The Girl Behind the Red Rope Read online

  My mind struggled to understand what my eyes were seeing. The woman held my gaze, her eyes flashing in the firelight. Or was it something else I was seeing in her eyes? They were white, like the eyes of the Fury she’d just killed.

  I scurried backward and slammed into a tree trunk.

  “Careful,” the woman said with a gentle smile. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

  She could speak! My mind was numb.

  The woman took a step toward me. I lifted my arm as if to ward her off. “Please,” I begged. “Please don’t hurt me.”

  “I would never hurt you, Grace.”

  She knew my name.

  “I know many things,” she said.

  I didn’t remember speaking out loud, but she’d spoken as if I had. I forced myself to take deeper breaths. I’d never heard of or seen such a creature. Was she a Fury disguised as a woman?

  “Personally, I never much liked the term Fury,” she said. “But I can assure you I’m not what you think.”

  Again, I hadn’t spoken and yet she’d known what I was thinking. How?

  “Do you really need me to answer that question?” she asked.

  I opened my mouth in wonder. Shook my head. No. My body was still trembling. I couldn’t process what was happening.

  A terrible cry, pained and full of terror, echoed through the night, and I knew immediately the wail belonged to Jamie. I jerked my head in the direction of the sound as another scream ripped through the air, followed by a thunderous roar.

  Fury! More Fury!

  I had to save him! I had to find Jamie!

  “That’s not a good idea,” the woman said.

  Jamie’s distant screeching tore a hole through my heart. What were they doing to him? I couldn’t just stand there.

  “I can protect you,” she said.

  “I can’t just leave him,” I managed to whisper.

  “You have to,” she said, and took a couple steps toward me.

  “They’ll kill him.”

  “They’ll kill you.”

  She was only a couple feet from me now. The dancing fire illuminated a beautiful face. Her eyes were clear and confident.

  “If you want to live, come with me,” she said.

  Hearing a Fury offer me life filled me with confusion. How could that be? She was lying to me, she had to be.

  More cries flew overhead, cutting off my words. Suddenly she had closed the distance between us and held my wrist in a firm grasp.

  “Remember, we run away from the cliff, not toward it, Grace. Fear keeps us safe.”

  The familiar words snapped me out of my confusion. She was speaking truth. Rushing after Jamie would get me killed. Would staying with her also get me killed? Maybe she was an angel. Or a Fury deceiving me.

  “I would never hurt you,” she said. “I can keep you safe, but to do so, I need your permission. Let me protect you.”

  A chorus of low growls pricked my ears, and I knew two things: first, there was more than one Fury out there; second, they were closing in. My brother’s cries had stopped.

  “We have to go now,” she said. She yanked on my wrist and I surrendered to her. I stumbled behind her through the darkened forest, scraping against bark and branches, nearly tripping over my own feet. She moved swiftly and without fault, pulling me behind and keeping me upright.

  Within the minute, we arrived at a large rock overhang. Before I could object or consider, she was dragging me under the rock, into a cave.

  She released my wrist and turned to leave.

  “You’re leaving me here?”

  She faced me, silhouetted by the gray light beyond the cave’s mouth. “Under no circumstance should you leave until I come for you.”

  And then she was gone, out of the cave, into the forest.

  I wanted to cry out for an explanation. I wanted to rush from the hole where she’d hidden me. But I knew if I did, I would face the full wrath of the Fury she’d sworn to protect me from.

  A screech split the air and I knew it was Jamie.

  I sank farther into the darkness of the cave and slumped to the dirt, mind lost on Jamie. Poor Jamie. I desperately prayed he was still alive.

  You were wrong, brother. The Fury are real. They are more real than we could ever have imagined.

  Chapter

  Seven

  MY MIND STIRRED BEFORE MY BODY. I COULD HEAR the chirping of birds and smell the strong aroma of wet grass as my eyes slowly opened. The cave was dim around me, filled with shadows. A chill ran through my bones. A brief beat of curiosity pounded at the back of my mind before the memories of last night came rushing back.

