Unexpected Mates ~ Book One
Chapter 27

The small fire danced and shimmied under a soft breeze as Sylvie nibbled a piece of bread.

Elias sat behind her, his hand resting on the top of her thigh while Kian and Lazuli mirrored their pose opposite them.

Sylvie’s stomach flipped, seeing Kian’s expressionless face, and she averted her eyes.

He didn’t even have the decency to look guilty.

The mark on her chest burned slightly, and she wondered if it was fading, as Kerensa said. She didn’t know how it worked, but since he decided to rekindle his romance with Lazuli, surely, he’d prefer not to be marked by her anymore.

Kerensa walked the perimeter, occasionally sending filthy glances at everyone before turning her gaze back to the darkness.

After a few minutes of silence, Sylvie’s eyes began to droop. “I think I’m gonna go to bed now,” she whispered to Elias when his hand pulled away from her suddenly.

Then, looking up at him with a frown, wakefulness doused her. His head swivelled in the darkness.

“What is it?” she whispered.

He shook his head and offered his hand, pulling her up. “Stay behind me.”

Kerensa stalked over and growled. “Something is out there.”

“I hear it,” Elias grated back. “It’s a Hybrid.”

“How do you know?” she asked.

Sylvie gripped the back of Elias’s shirt as he answered; she was not excited to see more of the things that had attacked her in his office weeks ago.

“They’re clicking.”

“You think they’re communicating with each other? How many?”

Kian approached, and Elias turned to place a barrier between him and Sylvie. While he disagreed with Sylvie’s hatred towards Kian, he had intentionally been more protective after she told him her secret.

If Kian noticed Elias’ actions, he didn’t comment on them. “I can feel at least five different beings’ emotions, but they’re out of range to manipulate.”

“Why are they here?” Lazuli piped up from behind him, curling her hands around his forearm, the sharp nails dangerously close to the veins in his wrist crease.

“They’re hungry,” Kian replied before heading to the back of the carriage and grabbing a host of weapons— small sharp blades, a bow and arrow and a long thin sword. It kind of looked like a katana but thinner.

He handed a weapon to Kerensa and Lazuli but didn’t offer one to Sylvie. She scowled and rounded Elias’ back. “What am I supposed to do, Muay Thai the damn things? Give me a weapon.”

Elias went to speak when a loud crack echoed around the basin. A few sparse trees stood in the direction they travelled from, but they were juvenile and barely large enough to hide behind completely.

Echoing clicks and death rattle sounds came from the castle’s direction, and Sylvie shook. Elias gripped her shoulders. “Look at me. I want you to run to those trees and try to do what you did while training.”

Kerensa and Lazuli stared between them as if he was crazy, but Sylvie knew exactly what he meant.

“If you can hide inside the tree, they won’t be able to get you.”

Lazuli gasped and tried to say something, but Kian pulled her away.

“Don’t come out unless Kian or I say.”

She frowned at the mention of Kian, but Elias’ wild eyes sent her pulse skyrocketing. “Run, Sylvie.”

Pausing a moment to process his words, she heard the sudden scampering rush of limbs and nails clawing into the dirt as the hybrids descended.

“Run,” Elias growled one last time before colliding with a giant humanoid figure.

Suppressing a scream, Sylvie sprinted towards the trees and prayed she could remember how to disappear inside. The last time she was relaxed, and she was far from relaxed right then.

Sounds of tearing flesh and growls followed her as she sprinted through the darkness. The moons gave off some light, but visibility was still so low, and Sylvie could only pray she didn’t break her ankle before she made it to the sparse tree line.

Clicking and thudding behind her grew closer, and Sylvie pushed her legs harder.

She swivelled her head to look behind her and screamed, spotting the creature bounding after her with its face-splitting grin.

Another solid figure briefly appeared at its side before striking it and causing them to tumble across the grass.

Spinning back, she breathed a sigh of relief, spotting the tree only a few metres ahead. She kept running, reaching her hand out to it, channelling some weird zen when the wind was knocked from her body in a whoosh.

Sylvie was rag-dolled through the air, her body hitting the tree’s base with a loud thud. She groaned, turning onto her back, trying to suck in air despite the screaming of her empty lungs.

A foot from her face, the smiling monstrosity tilted its head to the side as she tried to scramble backwards.

