I stepped back, my heart lighter than it had been since we’d gotten here. “Just be ready if anybody tries to stop us.”
I pushed through the door into a different world. No recycled air that dried out my nasal membranes, the whiff of dirty socks wafting through the air conditioning system. The chemical stink of plastic and rubber and hot metal.
The air outside the building smelled vaguely floral, with hints of sap from the nearby forest, and exhaust fumes. It brushed over my skin, warm and gentle, like butterfly wings.
Kiernan pushed me in the back, and together, we crossed briskly across an open square with roads leading off in all four directions.
Bleddyn turned first one way, then another. He seemed unsure of where he wanted to go. “We have to find an area away from electricity and iron.”
That would be difficult anywhere near the base.
He clarified, “I can’t open a portal unless my feet are connected with the earth and the air is free of human stink.”
Kiernan pointed down one of the roads. “I think the exit is that way.”
We must have looked a strange sight as we trudged along the pavement. A woman and five men, not all of them human. My anxiety ratcheted up another notch, like moths fluttering in my stomach.
Something wasn’t right. There should have been sniper rifles trained on our heads, or at least military personnel swooping down on us. But we didn’t meet a single person, agent or soldier.
23
The moment we left the FBMA enclosure and stepped on a packed dirt path, Bleddyn picked up speed. Every breath of clear forest air seemed to rejuvenate him.
We passed the first trees, and the warrior brushed his fingers along the rough bark of a Douglas fir. He whispered something I couldn’t hear, but Kiernan’s eyebrow shot up.
He caught up with me and muttered, “I think the Fae draw strength from both the earth and what grows on it.”
“Like a combination of your and Julian’s elemental magic?”
“Looks like it.”
I thought about it as we hastened on. We’d encountered several Fae, and none of them had had the power to attack and smother us with dirt like Kiernan could.
“Maybe they can only use those powers on themselves?”
Kiernan shrugged. “Maybe. It’s not like we know much about them.”
After a thirty-minute hike, we reached a clearing. Sunshine streamed onto the forest floor, picking out bright yellows and lighting up the greens.
The insistent hum of insects and the chatter of birds high in the treetops soothed my inner turmoil. Bleddyn lifted his face, inhaling deeply. “It has been years since I felt the sun on my skin.”
I had to have misheard him. “Years? What do you mean?”
His next words blew my mind.
“Our sun is not real.”
I opened my mouth to respond, then closed it again. What was I supposed to say to that? I waited for him to explain, but he was caught in his own thoughts. He stared into the distance, his eyes shining with emotion.
Eventually, curiosity got the better of me. “Would you tell us more?”
His gaze snapped back to the present. “The human and the Fae world have always co-existed. Once, there were trade agreements between the worlds, but no more.”
I’d never in my entire life heard of this. But I had a bad feeling I knew where the story would lead. After all, we had a pretty shit track record when it came to taking advantage of trade partners over the centuries.
“Humans learned how to extract iron from rocks. It made them stronger than the Fae. Long before I was born, our king decided to separate the two worlds. But we didn’t realize it would shut off access to your world entirely.”
His voice dropped deeper, dragged down by the weight of his revelation. “We lost the sky. We lost the sun.”
“But I saw the sun in your world with my own eyes.”
“It is an illusion. Our mages created a simulacrum. But it does not feed us the way yours does.”
Bleddyn walked a few steps before bending down, and with nimble fingers, reached past thorny brambles. He plucked some wild raspberries and popped them into his mouth. Tilting his head back, he closed his eyes in delight. “So sweet, so nourishing.”
He did look a lot better than when we’d freed him. It had only been a few hours, but his skin was glowing with health, and his hair seemed to have thickened.
Impatience was tugging on my nerves until I wanted to hop from foot to foot. I bit my tongue to stop from shouting, “Tell me, for God’s sake.”
Eventually, he spoke again. “Our children are born lacking, their legs bent. Their bones are not strong.”
I looked him up and down. “You seem to have turned out okay.”
Kiernan poked me in the back, shaking his head. I glared at him in response. “What? I want to make sure he’s not lying.”
That got me an eye roll from the Irish man. “Just shut up and listen.”
A grin lifted Bleddyn’s lips. “Human men and women are not so different from us. We always tease each other as well.”
His voice sounded serious as he continued. “I was predestined to be a warrior. The warrior caste receives preferential treatment. Our mages have learned how to replace what we need through magic. Except Faerie hasn’t got enough.”
I inhaled sharply. Things were falling into place. Lance’s eyes narrowed, and Kiernan swore quietly.
I didn’t want to hear the answer, but pressed on anyway. “Hang on. Is that why you abduct people and kill them?”
Bleddyn blinked rapidly and took a deep breath. “That is the reason. But believe me, not everybody in Faerie agrees with it. At first, it was enough to drain whatever magic occurred naturally from the human world. But after the explosion, what you call the Super-CEMP, the Unseelie King ordered that more power be taken from your world.”
Kiernan’s features darkened, and he shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “And what about us? Didn’t he think what this would do to us?”
