Faery Worlds - Six Complete Novels (56 page)

I released Spike and then looked up at Chase. "Damn, they sure did a number on your face, didn't they?"

"Don't know; can't see it."

Spike laughed. "Trust me, dude, they did."

I looked in Chase's eyes, truly sorry for the part I'd played in that. "I'm so sorry I caused that to happen."

Chase lifted his hand and gently touched the side of my face. "It wasn't your fault."

The tears came up in my eyes, much as I wanted them to stay hidden.

Chase grabbed me in a bear hug. It was kind of like the orc hug, being as how Chase is so big, only it wasn't like the orc hug because it was warm and soft and kind ... comforting. I didn't want to let go. Apparently, neither did he. After a bit, my body started to heat up, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel pretty damn good.

I was brought back to Earth by someone clearing his throat.

"
A-hem
, okaaay then. So, where to now?" said Spike, staring at me and Chase.

I stepped back out of Chase's embrace.

He was staring at me, searching my eyes.

I looked away and my gaze landed on Spike. He was also staring at me, not smiling but not mad either - just searching. The close quarters scrutiny from the two of them was making me nervous. I moved away and took a deep breath.
Man, is it hot in here or what?
I felt like fanning myself.

"To the waypoint," I said, my composure partially back in place.

Jared said nothing; he just walked. We all followed, one at a time. I stayed as close to Tony as I could. He was a little slow, but he was able to go on his own. I took that as a very good sign.

I tried not to think about Spike and Chase as we walked along. Without the immediate threat of orcs on our asses, my brain had time to analyze, over-analyze and over-over analyze what had happened and what could possibly happen. Sometimes I hated having a girl brain. This was one of those times.

Why did that hug with Chase feel so good? Was there more to the hug than just friends? Why did I think Spike was so hot? Was he really that hot or did this forest mess my hot-o-meter all up? If I liked them, would either of them like me back? Could there be any kind of future with either of them - future being anything beyond this forest? Why were they runaways? Were they really criminals, hiding behind nice-guy exteriors? Was it wrong to like two guys at the same time? When was I going to see Spike's tattoos again? Could I think of a way to get him to take his shirt off?
What does Chase look like without a shirt on?
I wonder how I could find out ...

And on and on it went. Before I knew it, we were entering the clearing of the fourth and final waypoint, deep in the heart of the once Dark Forest.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The obelisk for waypoint four was bigger than the others. It too was made of granite, but its base was much wider and the spike on top was black; it looked like it might be made of onyx. It reflected the lunar rays beaming down on us from the sky above. The moon was huge; I'd never seen it look this big before. I felt like I could actually reach out and touch it.

I turned my attention back to the task at hand. It was time to end this bullshit.

We entered the clearing cautiously. I kept my eyes alternatively on the obelisk and on Jared, preparing myself for him to pull a fast one during the last minute of our test.

As we drew nearer, I could see his flag tied to the iron ring on the side of the obelisk. At least he'd told the truth about that part. We were alone, though - no Dardennes, no Ivar, no commando dwarves.
Those bastards better show.

We each went up to the iron ring to tie on our respective flags. I was last. In an act of defiance, I pulled Becky's flag from my pocket and tied it to the ring too. She deserved to be here with us. I looked back at the guys for their reactions and they were all nodding their heads in agreement.

I threw my hands up in disgust. We'd finished but there was nothing and no one here. "Now what?" I didn't know what I had been expecting, but I had kind of hoped that tying the flags would wake me up from this nightmare. But I was still standing here, still fully in it.

Jared pointed to the front of the obelisk.

"What?" I didn't get it. There was nothing there.

"Read the inscription," he said, softly.

Above our heads, inscribed into the stone and readable by moonlight, were these words:

Speak Your Fondest Desire. Enter To Begin The Change.

"What the hell is this, Jared?"

He just shrugged his shoulders, acting like he didn't know.

Asshole.
I lost my temper. It was bound to happen sooner or later. I just wasn't prepared for how violent I felt.

"Aaaarrrrhhhh!"
The battle cry ripped from my throat, ringing through the clearing like the call of a banshee. I'd never heard a banshee before, but they couldn't possibly get as pissed as I was at that moment.

I ran at Jared and jumped on him, punching and kicking him as hard as I could. All I could think about was Becky's face as she went deeper into the water, Tony lying slumped over and tied to a tree, Chase getting the shit beat out of him as he sat helpless, the two forest creatures whose lives I'd snuffed out with the point of my stick, and a hundred other things that had happened from the time I got to that warehouse in Miami until now ... and stupid Jared sitting there blowing smoke rings on a bench, asking us if we were lost.

Jared didn't fight back; he just moved to protect his more sensitive parts. It didn't stop me from giving him a good raking across the face with my nails and a nice uppercut to the jaw, before the guys converged on us, pulling me off.

Chase held me in a bear hug, me facing out towards the others. I tried to kick him to free myself but he stood still, not moving. I stopped kicking because it wasn't fair that he get hurt. I didn't have a beef with him - just Jared. It pissed me off they weren't as mad as I was.
We should all be beating his ass right now.

"No, Jayne. It's not going to happen," said Tony wearily.

I sneered at him. "Back in my head again, eh?"

"Unfortunately."

