“What do you think is the best way to get there? I mean, it’s not like we know where we’re going.” Mykah looked at Maddox when he was speaking, and she found herself wondering why the warlock hadn’t settled down and spawned a few baby witches yet.
“Well, it can’t be that hard to find an ancient fae. I know there aren’t that many places that Moira would be able to thrive with the decline of magic. She still has to be tied to magical worlds in some way. I think the best thing we could do would be to search for her in the Concord Court. We all know that she was a light fae before she left to follow her heart.” Chris said, but as he was talking Mykah realized she was going to have to tell them what she knew.
“I know where she is,” she admitted. “Or, I mean I know where I think she would go. Maybe. I mean, it’s probably stupid. There’s this place that she used to take me when I was little. There are gardens in the Lost Realm that my grandfather planted for her when they were sneaking out to meet before they eloped. She said that they were the only red roses that she had ever seen that weren’t deadly. That’s where she would be.” The longer she spoke, the more comfortable she felt. She wasn’t used to giving anyone direction, let alone a group of royals.
Looking around her room, she found strength in the depths of Ben ’s eyes. He smiled at her, and the green in them lit up as though the entire world was on fire and they were the only thing that could offer any sort of relief. She smiled at him, thankful for the silent show of support, and knew that everything was going to be okay. Everyone else was still talking, trying to figure out the best way to get to the Lost Realm, but Mykah couldn’t care less. She was just stunned that they were here.
They were all there, she couldn’t help but notice. Sitting in her room, ready to help her figure out how to save not only herself but everything they held dear. Yeah, they did know that it was just the beginning when it came to Mykah losing her power and finding out that all of the crazy events that had been happening were connected. Even before that came to light, they were all ready to go out on a limb to make sure that Mykah returned to her place in the Malice Court.
As she grabbed the bag that contained a few essentials she might need on the trip and turned to join the rest, she couldn’t shake the feeling that everything was changing. Hope bloomed in her heart for the first time in years. If they could find a cure, find a way to get around her curse, then she would do whatever it took. She hadn’t realized before coming home that she actually cared. She had let herself get caught in the despondency of everything, ready to live out her days in the mortal realm, without knowing the power that had once flowed through her veins like blood pumping through her heart.
“Let’s do this,” Mykah said, ready to get on with it.
“Okay, here’s what I’m going to do,” Dox rubbed his hands together, “We know that we’re going to the Lost Realm, so I’m going to transport us there. It will be easier if we’re all touching. So grab a hand, guys. Oh, and remember to breathe. We don’t need anybody’s lungs imploding when we land.” He laughed at the end, but they all knew that anything was possible when dealing with transportation magic.
They joined hands, Mykah holding Christopher’s and Anaid’s, and the others spreading out to form a circle. She smiled at the picture in front of her. Holding Anaid’s other hand was Lachlan, who was holding Aubrey’s hand. The difference in the forsaken queen’s pale skin and his tan skin was almost as comical as the smile on Peyton’s face as she held Adam’s hand on their other side. Mykah could swear that the little werewolf had a crush on the forsaken king. Holding Peyton’s other hand was Ben, and as much as Mykah wanted to laugh at the fact that the dragon prince was holding Matt’s hand, she managed to rein it in. The warlock was holding Christopher’s other hand, and their circle was complete. All that was left was for Dox to transport them.
When Winter had used her magic to send Mykah home, she had felt the air ripped from her lungs, so she took a deep breath to prepare herself. The magic shifted reality, sucking all of them into a void. The pressure on her chest made her exhale the breath she had been trying to hold. It wasn’t instantaneous, like Winter’s spell had been. She felt like she was being dragged through a mud puddle. Her body was fighting the magic, and after a moment she realized that no one was holding her hand. Frantically looking around for the other members of her party, Mykah realized that she was alone. Just as the fear threatened her rationality, she felt the ground beneath her feet.
It took a few seconds for the fog to clear from her eyes and the magic to dissipate. When it did, she saw that it had deposited her out right at the entrance to the Lost Realm. Turning around, she saw the magical doorway that would lead to the land of the dead. If she hadn’t known what the portal would look like, she would have missed it. The ground was covered in vines and tree roots that had grown so thick they sprouted through the soil. The trees stood a hundred feet tall surrounding her, and the forest was dense.
Years without maintenance had decimated any buildings that had once existed because there was no sign of anything that she could see. Although even if there were anything left standing somewhere, she wouldn’t be able to see it. It was twilight, the sun having gone down behind the trees, but the sun still streamed through where it could in order to give subdued lighting that left the majority of the area in shadows. The wind whistled through the branches and leaves rustled as they blew with every gust. Mykah shivered as she realized that none of her friends had landed with her, she would have heard them by now. As the minutes passed, she grew desolate at the thought of going on this journey on her own.
It wasn’t the way that it was supposed to be. She wasn’t supposed to be reunited with her friends and then have them taken away from her. She knew that there was something wrong, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Blowing out a sigh of frustration, she couldn’t help but call out into the silence.
“Hello! Is anyone there?” But when nothing answered her, Mykah knew that she was truly alone. “Great. Now I’m talking to myself. I don’t know if it could get any worse.”
