by Helen Bell
“That bastard dated Kyla?” Olivia had mentioned her daughter was secretly seeing someone. So it was Brad.
“He did,” she confirmed. “And she fell in love with him like the other Gifted humans. When I gave him Zoey’s name, I warned him that her heart belonged to someone else. She already had a lover.”
“Philippe.”
“Yes, Philippe. Brad insisted on wooing her despite that. However, she didn’t want him. Not only because of Philippe but also because her mind was occupied with you. Most of her time was spent looking for you. One night, she and I talked, and she revealed that a blind vampire with a scar on his face was helping her. Running a background check on him, I learned that he was an assassin. Zoey was not you; she wasn’t worth the trouble of having Thomas snooping around my business. I told Brad not to take Zoey, but it was too late; he’d already kidnapped her. The damage was already done, so I proceeded with the plan and ordered him to prepare the rooms for the challenges.”
“I watched the girls through a small camera installed in the rooms. Kyla died during the first challenge, but Zoey passed it and hid a piece of glass in her clothes. In the second room, she stayed in her place, and when the time ended, Roger pulled out his gun to shoot her. She was not a warrior like you, but she managed to distract Roger and pressed the piece of glass to Brad’s neck. She directed Roger to unlock the black door. Brad told him to do as she said while my brother and I dashed to the room to stop her, but the idiots let her escape, not willing to enter the Jungle.”
“Are you saying Zoey escaped?” My voice filled with surprise. A flicker of hope rose in my heart. Maybe Zoey had found a way out of the Jungle and back to our dimension after all.
“She did,” Kelly answered. “Not knowing whether Serena had already started to feed on Zoey, I had to search for her to keep her alive at all costs. The problem was that I didn’t bring the bag of human food with me, and the temporary gate had already closed. Zoey could have starved to death without it.”
“What about Damon’s witch? Why didn’t Brad ask her to teleport the bag to the Jungle?” I said.
“Magic that isn’t Herit’s doesn’t work in Ice Prison.”
“But opening a portal requires magic.”
“It stays on the border of Ice Prison. It doesn’t enter the Jungle. It can’t. I was the one who brought your bags here. After the challenges, I got into Ice Prison through a different portal. Damon’s witch created two temporary entrances, one for me, one for the chosen Gifted human,” she explained.
“Did you track Zoey down in the Jungle?” I needed to know what had happened to her.
“Eventually, yes. My brother and I followed her screams as she tried to get a prisoner off her. I killed him and the three others who heard her and came. In doing so, I exposed myself as an Ancient. She was shocked to know the truth about me and my real motives. After that, not only did she decline to lead me to Serena, but she also tried to kill herself with the piece of glass she’d kept, so the demon would die too. My brother stopped her in time and found a solution to our problem.
“Since Serena’s searching for a body to accommodate, she’ll draw any healthy human soul toward her by eating it slowly. If her victim doesn’t move to her over an extended period of time, she’ll feed on the soul in one suck, killing him or her instantly. Djar suggested we tie Zoey up in a tree house. When Serena realized that your sister was not moving in her direction, she’d eat up her whole soul at once.
“I was satisfied with that solution. Later on, Damon’s witch pulled me out of the Jungle, so I gave my brother the bag of human food, and he remained with your sister, protecting her until Serena was done feeding on her.”
I closed my eyes. Zoey was dead. Despair tore through my chest until it was hard to breathe.
“I was sad too, Sydney. I hated doing it.”
I opened my eyes, and red colored my vision. “Will you shut up? You don’t get to ta—ahhhhgh!” A sharp pain exploded near the crown of my head.
My surroundings blurred. I blinked a few times, but everything around me became more unfocused.
“I’m afraid our time has come to an end. Your eyes are turning black, a sign that Serena has eaten fifty percent of your soul. Now she’s ready to enter your body,” she said matter-of-factly.
Panicking, I tried to yank my arm from her iron grip, but I wasn’t able to break loose. With her free hand, she reached into her cleavage and pulled out something. I squinted at what looked like a small container, the size of a mini-alcohol bottle. She drew out the cork with her teeth and threw its contents to the ground a few feet away from us. The smell of sulfur hit my nose.
