Page 38 of Outcast Fae
We walked through the jungle in silence. We were headed to the stream I’d found to get some much-needed water. Everyone seemed to be deep in thought, tuned in to the electrifying feeling the storm had left in the air. Fewer birds chirped overhead and each small sound made us pause, heads swivelling as if expecting werewolves to come charging from behind every tree.
As we got close to the stream, voices reached me. I put a hand up. Everyone stopped.
“Do you hear that?” I asked.
Daniella shook her head. “I don’t hear anything.”
Vaughn pressed to the front, stepping next to me. “I hear it.” He sniffed the air, eyes narrowed.
“You guys are paranoid,” Wally said. “I hear nothing. C’mon, I’m thirsty.” He kept walking.
“Stop.” Vaughn put a hand on Wally’s shoulder.
Wally swatted Vaughn’s hand away. “I don’t like to be touched, dude..”
I expected Vaughn to get angry, but instead, he ignored Wally’s hostile brush off. Either that or their alliance had made little arguments like this moot. Vaughn turned his attention in my direction instead, his green eyes intense and questioning.
I nodded. I heard it, too. People were headed in our direction from the stream.
“Should we hide?” I asked.
“You can if you want to,” Vaughn said with a scornful look. “I won’t.”
“The hell are you two talking about?” Elon asked, pulling at his blond hair nervously. “Is it more werewolves?”
Vaughn shook his head, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed the air again. “Humans and… something else.” He trailed off as if unsure of what that something else was, then he gave me a nasty glance.
That was an amazing sense of smell if he could distinguish what they were. Like I’d suspected before, he seemed to sense more than the rest.
“Maybe they have food,” Elon said, not doubting Vaughn’s assessment for a second. On the contrary, his expression grew expectant. He was probably imagining cozying up to someone who had a cake they would share with him.
“I say we hide.” Daniella glanced around as if looking for the perfect spot to crouch quietly while the other humans walked by.
More humans were the last thing I needed. I had four with me right here, and they had been nothing but a pain in mytal. If I were strong enough to fly I would be away from them, out there searching the island for the children.
It seemed our captors were still not paying attention since no forcefield or man-eating monster had appeared. This might be my one chance before they decided to counsel us again.
I glanced at Daniella, guiltily, but reminded myself she was not my priority. The children were. They didn’t have anyone but me. Daniella had her grandmother. Still, whoever was coming might have information about other campers on the island.
Elon and Wally stepped to either side of Vaughn, both starting to act as cocky as before now that their alpha was feeling better.
Daniella’s fingers interlaced with mine. I glanced down in surprise. She blinked at me from behind her smudged glasses, her expression a mixture of hope and fear, like she wanted to meet others but wasn’t sure what to expect.
“It’ll be fine,” I said, trying to sound reassuring.
We waited as the approaching footsteps and voices grew louder. A moment later, four figures emerged from the brush and came to a halt as they spotted us.
One of them, a young male with dark skin and long, thin braids, tensed and raised his hands, tracing patterns in the air. Fire bloomed at his fingertips. An elemental like Elon? The others made no displays to indicate what type of Supers they were.
On instinct, my wings whirred behind me, sending a stab of pain across my back muscles, reminding me of my sprain. If they threw fire balls at us, there would be no flying away. Frustrated, I glanced around at my campmates. Elon’s fingers crackled with electricity, Wally vibrated threateningly, and Vaughn held a newly-made spear, but he appeared relaxed.
“Stay back,” the male said, raising his burning hand threateningly.
We scrutinized each other. They were wearing clothes identical to ours and also appeared to be around our age, though the boy holding the fire and the girl next to him couldn’t have been older than thirteen. Could these two be the children Vaughn had been referring to? The others were older, teenagers at least. Did Vaughn know any of them? I glanced in his direction but saw no recognition in his expression.
“I’m Vaughn,” he said in a commanding voice, not looking the least bit afraid of the sizzling magic the newcomers might hurl in our direction at any second. “This is my group. We’ve been here for four days. How about you?”
“Fifteen days,” a female, with dark skin similar to the boy with fire, answered. She was standing behind the young fire warlock. She was very tall, more so than even Vaughn who was around six-foot-three. She had large, black curly hair and big brown eyes. Her features were stunning, really: high cheekbones, red lips, and long lashes. She seemed like the type someone like Vaughn would be interested in. A strange emotion flitted inside my stomach at the thought. Jealousy? I bit my lip, telling my foolish gut not to be ridiculous. Vaughn could desire whomever he liked. I certainly didn’t care.
