From Deities (22 page)

Something was happening
to everyone except Zara and me…and something was also happening to the necklace my dad had given me. It felt warm underneath my shirt where it was hidden, as per my dad’s instruction. I assumed this was the reason why I was the only one not asleep, besides Zara. Apparently, it did protect me from the spells.

Although I was still tied up, I could see that everyone else had their eyes closed; hopefully they had just fallen asleep and nothing else was happening to them. I maintained my calmness when I saw Mason’s chest rise and fall. At least he was breathing, as was everyone else, as far as I could see. Images of them waking up as vultures crossed my mind.

What puzzled me the most was that I was still awake and Zara was standing with her back against me. I snapped my eyes shut when Zara swung around. When I thought it was safe, I slowly peeled my eyes open just enough to observe her. She appeared to be talking to someone, but there was no one there.

“I will bring the girl. You have my word.”

Pause

“I will find a way to get rid of the others.”

Pause

“It won’t be easy, but he trusts me, so it won’t be a problem.”

Pause

“The water bubbles worked. How long will they last?”

Pause

“We’ll be on our way as soon as they wake up.”

I shut my eyes again when Zara turned around. The roots started to unravel and gently placed me down in a sitting position, along with everyone else. All I wanted to do was tell everyone what had happened, but my dad and his people trusted Zara. They had a history together, a bond that couldn’t be broken merely by my words. I would look like a fool, so I decided to keep a close eye on her instead.

Sitting there without moving a muscle, I waited to see what Zara would do. She ran to my dad, helping him up just as Mason ran to me.

“Sky, wake up.” Mason was bent down, caressing my face.

I opened my eyes and gave him a small smile, trying to hide what I desperately wanted to tell him. When I had the chance to talk to him privately, I would. Mason smiled back and pulled me up. With a sigh of relief, he held me tightly. “Are you feeling any different?”

“No, just a little sleepy.” I had no idea what to say, but knowing it was some kind of sleeping spell, I said the first thought that popped in my head. My attention was turned to loud voices.

“What the hell happened?” Nick looked like he was ready to punch someone. Standing up, he dusted off his shirt.

“Get off me.” Amanda pushed and pulled the remaining roots off her, grimacing and looking extremely annoyed.

It was clearly evident how much influence Zara had over her people. Mason’s family was blunt, spoke their minds, but the others were compliant and hardly complained.

“What happened?” my dad asked Zara. Their people were standing next to him, as was Amanda. Noah and Amanda seemed to have a sparkling connection every time I saw them together.

“It was a sleeping spell,” Zara replied. “Hurry, we must go before nightfall. We need to get out of the Night Forest. That was a warning.”

Warning from whom
? I wanted to ask, but when no one questioned her, I decided not to as well. I didn’t want to give her any indication that I had doubts.

Zara’s words were final; we picked up our bags and followed her. After about a mile, we were finally out of the forest. My lungs immediately expanded, as I took in the cool, fresh air. The sudden icy wind stung my body, so I zipped up the jacket I was wearing.

“The journey through the Night Forest wasn’t as bad as you thought.” Zara looked at each of us. “We were a little tied up, but no slicing bodies or getting eaten up by a tree.” She let out a soft snort and looked at Amanda, who sleepily shrugged her shoulders. “Our real test will be when we get inside Mt. Hem. I have no idea what will await us.” Zara’s cape swirled as it gathered closer to her body. “It’s getting cold. Let’s try to cross the bridge in one piece.”

Mason wrapped his arms around me as we headed for a bridge. Thank God, it wasn’t like the collapsing bridge I was on last time. Although this one was very sturdy, I didn’t understand how it was built, especially since it extended for quite some distance. One thing that gave me an eerie feeling was the water that flowed underneath it. There was nothing wrong with it…it was the fact that I knew it could be manipulated in a dangerous way. Mason, who must have seen the look on my face, squeezed my hand to let me know that everything was going to be fine.

When we crossed the bridge, my body relaxed and so did my frenzied heart, but when I saw the trail, I gulped in terror.

“Seriously? Again?” Amanda looked like she’d had enough. The stairs were narrow and there was nothing to grip for support. Not only that, the stairs were not ordinary ones; the position of them was uneven, and some were barely big enough to place a foot and nothing else.

“This is it,” Zara said, enthusiastically. I think she was the only one that was excited, and I wondered what her real motive was. “These stairs will lead us to the entrance.”

“Oh joy,” Amanda murmured under her breath. She followed behind my dad’s people and Noah climbed after her.

Nick blocked Mason from moving with his hand. “Everett better be alive and be there, or I’m going to lose control with Zara.” Nick’s words might have been for only Mason to hear, but I heard them, too. I felt his anger deep down to my core. I could understand. For Mason’s family, and mine, this journey was all about finding Everett.

Mason placed his hand on Nick’s shoulder in an effort to reassure him, but it did no good. “He’s alive. You can sense him, can’t you?”

“Yes. But I won’t believe it until I see him.”

