"Put me down now!" She demanded from a place inside of her she did not know existed.
In seconds, she found herself flat on her behind, the magic gone.
"Graceful, I see." Jack and Franklin snickered at her. Isabella sunk her fingers into the dirt, thinking, if she flung it in their eyes, she might be able to make her way back to the vault where Jack couldn't get to her.
"Isabella Foxworthy, you took something very special and important from me." Jack motioned with his fingers left then right. Isabella felt her body slide forward.
What the hell? She now felt the power of his manipulation that Seth and the others had felt when they were held down back at Empath Hall. Still, she needed to stay levelheaded and not lose her cool if she wanted to get out of there.
"Well, I guess we're even then." She kept her fingers clasped around her necklace, willing it to help her resist him further.
"Isabella Foxworthy. So much like her but not at all. You're rough, not delicate. You're unsure of yourself, while she was poised and purposeful and knew exactly who she was."
"What are you talking about?" Isabella asked, knowing full well who he was alluding to.
"But could be like her someday. A better version. Improved for the future."
"Whoever you're talking about, I'm not interested," said Isabella. She closed her eyes and tried calling out for someone, anyone. She called Mimi's name several times, but nothing. Next, she tried Theophilus and then Seth.
"You've never had anyone really love you, have you? Friendship, family—none of those are real. None of those compare to love joined by purpose. The only love you've know is from guilt, obligation. But what we can give you is much more than that."
She knew Jack was trying to get to her, but his words plagued her. Recalling the time her cohort walked out when Micah was having that attack and how she believed they might have thought it was her fault, she could not help but wonder if his words were true. She really looked at him: His eyes twinkled in the light; he was young, handsome, and alluring. What was she thinking? No, he wasn't. She closed her eyes. She would not look at him.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a cluster of tiny lights gathering at the edge of the cavern. Queen Kendra and her army appeared before her. Isabella glanced at Jack, and she saw darkness flicker in his eyes.
"What's the matter, Jack?" Isabella spat. "Afraid of fairies?"
Suddenly, a voice echoed through the cavern. "This way, children!" Theophilus was calling.
The pixie lights grew stronger. Was Theophilus really there? Or was she channeling him? Then she saw it: a pair of goggles illuminating the dark tunnel behind Jack. Her friends followed close behind Theophilus. She held her breath and watched Theophilus touch the top of his ring. A blast of light shot straight for Jack's back, but Franklin blocked it with a protection shield. Jack kept his eyes locked on Isabella as Theophilus, Neeta, and the others poured into the room.
"Stay back," Neeta told Isabella's cohort.
Everyone but Seth obeyed; Neeta did not block him. Isabella felt Jack's weakening energy cling to her. Almost as if it pained him to do so, he dragged her closer to him with a turn of his wrist and the beckoning of his fingers.
Seth charged at Jack, but Franklin shoved him to the ground. Seth rebounded, struggling to his feet with the help of the fair folk around him.
She felt a sudden surge of protectiveness from an outside energy. Was it from Seth? Then she heard Colin's voice shoot through the darkness. "Duck!"
The fair folk parted like the Red Sea as Isabella dashed toward Theophilus. She felt energies blast toward her, but she kept running until she was engulfed by Cleo's arms; simultaneously, Seth held up the shield to protect her back. Xander and Micah attacked Franklin and Jack beside Theophilus and Neeta. The moment they saw Colin running past their enemies, they all turned to follow.
"What happened to Max?" Isabella asked her brother.
"Max?" he asked as he sent a blast behind them.
"He went into the vault to find you."
"I never saw him."
They charged through the caves until they noticed a dark solid wall appear before them.
"Theophilus!" Cleo yelled. "Where are we going? There's nowhere to go."
"Just a little bit more." He continued running, surprisingly quick for a man his age. He took something out of his pocket, punched a few buttons, and the wall abruptly opened up, allowing them all to run inside. Franklin and Jack shot blasts toward them, but the wall snapped shut.
"Keep moving!" Theophilus ordered.
