Page 9 of Rebel Fae
The others shouldered heavy backpacks as silence settled over them. Things were starting to feel real. Soon, they would send us out with just these items on our backs. I hoped the new campers were ready.
“You’ll need new shoes,” Vaughn said.
When I glanced down the line, I saw that he was standing in front of Becca holding a pair of boots similar to the ones I was wearing, heavy duty, utilitarian footwear with laces. They were clumpy and annoying to walk in, but they were appropriate for what awaited outside, nothing like Becca’s “fashionable” stilts.
Becca took one look and turned her nose up. “You have got to be joking. I can’t wear these. They’re ugly.”
I looked to the far wall and smirked. I had more important things to do than worry about a girl’s need for shoe design.
“Fine,” Vaughn growled. “Suit yourself. But don’t complain when you bust your ankle. Let’s go.” He marched forward and threw open a door that showed us a view of the outside. It was sunny and smoldering, the worst time to be out.
As we moved out, Crescent and Dr. Watts stayed put. I wondered if they would pop in and out like Meadow Song and Silver Bear had. Or maybe this had changed too, and they would leave us to fend for ourselves. But just when I’d decided that was the case, Dr. Watts called out, “We’ll see you at the campsite tonight. Enjoy the fresh air and birdsong.”
Enjoy the fresh air and birdsong?Gòrak, they were really selling this like a fun excursion and not the horrible punishment it really was. I couldn’t decide what was worse, how much they were deceiving the new campers or the fact that I had to walk for hours in the company of Vaughn.
At least the food had been decent. Much better than the slop they served in the prison. I thought of poor Arryn. Were they stealing her bread rolls? How would she get along without me?
Adaline better make sure she’s all right.
Gods, I needed to get this assignment over with and get back to her. Sinasre would do his best to keep an eye on her from afar, but there was little he could do if something bad were to befall poor Arryn.
Thinking of Sinasre made me think of Kiana, my aunt. Was she in prison? Or, worse, was she strapped to a metal table, being poked and prodded by the Habermanns? Those experiments… what were they all about? They were still a mystery that troubled my sleep.
As I fell into step on the jungle path, I had far too much time to contemplate her fate, Arryn’s fate, and my own. Would Dean McIntosh be able to stage another rescue attempt? I doubted it, especially since, with Kiana’s capture, the Habermanns had more leverage than ever.
A whimper drew me out of my thoughts. When I turned around, I saw Becca had fallen behind the rest. She was limping, struggling to keep up in her ridiculous shoes. With Vaughn pressing on ahead, she’d lose us quickly, and I had little hope for her alone in the jungle.
I dropped back, letting Antonio and Regina go around me. Ronnie and Baeleath were already up with Vaughn.
When I got to Becca, I offered her a hand. “Are those shoes giving you blisters?” I asked, nodding toward her feet.
She sniffed, swiping at her eyes. Black makeup smudged under one. “No.”
One glance at her swollen feet in those strappy, wedged heels and I could tell she was lying.
“Did you keep the boots Vaughn offered you?” I glanced at her backpack wondering if they were inside.
“Who’s Vaughn?” she asked. “That mean, hot guard?”
I almost laughed. “Yeah.”
“No, he didn’t give me the boots. He’s a dick. But how do you know his name?” Her green eyes suddenly zeroed in on me.
Oh, no. I’d already slipped up. I backpedaled quickly. “I heard that doctor call him that when we were leaving. At least, I think that’s his name. Here.” I turned her attention to my boots as I unlaced them and handed them over.
She blinked up at me, surprised. “But what about your feet?”
“They’re tough. We didn’t really wear shoes in Faerie. Plus, this.” I fluttered my wings, lifting myself off the ground. The path here was wide with the trees spaced far apart, and it would be easier to fly, anyway. I’d only been walking to be a part of the group, but they were now far ahead. If handing over my boots would help Becca avoid being swallowed up by a sea monster or attacked by wild werewolves, it was worth it.
“Thanks.” She took the boots and smiled at me for the first time.
With her mood brightened and her issue fixed, we turned and headed up the path where the others had disappeared.
“You being a faerie is pretty awesome. At my school, we had a few of you, though they weren’t nice like you are.”
I winced a bit as I flew beside her but let that comment slide. “Where did you go to school?”
“Darkcast Academy in Arizona. I was on the cheerleading squad.”
