The Wishing Tree - Book Two [Completed]

Anger - Part 13

I laugh at Riven's story, feeling myself truly relax for the first time in a long time. We're heading down an animal path towards the ocean. The sequence simply read: The thread that stretches your limit, which Mason claims he doesn't understand. But, each time he says it, I'm less convinced.

      Rocco frowns beside me. Riven's stories about slain animals and poorly planned romantic evenings with girls from the colony can't hold his interest like they do mine.

      He looks over at Mason when he speaks. "I think you should tell her what the sequence means."

      Mason stops suddenly and stares at Rocco. There's menace in his voice when he finally says, "You don't decide what happens on this quest and you certainly don't tell me what to do." He looks at me and a green fire burns in his eyes. "Ignore him. He doesn't know anything."

      Rocco puts his head down and kicks the dirt, continuing down the path. An awkward silence gathers around us.

      I wait for Mason to continue on and then I touch Rocco's arm. When he looks up to meet my gaze, his dark eyes are brimming with sympathy.

      "What do you know, Rocco?" I ask.

      He avoids looking at Mason and the warning growl that emerges from Mason's throat doesn't deter him.

      "It's the ribbons. Somehow, you're going to end up in the ribbons."

      Mason charges Rocco, knocks him down and then beats him with his fists. I pull at Mason's arms. Clawing at him, I scream for him to stop. Finally, I jump on his back and cover his eyes, momentarily disorienting him. I look over at Riven.

      "A little help here?" I plead.

      Riven stands firm, a few feet from where the three of us are struggling. "Rocco shouldn't have told you if Mason didn't want you to know. We aren't your guides. This isn't our quest."

      Mason stands up, shakes me off his back and glares at me. He offers Rocco a hand, but Rocco ignores him, wiping his bloody nose. He picks up his discarded pack from the ground and walks ahead of us all without another word. I run a few steps to catch up to him, but he waves me away without looking at me. I stop walking, allowing Mason and Riven to catch up and then pass me. Mason takes only a few steps before he turns around, comes back to me and pulls my arm.

      "I am not leaving you at the back, Queenie. You're too valuable to be snatched by some slimy, opportunistic predator."

      I dig in my heels, too pissed off to follow him. I don't know what his problem is today, but he's driving me insane. It doesn't help that my mind keeps straying to the way Ryan looked in the time slip. Something isn't right.

      "You shouldn't have hit him," I say.

      "He shouldn't have said anything to you. It's not his place, Riven is right." He shakes his head. "You're so frickin fragile it's a miracle you don't break." His footfall is so heavy he reminds me of a child having a temper tantrum.

      I brush off his hand on my arm and continue to walk in sullen silence, thinking about the ribbons; why it instills so much sympathy in Rocco and so much fear in Mason.

####

      Mason and I are alone at the fire that night. Riven and Rocco walk the perimeter of our camp, checking for anything suspicious. For some reason, this part of the realm has the three men on edge.

      "I'm sorry about today." I continue to stare at the fire as I apologize.

      His laugh is more like a bark. "Really?"

      I lift my shoulders. "No." I look up and I know that I still radiate anger.

      "Look, Queenie, I didn't see the advantage in telling you about the ribbons. If it happens, it happens. There is no point in you getting worked up about it."

      "It has to happen. It's on the list. I'm not mad that you didn't tell me."

      He rolls his eyes. "If this is about Rocco's face, you really have gone far too soft on me." Mason's gaze turns serious. "You asked me once if you'd end up a shell of yourself, like Maizie did. I told you then that I didn't know. I can tell you unequivocally that if you don't get your emotions under control, you're going to spiral down."

      I shift uncomfortably. Deep down, I know he's right. Every time I feel sympathy for a creature we need to kill, when I feel a closeness developing with him or Rocco, when I feel tears spring to my eyes over Ryan, I know that I'm losing my edge.

      "I don't know how to fix it. I don't know if I can fix it."

      "You just have to turn it off," Mason says.

      "Turn off my emotions?" I give him an incredulous look. "You're going to tell me that you can just turn off your emotions."

      "Yeah, I can. Those mental walls I was building last night in my sleep, those help."

      I didn't want all of my emotions gone, but it would be such a relief to no longer feel so much all the time.

      "Can you teach me?" I ask.

      He's silent for a moment and turns his face away before he bursts out. "Why didn't you tell me about all of the crap that Maizie has been spewing in your little dream meetings?"

      "I—I," I stutter, stunned by the sudden change in topic. "Is that why you've been angry all day? That I told Rocco but not you?"

      "No, of course not."

      "Of course not? How can I think anything other than that? You've been insufferable."

      He remains silent.

      "I really don't understand you. You claim that you don't like me, but you're here protecting me." He meets my eyes and starts to speak. "Yes, I know there's some other reason you're here." I sigh, confused and frustrated. "Now, you're pissed that I didn't tell you about my discussions with Maizie. You're trying to shelter me from all the bad stuff that might happen to me here and telling me that I need to get tougher at the same time." I huff. "You're like this mass of contradictions."

      Mason frowns and uses a nearby stick to poke the fire. At the sound of feet, he turns away from the fire without commenting on my tirade. I look over his shoulder to see Rocco and Riven and then, as they step closer to the light, two other men are behind them, holding them at knifepoint.

      Mason turns back to me with a grimace. "It looks like the ribbons found us."

Author's Note:

What do you think the ribbons are? Why is Mason afraid? Why is Rocco sympathetic? Why is Mason acting strangely with Hannah?