Pine Tree Mary

Chapter 1-2

The forest spun around Hush, his legs threatened to fold underneath him, and all the while Petal’s menacing laugh echoed in his head.

Where were they?

He looked around. Mist was edging in from around the glade, but there were no sign of humans. He almost allowed a sob, but he didn’t dare risk it. If any of his sisters heard him cry, the next few days would be all the worse, and they had followed him before to watch his abhorrent trades.

Pine tree Marys were the mistresses of the forest, worshipped by hunters and wanderers. They ruled their kingdom of hazy forests and fens by luring men to them and ensnaring their souls. As long as the men remained faithful they were rewarded with pleasure and luck in hunting, should their interest wane the hulders’ bloodthirsty nature would surface.

Hush didn’t have the power to lure anyone to him and he elicited his sisters’ menacing nature simply by existing. He should’ve left the forest a long time ago, but he had nowhere to go. Hulders were a part of the woods, it would be impossible for him to blend in among humans. Humans didn’t have tails, their backs didn’t look like crumbling tree trunks, and they didn’t understand the importance of energy.

What would he do if Diamond didn’t show? It had happened before.

He slid down with his back against a tree and hugged his knees to his chest. Hunger scratched at his insides, clawing deep hollows to suck the marrow out of his bone along with his life energy. He could no longer hide the bones protruding through his paper-thin skin.

His fragility annoyed his sisters. He annoyed his sisters, but he couldn’t help existing. Something had gone wrong when he’d been born, but he couldn’t change it any more than they could.

He’d spent decades trying to live up to their expectations, and after he’d realized he never would, he’d spent another few decades trying to blend in with the forest and not be in their way.

An ant crawled up his leg and in under the tattered linen dress he wore. As the roar of humans invading the forest reached him, he brushed the ant away with his tail and tried to stand.

The wind whispered in his mind and the ground swayed underneath his feet. Hush buried his fingertips in the moss covering the tree trunk and waited.

Hunger was a peculiar phenomenon—he would do what they asked of him because he needed to feed. Had he had the options his sisters had he’d never have stooped this low, but what was guilt and defilement compared to starvation?

He could allow himself to fade, to wither and die. It would be easy, a couple more days, and he’d be gone, but there were moments worth living for. Moments when the woods were peaceful, when the animals shared their serenity, when the stream was warm and the moss soft under his body.

“There it is.”

Hush jumped as a man appeared next to him. He was worse off than he’d thought if he hadn’t noticed them stepping into the glade. Humans made more noise than moose.

“Secure him.”

Hush let out a sound of distress as the man next to him grabbed his arms and wound a thorny metal string around them. Sluggish drops of blood trickled onto his hands as the man pushed Hush’s back against the tree and wound the wire around the trunk and Hush’s torso.

“s**t, it really has a tail, a troll tail.” Troll? They clearly didn’t know what a troll looked like. Hush’s tail was long and smooth apart from a little tuft at the tip. Trolls were huge ugly creatures, tailless brutes of the mountains.

The man took a quick step back and Hush wrapped his tail around his pelvis so it wasn’t visible underneath the skirt of his dress. How could he have allowed it to drop around humans? Petal would shred his back.

“I told you.” The red-haired man stepping closer was one Hush recognized. He bowed his head, allowing a tress of long dark hair to fall forth. “Diamond.” Though why he wasn’t named Ruby Hush couldn’t understand, it would be fitting with his red hair.

“Hush.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

Hush glanced at the man who’d tied him up. Was he too named Hush? He’d assumed humans had richer names, like Diamond. Hush believed him to be a king, Diamond was the name of a king.

“I meant him, idiot.”

Hush winced and watched the lanky man who’d tied him up. i***t was a more terrible name than Hush. He missed the man called North—not only did he have a beautiful name, but he never hurt Hush, and he gave energy liberally.

“He didn’t say anything either.”

Diamond sighed but gestured for i***t to go fetch something, Hush pretended not knowing what he wanted until it was too late.

“You look like s**t, Hush. You need to eat more. You’re the only hulder who’ll work with me and I’ll need you at your best in the near future.” His chuckle was cold enough to make Hush shiver.

Idiot dropped a heavy bag by his feet and Hush raised his head to meet Diamond’s gaze.

“How many?” Diamond raised an eyebrow as he studied him.

“Two.”

The frown was instant. “Two? We normally do three, sometimes four.”

Hush didn’t have enough energy to do three. “Two now and two tomorrow.” Two feedings would almost get him back on his feet.

“I can’t be out on the streets two nights in a row, not now. There is too much at stake.”

“Two then.”

“Three.” He aimed a gun toward Hush’s mouth. “And next week you can do…ten perhaps?”

“I don’t have enough energy for three.” Ten? Hush had never done ten, not even spread out over ten days.

Diamond snorted but gestured at i***t. “Get to it.”

“What?”

“Wank.”

Idiot widened his eyes. “Are you serious?”

“It’s why you’re here, isn’t it?” Fire came to life in Diamond’s pale blue eyes, and for a moment they resembled the glow in Hush’s.

“I thought you were joking. I can’t jack off with an audience.”

“You can and you will or I’ll test how good the aim is on these guns without his help.”

Hush tried to move but froze as the metal thorns cut deeper into his skin. The fabric of his dress soaked up some of the blood, making it look like a field of poppies. He wished i***t could start, he wouldn’t be able to stay upright for much longer unless he was given some energy, and the metal spikes would cut him open way worse than they’d already had if he fell.

“Get to it, Mosley.” Diamond pushed the muzzle of the gun against Hush’s lips, the metal crushing his lip against his teeth, making pain explode. Hush ignored it and filled his lungs with air. As he blew into the barrel, he willed the gun never to miss its target. Magic snapped in the air, and the smell of thunderstorm and damp forest surrounded them as Hush poured his will into the weapon.