by Raine Thomas
“Gabriel—” they heard Ini-herit object.
“A minute,” Gabriel said firmly in response.
They walked until the woods enveloped them and the only sounds were their crunching footfalls. Finally, he stopped. Then he put his arms around her and hugged her. The fear and emotion he had been suppressing now surged forth, all but seizing him around the throat.
“I don’t know how much time we have left, Amber,” he said, trying to keep his voice level.
Pressing her cheek against his heart, she whispered, “I don’t care how lame or clichéd this sounds. I can’t do this if I don’t go into it believing we’ll still have each other on the other side. Please tell me you believe that.”
I believe it. We didn’t come this far to lose each other.
She pulled back and caught his gaze, and he knew he had been successful in transmitting his thoughts. Rather than say anything, she nodded.
He kissed her gently, and then framed her face with his hands so he could hold her gaze. “I want you to know before anything changes that I had plenty of plans for us for the future.” He watched her honey-brown eyes grow warm and slightly damp. “I figured I’d nag and drag you through college like I did through high school. I’d propose to you sometime during our junior year so you and Mrs. B could plan the wedding for after we graduated. We’d get jobs we liked and we’d buy a house, maybe have a kid or two.”
Now a tear slid down her cheek and he brushed it away with his thumb. “We would’ve had plenty of friends and neighbors and cookouts during the summer. Maybe I would’ve even convinced you to get a dog.”
The sound she made in response to that was something between a laugh and a sob. She had always been distrustful of animals.
He caressed her cheek to wipe away another tear. “Well, maybe a fish. Anyway, I always figured we’d grow old together, sitting out on the front porch whenever the mood struck. I certainly never figured us for anything ground-breaking or terribly exciting. And yet, here we are.” He took a deep breath and exhaled. “Essentially, the lives we know are about to end.”
Again, she nodded. She couldn’t seem to manage anything more.
“We may not have wanted it, but we’re about to embark on something both ground-breaking and exciting. And, in my mind, the best part is that we get to do it together.” He paused and again gave her a light kiss on the lips. “When Ini-herit first said that you had to go back to the Estilorian plane, my first reaction wasn’t confusion or disbelief over the weirdness of what he said. Instead, I felt like my world had tilted off its axis. All I really heard was that he was going to take you away from me. And when he said I was going, too, well, the world righted itself. I don’t care how insane all of this is. If we’re together, we’ll get through it.”
Her tears had dried. She gave him a small smile and said, “I can sense the depth of your confidence. It helps.” She reached up and placed a hand against the side of his face. “I may not have had very definite dreams about my future like you did, but I can say what I did envision always had you in it. I’m not about to let that change now.”
He kissed her then, long and deep. And they allowed themselves this time to let go of everything except each other, knowing that soon the choice to do so could be taken from them.
The sound of something thrashing vigorously on the forest floor drew their attention as they neared the edge of the clearing where the Land Rover was parked a short time later. Amber looked up and caught Gabriel’s puzzled gaze just as they broke the tree line.
“Olivia?” Amber saw her sister on the ground in the grips of an apparent spasm.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Skye gasped. She was on the ground beside Olivia. “I was just about to come and find you. Her eyes changed to this lime green color and she just—”
Amber had run across the clearing and was already on the ground. After a quick assessment of Olivia’s condition, she said, “Gabriel, get Aurora.”
She wasn’t sure why she sensed that the cat would make a difference. But it couldn’t hurt. She placed her hands on either side of Olivia’s face and felt some of whatever energy was overloading Olivia seep into her. The tremors began in her fingertips and would soon work their way up her arms. But it seemed to help. Olivia’s thrashing subsided even as Gabriel quickly approached with the pet carrier. The animal inside was mewling loudly.
“Oh my gosh—your eyes,” Skye said as she watched Amber begin shaking in earnest. With a horrified expression, she scrambled back a few inches.
