Page 210 of Wings of Sacrifice
“She’s not allowed to kill me. She’s in our squad,” Matt hissed through clenched teeth.
MJ chuckled.
I crouched beside Matt and grinned, satisfied by the blood matting his blond hair. My Hellfire hummed hauntingly in my ear. “Didn’t I mention something about your ego?”
If only Matt knew how truly dangerous I was.
“The general’s third has my—and I presume the general’s—full permission to release that arrow through your insignificant brain if you disrespect one of us again.” I patted his cheek, meaning every word.
Rune growled and snapped her jaws at Matt while Hadrian sat beside her, licking his teeth.
“Seems the Soulhounds give their permission too,” I added, standing.
A small part of me wondered if I was becoming like her—them. Ruthless. Unforgiving. Almost cruel. Was that the shift I was beginning to feel? Or did I simply know that if Matt didn’t get in line, it could hurt all of us? Protecting the many and culling the rot that threatened them.
Something malicious churned in Matt’s brown eyes. Something that filled my mouth with bitterness. This was the male who told Dusty he should’ve slit my throat when I first replaced them. I was only repaying the favor.
I leashed my creeping Hellfire, sending it back to my core with all the other deadly melodies, and motioned for my squad to continue.
Oliver leaned closer and whispered, “And this is why I’ll never get on your bad side.”
I smiled, but doubt festered in my mind. Doubt that I let Matt live? Or doubt that I was changing, and I wasn’t sure if it was for the best.
Rune bumped her wet nose against my hand as if she could feel my distress. I ran a finger through her wispy fur.
“Thanks, beastie.”
After a good amount of walking, and a quick conversation with Aspen regarding time, we luscelered the rest of the way to the Eternal Forest.
A woosh of sweet violet and vanilla hit me once we entered. Energy hummed in the air, teasing my skin with the bits of souls soaking the earth. My chest twinged with a sudden sense of loss. I reached for my mom’s necklace and ran my thumb across the faceted glass. It wasn’t theonly chain I pulled free. Ichi’s dragon flopped into my hand, clinking against my mother’s pendant, the past and present tangling in my palm. Every choice, every warring decision reduced to two charms—to me.
We headed toward the infected trees that Ronen and his Dreads had found, each footstep strategically placed among the soft blue violets. My ears rang with the vibrations of the forest and the strain of listening for any sound. My eyes dissected every shadow, every movement between the large brown trunks.
This would work. Ronen would be near, if he wasn’t already. It’d work.
The mantra barely helped the thing that had crawled out of its cave with two eyes open and a hovering hand, ready to puppeteer my actions in favor of Aspen. He trailed behind me with MJ in the middle of the squad. He wasn’t particularly happy with that decision, but the safer he was, the better our bond behaved. Oliver and Rune walked quietly at my side. Rune’s ears twitched, and she lifted her nose into the air, sniffing.
Something black caught my eye before I smelled that familiar rotting-flesh odor. A black, shrunken tree hid within the dim shadows of the behemoths beside it. We strode toward the unsightly thing and rounded the larger tree partially blocking it. My stomach plummeted. Ronen had told me what we’d find, but hearing it and seeing it were two very different things.
“What is wrong with them?” Enora choked out, horrified.
“What’s that smell?” Oliver groaned, holding his nose.
The blood-infected trees stretched for miles. Their vibrancy and nutrients had been sucked out, reducing them to twigs compared to what they once were. Everything was black. The grass. The soil. The shriveled, sticky flowers melding into the lumpy ground.
“That’s what we’re trying to stop.” I faced my squad and witnessed something new in most of their expressions. Matt appeared as unmoved as Dusty was sickened.
“You’ve seen the melting snow, heard about the demons and dying trees from other squads. Now you get to see firsthand what their blood is doing.”
“But how do we stop them?” Dusty asked.
“Completely?I don’t know. Temporarily? Our only method is to recycle them back through the circles with fire or ice. But first we need to find them.”
Hence why Aspen was here and not handcuffed to the bed in his room.
“This kingdom is built on pain and suffering. Why should we care if it falls apart?” Matt sneered at the decrepit trees. He echoed the sentiment of the voice possessing Ni.
“Maybe so you don’t fall apart with it,” Oliver muttered in a tone suggesting he found Matt stupid.
