Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-One

Kellan

It worked.

She was gone.

My stomach twisted into knots. I couldn't protect her in a different realm. I couldn't make sure she made it home. My mind wandered and thrashed with what-ifs. What if she got lost in the portal? What if one of them didn"t make it through?

Had I made a stupid mistake? Had I jumped to please her so easily that I let her walk right into her death?

Ernest placed his palms on my shoulders, attempting to calm me because the turmoil growing inside me was obvious. There was a heavy pressure on my chest that weighed me down.

"I shouldn't have let her go," I whispered.

The portal whirled debris around us and made it hard to focus on anything other than what I just shoved her through. "It was the best choice for us. Come on, so we can hear."

He began to pull me toward the woods while I absently followed him. There was a numbness growing inside of me. A similar void that dwelled there before I met Josephine.

Ernest didn't stop until we were in the cover of the woods. The canopy of trees moved above me and shushed the wildlife.

Ernest's wise eyes weren't helping the pain in my chest. "We did the right thing, Kellan. She is the best person to find out who took the spindle. They aren't going to willingly tell you anything. She'll have their trust, which is something that you don't have. Josephine is smart and will figure it out."

I swallowed the lump of anger in my throat. "I ... I need to keep her safe. I"m her protector. What if her family doesn"t let her come back?"

Ernest smiled. "Fern and Josephine will be fine. I promise. She"ll get away from her family. She"s an adult. They can"t keep her there." Her father was protective. I doubted he would willingly let her go anywhere. "We need to get closer to her castle. Show me how to close this portal and keep theirs open."

I shook my head, trying to knock some sense into myself. The negative thoughts swarming my mind would send anyone over the edge.

"If we closed the portal here, it would open near us as long as the other side stays open. I don"t know of anyone that can shut it."

Ernest began to waddle toward the field.

Part of me wanted to jump into the portal and follow her. She was safe on Earth. There weren't hellhounds waiting on her or some Fae ready to pimp her out.

She knew how to survive there. She was strong, like Ernest said. She was safe there.

I cleared my throat. "You close a portal the same way that you open it, with focus."

Ernest nodded and closed his eyes. I watched as he attempted several times. The smell of food wafted into the field with us.

My gaze searched the tree line, wondering if it came from the portal or this realm.

It smelled so familiar. It plucked at the back of my mind. Maybe I was just hungry for something other than stale bread.

Ernest chuckled and clapped his hands as the portal closed. The silence that followed settled through me like a warm blanket.

"You did it," I said.

Ernest smiled. "I did, thanks to you. Let's get out of the open. I don't like not having any cover."

We walked toward the forest, which was connected to the dark one. Ernest slowed once we made it to the trees.

"Do you smell that?" I asked after several minutes.

Ernest took a deep whiff. "Pine?"

I shook my head. "No, it's food…."

The shadows of the trees masked Ernest's face, but I could see his frown. "Maybe you're in need of something better than bread?"

"I've gone without for much longer than this."

Ernest fell into step with me. "Do you enjoy your work as a bounty hunter?"

I shrugged. "Not really. I don't like traveling from realm to realm. Earth has been my home for so long that I enjoy the calmness of it. I live in solitude in the woods. It's better than being thrust into different realms, chasing people that don't want to be caught. But it keeps me busy, and that"s what I"ve needed to keep myself together."

"Josephine wanted to be caught. You truly are her hero. You see that, don't you? How you're the man in the book."

I gave him a long side-eye. "I don't believe in fairy tales, Ernest. They are made up from some author"s imagination because they need a break from reality."

He stopped me. "I don't know how you don't believe because you're living in one."

"Fairy tales aren't real."

"So, you don't think you'll save Josephine, then? You're just humoring her family?"

"I'm finished talking about fairy tales. This is real life. It's not a fairy tale. We have a long walk. Let's get to it."

I began to stalk between the trees, walking toward what felt like my death. Ernest kept up most of the way until night began to fall, and he suggested we make camp.

He started a fire with magic, not that I was complaining. I was too tired to try it myself.

The Dark Woods were still miles away. It would take most of the next day to get there. Knowing at least a giant wolf waited for me didn't sit right with me.

What else did Deidamia have up her sleeve?

