Wild Lands (Savage Lands Book 2) Page 26

  “Heard that too,” a muffled voice cried from the back room.

  Ash glanced up at me, his sassy grin warming my stomach. His laidback, carefree personality laced with sexual cheekiness was easy to connect with. And it didn’t hurt that the guy was unnervingly gorgeous.

  “We used to be part of the Unseelie fighters here in Hungary.”

  “You fought in the war?” I inhaled, pain sizzling up my throat, the smell of turmeric tickling my nose.

  “Yes.” He nodded, a frown furrowing his brow. “Most did, from farmers to breadmakers… It was a fight for life, for freedom.”

  “For the humans.”

  Ash exhaled, grabbing clean bindings. “Technically, humans had more to lose, but so did anyone who believed in liberty, in the power of balance. Earth is a magical creation; everything depends on everything else to survive. Humans, fae, animals, insects, plants, oceans, rivers… One thing gets removed, and it causes a ripple effect for everything else. Humans are a source of ‘food’ to a lot of dark fae. Along with that, the previous queen was controlling us as well.” He fastened the fresh gauze up. “Plus, the woman was out of her tree. Nuts.” He winked.

  “Cute.” I shook my head. “Saw what you did there.”

  “Little tree fairy humor.” He stood up, leaning against the table, and looked at my wound. “I will need to check it later today. Can I get you some tea?” He trailed off, his head lowering to the table, where a drugged-up imp rubbed her long fingers and head over his soft pants like she was in heaven, a purr emanating from her tiny body. Now out of the bag, I saw she also had leopard pasties on. “What the hell? Is that an imp?” He moved back, his eyes wide.

  Bitzy held up her hand, wiggling her three fingers in a flirty wave, but her eyes darted to her hand, her mouth opening like the movement was mind-blowing.

  “Wow, another brainiac in the group,” Opie huffed, rolling his eyes.

  “They’re supposed to be extinct.” Ash stared at Bitzy with awe.

  “Extinct?” I frowned.

  “The body fluids of imps supposedly have magical healing qualities. The old Seelie queen made it legal to hunt them. They were caught by the millions, killed, and turned into healing potions to sell at market. Their numbers declined to the point they were assumed extinct.”

  “I guess not totally. And you are not touching Bitzy, tree man.” Opie marched over to Bitzy, patting her on the head. “She’s no healing potion.”

  “Bitzy?” Ash chuckled, looking between them in bemusement. “And is Bitzy the imp wearing a dog collar and pasties?”

  “Those labels are so antiquated.” Opie motioned to her throat. “This is a choker. And instead of pasties, I prefer to call them fashion boosters. It’s my design.”

  Ash blinked at the brownie and imp.

  “Yeah, I don’t think he’s ready for your fabulousness,” I stage whispered to Opie. I could feel my eyes growing heavy, exhaustion creeping back in.

  “Clearly.” Opie sighed. “But what do I expect from a tree fairy?”

  “What does that mean?” Ash folded his arms.

  “I’ll bet your entire closet is filled with the same colored shirt and hemp pants.”

  Warwick picked the perfect moment to step out wearing forest green pants and T-shirt, matching the ones Ash wore, the fabric stretching over his chest on the verge of ripping. The pants fit tight and came down only to his calves.

  I clapped a hand to my mouth, trying not to laugh.

  “Shut up,” he grumbled, moving our way. “I need to run back to Kitty’s anyway and get a few things.”

  I noticed Ash shift on his feet at the mention of her name. What was between him and Kitty?

  Warwick strolled up to the table, his eyes dropping to Bitzy. She twirled one finger around her ear, the other hand wiggling flirtatiously at Warwick.

  “What the fuck is wrong with her?” he grumbled.

  “She ate something.” Opie tried to grab her hands, but she kept moving them out of his way, reaching out to caress Warwick’s leg.

  “Ate?” Ash’s spine straightened. “Shit. She got into my mushrooms?” Ash darted to a jar on the table.

  “I told her not to put things into her mouth she doesn’t recognize.” Opie shrugged.

  Chhhiiirrrppp.

