‘There you go, young stud. This is just one way to work on forging a stronger relationship between you and Mother Earth, and with that bond, you’ll be able to heal yourself of that nasty poison and get your mate back.’
Relief rolls over me at his words of hope. I can heal myself of this shit and fix what I had with Rez?Yes, please.
I hold my breath, waiting for the sharp stab of pain of the thought of her, but it’s a slight pulse, and I almost weep from relief.
‘How often am I supposed to do this until I’m healed?’I wait for his answer, not daring to release all of the tension in my body. I’m hoping for a quick timetable.
Seeing Famine shrug is one of the most surreal moments of my life.
‘You can recycle as often as you need and as much as Earth allows. But as to how long it will take you to purge yourself? Well, that I do not know, that is up to your stamina and how much Earth will accept from you at a time.’ Famine’s hazel eyes glow brighter, emphasizing his next words. ‘Just remember tolisten and trust her. Cultivating a pure and honest relationship will allow you the strongest connection one can have without jeopardizing and tainting one’s soul.’
The glow from my tattoo slowly extinguishes as his tattoo goes still.
‘Well, that’s great and all, but I do believe I have a fucking timeline,’I growl in frustration, but I don’t get a response from Famine.
So much for a teacher.
CHAPTER 39
No Cuddles?
Rez
How are they not horses?
The gorgeous black creature before me rears back on his hind legs, and that’s when I see it.
“Oh! Okay, I see what you mean.” I grimace as I notice the extra… orifice? …with the razor-sharp teeth protruding out of its chest. By the looks of it, it can extend out too, which makes close fighting a no-go for me, at least not from head-on.Shit. How come an ordinary-looking horse with a peek-a-boo, I see you head can be so dangerous?
“What are they?” Moni asks, pulling out her sias.
‘They are Pucanucks. They are as dangerous as they look. And watch out for their tails, they aren’t made from hair.’Slayer sounds almost gleeful, but that can’t be right.‘They are coarse with thick vines, and of course, they are poisonous,’he says as I find him in the crowd, as he’s prancing around.
Well then. Stay away from pretty things. Got it.
I relay the information to everyone else on the ground and watch how they second-guess their fighting stances. Moniresheathes her sias and rubs her hands together instead, and I see a few vines twitch at our feet.
Before we can say anything else, the one before me charges, and I at least have the fortitude to roll out of the way in time to have it skid past me.
“Move out,” Knots yells as he pulls his sword and blocks a mouth that flies out of a chest like a damn monster in that one alien movie.
Moni uses some of the vines to wrap around one puca that comes out of the trees as Chester tries to spear it in the chest, but it doesn’t go down. Zeke runs towards the trapped one and tries to cut into its skin, but bounces off of it as he’s unsuccessfully yelling that their skin is too tough.
‘You have to disarm them to disable their defense system,’Slayer tells me, and just his tone makes me visualize his cocky smile.
‘And you don’t think that would have been good advice to givebeforewe started attacking?’I hiss, getting annoyed at his antics. I don’t care if he’s part of my mate or not; he’s about to be mentally castrated.
I quickly yell out the information to the others as I watch everyone dodge and struggle, yet catch Slayer prancing around like a kid in an amusement park. Either he must have thicker skin that’s immune to these things, or he’s not getting touched.
Shit, if only we had time to regroup and figure out a way out of this mess. We need a shield or something.
‘Yes, you do. You might as well shield everyone and let me work,’Slayer mocks, and I almost curse him out when I feel my magic respond, coming to the surface, and I almost cry in relief as I get an idea. I don’t know how strong I’ll be, but it’s like when I was back in Hell with Murmur, I won’t know until I use it and push my limits.
“Everyone to me,” I yell as I move away from the trees and give us more room. In doing so, I pass a beam of sunlight that hits a side of the tree, and something catches the glare—a camera.I forgot about those.
As everyone gathers closer, they face out and push the massive pucas back until everyone is close enough for me to try and pull this off. I reach down to that silver pool of thread that Murmur helped me visualize, and I pull as hard and fast as I can and imagine a massive dome over us.
BOOM.
