Chapter 14

FOURTEEN

COLLINS

We flew through the air as quickly as we could. The weather had turned from a light snow to wet, stinging sleet. It clung to my hair and skin, making me feel frozen to the core. My skin turned a bright pink under each little prick of sleet. My clothes were soaked to my skin in the worst possible way. Even my wings felt stiff with the cold. Lingering in the Fae Realm wasn’t a good idea with Tephine on the loose. I needed to get these crystals back to where they belonged, once and for all. The power they brought to this world might not be as powerful as the Chaos Stone, but they were important.

When Crystal-henge came into sight, I sucked in a deep breath. The first time I ever saw it, there was barely a hint of snow on it. Now, it was covered in a thick layer, making it nearly impossible to see. It was a circle of crystals exactly like Stonehenge in First Realm. They were all different sizes, shapes, and colors. The gusting air shimmered and moved where it touched the crystal configuration. Sleet that was blowing sideways seemed to move in a different direction when it got close to the crystals. Color burst from under the layer of snow and shot up toward the sky. It reminded me of the northern lights dancing over the thick, dark clouds.

As we landed in the center of it, the crystals pulsed with light, each of them flickering and glowing bright, beautiful colors—the brightest blues, most vibrant greens, softest yellows, and deepest pinks. My magic rose to the power of this place. Tiny puffs of aqua drifted up from my fingers, and the stones vibrated in my pocket. I knew we were in the right place. I stepped into the middle of Crystal-henge and all the stones glowed brighter. I felt their magic pulsing deep under the layer of ice. The stones in my pocket vibrated to be free, so I pulled them both out.

The other stones around me began to vibrate and I felt it deep in my magic. “Guys, I think you need to step out.”

Bash glanced around. “What’s happening?”

“The stones are about to do some shit, and I don’t think either of you are ready for it.”

“I’m not leaving you.” He shook his head.

“Bash, she’ll be all right.” Mom wrapped her hand around his elbow and gave him a little tug.

I gave him a reassuring nod. “Step back a bit. I don’t know what’s about to happen, but I know it’ll be something.”

They both moved out of the ring, and I held my hands out to my sides, offering the stones back to Crystal-henge. This was where they belonged. I let my magic flow around my arms. It lingered around my hands and dropped to the ground like little waterfalls, spreading out from me in slow ripples like an aquamarine lake. When it reached the circle of stones, the ground shook under me and the ice cracked. Ice popped and rose from the ground like jagged rocks around me. The snow lifted off the stones, and everything froze for a moment. Silence fell on me, and I sucked in a deep gasping breath of cold air. When I blew it out, steam came from me in a long stream.

Everything happened all at once. Two pillars rose from the ground at my sides. On top of each pillar was a small tripod-looking pedestal. I placed the stones on them and the forks of the tripod wound up around the stones like crystal vines, encompassing the stones completely. They glowed even brighter, and I sent a silent message to them.

You’re free! Be at peace now. A feeling of joy exploded out from the stones, and all I felt was their contentment to be home, to be free of their poisonous captors. Excitement filled my body, and I let my magic rise up to the surrounding stones. Welcome home.

The crystals all flared to life with bright colors. Their lights shot up toward the sky like brilliant spotlights. Each one glowed so bright it was nearly blinding. The stones began to vibrate, and I felt the rumbling all around me. The sound of cracking ice filled the air. The wind kicked up and sent my hair flying.

Bash took a step toward me.“Collins, we have to go!”

“Move back!” Something was happening, but I didn’t know what.

The stones all rose a foot off the ground and started to spin around me. Bash took another step forward, but mom held him back. Their speed increased until the stones became a glowing blur. The beams of light wove together in a rainbow of colors above my head like little strings spinning around each other. They shot up to the air and spread over the gray clouds. Colorful lightning forked over the sky, then shot down around Crystal-henge. Chunks of ice flew in the air. The booming of each strike was so deafening I nearly had to cover my ears.

“COLLINS!” Bash bellowed, but I could barely hear him.

The two pillars lowered into the ground, and everything went quiet once more. The lightning stopped. The stones were clear of ice and snow. I stood there at the center of it all frozen by a song that drifted on the wind and sang in my blood. Bash flew at me and wrapped his arms around me. He yanked me to his chest, and for a moment all I heard was the beating of his heart. But the song . . . the song pulled me away from him. I disentangled myself from him and took a step back.

“Collins, what is it?”

I pressed my finger to his lips. “Shhh, do you hear that?”

“I hear nothing.” He glanced around and looked to mom. She just shrugged.

“It’s the most beautiful song.” I took a step away from him. The sound was nearly hypnotizing. It was methodical and sweet, a mix of the best kind of Classical. It called to me, tugging at my power. I wanted to follow it, needed to follow it. I spun around in a circle. “We have to find it.”

“You’re not making any sense. I hear nothing.”

I took a few more steps toward it when an ear-splitting scream shook the world. My eyes widened, and I turned to meet Bash’s eyes.

“She knows they’re dead.” He wrapped his hand around my wrist. “We need to go.”

Mom gazed off into the distance. “MOVE NOW!”

I followed her gaze, and the breath caught in my throat. “Holy shit!”

Just by the castle, a wave of chaos began to flow toward us. The ground erupted into a tidal wave of rock, ice, and snow. It rose up, nearly blocking out the sky, and at the very top of it glowed a beacon of white light. Bash wrapped his arm around my waist and threw me over his shoulder, then grabbed mom and shoved her in front of him.

“Fly now!”

She took off ahead of us. Bash’s wings fluttered furiously as we soared through the air. Behind him, I saw Tephine charging forward, destroying everything in her path. Half the forest was gone by the time she passed over it. The wind whipped around us, and the sleet pricked my skin. The song I’d heard was all but gone under the deafening sound of her destruction. The world trembled and tumbled under her fury.

Bash dove through the portal, grabbing mom on his way in. We all tumbled into the hallway of The Emerald. I skidded across the floor and slammed into the wall. She was only a few yards away when my eyes landed on hers so I shoved my magic out as hard as I could. A crystal wall exploded in front of the portal to keep her from following us and bringing her destruction to our world. It was made of a single thick piece of clear quartz that sat over the portal like a shell on both sides. It let me see enough of Tephine to want to take a step back. The different facets of the crystal caught her every move and made us see her from a dozen different angles. She threw her head back and screamed to the heavens. Madness riddled her features, and I knew if looks could kill, I would’ve been dead in that moment. The fake elevator doors slid shut, cutting her off from our view. I lay there for a moment catching my breath.

That song lingered in my mind, and there was only one explanation: the Chaos Stone was calling to me, and I needed only to follow its melody.

Bash sat up and looked at my crystal wall. “That won’t hold her forever, but it will give us some time.”