghouls. She stumbled until Declan
hoisted her by the waist and put her back on her feet. They burst
through the thicket and back into the forest, sprinting as fast as
they could go. They weaved and scrambled their way through the
forest not caring where they were as long as they were fleeing the
hungry ghouls.

Willow panted for breath, sweat beaded on her
forehead, and still they ran, adrenaline and fear fueling their
energy. The tangled undergrowth hindered their speed and the coiled
twisted branches reached out to grab them. Declan suddenly turned
right and they traveled that way for a while until he finally
slowed down. He continued to hold her hand, and to Willow’s
surprise, weaved his fingers through hers as they continued at a
slower pace. There was no sound of pursuit from the ghouls, but
that didn’t mean they weren’t being followed. Willow hoped they
were still fighting with each other, killing each other off and not
even realizing their meal had fled the scene.

Declan stopped suddenly and turned to her,
pressing her up against a tree. He was breathing heavily and was
wet from sweating, but Willow’s face burst with heat at the
pressure of his body on hers. Did he hear something? Were the
ghouls coming for them?

“Declan, what are you doing?” She asked
breathless.

He pressed his fingers to his lips signaling
for her to be quiet. Declan just let her stand there panicking as
he moved around listening intently. She let him do his thing for a
while as she focused on breathing and trying to relax. Her heart
was still furiously pounding in her chest from the encounter with
the ghouls. She was going to have nightmares from that experience
for the rest of her life. She was almost eaten alive!

Declan came back up to her and before she
knew what was happening, wrapped her up in a tight hug. His long
arms enveloped her and she deeply breathed in his scent. She was a
least a foot shorter than Declan and her head rested exactly on his
chest. She pressed her face into his shirt and felt his heart
fluttering just as fast as hers. Her arms wrapped around his waist
as she squeezed him back tightly. They melted together like butter,
and the way he held her made it seem like she mattered. She didn’t
realize how desperately she needed that hug.

Eventually, he let go of her. “Did we really
just survive that?” Declan asked and gave her a small smile. His
hazel eyes searched hers in wonder.

Willow stepped back. “Yea…I think so. Who
knew simple math would be so helpful?”

“A little school for ghouls,” he laughed.
“Good thinking.”

Willow laughed at his rhyme. “And we didn’t
even need magic. See? What did I tell you?”

A frown crossed his face, but he seemed to
think better of it and didn’t argue with her. “Yea, I guess you’re
right.”

Willow was surprised but didn’t comment on
it. Instead, she tapped her temple with a finger. “Yep, I’m a total
genius.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Declan rolled his
eyes and started walking again. He turned back to her when she
didn’t follow. He smirked. “Are you coming, or what, Einstein?”

Willow groaned. Not another nickname! She
jogged up beside him. “I prefer Willow, thank you very much.”

A corner of his mouth lifted. “Oh, do you
now?” he asked and glanced down at her. “I never would have known.
It’s not like you contradict me about it or anything.” Was he
teasing her? Was he being flirty and sarcastic? A slew of
butterflies filled her stomach as she watched him uncertainly. She
didn’t like this reaction to him. She’d rather Declan be mad at
her. It was easy to fight with him. Being nice, even teasing was a
whole other level in the game. She couldn’t handle if he was trying
to play nice.

“Yes,
Dec
, if you don’t mind, we have
a talisman to hunt down.” she emphasized the nickname she’d given
him. Willow wondered if the nickname she dubbed him bothered him at
all. Declan never argued about it. She certainly voiced her
opinions about what he called her, which was why he was teasing her
now. Declan didn’t seem to mind being called “Dec”.

“I’m sorry, little magic-ling,” Declan said
smiling wryly, “By all means, lead the way.”

Willow rolled her eyes just as her stomach
did the little twirling thing again and looked forward towards the
unbeaten path, trying to remain focused on the journey ahead, and
not on the warlock beside her.

Declan and Willow didn’t talk much as they
traveled well into the night and into the early morning hours. A
couple times, Declan would nudge Willow in the shoulder playfully
and ask if she was still awake, to which Willow would reply, “Oh.
This is real? I thought it was only a nightmare.” He only snickered
and would rub against her, letting her know he was still there. Of
course, she was more than aware of his presence, she was
hyper-aware, like she almost couldn’t take her eyes off him. As
much as she tried to focus on her mission, Declan was like a seed
planted in her mind that kept growing bigger and bigger until she
was consumed by him. But she refused to swoon like all the other
witches, even though she was already halfway there.

“We’re close now,” Declan sighed in
relief.

Willow looked at him, and then looked around
perplexed. “What are you talking about? There’s no sign of the
cave.”

“No,” Declan said, “Follow me.” He signaled
her with a nod of his head and then parted the branches in front of
him. The river was right there, flowing slightly faster in this
part of the forest. Willow breathed in relief, but then gasped in
shock when, sitting on top of a small boulder, was her backpack and
Declan’s sword! Declan walked up to it and put the pack on and
picked up the sword.