After a left, right, and left, Isabella heard the roaring of water and stopped. She gulped as she looked down at the dark splashing waves far below them. Was that the lagoon from the fun house? Seth stood next to her with his hand on her shoulder. They shared a look and then stared back at the water, which was being illuminated. Then the fair folk opened a door.
Theophilus snatched Isabella's wrist and pulled her through the glowing door into what looked like the tubes that she and Seth had blasted down onto the Avenue just days earlier.
"We'll go in pairs," he said, looking up the first tube. Isabella stood by Theophilus as the others lined up, Seth beside his brother, Colin with Neeta, and the twins side by side.
"All right. Just do what we do!" Theophilus commanded. "Straighten your body, Isabella."
Air swirled around them all. Above her, Isabella saw the fairy light grow stronger and stronger. Then up they went, like they'd been shot out of a cannon. Isabella slammed shut her eyes as the air stung her face. When they slowed a bit, Isabella reopened them to discover they were floating.
"Below us, a platform will emerge. Plant your feet firmly on it," Theophilus instructed. Sure enough, a metal floor emerged below them.
"Won't the others hit that?" Isabella shouted over the roar of the air.
"No. They will slow down, then shoot up past it and then float down just as we are doing now." Once they landed onto the metal floor, a door opened in front of them. Theophilus dipped inside; Isabella followed. Then the metal floor retreated into the wall, and the twins came shooting up past it. The floor reemerged for Cleo and Xander to float down to. After they hustled inside, they all watched as Seth and Micah appeared.
"Fairies, so kind! They help us move through the tunnels, but they will not help Jack.”
Isabella realized that they were in the very same room into which she had Seth had fallen.
"This is the life jackets place," said Xander.
"Yes, but you won't need those, as we are heading straight back into the speakeasy room," explained Theophilus.
"Jack showed up," Neeta said as she climbed into the room.
When the door shut behind her, Isabella's heart clutched. "Where's Colin?"
"He got caught, holding them off me. I got in the tube, but the fair folk closed it before he could get inside. I think they were trying to protect you, Isabella. To keep him away from you," Neeta said, choking up in a way Isabella had never seen her do. She looked away from Isabella.
"Colin!" Isabella ran to the door, banging on it. "Open the door, you stupid things! Open it!"
"He is going to be okay," Theophilus assured her. Isabella collapsed to the ground, sobbing. She felt a hand on her shoulder and pushed it off.
"Theophilus said he'll be fine," Cleo said gently. The others knelt beside Isabella, and she looked at each of them. Seth had bruised arms and a swollen cheek. Cleo was smeared in the caves’ soot and had dried blood on her wrist. Xander had a gash at the top of his head and looked more tired and worn than she'd ever seen him. When he turned to the side, she noticed the large scrape up his arm where his clothes had torn in his fall.
"How do you know that?" Isabella asked Cleo.
Cleo shrugged. "A little bird told me."
"You don't mean Mimi, do you? She can only talk to Theophilus and me," said Isabella.
"We're connected now. All of us. Can't you tell?"
Isabella nodded. Her cohort he
lped her up and into an elevator. Before the doors closed, she felt her own heartbeat in her ears, but she knew that Cleo was right. She could feel them all. Seth's heartbeat was the strongest. He looked at her from the corner of his eyes, and she smiled a little, her eyes still hot from crying.
"To the Foxworthy," Theophilus said. Isabella noticed that Neeta had not stepped inside.
"You're not coming?" she asked as she wiped back more tears.
"I'm going to find Colin. I'll be all right. My home is down there, ya know?"
Isabella nodded. "And Max? He was back there."
"I'll find him," Neeta said. "I'll find them both."
This was all so crazy. She wanted Colin to come back with her. She wanted to go with Neeta to rescue him, but she knew she also had to go home. She had to check on the Foxworthy. "Theophilus, do you think my grandmother is home now?"
"There is only one way to find out," he replied. Isabella felt a surge of energy sweep through her. She looked at Theophilus as he gave her a sheepish smile. "We've got you. Let's go see your Nano."
Isabella closed her eyes. Then, before she knew it, they were home.
