I cup my hands around my mouth and call out to my brothers, “Where’s Hunter?”
“He’s at the hotel,” Holden hollers back, plucking a leaf out of his hair as he hikes through the grass toward East and I. “He was preoccupied with an idea he had for fixing the altered link when we felt you guys enter this world.”
“You act as if he can’t just use his powers to fix it,” I say, my brows dipping. “But he hasn’t even tried yet, right? So how does he even know if he can?”
Holden hesitates, taking a few more steps before he says, “He did try, back when the link was first altered and Porter, Max, and him drove Sky home. He was struggling and…” He wavers his head from side to side. “He just wants to make sure he has enough power to do it before he tries it again.”
“But he can do it, right?” I ask, worry stewing through me.
What if he can’t? What if my brothers are connected to Sky forever?
Fuuuck.
“He’ll do it,” Holden promises. “Just give him some time to make sure he does it correctly, okay? If you rush him, he could mess it up.”
As much as it hurts me to do so, I know he’s right, so I nod.
The wind kicks up and blows crisped autumn leaves around us as silence sets in. That’s the thing about the fey world. At any given point in the year, all the seasons are visible, the leaves constantly flourishing and withering. While the sun may be shining right now, a rain or snowstorm could blow at any moment.
“Why are you guys even in the fey world?" I ask in an attempt to distract myself from all the problems filling up my head.
“Well, we were here to talk to someone about why Hunter is struggling to heal the link. It wasn’t supposed to take this long, though, but Camille—the faerie that’s supposed to help Hunter—wasn’t here when we showed up so it’s taken a bit longer than we hoped,” Max explains as a couple of snowflakes fall from the now cloudy sky. “But I think I should be asking you the same question since as far as I know, you guys are supposed to be in Enchantment, protecting Sky…” He slams to an abrupt halt as his gaze lands on Sky crouched behind us, wisps of darkness coiling from her like the branches above our heads. “What the hell happened?” He hurries toward us, his boots scuffing against the dirt.
Holden spots Sky then, and he rushes toward us too, closing the space between us in the snap of a lightning bolt. Porter, however, assesses the situation with his head tilted to the side and keeps his steps lazy and slow. But that’s Porter for you, hardly ever acting like he gives a shit. Honestly, if I didn’t know his story, I’d think he was a creepy fucker who liked seeing other creatures in pain.
“She found out about Brody,” I inform Max as guilt crushes my chest.
Frowning, he nudges me out of the way and crouches down in front of Sky, reaching to touch her.
“Don’t touch her,” I warn, knocking his hand out of the way. “If you touch her, you might get consumed by darkness too.”
“Right.” Max frowns, scratching at his head.
Holden’s forehead creases as he glances from Sky to me and then to Easton. “If that’s the case, then how did you guys get her here? And why the hell did you leave Enchantment? The last I heard it was too dangerous for her to portal travel unless you figured out a way to open a secured portal.”
“No, we haven’t. But we had to risk it so we could get her some help. If we didn’t, darkness could’ve possessed her forever. It still could if we don’t get it out of her soon,” I explain, my fingers curling into fists as I prepare to explain why we came here, what we need Porter to do.
I’m not happy about it, but the more I think about it, the more I realize this might be our only choice. There are so many things that could go wrong, though, and I know I could be about to lose Sky, not because she’ll die, but because her soul will end up connected to Porter’s if this works.
But with the link being altered and my brothers being so connected to her powers and emotions already, did I ever really have her? Can you ever really have someone?
Fuck, I’m getting stuck in my own head. I hate this. Hate that I’m back to feeling like I’m destined to a life of eternal lonely misery.
Agonizing pain presses against my chest as I realize that what’s about to happen could catapult me back into a life of being alone.
I don’t know if I can do it again. Fuck, I don’t think I can.
“How is her being here going to help her?” Holden asks, yanking me from my panic. He crosses his arms and glances at East and me. “And you guys still haven’t explained how you got her here.”
“They brought her here because they’re hoping I can help her,” Porter answers before I can. He steps toward us, his lavender gaze locked on Sky, his eyes filled with curiosity that makes my blood boil.
I don’t want to be this possessive of Sky, but I can’t seem to turn it off. I may not know Porter as well as my other brothers, but I know him well enough to understand that look on his face. That he wants to give in to his hunger and devour Sky.
Max glances up at me with his brows drawn together. “Wait… You’re not seriously thinking about letting Porter travel into Sky’s mind and tether his soul to her’s?” When neither East nor I make an effort to respond, he shakes his head and pushes to his feet. “Do you know how dangerous that could end up being, for a shit ton of different reasons?”
“Of course I realize that,” I snap. “But it’s the only option I can think of besides allowing her power of darkness to consume her.”
Max shakes his head again, glancing at Sky. “There’s too many flaws in this plan. I mean, for starters, she’d have to for sure have a dream seer ability, and we’re not positive she does.” He looks at me again. “And second, Porter would have to be able to navigate through the dream realm and get to her before darkness completely gets ahold of her, and who the hell knows how long that could take.”
