He kissed my forehead. “I knew you felt something for him. Good for you for finally admitting it.”
“Can we leave it in Undraland? I want you. Only you.”
“That sounds good.” He kissed my lips once, a simple reunion that sealed the deal. “I knew you’d cave. I’m dead sexy.”
I grinned against his shoulder. “Take me home, Jens.”
He kissed my fingers, and I felt how right we were together. “You got it, Moxie Kincaid. We’ll leave Undra in Undraland. Now let’s go get you that white picket fence.”
Enjoy a free preview of The Other Side,
book five in the Undraland series:
One.
Crossing Over to the Other Side
Emotions are the strangest things. They hit us in waves, each person experiencing a different decibel of agony or elation, which makes it easy to judge others on their reactions, whether acceptable or not. Uncle Rick crossing over of his own accord into the Land of Be hit us each in varying tones of sadness, denial and confusion.
Britta turned her sadness inward, crying occasionally on our trip over to the Other Side. Jamie swallowed his reaction as best he could, displaying a supportive front to his fiancée, Jens and I. When I tapped into the psychic link we shared, I could feel his emotions swinging like a pendulum from one extreme to the other. I really had no idea how deeply men felt things until getting a peek into Prince Jamie’s mind.
After a hushed conversation with his sister as we waited in a small hut that served as the office to the Other Side, Jens was quiet. He made sure our paperwork was filled out correctly, and pushed us through the turnstile with no hint of the personality I loved so much.
After the sucking sensation landed us in the creepy carnival I’d come over to Undraland in, I reached for Jens’s hand. He squeezed it for a second, then dropped the connection. Though he’d forgiven me for kissing Foss, I could tell he was still nursing a pretty open wound.
Rickety organ music piped through the park a dismal and irksome tune. Cutouts and murals of terrifying clowns grinned at me, their razor-like teeth sharpened and jagged like broken glass bottles. I dropped my gaze to my toes, only to find their painted faces trying to grab at me and swallow me whole from the floor. The mirrored maze multiplied my heart rate, but when I heard a squeak, I realized it had not come from my mouth.
Britta and Jamie were pressed up against one of the mirrors, aghast at the horror that was the carnival entertainment even I could not muscle through. Jens was so distracted by the emotions he’d stuffed himself to the brim with, that only his sister’s yelp and drawn knife brought him somewhat back to the moment.
“Oh, it’s okay, Britt. They’re fake. They won’t bite you.” He held my hand and Britta’s, nodding Jamie forward. “Almost there, guys.”
When the normal noonday sun greeted us, I breathed in the air of a world I had been missing. A hint of pavement, hot dogs, garbage cans, dirt and the rust of machines were all sucked in through my nose, filling me and pushing out the purity of Undra’s natural landscape. The rides around me were in various states of disrepair, some missing carts and whole bits of track, but I didn’t care.
There was nothing to be done about Uncle Rick, and I’d made my decision about Foss. My family, Nik, Tor and Henry Mancini were enough of a loss to carry. The past would be put behind me, and I would start over. With every step, I began the process of shedding Undraland from my weary bones.
I ran through the amusement park, a burst of energy hitting at the sight of civilization. It was a concrete lamppost that called out to me first. I wrapped my arms around it and kissed the dirty green beauty. “I love you, electricity! I missed you so much!” So grateful was I at being reunited with my world, I did not care about the few carnival attendees who happened to look my way, judging me as a bigger freak show than the one advertised onsite.
Jens watched me with a sad smile. It was as if something big had been at the tip of his tongue since I’d escaped the Elvage prison, but he’d been purposefully keeping his mouth shut. “Cheating on me already, are you?” he questioned, forcing levity into the shtick that just didn’t suit. I could tell he was faking humor to attempt a normal disposition, but I thought it was polite not to call him on it. He was hurting.
I kissed the peeling army-colored paint again, running my finger up the slope of the pole. “Only with inanimate objects. Isn’t it gorgeous? Look at it, Jens. How many people do you think have kissed this magnificent minx? I might just be the first.”
“Lucky lamppost.” Again with the impression of a smile.
