by Megan Marple
I raised a brow. “Really? Anything that might help us once we’re in Arcadia?”
The air shimmered around the Gateway and I stepped through, hot air rushing out me from all sides until I was surrounded by the warm sunshine peeking in through the edge of Amaranth Forest. Gentry stepped onto the grassy path and dusted off his cloak. “Perhaps. But if we’re smart about it, we shouldn’t run into any problems along the way.”
Just the mere fact that he said that as casually as possible made me wonder if he hadn’t just jinxed us. The last thing I needed was dealing with a pissed-off fairy.
Every time I stepped back into Spell Haven I felt more at home, and this time was no exception. I didn’t want to admit it to anyone—especially Fiona-Leigh—but I was starting to see the parts of my homeland that used to shine the brightest to me. In my head I always just considered them to be romanticized memories but standing on the soft grass that I used play on when I was little, I knew that wasn’t the case. Everything I imagined was just as beautiful as it always was in my memories.
But it was hardly the time to wax poetic about it, so I pulled my hair up and away from my face and retrieved my wand.
Gentry clapped his hands together, looking more excited than I’d ever seen. Not that this was saying much since I’d never actually seen him looking remotely close to excited, but still.
“It’s been a while,” he said, facing toward the south. “The last time I traveled to Arcadia I was just graduating from the Inner Sanctum. Only a few years after you, actually.”
It was honestly hard to imagine Gentry as anything younger than his tall, brooding self. And I wasn’t even going to touch the comment that referenced me being the older one out of the two of us. “I’ve only been twice, ever. And it was just as disorienting the second time. I can’t believe you lived there for years on end.” The thought kind of gave me the creeps, to be honest. The Fae were very secretive, and it only made me wonder more about Gentry’s background and why he was living there in the first place.
As if he could read my mind, he shrugged. “It’s certainly an acquired taste. But I didn’t know anything else, so it made it much easier to accept. Plus, I was entrusted to a Fae family who had experience in dealing with witchlings. They took me in as their own for many years before I ended up here.”
Guilt rose up inside, sitting at the top of my throat. As much as Gentry tended to annoy the heck out of me, I’d never really given it much thought about how he came to be where he was. It must have been hard growing up as a witch without a proper elder to show you how to harness and use your magic. The Fae have their own magic, but it’s different and unattainable to us. It reminded me of how hard I tried to protect Fiona-Leigh from a situation like that.
We headed down the road in silence with the sun only barely peeking through the clouds above. Every now and then I’d glance up and wonder what kind of weather we should expect from Arcadia today, but even I knew there were just some things that even my magic couldn’t predict.
“It must have been hard. Growing up there,” I finally said, realizing I wasn’t quite done with the conversation. “Did you have anyone to teach you?”
It was pretty clear to me however, that Gentry was not in the mood to chat about his past. “When did this become a game to you? Asking me questions as though you actually care—have you already given up on your brother?” he snapped. His gaze was sharp enough to cut through a block of ice.
I held my fists steady at my side. Nope, I take it all back. I don’t feel sorry for a real piece of work like Gentry Whitemourn after all. Pendant buzzing against my chest aside, I held it together.
“You know, you wouldn’t be so hard to get along with if everything you did wasn’t either antagonizing or rude. Has anyone ever told you that?”
Despite his attitude being in serious need of an adjustment, I could’ve sworn I caught the corner of his mouth quirking up for a split second.
“I’d dignify that with a response, but I wouldn’t want to hurt your feelings and come across too rude,” he replied, walking ahead of me.
This was going to be a long day.
The countryside sloped up and down, winding around bends here and there. The further we got from the Gateway’s position in Amaranth Forest, the further my thoughts sank into the back of my mind. We must have walked a good three miles before I had the sense to wonder why we weren’t just using a carriage or some other transport.
“We need to keep a low profile,” Gentry said, as if it were plain and obvious. “If we waltz into Arcadia in a MARC-appointed transport I have this crazy feeling we might just blow our cover.”
My jaw locked in place. I had to remain calm. Calm. Zen. Focused. “Right.”
We’d only managed another half a mile or so when the steep valley appeared in front of us, covered in patches of clover and wildflowers. Gentry stopped short, surprising me as I kept walking until I looked back over my shoulder, curious.
“You all right?”
He gave me a stiff nod, but there was no doubt in my mind that the determined look on his face softened the moment he saw it—Arcadia’s towering castle that was more mirage-hazy the longer you looked at it.
And the closer we got, the more the air seemed to press in on me, the Fairy magic at play.
26
The Arcadian borders were about more than simply crossing an imaginary line on a road. The Fae were an ancient people who knew just the way to ensnare every one of your senses, and this came across in their passive defenses.
The moment you stepped a toe onto their land it whispered to you with its sweet-scented wind. The colors were an enchanting mix of pastels and vibrant hues depending on where the Fae wanted your focus. No one made it into Arcadia without their knowledge.
