CHAPTER11
Bane
I’d flownover the entirety of the Forest of Lir before, but the forest from above didn’t look much different than any other forest, to be honest. But the moment I stepped through the arch into the forest itself, it was more than clear that this forest was not natural by any means. I’d never seen it like this...
For starters, it glowed like a neon light display, from the tops of the trees to the roots bursting above ground. Thunder crashed, and lightning flashed in the distance, and my energy flared in my blood. My fire danced at my fingertips, the ever present feeling of being literally sucked inward, like a whirlpool or a vacuum, a startling shift.
The world around me lit up as I looked ahead, noticing the neon footprints glowing in the dirt, leading further into the enchanted forest. I followed the path without question, knowing it would bring me one step closer to Violet.
Though I wasn’t expecting to find her passed out across the ground, covered in... vines?
Vines that seemed to be gripping her tightly, as if they were trying to adhere her to the earth itself.
Instantly, I shot a fireball at the greedy things, which made them recoil long enough for me to grab her, hauling her off the ground and into my lap on instinct alone.
“Violet...” I called, but she did not answer. “Violet, wake up...”
I held my hand over her chest, her body cold to the touch. Here in the center of the storm, the wind was cold and the rain had broken through the trees. It was freezing, and so was she.
Anne, wake up...
My memories threatened to unearth themselves, and I tried to push them away. I called my fire to my palms, trying to shock her, to warm her into awakening.
But it didn’t seem to work.
My wings spread out as I held her close, trying to shield her from any more threats of environmental frigidity.
“Violet, come on, you gotta wake up, you’re not safe here, you’re not—”
“What the fuck, Bane?” Wanda chirped, making my entire body freeze upon her tone.
I turned as tentacles tried to pry me and my wings away from Violet.
“Don’t you fuckingtouch her,” I hissed, my wings fluttering as Norman tried to pry them apart. A heavy, cold tendril of water tried to douse my fire, but I pushed it back easily.
I am anincubus.I am far more powerful than water entities, being as my fire is not elemental, but infernal.
“This is your fault, you—” I growled.
“You just couldn’t wait to dig your fucking fangs in, could you?” Norman bit, trying to play hero.
I did not have time for his stupidity, when Violet’s life was far more important than his audacity.
“It’s not what it looks like,” I grit out. “She’s...”
What could I say?
I wasn’t entirely sure what was happening, either, but...
I didn’t trust Wanda or Norman as far as I could throw them, not here and certainly not now. Clearly they had made up their minds about me, despite knowing me practically forever. Since I was sixteen.
Not to mention, they’d brought Violet here, to this damn forest—and for what purpose?
I caught sight of Wanda’s glowing eyes, her swollen gills on display in her half-shifted siren form, and I knew that look. I knew it well.
Bile rose in my throat at the thought of what she’d obviously intended.
And Norman would not object to putting on a show for her either, I take it.
