“Seth?” Nessa questioned.
“The dust works, let’s go before it wears off or one of the guards comes and finds me not in my cell.” I placed one hand on Nessa’s shoulder and one on Edan’s, both flinched, and gently nudged them to move.
I followed closely behind them as Ella led us to a secluded garden with a small fountain in the center. It was encircled by tall shrubs and grey stones covered the ground. Benches were scattered around the fountain that had water bubbling out of a slender column in the center of it.
Ella knelt on the edge of the fountain and pulled out her etch. She dipped it in the water several times before a thin, clear line of water was attached to it like a thread in the eye of a needle. Slowly, and with a proud smile on her face, she lifted the thread of water into the air.
“How do you know how to do this?” Nessa asked as we watched in awe.
“Eveie and I have a house at The Isle of Stars and I picked up on a few Faeish things while I was there. Making a portal is the most elementary ability you need to know how to do.” She flicked her eyes for just a second at Nessa. “It’s how they travel to other realms.”
“And how are we to get April and Malachi back here? Eveie is a demon, and wanted by the archangels. She can’t be just running around causing havoc for us,” Edan said, as Ella finished the portal with a star shape in the center of portal that wasn’t much taller than her.
I wasn’t too worried about Eveie right now; I was worried about getting through the portal.
Ella turned, and glared at Edan. “Eveie doesn’t want to cause havoc. She wants the archangels to leave her alone,” she said firmly with eyes set on Edan.
“We need to have a plan.” Edan looked at me. “Where exactly are you taking us with this portal?” He shifted his attention back to Ella.
“It will open up close to our house near Sothis which is in the southern part of The Isle of Stars.” Ella looked over her shoulder at Edan with her etch still connected to the portal by a tiny thread of light. She smiled. “You worry too much archangel.”
“We have every right to be cautious.” Edan looked back at me as Ella continued with her portal-making as Nessa stood beside her mesmerized by the structure.
“I couldn’t get your stone back. So what weapon will we use to contain this demon?” Edan asked in a low voice as he pulled me away from Ella. “I didn’t plan on her doing this and was going to try one more time to get the stone so we could make our own portal, not have Eveie’s daughter make it for us.”
Edan had every right to be suspicious and untrusting of Ella, but at the same time, I knew we could trust her. Since my connection with the stone, my intuition had grown. I had to get Edan to follow Ella and trust her.
I grabbed onto Edan’s arm, and locked my eyes with him. I was using persuasion on him, and I nearly knocked us both to the ground from the unexpected force. The lightstone, I felt, had left a little of its power in me each time I used it. It was kind of like taking sips out of a glass, and after each sip, the glass was getting closer to being empty. My ability to persuade was strong before, but now it was even stronger.
I quickly steadied myself, and kept Edan’s attention. He didn’t question me or pull away. I had him.
“Ella can be trusted, and is to be trusted by you. She will lead us to The Isle of Stars where you will be cautious, but not untrusting of her intentions.” I held my gaze steady as I felt the power in me surge and fall like waves. I had to release him without a sudden break.
“What are her intentions?” Unexpectedly, Edan asked. This took me by surprise.
“To take us to Malachi and April,” I said quickly and released my hold on him.
I took a step away as Ella finished the portal with a final flick of her hand with the etch in it.
She looked back at me as Nessa examined the portal. “It’s ready, let’s go,” Ella said, as if we were simply getting on a bus and going downtown on an errand.
She shoved the etch into her pocket, Looked back at me and smiled, and took Nessa by the hand. “You guys will love it there.”
Ella pulled on Nessa’s hand, and into the portal they went. I took a step forward as Edan followed behind the two girls without hesitation. I had used my persuasion, but I didn’t think it would be that strong. Edan entered the portal stone-faced as if he would follow Ella off a cliff is she went and suggested that he go too. I would have to re-persuade Edan so that didn’t happen.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps and voices erupted through the cover of the tall shrubs. I could hear Isaiah’s voice giving commands to his guards and coming closer.
