Chapter 22

From a distance,it looked like nothing more than a garden. I was expecting something more whimsical, or at least more bizarre, given its owner and apparent function of weeding out weak allies. But no, it was just a garden. Albeit, a very beautiful one.

Large shrubs framed its entirety. Only an archway of pink and white flowers bound together with thin vines suggested it was anything more. It stretched on farther than I could reach toward the left and right. God only knew how deep it went.

"We just… go in?" Rain asked.

"That's what I'm assuming," Jeremy said. "We have no idea what this is about to be. So remember what we discussed when this started. Pick someone, and have their back."

I could handle that.

Approaching the entrance, a sense of unease dripped through me. I couldn't tell if it was because now was the time to feel uneasy, or because of the drugs.

Truly, they weren't making a large impact on me. Everything I looked at rippled a bit, but when I focused, it was as clear as it had been before I drank the wine.

My other senses, though already heightened by being a Vampire, were more intense than usual. The smell of Fae blood all around me was intoxicating. Ezra's fingers, twined through mine, felt smoother than normal, soft. Rain's thudding heartbeat was twice as loud as it typically was.

I certainly wasn't as euphoric as Ezra and Connor, who hadn't stopped smiling for the last ten minutes. So much so that I was beginning to feel the ache of muscles in Ezra's cheeks.

Connor kept the flank with Amara and Luci. Rain, Ezra, Graham, and I stayed in the middle. At the front, Iliantha, Laila, and Jeremy led the group.

In all actuality, Jeremy was the one leading us. Laila kept pausing to look at a pretty branch, or at the stars overhead, and he kept ushering her forward. Iliantha was no better, squatting down here and there to observe the ground at random. Either a bug or something the rest of us couldn't see.

Graham remained wide-eyed, taking in everything, but staying in line. Rain didn't look much different. She was quieter than usual, watching everything around us carefully, but she blinked a few times and resumed her pace before she allowed herself to become distracted.

I gave her hand a squeeze.

With big pupils, curving around the raven on her shoulder, she looked up at me.

You okay?

Yeah. Are you?

Can't complain. I smiled. I don't know why I expected you to panic.

I don't know why either.Her voice, through the telepathic connection, was monotone. Not angry, not excited, just flat. Since before I met you, Ikeptseeing things that no one around me could. Graham was the only one whonoticed.

Hearing that voice in her thoughts again, I fought back a cringe. I didn't mean anything offensive by that. I just—I don't know. I thought?—

That my brother was right?Still, her voice was soft, gentle, but emotionless. Or that Graham was? Or that Amara was? That I'm not cut out for this? That I'm just a silly little girl incapable of standing up for herself, or protecting herself, or controlling her emotions?

Shit. Now really wasn't the time to get into this. No.I don't think that at all.

What do you think? There was a hint of annoyance in her tone now. Because it seems to me that every man in my life thinks that I can't do shit without them. And frankly, I'm tired of trying to drill it into your heads that I don't need you. I love you, all of you, but I can fend for myself.

We both knew I wasn't the one she was really angry at.

I wouldn't think for a second that you can't. Lifting her hand toward myface, I kissed her knuckles. I'm sorry if I hurt you. I know you're not weak, and I know that you're probably better off here than any of us. Graham included, even though he doesn't seem to think so. Amara, youguys are probably on the same playing field, but she was wrong, too. I don't feel that way.

Then tell me what you do think.

That I brought you all into this mess, and your experience here is on me. Good or bad, it's on me. I nodded to Ezra. I wouldn't have known he was going to handle this so well until I saw him smiling like a little kid. But you've been quiet, and that's not normal for you, so I was worried you were upset. It's not that I think you aren't strong enough for this.

"Hmm." The faintest smile teased the corners of her lips. Good answer.

I pulled her in, craned around the raven, and kissed her forehead.

Aside from Ezra, all three of us were battling something. Mine was my own incompetence and the weight of my obligation to protect the people who followed me here. Graham's was dealing with his old trauma from this world.

Rain's was us. The three of us, and her brother.

Supposed he was as much my problem as hers.

But the fact remained. She wasn't incompetent. She wasn't obligated to protect anyone. She knew what she was doing, and she was constantly being treated like a child despite the fact.

In my eyes, Rain had proven her strength, her adulthood, her intelligence, a thousand times over. She didn't need to keep doing so. Yet, it was always there. This lingering archetype: the damsel in distress. No matter that, throughout our story, she had been the hero the most often. I had rescued her once, but she had saved all three of us just as many times.

