Christian walks over to me and grabs my hand, looking intently into my eyes. “Why would a mermaid save me? Elves and mermaids don’t get along.” I lower my eyes and turn away. “Thank you for jumping in.”
I guess he was in my head again, reading my memories, thoughts, and feelings. He hugs me, his heart beating against my cheek. The heart I’m going to stab soon.
Is this really happening? Why am I allowing him to hug me?
I jerk my wrist from his grip and push him away from me. I have the urge to go back into the ocean. Even if I’m horrified, it’s a feeling I can’t really explain.
The fairy kingdom will dissolve in front of you, Miss Canary’s voice reminds me.
I walk by Christian, glancing down at the ice and the hole that almost killed us. I know that something’s down there; maybe it’s the mermaid kingdom? I take out the rose from my jacket and hold it in the air. “Reveal yourself,” I say, mimicking the voice of a fortuneteller, as if I have the power to summon the kingdom.
“Please don’t go back in that. Are you stupid?” Christian says.
I sigh. “No, I’m insane.”
I step out onto the ice. For a minute, I’m still. I’m not far out on the ice, and I’m sure if anything happens, he’ll reach for me, pulling me back from falling into the water again.
A soothing feeling of serenity and comfort flows through my body, and I let the feeling drown within me. My arms start to tingle with their usual sensations. A force snaps through my mind, and images flash vividly in front of me.
A huge tree appears in what looks to be a forest with orbs; colors of the rainbow float in the air. Plants wave their leaves around by themselves, quickly vanishing as the huge tree flashes back in to reveal a carved entrance.
Another punch presses against me, and I’m not sure if what I am seeing is real. Christian is standing in the forest at the place where Donovan and I first kissed, and he is staring at me like he is aware I am watching him. Then he starts to walk toward me. The smell of lilies and roses wafts in the air, and I am knocked out of my soothing trance. I’m about to crash into the water, that is, until Christian grabs my waist, pulling me back. I turned around to look at him; he knows I saw him in my head, and he’s smiling at my reaction.
He smirks. “So that’s where the kiss was, yeah?”
“That’s none of your business.” Then I realized Donovan didn’t save me that night; I woke in my room with Emily and Christian arguing.
“He was there, but he left you.”
“You’re lying. He would never leave me alone in the woods in a place like this.”
“Seems to me he did. Terese knows too.”
Snow flurries fall once more from the purple sky, and I circle around, looking for the place we played tag. Digging my boots in the snow, I reach the top of a hill. Everything’s covered in white, and I’m not sure which forest it is; blue and green leaves glow to my right, and then the pink and green colors are to my left.
“I, uh, I think I know where the kingdom is. The fairy kingdom.”
Christian is leaning over me once again. I place my hand on his chest, shoving him back. How would he know where the place is? The idiot fell into water clearly wanting to die; did he not predict that would happen to him? Without wasting any time, Christian begins to walk over the hill. He takes my hand, forcing me to walk with him.
Let him help you, trust him. The voices in my head return to haunt me. Christian is the one for you. Stop fighting it. Trust him, trust him.
Christian wraps his arms around my body, trying to keep me warm. I hate his minty breath and woody scent, but I admit this coat really isn’t enough to keep me warm.
“Shouldn’t we take her words seriously? She said it would appear in front of us.”
“No, not really. She likes to talk in riddles—haven’t you noticed?” he says.
No kidding.
I remember a conversation Donovan and I had while wandering around the castle. I’d drift away from his supervision, exploring the home of elves and what made them so mysteriously deadly. I walk up the large staircase, looking for the library.
***
“I don’t know why I’m following you,” he says.
“Witches stick together, right?” I reply sarcastically. “Plus, I’m pretty sure you don’t have a better idea. I’m here for answers.”
“Yeah…kill the elves and get the hell out of here,” he says.
“Hush before they find us lurking around this place.”
“I already know about myself. I don’t need corruption in my life. Neither of us do, especially you since you’re acting all wacko.” I can tell Donovan isn’t trying to be rude; he is agitated and is just, I don’t know…Donovan.