“What the hell is that?”
“Serena’s blood. Damon’s witch magic can’t free the demon from her cell. That’s why he gave me her blood. If it comes in contact with the ground near her presence, the smell of her blood will restore her power to pass through solid objects. She’ll be able to free herself from her box. And then Brad will ask Damon’s witch to open a temporary portal close to us.”
“How does he know where you are?” God, I hoped he didn’t, and she and her demon would rot in here for eternity.
“I have a tracker on me. It can locate anything anywhere, even in another dimension.”
My vision continued to deteriorate; objects around me ceased to have distinct outlines. One last time, I tried to get free with the little strength I had left. Then, complete darkness surrounded me. I was blind. Heat touched my body, almost burning me. Something crashed into me, and it felt like being hit with endless electric shocks.
“I did it, Serena. You’re free,” Kelly’s voice announced, exhilaration in her tone.
Chapter 27
I woke up drenched in a cold sweat, gasping and panting. It took a few seconds before awareness settled in. I sat up and glanced around, realizing I was in a familiar setting—my dorm room. I looked down at my palm. No tattoo, no countdown number, no black magic. My eyes darted around the room. No sign of Serena, Kelly, or the Jungle. I let out a deep exhale as I shook my head and rubbed my hands over my face. It was all just a dream—an extremely vivid one, but still a dream. God, what a nightmare!
Rays of sunlight slanted through the window. I glanced over at my clock on the nightstand. Nine a.m. Shit! I was going to be late for class. Why the hell hadn’t the alarm gone off? I threw back the covers, jumped out of bed, brushed my teeth, then rushed to my closet. I pulled out a pair of washed-out jeans and a shirt. Laurel was sleeping in her bed across from mine, and she was very much alive, if her loud snoring was any indication. I half-smiled to myself as I quickly dressed and stuffed everything I needed for school today into my backpack. Then I hitched it onto my shoulder, put my sunglasses on, slid into my sneakers, and hurried outside, skipping breakfast. It was a sunny day with a cloudless blue sky. I smiled. Finally, a break from the rain. The campus was already buzzing with activity, students bustling in all directions.
“Hey Syd, wait up.” I heard June’s voice behind me as I hurried to the philosophy building.
I turned, walking backward. “Sorry, June, I’m seriously late for class. Talk to you later.”
She stopped moving toward me and waved a hand in the air. “Yeah, no prob. I’ll see you.”
A few minutes later, I reached the lecture hall. Professor Reed had just rolled in too, so I rushed to my seat and slipped into the chair.
“Morning, sunshine. Glad you made it. Hot date last night?” Ethan whispered from the seat next to me as Professor Reed started his lecture.
My eyes moved to Ethan. He looked a bit sad.
“I wish, but no. Just overslept. Even Laurel’s snoring didn’t wake me up, and my stupid alarm decided not to work this morning. Where were you yesterday? Laurel waited for you.”
“Yeah, sorry. ’Bout that. Kimberly called …”
I gave him a sympathetic look. “Talking to exes you still have feelings for is a big no-no. You gotta meet someone new. Heal your heart. Oh, by the way, Josie, y
ou know, my neighbor across the hall, has a major crush on you. She thinks you’re cute. You should totally ask her out.” This drew an offended look from him.
“Cute? What am I, a puppy? Thanks, but it’s gonna be a hard pass for me. Besides, I’m kinda dating Cheryl now.”
My lips parted with surprise. “Cheryl? Really?” Was she his type?
A guy in the row ahead of us turned to shush me, so I pulled out my notebook, opened it, and wrote down: are you coming to Laurel’s this weekend? If you are, bring Cheryl with you.
“I haven’t decided yet,” he whispered and received a glare from the student who had silenced me. We kept quiet, and our focus went to Professor Reed’s lecture.
When it was over, Ethan walked me outside the philosophy building, and he got a call from Cheryl. As he answered, I texted Zoey, telling her about my possible hiking plans with Laurel and asking whether she wanted me to stop by her college if I went to Laurel’s.