Ernest brought out another loaf of bread and handed half to me. I nearly inhaled it. I stretched my legs outward. Resting my head against the trunk of the tree, I fell asleep immediately.

"Kellan."

My eyes fluttered awake. Sunlight pierced my eyesight, and I rubbed the sleep away with the heels of my palms.

"It's time to move," Ernest said calmly.

He held a cup of water out in front of my face, and I almost swallowed it whole. "Thank you," I groaned, using the tree trunk to stand up.

Ernest yawned and stretched his arms above his head. "We have a full day's worth of walking," he said. "Perhaps around lunch we can try to catch a fish. I've noticed several ponds around. I think you really need some protein."

"Sure," I said, slinging my bag over my back. "Any sign of the demented bird?"

"Not today. I thought I heard something last night."

Running my fingers into my hair, I gathered myself before leading us toward the Dark Woods.

We began to walk deeper and deeper into the forest. The silence up ahead was an indication of us nearing the Dark Woods.

It felt hotter than before. Maybe she was raining fire down over the forest in a tantrum.

A sliver of warmth tap-danced down my spine. I glanced back at Ernest, who seemed unfazed by a sudden rush of heat.

The forest floor grew murky and hard to walk through. I pressed harder and ignored the cramps in my lower stomach from the strength it took to get through it.

"Are you okay?" I asked Ernest.

"I'm fine, son. Keep going."

Another heat waved surged over my skin. I wiped the sweat from my brow when I smelled it. The smell of food. It was then that I realized the smell. It was my wife's apple pie.

Tears formed in my eyes, and I found myself yearning to round the corner and find her waiting on me.

I took another step, this time hearing her voice slice through the woods.

"Kellan. You're home." The tears lining my eyes raced down my cheeks. This was witchery. I could taste it in the air.

"No," I whispered.

Ernest placed a palm on my shoulder. "Are you okay, son? Do you need to take a break?"

"Kellan!" she called again. My vision blurred. Reality tilted on end, and I struggled to keep the past where it belonged.

"Kellan," she chuckled. "Come on. Your pie is getting cold."

"Ernest," I whispered, but nothing came out. I stumbled against the nearest tree. My surroundings began to fade into a familiar cabin. The one that I knew sat in the rubble of my old village.

Yet I still walked through it, my fingertips touching the old wooden furniture, searching for her.

She stood in the kitchen, her blonde hair piled on top of her head, with an apple pie sitting to the side. She turned to look at me with her bright features and beautiful face. "About time," she chuckled. "I've been calling you for ages. Come here, sweet man. I know you're hungry."

I stepped over, reaching for her, reaching for a past life that I knew didn"t exist, when her smile turned deep and her eyes black.

"Eat the pie," she whispered, her voice deeper. "Eat it," she hissed. "Now!"

I stumbled backward, running into something but not seeing anything other than her demonic glare.

A dark figure sliced through my vision and flew upward.

Deidamia's crow cawed above me as Ernest grabbed my biceps and shook me. "Kellan. It's not real. It's not real."

I blinked, and tears raced down my cheeks. A sob that I'd been holding for so long ripped from me. "I-I have to kill her, Ernest. I have to rip her to shreds for what she did."

Ernest helped me down to the ground and bent in front of me. "You're the one that has to do this because she took the most from you. You have to kill Deidamia."

I braced my elbows against my knees and sobbed like a lost child.

It felt oddly satisfying, as if it lifted a weight from my shoulders. Ernest ran his palm down my head like a father would his son. "You're stronger than she wants you to think. She's trying to get into your head. That vision was a low blow. Her way of controlling your emotions. You can't let her do this. We have to keep going."

I swallowed the hardened lump in my throat. It felt like someone had shoved cotton into my mouth and it took several minutes to form words.

"I don't know if I have the strength. She took so much from me. She took my heart."

Ernest shook his head. "Our creator has given you something stronger than your heart. He gave it to you in the form of true love, Kellan. Haven't you ever read a fairy tale? True love always prevails."

I chuckled. "How many times do I have to say that I don't believe in fairy tales?"

Ernest climbed to his feet and offered me his hand. "You're gonna have to start believing, Kellan. Fairy tales don't work if the hero doesn't embrace that he's the key to saving his princess."