9. Sapphire

Sapphire

Zoey pulls over at the sign that shows we’re leaving Presque Isle and heading into the town just north of us, Caribou.

“Time to see if my loophole works,” she says, and we hop out of the car, looking ahead.

“I guess I’ll just walk?” I ask.

“Yes,” she says. “That’s generally a good way to cross from one town to the next by foot.”

“Right.” I take a deep breath and step forward, bracing myself for that awful frost to start crawling over my body.

Nothing happens.

I take another step, and another, and everything seems to be okay.

“We’re out of Presque Isle,” Zoey says next to me, looking down at the map she pulled up on her phone. “It worked.”

“I can’t believe it was that easy.” I take out my phone to double check, and sure enough, I’ve crossed the line that separates Presque Isle from Caribou.

“Maybe Riven wanted you to come back,” she says. “He just wanted you to prove that you were fae enough to think around the deal.”

“Then he’s going to be thoroughly disappointed. Because you’re the one who was ‘fae enough’ to think through the deal. Not me.” I put my phone away, ready to head back to the car and keep going. “Anyway, we’re going there to find the bracelet. There’s no reason to think we’ll run into him again.”

“Do you want to see him again?” Zoey asks, teasing me.

She knows I do.

“Does it matter?” I ask. “He doesn’t seem to want to see me.”

“You really do an excellent job at dancing around lies,” she says, walking to her car before I can say another non-lie. “Are you coming?”

“Of course I’m coming,” I say, and an hour later, we’re back in the clearing where we watched the meteor shower last night.

Where Matt proposed to me last night .

An ick feeling travels through me at the memory. I can’t believe he thought I wanted that.

“Where did you go from here?” Zoey asks, looking around.

“That way.” I point to the place where Matt left the clearing. The path is a bit left of where we came in, but he’s always had a decent enough sense of direction that I’m sure he was fine. Especially because we didn’t see his car in the parking lot.

“Then let’s go that way,” she says, and as we walk, she somehow manages to not chatter, so I can listen for the stream.

Eventually, I hear it.

“There.” I point through the trees. “Do you hear it?”

She looks at where I’m pointing, listening carefully. “No,” she says. “But I trust you.”

“You’re about to travel with me to another realm,” I tell her. “I sure hope you trust me.”

As I follow the sound of the stream, I realize how crazy this is. There are creatures in this realm who’d kill me for what I am. Zoey’s human—assuming she also doesn’t have any unknown magical heritage like I do—which means she has no powers to defend herself with, and no rapid healing ability.

Yet, here we are. Trying to go to the Winter Court so I can find a bracelet.

I do care about the bracelet and want it back. But truthfully, this is about far more than a piece of jewelry. Because I can’t just continue with normal life after everything I learned last night. It’s insane that Riven would expect me to. I can’t just magically forget.

Well, for all I know, there’s a potion or spell that could make me forget.

But I don’t want to forget.

As for Zoey, she’s always been my partner in crime. More than that—she’s always been the one to lead the crime. Not having her by my side feels wrong. Plus, she’s the one who figured out the loophole in the deal. Zoey may be human, but she’s smart and strong.

I trust her with my life, and I know she feels the same about me.

I’m lost in thought when suddenly, there it is.

The silver tree.

Its leaves sparkle even more in the sunlight, shimmering so much that they almost hurt my eyes.

“We did it,” I say, gazing up at the tree in awe. “We’re here.”

Zoey’s using her hand as a visor to block her eyes, looking everywhere but at the tree.

“Where?” she asks.

“There,” I tell her, moving closer. “Right in front of us.”

“I don’t see anything.”

“It’s right in front of us. ”

How can she not see it?

Losing patience, I move to stand behind her, grab her shoulders, and force her to look straight at the tree.

She flinches and curses.

Seconds later, she stills.

“Oh my God,” she says, staring up at the tree in amazement. “How did I miss that?”

“Maybe because you’re human?” I say, since it would make sense. “But it doesn’t matter. You see it now. Come on.”

Together, we hurry toward the stream and kneel beside it to peer into the water. It looks just as magical as I remember—crystal clear, almost shimmering, like it’s lit from within by something otherworldly.

Zoey crouches beside me, staring at the water. “So, this is it?” she asks. “We just drink this water, and bam, we’re in another realm?”

