by Emma Harley
“So I’m heir to the throne of Avellia, the Shadow Walker chieftaincy, and I’m in line for the High Priestess throne? There’s no one in any world that would allow that to happen,” she mused, “and it eradicates any chance of them leaving me alone.” Kalen cupped her hand and smiled softly at her.
“Abdication is permitted in our world you know. I did it myself,” he informed her, busying himself to mix her another drink.
“Why did you give up your title?” she quizzed, watching him shuffle around bottles.
Kalen sighed. “I was also third in line, I was never going to become Lord anyway. But my fiancé wasn’t quite as invested in our relationship once she discovered I wasn’t the front runner, so she married my brother.”
“Oh shit,” Raina exclaimed. Kalen sighed and nodded grimly.
“I knew my father would try and use me to secure an alliance through marriage so I abdicated. Would you believe I’m a sucker for marrying because you love someone?” he chuckled, sliding her a fresh drink. Raina didn’t touch it, deep in thought.
“Would I have been forced into a political marriage?” Kalen’s eyes darted behind her and he couldn’t quite look her in the eye. “It’s a possibility.”
Raina’s stomach roiled as her anxiety began to creep in. Marriage had never crossed her mind before. It just never seemed like she was quite ready for that step in her life and now loomed an unwelcome chance that she may be forced into it. A warm hand on her back brought her attention back to the room as Logan sat on the stool beside her.
“What are you guys up to?” Kalen took a gulp of whiskey and set his glass on the bar.
“I was telling Raina why I abdicated my title,” he sighed, grabbing another glass. Logan chuckled.
“Maybe you should have listened to us when we told you she was a gold-digging tramp,” he gloated childishly. Kalen nodded in exasperation.
“Yes Logan, you’ve been milking the ‘I told you so’ for fifty years now. I don’t wind you up about Brianne,” he sighed, swigging his whiskey.
Raina’s ears pricked. “Who is Brianne?” Kalen ignored Logan’s death stares with a shit-eating grin as he leaned on the bar.
“Go on Logan, tell your sad story,” he teased, winking at him as he refilled his glass. Logan growled at him as his grin deepened. “Logan’s ex-fiancé almost made him quit the guard. He found out she was engaged again and almost took off to try and get her back, mind you they had been broken up for years, and out of the blue she got in contact with him right before her wedding. He didn’t want to listen to any of us, but we kept him with us and the female got married anyway. But then everything just went to shit. She was from and married into incredibly traditional families and they found out she was ‘impure’ and tossed her to the streets. She was trying to get Logan back so she could marry him before her reputation was ruined. He would have ended up stuck with her had we not convinced him to come through the portal.”
Raina scowled. “How… progressive, is your world?” she queried, her tone rising in pitch, “because it seems pretty medieval to base a woman’s worth on her sexual past.”
“It’s not too common, but there are way too many religious zealots that still believe in it. Her family just so happened to be exactly like that. They hated Logan and didn’t want her marrying him because he wasn’t a part of their cult, so they bribed her into marrying someone else,” Kalen sighed.
Raina’s eyes went wide. “Bribed?”
“They gave her one of their palaces if she would marry someone else. And she took it,” Logan interjected, clearly wanting to end the conversation. Kalen snorted.
“She chose a palace over you, left you on the hook by writing to you every now and then to reopen the wounds and then when she realised she made a mistake she decided to whistle for you like a dog,” Kalen scoffed.
Logan slammed his glass down and snatched the whiskey bottle from his hands. “I was there, I know what happened you don’t need to repeat it,” he snapped, pouring himself another glass. Kalen snorted.
“You have to get over her at some point Logan,” Kalen chuckled, “I doubt she’s sitting waiting for you to get back.” Raina sank the last bit of her cocktail and set her glass down.
“I’m going to play pool while you two argue.” She slipped off the stool and stepped away to join Alicia and Elias at the pool table.
Elias grinned at her and handed her the pool cue, yanking it back before she grabbed it.
“Don’t smack Logan with it,” he smirked, hinting that he had overheard their conversation at the bar. Raina laughed awkwardly.
