Struck: (Phoebe Meadows Book 1) (7 page)

My eyes locked on her. I was riveted, even though I should be using this precious time to beg the tree to open its portal to take me home.

She rose to a sitting position exactly how I would imagine a dead body would rise out of a coffin: bent perfectly at the waist, the transition effortless.

Her veiny black eyes were wild as they scoured the room, searching for who to punish first.

I regretfully backed away from Junnal, toward the safety of the tree, tugging my scarf over my mouth and nose.

“Troll, what you have done will cost you your life,” Verdandi seethed once her eyes lit on Junnal. “I will tear your head from your shoulders and spit into your decaying body as it withers and dies!”

That was a serious threat.

The rest of the wood covering her flung off, like the walls had become magnetized.

Junnal glanced from Verdandi to me, his poor head listing even more. “Grum. Tree.” With effort, he lifted his massive hand and gestured to the tree. Then he dug his fists into the dirt and scooted to the side, trying to position himself between me and Verdandi.

I wanted to go give him a bear hug.

Instead, I pondered what
grum tree
meant.

I glanced over my shoulder at the tree. Maybe that was the sacred name of the tree for giant trolls? Possibly a password?

“That’s right, Junnal, come closer,” Verdandi cackled as she stood. Her dress was tattered and hung in ribbons around her. “I will enjoy making you bleed.” She swung her hands out in front of her with an evil grin, her teeth making ugly clacking sounds as she wiggled her fingers, muttering something under her breath.

Her head bobbed once, and poor Junnal arched backward, grabbing on to his massive throat with one hand.

“How does that feel,
troll
?” Verdandi raged as she stalked closer. “You caught me by surprise once, but that will
never
happen again.”

My back thumped against the tree, and it startled me. I glanced down at my body. Gram was still thankfully clutched in my hand. The color of my skin was back to normal. I leaned into the tree and immediately felt its energy. As I absorbed whatever it gave me, my hand began to brighten.

“You will die!” Verdandi seethed, continuing her assault on the giant, who so far was not cooperating with her plan.

Junnal, still gripping his neck with one hand, had pulled himself closer to Verdandi. They were almost eye to eye, though Junnal was still taller, even though he sat on the dirty floor.

“How can this be?” Verdandi’s voice quaked with anger. “You are not immune to my powers, lesser! You will fall, and then I will kill the human impostor.”

Bragnon picked that moment to stagger to his feet, brushing the potions and shattered glass off like they were minor irritants, taking most of his toga along with them. Charred black holes dotted the rest of the fabric, but his skin was unmarred as far as I could see.

That was really too bad.

He came straight for me.

I dropped my scarf and twisted around, bringing both of my hands up to pound on the bark. “Please, grum tree, open up! The nice troll said to ask you. He gave me permission! I don’t want to die here. Please open up!”

“You will not leave. You will
dieeee
,” Bragnon hissed from right behind me.

There was a loud roar of anger.

I glanced around as Bragnon did the same. Junnal had changed directions and was now making his way toward us.

“Giant, you will not get away from me!” Verdandi shrieked. “Die, die,
die
!”

The big guy just kept coming.

Bragnon turned back to me, his wide mouth curling up in a sinful smile laced with horrible, painful intent. “I will kill you
firsssst
. The giant cannot harm
meeee
.”

He sprang.

Before any concrete thought hit my brain, I swung Gram in front of me. But Bragnon’s wicked fingers grabbed on to my arm, forcing the knife down.

“Grum. Grum,” Junnal wailed impatiently, his voice barely above a whisper, but still echoing like a drum around the room.

Bragnon twisted my arm painfully, and I cried out.

“What is wrong with you? Why won’t you die?” Verdandi squealed as she marched up to the injured troll and kicked him. Junnal was almost to Bragnon and me.

It was going to be one big party at the tree.

“Verdandi?” A breathy female voice rang out from the hallway. “What’s happening? Urd has rushed us home. She said you were in danger!”

“I know she’s in danger, you harpy. I just saw it,” another voice added. “The bastard child is here, and Verdi’s been felled by a troll.” They were almost through the doorway.

My grip began to fail. Bragnon was going to make me drop the dagger, and then he was going to kill me. He knew it and snickered with glee.

I pulled back at the last moment, using the tree as leverage, yanking my arm up. At the same time, Junnal grabbed on to Bragnon and pulled. The beastie’s legs went out from under him, but he held on to my wrist in a death clamp that rivaled Hercules.

“Why won’t you die, imbecile?” Verdandi screamed. “You are
not
immune to my magic!” It was lucky Junnal was big and sat between me and the hag. I knew without hesitation that Verdandi’s attention would transfer to me once she spotted me, and she would rip out my throat with her wicked fingernails.

“Well, this is quite a scene,” a breathtakingly beautiful woman said from inside the doorway. “Verdi, how come you didn’t invite us?” Her hair looked like spun gold. It was amassed in a halo towering around her head, flowing over her shoulders and tumbling down her chest. Her features were as precise and perfect as Verdandi’s were ancient and horrid.

It was hard to believe they were actual sisters.

Right behind her, another figure stepped into view. She was tall, plain, and remarkably thin, with long, greasy black hair. She wore an actual black pointy hat. “I told you, Skuld, and I’m never wrong. You should know that by now.”

“Well, what I’m seeing, Urd, is that this girl will be gone in just a few minutes. Only, I can’t quite see where she’s going.” Skuld, the woman with the Rapunzel hair, cocked her head and studied me. “That’s odd.”

“This little bastard isn’t going
anywhere
!” Verdandi seethed between a very clenched jaw. “Help me kill this troll, and then we’ll kill the girl together. And then the stain of her existence will be wiped out for all of time.”