Gabriel managed to unlatch the pet carrier and release Aurora. The white cat sprang free and made her way right to Olivia. Aurora looked at Amber until Amber removed her hold and backed away, and then she climbed onto Olivia’s chest and leaned down until her feline face was positioned over Olivia’s. There was a subtle, rhythmic rumbling sound emanating from the cat. It grew steadily in volume even as Olivia’s movements stilled and she seemed to regain control of herself.
Realizing Olivia was going to be okay, Amber turned shakily to Gabriel. He didn’t need coaxing to pull her closer and kiss her until she stabilized.
“Oh my gosh,” Skye said again. Her face was pale and her eyes wide. “Is that what’s going to happen to me? To us?”
“In your human forms, yes,” Ini-herit said tonelessly. He was standing apart from them, by all accounts an impassive observer. “That is why we must make this crossing. Olaya was affected more strongly right now because she has an affinity for nature and we are thoroughly surrounded by it.”
Olivia slowly sat up, her arms instinctively cradling Aurora. She looked slightly stunned and some debris from the ground clung to hair and clothing, but she was otherwise fine. She glanced up at Amber, who was now standing calmly with her arm around Gabriel’s waist.
“Is that what the kissing is all about?” she asked in an amazed voice.
Amber grinned. “Not entirely,” she drawled meaningfully. Then, after Olivia smiled in response, she added, “But yeah.”
“Awesome,” Olivia breathed. She got to her feet and then, after giving Aurora a nuzzle in the neck with her nose, placed the cat on the ground. Then she turned and noticed Skye gripping her knees and rocking slightly, so she squatted back down beside her. “Hey, Skye, it’s okay. See? We’re fine.”
Skye looked up with frightened eyes brimming with tears. “But you two have someone—or thing—here with you to help when you start reacting like that. I don’t! What’ll I do?” She sounded incredibly pitiful.
Amber sighed when she felt Gabriel giving her a mental push forward. After rolling her eyes at him, she moved away from his side and joined Olivia, squatting on Skye’s other side and propping her elbows on her bent knees. “Look, Skye…Ini-herit said that he thinks one of my powers is to heal others. It worked for Gabriel and it was working for Olivia before her cat took over. I’ll heal you if something happens.”
Wiping at her wet cheeks, Skye whispered, “Promise?”
“You don’t know me, or you’d know I don’t say things I don’t mean,” Amber replied matter-of-factly.
Her directness seemed to help assure Skye, who finally sniffed loudly and nodded.
Olivia reached out to grab Skye’s hand. They all got to their feet. “You’re not in this alone anymore,” she pointed out.
With a watery smile, Skye said, “I guess I forgot.”
Then Ini-herit turned their attention. “The time is growing near. We must walk the rest of the way on foot.” He glanced at Olivia. “The cat is your responsibility now.”
Turning her gaze to the cat winding her way between her ankles, Olivia appeared lost in thought. Then she looked up. “We’ll be fine.”
“Very well,” Ini-herit said. “Follow me.”
They walked for nearly two hours. Amber was no stranger to this kind of environment, having grown up near many different undeveloped wooded areas. But Ini-herit wasn’t sticking to any kind of path, and they were steadily rising. She could feel her calves burning, and in spit
e of the chill in the air, a light sheen of sweat coated her skin. After the first hour, she removed Skye’s sweater and tied it around her waist. Gabriel did the same thing with his hooded sweatshirt and Skye followed suit with her sweater. Olivia, on the other hand, seemed determined to remain in her perfectly-coordinated best until she keeled over.
Amber had never been more grateful for her years of track and competitive karate and the rugged physical conditioning they required of her. As she made her way over another fallen log, she admitted to herself that she was a little surprised at Skye’s endurance. Her youngest sister had obviously worked hard at her dancing and was benefitting from that now. She looked exhausted, but was holding her own. It was a kind of revelation to Amber that Skye’s tendency toward overly emotional reactions didn’t necessarily mean she was weak.
“How much farther?” Olivia asked breathlessly, drawing Amber’s attention.