  “Shush. No one was asking you.” Opie looked away. “Told you it was a misunderstanding.”

  Bitzy let out a squeak, then leaped onto Warwick’s arm.

  “Bitzy, no! He’ll probably eat you.” Opie tried to stop his friend as she crawled up to Warwick’s shoulder.

  Warwick turned his head to look at her, his eyes darting to Opie for a second before his head lurched forward, his teeth snapping together a hair away from Bitzy. Opie shrieked, his hands flying like a windmill, falling onto the ground dramatically.

  Bitzy let out a sound resembling a giggle, tapping Warwick’s mouth as if he was being silly.

  “You are such a bastard,” I snorted.

  Warwick grinned wickedly at me. “She liked it.”

  “Oh, gods… my heart.” Opie patted his chest theatrically. “I just lost eight of my nine lives.”

  “You’re not a cat.” I scrubbed at the space between my brows, my head starting to pound.

  “What? I’m not?” Opie sat up, patting down his body like he was now discovering it.

  “Drama queen,” I muttered.

  Bitzy’s happy chirps drew my heavy head up again. She wiggled through Warwick’s long damp hair, squealing.

  Chhhiiirrrppp. Bitzy’s fingers held on to Warwick’s hair as she swayed back and forth like she was dancing to music. Warwick didn’t even seem to be fazed by her.

  “Damn. I think I’m the one hallucinating.” I let my head drop back down, staring at my bare knees, my grip on the table the only thing keeping me upright. Sleep was creeping up on me again. The rocking in my head made me feel uneasy, my bones growing dense.

  “You?” Ash snorted. “I have a cross-dressing brownie, a hallucinating imp, a folklore wearing my pants, and a naked girl on my dining table who should be dead.”

  I inhaled sharply at his words.

  Ash shook his head, staring at our strange little group. “It is way too early for this.” He turned for the kitchen. “I’m making tea.”

  I blinked after him, my lids growing heavy.

  “Kovacs.” My name rolled from Warwick’s chest, sending shivers all through me. “Sleep.”

  We had so much to discuss and figure out.

  “Rest. We’ll talk later.” He grabbed my head gently, trying to help me lay down again. The moment he touched me, I felt heat and sparks sizzle through my abdomen, numbness crashing in, relieving the pain. A smile curled on my mouth as he eased me back onto the pillow, the dreamworld calling for me.

  “You take my pain away,” I muttered. A flash of two men by the fire came into my mind, their words sounding important and urgent. But before I could pull them in, make sense of them, darkness dragged me under.

  Chapter 22

  “Stop trying to help. I won’t be able to find anything.”

  My lashes fluttered open at the man’s low, silky tone muffled through a curtain. Gazing around, I found myself in a bedroom, covered in blankets and fur, instead of on the table in the main room. A tiny window let in early evening light, allowing me to see the small chamber. The bed was a feather mattress on the floor piled with blankets and pillows, making you want to burrow into them and stay until next spring. Two areas across from each other were sectioned off with shelves stacked with clothes and household items. More ledges were stuffed with books, plants, and personal items.

  “I don’t know how you find anything now.” Opie’s small but clear voice flittered in.

  “I thought you said you didn’t clean,” Ash huffed.

  “I’m not cleaning… I’m consciously uncluttering.”

  A smile grew over my face, and I slowly pushed myself up. I still felt like crap, my body throbbing, but good enough to head to the bath
room and go on the hunt for food. The last thing I ate was a little stew at the Resistance base.

  My heart instantly tugged at the thought of my new friends. I wondered how Andris, Ling, Birdie, Maddox, Wesley, and especially Scorpion were. Shutting my eyes, I thought of Scorpion, trying to grasp the link between us.

  I could sense him, a thread, but I couldn’t seem to reach him. Either he was sleeping, or I just didn’t have enough energy yet, but I knew in my gut he wasn’t dead, which eased me some. It still didn’t make me any less worried about him and the others.

  How strange I had become so quickly bonded to a group of people I barely knew, while I had attacked others I had known almost all my life.

  With a strangled exhale, I pulled myself onto my feet, pressing my hand to my wounds. My fingers rubbed a man’s soft dark green T-shirt, which I now wore, the bottom scarcely hitting the tops of my thighs.