“You’re wrong about that,” Porter interrupts, that annoyingly curious glint still evident in his eyes. “I can and have navigated through the dream realm before, and this isn’t going to be a problem.”
“Okay, maybe that part’s not a problem, but there’s still a shit ton of others.” Max fixes his firm gaze on Porter. “One of the biggest is you not being able to control yourself around Sky, which would be fine if one of us was there to intervene, but you’ll be alone with her.”
Porter dismisses him with a flick of his wrist. “I can handle a little soul tethering without losing control.”
“To do a soul tethering you have to feed,” Max stresses, his gaze relentlessly boring into Porter’s.
That’s one of the things I like about Max. He’s stern when he needs to be and can usually get my brothers to listen to him, Porter included. Although it’s not always the case. Like right now, something Porter reveals when he rolls his eyes.
“I can handle this,” he insists. “It’s not that big of a deal.”
Max stares him down hard. “One word. Abigail.”
“Who’s Abigail?” I ask, glancing at Porter in confusion.
Holden and Easton look as perplexed as I feel.
“That won’t happen this time,” Porter utters, looking more unsure of himself now.
Max’s brow arches. “Can you be one hundred percent sure? Because if you can’t, Sky could end up like her.”
“Who the hell is Abigail?” I ask again.
“I messed up with Abigail,” Porter tells Max, ignoring me. “I wasn’t being careful enough and I got cocky. I won’t make the same mistake this time. I promise.”
Max steps toward him and lowers his voice. “How can we be so sure that you won’t? You know as well as we do that your hunger can sometimes take control of you.”
Porter carries his gaze. “Abigail didn’t matter to my family and yeah, I’ll fucking admit that I wasn’t as careful as I should’ve been.” For a snap of an instant, remorse flashes in his eyes. Considering Porter rarely feels anything but hunger, it’s a startling look. “Bu
t Sky… she matters and I won’t mess this up.” He gives a short pause, collecting himself, then calmly says, “I can do this.”
Max and him exchange a silent, intense look.
“For the love of all hell, will one of you please explain who the hell Abigail is?” Easton breaks the silent tension, throwing his hands in the air in frustration.
“I agree with East,” I say. “One of you needs to explain what you’re talking about before I flip out.”
Max and Porter stare at each other for a beat longer, and then Max gives a slight nod of his head and steps back from Porter
“If you say you’ve got this then I believe you.” He gestures at Sky. “Go ahead. Get it done. But do it carefully.”
I step forward, preparing to block Porter from Sky. Not that I don’t want him to help her, but I need to find out what happened with Abigail before he delves into Sky’s mind.
But Holden captures me by the arm and pulls me back.
“If Max trusts Porter, then we should too,” he utters, pulling me beside him. “You know Max can read him better than anyone else can.”
He’s right. Max can delve into the thoughts of others when he needs to, but still…
I wiggle my arm from Holden’s grip. “They can at least explain who the heck Abigail is first.”
Holden shakes his head. “As much as I’d like to know too, it might be better if we wait to find out. Not when he’s about to enter Sky’s mind. We need a calm environment around her if we want this to be able to work properly.”
Glancing at Sky, I realize he’s right. But that doesn’t make it any easier to watch Porter lie down beside her, shut his eyes, and drift off to sleep as he slips into her mind, his body fading as his spirit enters her thoughts.
I feel sick to my stomach and my body heats up as my powers threaten to emerge. But I turn them off, knowing Holden is right and that I need to keep calm while Porter is in Sky’s mind.
Releasing a loud exhale, Max steps back and rolls up his sleeves. “Now that Porter’s good, I suggest we try to contact mom and dad and let them know what’s going on.” He glances at East and Holden. “You two want to work on that?”
“Sure,” Holden says but East appears a bit reluctant, his gaze straying to Sky in a way that makes my jaw tick.
“I guess so.” East tears his gaze off of Sky and steps toward Holden.
Max turns to me. “How about you and I start working on some charms to put up around Sky to protect her why she’s here? And we should probably put some up around you to protect you too.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” I tell him distractedly, my attention half on Sky. “I’m not a huge fan of Sky and I being in the fey world, especially since one of their kind know what we are.” The faerie that my mom had to lock up in her bedroom.
“Not all of the fey are untrustworthy,” Max points out. “But yeah, some of them are so I think we need to do some pretty powerful binding charms that are woven between all of us.”
I resist a frown, but fail. Charming us together means deepening the link, and considering how deep the link is between all of us and Sky now…
“It’s just a temporary thing,” Max adds when he notes my frown.
“Whatever. It probably doesn’t even matter at this point.” I sigh, massaging my temples with my fingertips.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Max asks as he stretches out his fingers in preparation to do the charm.
I let my hands fall to my sides and shrug. “It means the link has already been messing with Sky’s emotions and all of yours’. And now Porter’s going to be tethering his soul to her’s…” I shrug again, feeling utterly miserable at the moment, which kind of makes me feel selfish when I really think about it. I mean, here Sky is trapped in darkness and guilt and I’m sulking because I have to link her to my brothers more, something that’s going to protect her. I’m a selfish bastard. I really am. “It’s just that she’s getting so tied to us at this point that I’m not sure if things will ever return back to normal. Although, I’m not sure anything was normal when it came to Sky but still… There was a point where all of you guys weren’t so tied to her and vice versa.”
