Twenty

 

 

I had to do something, had to get them to believe me. I broke down and cried a little, which wasn’t too hard given the circumstances.

“He cheated on me. I thought we had something, but I guess not,” I croaked and peeked to see if he was buying it. I couldn’t tell.

“We know he left town, this isn’t about that.” He crossed his arms. “Binding yourself to a demon,” he mused and whistled, “not too smart in my book. And he left you here, alone. So what does that say about him, huh? You thought you could wrangle an already tame demon, but even with all Eli’s faults, he still couldn’t be the human you wanted him to be, huh?”

“I don’t care. I’m glad he’s gone.”

“Well, you see, you know about us. I warned him that humans who knew about us were to be executed.”

I was beginning to wonder the same things he was. How could Eli leave if he knew the Horde didn’t let humans go who knew about them? It had seemed strange last night in the Reverie too, how Eli was so nonchalant about it when I said someone was following me. It confused me but after everything we’d been through so far, I refused to give up faith in him.

He moved with a swiftness that I missed until it was too late. He jerked my arm in his grasp and Mara’s arm snapped out in front of me. They stared at each other and she removed her arm and muttered a ‘sorry’ as she looked at the ground.

He started to pull me towards the woods at the end of the pavement. I jerked against him but he tsked me.

“Uh, uh, uh.” He pointed to the other end of the lot, to where Patrick and Ariel were standing. They were laughing and talking, completely oblivious as he threw popcorn at her that there was a Devourer behind them. I watched as Ariel’s face changed from one of laughter to one of horror. She even grasped Patrick’s collar as she looked around. He was confused but held onto her.

Hatch looked back at me with a knowing look. He’d won and he knew it.

“Come with me quietly or Demarcus will torture her until she never comes back from it.”

What could I do? I went with him.

I walked in between Mara and Hatch to a group of five Devourers about twenty feet into the woods. The grass was long, up to my thighs, and it scared me to walk in it in the dark. Although, with my new vision my sight was better, I still couldn’t see my feet.

“So Mara was right. He did leave her here,” one of them said.

“Yep. Let’s take care of this quickly,” Hatch answered.

But I wasn’t going down without a fight. I turned to Mara.

“How can you betray your brother like this?” I asked loudly and they laughed even louder, except Mara who continued to stare at me as if I were disgusting.

“How do you think she got into the Horde?” one of the men said but Hatch snapped at him.

“Be quiet!” He looked at me and cocked his head. “Mara, I wish you could do it. That would put the final stake in Eli, but I know the bond won’t let you.”

“I wish it were so too,” she spat out her words and looked at me. “Please get rid of her so I don’t have this disgusting thing wrapped around my wrist anymore.”

Hatch nodded and said to her, ”We’ll put your mark on her for you. Eli will know without a doubt that he is denounced and an abomination to our kind and better hope that we never find his traitorous hide again. Demarcus,” he called to someone behind Mara. The one that had messed with Ariel was back so at least they were safe. “Hold Mara back.”

Mara actually grinned and let him grab her arms from behind. I knew what was coming. They were restraining her so her instincts wouldn’t kick in through the bond and she couldn’t save me. One the other men came forward without any further hesitation and yanked my hair to pull my neck back. I saw Mara jolt but Demarcus held her tight. Before anything else could happen a flash of white caught my vision off to the side. I heard Hatch yell and curse before the Devourer let my head go. I stepped back but we all stood still and watched as the grass around us moved in trails but there wasn’t anything there to see. Another one of the Horde men yelled and went down into the grass. Then another. I waited for it to take me and grab me too. Whatever it was, was apparently strong enough or dangerous enough to take down a big Devourer.

When Hatch groaned I looked over at him and watched as he strained and fought against his legs. They buckled under him and he fell into the grass.

What in the….

I walked cautiously to Hatch and peeked at him through the fallen grass. He was completely still, eyes wide open…and they were black; completely, disturbingly, wholly black and bottomless. Then I heard a commotion off to the side but before I could see behind me, I was yanked down and dragged through the grass by my arm over my head.

I wanted to scream but for some reason, my vocal cords were frozen, in fear I guessed. It felt like I was dragged forever before it finally stopped abruptly. I lay in the grass, the sky above me. The stars and moon were shining through the canopy of the trees and in any other setting it would have been beautiful. And then a pair of beady eyes were above me too. I gasped and tried to scramble back, but it stopped me with a hand on my arm. It was surprisingly strong.

