Page 96 of Gift from the Tree

“What’s wrong? What happened? Are you hurting?” Draken’s flurry of questions grabs Corentin’s attention and suddenly, I’m boxed in between them.

“I don’t know what’s wrong. Something’s bad wrong, Draken. I can’t shake this feeling in my chest. It’s consuming me, every thought, every action, everything right now. I can’t make it stop.” I’m frantically switching from pulling my own hair to rubbing my chest, the feeling growing stronger by the second.

Oakly comes straight for me and wraps me in her arms as soon as she and Gaster pop in beside us. “Shh, shh. Everything’s going to be okay. We’re going to figure this out. We’re all here,” she continues whispering, trying to soothe me, but it’s not working.

“Everything isn’t okay. Tillman and Caspian aren’t here, and something’s wrong,” I shout, finally losing all my composure.

Suddenly, I’m wrapped in much stronger arms than Oakly’s and for a second, I feel like I can breathe. So I lay my head on his chest, breathing in his fresh, spicy sweet scent.

“There you go, princess, take deep breaths for me. Good girl, just like that. Another.” Corentin holds me tight and continues to give me instructions until my breathing evens out to where I can speak clearly again, but my chest still feels like it’s about to explode.

“Corentin, something’s wrong. You have to believe me. It hurts. It hurts so bad,” I whimper in his arms.

“I do believe you. I just don’t know how to make it—” Corentin doesn’t get to finish his sentence before Gaster silences him.

“Listen, incoming.”

“No, Ry,” Oakly yells, racing to his side. Ry’s beaten and bloodied, barely holding himself up. Seconds later, San, Nikoli, and other members come falling out of transports, all looking worse for wear.

A few more seconds, and the transports stop.

Rushing to Oakly’s side, I kneel beside Ry. “Ry, where are they? Where’s Tillman and Caspian?”

“I’m sorry, Willow. We tried. We tried so hard to get to them.”

“Get me healers over here now,” Corentin bellows out to no one in particular, but everyone who wasn’t our group or the E.F. members who just returned begins moving like their asses are on fire.

“Ry, where are they? What happened?” Corentin kneels on his other side, attempting to hold it together, but the worry in his eyes makes my panic ten times worse. If he’s freaking out, I have good reason to as well.

“They took them. They separated us from them and took them. It was another ambush. There were no hostages there. From what I can see, we lost three of our men and they took Tillman and Caspian.” Ry struggles to get the words out as a healer comes rushing over to him.

No, no, no, no.

They’re gone. They’re gone.

It’s only when Corentin begins shouting that I pull myself out of my head, shaking away the panicked fog that’s clouding my senses.

“No, it was an ambush. They have Tillman and Caspian. NO, I don’t have any more details right now, Mom,” Corentin yells down his communicator. “Send me four of your best teams and at least three healers now to the academy. We’re leaving in the next half hour.” Corentin hangs up without another word and puts his communicator back in his pocket.

“Draken, go get a uniform on. Prepare to take off.” Corentin continues barking off orders to anyone who’s within his range of sight, everyone moving like their lives depend on it.

“They transported them from the camp we infiltrated, Corentin. They aren’t there,” Ry says, looking back to semi-normal, aside from a mirage of bruises as he stands from the healer.

“What?” Corentin’s low tone is paired with an unhinged, wild flare in his eyes. Right now, he doesn’t look like the well-dressed god of perfection. Right now, he looks like the harbinger of death about to lay waste to anyone who gets in his way.

“They’ve moved them. They moved them while we were still getting our asses handed to us,” Ry says, anger and regret coating his voice.

“Fuck,” Corentin bellows. His hands are glowing as he runs them through his dirty-blond hair, fucking it all up as he begins pacing back and forth. If this weren’t as serious as it is, I’d have taken the time to enjoy this sight of him, full of raw emotion, but this isn’t how I want to see that mask crumble.

I don’t completely follow what Ry meant, but I understand the underlying message. They transported them away from where they were, so we have no way of knowing where they are now and no way to track them.

Track them. Tracking.

“Oakly.” I turn around, searching for her, and find her standing a few feet away from where Nikoli and San are getting treated, just watching with concern in her eyes. When she hears me shout her name, she hustles over.

“Willow.” She throws her arms around me.

“Oakly, I’m the world’s worst friend for what I’m about to ask you to do, but I need you to do it and forgive me,” I plead.

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