Page 100 of Guardians of the Assassins
Much to her disappointment, he pulled away and cleared his throat. “We need to get going. We don’t want to get caught in the woods after dark.”
“Agreed.” Atlas spoke from behind her, and she whirled, not having heard him approach. “The villagers gave me directions on what routes would be best to take.”
Morgan lifted her brows. “Are you sure we can trust them?”
“Yes.” He lifted the strap on his shoulder, indicating the bag he held. “Whether you know it or not, you saved the lives of everyone inthe village today. They wanted to repay you. Fae don’t do anything for free, and they especially don’t like owing anyone. So they gave us their best supplies and a route through the forest in payment.”
Even before he finished speaking, he began to walk, nudging her until she fell into step next to him. The trip into the forest went quickly, the guys keeping the pace fast. But the farther they traveled into the woods, the more things around them began to deteriorate. The trees began to droop, the branches more like skeletons waiting to snatch up the unwary.
Thick black vines nearly choked out any kind of life, sharp thorns tearing into anything they touched. If she stared too long, she’d swear that the vines moved, slithering through the forest, following them.
Making her feel like prey.
She couldn’t repress a shiver, unable to get over the sensation of eyes watching them. A murky fog thickened along the floor, and if she concentrated hard enough, she’d swear she heard something scurrying in it, waiting to pounce. The animals had stopped making noise hours ago, and now even the insects fell silent. She very much feared what they would find if they continued.
All she wanted to do was keep her mates safe.
Now she feared that she’d placed two of them in even more danger.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
An hour later, she was looking more at the trees than she was watching the path. Her paranoia spread to the guys, and they hovered so close, they were practically tripping over each other. She’d swear that she could almost hear voices on the breeze. When they rounded the bend, the guys darted to the side, dragging her with them and out of sight.
The men blocked her on each side, so she saw nothing but the tree in front of her. The vines looked like they were digging into the trunk, leaving gouges behind that looked like wounds. When she touched the liquid, the vine creaked and tightened its hold, like it feared she would try to take away its meal.
She looked at her fingers, and her eyes widened when it appeared they were covered in what looked like blood. The vines were feeding on the magic of Faerie. When the magic was gone, the trees were left to die.
“We need to detour and go around them.”When Atlas went to grab her arm, she caught his hand.
“No, we can’t go into the forest.” Even now, her skin crawled with the need to put as much distance between her and the tree they were standing against. “If we head deeper into the forest, we will never come out again.”
Caedmon put a finger under her chin, lifted her face, then sighed at whatever he saw. “Very well, but you are to remain behind us the entire time. If you don’t, Atlas will toss you over his shoulder and continue on the journey while I deal with the threat.”
“Fuck no.” Morgan grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him closer. “We do this together. If either of you numbskulls try it, I will send you back home and finish the trial on my own. Do we have an understanding?”
Though neither man was happy with her ultimatum, they didn’t object.
They were both smart and realized they didn’t have a fucking choice.
Caedmon stepped back onto the path first, Atlas waiting for her to go next before he followed. When they rounded the bend, she got her first look at what had freaked them out.
Vampires.
Morgan stood rooted to the spot. Vampires were so secretive, many people thought they were extinct, but it appeared the majority of them had just retreated to Faerie when they could no longer keep themselves hidden from humans. It made sense that they would live with the dark fae—they would never again have to worry about the sun and could live their lives like normal.
Vampirism was a virus that changed the human body, craving blood a nasty side effect to keeping their enhanced bodies alive. Those with the right DNA that could access magic survived the change. Those without magic died in agony as their body consumed itself.
The vampires in front of them barely resembled humans any longer. Their skin was pale, almost sallow, their hair limp and falling out. The skin around their eyes was so bruised, it left deep black and purple veins streaking halfway down their hollow cheeks. The same marks were stretched around their mouths as well.
It looked like they’d gone ten rounds against a giant and lost.
If she squinted, she spotted dark bruises dotting their necks, like rot had taken root.
And it was spreading.
Her gut churned in understanding, and she had to swallow back the need to puke.
They were feeding on each other, starving when there weren’t enough nutrients in the blood.
