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CHAPTER FIFTEEN

I tried to sidestep the boar, leaping to the side as it thundered toward me. I narrowly missed getting gored by its massive tusks as I landed in a patch of thorny brambles, the barbs on the thorns digging in as I rolled through them. The boar turned and veered my way again, letting out a terrifying growl. It lowered its tusks, pawing the ground and snuffling, then drove forward into the tangle of brambles.

Ignoring the pain of the thorns, I scrambled on my hands and knees, unable to get to my feet. I kept crawling as fast as I could, with the boar hot on my heels. The thorns pierced my knees and shins though my pants and hooked into my forearms. Welts rose where I scrambled over stinging nettle, but all of that was nothing in comparison to what the creature would do to me if it got hold of me.

Up ahead was a nurse log, covered with mushrooms and moss, and all I could think was that—if I could get over it—maybe the boar couldn’t get me. Ignoring the screams of my classmates, I focused on the log, scrambling toward it, as Kyle raced toward me from the other side.

As I reached the fallen tree, I reached up to grab hold of a broken branch that jutted out from the top. I dragged myself up as Kyle grabbed me under the arms, helping as I braced myself against the dirt, pushing with my feet. He helped me swing over the log, and I rolled over the mossy top, catching several splinters along the way.

The next moment, something rammed into the log as the boar hit the other side and squealed. Kyle dragged me to my feet and I stumbled to the side with him as Jason aimed a wand at the boar. The next moment a ball of fire came shooting out of the tip.

“Get down!” he screamed.

I didn’t stop to think and neither did Kyle. We dropped. I cowered into a ball and covered my head with my arms. The next moment there was a loud shriek and what sounded like an explosion. Another moment, and everything went quiet.

* * *

“Maisy! Are you okay?” Kyle knelt beside me. “Are you okay?”

Jason and the others raced over to my side.

“The pig—” I caught my breath, leaning against Kyle as I tried to make sense of what had happened.

“He’s dead,” Kyle said. “In fact, there’s not much left of him. And what there is, is pretty much toast.”

“Maisy, I’m so sorry—” Jason reached down and took my other arm but I shook him off.

Kyle helped me up. I winced as the thorns dug into my flesh. “What the hell was that thing?” It hadn’t looked like any normal pig to me.

“That was a ferandal, a wild boar that comes from the dimension of the Fae. The Fae hunt it for meat, and charm it for magical protection. The boar, once charmed, will fight for the Overkings, and they use them when they go to battle.” He helped me back to the log and I sat down, exhausted and in pain.

I stared down at the body of the boar. It was as frightening in death as it had been in life. I could still feel its breath still on my heels. Those tusks could have run me through, and now, up close, I could see the serrated edges on the outer curve of the bone.

“Are there more of them?” Kyle asked.

“It must have been waiting at the gate. Which, by the way, I’ll go lock now.” Jason shook his head. “This didn’t turn out to be the field trip I was hoping it would, and I’m very grateful that Tiffany and the others went home. I’ll think very hard before bringing you out here again.”

Kyle frowned as Jason left to go lock the gate. “Maisy, you need to stop at urgent care on the way home. We should get going.” He turned to me. “Can you walk?”

I winced. I hurt like hell, everywhere. “I think so, but it doesn’t feel good. I just want out of this place.”

I never wanted to see Hollow Hill again. All I wanted to do was get home and take a warm bath. But Kyle was right. I could feel the bramble thorns in my skin, and I needed to stop for treatment. I wouldn’t be able to find all the thorns myself and if I didn’t get them out, I could get some nasty infections if the skin healed over them.

Kyle frowned. “Tell you what. I’ll drive you to urgent care, then home. I can take a taxi back to get my car. I don’t trust that you’re okay driving.”

I thought about protesting, but I was shaky, on an adrenaline crash, hurting, and not sure where my emotions were. I knew Aphrodite had helped me manage them during the attack, otherwise I would have frozen in place and been gored, quite possibly killed.

Jason tried to apologize again, but I didn’t want to listen. I just wanted to leave.

Kyle brushed him off, helping me to my car. I handed him the keys and he helped me into the passenger’s seat. As we pulled out of the parking lot, I thought that I sure as hell wasn’t ever going camping up here. Way too close to Hollow Hill, and if the pig had been any indication of whatever else lay beyond that fence, I wanted no part of it.

