“Fuck. Let’s save this for the cave. Let’s go. Knox, lead the way,” Levi suggests, turning to our Alpha as he’s already shifted back into his wolf form.
The good news is that with the rain, the fog lifts, allowing us to see where we are stepping. The bad news is that now the rain has awakened the greenery, and the vines are out for blood. Too bad it doesn’t want the blood of the already deceased.
Thorny vines whip out, slashing at us as we make our way to the path of the incline. As my glaives slice through one vine and I take a couple of steps, another vine snakes up the path to once again block my way.
“This is taking forever,” Zeke yells over the pounding of the rain.
“Let me try something,” Moni shouts back, putting her sias away. Immediately, Chester, JP, and Zeke surround her and start hacking away at the shrubbery that inches her way.
She spreads her hands out wide, and my mouth drops as I watch green sparkles come out of her hands and seek out the rogue plantlife. As her magic touches a hostile patch of greenery, it jerks as if it’s been electrocuted and drops to the wooded ground. I turn to look back at my bestie as her eyes pop open and she breaks out into laughter.
“I did it! I really did. I truly am a badass. I saved us.” Moni does a little shuffle until Chester grabs her shoulders and kisses her in the rain. It would be a swoon moment if I weren’t getting colder by the second.
“Great. Thanks for saving us, but can we not freeze to death?” The annoyance in Lynx’s voice is not missed, given the frosty look Moni shoots him.
“This way. Come on, Kitty Litter, you won’t freeze to death out here, you’re practically a rug,” Knots urges as we follow him up the incline.
“Sure, says the firewood we’re going to use at our camp,” Lynx mumbles next to me.
Aww, the joys of camping. And to think I missed all of this when I was back home on Earth. Something tells me the act wasn’t the same thing.
CHAPTER 25
Babysitters
Zeke
As we reach the cave outcrop, I stop everyone and turn to Knox, “Want to do a scope?”
His tongue rolls out of his mouth, and I take that as a yes, even though I know it’s Fluffers that I’m addressing. If it were Knox, he would have stood up and already started without me, like he’s done in the past. I turn back to everyone and give them a quick smile.
“Just wait here, since it’s out of the rain, and let us check the cave, since we can see in the dark. Be right back,” I tell everyone, not waiting for an argument as Knox and I slowly enter the cave.
Having done similar things in the past, we easily take up our normal sweeps. He goes right, and I go left. I don’t see any traps, but what I do see shocks me. It seems as if someone, or a party of someones, has been holding up here, which might cause us a problem if they come back.This couldn’t have come from someone in the Gauntlet; it’s already been used. It’s not like the Leaders can clear the Woods and keep people out for weeks.
Is this a camp for Trappers? Hunters? Worse… Rebels?
There’s already a fire pit, sleeping bags, a few torches set up along the back wall, and some oval-shaped, colorful rocks lying haphazardly in a corner in a stack on the ground at the back. Still, other than that, I don’t see or smell anything else suspicious. Stopping by the fireplace and meeting up with Knox, I lay my hand over the pit and confirm there’s no heat or hot coal, proving it hasn’t been used in a while, and we should be good to use it.
Walking back to the entrance, I poke my head out and give everyone a thumbs up.
“We’re good. Come on inside, and someone start us a fire. I’m cold,” I plead.
A few minutes later, I’m warming myself against the crackling fire, while JP begins to prepare a snack with the camping supplies lying around that are useful, and Levi goes on medic duty. We’re not completely heartless. I’ve piled the prior supplies in a corner for someone to use or come back to get, but we would rather use our stuff. One, we know what we packed, and two, we know it's not tampered with.
“Does anyone have any injuries that need to be looked at? Even if they are small, we need to make sure they are taken care of in case of an infection,” he asks, making a point, and Rez reluctantly raises her hand.
“It’s just a minor cut along my ribs,” she tells us, and we all jump up. Knowing she’s in good hands, I try to relax by the fire once more until Moni starts zipping around. Afraid she’s going to pass out and land in the fire, I focus on her.
“Did you see what I did?” she asks, turning a neon green. “I controlled greenery.” She does a little twirl and a flip in the air, and Chester calls out praises, but instead of Moni passing out and falling, something else falls to the ground with a clink.
“What’s that?” Knots asks, leaning over from cleaning his sword.
“OH! That’s what I wanted to show you. How did that fall out of my S.I.N. box?” Moni says, lifting a shimmering iridescent holographic coin.
“Let me see that.” Ryker turns it over, and I watch as something flashes as he flips it over. “It looks like a fae coin,” he explains. “I saw one of these on one of the Cyanide students.”
“There was one on the Bailiwick student I took out,” Lynx admits, carrying a blanket over to his sleeping bag.