“You think I can smack him out of pining for his girlfriend back home? I’ll leave that problem to you guys, you know him better than I do,” she chuckled, reaching for the triangle as Alicia grabbed the balls from the pockets.
“So what’s going on with you and Logan?” Alicia asked blankly.
Raina shrugged. “Nothing. He’s trying to teach me to control my magic just enough to open the portal,” she mumbled, aiming her cue. Fae eyesight made it significantly easier to pocket the balls. Elias must have crushed her. Alicia nodded, casually wandering around the table.
“Is that why you’re wearing his shirt?” Raina’s ears twitched slightly.
“I didn’t want to pull out the clothes I had already packed and all I had in my wardrobe was the clothes for work.”
“So rather than grab two items from your bag you took Logan’s shirt and currently look like you just came from three hours in his bed?” Raina scoffed. “I do not.”
Alicia swore as she missed the pocket, glancing over at the men playing air hockey.
“Yeah you do. I’ve worn that exact outfit after falling out of bed with a guy. Drives them nuts and energises them for one last bout.” She giggled softly as Raina blushed.
“I didn’t sleep with Logan, we just talked. And yes I took his shirt to wear, but I’m wearing shorts underneath because they were at the top of my bag.”
Alicia snorted. “You’re an immortal goddess now Phoenix, you have legs like all those models in razor commercials. Even I’m tempted to touch them. You can’t tell me that’s not for Logan.” Raina glanced up at her from under her lowered brows.
“Actually,” she sidled closer to Alicia, “it’s for JJ. I was hoping to make a move on him now that we’re reunited again.”
Alicia’s eyes widened and Raina caught scent of her. She assumed this was what jealousy and anger smelled like, an indescribable blend lacing her cut-grass scent, coupled with the furious hammering of her little heart and that pink flush on her cheeks and chest.
“I didn’t think you were interested in JJ,” Alicia muttered, skimming around for the chalk.
“I’m not, but now you know how it feels being pestered.” Alicia’s face dropped in surprise before pelting the chalk at Raina.
“I hate you Phoenix.”
“You’re projecting. It’s obvious to everyone you two have a thing. Logan and I don’t. He has a girlfriend back in his world anyway.” Alicia rushed to the mini fridge and grabbed two beers, cracking them open and handing her one.
“No way. Didn’t you two sleep together?”
“Nope, there was some flirting and a few kisses on the cheek.”
“So he was planning to cheat on his girlfriend, who is back home in the world we are now travelling to?” Raina paused for a moment, her ears prickling.
“It’s complicated. He was engaged to her, then she got engaged to someone else, and he’s been hung up on her for years. And I don’t doubt he’ll be seeing her when he gets back.” She took a gulp of her beer while Alicia stood shaking her head.
“Men are dogs.”
“Yeah, in every species.”
Alicia giggled and clinked her bottle against Raina’s. She glanced over to the air - hockey table again as JJ triumphantly woofed and danced around after beating Izak.
“He’s such a jock,” Alicia mumbled.
Raina cackled as she watched his goofy
dancing. “I wonder if that’s what one of the ‘j’s stand for.”
“I found out what they stand for when I checked his personnel file, Jordan Joseph Jacobs.” Raina shrieked with laughter.
“You know I can’t just let that slide I have to go and bully him now.”
“Oh he hates it. I’ll help you.”
Raina sidled over to the squad and Elias, setting her bottle on the windowsill. “I’ll play you JJ.”
JJ beamed, but his eyesight kept darting to Alicia, who perched on the back of the sofa to watch. Raina noticed and gave him a sly grin.
“Obvious much?”
Alicia kicked her from behind as JJ blushed and loaded the puck. Raina grinned as he glanced between her and Alicia, slightly distracted as Raina scored against him.
“You suck JJ,” she laughed, waiting for the puck again.
“You’ve got that super eyesight now, you’re cheating!”
“Jordan Joseph Jacobs how dare you accuse me of playing unfairly,” she faked astonishment as he brandished his paddle between the girls.