"Let me go, Chase."

"Promise to settle down?"

"For now."

Chase set me down and let me go, but he kept an annoyingly close eye on me.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side," said Spike, flashing me his teeth. It wasn't exactly a smile, but it wasn't anger either.

"Never lie to me and you don't have to worry about it," I spat back, eyes on Jared.

Tony stood in front of the obelisk, reading the inscription out loud.

"Speak Your Fondest Desire. Enter To Begin The Change ...
What does that mean? Do we stand here and say what we want most? What is the change we're going to start?" He looked at Jared. "Do I even want to start something like that? Seems like my life's already changed quite a bit, and I'm really not all that happy about it."

Jared was frustrated, that much was obvious. "Please, be honest with yourselves, all of you. Sure, your lives have changed. But is that such a bad thing? All of you were running from something. I don't know what it was, but it couldn't have been good. So you got into some pretty scary situations; but you made it out - together. You have friends for life here. And you've made some money in the bargain. You have to agree - life is arguably better for you right now."

I looked at him in disgust. "Say that to Becky."

Jared nodded to the obelisk. "Say it to her yourself."

I looked at the granite spire in front of me. What was he saying? Was Becky somehow associated with this? Was she still alive?

I made a move towards Jared, but Chase was too fast for me.

"Nope. You're staying right here with me."

"Chase!"

"Sorry, Jayne. Let him say what he has to say."

Jared sighed. "Just finish the test. That's all I can say. Just finish."

Jared walked up to the obelisk, standing front of it just below the inscription. He looked up to the onyx at the top and said, "I want to go back to my people."

A grinding sound erupted from the granite. All I could think was that some stinking black muck was going to come out and we were going to have to fight the orcs all over again.

But I was wrong.

A portion of the granite swung in to reveal a doorway. Jared stepped into it, turning to look back at us. "See you on the other side," he said, stepping backwards into the blackness. The door swung shut behind him.

Chapter Thirty

All of us started talking at once.

"Where the hell did he go?" asked Spike.

"What in the sam hill?" said Finn.

"I
knew
that motherfucker was in on it with them!" I yelled, finally feeling validated.

"I didn't even notice a door was there," said Tony, sounding more curious than anything.

I walked up to the spot where Jared had just been. I felt along the granite surface of the obelisk, but there were no cracks, no hinges, nothing.

Spike had walked around to the other side of it, doing the same thing. "I don't think he slipped out the back or anything."

Tony stepped up to the space under the inscription. "We might as well do this. It's the only way we're going to get out of here ... unless you guys feel like going through that orc forest again. You know we're in the dead center of it right now."

It was as if him speaking the words suddenly caused it to happen. The sounds of orcs off in the distance came out of the trees and across the clearing to our ears. They were coming this way.

"So, what are we supposed to do, then?" I asked, panicking once again.

"The inscription says to speak your fondest desire. Jared said he wanted to get back to his people. I'll try that," said Tony, bravely.

Tony straightened his shoulders and looked at all of us. "I want to go back to my people."

Nothing happened.

He tried again, louder. "I want to go back to my people!"

"Try something else," Finn suggested.

"Like what?"

Finn rolled his eyes. "Duh, say your fondest desire, not Jared's fondest desire."

Tony's face turned red. "Right. Okay. Um ... let's see ... what is my fondest desire?"

The sound of the orcs' arrival was getting louder.

"Come on, Tony, hurry up!" urged Spike.

I ran up to his side. "Maybe we can go in together and save some time."

Tony looked down at me and made his decision. "My fondest desire is that Jayne be safe."

The door opened, the blackness within beckoning.

Tony and I stepped forward. Tony entered into the blackness, but I bounced off, landing on my ass in the grass.

"What the ... ?"

Tony was inside, looking back at me. "One at a time, I guess. Do it, Jayne! I'll be right here waiting."

The door swung shut behind him.

I looked at Spike, Finn, and Chase in a panic. "Do you guys know your fondest desire? I don't! I'm thinking, but I can't come up with it, I'm too nervous!"

"I have mine," said Finn.

I waved him forward. "You go. I'll come after. Watch Tony's back for me."

"I'm not sure if I feel right leaving a lady behind."

"You're not. I have Chase and Spike here."

"Fine, then." Finn went over and stood at the invisible door. "I wish I could have an ice-cold beer and a chew."

The door opened and Finn stepped through.

Fucking rednecks. If only life could be that simple.

Spike laughed. "Sounds good to me. Ready now, Jayne?"

"No. You go."

Spike looked at Chase. "You good to wait for her?"

Chase nodded once.

Spike stepped up to the door. He straightened his shoulders and said, "My fondest desire is to go home."

The obelisk stood silent, unmoving.

Spike ran his fingers through his hair. "I guess it's some sort of lie detector, eh?" He laughed self-consciously. "Okay, how 'bout: my fondest desire is to get out of this forest."

Still nothing.

I raised my eyebrow. Whatever it was, Spike was either avoiding it or he didn't even know what it was. I could feel his discomfort from here.

He looked over his shoulder in the direction of the orc sounds, which had grown increasingly louder.

"Better make it fast," said Chase.

He turned back to the door and threw his hands up. "Fine! I wish I could kiss the lips of Jayne Sparks!"