Only a few steps from the archway now, that sense of unease got stronger. As Laila and Jeremy stepped through it, my stomach swirled.

But Rain carried on ahead. Her chin perched just as high as it had been, her shoulders just a square. Fearless.

With only the tiniest bit of effort, as if I was tapping into her thoughts, I reached for that feeling. It was as if my soul touched hers, and she had given me strength. Although, maybe strength was the wrong word. Passion. Preparedness.

When we made it to the entrance, the bird on Rain's shoulder took flight. It retreated the way we'd come. I wasn't sure if Rain sent it away or if it left on its own. She stood firm despite his vanishing act.

I didn't know, but I knew that by the time I crossed the threshold, still holding her hand, I wasn't afraid anymore.

Which didn't seem to matter, since nothing was inside.

Nothing except a small circle carved out of the bushes. We were all shoulder to shoulder by the time Connor and Luci made it through.

Just as they did, a twinkling light shined at our feet. Before I could blink, it rose like a beam. Climbing higher and higher, cascading over our bodies, its heat rippled through me, as if I had just drunk blood fresh from the source.

It shot out from our chests in a three hundred sixty-degree radius.

The bushes moved with it, spreading out at least thirty yards.

Now, surrounded by that light, watching the bushes, it vanished into thin air, shrinking and growing in the distance.

Yeah. It felt like I was tripping.

"Whoa," Ezra murmured, spinning around slowly to observe it all.

"I have a feeling it's going to get a lot more intense," Graham said.

Straight ahead, only a few feet in front of Laila and Jeremy, a lake appeared. Perhaps a pond was the better term, but it looked pretty vast from where I stood. Granted, so did Jeremy's head, now that the light was shining on it. One second, it was normal-sized, and the next, it was bigger than a beach ball, and the next, barely more than a baseball.

A spotlight made anything interesting, I realized, as I watched the blueish moonlight pulse atop the water. For a moment, it didn't look like water at all. It was like a mirror, reflecting all of us within it. Even that twinkling golden light that had risen from the ground and now trimmed the bushes.

In the center, the water rippled, breaking my reflective illusion.

Gradually, inch by inch, something rose from it.

Ezra jolted, grabbing hold of my bicep.

Rain only cocked her head to the side and watched.

Graham squinted.

Hair. Golden blond hair atop the water's surface.

Two glowing orbs came into sight as the creature continued to grow, stretching to its full height. Blue eyes, blond hair, and pale white skin.

Gradually, her face became clear. Despite having been submerged in water, it seemed dry to the touch. More than that, it was moving with the wind, her catlike features changing imperceptibly with every ripple out and back throughout the atmosphere. It reminded me of the lake which she'd emerged from, and I wondered how she came to come from it.

Fully out now, the naked woman bowed to us.

Laila bowed back. The rest of us followed suit.

She almost didn't look like a woman at all. She didn't look human, that was for sure. Too pretty to be human, too perfect.

It was as if every feature on her face—the little ski slope nose, the widespread, catlike eyes, her long thick lips, even the black eyeliner atop her lids and the bright red lips—were painted by a timeless artist. Her body was no different. I didn't spend too much time looking at her breasts and curves, but they were without flaw. Like a man had imagined the perfect woman and created her from thin air.

"In this daze, the truth, it hides." Even her voice was like a song. "Through this maze, protect your brides."

Was it a song? It rhymed.

"Illusions are all; trust not your eye, within these halls." She tilted backwards, feet raising with her. Rather than standing atop the water, she floated over it, as though she was still within it. Lying on her back now, facing the stars, she finished, "Only the sky will catch your fall."

"Ah, fuck," Graham said under his breath.

"What?" I asked.

"It's a riddle."

Well, shit. I didn't remember what she said.

"The key is near," she said, floating back to a standing position. Once her feet were on the water, she continued. "I promise thee. Find the deer, and you'll be free."

"That's the key?" I asked. "A deer?"

She smiled, then floated slowly back into the water below.

The lake remained, but she was gone.

It was only the ten of us, the lake, and the bushes surrounding us.

"In this daze, the truth, it hides. Through this maze, protect your brides," Jeremy murmured, repeating it in a singsong tone. "Illusions are all; trust not your eyes within these halls. Only the sky will catch your fall. The key is near, I promise thee. Find the deer, and you'll be free." He looked between us all. "Anybody else catch that?"