“It would not have hurt your world because you had a surplus of magic. But the King got greedy. Because the more magic flows to Faerie, the stronger we get.”
I bent forward, keen to hear more. Bleddyn blinked, his gaze dropping lower, avoiding my eyes. “Your government is very happy to deal with us now. They do not want people they cannot control. And those who were born magic feel threatened by humans who developed great powers overnight.”
I pulled my lip between my teeth, thinking about his words. The magical folks didn’t care. They were happy for the kids to disappear. And the Fae needed their powers to survive. This was what we were up against. A global conspiracy, driven both by our magical and ordinary leaders who were happy to funnel kids to their certain death.
My knees buckled as the enormity of what I was trying to do settled on my shoulders. I stumbled sideways until Lance caught me in a fierce hug.
Clutching his shoulders, I mumbled, “I can’t do this. It’s too much.”
He didn’t contradict me, just lent me his strength.
Bleddyn said, “We want our two worlds to come back into balance. You do not have to do this alone.”
Lance kissed my lips before letting me go. “You okay?”
I wasn’t, but I had brought them here. We couldn’t go back. That path was closed for now. So I wiped my eyes, straightened my spine, and turned to face our Fae ally.
Bleddyn’s expression darkened. His brows were pulled together, and his fists clenched. He spat on the ground.
“Killing children is not honorable. There are many who believe we would better be dead than live at the cost of other lives. This is not what our God and Goddess bid us do.”
I inhaled his anger, feeling it swirl in my stomach, feeding my determination to fight back. My heart rate evened out, my head cleared, and I knew what I had to do.
“Where’s the portal, Bleddyn?”
24
The Fae placed both his fe
et on the forest floor. Twisting and turning them, he displaced the cover of leaf mold until he was happy with his connection to the earth underneath.
Then he raised his hands and moved them in a circle, muttering something. No matter how much I strained my ears, I couldn’t hear what he said. But the effect was instantaneous.
A small opening appeared, growing to a man’s height within seconds. I’d witnessed it before, but I was as blown away as the first time.
The edges of the oval were fuzzy, bleeding into our own reality. But in the middle, there was the access to another forest in a different world. Bleddyn tilted his head, a satisfied smile on his lips.
But before we entered Faerie, I had one more question for him. “Do you know where the prisoners are kept?”
“Yes.”
Then he stepped through the portal.
One moment, he was in front of us, the next he had shrunk to the size of a child. Distance meant little when you were able to cross huge areas with one simple step.
Kiernan took my hand. “Come on. We can’t lose him.”
Lance took my other, and Julian held on to my shoulder. Together, we entered the alien world.
Julian had barely cleared the portal when it snapped shut. Bleddyn waited for us a good mile away, only just visible through the tall conifers. He was staring out of the forest into the distance.
We wasted no time drawing the speed rune to catch up with him. When we stopped by his side, he turned towards us.
“We need a plan,” the Fae said simply.
We? His words took me by surprise. I’d expected him to show us the location of the prison and then take his leave. But apparently, he was happy to stick around and help.
“What do you have in mind?” Lance asked.
Bleddyn lowered himself to the ground, leaning against a tree trunk. “Before we proceed, I need to rest and regain my full strength. I will be no use to you if I’m weakened.”
“What about food?” Julian asked.
Kiernan peered at him closely. “What the hell is going on with you? Didn’t you just eat two hours ago? How much food do you need?”
Julian shrugged, as if lifting his shoulders could hide the hungry glint in his eyes. “I have a fast metabolism. Sue me.”
Bleddyn seemed to have fallen asleep. His head was tilted back and his eyes closed. It didn’t look like we were going anywhere for a while.
Sitting down next to Julian, I took his hand. “Hey. How are you?”
“Why are you asking?” he answered, trying to pull away.
I held on tighter. “You don’t seem to be yourself lately.”
He knew exactly what I was aiming at, but he wasn’t going to make it easy. Was it worth having it out now? Or should I wait until this was all over?
But then I remembered how confused he seemed, how uneasy his behavior made me. I pressed on. “Julian. Do you blame me for worrying about you?”
He kept his features neutral, but there was a wariness in his eyes. But then he stopped tugging on my hand and relaxed his shoulders. Maybe he was ready to share after all. He fidgeted, swallowed, scratched his ear.
I waited patiently, although on the inside, I was screaming to hurry it up already.
“I’m just tired, that’s all.”
Goddammit. The frustration slammed into my solar plexus like a physical force. I snatched my hand back, about to shout at him.
Kiernan sat down on his other side.
Let him try. Fuming, I scooted away before I said something stupid.
“You’re not okay. You’re absent all the time. And sometimes I could swear you’re hallucinating.” Kiernan spoke calmly, but there was steel in his voice.
Julian closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them, they were clear and determined. “I don’t have hallucinations. But yes, I’m struggling with some things.”
Kiernan exchanged a concerned look with me. We were getting closer. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really. I died. I came back as a ghost. And now I’m alive again. Isn’t that enough to freak anyone out?”
He had a point. Maybe we were reading too much into it. Relief soothed the sharp edges of my suspicion like honey slithering down a sore throat.