“You’re dead.”
He scrambled around the table as Alicia drop-rolled down the sofa to run from him, cackling wildly. He tackled her to the ground, pinning her arms and legs as he tickled her stomach.
“I can’t believe you told them you little shit,” he hissed. Alicia couldn’t even answer through her shrieking laughter.
Davin stepped over the side of the table beside Nick, sipping his bourbon.
“Have they admitted it yet?”
“Nope,” Nick replied, “they’ll tell us when they’re ready.”
Raina readied the puck as Elias joined her for a match. He tossed her a can of berry cider and tipped his can to her.
“Don’t you be going easy on me now that you have super powers,” he teased, priming himself to start. The puck shot so quickly between their paddles even Raina had trouble keeping watch of it, she assumed the humans had no chance of even seeing it.
A sudden ear-splitting crack had the two Fae ducking below the table. They peeked over gingerly, only to see the puck firmly imbedded in the plastic divider down the middle of the table. Kalen and Logan had joined them in the commotion.
“What happened?” Logan asked, before spotting the puck suspended in the partition.
“I think Raina gets competitive,” Elias laughed, as Raina’s shock subsided and she broke down into tears of laughter. Davin reached out and tried to wiggle it free.
“Nope, got it stuck right in there Phoenix,” he slurred, wobbling slightly on his feet. Nick patted him gently on the shoulder.
“Let’s get you to bed man, you’re going to suffer enough tomorrow.” Nick heaved Izak up from the sofa with Elias’ help and dragged him up to his room to sleep. Alicia glanced at her watch.
“We should all probably think about turning in for the night. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.” Kalen nodded in agreement.
“Especially you Raina, I want you well rested for tomorrow.”
Raina nodded, taking a deep breath. “I know, I’ll get some sleep.” As if to clarify, she summoned the small adularescent orbs in the air above her palm with a small smile.
“I’m ready.”
Chapter 9
Raina slung her sports bag over her shoulder and wiped a small tear from her eye. She had sat on a video call with Thea to say her goodbyes after finishing packing up her room. Thea had made her promise at least forty times that she would be careful, and not get herself into trouble. A small pain in her chest took a while to dissipate when she told Thea that her cousins couldn’t know the truth. Raina’s death would be announced in a few days, and all her money in her accounts and life insurance would go to her. Raina made her promise that she would spend at least half of it on herself, not blow everything on her kids like she always did.
Raina had managed to squeeze everything she was taking into her bags, including some of the professional clothing Kalen had supplied when she was a human. She may not have been a fan of them for everyday use, but she did enjoy how she looked in a tailored pantsuit and satin blouses.
Her squad had assembled in the dining room, most of them unable to eat much once they realised the magnitude of what they were about to do. Raina lugged her bags in with her and dumped them down beside an empty chair.
“I want to make this very clear right now. This room reeks of fear and anxiety. No one needs to go if they have any doubts at all. I promise I will never hold this against any of you. I just said goodbye to my aunt, and can’t say it to my cousins because they have to believe I died even though they’re from the other world. That’s their home and they’re the last members of family I have, I don’t begrudge them for staying, and I won’t begrudge any of you,” she announced clearly, leaning on the back of the chair.
Davin poked at his toast as JJ swirled a glass of orange juice, still unable to touch anything.
“We’re nervous Phoenix,” Izak mumbled, “it’s not that I have doubts, I’m just nervous about the unknown.” Alicia echoed her agreement.
“I’ve gone into warzones, but even then I knew what was waiting for me,” she squeaked, “none of us know what’s on the other side of this. I don’t think my life insurance ever covered the possibility of being eaten by ogres.”
Elias chuckled. “Ogres went extinct thousands of years ago. You can find their remains in museums though.” His chuckles quickly died as he realised his reassurance did not work.
“If it helps at all, there’s an awful lot of similarities in our world,” Kalen added, “we have cars and very similar technology to yours. It’s not the medieval world Raina thought it was.” Nick perked up slightly.
“You have computers?”