I looked around, but none of us were paying enough attention.

"Alright, repeat after me. In this daze, the truth, it hides. Through this maze…" He continued, then proceeded to repeat it a dozen times, until we all had remembered it. Before any of us moved, he insisted we each recite it.

"She gave us that for a reason," he said. "In case something happens, we each need to remember it."

Before long, I was singing it like a song.

In this daze,

the truth, it hides.

Through this maze,

protect your bride's.

Illusions are all,

trust not your eye,

within these halls.

Only the sky,

will catch your fall.

The key is near,

I promise thee.

Find the deer,

and you'll be free.

Once we allhad recited it, he nodded slowly. "Good. Now?—"

The golden, shimmering light started at our feet again. It stretched higher, encompassing our heads, then spread out in a circle once more.

The bushes parted.

Not one entrance, not two, but too many to count. Too many for me to count.

"Ten," Laila murmured. "It wants us to split up."

"Not happening," Jeremy said.

"I don't like the idea either," Graham said. "But you were one of us once. You know how these things work."

"And I don't give a shit," Jeremy snapped. "The lady of the lake just said to protect our brides. We have four women here—who do you think she meant? If we split up, we can't protect them."

"I'm so tired of people thinking they need to protect me," Rain said under her breath.

"But if it's guiding us in ten separate directions, it's because we have to," Graham said. "If we don't?—"

"It's not happening." Jeremy's voice rarely got so low, which was its own intrinsic warning. If we didn't do as we were told, he would drag us in the direction he wanted by the hair on our heads. "The sky will catch our fall. That's what she said." He turned around, tilting his head back to look up. "Look for something that stands out."

So, I did.

Partly because I didn't want to argue with him, and partly because I liked the idea of staying together. In horror movies, when the cast broke up, that was always when shit hit the fan. I did not want shit to hit the fan.

Scanning the sky, squinting, I looked for something spectacular. Unhelpfully, it all looked spectacular to me. Back home, I often had a decent view of the night sky, but nothing compared to this.

I swear I could see entire galaxies, without even a telescope to aid me. Suddenly, I understood why ancient peoples believed heaven had to be above us. It was like a blanket of jewels. Bright, encapsulating, and full of life. Each star, each comet, each nebula burned bright. They throbbed and twinkled and sparkled and?—

"There." Connor pointed to something behind me. I spun, following his gaze. Too low to be a star, too high to be a dragon or any other flying creature, a golden orb floated in the distance. "Think that's it?"

"Think what's it?" Jeremy asked.

"The yellow ball thingy," Ezra said.

"That yellow star?" Jeremy pointed deep into the cerulean sea above, a few feet to the right of where the rest of us were looking.

"No, baby," Laila said. "The glowing yellow ball."

Slumping his shoulders, he cursed under his breath. "I don't see a yellow glowing ball."

"Probably because you didn't drink the wine," I said.

"So much for being a guide." He harrumphed. "Alright. Join hands. Let's follow the yellow ball thingy."

Like a bunch of toddlers in day care, we joined hands. Laila stood at the front, Jeremy behind her, Iliantha behind him, followed by Graham, Ezra, Rain, me, Amara, Luci, and Connor. Like a snake, or an ominous conga line, we followed each other's footsteps, twisting and winding around the lake to the entrance closest to the yellow ball thingy.

Once inside, the trail snaked jarringly side to side. Unlike the dirt path surrounding the lake, this trail was made of cobblestone and checkered with dazzling gems. This path was narrower, too, barely giving me and Luci enough room to move through it. A few steps deeper, and chills swept over my skin.

"Apart," a voice whispered in my ear.

I jumped.

So did everyone else.

Amara released my hand.

She squealed.

I spun in that direction, just in time to watch the branches on either side of us wrap around her.

Rain gasped.

By the time I turned back around, bushes had engulfed her.

"Don't let go!" Ezra yelled.

I couldn't see him anymore. All I saw was a bush on my left, and a bush on my right, and the vague shape of a person in the middle. With all my strength, I held on. I knew Ezra did too, but words wouldn't leave me fast enough.

Then the bushes parted.

Suddenly they were on the left and right of me again.

Amara was gone. So were Iliantha and Laila at the front.

In Rain's place, I held a bundle of twigs in the shape of the hand.

"Gods damn it." With glowing eyes, Graham flapped a hand in Jeremy's direction. "Literally, god damn it."