“You smell so delicious,” it hissed. “But slightly different from the other Dryad cross-breed.” It looked back towards the campfire and licked its lips. “She will still make a decent meal, but you, little flower, are a delicacy.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked shakily, pressing her spine into the trunk; she evened her breathing and hoped she could slink inside before the thing noticed.

Its head twisted back to grin at her. Before it could speak, Sylvie felt the trunk at her back calling her, its soft bark melding with her skin. The Hybrid demon’s eyes widened, as did its mouth, as it watched her disappear into the tree.

Her vision distorted until all she could see was the golden veins, roots and energy pulses of the living beings around her, and she watched as the hybrid in front of her fell apart.

As the body split in half, falling left and right, another figure remained in its place. From its body shape, she guessed it was Kerensa and closed her eyes with relief.

The thrumming buzz of nature lulled her to a sleeplike state, and she let her mind drift far away.

The tracing of hands down Sylvie’s body roused her before the gruff voice penetrated her mind.

“Come out. You’re safe.”

Her lids fought against the sappy stickiness, glueing them shut, and she noticed the blinding light all around. The usual golden trails weaving the plants together appeared pumped full of steroids. Was it daytime? But how could that be?

With a stretch and a groan, Sylvie leaned towards the soft touches against the tree bark and felt the crisp air kiss her face. Then, smiling up at the dark-curly-haired, red-eyed beast, she yawned, stretching her waking limbs.

“The demons are gone now?”

Elias’ pinched expression made her heart flutter.

“What?” she asked innocently.

“Nothing,” he sighed, rubbing a hand across his face, stopping to pinch the bridge of his nose. “I thought I lost you in there.”

“What?” she laughed, looking over her shoulder at the strange tree. It was so peaceful in there she almost felt like herself again.

“It’s been hours,” Kian commented, stepping out from behind Elias with Lazuli clinging to his arm. Her expression held a subtle fear, her wide eyes and bobbing throat catching Sylvie’s attention.

“What’s wrong with her?” Sylvie asked unabashedly, blinking up at Elias. He didn’t shift his gaze from her face, instead taking her by the arm and pulling her back across the field.

The distance to the camp was much farther than Sylvie thought it would be. “Damn. I ran pretty far last night.”

Kerensa appeared at her side covered in dark ichor and frowned. “So you’re a Dryad.”

Sylvie shrugged, and her brows furrowed. “I’m not exactly sure what that is, but the demon thing said there was another Dryad hybrid with us.”

She looked over at Lazuli’s pale face, staring silently at her. “I’m guessing that’s you, right?”

Lazuli nodded imperceptively before shuffling closer to Kian, who pressed his lips together and looked ahead.

“A Dryad is a fae also known as a Nature Spirit. They’re usually bound with a single tree, and if it dies, the Dryad dies after,” Kerensa said as she pulled her braids into a ponytail and secured them with a knotted strap of fabric. Sylvie watched with wide eyes as she spoke.

“Do you have a bound tree?” Kerensa asked gruffly.

They reached their trashed camp, and Lazuli darted off to clean up as Kerensa and her mates stared at her curiously.

Sylvie just shrugged. “I don’t think so. I never really grew up around nature. The first forest I saw was back at the Evergreen Court.”

Kerensa chewed her inner cheek. “Perhaps your vampire blood lessened some of your traditional Dryad characteristics.”

Elias walked away and began packing their gear while Kian’s gaze lingered a few moments more.

“Lazuli is a Dryad cross-breed,” he said with a slight rise at the end as if he were asking her a question. Her chest tightened as he spoke her name so quickly, the letters rolling off his tongue as if the name belonged in his mouth.

On his lips.

“That’s what the demon said.”

“Crossed with what?” he asked, meeting her eyes with a strange, wild glint.

She shrugged and scrunched her face. “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask her?”

He swallowed and turned away, joining the group in their pack-up.

Sylvie trailed behind and stared between the pair, watching Lazuli’s possessive clasp on his body. She always seemed to be touching him, caressing or squeezing in a choking grip.

A strange niggle twisted in her throat as she brushed her fingers across her mate marks over the fabric of her tattered gown.

“It’s time to go now if we want to reach the court before the townsfolk arrive,” Lazuli cooed. “I’m sure we’ll all need a shower and change of attire before we meet with my father.”

Everything about the pair left a sour taste in Sylvie’s mouth, letting a seed of doubt creep in about Lazuli’s truthfulness and Kian’s betrayal.

Sylvie scampered into the carriage with Elias closely behind as the cogs started spinning in her mind.

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