Throne of Oak (Maggie's Grove) (9 page)

She peeked up at him. “Of course there was. There always has been.”

“That first Queen took me in, allowed me refuge. She gave me a chance to heal and decide what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. The rulers of the Throne were my best—hell, my
only
—friends at the time. The thought of humans coming in and clearing away their forest to build a town with no idea what they were destroying? I hated it. It’s why I built Maggie’s Grove. To give refuge to those who needed it, as she’d done for me.”

“And you in turn did for her.” Mina nodded. “Her name was Margaret.”

“Yes. She loved the idea, and the four of them showed me the best place to put the town, where the forest could watch over it without the town encroaching too far under its branches. A covenant we’ve done our best to follow to this day.” His clever girl had figured it out. “When I told her what I wanted to name the town she was embarrassed, but she loved the thought behind it.” He chuckled. “She just thought I should name it something else, like Sanctuary or Refuge.”

“But that would have been too obvious.”

“Yes, exactly.” He kissed her hair again. What shampoo did she use? She always smelled so good. “She never got that.”

She shivered hard. “Dragos?”

“Hmm?”

“How far am I from home?”

Damn. She’d figured it out. “We’re near the ranger station.”

She shuddered, and in the back of her mind he could hear the whispers starting up. Whatever it was wasn’t tied to the Throne after all. She could be touched even this far away.

Unless... Could it be the forest itself? If so, that would be a more difficult opponent to face. If the forest was poisoned, he’d need help finding the source.

“Take me back to the Throne, Dragos.” Her voice was shaking with fear.

“
Yes
,
we belong in the Throne.
”

Dragos gritted his teeth. She wasn’t howling in pain, and she’d spent more time out of the Throne than she had since the attack, but the voice was definitely back.

He kissed the top of her head, hoping to ease her fears. “Of course, my dear.”

But then, he directed his thoughts toward the voice invading Mina’s mind, wanting it to know what, and who, was coming for it. “
You are dead when I find you.
”

He would find the source of her pain, and he would set his
sotiei
free.

Chapter Seven

“
Parker.
”

The thick
,
bubbling voice grated on her ears.
Mina squinted
,
peering into the darkness surrounding her oak
,
trying to find the source of the voice.

This was getting gods’ be-damned old.

At least now she knew that the dream wasn’t something from inside her own psyche.
This was someone intent on torturing her.
The question was
,
who?

“
Clever girl.
”
A
form stepped to the edge of the Throne but came no closer
,
staying in the shadows at the edge of sight.
Only the stench of rotten vegetation told her who it was
,
but she knew now that was a lie.
“
Think you’ve got it all figured out
,
don’t you?
”

“
You’re not Terri.
”

“
And you’re not nearly as stupid as I thought you were.
”

The figure didn’t move
,
but Mina got the distinct impression it was smirking at her.
The voice no longer sounded like bubbling goo
,
either.
The only thing that remained the same was that shimmer of evil that constantly surrounded the figure.
This time it only helped obscure it further.
There was no way to tell if it was male or female
,
no clues visual or aural
,
to show what she was dealing with.
Whoever it was
,
the person was clever.
If Mina could figure out who she was dealing with she’d sic Dragos on them in a heartbeat.
“
What do you want?
”

“
You should never have come out of the Throne.
You messed up plans that have been years in the making
,
and now your bond with Dragos threatens everything we’ve worked toward.
”

Mina took a deep breath.
She’d heard someone recently refer to himself as we.

Was it possible?
But how would he even have known about her?
She took a gamble
,
not at all sure it would pay off.
“
You drove him from his home
,
and he’s never returned.
Why do you continue to harass him?
”

A
dark chuckle had her shivering in her bonds.
“
He’s an abomination
,
a
creature that deserves death.
But that isn’t my goal
,
and you know it.
”

“
Then why don’t you tell me.
”

The figure chuckled again.
“
You think you’re going to make me monologue like some stupid Disney villain?
”

Mina shrieked
,
pain ripping through her
,
darkening her vision until all she saw was black and red.

“
Think again.
”

The pain stopped as abruptly as it began.

The figure took a step back
,
swallowed by the darkness.
“
They’re coming.
”

* * *

Mina snapped awake, her senses on full alert. She raced to her throne and sat, aware she was safe here. The branches of her oak swayed, the leaves rustling as she stretched out, reaching out to the trees and shrubs surrounding the Throne. She sent out feelers through root and branch, leaf and sap, slipping into the collective consciousness of the forest as only the Queen could.