“That’s what happened the other times I’ve done it.” I glance at her, my heart pounding faster now that we’re so close. “We should link arms when we do this, so we don’t lose each other. And remember—the landing’s rough. Be ready to brace yourself.”

“Maybe it’s best not to link arms,” she says. “It’ll be harder to land if we get all tangled up in each other.”

“True.” I don’t like it, but her point is valid. “Let’s just make sure to drink at the same time, okay? And be ready for the landing. ”

“I’m good at sports,” she says, as if I didn’t already know it. “Way better than you, even though you have supernatural abilities.”

“I didn’t know about those abilities until last night,” I say. “I don’t think I was using them anywhere close to my full potential before.”

If I was using them at all.

“Fair point,” she says. “But what I meant was—have a little faith in me. I’ve got this.”

It’s true. Of the two of us, she’s always had better grace. And aim.

And I’m confident that means she’ll be able to aim her body correctly to land in a way that doesn’t give her a fatal head wound.

Well, a half-fatal head wound, given that I came back to life after it.

We share a nod of understanding, and then we each scoop up a handful of the shimmering water. It’s colder than I remember, its icy chill biting into my skin as it trickles through my fingers.

“Ready?” I ask.

“Ready.”

We drink.

The world tilts, the ground drops out from under me, and everything blurs in a dizzying rush. Then I’m landing on my back with a hard thud, knocking the air from my lungs and sending a rush of pain through my body.

Zoey lands on her feet, her knees bent, rolling into the fall as if she does this every day.

Not fair.

She reaches down to help me up, and I take her hand, fighting through the pain. It’s already lessening, but the healing isn’t immediate.

Once I’m up and generally okay, Zoey lets out a low whistle and looks around the forest. “Wow,” she says. “It’s more beautiful than I imagined. Eerie, too. A strange mix of both.”

I nod, since it’s different in the day. The sparkles on the thin layer of snow are more apparent, and there’s a slight silver sheen on the tree bark. Not as intensely silver as the leaves on the silver tree, but it’s still there.

Silver, like Riven’s eyes.

Oh my God. I have to stop pining over this man. I’m not a freshman in high school anymore, and I should know better than to trust a guy who has a superior attitude and is cocky as hell. Not to mention the fact that he’s a supernatural being from another world that I know basically nothing about.

“You’re thinking about him,” Zoey observes.

“How can you tell?”

“You get this dreamy, but also brooding, look in your eyes when you think about him.” She gazes around the forest with her eyes glazed over and her brow furrowed, showing me what I must look like.

“How about we focus on finding the bracelet?” I say, since talking about how I can’t stop thinking about Riven isn’t going to help me stop thinking about Riven.

“Right. The bracelet,” she says. “Where did you fall last time?”

“There.” I point to the base of the silver tree, branches twisted and broken from my previous fall.

We hurry over, and I kneel beside the bush, pulling aside the branches and searching for a glint of sapphires among the leaves.

Zoey crouches beside me, poking through the bushes with a stick.

We search for what must be thirty minutes, the task feeling more impossible by the second. It’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

The longer we look, the more hopeless I feel.

Suddenly, a low growl rumbles through the air, freezing both of us in place.

Zoey’s eyes widen, and together, we turn slowly toward the sound.

A monstrous figure steps into view.

It’s tall—taller than any human—with ashen skin stretched tight over emaciated bones. Its hollow eyes glow with an eerie light, and its teeth are sharp, jagged, and gleaming .

But it’s not looking at us. It doesn’t even seem to see us. Instead, it’s walking toward the stream on its long, bony limbs.

I reach for Zoey’s hand, squeezing it tightly, and we lower to a crouch behind the bushes.

If we can be quiet and still, maybe it will go away.

Time freezes. I can barely think. Barely breathe.

It takes another step, its claws scraping against the ground as it moves with unnatural grace. The worst part? It’s heading straight for the specific part of the stream that acts as a portal, blocking it—therefore blocking us from making a run for the stream to get home.

The best solution seems to be to remain here. The bushes don’t provide great cover, but it’s better than nothing. If the monster doesn’t look over here, we might have a chance.

But my heart’s beating so loudly that I can hear it. Zoey’s, too.

The creature tilts its head, like it’s listening for something.

Then its eyes—those glowing, terrifying eyes—zero in straight on us.