Page 44 of Outcast Fae
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. They’ve been preoccupied as of late.”
“Yes, I’ve noticed something is keeping them somewhat distracted.”
He nodded.
“Why? Are you planning something?” I asked, my curiosity piquing. Vaughn spoke as if he knew an awful lot about this island and those who controlled it. How?
He clammed up at my question. “I can’t talk about it. Look, we should go back.” He stood, but then, reached down and held out his hand to me.
I stared at it, this simple gesture of goodwill. What did it mean? Maybe he didn’t hate me and my kind anymore. Maybe I’d helped him see we weren’t all bad.
Or maybe it was just another game he was playing.
Chapter Sixteen
When we got back,I was pleasantly surprised to find that my group and Sinasre’s were still sharing the meat peacefully. That was my cousin. He had a big heart, and it made me wonder if Vaughn would have been as gracious.
Daniella had saved us hefty portions on a couple of leaves. We sat on the warm sand and enjoyed our meat quietly. The taste was delicious, and I nearly moaned in pleasure while I ate, but Wally and Elon were doing enough of that. Everyone was too consumed by their meal to do more than giveVaughn a wary glance. Hopefully, that would be the extent of their animosity toward him. We didn’t need conflicts and infighting in our group. We already had enough problems.
When we were all stuffed, there was still plenty of meat left.
“I would eat more if I thought I wouldn’t explode.” Wally patted his stomach and lay on the sand with a heavy, satisfied sigh.
Even though we had shared the meal, each group still sat separately from each other, casting furtive glances back and forth. Surprisingly, the young fire warlock was the most relaxed, while the orange-haired girl, quiet, black-haired guy, and Patricia still appeared as tense as before, and sat huddled together with the backpack settled securely in the middle.
I stared at the backpack. If they were protecting only food it seemed they would have relaxed as well, given that we had so much pork left over.
Elon gnawed on a bone, bent on picking it clean, while he glanced from the backpack to me, a glint of maliciousness in his eyes. No wonder the other ones couldn’t relax.
“I have an idea,” the young fire warlock said, jumping up and running toward a tall palm tree.
We all watched as he used magic to relieve the tree from all its coconuts. They came down one by one, floating easily to the sand until he had ten of them. The orange-haired girl grabbed the backpack, strapped it on, ran over, and gave him a questioning glance. The boy leaned over and whispered something in her ear.
“What the hell are you doing?” Wally demanded, sitting up from the sand.
The young ones giggled then waved their hands over the coconuts. The fruits glowed with yellow light as the kids chanted something unintelligible. When they were done, the girl, who was clearly a witch, started handing out coconuts to everyone.
I got mine a moment later. It had two holes for drinking the liquid that sloshed inside. Everyone stared at them distrustfully, even the kids’ own group.
“Drink!” the young witch encouraged right as she lifted a coconut to her mouth and took a sip. She grimaced and glanced at the warlock. “Maybe we overdid it.”
The boy took a taste and smacked his lips. “Nah, it’s just fine. More than fine.” He tipped the coconut to his mouth again and drank greedily.
With an eyebrow raised, Sinasre was the next one to try. “Mmm.” He seemed pleasantly surprised and continued drinking without a word.
Elon went next. He coughed and pounded his chest. “Shit, that’s good hooch.”
At the wordhooch,Wally drank greedily from his coconut, emptying it in one big gulp. “Ahh, and I thought I would suffer without a drink in this damn place. Can you make more?”
The kids nodded and gladly set to work again.
I sniffed at my coconut distrustfully and caught a sour scent wafting from it. I tasted a bit and confirmed my suspicions. The kids had fermented the coconut milk.
Daniella set her coconut aside after trying it. “Tasty, but too strong for me.”
To my left, Vaughn drank his in one gulp, then threw it aside.
To my mounting discomfort, the witch and warlock continued to make alcoholic coconuts every time Wally asked for more. I glanced up at the sky, expecting Meadow Song to scold us and tell us we were breaking the rules, but she didn’t. Thishadto be against their regulations. Getting inebriated could only stir trouble. Either our captors had decided to let us have a break, or they were still distracted.