The voice was right. Something was coming, something that didn’t belong.

Mina set the plants to trip and trap, to delay and scratch. Once that was done, she sent off the alarm through squirrel and bird, fox and mole. Her forest responded to her rallying cry, answering the silent call of their ruler.

The Queen summoned, demanded defense, and the forest obeyed.

Mina settled fully on her throne, her senses stretched to the limit, and waited, aware that more than enemies moved through the eternal twilight beneath the branches.

Ash dropped in front of her from the branches of his tree, his blade drawn, and his green eyes hard and glittering in anticipation of battle. Greer, his grin feral, swiftly followed. His normally awkward movements were fluid and deadly. His silver blade was an extension of his arm, gleaming in the pale afternoon light. Her easygoing brother was ready to kill.

Only Iva was missing. Without her, Mina’s true strength could not be called upon, but what she had was enough.

Mina held out her hand and summoned her own sword, the familiar blade both heavy and comforting.

“My Queen?”

Ash would be the one to address her formally. She stood, her connection to the forest now fully established. “There are strangers in the forest.”

“Van Helsings?” Greer tapped his blade against his ankle.

“I don’t know, but they feel wrong. They don’t belong.” The forest was watching, wary—the sensation of ants crawling across her skin strong.

These people meant harm, whoever they were.

Ash scowled. “How did they get past the protections of the witches?”

“I don’t know. There should be only one way for anyone who doesn’t belong here to find their way into Maggie’s Grove.”

The three dryads exchanged a look. If evil had found its way in, it had to either be strong enough to overcome the protections, or—

“A witch helped them.” Greer huffed out a breath. “And not just any witch, either.”

“A Maggie’s Grove witch.” Ash snarled, and the branches of his ash tree thrashed violently.

“Down, boy. None of us thinks it was Selena.”

Ash rolled his eyes, but his tree calmed with Greer’s acknowledgment that Selena was innocent. Like any of them would have thought otherwise. The witch doctor was inviolable, and they all knew it. “We still need to figure out what’s going on, who’s here and who is responsible for letting them in.”

“First things first.” Mina stood at the edge of the Throne and took a deep, cleansing breath. Dragos was in his day sleep. He wouldn’t be able to help her. She was on her own. She’d have to step out of her comfort zone and face the invader without his strength to shore her up.

She
would
do this. She would defend her home—Dragos’s home—or die trying.

She nodded once, briskly. “Gentlemen. Let’s go kick some ass.”

Mina set foot outside the Throne, striding out beneath the trees before the terror that was trying to sink its tentacles deep into her mind had a chance to stop her.

She used her connection to pinpoint the location of the invaders, running through the underbrush without making a sound, the forest hiding her passage. Greer, nimble and strong, ran along the branches from tree to tree, silent and deadly as any ninja. Ash slipped from shadow to shadow, covering his tracks so well not even the best shifter could track him.

“There.”

Mina looked toward where Ash was pointing. Sure enough, about eight men were trying to sneak through the forest, their camo gear not enough to hide them from dryads. The very ground seemed to be trying to reject them, tripping them up at every turn.

“Carpenter isn’t paying me enough for this shit,” one of the humans grumbled.

Mina frowned. Who the hell was Carpenter? The name meant nothing to her, but she made a mental note to mention it to Dragos.

Pain rippled through her, causing her to gasp. Mina ducked behind a tree, hiding just as one of the men looked up. She bit her lip, holding back a cry as the pain intensified.

Not now
,
damn it.
I
can’t collapse now.

She caught Greer’s eye and nodded. Greer nodded back, slipping from branch to branch without moving a single leaf.

Ash tapped her on the shoulder and pointed. Where Greer would drop from above, decimating the invaders, Ash would slip from shadow to shadow, taking no prisoners.

“That girl isn’t going to last much longer. Carpenter said we need a fresh one, and this is the best place to pick one.”

The first man rolled his eyes as he batted away a branch that suddenly tried to whap him in the face. “Like curvy fruit.”

The men laughed, but one of them in the back sighed. “Guys. That’s not funny.”

The man in front, the one who’d first spoken, turned on the man in the back. “Don’t go soft on us, Blake. These things aren’t people, they’re abominations.”

The one in the back, Blake, grimaced. “She cried, guys.”

“Crocodile tears, boy. Remember that.”

Blake bit his lip, looking uncertain. “She said she had a name. Iva. She said she had a family.”