Bleddyn stirred, waking up from his cat nap. He stretched his arms over his head and yawned heartily. Lance held out a candy bar, and the Fae devoured it in two bites. Then he sprang gracefully to his feet. He seemed fully recovered now that he was back in his world.
Beyond him, a path led to grass-covered, gently sloping hills. The vista was familiar, except for one thing. The skies were quiet—no airplanes, no white trails. There was no engine hum, no indication of modern civilization.
Bleddyn pointed towards the hills. “Once we cross into the uplands, we enter the domain of the Capiau Coch Adfeilion.”
“The what now?”
“You call them Red Caps. They look like harmless old men, but they die their caps with the blood of murdered travelers. Their sheer numbers, ferocity, and cunning make them so dangerous. Even the members of the Seelie Court will avoid their territory.”
“And you want us to travel through it,” Kiernan said, his voice as dry as century-old parchment.
Bleddyn waved away his objection. “Your elemental magic will likely overwhelm them.”
He drew the travel rune and took a gigantic step. We stayed at his heels, but already, the constant use of magic drained my strength. I was moving along, but each step took more effort than the last. The others weren’t doing much better.
I was the first to falter and fall behind. Soon, the rich mountain air felt as sludgy as pond scum, clinging to my limbs. Sweat pearled on my face, and I wiped it away impatiently.
Kiernan slowed down to keep me company. After another few strides, he stopped. “Bleddyn. We can’t go any further.”
The Fae doubled back. “Not far from here are the ruins of a fallen castle. We can take shelter there. But we must be on our guard at all times.”
I gazed at the peaceful landscape. We were at the edge of the flat grasslands. The ground was rising through foothills to a high mountain range in the distance. The sun was kissing the craggy outlines of the rocky heights. It wouldn’t be long before it disappeared completely from the sky.
It looked exactly like a sun should. Bleddyn had insisted it wasn’t real, that it didn’t nurture this world. And yet, the grass under our feet was green and healthy. I felt the warming rays on my skin. My curiosity got the better of me. “If the sun isn’t real, how come nature is so plentiful here?”
Bleddyn grimaced. “I remember growing up in a barren landscape, partially obscured by the glamor. Everything you see here is because of the magic the Fae take from the human world. And most of it is not real.”
My gaze swept across the majestic vista before me. My brain had trouble visualizing what this world would be like without the enormous expenditure of stolen magic. I loved it here. The air was electric with life and beauty. I swallowed hard, anticipating the answer I wouldn’t like. “What will happen if we shut off access to the magic? Will all this disappear?”
Bleddyn nodded, his expression wistful. “It will. But remember: what you see here, no matter how beautiful it appears, is paid for with the blood of human children.”
My imagination supplied the superimposed images of deadened grass, of twisted bare trees, of deadly silence. I took several deep breaths before I could tear my eyes away from the glorious wilderness around us.
Slowly, haltingly, Kiernan said, “So what you’re saying is, if we stopped the human trafficking, your entire world will be destroy—”
Bleddyn interrupted. “Yes, Kiernan. As it should be. But there is hope. If we connect the worlds, and the magic can circulate naturally, as it did before the schism, both our worlds can heal.”
Despite his hopeful words, his expression was grim. His eyes never stayed still, and his shoulders were tensed as if preparing for an ambush.
The
Fae was so on edge, I forgot about my exhaustion. Bleddyn, who’d grown up in this place, was afraid. Because something was coming. Something terrifying.
25
Bleddyn glanced at the setting sun. “If you have rested enough, we must leave now. The shelter is close, but we must reach it before nightfall.”
As if on cue, the fiery globe in the darkening sky dropped behind the mountains, and the light weakened to a diffuse orange-gray.
“Quickly. We do not have much time.”
My fingers outlined the travel rune and pushed my feet forward, even though they felt as heavy as if the Red Caps were hanging on my ankles. My exhausted body struggled to keep up. Bleddyn was a silhouette in the dusk, shrinking as he strode ahead.
The darker it got, the more the grass rustled on either side. My imagination shuddered through me so strongly, my teeth chattered. The Red Caps had found us. We wouldn’t make it. At any moment, they’d pounce and bring us down with their numbers.
One hand flew to my neck as my fear conjured sharp claws tearing through my throat. A moan escaped me, although I tried my best to keep it quiet.
Bleddyn shouted, “Hurry. I am outside the shelter.”
There was only a sliver of sunlight left above the mountains, and the heat of the day had been replaced by a frigid wind. It was so cold, goose bumps chased each other up and down my arms.
Ahead of us was the shadowy outline of a ruin. Kiernan grabbed my arm and pulled me forward as we put on a final burst of speed. We reached the rocks just as the sun disappeared entirely.
Lance conjured a small fireball to light the way. We entered the crumbling fortress through a stone gate. The yard inside was huge, encircled by massive square boulders, reaching into the sky. There was no elegance to the building. It had clearly been a defensive structure.
Bleddyn called from the far side of the open area. “There is a tower that will offer shelter against the night.”
Second Chance Doom: a paranormal romance adventure (Second Chance Academy Book 5) Page 11
