Before Zira could fully understand what had just happened, Malachi scooped her up into his arms before running after the group. They ran into the Dark Forest with only a small group of pixies following them, but the pixies stopped at the edge of the forest. It was almost as if a barrier was keeping them away. Zira could feel herself shaking from what just happened.
“I got you,” Malachi said with a tight grip on her. “I will not let you go.”
At that moment she was too dazed to do anything about it. It was when she didn’t see Zed or Arias, she started to panic.
“Arias and Zed,” Zira questioned. “Where are-”
“We’re right here, Zi,” Zed said, coming into view with Arias on his back, who was holding Mister Giggles.
Zira wanted to grab him, but Malachi made sure she stayed in his grip. She settled on them being close as they made their way deeper into the Dark Forest. There was something in the air she couldn’t quite put her finger on as she noticed the little shadows that followed them. For a moment, she figured it was probably a trick of the light. However, there wasn’t much light getting through. After what seemed like an eternity, the group finally took a breath near a small creek.
“I definitely think we lost them,” Clary said, trying to catch her breath. “Drake, keep Rissa close. She looks a bit loopy.”
“It didn’t seem like they wanted to follow anyway,” Ezekiel said, looking around at their surroundings. “And I don’t blame them. This forest is creepy.”
“And you,” Clary said, pointing at Zira. “Don’t think I didn’t see what you did back there. You have power.” Zira didn’t respond. She didn’t know what to say. “Malachi put her down.”
“No,” Malachi said, putting distance between Clary and them.
Clary stepped back and Zira could see the hurt expression on her face. That disappeared in an instant as Clary stepped forward growling.
“I said put her down and come to me,” she said through her teeth.
It only made Malachi grip Zira even tighter. “She is mine,” he growled back at her.
“What! I am not yours,” Zira said.
“What! You are mine,” Clary said at the same time.
“I am not marked,” Malachi growled at Clary before looking lovely down at Zira, “therefore I am unclaimed, but you can mark me and I will be yours.” He nuzzled Zira’s neck, bringing her closer to his chest. Zira felt uncomfortable and pushed against his chest.
“Malachi, put me down, now,” Zira demanded, struggling for a minute to get out of his embrace before he gently placed her on the ground.
“Of course, love. Anything for you,” he said, kissing her hand and holding it in his.
“What did you do to him? Is this another one of your powers you’re secretly keeping from us,” Clary asked, growling at her as Malachi stepped between them. He growled back at Clary, which made Ezekiel step up for Clary.
“Mal,” Clary said softly, clearly hurt by his action.
Zira yanked her hand away from him, but it only made him move closer. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I think he got some of the juice when we both fell in.”
A drop of suspicion flashed across Clary’s face. “Then why aren’t you going all lovey-dovey, then?”
“My mouth was closed the whole time. Besides, this will only last for a few hours. Less if his mind is strong,” Zira said, shrugging off Malachi’s attempt to massage her shoulders. “In the meantime, what’s your plan? I don’t think staying here arguing is productive.”
Everyone looked around at their surroundings. The trees seemed to sag with their branches hanging low as if to reach for them. The noise of whatever species lives here didn’t sound friendly. The uneasy feeling was shared among the group and Clary was the first to pull away.
“The pixie said we keep walking until we see mist and smell brimstone, right? So, let’s go,” Clary said with no one making a move. “What are we waiting for? Come on.”
“We’re all tired, my love,” Ezekiel said while the others nodded. “And Mal and Rissa are high out of their minds right now.”
Clary inhaled in frustration while running her hands through her hair. She walked around for a bit, gathering her thoughts as they waited patiently for instructions.
“Fine, we’ll take rounds to rest. Just enough to keep moving,” Clary said before looking at Malachi. “Maybe by that time, Mal and Rissa will come to their senses. Let’s set up camp.”
As Clary stomped off into the darkness, everyone else spread out to find anything that was useful. Zira found a bed of moss soft enough to lay on. Arias, who was strangely calm during all of this, stayed close to her. Unsurprisingly, so did Malachi. She was too tired to fuss about it and let him follow them through the trees.
They made it back to camp as Clary zapped the wood pile to create a fire. Derrick and Drake found a few weird creatures that looked like a hybrid between a rabbit and an opossum. They gutted and skinned the animal before placing it over the fire to roast. Zira laid the moss a safe distance away from the fire and sat down with Arias in her lap. Drake passed around the food which didn’t taste that bad, but at this point, Zira would’ve eaten anything.
After a while, Arias curled up against her with Mister Giggles tucked in tight. She knew he must have been tired after everything that had happened so far. She wrapped her arms around him as Zed sat on one side and Malachi on the other. She gave up on telling him to move a while ago and he took it as an invitation to get as close to her as possible. Malachi leaned his head against her shoulder.
“Zed, sleep. I’ll take the first watch.”
“No,” Zed said. “I’ll stay up and you-”
“Zed, I don’t want to argue. Get some sleep.”
“No.”
Zira rolled her eyes and looked at Malachi. “Malac-”
“Got it,” Malachi said before she could finish and touch Zed’s arm. “Sleep.”
“I said I don't…” Zed yawned and leaned back against the tree to sleep.
Zira sighed. “I was going to tell you to move over there with your brother and give us some room.”
“No can do, love. I will stay with you. No matter what,” Malachi said, cozying up to her. “You can sleep, and I will protect you.”