“If Edan is involved in this, bring him to me first—unharmed. I don’t care about the others.”
Quickly, I leaped into the portal and hoped we could close it before Isaiah and his guards could follow us.
14
April
I had wings protruding from my back like the kind you find in the Halloween costume section in a store—except mine were real. I couldn’t see them very well, but from what I strained my neck to see, they weren’t really a color, but glowed in a yellowish light. Eveie seemed pleased as if she had been waiting for this for a long time. I sat outside of Eveie’s fairytale-style cottage and looked at the landscape surrounding me.
Just a few weeks ago, all I wanted was to leave Sunrise Acres and my life there with it, and hopefully have a normal life. All I’ve done is escape from foster homes, institutions, and the darkness that followed me like a shadow.
“Keep fluttering them or they’ll get stiff.” Eveie said, coming out of the house and into the sunshine that she smiled up at. “It’s a beautiful day, and I’m not saying for what finally happened, but the weather is really nice—almost like it is celebrating with us.”
I closed my eyes trying to let everything soak in. I should be running around half-crazed at what has just happened. I mean, how was I to wear clothing and take a bath, or do I just flutter around in some birdbath somewhere that Eveie has probably got around here somewhere? I felt I couldn’t think anymore—I wanted to run away. That’s what I’ve been doing my whole life—running away and always searching for that safe paradise over the next hill that was just out of reach. But I’ve reached that hill, and I was in paradise. Only paradise wasn’t what I expected, or was it? I knew and felt I was always different, but not this different.
“You look like you are thinking about something deeply.” Eveie sat next to me, watching.
I looked at her. She was the darkness that followed me, saved my mother from death, and feared thinking one day I’d conquer that shadow that followed me and finally be free. The darkness that haunted me as a child wasn’t evil in the end, but held the answers to questions I didn’t know I had.
“What about my father? Who was he?” I finally asked.
Eveie took in a deep breath, and gazed out at the sunlit scenery. “He’s Fae and lives here on The Isle of Stars.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Here?” I said, standing up pointing towards the ground. “You said he died, and never got the chance to see me.”
Eveie gazed at me with her blue eyes surrounded with the silver scales that caught the light. “His name is Eldon, and his lives in Braithwaine in the east. And as far as what I said before, it was a lie to protect you,” she said without emotion as if she was reading it from a book or letter.
“April,” she said my name as I turned away. “We are safe here, and protected. As long as we live quietly here, nothing will bother us.”
I swung around just as she tried to reach for me. I gazed into her eyes, now filled with nothing but tenderness. “I want to go and see him.”
“He is the crowned prince of The Isle of Stars; we can’t just go and see him.” She pushed my hair back, and for some reason, I let her do such a motherly thing to me. “When he met your mother, he had no intentions of being with her and caring about her. The Fae are that way—they leave the ones they touch suffering in a sick love that nothing can cure.
I’m sure Eldon had no intentions of you even being born as they can control that, but your mother really did want you and so do I.”
I sat dangling my feet letting them skid across the grass-covered stone as my thoughts melted together. How can this have even happened and when was I going to wake up? I had wings for goodness sake!
“April?” Malachi said, standing in the doorway.
I turned around with my heart jumping into my chest as I tried to fold my wings behind me to hide them. But all they did was awkwardly flutter. Malachi and I looked at each other, and I didn’t know how to explain this to him.
I felt like running into the green hills until I knew no one could see me. I still felt this was a dream, and I would wake up at Sunrise Acres. Part of me wanted to run, and the other wanted to stay here staring into Malachi’s confused, blue eyes. But I knew that wouldn’t happen, and running away never did solve many problems. Knowing I should feel scared, I didn’t have an ounce of fear in me. As I gazed at Malachi, something clicked like a switch inside of me. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was finally complete and had reached the point that I was supposed to be at.