Mina barely bit back a curse. These men had to be Van Helsings. If they had Iva, they might have had Noah’s enforcer as well.

One of the men next to Blake whapped him in the back of the head hard enough to stagger him. “Carpenter hears you have sympathy for the damn things and the girl won’t be the only one in a cage.”

The others laughed, but Mina saw Blake pale. “Yeah. Maybe.”

She slipped along the bark of the tree, careful to keep it between her and the hunters as they passed by.

When she peeked back around, the young man named Blake was staring right at her, wide-eyed and pale.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ash prepared to move, his sword at the ready. The boy’s head would part from his neck before—

Blake turned back toward his companions. “I think this is a waste of time. There’s nothing here but squirrels and deer shit.”

Mina gestured, and Ash sank back into the shadows. The boy would survive the day. His companions would not be so lucky.

“That ain’t what Carpenter said. There’s at least three in the area, possibly more. And if we can’t find us a leafy girl to nibble on, we could always grab another little furry to play with.”

All the men except Blake laughed. He alone shuddered, but he quickly hid his expression of horror as the speaker placed his arm around Blake’s shoulder. “C’mon, boy. Find us a dryad so we can make your papa proud.”

She was staring at the backs of the hunters, the boy somehow leading them away from Mina, Greer and Ash. She closed her eyes briefly, sending out the call.

Blake was to be spared. The others would die, their bodies hidden within the mountain or ravaged by the local wildlife.

And Mina would summon Selena to find out how Van Helsings had made their way into her forest in the first place.

Mina stepped out from behind the tree, signaling the attack.

Suddenly, the forest erupted in sound, the birds screaming as they flew at the hunters, forcing the men to protect their faces. Squirrels leapt down from the trees onto their heads and arms, biting and scratching. Raccoons tripped them. Deer rammed them, staggering them further. Red foxes nipped at their heels.

A branch whipped out, knocking Blake to the forest floor. The roots of a nearby tree surrounded him, effectively caging him in. The boy was safe, and now the dryads themselves could step in, ending the existence of this group of Van Helsings.

Mina’s consciousness sank into the trees and plants. They became extensions of her limbs. Their thoughts became hers. The pain faded away as she focused on destroying her enemies. Greer and Ash had moved, turning their blades against the humans, killing three before the rest even knew they were there.

Blake was puking in his tree-root cage, but Mina didn’t have the time to spare him more than a thought. She hid the rest of the carnage from his eyes—leaf and branch shielding him so that he saw no more.

Before her, the man who’d talked about leafy girls lost his head in a spray of blood that stained the bark of the nearest tree. Ash didn’t even shake off his blade before plunging it into the heart of a fifth man.

Greer had another held against the floor, skewering him through the throat before whipping his blade around, neatly taking off the arm of a Van Helsing as the man tried to raise his gun. Another thrust through the throat, and all of the Van Helsings were dead except for Blake. The animals, well-versed in their tasks, tugged and pulled at the men until they disappeared into holes and under leaves, leaving nothing behind but the spray of blood and bone.

Mina walked toward the caged Van Helsing, lifting the veil of leaves. His face pale and sweaty, the boy nevertheless met her eyes. “Are you going to kill me now?”

She shook her head slowly. “I need you to help me.”

“You killed them. You killed them all.” Blake stared around wildly, obviously looking for his missing companions. “Where are they?”

“Lost to the forest.” She crouched down, ignoring the screaming pain building up behind her eyes. She wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer, but she desperately needed the information that only Blake could provide. “I need your help, Blake.”

He blinked and swallowed hard.

She smiled, hoping to put him at ease, but knew she’d failed when his gaze darted over her shoulder. Ash and Greer had taken up flanking positions, their bloodied swords visible to the shaking young man. “Blake.” When his attention turned back to her, she asked the most important question she’d ever asked another being. She kept her voice as gentle as possible. The boy—and he truly
was
nothing more than a boy—didn’t deserve her anger. He’d turned the hunters aside and had earned her protection.

“Where is Iva?”

* * *

Dragos stormed into his office, ready to defend his home. Something was desperately wrong. Mina was hurting, but Greer and Ash were waiting for him here. What the hell?

It was unacceptable, and he’d tell Mina so the moment he arrived at the Throne. How dare she take her safety so lightly? She was alone, vulnerable. Anyone could get to her. His beast stirred, ready to fly to the side of his
sotiei
. To hell with whatever Greer and Ash had brought him. It could wait. Mina could not.