On the drive back into town, Kyle cautiously navigated the lights, keeping the ride smooth with as few bumps as possible. He kept glancing over at me.

“I’m going to drive you directly to urgent care, and I’ll wait there with you,” he said.

“You can take me home. My aunt will go with me?—”

“No, the sooner you get those cuts looked at, the better. Did the ferandal hurt you at all?”

I shook my head. “No, I don’t think so. If it had, I’d probably be unconscious. But I’ve got more thorns in me than I want to think about and those buggers hurt.” As the adrenaline wore off, I leaned back against the seat, sweating from the pain. I moaned. “Gods, I’m feeling every prick of every thorn right now. They’re embedded in my flesh because as I crawled over the brambles, it pushed them in.”

“We’re almost there,” Kyle said. “Hang on.”

“Oh, I’m hanging in here, I’m just…losing steam really quickly. I should call my aunt,” I said. “What time is it?”

“It’s eleven-thirty,” he said.

I gingerly picked up my phone and texted Astra. i’m headed to urgent care. i’ll be fine, but i was hurt and i need a doctor.

A moment later, Astra called me. “What the hell happened?”

I winced, trying to hold the phone so that the thorns in my arms didn’t hurt. “I got attacked by a ferandal, and while it didn’t catch me, I had to crawl through a bramble patch. I have thorns embedded in places I didn’t know existed.”

“Oh good heavens. Are you driving?”

“No, my classmate is taking me. We’re in my car, and then he’ll take a taxi back to get his.”

“Tell him that if he’ll drive you home, I’ll drive him out to his car. Let me know if there’s anything you need. Call me if you’re going to be at urgent care for a long time, or if they want to send you to the hospital.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll tell Kyle.”

As I hung up, my entire body hurt. I would never have been able to drive myself. I was extremely grateful for Kyle’s help, and I wouldn’t forget it.

* * *

Ninety minutes later, Kyle and I arrived at my home. He helped me out and into the house, where Astra was anxiously waiting.

“Lunch is on the table. I made enough for you, Kyle, as a thank you for helping my niece. I hope you can stay?”

“Thanks, I have time. And it was no trouble,” Kyle said, flashing Astra a wide smile. “You should have seen her getting away from that ferandal. You would have been so proud of her.”

“I need to call Crystal,” I said. “Then…lunch would be good, though I’m exhausted.”

Kyle followed Astra into the kitchen, while I pulled out my phone. I put in a call to Crystal. I didn’t feel up to texting. She answered on the second ring.

“Hey, how did class go?”

“It didn’t. Listen, I need to cancel plans this afternoon, unless you’re willing to come over. I had an adventure that I’d really rather have skipped, and I’m…covered in bandages and on antibiotics.” The antibiotics were specially formulated for witchblood, but they were still antibiotics.

“Um, I’ll be over. Two-thirty?”

“Can we make it three-thirty? I need lunch and a little nap, if I can.”

“I’ll be there. Oh, by the way, I thought you’d like to know—I passed the test. I’m to be initiated at next Saturday’s meeting! I’m so excited,” Crystal said.

“Well, that’s one spot of bright news in a day filled with pain,” I said. “I’ll see you this afternoon. We’ll celebrate with homemade mochas and cookies. I’ll ask Astra if she’ll bake.”

“You don’t have to do that—I can bring some from my shop. I made oatmeal cranberry bars,” she said. “I know you love those.”

Happy with that thought, I said goodbye and called Ginger.

“Hey,” I said. “I feel so guilty, but I was hurt today and I can’t make dinner. I’m not blowing you off, I promise.”

“What happened?” she asked.

“I went on a field trip up to Hollow Hill and was attacked by a ferandal.”

“Hollow Hill? What the hell were you doing there?”

“Hey, it was my teacher’s idea,” I said. I told her about all the puncture wounds.

“Let’s reschedule. Your teacher’s an asshole. He should know that’s not the place to take anybody who isn’t prepared.”

We rescheduled for the next Friday, and she told me how lucky I was and that I should report my teacher.

After that, I went in the dining room for lunch. I wanted to get to know Kyle better, and to find a way to thank him. He’d been a rock for me today, and without him, I would have been in a lot worse trouble. Jason hadn’t helped until things had already gone south.