There was nothing else that she could do but go on and look for her grandmother’s garden. With every step she took, leading down the only path into the forest, the fear that had gripped her was replaced with resolution. It didn’t matter that no one else was with her. Fingering the necklace, and adjusting the shoulder strap on the backpack that she was carrying, she made the decision to carry on. There wasn’t anything that she could do other than that.
Making her way through the trees, she tried to remember the last time her grandmother had brought her to the garden. She couldn’t have been more than nine or ten years old, but the memory had stayed with her through the years.
“Precious cailín, do you know what this means?” Moira had asked her. “These roses can’t grow in the Malice Court. The magic that flows through that land would kill us all, but here they are beautiful and nothing more.” She had held a rose out, silently giving Mykah permission to grab it.
“No, nan. What does it mean?” She had taken the rose that grandmother had offered and held it in her hand, marveling at the smooth skin on the petals.
“It means, my love, that nothing is as dangerous or as dire as it seems. I thought that I would never feel or smell a rose without dying. To save me from that fate, my love planted an entire garden of them here, just so that I could come here and enjoy them at my whim. There is going to come a day, my love. A day when you will know sacrifice and heartbreak, unlike anything that I could imagine. On that day, when you have no idea what to do or who to turn to, you will find me here. Waiting to give you what advice I can.”
Mykah had forgotten that specific memory, locking it away in the recesses of her mind. Until she was standing in the woods that surrounded her and dragged her into the past. The smell of the trees reached down into her very soul and pulled forth the love in her heart. With every step, she felt magic pouring into her body from the plants and trees around her. Her heart racing, she
hiked for hours, but the sun never set. The magic in the land kept it forever in a state of almost. The sun was almost down. The flowers were almost blooming. The leaves on the trees were still partly green, almost turning gold. The entire realm was caught in a state of perpetual twilight. Mykah had never seen anything so beautiful, nor had she ever seen anything that called to her very soul.
It would take time for her to reach the garden, her grandfather had hidden it so that the only person who could find it was Moira. Anyone else would get lost and give up long before they broke through to the heart, but she had known it would be worth it, that there would be something her grandmother could tell her there that would help everything make sense. She just hoped that her grandmother was there, or that she had left some sort of clue on how she could be contacted. After she had made it about halfway, Mykah sat down on a tree root to have a snack. Opening her sack, she pulled out a piece of the bread that Gilli had made the night before.
Once she had eaten, Mykah felt the drag of her journey pulling at her. Although she knew that she hadn’t been walking overnight, it had worn her out. Before continuing, she forced herself to rest her eyes before continuing one could make it to the garden, and getting up was the next challenge. She wanted to keep sleeping and had lost track of time, so she had no idea how long she had been here. No idea how long she had been walking, really. Even though she thought she was about halfway, there was no way to tell. Sighing, she got up and started back on her journey. One question still flew around in her head, rummaging around looking for an answer.
Why hadn’t the others come with her? Had something happened to them? The questions would drive her crazy if she let them. The answer had to be there, just on the edge of her mind. She had always known that she would have to find the answers alone. It was why she had been drawn to the human world, away from her family and friends, in the first place.
Hadn’t the mother of all, the old crone, led her to believe as much when she was cursed? Hadn’t she told Mykah that there was nothing she could do, that the only answer was in her sacrifice? Maybe it was time that she faced her demons on her own. It started with getting through the ridiculous as hell forest to get to the garden.
It was easy to lose her train of thought while she walked along the path, the magic that flowed through her body forcing her to continue even when she was exhausted. Inevitably, those thoughts strayed to the fluffy marshmallow. Mykah knew that she shouldn’t have left with him in the dark. There couldn’t be anything between them.
“Sarah, you need to get your ass back to bed. I’m not getting in the middle of this, especially when we haven’t been invited to. They’ve got their own problems, just like we do.” Zander looked at his wife and shook his head, but Tyler knew that the queen wouldn’t give up so easily. “We don’t need to get involved with whatever the princess has decided to do.”
“Don’t you get it? I’m fine, Zander. Our home hasn’t drained me in a long time. I feel like there had been such a vacuum for so long, that it needed to replenish its supply. Besides, I gave the key to Mykah.” Sarah pulled the dark gray robe she was wearing tightly around her body, and then put her hair into a sloppy mess resembling a dead animal on top of her head.
“I’m sorry, you did what?” He practically shouted at his wife. Tyler knew better than to say anything.
“Exactly what I just told you. I gave the key to Mykah. She’s going to need it a lot more than I will.” Sarah smiled up at Zander, but Tyler could tell that the Blood King was still pissed. “Trust me. I was just the start of the path that key will take. I can’t tell you how I know, but I know that she is supposed to have it. I don’t expect you to understand, but I do need you to trust me.”
“I damn sure hope so. I do trust you, love. You know that, but you need to go to bed. Tyler and I can figure this out if there’s anything we need to do.” His best friend started to pace in front of the unmovable woman, and Tyler felt a little bit sorry for him. He had saddled himself with the one vampire in their world who wouldn’t let him bully her around. Zander was frustrated, Tyler knew that. He also knew that his friend had never been happier than when he was with Sarah; a fact that all of the members of their court knew.