Bragnon’s tenacity as he held on to my wrist showed no bounds. He was fighting Junnal’s tug with gusto, kicking his short legs and arching his body. The giant couldn’t get him off. If Junnal tugged any harder, it would take my arm off.

Junnal gave out a loud bellow, his voice ripping through the room.

“The giant is resisting my magic,” Verdandi yelled in frustration. “It is impossible for any troll to withstand our power!”

Junnal tightened his grip on Bragnon’s leg and snapped him up like a whip. The horrible beastie finally lost his grip on my arm, but managed to latch on to my ankle on the way down, his wicked nails gouging into my leg through my boots.

“This giant is spelled by a god, Verdi,” the pointy-hatted Urd said. “It will take all of us to break it. Here, let me put my things down.” For the first time, I noticed that each sister carried an armful of bags. I must’ve interrupted their shopping date.

Junnal glanced up, meeting my eyes. This was it. The cavalry was here. He said, with as much urgency as he could muster, “Grum.
Tree
.”

“I don’t understand what you’re telling me,” I pleaded. “Please, this is my only chance. Tell me how to get out of here!”

Junnal struggled to free his hand, but it was the only thing propping him up. Bragnon was in his other hand, still stretched taut between us. I shook my leg, trying to get him off, as Junnal brought a shaky hand up and pointed to my fist.

The one holding Gram.

Then he said, “In…tree.”

“
Nooo
!” Verdandi screamed. “You will not leave here! You will not escape me!”

Put the dagger in the tree? Grum was Gram?

I could do that.

I hopped around, kicking out my leg with renewed vigor, but Bragnon held on stubbornly.

Junnal bellowed his frustration.
I’m right there with you, big guy.

“You will not get
awayyyy
,” Bragnon hissed.

“Watch me.” I twisted the upper part of my body, slamming Gram home at the same time.

“
Nooo
!” Verdandi screamed.

“Oh, Verdi. You were never supposed to win this round. I told you she’d be gone in a few minutes,” Skuld said matter-of-factly. “I’m just puzzled why I can’t see what happens next.”

Light swirled at the tip of the dagger, and there was a substantial tug from the tree. A moment later, white light blazed out of the hole, and I felt myself being blessedly sucked inside.

At the same time, a shot of pain bloomed up my leg.

The sounds in the room quieted behind me as my body sailed into the vortex. The only things trailing in the darkness were Verdandi’s muted screams and Junnal bellowing one last time.

Then I was totally gone.

My body turned in on itself, tumbling, dropping, falling. I went numb, my brain threatened to go black.

Then everything ceased to exist.

Everything except the throbbing in my leg.

Where Bragnon had bitten me.

7

__________________________

____________

T
he smell of sulfur stung my nostrils, bringing me back to consciousness with a gasp. Two seconds later, I didn’t have room to think about the smell of rotten eggs infecting my nose, because the throbbing in my ankle occupied all of my available brain space.

Bragnon had not only bitten me, but had shredded my boot, which had been lost somewhere in the transfer. The ride through the portal had been rough, like being tossed in a human-sized clothes dryer spinning at warp speed. My faithful scarf was also missing.

I was on my back, dirt coating the ground beneath me. Again.

This was getting old. I moaned as I brought my injured leg up and tried to cradle it against my body. “
Ow
!” I rolled to the side, trying to focus my eyes in the low light, rocking lightly from side to side, urging the pain to go away.

It seemed I was in another cave, but this one had stone walls instead of earthen ones. It was more like a large cavern. It had a high, domed ceiling, and there were outcroppings of boulders piled up against the walls and scattered around the room.

I bent my head around, trying to get a look behind me, expecting to find the tree or some exposed bark, but saw only more rock.

The cave wall was smooth, but I spotted a faded archway set into the wall. That must have been where I’d been jettisoned from.

In a panic, I remembered Gram.

My ticket out of here.

Battling through the pain, I jerked onto my stomach, running my hands along the ground, frantically searching for the dagger. It wasn’t anywhere near me. “No, no,” I cried. “It can’t be gone!”

I scrabbled some more in the dirt, pulling myself along like a crab.

It wasn’t here.

I finally gave up and struggled to sit. The pain in my ankle ignited like wildfire. I cried out, reaching to put pressure on my leg, anywhere, just to try to stop the throbbing. My brain reeled from the intensity of it. I’d never experienced anything this painful in my life.

But I couldn’t give up. I had to find my lifeline. Gritting my teeth, I started to inch my way forward, running my hands around, upturning rocks and stones, hoping it had just been covered when we landed. “Please, please,” I whispered. “Please be here.”

“Looking for something?” A low, throaty growl, decidedly male, sparked from the shadows to my left. “I can tell you right now, you’re not going to find it.”

My head shot up, and I cringed. I wasn’t ready to fight another big bad.

Using all my strength, I propelled myself backward as quickly as I could go, fighting through the blazing pain that had become my leg, until I was pressed against the smooth part of the rock wall, right where I thought the portal opening was.

I exhaled and slumped over.

My energy was spent. I took in another lungful of hateful air and was reminded that all around me was the smell of stinky, potent rotten eggs.

Could I be in actual
hell
?

I’d been joking about it being a better place to land. Now I wasn’t so sure. I glanced around. It was just a cave. It likely wasn’t hell, but this was definitely what I imagined hell would smell like. Rancid sulfur with a side of vomity gag.

I braced my head against the wall and listened. All was quiet from the direction I’d heard the voice. But it’d definitely been male. I couldn’t see into the shadows. The lighting was dim, and there were too many places to hide. The only illumination seemed to come from a distant opening across the cave floor.

There could be an army of ettins out there waiting to rip me apart, or better yet, something new and equally as haunting, and I wouldn’t even know it.