  Taking a few steps toward the bathroom, I chomped down on my lip. Beads of perspiration from the pain dampened my lower back, but I finally shuffled into the water closet like an old woman.

  Built almost entirely out of wood, it was small but beautiful. As if built into a tree, the back wall was an enormous tree trunk. A spout emerged from the wall, like a showerhead, and stone covered the floor. The sink was stone with wood cabinetry for storage and a sitting bench with a hole in it, similar to an outhouse. Ferns and plants filled the room, making it feel as though I’d stepped into a forest, not the latrine.

  After peeing, I washed my hands, shocked at my reflection gaping back at me. I flinched at the mess staring in the glass. I had forgotten I’d been in a fight with Joska before I was shot. The cuts were healing, but my face was still swollen and black and blue. I brushed crusty and tangled strands of knotted, dirty hair off my face, gummy with dried blood. Everything on me was sweaty, grimy, sticky, and disgusting.

  This seemed to be my new normal.

  Wanting a shower but not sure if my wounds could get wet, I ambled out to the main room, the fire crackling in the hearth, the room quiet and calm. Without even looking, I knew Warwick wasn’t there. His presence filled the air when he was around, and when he was gone, he seemed to leave something missing.

  Ash sat at the table I had been on earlier, hunched over a slew of old books, a strange energy coming off them. Opie was quietly organizing his jars, while Bitzy was passed out in the backpack on his shoulders, mouth wide open.

  “Fishy!” Opie waved, sensing me first.

  “Hey, you’re awake.” Ash looked up, curving toward me. His smile expanded over his face, making my insides giggle. His energy was intense, tingling around my thighs.

  “Yeah.” I nodded, running my fingers through my tresses. “Thanks for letting me sleep in your bed.”

  “Of course. Though I was going to move you myself, Warwick was the one who carried you there the moment your eyes shut.”

  “Oh.” I shifted on my toes. “Where is he?”

  Ash shrugged. “Took off after he got you settled and hasn’t been back. That was,” Ash peered up at a clock ticking softly on the wall, “seven hours ago?”

  “I slept for seven hours?”

  “You needed it.” He pushed off the bench. “You hungry? Thirsty? We’ll start you off with something small and bland first.”

  “Sure.”

  He headed to the kitchen, and I went to the bench he deserted, easing myself down. Magic hummed down my arm, and I was drawn to the books laid out on the table. A strange buzz, like a whisper on the wind, drew me to touch it.

  My hand lifted, my finger itching to run over the pages.

  “Oh, be careful with that one,” Ash spoke over his shoulder as he poured me a cup of tea. “It’s very, very old, kind of cranky, and needs a lot of coercion to get it to open up to you.”

  “What?”

  Ash picked up the mug and a slice of homemade bread, walking back over to me.

  “Right. I forget you humans don’t know much about fae books.” He sat beside me, placing the food in front of me. “A lot of them died out when the wall fell. The abundance of magic wiped some of them clean.”

  “What do you mean died out? Like got lost?”

  “No.” Ash shook his head. “Our books in the Otherworld, the fae realm, are alive, so to speak.”

  “Alive?” I took a sip of the warm tea, the taste of calendula coating my tongue. It was a potent healing herb.

  “They hold information the same as any other book, but if you treat them well, they will show you, tell you stories not written in their pages. This one holds a history of the past back to when there were fae god kings and witches. This old book was powerful enough to survive the merging of our worlds. But time has also made it crotchety. Not a fan of the new ways.”

  I stared at Ash, and my mouth parted. This was information I had never learned or heard about, something that got lost in the human side of history in this new world.

  “Does it work on humans?” I swallowed nervously. “Can they feel it?”

  Please say yes. Please say yes… I’m not a freak.

  “Do you feel it?” He eyed me as I tried to swallow some bread.

  “Don’t worry.” Ash smiled. “Humans could probably sense the magic coming off it, but the book wouldn’t talk to them. They wouldn’t be able to read it no matter how hard they tried. Fae books can sense if you have even a drop of fae blood in your veins. Though it is particular to whom it fully opens to. Some fae would only be able to read the surface level of this book, while others would never find the end.”