“Then let’s go. Let’s bring him home.” Mason’s words gave Nick something to hold on to, I could tell by the look in his eyes.

Nodding, Nick trudged forward. Mason grabbed my hand and took a step, then turned to me. “One step at a time. We go slow. Don’t look down, just look at my back and take deep breathes.”

After I nodded, Mason climbed higher, with one of his hands gliding across the rocky mountain surface, the other gripped tightly on mine. Thank goodness, the breeze was soft and not harsh, but it was still difficult to breathe. The altitude and being deathly afraid of heights was a bad combination.

There were a couple of close calls when Aaron and Sarah almost fell, but everything else considered, it was going okay. I didn’t know how long we’d been on the dreadful stairs, but at that point, I wished I had stronger muscles in my thighs; they were burning, aching to no bounds. Without any rest, we were exhausted and thirsty.

“We’re almost there,” Zara said, then she disappeared.

Mason kicked up his leg first, swung around, and lifted me up to another level. It was nothing except dirt and pebbled ground, but looking straight ahead was an entrance—just as I thought it would be—dark and gloomy.

“Let’s rest up here and camp overnight,” Zara directed, pointing to higher ground by the trees and bushes. “We’ll be safe here for the night.”

I didn’t know about Zara, but it didn’t look like a safe place to me, especially when we were not too far from the cave entrance. Who knew what was lurking about? Nick and Noah hustled around, picking up broken branches. After they laid them down, Aaron used his powers and started a small campfire. Huddling around it for warmth, we all settled ourselves as comfortably as we could. Luckily, Mason snuggling behind me gave me extra body heat.

Looking up, the only thing I could see against the dark blanket of the sky was the pale moon. Somehow without the sparkling stars, it made the night eerier, but the fire gave us warmth. The coldness was less noticeable compared to when we were hiking to reach this point, and the breeze was still, making it bearable.

“Here,” my dad said, handing me a granola bar. “You must be hungry.”

“Thanks,” I replied, feeling uncomfortable because he didn’t hand one to anyone else. He was just being a dad, taking care of his daughter. A part of my heart softened when I took it, though I didn’t mean to; it was a natural reflex. Everyone else started to take things out of their bags, too. I guess they were waiting for the green light to eat.

“You can sleep on me like this if you want. I’ll keep you safe and warm.” Mason pulled my hair away from my face and kissed my cheek. He also handed me my water bottle and a bag of mixed trail nuts with dried fruits. Under normal circumstances I would have passed, but I was starving. Along with those items, we had power bars that were easy to eat, compared to the beans and bread we’d had last time we went camping.

I nestled into his hold with a smile. “I will take you up on your offer.”

“I’m not sleeping,” Sarah said, taking the last bite of whatever she was eating. She sat furthest from the fire. “This isn’t time to have fun. We’re not camping.” She wiggled her index and middle fingers together to quote her words.

“Neither am I. I’ll keep watch.” Colin walked closer to the cave, but kept a safe distance from it. He turned his back to us after a quick glance.

“I’ll help Colin.” Sarah got up and sat next to him.

“There’s nothing to fear,” Zara said, standing before us with my dad. “We are safe here. It’s when we enter the cave that I’m worried about.” Her smile was sweet and genuine. I could almost believe her, but not after what I’d seen at the Night Forest.

From the corner of my eye, I could see my dad’s eyes flickering to Mason, to me, then away several times. I wondered if he felt uncomfortable by the way Mason was holding me, taking care of me. If the circumstances were different, I wouldn’t be showing this much affection toward Mason in front of him, but my dad had no right to judge, no right to say anything about whom I dated…still, a part of me wondered if he approved.

Sky didn’t know
I was giving her heat from my body. I could do it just enough so that no one would notice. She was shivering so much that I had no choice. I needed to make her comfortable, to make her feel safe.

I needed to focus on Sky right now. Everett being gone was driving me insane; I didn’t want to add the worry to my family, so I kept it to myself. Nick and Amanda would space out at times, and I had an idea what was on their minds. They were closer to Everett than I was, so I could only imagine the agony they were feeling.

So far, the road to our destination wasn’t as bad as I’d thought it would be. If only it would be like that where we were headed. My gut feeling told me Everett was alive, but what condition we would find him in was the question.

Before Sky fell asleep in my arms, we moved next to the tree so I could use it for back support. I wasn’t planning on sleeping, but I felt my eyes close and knew I dozed off several times, yet it didn’t amount to nearly enough sleep. Amanda parked her body close to me, and wherever Amanda was, Noah followed. I was more than happy to know Noah took an interest in Amanda. Not that I felt like there was ever a competition between us, but I didn’t like any guys going after my girl.

Sky craned her neck at the same time she stretched her body. Turning to me, she rewarded me with the sweetest smile; I could stare at it all day. It took me to a place where I could leave all my troubles aside. Hell, it even made me forget who I was.

“Good morning,” she said, then turned to scan the surroundings as if she heard a noise that wasn’t there a second ago. She watched the others gathering their belongings.