Chapter 15

FIFTEEN

COLLINS

Our taxi slammed on its brakes right outside a building I’d never seen before. Behind us to the left was Columbus Circle and to our right was Central Park. Mom pushed me, so I threw the door open and scrambled out and onto the sidewalk.

The building’s large glass windows were tinted and showed a perfect reflection of me. And it was me. Peggy’s reversal potion had kicked in on the train. I was back in my body and covered in a mountain of clothing. I was just thankful to be in a thick, gray wool coat that strapped around my neck and fell all the way down to the floor. Beneath it, I had on a fuzzy white turtleneck sweater that was as long as my hair. The pants were black leather and warm as hell. The shoes were the same silver Ugg boots I’d had on before the potion. Mom had been smart enough to pack my Ugg boots in the go-bag.

I glanced back at the taxi and found her paying the guy. I looked up and saw the glittering green sign that read The Emerald.

The ground rumbled under my feet. Hot air rushed up from the grates in the ground. The pedestrian traffic on the wide sidewalk was insane.

“Come.” Mom grabbed my arm and hauled me into a sprint.

I tried to look around, but the buildings passed by in a blur. We didn’t have time to look around. My best friend was disguised by magic to look like me and had been kidnapped by the Prince of Third Realm. We had to get to her as fast as possible, so I focused my gaze on the back of my mom’s head and moved with her. To my surprise, she hurried to a random solid wall and then placed her palm flat to the surface. Light flashed and then elevator doors that had definitely not just been there opened wide.

The second we stepped foot inside, the doors slid shut and we lifted off the ground. This is cool. This is fine. No questions, no time. Just get to Tallulah. When the door opened again, we were in that hallway that led straight to the bank of elevators—the bank of portals. I spotted the portal we’d used earlier on the left with the eagle symbol. Next to it, the elevator-looking portal had a symbol of a diamond. The fae symbol.

I expected Mom to slow down, but no, she grabbed my arm and jumped straight into the doors—light flashed. Electric sparks shot down my spine and through all of my limbs. My hair flew up all around me like static electricity. For a moment, I was weightless in time.

But then cold air slammed into my body. I hissed and cringed and then we entered a sea of white. I blinked my eyes and rubbed at them, but it was still just white.

“Collins, turn.”

Something gripped my coat and spun me around. I looked up and gasped. The sky was a vivid lavender color that stretched as far as the eye could see. Light snow twirled from the sky and fell to the ground in a beautiful dance. Three small islands floated above our heads. They were the biggest glowing geodes I’d ever seen in my life. Energy pulsed off them, almost like they were speaking to me. I could feel them on my skin. This whole place vibrated with power, and it spoke to every fiber of my body. The islands were connected by vines of crystals that flowed from one to the next. One glowed a dark purple, the middle one was a rose quartz pink that really glistened in the light, but the one closest to us was a pale, illuminated blue with a waterfall spilling over the side of it and falling down to us. The waterdrops turned to snowflakes as they drifted off into the air.

My feet dug into the snow, but when I looked down it wasn’t pure white. Crystals as fine as sand mixed in with the flakes to make the snow glow an iridescent light-blue mixed with pinks and purples. It was more beautiful than I could’ve imagined.

“Where the hell are we . . .” I mumbled under my breath. “What the hell is this place?”

“This is Third Realm. This is fae. It’s—” Mom’s eyes widened. Her jaw dropped. She blinked and looked me up and down. “Oh . . . my . . . don’t freak out . . .”

I frowned and looked down. But I didn’t see anything. Everything was the same. I held my hands out and froze. These hands were mine but they weren’t. Sure, the silver rings on all of my fingers were all me, but my pale skin shimmered like stars in the twinkling sky, like sugar powder in the sunlight.

Bright, colorful flowers popped up through the snow at my feet. The snow itself hardened into crystals and changed colors. I screamed and kicked my feet, then jumped back—light-pink hair tangled around my wrists. With a curse, I yanked it off and then swatted at it, but it wouldn’t go away. It followed my every move.

“Collins, Collins—stop.” Mom grabbed my arms and held me still. “It’s okay, love. Remember, you’re the Stone Keeper. Araqiel altered your appearance to help you assimilate with the humans, right?”