Britta kept her head down, knowing that she stuck out a little in her Amish-style dress. Jamie’s curiosity overpowered his sadness at losing Alrik. His eyes drank in the sights Jens had described to him over the years. His mouth dropped open at the enormity of it all. I checked into our link and smirked at the half-sentences that exploded in his brain in pops and fizzles. How could that… But the lights with the… The way that moves… I… I…
I grinned at Jamie, watching the prince come undone at the magnificence of my kingdom. “Pretty great, huh?”
“There aren’t words,” he mumbled, his mental musings tumbling around his cranium, knocking proper conversation out of his brain.
Jens led us to the ticket booth, where Matilda greeted us warmly. “Hey, Mattie. I need the usual, but for four of us.”
Her wrinkled smile faltered when Jens did not offer up a harmless flirt. “What’s got you down, James Dean?”
He cast her half a smile, but again, it was hollow. “Alrik crossed over to Be.”
Confusion and concern swept over her before she produced an intelligible response. “Be? Are you sure, dear? Alrik? Our man who isn’t all that fond of Pesta crossed over to Be? What about his boy?”
Jens was suddenly overcome with a wave of grief. It was fascinating to watch his masculinity suck it down by the gallon until all that was left was a despondent shrug. “Dead. He was a good kid.”
I was confused, but waited until Jens finished up with Matilda to inquire about my uncle. “Why does she think Alrik had a son? He was a bachelor, big time.” My hand fell into Jens’s, but his grip was slack.
Jens swallowed a thick lump before speaking. “Alrik adopted a boy a while back, but he died.”
My nose crinkled as I stopped walking. “What? No. He would’ve mentioned something. I mean, I’m his niece. I think I would know if I had a cousin somewhere, right?” A link clicked in my mind. “Is she talking about Alrik’s ward? Charles Mace? Did Alrik adopt Charles Mace? Why wouldn’t he tell me something like that?”
Despite the possible onlookers, Jens wrapped me in an unexpected hug, resting his chin atop my head. His heart felt heavy as he leaned some of his burden on me, so I tried to shoulder the weight with grace to let him know I was strong enough for such conversations. “Let’s go find a place to sleep, babe. I need to process everything we went through in Undraland. I’ll explain everything once I have more answers.”
“Okay.” Though I had questions aplenty, I leaned up on my toes, cupped his sad face and kissed him. “I just can’t believe Uncle Rick would keep something like that from me. I always wanted a cousin. And he’s really dead?”
“Please, Loos,” Jens begged, and I noticed his eyes moistening. “I can’t talk about it yet. Give me some time. We can talk about everything when I figure it out myself.”
The sight of Jens in almost tears sent a ripple of shock through me that rocked my worldview. Jens was unshakable. Jens was ninety percent shtick and ten percent mystery. I didn’t think there was room in that equation for emotion so thick, it would lead him to tears. I traced under his eyes with my finger, gathering up enough moisture to form one whole tear. “Let’s get you somewhere you can rest. Undra was rough on you. I can’t imagine how exhausted and sore you must be from all the saving the day you do.”
People walking by us either scoffed or pretended not to see us when Jens kissed me. His lips were slow, carrying too much meaning for me to
understand. I tried to interpret his affection, but the emotion was heavy, laced with confusing notes that had something to do with Alrik and the secrets my uncle always had up his sleeve. Trust was a funny thing with Uncle Rick. You trusted him with your life, but you knew parts of his truth were lies told right to your face in plain daylight.
Alrik was the only family I had. My sort of uncle and recently adopted kind of dad. Plus, there was the whole strangeness of this deceased mystery cousin.
Jens pulled away and led us to the park’s exit. I tried poking around in Jamie’s brain for details about Alrik’s adopted son.
I don’t know, Lucy.
What the crap, Jamie? What gives? Did I really have a cousin? Did I just meet my cousin in that cell minutes before he died?
I don’t know. I heard Jamie’s mental sigh as we passed through the park’s gate. I just lost Alrik, too. And Foss. And Nik and Tor, for that matter. I need a moment.
I respected Jamie’s space, but the questions kept building inside of me.
Read The Other Side,
the next book in the Undraland series
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Elvage Page 19