She texted back, saying she’d be busy studying for an exam and maybe next time. I put my phone back in my jeans pocket. Strangely, any desire to go hiking with Laurel on Friday vanished, and I decided to spend the weekend at home instead. Ethan finished talking on the phone, and we headed to the cafeteria.
The sun disappeared behind the clouds, and I pushed my sunglasses to the top of my hair. The air suddenly took on a chill, the wind picking up. I looked up. The clouds had turned gray. Weird. A loud rumble of thunder pierced the sky. I halted and crossed my arms over my chest, gripping my biceps and hunching over, the wind blowing hair into my face.
“Why are we stopping?” Ethan sounded confused.
“It’s about to rain, but literally a second ago it was sunny and warm. Don’t you find it a bit odd?”
His brow wrinkled with puzzlement. “No. What’s going on with you today? You seem off.”
“I don’t know. Something suddenly doesn’t feel right. I have—” My words stuck in my throat when my gaze fell on a man emerging from the building across from us.
He wore black leather pants and a tight white T-shirt showcasing his toned muscles. He was marching toward me, his intense stare gluing mine to his. My jaw dropped at his gorgeousness. Unutterably beautiful. Utterly stunning. A fallen angel.
He stopped in front of me, well over six feet tall, broad shoulders, a square jaw, a symmetrical face with clear turquoise eyes and flawless skin. His straight, silky hair was silvery-blond and reached his shoulders, tips of pointed ears poking out from it. A stern expression covered his stunning features.
Ethan said something to me, but I didn’t hear it. The gorgeous stranger took my undivided attention. He looked mysterious and dangerous. I was curious. Who was he?
Rain began to fall on my face, shaking me out of the trance.
The man extended his arm to me. “Come with me.”
Despite my better judgment, I reached out, but before my hand could touch his, Ethan shouted, “Are you crazy? What are you doing? The dude is a total stranger.”
Yes, he was. I didn’t know him. Where did he want to take me?
“No.” I snapped my arm back to my side. “My friend’s right. Who are you? What do you want with me?”
“Don’t listen to him. Take my hand. Trust me.” That voice … I’d heard it before. When? Where?
“He could go all Ted Bundy on you. Don’t go with him. C’mon, let’s go. I’m starving,” Ethan said, and another clap of thunder tore through the sky.
I took a few steps away from the man, and a frown of worry creased his brow.
“You must take my hand. Now. I cannot force you. You have to do it willingly. We don’t have much time.” There was an urgency in his tone.
Ethan tugged at my arm. “He’s mental. Come on, let’s go. It’s raining, and I’m getting soaked here.”
“Wait,” I told Ethan. “Look at him. Something’s wrong. We’re both wet, but he’s dry. Why isn’t he wet?”
Ethan grabbed my arm again. “You’re tired, forget about him.” He steered me away from him. The distance between us grew. Ethan’s hand fell from mine. My eyes widened with horror when his fingers started to crumble into ash, then his arm, his shoulder, his face. As Ethan disappeared, shocked, I glanced around me. Buildings, cars, people, and trees turned into pieces of ash and blew away in the wind. Then, in a blink, night fell, and the moon and stars decorated the sky.
What the hell? What was going on? While objects vanished around me, a large crack opened in the ground under my feet, and I plunged into it. I screamed, terrified. The gorgeous stranger appeared from above, standing on the edge of the hole, watching me as I fell. Magnificent white, feathered angel wings spread from his back, tearing his shirt to shreds. He dove to me and caught my body in midair. Holding on to him, I wrapped my arms around his neck as he flew upward, back to the edge of the hole. He landed on solid ground and put me down. His wings folded to his sides. Was I dreaming?
He stuck his arm out for me once more. “Sydney, come with me before it’s too late.”
“You know my name.” I stared at his extended hand, hesitating as chaos churned around us, the wind whipping my hair into my face.
“I do. You must trust me.”
For some reason, I suddenly did. I took his hand. The second our skin touched, a door popped into existence behind him. He led me to it.