I nodded. “Right. Yep. Wait, what are you saying?”

Mom reached into her coat pocket and pulled out her iPhone. “This won’t work in this Realm, but the camera app can be your mirror. Have a look, but don’t panic.”

“That’s not reassuring,” I grumbled and took her phone from her outstretched hand.

I took a deep breath, then raised the camera up to my face. My breath left me in a rush. The person looking back at me was not the me I knew. Not the me I saw in the mirror every day. This me was fierce. This me was not human. This me had pointed ears for God’s sake. I almost didn’t notice the sharp points poking out because my mind was blown by my hair. It was just as long as it always was, but instead of chestnut-brown, I rocked shades of pastel. It was like eggs on Easter. Or like cotton candy. From the roots down to my arm pits was a luscious lavender color, then it blended and turned into a vibrant light-pink down to my hips.

A strangled kind of laugh escaped my lips.

Then I turned my attention to my face and gasped. My eyes had always been a super, super pale aquamarine, but now they were bold and vibrant. The hue was solid turquoise, and they sparkled better than any gemstone I’d ever seen.

“Oh my God. Oh my God.” I took a few steps back and tossed her phone back. “Oh my GOD. Oh my God. This isn’t happening. I’m dreaming.”

“Even if you were dreaming, chances are this would still be real.”

“OH MY GOD. WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?”

Mom grimaced. “This is the real you, Collins. These are your real features. Everything you’ve known until now was a glamour. A spell. He had to make you more human to pass as one.”

My eyes burned with the need to cry angry tears.

Neon-colored flowers popped up in a sea of petals beneath me. I screamed and kicked my feet out, trying to swat away the plants. But the more I moved, the more they popped out. “ What is this? What’s happening? Why is this ? —”

“Collins. Breathe. You have to calm down to control your power.”

“What? I’m doing this?” I shrieked and pointed to the ever-growing patch of flowers.

The ground ruptured under my feet like an earthquake. A massive crack a foot wide split through the snow. A thick, glowing green vine shot out from the crevice. It was thick and covered in sharp barb-like thorns. It unfurled and lifted above our heads like a snake about to attack. Thick leaves opened and rattled. It swung toward us with a whistle.

“Mom, DUCK!”

She dropped down and the vine went right over her head. She rolled to the side and the snow kicked up around her. I sighed in relief, but it was too late. Another chunk of that vine rose from the ground. A neon-purple flower with razor-sharp teeth the size of my hand exploded wide open and pounced on my mother like a shark attacking a sea lion. I screamed and dove forward, but I had no weapon, no moves, no training.

Snow flew up around her in thick foggy powder. Blood trickled beneath her, but Mom was a beast. Her turquoise-tipped white wings shot out wide, knocking the plant off her and blocking me from its view. She pulled a blade from behind her back and charged forward. The flower rose higher and hissed in her direction. I heard the slide of her dagger blades whoosh through the air. She dove at the vines, slashing and cutting at them. The plant hissed and shrieked. Mom stood straight, slicing her blades through the vines, sending purple goop-like blood flowing from the plant and over the glittering snow. Her coat was torn to pieces. The sleeves were shattered scraps. The skin beneath was now gouged open and covered in that purple goop. Blood gushed from the wounds all over her body and dripped to the ground at her feet.

She spun and sliced the head off the vine. It fell to the ground like a tree being cut down. It spasmed and twitched at her feet, withering away to nothing.

The knife clattered from her hand and fell into the snow. She swayed and then sank onto her knees.

“NO! MOM!” I dropped down beside her and coiled my arm around her waist, trying to hold her up. “Come on, let’s find you some help.”

“So I see we’re throwing all of our plans out the window already.”

I jumped back and shielded Mom’s body with mine—and froze. My heart hammered in my chest and my hands shook. I knew the woman in front of me. I knew that face. Mom had shown me just last night. I tried to catch my breath and calm down. This woman was fierce and terrifyingly beautiful. She had dark skin and her hair was shaved on each side of her head.

“Jada.” The air left my lungs in a rush of relieve . . . help .

“Welcome to Third Realm.” She smiled. “Welcome to chaos.”