“I’m thinking of dropping cryptozoology,” I said, settling into my chair. “I don’t trust Jason any farther than I can throw him. Ginger thinks I should report him to the school for negligence.”

“You have a point. I don’t think he was prepared at all today,” Kyle said.

“What on earth happened?” Astra ladled out clam chowder and handed me a basket of dinner rolls, fresh out of the oven.

“Nothing I ever anticipated,” I said. I told her about the trip and what happened. “I’m not certain I ever want to see another pig, outside of a BLT or a ham sandwich.”

“Ferandals are dangerous,” Astra said. “I’ve seen one before, and they’re trained to kill. The Overkings use them. I won’t say the Fae, because the members of the Fae who interact with our world aren’t about to keep a ferandal around.”

“What do they use them for?” Kyle asked.

Astra stared at her plate. “For hunting down those who defy them, and those who they want to punish. The Overkings…the Fae…can be ruthless and cruel. It’s dangerous to get involved with them, and it’s dangerous to make enemies of them. I know you like the two women you’ve met, Maisy, but be cautious. While they may stick to the honor code, they probably have family who don’t.”

I nodded, taking her warning to heart. “I was going to meet Ginger for dinner, but I called her and we rescheduled.”

“How much have you had to do with the Fae?” Kyle asked my aunt.

She paused, then said, “Not much, but enough to know that I want to steer clear of them. They live by different rules than we do. That’s fine, but I don’t want to be on the receiving end of their rules.” She smiled. “So, Kyle, tell us a bit about yourself.”

He shrugged. “Well, I’m a computer tech and I’ve been working on opening up my own business. I’m about a month away from it. I’m actually a techno witch—I have a magical connection with technology. In fact, I’m going to call my business ‘Tech Mage.’ I’m an intuitive programmer—I can sense what’s wrong with a computer.”

I noticed that he was cautious not to tell Astra that he was currently working security in a fetish bar. She wouldn’t have cared, but he must have run into resistance before.

“That’s cool,” I said. “I’ve never heard of that.”

“Magic and the witchblood are evolving with the times. I was just born this way. The Aseer was surprised when she assessed me. I’m the first witch she’s assessed as one, although it’s a growing community. She said she thinks it’s because my father was heavily involved with the computer community, and he worked with computers from the time he could barely read. It seemed to infuse itself with his magic. My mother’s a mathematician, and that, too, seems ingrained within her magic.” He smiled, looking every inch the cute geek that he was.

“That’s fascinating,” I said. I was trying to think of a nonintrusive way to ask if he was married, without sounding like I was on the hunt.

Aunt Astra solved that problem. “Are you married?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No, actually. I was engaged once, but she wanted a more exciting life than I could provide. I’m more interested in curling up on the sofa with a good movie on Saturday nights, with a pizza and a bottle of wine, than I am climbing a mountain or flying down to Mexico for the weekend. Maybe I’m boring, but at least I’m honest.”

“That sounds good to me,” I said, raising my eyebrows. “Dan and I spent our weekends at the farmers market, or at the beach with a picnic, or…well…things like that. We were quiet, but happy.”

“Dan?” Kyle said. “Are you married?”

I shook my head. “I was, but Dan was killed by a drunk driver a few years back.”

“I’m so sorry,” he said, and by his tone, I truly believe that he was.

“Do you have any pets?” Astra asked.

He laughed. “No, but I love animals. I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. My ex-fiancée didn’t want pets, and I gave in because…well…you learn to compromise. But that would be a dealbreaker if I ever get engaged a second time. I may not have pets, but I want the option.”

We focused on lunch then, and as the pain reliever set in, I began to get sleepy. It was a bit after one p.m . when I finally couldn’t keep my eyes open.

“Listen, Kyle, thanks so much. I appreciate everything you did today. But I’m so tired. I’m going to take a nap. Auntie, can you drive Kyle back to his car?”

“Of course,” she said, motioning to Kyle. “We should let Maisy get some sleep. I’ll take you to your car.”

Before she left, she saw me into my bed. I set my alarm for three-fifteen, then changed into a loose sundress that didn’t bother my scratches. As I climbed into bed, ignoring the puncture marks all over my arms, knees, and shins, I thought I’d struggle getting to sleep, but before Astra and Kyle could leave, I was out, into a dreamless sleep.