For witches, you’re made to feel like your head was filled with sickeningly sweet cotton-candy—the smell of it, the taste of it even. Like a delicious brain fog you couldn’t and wouldn’t want to escape. If you made it far enough into the land of the Fae, you got to witness its scenery that was straight from a fairy-tale. Which of course, made total sense. The Fae’s aesthetic was ethereal nature, and nothing had the penchant for pulling in a magical being like a beautiful landscape.
Standing on the edge of these ancient lands reminded me of the last time I was here on MARC business. I guess this time isn’t too far from it, either.
“Well? Are we just going to stand around and hope that we’ll find what we’re looking for here?” Gentry’s snide remark probably would’ve hit harder if he didn’t sound quite so nervous himself. I honestly couldn’t imagine what it must have been like living in Arcadia as a witch. Maybe that was why he was so nervous.
“I’m scouting the hillside,” I said, pulling out my wand to perform a distance vision spell. The spell caused my pupils to dilate until I could see so much clearer hundreds of feet away. The far hillside was dotted with bushes and a jackrabbit darting in between them for food. The animal’s presence gave me a little relief since faeries loved hunting jackrabbits. If he was out there jumping around then he probably didn’t sense anything nearby.
I took in a huge gulp of air and stepped over the boundary into Arcadia, looking back at Gentry. “You coming?” I ignored the eye-roll and continued to take a few more steps, hyper-aware of any changes.
Everything was even more beautiful on this side of Arcadia. The sounds of birds signing in the thick treetops, the distant echo of crickets quietly chirping, and even my own heartbeat was all more noticeable here.
I almost hated being so overly-cautious in such a lovely place. But the slow-moving thought of maybe pocketing my wand and enjoying the nice stroll down the path was enough to keep me on my toes. That was the tricky part about this place—sometimes you weren’t sure which thoughts were really your own.
The grassy path gave way to a simple stone road nearly a mile in. This was where travelers into Arcadia were usually met but there wasn’t a soul out, magical or otherwise.
&n
bsp; “Odd. Guess we don’t have to worry about the Royal Court today,” Gentry said, scratching his beard. “Let’s keep moving.”
The trees grew thicker together the further we went. Tall grass gave way to marshland and reeds on both sides of the path. When we reached a fork in the path, I paused, trying to remember which way led to the trading outpost I was gunning for.
“Which way is the outpost?” I wondered out loud, studying the color of the mud along the path. It was no longer brown but a salmon pink. Only in Arcadia would even the mud be pretty.
“We could go either way,” he replied, shrugging. “There’s more of a shortcut through the woods if we go this way, though.” He nodded toward the left path.
“A shortcut? What kind of shortcut?”
“The kind where we’re less likely to run into anyone along the way. That’s the goal, right?”
The left path didn’t look much different than the right, other than the path tightly winding around and out of sight. I didn’t like the idea of not knowing what was up ahead, but if Gentry knew the shortcut then it couldn’t be so bad.
Or at least that’s what I had to tell myself. “Yeah, okay. Lead the way.”
I kept expecting something to jump out at us around the bend in the path but the only thing we encountered was the sun sparkling off the glassy surface of a tranquil stream. I wanted to keep moving but something stopped me. The stream was deep and easily fifteen feet wide by us, but what caught my eye was the absolute stillness to it. Even with the sun reflecting off of it, there was no movement. How was that even possible?
While it was totally still, I could still hear the sound of water trickling from it. I looked over at Gentry, hoping that maybe he knew more about it.
“This place . . . I can’t remember it,” he said softly, walking over to where the reeds grew closer together along the bank.
“But I thought you lived here? This doesn’t look familiar to you?” The words came out syrupy and slow like molasses. Like my mouth didn’t want to move and fought against the sounds in my throat.
I took a few steps closer to the bank of this strange stream that suddenly looked much wider than I first thought. Even the air tasted sweeter, and the breeze coming off the water was cooling the sweat against my forehead.
I finally understood the pink mud now. The sand surrounding the stream, or really what I should be calling a river, glittered under the sunlight. And the sandy banks of the stream glowed a soft, soothing pink. I imagined scooping the sand into my hands with ease, letting the silky feel of it slip through my fingers. I bet it was warm… I bet it still glowed while it was in your hands…
The corners of my mind whispered to me. I’d seen this stream before somewhere, but I couldn’t bring myself to care about from where.
Gentry took a few slow steps forward, and I quickly followed. He wasn’t going to reach the stream before I did. I had to get to it first!
Ducking past him, I skirted around the edge of the bank where the tall thin reeds reached waist-high. They swayed peacefully from side to side even though there was no breeze to be found.
A hazy thought dripped down into my head as if someone had just poured maple syrup over me, and I smiled as I bent down. God, this was such a beautiful place. So peaceful. So quiet. No need to worry about whether I fed Jax this morning and paid my bills. No need to worry about finding Tristan. Or using my magic.
The quiet was sliced cleanly through by a piercing ringing that sounded way too much like my phone alarm in the morning, and I jumped back, clutching at my chest. Underneath my palm, the pendant I’d long forgotten vibrated so fast that I wasn’t one-hundred-percent sure I could keep it from breaking off the chain and flying away. I blinked, trying to get my bearings straight. What the heck was I doing, standing here on the edge of some random pond in Arcadia again?
