Fire Weaver (Fall of the Fey #1)

Chapter 26

Ferra stared at the werewolves that surrounded her in the caged cart the minotaurs drove. There were two younglings in the corner across from her sobbing and none of the adults paid any attention to them as they cried for their aunt. Every now and again the one who sat up straight would look over at them as though he wanted to help, or wanted them to shut the hell up, Ferra wasn't too sure which.

She wanted to cry too. She had asked the werewolves where her brother was but no one had answered as though her brother wasn't important. She glared at the people surrounding her.

'Where is my brother?' She asked the guard walking beside the cart instead. He merely laughed. She slammed her hand against the bars and the man laughed harder.

'He should be fine.' The man who had introduced himself as Gregor when he had saved her last night said quietly. He saved her for all of five minutes. 'There was a separate team.'

He held her gaze, trying to tell her to let it drop without speaking so that the guards wouldn't think about it. So the guards wouldn't go after the second group. Ferra nodded, and he looked away, dismissing her. Instead he stared at an old man who was sobbing and mumbling to himself. Ferra couldn't catch what he said but by Gregor's twisted expression, he heard and he didn't like it. Veins pulsed in his clenched fist and his pale brown eyes glowed when the light hit them.

Ferra felt the tension swim through the whole group and noticed everyone was looking at either the old man or Gregor. Then it clicked in her head. Ferra had been standing behind Gregor and had heard what the girl had said last night.

'You probably guessed you were set up. But by whom, do you think?'

Ferra's eyes widened. 'You!' She stood and stumbled on the rocking cart, she landed on her knees, the spikes on the inside of her collar scraping against her neck. 'You did this!'

'They said they'd let us go!' The old man wailed. His eyes wide with terror, he beheld his Pack.

A girl stood on the outside, chains on her wrists with the metal manipulator, she snorted at the old man's words. The old man turned and snarled at her but she only stared at him with a curiously surprised expression like she just saw a strange magic trick that appealed to her.

'I would get used to your position as prisoner.' She told them, the metal manipulator touched her arm.

'Zetta, let it go.' She turned from the prisoners and sped up so she was outpacing the metal manipulator.

He sighed at her before he regarded them. 'I know it would be fun to kill the old man but please don't. I won't clean up the mess and you'll have to deal with it until we get to Red Castle.'

'I make no promises.' Gregor responded, his eyes still trained on the old man who seemed to shrivel up. The rest of the Pack seemed to dismiss him. Ferra watched as they all seemed to snub him and go out of their way to turn away from him. She figured that this was important in some way. Then Gregor turned away and the old man started screaming, almost howling at them, apologising, cursing, and begging.

He had been affectively cut from the Pack. The two other children cried quietly, still begging for their auntie.

They didn't stop as they were taken around the mountains and then back south to the Red Desert. But their convoy grew and Ferra could make out the shocked, scared faces of other supernaturals who were betrayed or just unlucky. All the while Ferra kept her eyes out for Tobi but she didn't see him once.

***

Mel snapped awake the next morning. She ran out of the room she had been put and having no idea where she was, she moved on instinct, surprising herself when she down the grand staircase. She took the steps two at a time calling out all the way until she was out the front door, bouncing on her feet.