“Yes, I have wings.” I stated the obvious. “Eveie,” I looked at her for a moment, “had them sprout out of my back and I’m not just a monster.” I stepped closer to Malachi. “I’m a Fae-monster-demon-bit girl with wings.”
Malachi shifted his eyes from me to Eveie as a sour looked filled his face.
“She did this to you?” He asked with slight disgust.
For a split second, I felt he found me suddenly mutilated rather than beautified.
“No, she didn’t. They were already there waiting to come out.” I placed my hand in his. “My father is a Fae, but doesn’t know about me. Eveie brought me here, and has protected me my whole life. She saved my mother from death by doing a Taking. She risked protecting me even though her sisters didn’t want her to. She risked everything to bring me to this point.” I gently touched the bruise on his neck. “And she healed you otherwise you’d be dead by now.”
Malachi quickly glanced at Eveie who stood away from us, but close enough to hear our conversation—just like she had all my life—looming in shadow protectively watching.
“I’m free of my sisters, Malachi,” Eveie said, stepping beside me. “I’m free to make my own decisions and put into action what I want.”
“And what is that?” Malachi’s voice was laced with suspicion. “You’re still demon.”
Eveie, for a moment, had a hurt expression flash over her face, but faded with a smile. “You don’t understand all demons, Malachi. Ebony thought the same as me, this I know, because I have her power, we both want demons to be not known for the evil they can spread, but gain the trust of the angels as we once did. For too long we have been judged by the actions of just a few. I intend to start anew and prove my alliance with the archangels.”
Eveie looked like a newly opened flower—all white and pure without the weathering of the elements to age her. “You are both young, and haven’t lived enough to see the things we have witnessed from the shadows unable to help or correct as they happened. Our bodies were confined along with our spirts in the darkness to have learned much, but unable to act.” She switched her blue eyes from me and then back to Malachi as she placed her hands on each of our shoulders. “Not all angels are pure of heart, not all monsters should be feared, and not all demons are evil.”
Seth
“Isaiah is behind us,” I said, trying to close the portal by waving my hands.
“What are you trying to do?” Ella asked. “Why don’t you just yell at them too?” She quickly traced the portal with the etch. “It won’t stop them, but should slow them down.” Ella stood back and admired the portal for a moment.
“So where is this Sothis?” Edan asked.
“It’s close, about a fifteen minute walk.” Ella looked around with a satisfied look on her face. “I got us pretty close, and in such a short amount of time.” She motioned with her hand. “Come on, this way.”
Ella took off dashing through the green hills with her black hair bouncing as she raced down the knolls that were dotted with jagged rocks embedded in the ground. I followed her with Edan and Nessa behind me as the blue sky and puffy clouds rolled overhead. Sunrays pierced through the clouds like illuminated daggers stabbing at the countryside as light spilled over the green landscape like pooling blood. Even under the dire circumstances, I found The Isle of Stars to be a beautiful place—especially for a demon to live here.
“Just over the next hill!” Ella shouted as she glanced over her shoulder at me with her hair nearly covering her face.
As promised, just as we crowned the next hill, sat a house or more like a cottage nestled beside a stream and flowers surrounding it like colorful guards. There were three people outside: Eveie, with all of her silver and white gleaming in the sunlight, to my relief, Malachi, and another—a girl with something glowing on her back. She slipped behind Malachi when we made our presence.
“Is that April?” Nessa whispered to me.
I looked at her as she gazed back at me with a familiar smile—Ezra’s warm smile.
“Yes, it’s April,” I replied.
“Mother!” Ella yelled breaking our gazing trance at each other. It was the first time I heard her call Eveie that since the Shadowlands. She ran to Eveie’s waiting arms.
If I didn’t know Eveie was a demon, I’d guess her another enchanted creature. It was like she had become a different creature, but I still remained cautious.
“What do we do now?” Nessa asked.
“Come on,” I replied as I headed towards them.
