"Yes, I'm ready," he replied. "Let's do it." He smiled faintly.
"I give that a nine," I said, and brought the last two pieces of the puzzle together.
26
The moment the pieces touched, I braced myself for a blinding flash. I half expected to be knocked back on my ass, or worse.
Instead the pieces just bound together and formed a disc with a diameter of about a metre across.
"Is that all?" Fletcher sounded almost disappointed.
"At least the world didn't end," Saff said over my shoulder.
I jumped. "I thought you were staying back?"
"It seemed safe enough now," he said.
"Yes, I suppose it does." I eyed the disc as it lay in the sand. I expected it to do something, but it looked like nothing more than a circular chunk of metal. I couldn't even discern any gaps where it had melded itself.
"I'm no expert, but that doesn't look like the veil I came through," Fletcher remarked. "It's just a…" He shrugged.
I took Saff's hand behind my shoulder and touched the disc.
Nothing.
"Maybe we need to stand on it?" Huon came up beside Saff. Without waiting for a response, he stepped onto the disc. It rocked slightly and sank into the sand under his weight. A handful of grains covered one side, but slid off when he adjusted his footing.
He held out his hands expectantly, but dropped them when he didn't disappear.
"You might need Summer or Fletcher with you," Saff suggested.
"No," Ash said slowly. "Can you step aside, please." He nodded to Huon.
Huon looked perplexed, but walked off to the side and crossed his arms over his chest.
"What are you thinking?" I asked Ash. "Is the key tugging you at all?"
"It's—" He scratched his temple. "I believe it's trying to tell me something. We need to flip the disc over."
"Um, all right." It made as much sense as anything else did right now. I gripped a section, while Fletcher did the same. It was heavier than it looked, but we turned it over.
I gasped and dropped the disc. It bore the same symbol as the trapdoor had, a rose surrounded by knots.
"All right, this is officially not a coincidence," I declared.
Fletcher murmured his agreement. His face looked pale.
"I think we know what we need to do," Ash remarked.
"Oh, you finally figured it out." Khat appeared, winding himself around Saff and Huon's legs for a better look. "It took you long enough."
"I didn't see you helping," Huon remarked darkly.
"I wasn't, I was staying out of the way," Khat said.
"If you had the answer all along, you could have—" I started.
Khat held up a paw. "I didn't, I just thought you were all smart enough to solve it quickly. At least you did it. Now, we're stepping through, right? Um, maybe one of you should go first?" He backed up a few steps.
"Scaredy-cat," Saff said.
"Damn right," Khat replied. "It just means I'm smart."
"Interesting theory," Huon remarked.
"Fuck off," Khat said in Huon's voice.
The king only grinned in response.
"He's right about one thing," Ash said, obviously trying to get the conversation back on track. "We need to decide who is going to the human realm and who isn't."
"I'm going," Fletcher said. "We'll need my help there."
"We?" I asked. I tried to contain the knot of hope in my chest.
He blinked. "Of course. I'm in this to the end. With you." He gave me a soft smile that made my heart flip."
"Me too," Saff said cheerfully. "It's not like I have anything better to do and well…" He blushed as red as his hair. "Summer is pretty amazing."
I blushed then too. "It's my favourite season."
"You're hotter than any summer," he said.
My face was burning. "I… thanks."
"I am also coming," Ash said. "If I am any kind of foretold, then I would assume I have to be involved in some way." He inclined his head toward me. "And I also find myself captivated by you."
"She's going to get a really big head," Huon declared, "but I feel the same way. If I haven't made it clear in the past."
"There have been moments," I agreed. "I thought you hated me for the longest time."
"No, I'm just an idiot who had no idea how to express my feelings." He shrugged with one shoulder.
"That sounds accurate," Saff said. "You've never told me how much you like me either."
"Maybe I don't?" Huon teased.
Saff pouted. "You wound me."
Huon patted him on the shoulder. "You'll live."
"While that's probably true," Ash said, "you, King Huon, should stay here in the fae realm."
Silence followed that statement.
"I beg your pardon," Huon spluttered. "If you think I'm going to—"
"You do have a kingdom to run," I said regretfully.
"I know I do," he replied. "But what sort of king would I be if I sat aside and let you all risk yourselves?"
"An alive one?" Saff suggested. "A smart one?"
"A cowardly one," Huon said, as determined as ever. "I need to do this, to prove I'm worthy of the crown."
"If he wants the respect of the trolls, he should go," Tavar said quietly. She stared Ash down and then added, "I will stay here. Someone will need to guard the veil. I'll have the other bands join me here in doing that. We'll ensure no one follows, or destroys this portal. Besides, I wouldn't go unnoticed in the human realm."
"That's true," I said. "I think having a guard out here would make me feel better anyway."
Tavar nodded and stepped back.
"Have you finished with all your sentimental nonsense?" Khat asked. "Everyone cares about Summer, they all care about her, even Tavar who is going to cover her ass. Now, can we get going?"
"Are you volunteering to go first now?" Huon asked, looking amused,
"No, I just want you to hurry up," Khat replied. "My kittens await!"
"Are you sure they're yours?" Saff asked.
When Khat gave him a filthy look, he just grinned.
"I vote he goes first," the mimicat said.
"I think I should go first," Fletcher said. "I'm probably the most dispensable of us."
"No one is dispensable," Huon said firmly. "Like it or not, you're one of us now. You might not have wings, but you're our brother." He turned to Saff and Ash. "Right?"