“I still need to protect you, so try and act smart.”
He didn’t really protect us from getting dragged to the elf queen. I chuckled.
***
We stop in front of the forest where I played tag.
Either or, Eliza. Choose.
I hold my bar up, aiming at Christian. “Try anything and I won’t be afraid to use this.”
He smirks and disappears into the forest.
“Hey, are you listening to me?” I follow him. He’s focused on following his little trail, leading me through this dead forest.
“It’s in here,” I say. “The kingdom, it’s somewhere in this forest.”
“Yeah it is. I can feel it,” Christian says.
The trees are blue and pink; a color of yellow and then purple wink on, glowing vibrantly under the snow. The tip of my nose is freezing, and I can feel my lips start to chap. I lick them, but they burn from the cuts on them.
My left arm is freezing and glowing green. I cover my arm so that Christian can’t see it in case he wants to carve on my skin once more. I’m doing what Donovan wants, and that’s playing the part. Showing no resentment and proving that I’ve ‘changed’ the way Christian wants. The evil sort of change, you know, how zombies are made? Get a bite from a corrupt one, and you’re bound to become evil. I know Christian wanted this; he wanted me to be like him: soulless, corrupt (or so I think), and evil. His black eyes are a clue that he’s one of them. One of the many mystics I’ve killed and watched their mist float up into the sky.
We try to retrace my steps back to the tree I chased Emily to. I remember lifting my hands, silencing all the noise the forest made around me. I feel a tree’s bark, and the same feelings of serenity come upon me as I remember this is the area I tasted vanilla and touched the cotton inside a pillow, eventually falling to the ground, paralyzed from the pain Donovan caused, only to wake up to Christian saving me.
I gasp for air. I guess I am back in reality. I need to get used to these weird moments.
These visions would control my mind and let me see what I’ve already seen or let me venture off into the future. I can’t help but wonder if there is some sort of way to trigger it, so that it can help me find the place Donovan and I kissed.
Then it hits me.
Whenever Christian touches me, my veins zap and the same sensation buzzes on the surface of my skin with Donovan. The only thing different about the two is that Christian freezes me and Donovan burns me. Then I remember what I need to do; I needed to kiss either Donovan or Christian, and maybe the trance will come upon me and help us find that tree. This is completely stupid. I shake my head. There is no other solution. What else can I possibly do in order to trigger the buzz in my head? Christian stops walking, and I can’t believe what I’m about to do.
I know he’s not going to mind us kissing; he practically undresses me with his eyes all the time. I have to take the kiss, not ask for it. I have to act not think.
Get it together, Eliza. You’re not a rookie anymore. Take what you want. Take Christian.
He’s placing his hand on the tree’s bark, seeing if it will speak to him.
I hold out my bar, getting ready to aim it against Christian’s neck. I don’t know why I figure knocking him out fir
st, then kissing him would be a good idea. Maybe it’s the sense of being safe; I don’t know what’s going to happen if I kiss him.
Will the black eyes return to pierce my soul?
He’s uncontrollable, and if I give him a taste, he’s going to bite the whole thing. I don’t think ‘doing the deed’ in a forest with a bunch of snow is realistic; we’d get frostbite and die. I need to get one peck on the lips and that’s it. I have to feel the adrenaline rush. I have to get that tiny pinch in the back of my head to set off, causing one of my eyes to twitch. I need to kiss him so that I can trigger this trance. I breathe in the cold air that surrounds us and grip my weapon. I charge at Christian from behind; he turns around and holds up his hands, blocking my attack successfully. His eyes gleam, locking their green color onto me in fear.
This is a first. He’s never been afraid of me before. I show him no mercy. My left arm starts to glow a light green; everything in the forest becomes quiet except for the elf in front of me.
I swoop my weapon toward his legs, knocking him to the ground. Christian rolls to the side, avoiding my stab.
“Eliza, what the hell is wrong with you!”
“I need you to kiss me.”