Zira looked across the fire at Clary, who was curling up against Ezekiel, but her eyes were glued on Malachi. Zira knew this was probably killing her, but what could she do at the moment? The juice was going to wear off eventually, but until then she was going to take advantage of it. She leaned against the tree, trying to figure out how she was able to use power earlier. The only other person besides Rissa that she knew had this kind of power was Lana. She remembered when Lana tried to use her power on her, and she touched Lana. She wanted to stop Lana from using it before they both fell to the ground. Maybe that was it. My touch, she thought, as she felt her eyes closing.
*****
“I am so glad you told your mom to go home,” Hunter said with a smile. “She would’ve made this so much worse.”
Isaiah and the gang stood still watching the circus in front of them. The place looked as if someone threw a colorful bomb in the area. There was a blue liquid on the floor and pieces of food all over the ground. The most shocking scene was the pixies in every nook and cranny committing nefarious acts.
“So can I comment now,” Hunter asked with a smile.
“No,” Isaiah said, clearly irritated as he scanned the area for Zira and Arias. Relief washed over him when he didn’t sense or see them. However, he was even more worried. Where could they be?
“Just move around them,” Trixie said. “My mother’s tent is this way. Hopefully, they are there.”
The group followed Trixie through the cesspit of pixies, doing their best not to interrupt their action. A few times, pixies flew around them, trying to coax some of them to join them. Many times, Mary had to pull Hunter away and remind him of his maybe pregnant mate at home.
“Way to be a buzzkill, Mary,” Hunter grumbled.
“You'll thank me later,” she smiled.
They finally made it inside the tent where the Queen was engaged in her own passion of affairs. Trixie walked over to bang against the cymbal and get her mother’s attention.
“Tri,” her mother said, finally acknowledging her presence whilst her lovers continued to please her. “I’m a bit occupied at the moment. Come back later.”
“Not until you tell me what happened to my friend. Where’s Zira?”
“Who,” her mother moaned.
“Zira, Mother. You know who.”
Queen Bloom moved her lovers to the side, so she was facing Trixie. Without saying anything, Queen Bloom climbed down from her bed, unabashed by her nakedness as she moved towards them. Her lovers stayed behind, enjoying themselves. Queen Bloom grew to human size and the moment her feet touched the floor, Mims entered the room with a silk robe.
Queen Bloom took her time to cover herself while making eye contact with every single one of them. She smiled and winked at Hunter before Trixie stepped in her line of vision.
“You are such a buzzkill, Tri,” Queen Bloom sighed. “What is it that you want?”
“Where is Zira,” Trixie asked for the third time, clearly getting frustrated.
“Zira, yes. She did all of this and ran off. Not that I’m surprised.”
“Where, Mother?”
Queen Bloom flicked her hand as Mims poured her a glass of juice. She cleared her throat before taking a slow drink. All the while, keeping her eyes on Trixie. Trixie knew she was playing with her, but she wasn’t here for any games. Not when her friend was in trouble.
“Mother!”
Queen Bloom stretched along the throne after setting her drink down. She stands up from her throne and walks around the group. Every once and a while she would caress a certain part of their body, careful not to go anywhere under the belt. She stopped in front of Hunter with a seductive smile.
“She ran into the Dark Forest.”
Trixie gasped and took a step back. “She was escorted, right?”
“What do you think, Trixie,” Queen Bloom asked, getting irritated. “She doused my party with pixie berry juice and turned it into a big orgy. So, everyone was occupied at the time.” She turned her attention back to Hunter. “Though, I don’t mind being occupied by something a bit bigger than what I’m used to.”
Trixie narrowed her eyes at Queen Bloom. “Can’t you just keep it in your pants, for pixie sake? I wondered why she felt the need to do that in the first place. Let’s go.”
Trixie left and everyone followed behind her. Though Queen Bloom’s advance kept Hunter stuck in place. Her hands raked down his shirt and she could feel his heartbeat starting to race.
“What about you? Do you want to leave?”
“Well, I…”
“Let’s go,” Mary said, dragging Hunter out of the tent by his shirt. “You seriously have a problem.”
They caught up with Trixie and the rest as they stood in front of the Dark Forest. Trixie waved her hand around it and noticed a barrier.
“What’s the problem,” Isaiah asked. He was ready to go. They were so close to Zira and Arias, he could almost feel it. He was itching to walk right in when Trixie stopped him.
“There’s a barrier here,” Trixie explained to the group. “No one is going to be entering the Dark Forest until it wants you to.”
“I don’t understand,” Isaiah said. “What do you expect us to do now? They are in there. We have to-”
“Alpha Isaiah, you can try all night if you want, but until the Dark Forest is ready it will not let you in.”
Refusing to let go, Isaiah walked up to the barrier and banged against it. They were so close, so close. He didn’t want to give up. He wanted to find them now. He needed to find them, to keep himself sane. So, he kept punching the barrier until he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“Alpha.” It was Hunter who stopped him. Isaiah knew his actions were futile, but he needed to try something. Now, he simply nodded and resigned from beating down the barrier. Trixie stepped up and placed a hand on his other shoulder.
“We can set up camp right here and wait for it to open,” Trixie said before turning away to order some of the unaffected pixies to help.
“Don’t worry, Alpha Isaiah,” Percy said, standing next to him. “Zira is strong-minded and strong-willed. She can make it out of anything.”
Percy smiled and Isaiah was too occupied in his thoughts to return it. He moved towards the barrier and placed his hand on it.
I’m coming for you, Zi. Just hang on a little bit longer.