  Startled, I jerked up, bumped my head against a rock, and grunted. I grasped my head with both palms, disoriented. I couldn’t remember crawling so far back into the cave, nor falling asleep. Pulling myself forward, I carefully struggled to my knees and then to my feet. I stumbled from the cave, momentarily blinded by the bright sun.

  “Heck of a way to wake up,” someone said behind me.

  I turned and saw her—the beautiful woman who was either a Fury of a totally different kind than any I’d imagined, or an angel.

  I took a misguided stride backward into a log that sent me crashing to the ground. My arms caught the brunt of the fall. Pain shot up through the heels of my hands.

  The woman stepped forward to help, and I held up my hand to stop her. I pushed myself back to my feet, a wave of nausea coursing through me, and I swallowed to calm my stomach.

  We stood there two paces apart. Seeing her clearly in the light as the morning breeze lifted her hair off her shoulders, I struggled to reconcile this beautiful woman with any of my notions of what a Fury was.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “How can you hear my thoughts?” I asked.

  “We can all hear thoughts,” she replied.

  “We, as in the Fu . . .” The word caught in my throat and I swallowed.

  “Like I mentioned, I’m not what you think.”

  Then she had to be an angel, like Sylous. But she could still be a Fury who was deceiving me. She looked far more like an angel than a Fury, but I knew I couldn’t trust what my eyes were seeing.

  “I guess seeing isn’t believing,” she said.

  “Stop it,” I said.

  “Stop what?”

  “Reading my thoughts.”

  A beat of silence passed between us.

  “Please,” she said.

  I shot her a curious look.

  “Stop reading my thoughts, please,” she said.

  I stared at her for a moment, a tad stunned. “Please. Please stop reading my thoughts.”

  She returned the stare for a long moment. “Not possible. But I can pretend.”

  I felt like I was in a game of sorts. She was the cat and I was the mouse, and that game never ended well for the mouse.

  When you feel afraid, run, because something isn’t right. The idea played through my mind, and even though she’d saved my life, I was afraid. I should be running. But I had questions.

  “And I have answers,” she said.

  “I thought you weren’t going to read my mind.”

  “Sorry. I’ll try to do better.”

  I looked at her from head to toe. “So, you’re an angel?”

  “Some might say.”

  “What would you call you?”

  She gave me a small grin. “My name is Wisdom, but you can call me Bobbie.”

  “Bobbie?”

  She nodded. “Better than Wisdom, don’t you think?”

  “So you’re real.”

  “Think of me as your guiding light. But you must also know that what you call the Fury are not all the same.”

  I wasn’t sure I could trust her. I had to be careful.

  “You saw what you saw last night.”

  “I saw you kill a Fury.”

  “I saved you.”

  I hesitated, wondering what else she could tell me.

  “Who are the Fury?” I asked.
r />   “You saw one last night. There are many kinds.”

  “But you’re not one of them?”

  “As I said, I’m the guiding light who keeps you safe.”

  “But what are you? What are you made from? What, what?”

  She winked. “The answer to that, dear Grace, is beyond your pay grade. Maybe one day you’ll understand.”

  “Okay, then tell me how you know my name.”

  “I’ve known you your whole life.”

  “You have?”

  “Of course. I’ve been guiding you. Wisdom, remember?”

  The way she spoke gave me some comfort.

  “But it’s true that the Fury have taken over the world?” I asked.

  “In more ways than you can ever imagine. I think Jamie learned that last night.”

  Jamie!

  “I have to find him! Can you help me?”

  “He isn’t my concern,” Bobbie said. “Only you.”

  I didn’t know what that meant, but I knew I had to find him. Assuming there was anything left of him.

  I turned away from Bobbie and only then saw I was standing in a clearing. Pockets of little white flowers popped their heads above the green blades, bending with the grass at the wind’s command. The clearing gave way to a thick forest that looked impassable.