Before opening it, he turned to warn me. “After you pass through, don’t look at me.”
I nodded and stepped through the open door. On the other side, a jungle welcomed me. It was night, and the ground was wet from a recent rain. As I looked around, it all came rushing back. I was in Ice Prison where Kelly had held me against my will.
“Oh my God, Serena,” I said with panic.
“I ended the demon’s existence, but I had to let the night creature escape in order to save your life. Time was running out, and you were dying,” a deep velvet voice said from behind me. I recognized it. Oberon, The King of the Fae, was here with me. I felt his strong presence.
I resisted the urge to flip around and look at him. “Where was I?” Why did I relive the day I’d told Laurel I’d come to that hiking trip?
“To insert herself into your body without resistance, the demon temporarily locked your soul inside your subconscious, where you wouldn’t be able to fight her. After I eliminated her, you were trapped there, creating your own reality.”
Made sense that my subconscious would pick that day to relive. If only I had changed my mind and said no, I wouldn’t be in this nightmare.
“Why did you wait for my permission to take me out the door?” I asked.
“Forcing you out of your subconscious is dangerous. It might have killed you. It had to be your choice to step out and regain control of your body,” he explained.
Feeling no pain, no more headaches or weakness, I glanced down at my palm. The black magic was still there, and the number had jumped to 700. “I’m not sick anymore.”
“I was able to heal your soul in this pocket dimension as it doesn’t require using magic. It is now whole again,” he said.
My mind was still hazy, but I remembered I hadn’t died from a heart attack when my eyes had been on Oberon. “How come I could look at you earlier without dying?”
“I am a royal fae. My body contains an immense amount of magic, which your human eyes are incapable of translating. They perceive it as a tremendous fear. A fear that stops a human heart from beating. In your subconscious, your soul was looking at me, not your eyes,” he answered.
I sighed, shaking my head in disbelief. “I can’t believe you’re here. You are actually here. Have you any idea how many times I’ve tried to contact you? You left me with no explanations. Why did you save me back then and now? How did you know I was in danger? Oh, and the tattoo, do you know who did this to me? Who ruined my—”
“Sydney!” Gideon’s distant voice called out.
“Gideon?” I whispered in shock. What was he doing in the Jungle? How had he entered Ice Prison?
&nbs
p; I opened my mouth to call back to him when Oberon spoke. “You should hear what I have to say before the night creature arrives here.”
Confusion roiled through me as I wondered what that was about. “Okay, uh, I’m listening.”
“Since the demon prisoner didn’t have a body, she was too weak to completely digest the last soul she’d fed on.”
“The last soul?” I repeated.
“Zoey’s soul. I healed and freed it when I ended the demon’s existence. However, without her body, it will soon be gone from this world. If you wish Zoey to live again, you must cast the night creature called Gideon out of your life.
“You’ll be allowed to honor the deal you’ve made with him. Return to your dimension and give him your blood as you promised, but then you’d have to say your goodbyes. Should you accept my offer, I’ll take Zoey’s bones and soul to Earth, and with my magic, restore her body and put her soul inside. She will be returned safely to your parents. The memories of her recent ordeal will be erased. She won’t remember the Ice Prison or the Hidden World.”
“Sydney, where are you?” Gideon’s voice was getting closer.
My head was swimming with questions, but only two came out of my mouth. “Why do I have to stay away from Gideon? And why are you helping me?”
“Decide quickly; time is of the essence.” He ignored my questions, and it was clear he wouldn’t answer them even if I asked again, so I dropped it. Maybe the next time he shows up to save my life, I’ll get more from him.
“Well?” he said, and my mind went to his proposition. I didn’t need to mull it over. Zoey would live, and it was all that mattered. Happy tears ran down my cheeks.
“Yes, okay. Please, hurry.”
When I didn’t feel Oberon’s presence anymore, I shouted, “Gideon! I’m over here!”
A few moments passed before he emerged from the trees, his blue shirt covered with blood. On his face, he had many severe cuts, which had already started to heal.
