Page 28 of Rebel Fae
Ronnie’s brown eyes flitted from face to face as if he was afraid to answer, but slowly it came. “The cavern entrance doesn’t open until it gets dark.”
Chapter Eleven
“No,no,no. Did I say no?” Becca shook her head adamantly as we stood outside the huts discussing what to do. “I am not getting caught outside after twilight, and I’m not going to some remote cave in the middle of the jungle. Especially if it’s full of spiders.”
“I’m afraid we have to.” I glanced up at the sun which had almost reached its midday point.
“No, we don’t. They can stuff their quest up their tight little sphincters. I don’t even have my pearl necklace with me.” She touched her chest with one hand.
“Why would you need a pearl necklace?” Regina asked, sounding disgusted.
“It’s my item, okay? Without it, I can’t do magic, so I have nothing I can use to defend myself. I mean… look at you guys. A giant, a gesture sorcerer, a vamp, and the fae that can just fly away at the sight of trouble. And I don’t even have my pom-poms to use as a distraction.”
Becca might be annoying, but she wasn’t wrong. She was the most vulnerable of all of us, so I understood her fear at the idea of traipsing through the dark woods on some strange quest based on the word of a fourteen-year-old spell caster. However, I couldn’t tell her that, if we stayed here, the consequences would be worse. Much worse. I glanced toward Vaughn for help.
He gave a slight nod, took a step forward, and hooked his thumbs into the belt of his guard uniform. “Youhaveto go, Becca. It’s not up for discussion.”
Becca’s green eyes shot daggers at Vaughn, but she didn’t argue—not with the mean werewolf who broke people’s arms. I could see how breaking Regina’s arm, knowing that it would heal, was paying off, even if it was a certain kind of cruel. It seemed it had been a calculated choice. At times, Vaughn seemed to be playing this game better than I was.
“I don’t want to go either,” Ronnie complained. “What if that monster is out there, waiting to pounce on us?”
I offered him a reassuring smile. “What if whatever is in the chest will help us get out of this island sooner? Wouldn’t you all want to go then?”
Regina narrowed her eyes at me. “How would you know that?”
“I…” For a moment, I didn’t know what to say, how to lie without lying, but when I glanced away from everyone’s questioning glances, I managed to cobble something together. “What I say makes sense, doesn’t it? It stands to reason that the counselors want this task to help us be better. And if we don’t do it, they’ll punish us.”
“Punish us?” Ronnie said, appearing more afraid by the minute.
Nothing I had said was a lie, but it felt like utterfeine, nonetheless. Bael thought so too, judging by the way he scoffed. Ronnie and Becca, however, seemed to see the logic in my words.
“Whatever it takes to get you all to shut up,” Regina said. “Maybe I’ll find somefoodon our way there.”
Bael shrugged and easily agreed. “I don’t like to sit around.”
“Good, so we’re all in agreement,” I said. But I didn’t feel good. Taking them into the jungle at night when the beast might strike at any time made me feel anything but good. Still, we had no choice. If we didn’t get this key before Crescent and Dr. Watts returned tomorrow morning, someone was likely to die.
“Ronnie, are you sure that cave won’t open until dark?” I asked, checking one more time. “How do you know that from a locator spell?”
He paused, his brown eyes blinking rapidly. “I don’t know how I know. I just know.”
“Great.” Regina threw up her arms. “Rushing into danger on the hunch of a child wizard. What a perfect way to end my day.”
I sighed, not wanting to say it, but Regina had a point.
Fifteen minutes later, after a quick lunch of something called beef jerky, dried fruit, and nuts, we gathered our things and set out toward the cave.
Ronnie led the way, stopping every so often to adjust our course or find a better path, while Vaughn brought up the rear and made sure no one lagged. As we went through the varied terrains, the afternoon sun beat on us relentlessly. They had replenished our canteens sometime through the night by some magical means, and everyone was making good use of them, for which I was grateful.
For the first hour of our trek, everyone seemed on edge, their eyes darting in every direction as if expecting rope-like tendrils to shoot out from the bushes to pull us away and be devoured by who knew what type of creature. When it became apparent that we were safe from that threat, everyone’s concerns shifted to more mundane things.
“These damn mosquitoes are going to drive me crazy,” Becca complained, swatting uselessly at the air.
“I wish mosquitoes were my biggest problem,” Regina sneered. “At least you got to eat. They mean to starve me to death.”
Even Bael joined in with a “Are we there yet?”
Only Ronnie was quiet, lost in concentration as he guided us through thick brush, rocky terrain, and a patch of beach. He kept twiddling his fingers, then scanning the jungle with a hand over his eyes. None of it gave me confidence that he knew what he was doing, but it was all we had.