  How was I going to find him in there?

  “Stick to the path,” Bobbie said.

  I glanced over my shoulder at her. She was reading my mind again. She gave me an apologetic shrug and thrust her chin forward slightly. My eyes followed the direction she indicated and I saw a break in the tree line. A path.

  “Is he alive?”

  “Like I said, he’s not my concern,” she replied. “Only and always you.”

  “Then can you help me find him? That’s me too.”

  “I am helping you. Stick to the path.”

  I didn’t glance back. My only thought now was for Jamie. I started forward and within seconds I was running.

  “Don’t wander off the path, Grace,” Bobbie called after me. “You never know what’s still hiding among the trees.”

  I stumbled into the thick foliage, feet pounding on the dirt as I moved up the path. I had no idea how far I needed to go or if Jamie would even be here. But Bobbie hadn’t been wrong yet and she’d told me to follow the path. So I did.

  After a full minute of running, I slowed to a jog. My lungs heaved painfully at the high altitude. I gasped for air, looking in all directions, trying to keep my thoughts off images of Jamie bleeding out or torn in half.

  Something moved in the bush to my right, and I jumped to the other side of the path, crying out. Then I settled as a small fuzzy creature scurried out from the brush and hurried back into the forest. I clamped my eyes shut and shook my head.

  What are you doing, Grace? What are you expecting to find? Jamie couldn’t have survived. You should go back to the cave.

  When I opened my eyes, tears blurred the path before me. My thoughts continued to batter me, draining all the false confidence I’d used to get this far. Rooted to the ground on that path, I stared straight ahead. And it was that stare that rewarded me.

  I caught sight of a slight movement in the forest ahead. A couple yards down, on the right side, just breaking the plane onto the path, lay a small heap of something. Something that was twitching. A dying animal was my first thought, but the way it moved was unusual.

  I took a step forward, squinting to focus, and thought the lump was more fleshy than furry. Several more steps and it started to take a more pronounced shape. A heel, toes, half covered in a torn wool sock. One I had washed, one I knew.

  I was in a full run then, reaching the foot quickly and finding the rest of Jamie attached to it. He was stretched out along the ground on his left side, one leg elongated while the other was bent closer to his middle. Arms cupped up around his head, his shoulders shaking, his mouth muttering incoherently.

  I fell to my knees beside him. “Jamie!”

  He gave no indication that he’d heard me. His clothes were torn, body bloody under a tattered shirt and slacks. Several large gashes ran the length of his curled leg. His blood had soaked the ground.

  How much had he lost?

  “Jamie,” I said again, and reached out my fingers to brush his shoulder.

  He shrank away, face tucked in the crook of his elbow as though deeply ashamed.

  I grabbed his shoulder, keeping my touch tender. “Jamie, it’s me. It’s Grace.”

  He was shivering and mumbling. I took his wrist and gently pulled at his arm, needing to see his face, hushing him when he objected.

  “It’s okay, Jamie, it’s all going to be okay. I’m here now.” I spoke through sniffled tears.

  He was stiff, but he moved. The moment his arm cleared his face, my heart dropped. The right side of his face was deep purple, swollen and badly bruised. A gash ran the length of his other cheek. Dirt and dried grass stuck to bloody areas. Dried mucus and saliva caked his swollen, trembling lips.

  “Oh, Jamie,” I whispered.

  He squinted up through puffy eyes. Recognition flashed in his gaze, and he began to weep. Deep and mournful sobs shook his whole body. He reached for me and pulled his head onto my thighs, clutching me like a frightened child.

  The rules of what constituted proper contact between a man and a woman, woven into the very fabric of my mind, meant nothing to me in that moment. This broken brother laying his head in my lap stirred a powerful instinct that I refused to fight. So I wrapped myself around him and held him close. I whispered kind words as he wept and trembled in my arms. And in his muttering a single phrase came through. A phrase he repeated over and over.

  “They’re real. They’re real. The Fury are real.”

