"You have to trust me."
The words hung in the lavender-scented air, heavy and suffocating.
Ren raised a skeptical eyebrow, looking from the glowing blue root in Vex's hand to his uncharacteristically solemn face.
"You make it sound so easy," she muttered, crossing her arms.
Trust him? Ren didn't trust this tricksy fox as far as she could throw him—and considering he was a six-foot-plus wall of muscle, that wasn't very far. He had done nothing but give her reasons to not trust him.
"Why?" Ren asked, her voice sharp. "Why do I need to trust you?"
Vex stepped closer, the neon blue veins of the root pulsing in his grip.
"Because," he said, his voice dropping to a serious, almost clinical tone. "I need both you and Kael to drink the sap from this root. No questions asked."
Ren bristled immediately. "Excuse me? Drink a glowing mystery juice? No questions asked? That sounds like the start of a series of very bad decisions."
