The Wind's Call (The Broken Lands #4) - T.A. White Page 0,138

only defending ourselves," Eva argued.

"Humans are deceitful, awful creatures. Better you all become my creations," Meredith said.

Meredith kissed the bug’s head and offered it one of her fingers. The gesture was loving. What the bug did was not. It struck, savaging Meredith's finger. The other woman's expression remained adoring, as blood the color of spring growth welled and dripped. It fell on the forest floor, rolling into emerald balls that shivered before sprouting legs and scuttling away.

That's what she had meant by babies. Those things were created from her blood.

"Even before I ascended to this form, humans treated me poorly because of how I looked," Meredith said. "They called me ghost. Said I was cursed because I was albino. I showed them what a curse truly was."

As they traveled, Eva caught glimpses of other woodlings frozen in various positions, horror at what had been done to them echoing in their expressions.

Whatever events had shaped Meredith, they didn't excuse what she had done. She was a monster, more so than any of the mythologicals Eva had known. She chose to be this thing, this stealer of life. For that, Eva had no sympathy for what was coming to her.

Because something would happen to end Meredith. Eva would make sure of it. There would be no more lost cities, changed at this woman's whim. No more bugs, no more woodlings, no more friends trapped in that unnatural state.

They came to a wall of brambles, thorns the length of daggers decorating them. They were so tightly interwoven there would be no getting through them unless you wanted to shred your skin to ribbons.

"I can feel you calling to me, whispering of all sorts of things." Meredith stopped and stared at the bramble wall. With a start, Eva realized she was speaking to her. "It won't work. I'm too strong for you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Eva said.

"Open it," Kelly ordered, interrupting.

Meredith glared. If Eva had been him, she would have put serious consideration into distancing herself from Meredith. The man didn't move, proving how stupid he really was. As if this entire journey hadn't already proved that.

All of the throwaways were. All their actions would lead to the destruction of the Highlands. If they really killed Caden, Fallon and the Trateri would be unstoppable.

Meredith waved her hand. The world breathed a sigh as the bramble briar wall rustled, branches peeling back to create a narrow opening.

Kelly and Meredith walked through.

Eva lingered. If she went through that, chances were she would be trapped on the other side until they let her go. There would be no chance to rescue Caden or Jason. She'd be at Meredith's mercy.

Laurell lingered beside her, the woman’s expression blank, her words silent. The force of her personality had been ripped out, leaving a shell of Eva’s friend behind.

Eva couldn’t stand to see her like this any longer. She rested her fingers on Laurell’s wrist, smearing the blue paste over where she thought the wound had been. Laurell didn’t move, not even to stop her or help her.

There was no immediately discernible reaction to the paste, leaving Eva with no idea if it had worked or not. All she could do was hope and pray she wasn’t too late.

Kent took her elbow, causing her to jump. Had he seen her using the poultice? She had no doubt Meredith would scream for her death if she was caught trying to save Laurell.

"Steady. Her creations might look pretty, but they're deadly. They're her own built-in warning system and they'll tear you apart before you take two steps,” Kent warned.

If he’d seen he wasn’t reporting her. Eva swallowed hard and stepped forward.

"Good girl," was the soft words.

She stepped through the briar wall and nearly gasped at the sight of three Kyren held in a viney prison, their wings pinned close to their back as thorns cut them.

It was difficult to swallow her disgust and rage when she caught sight of the briar choke chains fastened around their necks and bound to the ground.

She knew now who’d put the net and collar of thorns around Sebastian.

The Kyren's eyes were dull and painfilled. They barely reacted to the presence of new visitors. Their bellies were swollen and distended from advanced pregnancy.

"Vincent wants you to check them over and see how close they are to birthing their foals," Kelly said with a negligent wave of his hand.

Eva bit down fiercely on the words she wanted to say. This wasn't the herd. He wasn't a