  Chapter

  Eight

  JAMIE AND I REMAINED ON THE FOREST FLOOR, tucked behind the trees, for a full hour. He finally started to calm, and as he did I helped him into a sitting position.

  His injuries seemed primarily external—dozens of minor cuts and bruises—but he’d also received two gashes. We needed to get back to Haven Valley.

  Considering Jamie’s condition, I doubted we could cover the distance in less than two days’ time. This was a problem. A big one. He needed medical attention sooner.

  Still, Jamie insisted we try.

  He was speaking clearly again, telling me where things hurt, helping me as I packed the serious wounds with sod. I tore the rest of Jamie’s slashed jacket into strips to form primitive bandages. Neither of us spoke a word about the Fury. His own horror was still too real, and I didn’t have a clue how to talk about Bobbie. I wasn’t sure I ever would.

  Was she still nearby? I didn’t know. I kept a watchful eye, naturally, but if she was near, she was out of sight. Which made me wonder if she had the power to vanish at will.

  Eventually I helped Jamie stand, then limp out onto the path. “You sure you can do this?” I asked.

  “Yes. Anywhere but this place. We just need to get to the path I marked.”

  He was far too slow on his own, so he draped his right arm around my shoulders and I lent him support. My legs were already burning from our exertion the day before, but I ignored the pain and tried to keep us moving at as steady a pace as we could manage. Finding Jamie’s marked path was a relief—at least we knew where we were going.

  We stopped frequently so Jamie could rest, once at a creek. There I helped him to the water so he could drink and wash his face. The splash bath rejuvenated him for a while, but as the sun reached the highest point of the sky, he started to lose his strength again. Still, we pushed on. Two more hours at least, but by then Jamie was so pale and wheezing so hard that continuing was impossible.

  I escorted him to the base of a large tree and helped him sit. Leaning back against the trunk, Jamie took slow and labored breaths. He looked down the path in the direction we were heading, then back up at me.

  “You’re going to have to go without me,” he said.

 
; “Not a chance. I’m not leaving you here.”

  “I’m not strong enough.”

  “Neither am I! I’m not going out there alone.”

  “I’m not going to make it.”

  “Stop that, of course you are. We just need to rest.”

  He shifted and his face twisted in pain. Tears sprang to my eyes. I couldn’t leave him again. I just couldn’t.

  “Listen to me,” Jamie said. “You’re going to have to get to Haven Valley and bring help back.”

  He couldn’t be serious. He was the one who knew these paths and was leading me. I couldn’t go alone.

  “We’ll never make it if you just keep dragging me along,” Jamie said. “This is going to kill me.”

  I nearly scolded him again, but I knew he was right. I wasn’t a nurse, but I knew it wasn’t just pain that was slowing him down. He’d lost a lot of blood.

  “Just follow the markers,” he said. “They’ll take you all the way back to the gates.”

  I looked down the path, wondering where Bobbie was. “And if I meet the Fury?”

  He grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe they only come out at night. Which is why you have to leave now before it gets dark. You can still make it, Grace. You have to.”

  Tears swam in his eyes. He was shivering, so I took off my coat and draped it over his body. I pushed back the fallen strands of hair from his forehead and held his gaze for a long moment. He was as afraid as I. But he was right—I had to get help.

  “I’ll be back,” I said. “Even if Rose refuses to send help, I’ll return. With medical supplies and whatever we need to get you strong enough to make it.”

  “Promise?” he said, forcing a grin.

  I returned his smile. “Promise.”

  He nodded.

  And then I was off, bunching up my thick skirt so I could run. As fast as my legs would carry me over rough, uneven ground.

  Hold on, Jamie. Just hold on. I’m going to save you. I promise.

  JAMIE AWOKE WITH A START, GASPING AT THE AFTERnoon air. It took a moment for his whereabouts to sink in. He was leaning against a thick tree beside the path he’d marked. He was alone. Injured and in pain. Grace had gone ahead for help.