“Come on?” I heard Edan scoff. “That’s your plan?”
“Do you have a better one?” Nessa asked following behind me.
Eveie embraced Ella as Malachi greeted me. “What is going on at Shangri-La?” He asked as I looked at him and grabbed him by the arms. “What are you doing?”
“Are you alright?” I asked switching my gaze between him and April.
“Yes, believe it or not, we are well here and Eveie cured not only me, but turned April into a demon-bit-Fae-monster girl. It turns out our little spell-struck is part Fae and part monster.” Malachi stepped aside as Nessa, Edan, Malachi and I looked at April as if she was a sideshow spectacle at a circus. She looked uncomfortable.
“April, you…” I started to say as she let out a huff and turned around fluttering her transparent and glowing wings.
“Are those wings?” Edan asked as Nessa elbowed him and gave him a stern look. “I’m just asking.”
“I’ve got wings, and like Malachi said—I’m a Fae.”
“You are Fae, are you sure?” Edan asked tipping his chin down as if to make sure he heard her right. “I’ve seen a few Fae before, but not with wings. Are you sure this isn’t just some monster deformity?”
“She is Fae—not deformed.” Malachi stepped closer to Edan, looking at him as if insulted. “Her father is the crowned prince of The Isle of Stars and the Fae here have wings. You know, archangels don’t know everything.”
“Well…” Edan cocked his head and shrugged his shoulders as if going to elaborate on why that wasn’t true, when Ella cut between them.
“And you are my brother,” Ella said, gazing up at Malachi’s confused face.
She smiled at him and slightly bounced up and down as she waited for him to reply. Malachi’s face paled as his eyes slipped from Edan, and focused on the girl in front of him.
“What?” He asked with disbelief.
“It’s true, Malachi,” Eveie said, stepping towards us, but far enough away as if she sensed his uncomfortableness. “Your sister never died that horrible day. I kept her for you, for us…”
Malachi didn’t reply, but just looked down at the girl who smiled back at him. Ella took him by the hand and examined his fingers.
“I used to hold onto your index finger all the time when we went somewhere because your hand was
too big for mine, but not your finger.” She lifted her eyes to him searching his as if he remembered too. “I couldn’t say Malachi, so I called you Mal, instead.”
I stood beside Malachi as everyone watched.
He looked at the girl as if he wanted to believe her, but at the same time didn’t want to. I knew years had passed since then, and he spent most of them trying to move on and bury the massacre that took his family and way of life. Ella stood patiently gazing up at him. She was the reflection of Malachi, even down to her steady stare that always reminded me of a hawk searching the vast fields in hopes of finding a mouse for dinner.
I didn’t say anything as I watched Malachi’s doubt fade.
“If you still don’t believe me then,” Ella rolled up her sleeve and showed him her hexmark. “Incomplete—it’s incomplete, and you used to tease me about it.”
Ella’s hexmark was faded in places like someone had erased parts of it randomly. She kept her eyes on Malachi as she rolled her sleeve back down, and Malachi stopped her. He looked at her hexmark and ran his fingers over it.
How much more evidence do you need? I wanted to say to him.
“I told you that two Stelhollow hearts still remained in this world.” April stepped beside Ella, but instead of April’s eyes gazing at him, it was Ezra who was speaking. “This is Myra, your sister, and she is alive.” Ezra glanced over her shoulder at Eveie. “The demons that took your village were not all evil. She has healed you, protected Myra, and April as well. Trust lies were least expected and suspicion sits in the most unexpected places that we’d never guess. Judge by actions rather than what you perceive.” Ezra gazed at all of us. “There will be disturbances in the future—find your alliances now, or you will perish in the outcome.” She let her eyes rest on me before she faded.
“Ezra,” I said as I stepped in front of her just as April’s head dropped then lifted.
She looked at me with confusion as I gently touched her cheek. She looked at me with bewilderment at first, then with understanding.
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