I run toward him with my weapon, aiming for his gut.
“Why didn’t you say so?” he grumbles and then swiftly catches my weapon in his hands, yanks it out of my grip, and throws it to the ground before me. He grips my waist and pulls me toward him.
“Feisty. Didn’t I tell you that I liked that?” he whispers.
His voice makes me shudder, and my throat is starting to swell. I can’t say a thing, and I can’t continue punching this attractive green-eyed mystic in front of me. I feel weak and vulnerable, because my world is spinning and the smell of mint is overwhelming my senses.
The elf’s lips graze against my neck, traveling up under my chin. He kisses the tip of it. “Christian…” I croak.
He shuts me up by kissing me.
I can feel my mind falling into pure ecstasy, serenity, and that’s when it happens. My mind goes blank and dark, and the images start to appear in front of me as my left arm tingles where my green markings twirl.
I need to focus. The tree isn’t too far from where we stand. It is around a big circle of plants, and I guess from there is the fairy kingdom…if I am lucky.
Christian keeps kissing me, even though my mind is somewhere else, and then his hand creeps under my shirt.
The images stop abruptly, and I snap back to reality, slapping his hand. He shoves me against a tree, not breaking the kiss. We’re freezing and our markings are lighting up the woods.
“What are you doing?” I manage to gasp. Christian isn’t listening to me. I push him off of me roughly, and he lands in a pile of snow.
He looks up at me and says, “In the moment, sorry.”
“Whatever, don’t touch me.”
“I kind of already did, Eliza. I mean, I need to touch your lips for a kiss to work out.”
“That’s a whole different thing, and I already got what I needed, so back up and don’t come any closer.” I reach down for my bar, holding it up at him.
“So you used me for your own needs?” He chuckles.
“Well, yes, yes, I did.” This sounds so wrong. “I needed to, well, um, I needed the kiss to find the tree we’re looking for.”
“You needed me to kiss you, so that you can find a tree?” He pauses for a moment and furrows his eyebrows at me. “You risked your life kissing an elf?”
I know it was stupid of me, and he isn’t helping. It was really a dumb move, but I got what I needed: the location of the tree.
“It’s hard to explain.”
“We got all day.”
“No, we don’t. The tree is this way. Come on.”
“I guess I’m not the only one with secrets, huh?”
I brush off what he said and lead the way to the circular path I saw in my head. I find it with ease, a circle with plants, and in the middle is the tree Emily ran up on.
“Okay, we’re here. Now what?”
“Now the fairy kingdom will ‘magically’ appear in front of us.” I wave my hands up in the air like my AP biology teacher did back in high school.
Hopefully.
I really hope I didn’t kiss Christian just to kiss him. It didn’t feel like it was for fun. We wait in the circle. Nothing happens. Christian kicks the ground, bored, with his hands in his green jeans pockets.
“Any minute.”
“I don’t think anything’s going to happen here.” He looks over at me. “I’m down for another make out session.”
I try to avoid his eye contact; it’s another trap to pull me into his tricks. “No, it is. We have to wait…” I bite my thumb. “It has to be here. I mean, Christian was here—”
“What do you mean I was here?”
“I mean Emily. Emily was here.” I smile, attempting to laugh off the awkwardness. It’s true though; Christian was here, and I remember seeing him in my vision.
I place my hand on the tree’s bark, frustrated. A pulse goes through my hand. I glance up at the massive tree in front of me. I am listening to the tree. Everything becomes silent. I don’t know if I am really going crazy or not, but this tree…its emotions rage in my head; it wants me to do something. I look over at Christian. He’s not hearing the voices I hear.
I press my palm on its bark once more, and a light pulse hits me. My left arm freezes, and the beaming green lights pulse with the tree. Rainbow lights shoot up within the cracks of the bark. The wood on the tree starts to crumble and fall to the ground, the wind picks up, and the plants around us wave in the air.
I step back in shock, holding onto my right arm. It’s dusted with snow; a thick white fog separates Christian and me.