She wasn’t faring well at all. Amber noted that her cheeks were flushed, her hair was starting to come unraveled from its knot and sweat dripped along her hairline. Her breathing was harsh and erratic. This was not a girl used to activities that strained the cardiovascular system.
“A bit higher,” Ini-herit said. He sounded like he was sitting still, so unaffected was he by their climb.
Olivia made a sound in her throat that Amber thought resembled a wounded animal, but to her credit, she didn’t say a word. Frowning, Amber walked over and grasped her arm. Olivia turned her head and gave her a small, apologetic smile.
“I don’t think I can do this, Amber.”
“Of course you can.”
Amber stopped walking, unconcerned that Ini-herit marched on without pause. Olivia stumbled to a halt beside her. Gabriel stopped about a foot from them, his eyes on Amber. When she realized what was going on, Skye also stopped. She moved closer as Amber reached up and placed her hands on either side of Olivia’s neck where her pulse raced out of control.
“Try to relax,” Amber said. Then, smiling slightly, “Well, as much as you can with my hands around your throat.”
Olivia gasped out a choked laugh even as she fought doubling over. Amber wasn’t sure what she needed to do to make her “power” work, but she was certainly willing to try. Closing her eyes, she focused on the feel of Olivia’s heartbeat against her palms. It fluttered too quickly, like the wings of a hummingbird. It should feel more like the coo of a dove, Amber thought. Calm…peaceful.
Now she opened her eyes and caught Olivia’s green gaze. Her temperature should feel less like she’s just stepped out of a sauna, she reasoned. It should be more like she’s…relaxing in an air-conditioned room. Yeah…
“Holy cow,” Skye breathed. “Her eyes.”
“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Gabriel responded, pride evident in his tone.
Amber released Olivia, sensing that any more contact would have her sister lying on the ground and so relaxed she wouldn’t be able to move. As it was, Olivia wobbled slightly and had Gabriel and Skye reaching out to steady her.
“Oh my goodness,” Skye said excitedly. “You did it, Amber! You helped Olivia!”
Gabriel released Olivia as soon as he realized she was okay, and he walked over to Amber. Her eyes were almost solid gold, but she wasn’t shaking as she usually did.
“You don’t seem to need this, but—” he leaned in and captured her mouth. Amber lifted her arms to encircle his neck.
“Aww,” Skye said with a giggle, elbowing Olivia in the side.
Ini-herit returned, evidently realizing they were no longer behind him. “What is this?” he demanded, looked around at each of them. “This is hardly a time for kissing.”
Gabriel pulled away from Amber. He seemed satisfied by whatever he saw as he stared into her eyes. He nodded and said, “It’s always time for kissing, Ini-herit. Just one of those things I was apparently sent here to learn.”
”Yes, well,” Ini-herit replied levelly, “Any delay at this point could cost you a great deal more than one moment together.”
Amber sighed and pulled away from Gabriel. “The guy’s weird,” she said, glancing from Gabriel to Olivia and Skye. “But he sure knows how to make a point. It’s time to move on.”
Chapter Nineteen
“Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a bottle of water,” Amber complained during the third hour of their hike. She lifted her right arm so she could wipe the sweat from her brow on the shoulder of her T-shirt. “Talk about dehydration.”
Gabriel couldn’t argue. He was nearly out of gas himself. He was really feeling the lack of food and water over the past few hours. With the notable exception of Ini-herit, all of them were dragging. The increase in altitude wasn’t helping. His breathing was growing more labored and he noted that the girls were in similar conditions. The air was obviously thinning. More than once, he wondered if they were all being led like ignorant lambs right to their deaths. Ini-herit certainly didn’t instill much confidence as a benevolent leader.
“I know,” he said finally, stepping sideways as they walked and reaching out to rub Amber’s arm. “I don’t think he understands human limitations.”
She glanced ahead at Ini-herit’s back. “You think he’s going to kill us before we can make the switch from one plane to the next?”
He grinned humorlessly. “It’s like you read my mind.”