The glowing pink bank seemed hazy even as I stared right at it. It didn’t make any sense—was I hallucinating or something?
It hit me all at once where we were. This wasn’t just any pond…This was the infamous River of Truth, and if I didn’t find a way to keep Gentry from diving in, he’d compromise our position the moment anyone questioned him.
“Shoot. Shoot, shoot, shoot! Gentry! Get back!”
I ran to him and yanked at the crook of his elbow, trying to get him to stop, but it was no use—he was stronger than me no matter how much I hated to admit it.
Digging my heels into the sandy muck, I shoved my arms underneath him in an attempt to keep him from moving forward.
“You’ve got to stop, Gentry! Stay. Back,” I said through my teeth. With nothing but a heavy haze clouding his eyes, he bared his teeth at me. One minute I was glaring right back at him, the next I was flying several feet through the air, my left hip catching most of the fall. I hissed as I rolled over, trying to push past the pain. Then there was that stupid piercing ringing again…
Wait. That was it! I yanked the pendant out from under my shirt and ran my thumb over the pulsing purple light. Gentry was only moments away from diving headfirst into the water and as much as I thought he could use a little loosening up, there was still the pesky business of keeping our presence in Arcadia on the low.
Ignoring the sharp pain in my hip, I pulled myself back up on my feet and held the pendant away from my chest. In my mind, I spoke the words, “Magic hear my call and bid. Bar him from the truth’s liquid.”
The pendant glowed brighter and brighter, hot to touch, but I held on as the light burst outward, zipping past Gentry just in time to seal its way around the large pond.
A sizzling noise had Gentry quickly backing away from the water the moment he tried to reach down and scoop some of it into his cupped hands. The whole pond had sealed itself from him.
I let out a sigh, totally relieved, and collapsed to my knees under the weight of the powerful magic.
I watched as Gentry tried a couple more times to touch the water, but by the third time it looked as though Arcadia’s grasp on his mind had finally vanished, and he stood there on the bank looking utterly confused.
“You know, for someone who used to live here, you sure kept quiet about this place. It probably would’ve been a good idea to tell me about the River of Truth being on the way in,” I said, sitting up.
He struck the side of his head with the flat of his palm almost like he was trying to knock something out of his ear. “It’s been so long . . .” He mumbled to himself. “I’d forgotten what it was like. I just can’t believe I fell for the water’s charms like that.” There was no imagining the shudder of his shoulders.
I kept my eyes on his every move, secretly assessing them all in my head based on my training. He was undoubtedly in a state of shock, but knowing his own training, he’d be able to rectify this himself without my intervening. At least if he was a competent Shadow Hand—and if he was my uncle’s right-hand man then I could only imagine he was.
His eyes lost the cloudy look to them, so maybe he had ended up knocking some sense into himself. Realization dawned on him as he shakily ran his hands over his head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to push you down like that.”
I nodded, the healing tincture I’d made sure to pack already well on its way through my system. “Well, it wasn’t one of your finer moments, but I get it. Apology accepted. Just . . . try and avoid the water on the way out of here, all right? Because next time I won’t be so nice about wrangling you.” I brandished my wand again, just to prove my point.
To my utter surprise, Gentry had nary a smart-mouth comment to make in response. “I don’t doubt it.” He hesitated for a minute before dropping his gaze back to the pinkish mud at his feet. “Thank you for . . . helping me.”
Did my ears deceive me or did Gentry really just say thank you? I cleared the surprised sound from my throat and shrugged. “It’s uh, no problem. We should probably keep moving though.”
He gave himself a once-over and stamped the mud from his thick boots. “Absolutely.”
Because Ar
cadia during the daylight hours is one thing, but Arcadia at night is a whole other beast to navigate.
27
I wasn’t surprised to see the technicolor filter slowly peel away from how I saw Arcadia once the pendant worked its magic at the River of Truth. The Fae saw no point in continuing their trickery on those who had already freed themselves of their pull.
It was long before the narrow winding road led out and through an open field with pale-colored wildflowers on either side. As much of a knowledge as I had when my mother used to run Spell Haven’s Apothecarium, I’d never seen flowers like these before. And that meant one thing— stay away.
Avoiding the possibly-lethal flora, I stopped for a moment to take a quick water break. “There’s something up ahead. Should we be worried?” I nudged the drink into Gentry’s hand, but he shook his head.
“Nothing to be too worried about. It’s the main trading outpost here. If anything, it’s probably the safest way to ask around about your brother’s whereabouts. They get all kinds through there. Shapeshifters, Vampires, Banshees, Gorgons, even the occasional rarity.”
“Occasional rarity?”
“I met a kitsune who was passing through, once,” he said, shrugging.
I raised a brow. “Interesting. I thought they were extinct.”
“You might be surprised. Plenty of magical beings keep their existence secret. But Arcadia provides them a safe haven of sorts to get whatever it is they need at the outpost. Magic of any sort is prohibited there, of course. Just in case. After all, this place can be a bit dangerous and dodgy. If you’re into that sort of thing.”
That didn’t sit easy in my stomach. “Oh, wonderful. And this is the place we should be going?”