“Eliza! Get away from that tree.”
He rushes through the haze, his footsteps crunching around, trying to find me. He grabs my arm, yanking me away from the tree.
The bark starts to crumble and morph into a dark hole. One last pulse zips throughout my body. It is the same carved entrance I saw before in my vision, the bark Christian touched, and then him walking toward me and snapping me out of my trance.
Rainbow lights appear in the hole, and colorful orbs float up within the tree.
“What’s going on?”
“We found the kingdom.” I smile. “Remember what Miss Canary said? Each kingdom has its own protective charm; the fairy kingdom must be down this tree hollow.”
“You’re sure about this?” Christian looks worried.
“Trust me, I know it’s the kingdom.” I glance up at the tree. “I can feel it.” I glance over at him. “Is the almighty elf prince of Ellevil scared?”
We step in front of the tree and its wide hole. I take a branch from the ground, shake the snow from it, and drop it inside the hole. The branch falls down into the hollow tree. We’ll have to do the same. There is no other way of entering.
“We need to drop in.”
“Are you kidding me? If we step into this thing, we’re going to die.”
He could be right about that. We have to fall inside not knowing what could be waiting for us. It feels right to fall into the unknown though; maybe it’s because I’m a witch. Maybe it’s because of my instinct, something Christian doesn’t have. Maybe it’s because I’m more of a daredevil and he’s the devil himself.
I know in my heart and mind I need to jump into whatever waits for me. One step closer to finding Jare, one step closer to figuring out why Mom went back to Rav, and another to finding out who I truly am. Christian pulls me up and walks me away from the tree. He looks into my eyes, but I act like I’ve heard something from a distance.
There’s no way I’m going to let him try and mess with my mind.
“You can stay out here if you want. I mean, you said it yourself: this is your home anyway. You’re an elf.” I walk backward toward the hole.
“Eliza—”
“Excuse me, I have a rose to delive
r.” I smile, closing my eyes, and with my back turned against the big hole, I drop inside the tree, falling with increasing speed.
Chapter 11
“Eliza!” he yells, his voice fading away.
I’m on the rollercoaster with Christian again, falling down, and everything is black. I spread out my arms to see if my fingers scrape against the insides of the tree; I can’t feel anything.
The fall is an exhilarating rush. I can feel the pressure around me increase as I reached the bottom. Below me I can see colorful light sparkling and detect a sweet smell. This smell is familiar; it’s the scent that trapped Dawn. Coming to a halt by force, I land on my belly against the dirt.
Amazed I haven’t died, I look around to see flowers lining the insides of the tree. Music thumps against my chest, a weird hip-hop and electric mixed with some other style of music. I see two fairy girls kissing and floating by, shocked that they didn’t notice me.
I glance up to see where I fell from. The hole is massive, rising up the trunk. The glowing dust rises around my body; I’m breathless and amazed.
Definitely inside the tree.
Along the sides of the trees are light green vines on the brown walls and tons of little doors. There are wooden stairs that wrap around the sides, and fairies are sitting on them, dangling their legs. They giggle, talking with one another and sipping on their glittery drinks. A fairy opens one of the doors, and when snow enters, she flutters out of the tree.
I walk over to the two floating, kissing fairies. A girl is on a grassy stage in front of me, dancing to the music. The corrupt fairy that attacked Dawn and me looked nothing like this fairy. She has rainbow-colored vines and leaves covering her body; her wings are sharp looking and twitching with each move she makes, and yet they’re silky and flutter effortlessly.
A dark green vine spirals around one of her legs. Leaves cover her breasts and other private parts. She has golden blonde hair that waves around as she dances with the music. The ends of her strands fade into red, then blue, bleeding into purple. The music is intoxicating. The fairy places her hands on her chest, circling her hips around. She lifts up her sultry gaze, sticking out her tongue, which is sliced in the middle. She licks the ends of her sharp teeth as her colorful saliva drips into the crease of her cleavage. She smears the colorful liquid on her rainbow tattoos, causing her to glow lighter.
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