“Be still, feeler,” it hissed in a high pitched and scratchy voice. “Those thieves will kill you if they find you. Be still and wait for the traitor if you know what’s good for you.”

I looked at it, or um, him. He was about as tall as my thigh with a white bohemian looking shirt on with his white pants and bare dirty feet. His eyes were beady and black. His hair was red and scraggily on the sides with none on the top at all and his skin had a greenish hue to the pale look of him. I had no idea what he was, so I asked him.

“What are you?” I whispered.

“Be quiet you stupid girl!” he hissed loudly through a mouth that was covered in blue goo. Devourer blood, I realized. His sharp little teeth were covered in blue too. “What will it matter if you find out what I am if you are dead!”

“Sorry,” I grumbled and that earned me a glare. At least I think it was a glare. His eyes were impossibly small.

So I lay silently and listened with a gangly miniature monster holding me down with his arm. I stiffened hearing the noises off in the distance, grunting and huffing. Then my heart stopped beating when I heard a voice I knew - Eli. And he was yelling.

I pushed the creature away and took off running. I heard him behind me, hissing and calling me names, but I kept running. I had told Eli that I wasn’t into playing hero but apparently, for him, I was.

I arrived on the scene to see no one there but Mara and Eli. He has his arm wrapped around her neck from behind and there were several patches of grass around them that were depressed and indented so I knew there was a body there. I swallowed and focused on Eli, who had just now seen me. He first looked ecstatic at seeing me, then turned angry; the veins in his neck blue and raised.

“I told you to keep her away from this, Bengal!” he growled at me. I was confused but looked beside me to see he was growling at the little person.

“She’s stubborn and stupid,” he said. “What did you expect me to do?”

“I expected you to do what we agreed upon.”

“Never do deals with a Goblin. Didn’t your mother every teach you that?” the little person sneered at Eli.

“Did your mother tell you to never cross a Devourer?” Eli rebutted.

“No, my mother said to bite first and ask questions later.”

Eli sighed and gripped Mara tighter as she tried to twist away. I started to ask what was going on but she elbowed him in the stomach and bent under his arm. She grabbed his head, bringing his face down to her knee. I started to scream but the Goblin…Gnome…thing grabbed my hand jerking me to the ground and putting his scaly dry hand over my mouth.

“Stupid girl. Don’t alert the humans with your high pitched screams.”

I looked at him in disbelief and then back to Eli as he slammed her to the ground by a hand around her throat. But she didn’t stay down long. She jumped up with a quick move back to her feet and then jabbed a blow to his neck with the back of her fist. I cringed, covering my face and turned away. I turned back just in time to see him as he grabbed her head from behind. He met my eyes from across the expanse and grimaced.

“Look away, Clara.”

I obeyed with the quickness and through my squeezed shut eyes I still heard the crack of her neck and then the rustle of grass. I opened them to see him watching me but he didn’t move towards me. I wanted to run to him but I felt vulnerable and strange. The way he was looking at me…I realized he was waiting to see my reaction to what he’d done; my reaction to the monster he thought he was.

So I ran to him. His face released all the tension, the blue veins on his neck and arms settled back into his skin and he opened the circle of his arms up to me. I collided with him and felt him lift my feet from the ground as he plunged his face into my neck and hair.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“You came back,” I said breathlessly.

He pulled back to look at me and said, “I never really left. I just went far enough that the Horde would think I was gone and Angelina and Enoch would follow me.”

“Really?”

“Of course, CB. I couldn’t leave you.”

“But you knew the Horde was still here?” I asked as he set me back to my feet.

“I figured. “

“But…” I was confused. “You left and knew they were still here…I don’t understand…”

“You ‘re wondering why I would leave you in danger?” he asked with a little smile.

“A little,” I said quietly.

“Well, that‘s where Bengal comes in.” He turned me to the small man in front of us. “Bengal, this is Clara. Clara, this is Bengal. He’s a Goblin who owed me a favor and has been shadowing you for two days.”

“Um…” I turned to Eli so the Goblin guy wouldn’t hear me. “No offense, Eli, but that guy’s as tall as my knee. Why would you think he could protect me from-“
“Goblins have excellent hearing, human,” Bengal said and crossed his thick arms in insult. “And how do you think I saved your bony backside the first time, hmm?”