“All right, sunshine. Let’s come up with a plan.”
Chapter 22
Eye Patches & Ponytails
Liam
Damn this woman. Damn this relentless, stubborn woman. I didn’t know if I wanted to yell at her for being so brash or fuck her against the tree for it. Probably both. Definitely the latter. My frustration with her willingness to head straight into danger had quickly turned to lust at her obstinance.
What the hells is she doing to me?
We spent the next ten minutes developing a perfunctory plan, not having enough time to truly iron out all the details. I would use my magic to set fire to something in camp and create a distraction, while Cerise snuck in and found the keys to the cages.
Some of the creatures they had were dangerous, likely to attack anyone at a moment’s notice. I just hoped they’d attack the poachers instead of us.
“Are you ready?” Cerise whispered.
“Not really,” I muttered.
I didn’t like this one bit. Of course I wanted to save the animals, but I was more concerned with Cerise’s safety. I couldn’t bear something going wrong and her getting injured, especially after what happened earlier.
But I knew she’d refuse to leave if we didn’t do this. She wasn’t lying when she said I would have to drag her away. I’dalready learned when she set her mind on something, there was no talking her out of it. So here we were.
Both men were still awake despite the late hour, stars twinkling in the sky overhead. One wore an eye patch and had disappeared inside a tent. The other sat in a chair near the fire keeping watch, his long brown hair pulled into a ponytail. We crept through the trees, remaining at the edge of camp, until we reached the largest tent, assuming this was where they kept their supplies, information, and hopefully, the keys.
Cerise nodded and I slunk further, stopping before another tent on the other side of the site. With the flick of my wrist, a flame appeared in my hand and I aimed it at the base of the structure. It caught fast, smoke rising in the air as the fire devoured the canvas. I rushed back to Cerise, waiting.
It wasn’t long before eye patch emerged from his quarters. “Why do I smell smoke?” he demanded in a gruff voice.
Ponytail bolted from his chair, scanning the camp, his eyes landing on the flames. “Fire!”
“You bloody moron! Have you not been keeping watch?”
The poachers rushed around, frantically searching for canteens and buckets, cursing at each other as they attempted to stop the fire from spreading.
Cerise lifted the canvas and entered while I continued my watch outside, ducking behind the shelter. It was almost comical how the poachers ran around, shouting at each other and trying to gather as much water as they could find, which wasn’t much. The fire spread to the next tent, illuminating the entire clearing.
The man with the ponytail raised a hand. A small burst of wind came from his palm, hitting the fire and making it spread faster.
“You fucking idiot!” his friend shouted. “You can’t smother a fire with wind. It’ll make it worse! Why couldn’t you have useful magic, like water?”
“Well at least I can do magic. You couldn’t even learn a basic spell to save your life!”
I shook my head at them, amused at their antics. “You’re both morons,” I muttered to myself.
Cerise emerged with a set of keys in her hand, eyes twinkling with triumph. “Got it.”
Gods, she was stunning. This woman was going to be the death of me.
We crept to the largest cage. Inside was a significantly sized primate. On all fours, it was nearly as tall as my waist and ten times as strong as the average human. It was a dangerous beast and looked at us warily as we approached, its upper lip curling over a set of two-inch long canines.
Cerise knelt before the front of the cage, placing the key in the lock.
“Careful,” I whispered.
With a twist and a click, the lock fell to the ground. Cerise remained behind the door as she eased it open. We froze, hoping the animal wouldn’t wheel on us. It sat still for a moment, seemingly surprised at its sudden freedom.
But then it took off, snarling with rage as it veered, not toward the dense trees, but directly for the men distracted by the fire.
