Page 70 of Anywhere

“Ta da grove,” I said, and Mari’s eyes grew wide. The colour drained from her face, and I knew she was now thinking the same thing I was.

The drive took two hours, and as soon as we got close, my fears were confirmed. Large farms had been burned to the ground until there was nothing but charred remains. All the fields that had been filled with harvest were devastated by scorched earth as far as the eye could see. Everything from wheat and corn to potatoes was laid to waste. The fires were long dead. Not even a tendril of smoke remained. It looked like a dark demon had walked upon the earth, and the earth had died in its wake.

Our Faction didn’t pray to the darkness, although the few villagers who knew of our power thought so, and we never corrected them. The fact that our abilities were directly linked to death and spirits made explaining the difference near impossible. We were born of the shadow spirits and powered by the souls of our ancestors who had passed on. All the rules and pairings came from the voices on the other side. Since the Factions were born, this was how it had been.

“Oh, dear spirits,” Mari whispered as we drove slowly alongside the carnage. “No wonder the hunters have been so aggressive lately. They think we did this.”

“Aye, ta bad they dinnie aim their anger in da right direction. If they took a moment ta tink about it, it makes no sense for us ta burn our own people and food supply,” I said.

We travelled in silence, looking and hoping that there would be at least one crop spared. There was nothing, and I was sure that if I pulled up to the villages, we would find more death. How many had already lost their lives to this greed? That was what this was, of that, I had no doubt. Someone was aimin’ ta try to take over and wanted us weak and ripe for the pickin’.

Having seen enough, I did a U-turn and drove back to Injebreck.

“Shite, Mari, dis is bad.”

Mari gripped my shoulder. “Don’t stress. You’ll get something figured out, and the Kelly’s have boats. If we need to bring food from the mainland, we will.”

I gave her hand a pat and was saddened and relieved when she moved it. “Aye, but what about the villagers? We can’t just let the people left livin’ on the island die.”

“I don’t have an answer for that, but you’ll think of something. You always do,” she said.

I’d never been more thankful for the triad and the power we were going to need for what I feared to come. I glanced over at Mari, and my heart ached in my chest. Unable to help myself, I reached out and grabbed her hand, wanting the support we always shared.

Mari pulled her hand away from my touch. “Rhys, please….” She shook her head and looked away. “We need draw new lines and boundaries. It is too dangerous and not fair to lean on one another like this.”

I placed my hand on the steering wheel and squeezed hard. It was as though she was on a separate island and was slowly floating away. I desperately wanted to hang on tighter, but the door to friendship seemed to be narrowing.

“I’ma sorry, Mari. I—Holy shit!”

Four children ran out of the ditch in front of the car. Their terrified faces had my hands moving quick as they grabbed one another in a huddle. It was only by the grace of the spirits that I managed to avoid running them over and kept the car on the road. Slamming on the brakes, I looked in the rear-view mirror at the smoke-stained cheeks and torn clothes as they held one another and knew that even though I should, I couldn’t leave them.

Mari and I looked at one another at the same time. We didn’t have to say a word as we pushed open the car doors.

Rook

My fingers lazily strummed the strings of my guitar, but even that couldn’t calm the building frustration. Elewyen had finally stopped yelling at me to let her out, so that was a bonus. Did I feel a little bit bad about leaving her in the washroom? Maybe. But I wasn’t letting the conniving redheaded witch out until Rhys was back.

I was starting to wonder why I decided to stay and make this work. I mean, the morning with Rhys had been incredible, mind-blowing even, but did I really think that I could change my habits enough to help run a Faction? Run the very thing I hated? Do paperwork that I hated? Sit in on political meetings and negotiations with other Factions? Maybe if Rhys took the lead, he seemed to like it. It was the number one’s right to delegate, wasn’t it?

More than that, I felt a brief ache in my chest, and I hadn’t been able to focus on anything other than Rhys and Mari and what they were doing or discussing. Were they making plans to run off? Or maybe now that Elewyen was here, they would take the opportunity to mask their dash and were already gone. Why was I thinking like this? I wasn’t an insecure person, and yet here I was, worrying.

Laying the guitar down, I picked up my cell and stared at the time. They’d been gone almost four hours. What the hell could be taking them so long?

“This is crazy,” I mumbled as I stood from the bed and looked out the window that faced the front of the castle. The guards could barely be seen between the darkening sky and the line of trees that they skulked around. There was something off about the guards. I never saw them come or go into the castle. They all had a similar look and hadn’t said a word to me since my arrival. They creeped me the fuck out.

I looked at the high walls and windows of the castle and wondered what it would be like to take over as the head of the family. Not that I wanted the gig. My father was welcome to it for another hundred years if he wanted it. But knowing that this place was mine, and then my kids….

“Kids? Where the fuck did that thought come from?” I grumbled.

I shook my head and turned at the sound of the door handle. I hated that I was so excited for Rhys to return. I’d never been the type who got excited to see a partner. They were supposed to be excited to see me, not the other way around.

“Naw, Mari, I have ta do it on me own,” Rhys was saying as the door opened. He paused when he saw me.

There was a blast of immense pleasure and satisfaction in my chest that warmed my body all over as I stared into those silver eyes.

“Shite,” Rhys swore. “I’ma dolt. I keep forgettin’ this is no’ me room anymore,” Rhys turned to leave.

“Whoa, wait up a minute. What the hell happened out there? And you need to deal with Elewyen. I’m not going anywhere near her again until she’s more…civilized, or at least stops trying to kill me,” I snarled, annoyed that once again, Rhys seemed completely unaffected by me, and here I was pining over him.