“How? What? Huh?” Willow sputtered with a
million questions.

“Before you question everything,” he said,
“let me tell you. My sword is enchanted to link with me. When I
lose it, it disappears, then reappears somewhere else and I have to
find it. It’s like I’m a GPS unit and the sword’s the
destination.”

Willow scrunched her nose. “What’s a GPS
unit?”

Declan rolled his eyes at her. “Anyways, do
you remember at Carmela’s, she whispered something to me?” Willow
nodded. “She told me that your backpack was charmed the same way.
At the time, I really had no idea what she was talking about or why
she told me that instead of you. Now I know. Carmela intended for
me to go with you through the portal this whole time.”

“But why?” Willow said exasperated. “Bane was
supposed to be my protector! He was the one who was supposed to
come with me, not you.”

“Good to know you have so much faith in me,”
Declan said frowning. “I didn’t expect it either! She must’ve seen
something in the future and made it happen.”

“Oh that doesn’t make sense at all!” Willow
threw her hands up in frustration. “I was told in my training that
the future is always changing constantly based on the decisions you
make. There could’ve been thirty different paths Carmela saw in the
future, and she just picked one.”

“Maybe it was the most logical choice.
Perhaps this is the future where we find your talisman.”

“Or get our hopes up and then get eaten by
bloodthirsty ghouls,” Willow interjected.

“Or get captured by evil gnomes who want to
tickle our toes.”

Willow laughed and shoved him. “You’re so
weird, Dec.”

Declan beamed beside her, and his smile was
so beautiful it nearly took her breath away. Declan mistook her
reaction for disbelief. “What? It could happen,” he said putting
his sword in its sheath. The light from the trees seeped through
the cracks and lit his Chesnutt hair showing coffee-colored
highlights. He was starting to get scruff on his jaw from not
shaving for a couple days, which made him look older and more
rugged. He looked like he belonged in the wilderness, which was
hilarious since the warlock standing before her was anything but.
Declan was always polished and pampered, a pretty boy all the way.
Willow giggled.

“What?”

“Nothing. I’m just happy we found the river
and we’re back on track.”

“Yea, it seems more open here, too. Maybe
we’re getting close.”

The sun had moved high in the sky as they
kept walking along the river’s edge. They were down to one water
bottle, and Willow was tempted to try the river water. But by the
luck they were having, it probably wasn’t the best idea. She might
consume a weird parasite or something.

Willow’s stomach growled at her, and without
taking his eyes off the road ahead, Declan held out a protein bar
for her to eat. Willow didn’t remember Millicent packing anything
like that and was slightly shocked to see it, but was grateful they
had several of them in the backpack. It was at least better than
nothing.

From the south, dark clouds began to roll in.
“That doesn’t look good,” Declan said as the sun was now hidden by
the clouds that lit the sky with lightening. “Come on. Faster.”

Munching on her bar, she heard a deep
grumbling. “I must be hungrier than I thought,” she said taking
another bite.

“Shh,” Declan hushed her. “That wasn’t
you.”

“Thunder?” She asked watching Declan search
the trees. She hadn’t heard any thunder yet, despite the
lightening. But it was the Everwild. Anything could happen. He
shook his head and whispered, “It’s not thunder either. Something’s
coming towards us. Can’t you feel it?”

“What do you--” she began to ask when
suddenly Declan’s hand clamped down over her mouth stopping her
from talking.

Willow thought Declan was overreacting. She
heard nothing but the sound of water. Maybe it was just the
Everwild messing with him. But then she felt it. That paranoid
feeling that she wasn’t alone; that something was either watching
her or stalking her.
Crack.
A tree branch snapped behind
them. Her back erected and shivers ran down her spine. Several more
branches cracked and leaves crunched on the ground. Quick, and
stealthy, she heard no footsteps besides the occasional crunching
of branches. Was it the ghouls? Had they found them? Fear pulsed
through her.

Declan took Willow’s arms and pulled her away
from the river. They trudged through the vegetation and instantly
became hidden from the openness. Suddenly, rain began falling.
Harder and harder it came down in thick sheets of water, blanketing
them with wetness. Willow’s clothes were soon plastered to her body
and her hair stuck to her face like glue. Declan’s hair darkened
and curled in the wet, and she could see his lean figure through
his clothes. He pushed his bangs out of his face.

Declan came to a stop and stood with the
sword by his side, looking out into the forest. There was no
inkling of a shelter anywhere, but they did find a semi-dry spot
underneath two tall trees. The branches contained broad leaves that
extended over their heads providing some dryness. She nearly jumped
when Declan’s arm snaked around her shoulders to pull her into him,
his body heat helping to warm her.