Sunlight flickers across Max’s face as the clouds above us part. “Hunter can fix the altered link, Fost. And the soul tethering and temporary charms will eventually fade. None of this will be permanent.”
“I’m not just talking about the magic part of it,” I mutter, scuffing the tip of my boot against the dirt
Max’s brows knit. “Then what’re you talking about?”
I glance at East, who’s talking to Holden just a ways away from us, then I look back at Max, muttering, “I’m talking about Sky and East and some of the stuff they’ve been feeling…” As my powers start to spark underneath my flesh, I trail off, trying to get control over my emotions again.
Max glances down at the lightning blue glow illuminating from underneath my flesh. “East and Sky are probably only feeling that way because the link has been messing with their heads.”
“East felt that way before the link was altered,” I tell him. “Remember the faucet incident? And there were a couple of times where you hit on her too, even after we found out what she is, but before the link was altered.”
“I know and I’m sorry about that.” He scratches at his tattooed wrist. “None of us would ever act on our feelings though, not just because we can’t, but because we wouldn’t want to hurt you. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” And for the most part, I believe my words.
But a tiny drop of doubt remains inside me.
While I understand that a relationship could never work with any of my brothers and Sky, it doesn’t mean she can’t develop feelings toward any of them. And deep down, I can’t blame every emotion she’s felt toward Easton on the link. Over the last couple of weeks, she’s grown almost as close to him as she has with me. So where does that leave us?
I’m not sure.
I’m not really sure about anything anymore.
Well, that’s not true. I know I want to be with Sky. But what if she doesn’t want to be with me?
Skylin
I can’t think clearly as darkness plagues almost every inch of my mind, filling up the crevasses and whispering haunting, disturbing words to me. I want to give into it, surrender and let it take away my pain and guilt, but something is keeping me connected to my old life, an invisible link that won’t let me fully succumb to the evilness.
I can hear Foster and Easton’s voices from nearby, hushed whispers I can’t make sense of as darkness eats away at me, its laughter filling up my head.
“You will be my queen,” he promises. “You will wear my crown and help me rule every single creature that exists. I want you, Sky. You belong to me. Always have.”
No! I want to shout, but my lips are fastened shut.
I’m a puppet. A puppet being controlled by darkness. It’s all I can see, think about, feel…
No, there’s something else inside me. Emotions that don’t belong to me.
Foster and Easton… They’re worried. Not just about me but about something they’re about to do…
“Sky,” Easton whispers in my ear. “We’re going to save you, but I need you to hold on for a little bit longer. You can’t let it take you over, okay? If it does, we’ll lose you.”
“Please forgive us for what we’re about to do,” Foster whispers from the other side of me.
I want to ask what they’re about to do, but my lips won’t come unglued. So instead, I remain frozen in time, helpless and putting all of my trust in them. I hate the feeling, hate not having control over this.
Only a handful of minutes ago, I would’ve totally trusted them, but after finding out about Brody… That I killed him… and that they hid it from me…
Coldness spills through my body, liquid ice glazing my veins.
Darkness… It owns me—
“Hold on!” Foster shouts and bone searing heat rus
hes through me.
I’m being melted from the inside. I have to be.
I want to scream. I want to claw off my flesh and tear out my veins so I can no longer feel the physical and mental pain. I want to blast out my powers and take out everything around me, but my hands refuse to move and my powers refuse to ignite. All I can do is sit there and let myself burn. At least that’s what I’m convinced is happening. But then as rapidly as the pain materialized, coldness whisks through me.
“Thought you could get rid of me?” Darkness whispers in my ear. “Well, here’s a little secret. Nothing can get rid of me. I’m inside you. I own you. Your power will be mine. And when it is, you’ll be beside me wearing a crown spun of darkness and wickedness”
No, I won’t! I want to shout, but my lips still refuse to part.
Darkness swirls around me, dancing shadows that grow closer with each breath I take. The coldness grows, numbing my body, consuming me and begging me to give in.
Maybe I can do it…
It might not be that hard…
To be evil…
I wouldn’t have to think about the terrible thing I did…
About the blood staining my hands…
I wouldn’t have to think about anything because I wouldn’t care about anything…
But then what would I become? The god of darkness’s queen? While I may not know much about this new magical life I was thrown into only weeks ago, I know enough about darkness to understand that would be a terrible thing. That he craves evil and probably has blood on his hands, blood belonging to the other gods and goddesses.
Fight it, Sky! Fight it with everything you have in you!
Darkness laughs at me. “You think you can win against me? I thought you would’ve learned by now that you’ll never win—”
“Oh honey, what have you done to yourself?” The voice that comes out of nowhere carries familiarity and strangely, a drop of amusement.
I blink several times and the darkness scatters, scurrying away and hovering near the trees…
Iridescent Chaos: (Enchanted Chaos, Book 3) Page 6