Chapter Forty-Two
Happy Birthday
They arrived in the speakeasy room. It looked just the same as when they'd left it. Isabella noticed the maps on the wall: She now knew what they were for. She knew a bit more about the world that her family had been a part of, but she didn't know everything. She was sure of that. They followed Theophilus up the elevator to Isabella's apartment without speaking. When they arrived, they found the apartment empty. Her friends waited in the living room while Isabella looked in Nano's room, the den, and her own bedroom. She knocked on each bathroom door and found no one.
"I want to rest," she said with a sigh.
"Yeah, I need a shower," said Cleo. "No offense, Izzy, but I'd rather take it in our apartment."
"None taken. Maybe your parents are back."
"We hope so," said Xander. "Come on, Cleo."
"Yeah, bye Izzy," she said, giving her a hug. They were friends now, Isabella thought. And maybe something else—part of a weird kind of family. And didn't she have a family now with Colin? Isabella willed the sting in her heart to relax when she thought of his sacrifice for Neeta, his sacrifice for her. He had to be okay. Then she thought of something Max had said. Gaut's book. That was what Colin had been after in the vault, but what was it?
Micah placed his hand on Isabella's shoulder. "I'm going to go, too. Theophilus, I was wondering, if we still plan to do the show tomorrow night, maybe we could practice later on?"
After all this, Micah still wanted to perform at the ball! Then she saw Micah glance between her and Seth. Isabella narrowed her eyes at their silent communication and realized that practicing for the ball wasn't part of the brothers’ agenda. They had a plan.
"Ah, young master, you are quite dedicated," Theophilus said. "I do hope your parents have returned and that you might have a reunion with them, but alas, my communication device was lost in the Black Underground. No way for me to tell how soon they will be home."
"It's all right, Theophilus," Isabella said warmly. "They'll be home by morning. We restored the Fire, and—"
"You restored the Fire," Theophilus amended. "Get some rest, and we'll worry about things like balls later."
Micah started toward the door with Theophilus. "I really want to work on my drum solo," he said as they left. "I think I can really rock the house with it."
Seth scratched the back of his neck, his eyes glued to the door.
"You should go rest, too," said Isabella.
He turned, his head bowed, and walked over to her. He sighed. He was worn out and in obvious need of relaxation, but he didn't seem to want to move. He shuffled his feet until he was right before her. "Yeah, we should probably all go and lick our wounds," he said, his hand drifting up to touch a spot behind her ear. It stung. She pressed her lips together. "Or clean them."
"Isn't that what licking your wounds means? I mean—"
His eyes danced as they looked into hers; her words tumbled back into her throat. His hand dropped to her neck. "You're amazing, you know that?"
She swallowed. "I am?"
"You saved us."
"It wasn't just me, Seth." She stepped away from him and sat on the sofa. As she turned her back to him, she hoped he'd just leave. She didn't want the others making it out like she was the savior, while they'd done everything to protect her. "What has it gotten us? Our parents aren't even home."
"You saved the Violet Fire. I could feel it when you did it—power. And it was just in time, too. I was shielding the others, but I was getting weak. Then all of a sudden I felt something surge inside me, and I could feel you getting stronger, too. Isn’t that right? Do you feel stronger?"
Isabella buried her head in her hands and dug the backs of her palms into her shut eyelids. "Yes!" She stood up and started pacing. "I feel a lot stronger." She thrust her hand out to the right and a blast shattered an empty vase on the mantelpiece above the fireplace. Then she shut her eyes and concentrated her emotions on the lights on the Christmas tree, and then watched as they turned on then off then on then off again. She made music come on. Christmas music. It floated in from her bedroom radio. She turned it off again and then looked at Seth, her breathing labored not from exertion but from overpowering emotions. He stepped closer to her, but she held up her hand. "I wanted to be normal, Seth. I wanted stability, and this isn't it."
"Maybe it is for you."
Isabella folded her arms and lifted her eyebrows.
"You have control over what you didn't before. This was always inside you. And you're only going to get better at it."
Isabella nodded and looked up at Seth, who'd closed the distance between them again. "Together, right?"