  “And where do you fall?” I whispered.

  His eyes met mine. The gaze felt intense. Intimate. “I have yet to find the end. But it took years for it to fully let me in.”

  “What were you looking for?” I forgot all about the tea and bread, my attention drawn to both Ash and the book. Even Opie bobbing around, noisily investigating the jars he organized, didn’t detract my focus. I had a strange feeling I already knew the answer without really knowing how—a flutter of voices talking, a fire, Warwick…

  “You.” Ash held my gaze.

  I gulped. That was what I thought. “What about me?”

  “You and Warwick.” His head wagged. “The connection you have shouldn’t be possible.”

  “Why assume it’s me? It could be him.” Trepidation stumbled out of my airwaves.

  “He’s definitely part of it, but I think it is you.” Ash’s voice dropped lower, sending a shiver through my body, tears building under my lids.

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I feel it too.” He licked at his lower lip, rubbing at his brow, his intensity cranking up. “The pull toward you.”

  “What?” The word barely made it out of my throat.

  “Tree fairies are good at healing and creating potions because we are connected to the earth, like the roots of a tree. We understand things you can’t put into words—we feel everything. Life and death.”

  A nerve along my neck twitched, my breathing becoming more erratic.

  “I can’t see auras like Druids do, but I feel them and can sense energy in every living being.” He leaned in closer. “And you, Brexley, are both life and death. Nothing and everything.”

  A sharp inhale sucked through my nose, my form going still. “What do you mean?”

  Ash tucked his wavy hair behind his ear. “You already know, don’t you?”

  Just because Andris said I brought a cat back to life didn’t mean it was true.

  Or Aron, Mo, Rodriguez, the woman dying in the cage… and Elek, yesterday.

  Fighting back the terror and tears, I gulped, “What does it mean? What am I?”

  “I don’t know.” His forehead wrinkled sympathetically. “From what Warwick has told me so far, I know of nothing that can create what exists between you two. It’s unnatural, even in the fae world. I can feel the energy coursing between you two, but I don’t understand it. It’s like a language I don’t recognize. I’m also not sure it’s something that
can be broken as much as you and Warwick might want it to be.”

  His statement slammed fevered memories from the night before. Warwick demanding Ash to find a way to break the connection. “I’m not capable of that. She deserves somebody better. Someone who wants her.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I can keep looking…” He trailed off, nipping his bottom lip.

  “What?”

  “I want to try something.”

  “Try what?”

  Ash stared at me. Reaching over, his fingers wrapped around mine, slowly moving them toward the book.

  Trepidation hammered at my pulse, and my mouth went dry as our fingers hovered a breath away from the pages. Magic pumped off it, tickling my skin. I trembled with both the fear of finding an answer, but also of not discovering anything.

  “Breathe, Brex.” Ash’s voice was soothing and calm. “Close your eyes. Relax. It will resist if you come up defensive and guarded. Take another breath.”

  “What’s going to happen?”

  “If you’re human, nothing. But if you’re not…” He brushed his thumb over my fingers. If you’re not. “Guess we’ll see, won’t we?”

  Inhaling and exhaling slowly, I tried to ease the tension in my shoulders. I let my lids close.

  “Open yourself to it. Remember, it can’t actually physically hurt you. Everything you experience is in your mind, like watching a movie. The events have already happened, and you are just watching them. Can’t interact.” Our fingers hovered over the pages. “In your head, introduce yourself, show it respect.”

  Introduce myself to a book? Seriously?

  As the thought went through my head, I felt zaps of magic. Angry. Insulted.

  “Brexley,” Ash warned.

  Rolling back my shoulders, relaxing my face, I let go.

  Hello, I’m Brexley Kovacs.

  Ash pressed our fingertips into the pages.

  As if an explosion went off in my body, every nerve in me froze as the electrical current burst inside my veins, my heart pumping like it was going to explode. Images I couldn’t grasp flew through my head as a deep, inhuman voice repeated my name as if he were tasting me, learning me, flipping through my memories so fast I was about to throw up.