Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 109477 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109477 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 547(@200wpm)___ 438(@250wpm)___ 365(@300wpm)
He ran his fingers through his unruly hair, wilder with his loose curls than any of the Celestials, and a few shades darker. It wasn’t cut straight across the shoulders like theirs, either. It made him look more rugged. Fiercer.
He looked out at the three Celestials still gathered at the barrier’s opening. They leaned toward each other, speaking, but the words didn’t reach beyond the sheen.
“How do you usually get past them without help?” she asked.
He turned to look deeper into the cavern. “I’ve never seen so many descend. Not since I’ve been coming through. Not even when they more thoroughly populated the fringe. If they’d come at me like this in the past, I wouldn’t have gotten by. Not a chance.” He shook his head, glancing behind again. “They don’t usually guard these entrances, either. They don’t land.” He ran his bottom lip over his teeth before looking at her, his expression dark. Grave.
“What?” she said again.
“Nothing,” he finally replied. “It’s a good thing I have what I need, because I’m not sure I could make my way back out. We surprised them this time. They aren’t often slow to compensate. They’ll come up with a new strategy, and next time, they won’t fail.”
Her heart dropped. That didn’t bode well for her future attempt to get out of this place. Then again, maybe they wouldn’t be so hostile if it was just a human trying to go home.
He took off his pack and reached for the one she carried. He set them both on the ground before stepping back and putting out his hand to make her do the same. The air filled with a musty, earthy scent, and the packs vanished.
“Where’d they go?” she said, aghast.
“Somewhere safe…where you won’t try to drop them and let the Celestials claim them.”
She watched him pass. “Shit. I should’ve dropped my pack out there.”
“It wouldn’t have mattered. I had the main object of interest in my pack. Now we need not worry about it. Come along.”
“Why make us carry them? You could’ve sent them somewhere safe before we were sprinting for our lives, weighed down by them.”
“I can use my magic in the human realm, and I can use it in the fae realm, but I cannot use it across both at the same time. I cannot send items from the human realm into Faerie, and vice versa. No, I do not know why. I don’t even know if that was by the gods’ design or a happy accident for them.”
“But how…” She felt dizzy. “How do you do it? How do you make stuff disappear? There are only a couple types of magic similar in the human world, and those basically go through the underworld. Someone has to be carrying the objects.”
“Sounds complicated.” He didn’t elaborate. Clearly he wouldn’t be explaining the intricacies of fae magic.
She followed him deeper into the cavern, shoving the magical curiosity aside. It wasn’t the most important thing right now.
“Why are there suddenly so many Celestials out there?” she asked.
“They sensed the magic. Mine usually draws one or two, only. It seems the crystal chalice magic called them to you in greater numbers. I hadn’t known it would. Now I do. You’ll be quite an alluring little pet within the court. The ripples of curiosity, jealousy, and desire will play into my plans nicely. The increased danger, though…” His words trailed off. “That’ll take some additional planning. We don’t want you killed soon after arriving, do we? Now, let’s get ready for the next phase of the fringe.”
Silence drifted in between them, and their footsteps echoed on the bare, rough-hewn walls. Strange bioluminescent fungi and small-leafed plants grew along the top, illuminating the jutting rock or pockets along the ceiling. Water dripped somewhere, splatting onto the hard-packed dirt floor. The cool, damp air carried with it a scent like ancient earth and moss.
Do not speak, he told her, his mind touch like a whisper. The heart of the fringe is a treacherous place. You must always assume danger lurks around—
A deep and mournful sound vibrated the ground under their feet. Tarian stopped with a hand in the air, looking up at the ceiling first, then at the walls. The sound continued, growing louder until dust rained down from the ceiling.
He turned in a rush. He sprinted back the way they’d come, barreling into her. His arm looped around her back, he lifted her and held her tightly. She didn’t resist, holding him around the shoulders, her feet dangling.
Everything shook, and it sounded like a crank, metal grinding against metal, reverberating against the walls and groaning through their feet. They stopped at the mouth of the cavern, and he put her down. The Celestials still stood guard. Tarian didn’t cross the bubble sheen. He pushed her against the wall right beside it, flattening himself over her as the vines and plants crawled back up the wall away from him.