Elias nodded. “Of course we do, although I’d say our technology is significantly more advanced than yours. We didn’t have the time delay since we didn’t have to build machines for everything, we could use magic.”
Raina smiled at her team as they gave small glances between each other.
“If any of you change your mind, you have until I open the portal to tell me. But I promise you, if you change your mind when we get there, I’ll find a way to open a portal back and bring you home myself.” JJ shrugged.
“It’s not like we can come back though, we’ll be officially dead here. All our properties and money will be gone too,” he added, sipping at his juice, “we knew when we decided this, there’s nothing left for any of us here in this world, otherwise we wouldn’t have been here in the first place.”
“Where are we going to live in this new world?” Nick asked thoughtfully. Logan lugged his bags into the room and dropped them on the floor.
“Each of us has money, property and contacts once we get there. But our first objective will be getting to Raina’s parents, there’s a good chance an alert will be raised once a portal opens and unless it’s someone we know, they might not believe who we are,” Logan explained, pouring himself a coffee and handing another to Raina. Raina looked to the males.
“Where exactly will this portal open? What if I land us in the middle of the ocean or something?” Kalen smirked, sliding toast onto a plate for her.
“You won’t. Part of the ritual requires an object for guidance, meaning it has to be from wherever you want the portal to open. I had a backup plan in case we ever managed to go home again.”
“Wouldn’t you guys work for that?” Alicia asked, “You’re all from there.”
“Well we have to throw the object into the fire, so not really.” Everyone fell silent for a moment before Elias looked up to Raina with sleepy hazel eyes, his ebony hair sticking up at various angles from tossing and turning all night.
“How are you doing, will you be ready?” All eyes fell on her as she took a breath and put her palm in the air. A tiny orb flickered into life, its shape wobbling and waving until it died away.
“Sorry, I’m just nervous, and I called Thea to say goodbye so I got a bit sad too. I just need to cheer up,”
she muttered sheepishly. Alicia glanced up at her.
“Izak was so hungover this morning he smacked his nuts off the chair on his way in.”
Raina chuckled faintly, running her fingers through the stray locks of chestnut hair that snaked over her shoulder. “I mean, it would have been better if I had seen it myself.”
Izak scowled at the girls. “If you had nuts to hit you wouldn’t find it so funny,” he grumbled.
“I have nuts and I thought it was hilarious,” JJ remarked. Davin grinned at JJ, raising his eyebrow smugly.
“Do you remember our first mission together, when you and I had to jump the fence?” he teased, gaining a death glare from his comrade.
“Yes I do. I still have the damn scar.” Raina looked between them. “What scar?”
“JJ got his crotch trapped on the barbed wire, he cried like a little girl when I cut him free,” Davin snorted. JJ backhanded him on the shoulder as he munched on a piece of toast. Alicia cackled loudly, drawing the attention to her.
“Remember the time Izak annoyed Nick so much he pulled the pin on his fog bomb and ran away?” Davin and Nick roared with laughter as Raina choked on her coffee. Izak scowled, swirling milk into his coffee.
“The damn thing was still attached to my belt!”
Logan and Elias laughed heartily, Kalen’s face red from attempting the stifle his own.
“I don’t see you making fun of Raina for that time she threw a grenade so badly it hit our own boat,” Izak jeered, grinning wolfishly at her.
Raina rolled her eyes. “I had a broken wrist, it’s not like anyone got hurt,” she smirked, sipping her coffee. Logan choked back his laughter to look at her.
“How far did you throw it?”
JJ jumped in before she could answer. “About 3 feet behind her.” Elias’ laughter was so hard it was silent, tears streaming down his beetroot face. Kalen looked at them wide eyed.
“You weren’t on the boat at the time were you?”
“Yep,” they chorused. The final anecdote broke Kalen and he could no longer stifle his laughter. Raina wiped the tears of laughter from her face, her voice barely coherent through her ragged breath. “Thanks guys, I think we needed that,” she giggled, setting her palm out before her. A very large orb sprung into the air, orbiting quickly above her hand. She struggled slightly to send it away, but then it was gone.