"Together," he whispered, dropping his head and pressing his lips to hers. She gasped as his lips started moving. She whimpered when he opened his mouth and his hands cupped her face. His tongue swept over hers, and she could feel the deep protectiveness and affection pouring out of him into her own racing heart. He pulled back from her, resting his forehead against hers. "Izzy, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."
"What?" she pushed him back.
"I mean, I shouldn't have," he said, his eyes still on hers. "It's not right."
"Why, because I'm just a kid?"
"No, because we're whatever they call it—bound together. And I don't know if all these feelings I'm having are because of that."
"What feelings?"
Seth shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I just want you to be safe, and I can't run the risk of hurting you."
"You think this isn't hurting me?" The feelings she was having had nothing to do with being bound to Seth. At least, that was what she wanted to believe. It was what her instincts told her. But she'd been wrong before, hadn't she? She'd trusted Jack, and look how that turned out.
Seth's jaw set, and he closed his eyes. "I've never met anyone like you, Isabella Foxworthy. And I'm sorry."
She felt a hot tear snake down her cheek as her heart clutched. "If you feel this way, then why did you kiss me at all?"
He shrugged and mumbled, "It felt right."
"And now it doesn't?"
"I didn't say that," he said softly. He stepped close to her another time and slid his hand up her neck. He kissed her beneath her eye and then on her cheek. "Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe we could ask Theophilus about guardians and their diadems." He kissed her other cheek. Isabella's toes curled.
"No, that's too... embarrassing," she said breathlessly. Seth's mouth brushed hers a second time.
They heard a banging on the door. "You guys! Come out! Hurry!"
"It's Cleo." Isabella pulled away but still looked at him. His blue-green eyes made a promise to her that she could not fully read. He cared for her, he wouldn't leave her, but there was something else. Something more.
"They're downstairs!" Cleo shouted through the door.
Isab
ella gasped. "Nano." She pushed past Seth, but before she could get to the door, he grabbed her hand. She clasped it tightly. "Come on. Let's go."
They rode down the elevator with the rest of their friends. Seth stood on one side of the elevator and Isabella on the other. They looked anywhere but at each other. When they got to the main floor, the doors opened on the lobby that was full of everyone they'd lost.
"Nano!" She embraced Catherine, wiping her tears on her. "I missed you so much."
"Happy birthday, dear," said Catherine. She looked as she always had—poised and proper and maybe a little less tired than Isabella felt.
"What? It's the thirtieth, isn't it?" she asked.
"No, today is the thirty-first," Catherine said, smoothing her hair back. "You lost track of time underground, didn't you? It’s after midnight."
Nano laughed.
Isabella had so many things she wanted to ask her grandmother, but she knew now was not the time.
"I'm sorry to have left you during the holiday, but we really had no choice."
Isabella smiled. "It's okay. I get it—sort of. We were fine. It's just—"
"You know everything now." Catherine sighed with a faint smile.
Isabella shrugged. "It's fine."
Nano kissed the top of her head. "We'll talk more about it later."
"Yes, of course we will." Isabella laughed.
"Well, if you're up to it, we still have the ball tonight."
"I want to do it. It'll be great. I just need a little nap first."
"Of course, dear."
"Hey, everyone, up for a ball tonight?" Isabella asked the others.
"I already have my dress,” replied Cleo. “There's no way I'm letting it go to waste.”
"If you want to do it, Izzy, we're in," said Micah.
Her friends returned to embracing their parents and filling them in on their adventures. Isabella felt peaceful for the first time in a long time.
***
After getting dressed and ready for the show, she paced around, waiting for the remaining minutes to tick away before she could head to the ball. Some birthday: She hadn't even realized it had come. Now it was almost over. Of course, it was tradition for her to celebrate on the first of January, so she shouldn't have minded it. But she had only just been reunited with her grandmother. But it wasn't trivial. It was important to Nano. It was important to the Foxworthy legacy, something she nearly died protecting. She sighed. She wanted a chance to talk to Seth again before the night ended. Not that she expected him to say anything different than he had before.
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