They continued for a while longer in silence. Gabriel realized that the sunlight was fading. The shadows on the forest floor were growing longer and less distinct. Although he wasn’t wearing a watch, he figured it was probably around seven o’clock. Due to the time of year, they wouldn’t actually be hiking in the dark unless they were still walking into the very early hours of the morning.
They would never make it that long, he knew. He tried not to dwell on that unhappy thought.
“Stop,” Olivia said suddenly.
Recognizing the urgency in her quiet command, everyone—including Ini-herit—stopped.
“Are you okay?” Amber asked.
“Shhh,” Olivia ordered, holding up a hand. At her feet, Aurora hissed and arched her back. Olivia closed her eyes and tilted her head at an angle as though she was straining to listen to something. When she again opened her eyes, they were lime green. “Something’s coming. I think wolves.”
“Wolves?” Skye repeated in a loud whisper. “Can you tell how many?”
“No,” Olivia answered after a moment. “Their thoughts are too many. They scent us, though. They’re…hungry.”
And then she collapsed, her body unused to the strain of funneling her power. Ini-herit moved forward and picked her up. Aurora shifted onto her two hind legs and clawed at Ini-herit’s pants with her front paws, but he ignored the animal.
“Walk,” he instructed, and began moving.
Not knowing what else to do, they followed. Amber, Gabriel and Skye ended up walking swiftly with just inches between them, their eyes rapidly scanning the thick trees. Aurora raced ahead of them, very near Ini-herit’s feet. Their pace was quicker than it had been in an hour. Gabriel strained to hear any signs of the animals Olivia mentioned, but outside of the noise they themselves were making as they hurried along, he couldn’t detect a thing.
“Wolves travel in packs,” Skye explained nervously, her voice barely audible over their footfalls. “They usually hunt smaller animals during the warmer months. Voles, lemming, squirrels…things like that. They can go for days without eating. But they rarely pass up a chance to take down prey that enters their territory.” When Amber and Gabriel gave her odd looks, she smiled grimly and said, “You get a different kind of education when you grow up out here.”
Skye’s softly spoken warning about the wolves fed Gabriel’s growing concern. He looked around at the nearby trees. Most were so tall that there were no low branches they could grab to climb out of the reach of snapping wolf jaws.
And then they heard them: growls and distinct animal noises growing nearer.
“Hurry,” Ini-herit instructed from several yar
ds ahead. And even with the added burden of Olivia in his grasp, the Estilorian started running at an astonishing clip.
They didn’t need any further urging. Amber quickly pulled ahead, having both her extensive track training and her fear of animals to propel her into the lead. Gabriel started out right behind her, but realized almost instantly that Skye was much slower than them and was thus going to make the most vulnerable target when the wolves ultimately reached them. He instinctively slowed his pace to remain by her side. The growling got closer.
“Come on,” he encouraged her when she jumped over a tree root. “Keep moving.”
“I’m trying,” she gasped.
He watched as she untied the sweater around her waist as they ran, letting it fall to the forest floor. He heard the sound of snarling and thrashing behind them only seconds later and guessed the wolves had found the sweater. Skye let out a frightened whimper when she heard the noise.
They cleared a ridge within the forest and a sharp wind swept around them, carrying the scent of pine and dirt and unclean animals with it. He vaguely clued in to the fact that the wind didn’t seem to be coming from a particular direction, almost as though they had entered the center of a small storm. Even with the increased wind, the predatory sounds of the wolves became loud enough to make the hairs on his arms stand up.
His adrenaline spiked again the moment he realized they weren’t going to escape. Amber was now a number of yards ahead of them. She kept looking back over her shoulder like a heroine in a horror movie fleeing the dreaded villain.
Gabriel!
I know!
Suddenly, Skye emitted a shriek. His heart pounding with exertion and fear, he whipped his head around to help her—and suddenly found himself airborne.
“Gabriel!” Amber shouted.
She had heard Skye’s short scream and had turned to try and help, only to find no one behind her. Now, instead of running away from the wolves, she turned and ran toward them.