The Wishing Tree - Book Two [Completed]

Boom - Part 23

My head is pounding when I come to. I'm tied up to a tree and when I look around, I can see the Woods of Alarum in the distance. I wonder how much time we've lost and my mind strays to Ryan. Scanning the area, I see Rocco, Riven and Clara, awake and tied to other trees on the outskirts of the encampment. I don't see Mason anywhere; fear swoops down and threatens to carry me off.

Breathing deeply, I focus on what I'm able to determine. There are only five tents and I'm fairly certain these people are a little more professional than the last group. I catch Rocco's eye as I look around again and his shoulders sag in relief. He tries to smile around the cloth that's been shoved into this mouth. He jerks his head towards the sky and I look up. There, strung thirty or forty feet in the air is Mason. I squint and see that they've put gloves on his hands. To block his power?

      I tug on my ropes, testing their strength and consider the best course of action. We need to get out of here as quickly as possible. I close my eyes, trying to concentrate enough to wish, when a voice intrudes.

      "Good. You're awake."

      My eyes snap open and standing directly in front of me is the asshole who punched me in the face. He's dressed as close to a Second Realm person as I've seen so far here on the First. His clothes look like a mix of cotton and canvas material; his sandy coloured hair is tied back at the base of his neck with something. He looks smug and I itch to wipe the look off his face. I don't say anything, just meet his gaze, waiting to hear what he'll reveal.

      "Grayson said I could just kill you, but I have to provide proof that I did it. I don't know how to prove it, if he doesn't see you first. So, we're off to see the wizard." He crouches down in front of me and runs a finger down my face. "Shame about your face, love. Looks like you were as pretty as everyone told me."

      I turn my face away from him.

      He looks skyward and then back at me. "We've declawed your cat." His hazel eyes are flinty in the dim light. "He was a lot easier to subdue than I thought." He shakes his head. "All of you were so easy; it makes me wonder about Grayson. He offered such a high bounty for you lot." He stands up and moves around behind me, testing my ropes and then he goes to Rocco, Riven and Clara to do the same. Once he's satisfied, he walks into one of his tents without a backward glance.

      I look up at Mason's gloves and I focus all my energy on making them disappear. As I concentrate, I see them almost vibrating and then suddenly, they're gone. It looks as though Mason is sleeping, but as soon as the gloves are gone, his eyes snap open. He flicks his wrists and three of the ropes snap with a soft ping and he swings, a silent Tarzan, to a nearby tree. He climbs slowly and deliberately up the trunk and then perches at one of the junctions, partially hidden by the canopy. He puts his finger to his lips.

I look over at Clara, Rocco and Riven and they're looking up, too. No one in the campsite is paying any attention to us and I'm grateful for their overconfidence. It's going to be their undoing.

      As night begins to fall, the commander comes back out to check our ropes. He doesn't even bother to look up where Mason should be; he's so confident that he can't escape. A small smile plays on my lips as he starts to walk away, but he catches a glimpse, stops at the corner of my vision and comes back.

      "Is something funny?" He's mocking me, which just makes me grin wider.

      "I don't know if I'd call it funny."

      "You seem rather chipper for someone on a death march." Now, he's curious. I don't look at Rocco, Riven and Clara, but I can feel their anxiety, that I'm taking a chance when we don't know what Mason is planning. I want out of here, so I shouldn't put us in more danger.