Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

ORION

T he hole brought me into a tunnel that shouldn't be there according to the laws of physics. I ducked, hunch-walking behind Wendy as she led the way, her golden light like a disco ball, tiny beams bouncing off the curved bark around us. She shed glitter by the second, leaving a carpet of sparkles in her wake.

The air warmed up the further we went. A pleasant warmth. Not too hot and much better than the bitterness outside.

"Almost there," Wendy said.

Thank goodness for that. My spine couldn't take much more of this position.

After a long curve, the tunnel opened out into a hollow space much bigger than the tree.

"Wow," I breathed, in total awe.

The walls were crumbling honeycomb, lit by a strange milky light shimmering around the cavern from the ceiling. Not quite moonlight, something in the shape of a triangle up there.

I turned on the spot, taking in the dead beehive. "By the stars."

"Welcome to my hive," Wendy said, flying around a solitary log sitting on the edge of a hexagonal indent in the ground. "Sit here. Rest while I get to work."

How would a solitary bee, albeit a queen, suddenly bring a dead hive back to life? Especially if she meant to help me quickly.

Rather than ask questions to slow the process, I perched myself on the log.

Wendy hovered before me. "There will be water to refresh yourself with shortly."

The triangular thing began to lower. Wendy flew off to the center of the chamber then straight up to meet it. I watched her vanish into the milky light, her buzzing increasing in volume. The sound vibrated around the chamber, the grayness of the honeycomb flooding with a pale golden color.

"I'm back," Wendy's voice echoed around me.

The triangle burst open in an eruption of golden light. Pretty shards fell to the ground, sparkling in the dirt, leaving behind pools of molten gold.

"Stars…" I whispered, back on my feet to watch the spectacle.

Those little pools became rivulets, elongating into streams, joining together to form a hexagonal moat of golden water around the indent. It flowed in a continuous loop, two smaller strands of it breaking free to zigzag toward the center.

As this transpired, the chamber basked in the golden light of the honeycomb. Each hollow, hexagonal cell glistened, ready to be filled with honey.

Wendy appeared again, zipping back and forth, sprinkling glitter everywhere.

"Drink from the water," she said, her voice filling the chamber in surround sound. "It's like having a full meal."

"Okay." I didn't argue, happy to receive any sort of nourishment.

The busy bee progressed from cell to cell, scrambling inside for half a minute each time.

I crouched by the side of the moat, making a cup with my hands to scoop up the golden water. It was warm, sweet-smelling. When I gulped it down, a heavy sweetness hit my tongue, the liquid sliding down my throat like sugary soup. Wonderfully warming yet strange, my body responded happily to it as if I were partaking in a huge feast.

Wow.

The more I drank, the more satisfied I became. Happy twinges went off in every part of me, my energy levels receiving a much-needed boost, my body hydrated.

"Our sugar water isn't as famous as our honey," Wendy said. "Isn't it fabulous?"

"It really is." I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, having taken my fill.

Three golden lights flared to life in the middle of the indent.

"Oh." I watched three strands of gold crawl out of the mud. They coiled upward in elaborate twists, making pretty shapes like ornate metal work on palace gates.

Leaves formed along the strands, their tips swelling into buds.

"Flowers?" I asked.

I heard Wendy gasp, saw her take a pause in one of the honeycomb cells. "Y-yes."

"Are you okay?"

The queen bee flew down to the water, taking a sip. She seemed so small against the moat, and I panicked she might get swept up into the current. But she took her drink and flew back up to her work.

"I'm just looking for the most viable cells," she said.

"Okay."

The buds opened into golden, pinwheel-shaped petals, centers a vibrant yellow. They released a delicate perfume I couldn't quite place. It resembled lavender in one sniff, then jasmine the next.

I returned to the log. "Those are pretty flowers."

"Unique to this hive. Ah. I think this is a good one." She crawled inside the cell, flying out a minute later to land at the center of a flower.

Wendy did the bee thing, gathering pollen and crawling across the yellow bit.

If only Miko could see this right now.

I did ask her a question then. "How do we get the honey to Earth safely?"

"I can teleport you some of the way, possibly back to the Faery gates we came through."

"Wow. Thanks."

"I wish it was a more reliable skill to carry you all over the place."

"No, no," I replied, "don't even worry. Thanks a million times over for saving me. Twice."

"You're welcome."

"Just don't hurt yourself, please."

"Thank you for being so caring." She moved onto the next flower. "Isn't it strange seeing me outside of the digital world?"

"Yes."

She chuckled. "I miss it."

Wendy would never be my little plastic companion again. I sat with that for a moment, unsure of how to process it.

"What was it like inside that world?" I asked.

"A simple existence. Safe. Comforting. I enjoyed our time together so much, but I lived in endless guilt. I ended up as your pet because of running and hiding from sorrow, forsaking everything that made me queen of this place."

"Wendy…"

"I worried over the honey production every day," she continued, flying up to the cell she'd chosen and crawling inside. "Oversaw a lot of aggression from the fae visiting here. Their greed reached overwhelming heights, tainting everything, becoming intolerable. Violence often broke out around the tree, vile words hurled at my bees for not being quicker."

"I'm so sorry," I offered, bearing collective guilt for the actions of my ancestors.

"Such darkness and greed eventually broke my heart beyond repair," Wendy said. "I'd created a monster. I left this forest, abandoning everything. There was nothing left for me. But I didn't think of my fellow bees, what a selfish queen it made me to leave them behind to die. And I felt them die. One by one, day by day, their final breaths reached me, shattering my heart." She took a brief pause. "I can't die to join them, bestowed with immortal life."

I watched her work, wishing I could hug her.

"With my entire hive gone," she added, "I arrived on Earth, running from my sorrows. But rather than live out my days over there in some miserable corner, like I imagined, I transformed into the virtual pet, losing all control. A strange magic took hold of me, whispering of the scarlet-haired fae. I never understood it until you found me inside that shoe box, everything falling into place."

I scratched my head. "That's… I don't know what to say."

"The universe gives, takes, scatters the pieces for us all to find and play the game while it awaits the outcome."

"Wendy…" Could I hug a bee? I decided against any attempt, keeping my bum on the log.

"It's my honor to make my honey for you," she said. "I want you to have love. I want you to live your life again outside of Dawn."

She crawled out of the cell, leaving behind shimmering golden honey.

That was it, the source of all my hope.

Stars, I was getting super emotional, my eyes hot. "I wish I knew how to thank you."

"You never have to thank me, Orion."

"But…" I shut up, my head spinning with happiness, overloaded with information.

We were meant to be—all of us. Wendy, me, Miko, Trev, the pack—every single piece finding the other against the odds. Surviving, fighting on. Success wasn't guaranteed, yet look how far we'd all come. Look how much potential lay ahead of us.

We could do this. We could make things better.

Wendy found another cell, pleased with its condition, then gathered more pollen from the flowers.

"The honey's gift needs time to blossom," she said. "It can take as little as thirty minutes to as long as a day. I want to fill as many cells as possible to give us options."

"Okay."

"It will do, I suppose," a smooth voice answered from the tunnel.

I jumped to my feet, my stomach dropping.

King Damien crouch-walked out of the opening, wielding a crossbow. "Though I do ask the stars not to make me wait too long."

Oh. Crap.