"Yep, you're stuck with us." Saff patted Fletcher's shoulder.
"I agree," Ash said simply.
"See." Huon grinned. "Beside, you're much less annoying than Saff."
"Or Huon," Saff said without missing a beat.
I rolled my eyes. "All right, we all agree. We're all in this together, come what may. However, I think we need to go through together as well." Assuming the disc actually was a portal and led to the human realm. We could be about to descend into the seven hells yet.
I crouched and picked up a handful of sand.
"What are you doing?" Huon asked.
"Just testing a theory," I said. I held my hand over the disc and let the sand trickle between my fingers. When it touched the symbol, it disappeared, as though absorbed by it.
I waited, in case it was spat back like the stick and Saff had been. There was no doubt in my mind now that the anchor had been tossed onto the beach by the seafae. Had they kept it safe on the sea floor for a thousand years, waiting for us to come along? The idea that someone had planned all of this was disconcerting, especially if we were chosen in some way. I had always thought prophesies were silly, and best kept in children's stories, but it seem as though we were living one right now.
What ending did it foretell then? Hopefully a happy one.
"All right, here we go then." I took Fletcher's hand. Huon took the other one. Khat pressed himself against my legs.
I stepped toward the disc in unison with Fletcher, the others right at my back. I didn't know where this would lead, but I knew I would have four
amazing men by my side for the journey. Whatever happened, we would take care of each other. The gods knew if it would blossom into love, but I looked forward to finding out.
We've found the key in troll territory, now it was time to find the key from the human realm. And we would, I felt that in my heart. No matter what was thrown at us, we would prevail.
Together.
Epilogue
I held my breath and stepped onto the symbol. I felt the same tugging sensation as I had when the pieces of the disc were drawn to each other. This time, however, I was the one being drawn. Down and down, into the disc.
I started to panic a little, but Huon squeezed my hand.
"We can do this." His voice sounded distant, as though he was speaking through a tunnel.
My vision blurred and the beach became a vague wash of yellows and blues. I felt like I was spinning, faster and faster until I became dizzy. Keeping my feet became a challenge.
I bit back a scream.
I heard a voice, but I couldn't make out the words.
"Huon? Fletcher?" My own voice garbled, the words tore away as they left my lips.
Someone called out again, but they sounded far away.
All right, I want to get off this now, I thought.
Time wore on. The world spun so quickly I couldn't make out anything but a smudge, interspersed with colour here and there.
My last meal left my stomach and sat in my throat, thick and heavy. I swallowed it back down.
Panic rose again, but this time there was no hand there to comfort me, so sense of having one of my lovers nearby. There was nothing. No one one,
I was alone.
I threw back my head and screamed.
No sound came out.
A tear slid down my cheek and dripped off my chin.
Then everything stopped and I was thrown hard to the ground. I lay there winded for several long moments.
Gradually, I became aware of grass underneath me. I cracked my eyes open. Trees, flowers, a box on a stick of wood. On the box was the number 42.
I lifted my head. A building sat nestled at the edge of the grass. A house. Another sat beside it. And another.
I pushed myself up and sat. "Fletcher? Huon? Saff?" I looked around frantically. "Ash?"
No answer came but the distant barking of a dog.
"Khat?" I said, half to myself. Even his company would have been welcome, but there was no one and no sign of a disc, or anything which hinted at a veil.
I was in the human realm, but I was alone, with no way to know how I would get home, or if I could.
"Well fuck," I muttered.
**
Will Khat keep cockblocking Summer and Ash? Will they find the second key?
Find out in Glimmer, available now.
Have you read Wild Magic yet?
About the Author
Maggie Alabaster is the reverse harem and fantasy romance pen name of fantasy author Mirren Hogan.
She lives in NSW, Australia with one spouse, two daughters, dog, cat, rabbits and countless birds.
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Also by Maggie Alabaster
Academy of Modern Magic
Book 1 Digital Magic
Book 2 Virtual Magic
Book 3 Logical Magic
Clockwork Correctional Academy
The Toymaker
The Alchemist
The Aeronaut
Summer’s Harem
Book 1: Shimmer
Book 2: Glimmer
Book 3: Flicker
Wild Magic
Jingle All the Way
Collections
Hearts of Darkness
Once Upon a Fairytale Night
Wicked Souls reverse harem collection
Also by Maggie Alabaster and Erin Yoshikawa
Caught by the Tide
Book 1–Pursued by Shadows (coming soon)
Book 2 Pursued by Darkness (coming soon)
Book 3 Pursued by Monsters (coming soon)
Also by Mirren Hogan
Crimson Magic
Book 1 Crimson Fire
Book 2 Crimson Fury
Book 3 Crimson Fate
The Dragonhall Chronicles
The Dragonwar Trilogy
The Dragonwar Trilogy complete collection
Book 1 Dragonwar
Book 2 Dragonwings
Book 3 Dragonfall
The Reasoner Trilogy
The Reasoner Trilogy complete collection
Book 1 Dragonhaze
Book 2 Dragonstorm
Book 3 Dragonblood
The Chadanar Cycle
Child of Fire (novella)
Book 1 Daughter of Shadows
Book 2 Son of Solace
Book 3 Ashes of Chadanar
Stand alone
Night Witches
Stand alone with Erin Yoshikawa
Lesser of Two
Shimmer (Summer's Harem Book 1) Page 16