“I’m not going anywhere. You two weren’t even going to talk about the fact that Tyler’s two steps away from being in love with the dark fae princess. I’m staying, and if you don’t watch it, I’ll make popcorn and invite everyone else to watch it too.” Without any of the regal nature that he had seen in her for the past five years, Sarah crossed her arms over her chest, daring either of them to contradict her.
“I’m not in love with her.” He felt the need to point out, “I am, however, interested in why you gave the key to her.” Instead of letting Sarah focus on him, Tyler forced her to address what she had done. When she raised an eyebrow at him in challenge, he couldn’t help but laugh. Not only at her but at the look of complete shock that had dawned on Zander’s face.
“Wait, what is going to happen when you go back to the Blood Court?” Zander looked at Sarah, and the tension was rolling off his body and into the air around them.
“I told you, I don’t need it anymore. I gave it to Mykah because it was time for the key to move on. The next part in restoring the magic needs to play out, and it’s not for me to interfere with.” She shrugged and then threw herself into a nearby chair, curling into a ball and resting her head on the arm.
“You shouldn’t have done that without talking to me about it first.” Zander looked at Tyler, who just shook his head. He wasn’t about to get involved in their relationship, on either side.
“Can we get back to the fact that Tyler is in love with a dark fae princess who’s cursed to die? That seems like something we should be talking about.” Tyler could hear the petulance in Sarah’s voice, and they all knew that she just didn’t want to be the center of attention anymore.
“I’m not in love with her, and we’re working on the other part.” Tyler found himself wanting to be back with Mykah even as they talked about her. He sat down, and couldn’t wait for this conversation to be over with so he could find her, and spend a few hours sleeping with her in his arms.
“Well, that’s good since she and the other royals left at dawn. In case you were thinking of looking for her.”
“What?” He jerked himself to look at Sarah, hoping she was joking with him. Of course, she wasn’t, and it left an immediate pounding in his head.
“The royals. They decided that the best thing they could do for Mykah would be if they got off their asses and went after one of the old fae to see if she had any answers. Genius, actually. If anyone has an idea of how to figure this out, it would be one of the oldest, and fae are the longest–living of any of the races.” She stared at Tyler, and he could see the moment that she knew she was under his skin. The smile on her face spoke volumes, and he couldn’t even bring himself to respond.
“Yeah, but I mean it’s not like you care that she ran off to try and figure it all out without you. You’re not in love with her.” She lifted her eyebrow, daring him to take a stand on his feelings. Instead, he shook his head slightly.
“How hard is it to keep track of one little fae princess?” He shoved his hands into his hair and wanted to pull it out by the root. He knew he was going to have to go after her. Who knew what kind of trouble she would get into, it didn’t matter if she had the others with her.
“I feel bad for you, Tyler. You’re never going to live this down. So, she ditched you. Again?” Jackson was leaning on the now open doorframe, clearly enjoying his discomfort.
As he looked around the room at the slight concern on their faces, it dawned on Tyler that she might have bailed on him, and intentionally ditched him. She had been the one to say that it was just sex, after all. It couldn’t be that. “No. I was with her yesterday morning, but then I got dragged into helping the Malice guard with their drills. By the time we were done, even I was exhausted. I had only barely fed and showered before I
got Zander’s summons.”
“Don’t tell me you have no idea where she would go?” All laughter was gone from Jackson’s voice, and he pushed away from the door to step into the room, stopping when he reached his mother’s side.
Tyler shook his head, knowing that he was going to sound like an idiot. “She’s on a mission to either save the world or sacrifice herself for her people. So no, I don’t know where she went.” He should have been there with them. Mykah and the other royals had apparently found something worth checking out, or they wouldn’t have up and left at the crack of dawn.
Sarah sat up in her seat, “I guess someone should find Winter, and maybe she will be nice enough to cast a tracking spell for you.” She looked pointedly at her son, who smiled indulgently.
“On it, ma.” Jackson walked out, and almost ran into Anna on the way.
“Hey, did you know that half the royals took off?” She said, by way of greeting, “I don’t know if I should be insulted that I wasn’t invited on their outing or not.” She curled up at Sarah’s feet, and the Blood Queen started playing with the shifter’s hair.
“I’d say not. That group has been together practically since birth.” Zander piped up from where he was sitting, drumming his fingers along the armrest of the chair.
“How is that possible? They’ve got a warlock and a werewolf. They can’t all be the same age.” Tyler had forgotten that technically, Anna was a princess in her own right. Her father still ruled the shifters with the same iron grip he had for a century.
Thankfully, Tyler was spared from explaining anything to Sarah. “You’re right. They’re all extremely old. There is so much to learn about the families of the emissaries. Those who will stand in line for their crown have a prolonged life. They don’t have the added powers that the fae have, but they were each spelled at a young age to grant them a life long enough to rule wisely. They won’t age, but they can die. Eternal youth, I believe you call it. Or, close to eternal, anyway.” Jonathon said from the doorway, where he stood with Winter and Jackson.
Door in the Garden of Shadows Page 16
