by Meg Bonney
I looked at Jason.
Lacy leaned closer. “If you seek the truth about your mother, you will find it in Everly. Every answer you seek is there, I promise.”
Jason started pacing behind me, mumbling to himself.
“Yes, but…” I sighed. She looked so certain. “That’s where Aunt Ruth is?”
Lacy nodded, her blue eyes practically twinkling.
“A portal?” My mind still hadn’t wrapped itself around that part.
“Maddy, I’m going to go call the cops. This is nuts,” Jason interrupted.
“It will not help. You need to leave right now. Time is running out. They are taking her to the temple, and then it will not be long before she meets her end. The king likes to keep a tight schedule.”
“But I―yeah. Okay. What do I have to do?” I dropped my hand to my side.
“Ren, can you take her through as we discussed?” Lacy waved her hand at him. Ren took a deep breath and was moving again. He sighed loudly but seemed strangely unfazed at being frozen and unfrozen. He nodded at Lacy.
“We have to go now. Something is not right. They should not have known she was here.” Ren crossed his arms, looking at Lacy sternly. “There is something you are not telling me, I know it.”
“Close your lips or I will rip them off, Porter,” Lacy said calmly, with a slight smile.
“Lacy?” I took a deep breath. This was all so unlike her. She was Lacy—sweet, kind Lacy.
“How did they know where to find her? That was never a part of this. You are working with them, are you not?” Ren asked, looking very upset with Lacy.
“Maddy?” Jason whispered behind me, pulling my arm.
“Stop!” I shouted. “All of you, stop. I will help Ruth. Just stop. Just stop whatever the hell you are doing. Where is she?” I asked, looking back and forth between Ren and Lacy. I had never been more confused in my life, but one glaring fact remained: Ruth was in trouble.
“I will meet you in Everly, where the water curves to the mountain range, near the tallest trees in the grove. Do you know it?” Lacy said to Ren.
“Of course I know it,” Ren shot back. This mystery man clearly did not like my cousin. And I couldn’t say I blamed him at the moment.
“Be steadfast and watch the moon. If they get Ruthana to the temple, it won’t be long until it’s too late. I do not have to tell you to keep her hidden from the Cloaked?”
Ren squinted at her for a moment. “I know what to do.”
Lacy turned to me. “Guard that sword. It is yours and only yours, understand?” Lacy’s tone was sharp and serious as she spoke.
“Okay, but…” I started to say, then just nodded.
“Listen. Every strange feeling you have had, every time in your short life here that your soul told you that you did not belong, that you were destined for more—it was right. And every single answer you seek about who you are, who your parents are, where you came from…it all lies in Everly. Do not be scared. I must go.” Lacy nodded at Ren, and without speaking, he placed his hand on the tree. A burst of light flashed so brightly I could hardly see, and as it faded, Lacy was gone.
“Lacy?” I called after her. I looked over to Jason. He looked as dumbfounded as I felt.
I was intensely confused, which of course just fueled my anger. Ren looked annoyed, staring at me as I tried to make sense of all this. I tensed my jaw and watched his impossibly green eyes looking back at me.
“Not to interrupt this clearly epic staring contest, but we need to do something besides stand here,” Jason insisted. “I vote that we call the cops.”
Ren and I continued to look at each other, not breaking our stare. I adjusted my hand on the grip of my sword, hoping he wouldn’t see that my hands were shaking.
“Ready?” Ren asked. “I will explain it all once we arrive. But I was not lying. Something is wrong here. Very wrong. We need to leave.”
“No, nope. We need to call the authorities,” Jason said, shaking his head.
“Every answer I seek. Is that true?” I asked Ren, ignoring Jason. “About my parents?”
“Yes,” Ren confirmed. “Now. We must go.” Ren walked to the tree next to Jason. I turned to follow.
“Maddy, I don’t like this.” Jason whispered.
I couldn’t look at him. I knew how ridiculous this all sounded, and I knew that if I let him, Jason would snap me back to reality.
“And where did you get a sword?” Jason continued. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?”
I pressed my lips together and tried to come up with something sensible to say. But the weird thing was that even though I should be, I wasn’t freaked out. I felt a strange ease. Logically, my mind raced to rationalize and understand what had just happened, but I felt a calm that I couldn’t explain to Jason. So I didn’t try.
“You can’t possibly trust this stalker dude,” Jason said. “Don’t you think it’s a little weird that he showed up at the pool house and is here now, when all of this is going down?”
“He said he is going to help me,” I replied, breaking my silence, not turning toward him. “You heard Lacy. We need him to find Aunt Ruth.”
“You don’t know this guy. Just because he says he can help you, that doesn’t mean he’s a good guy. What do you think? You think that the bad guys all wear black hats and curled mustaches? This guy is hiding something,” Jason whispered in my ear.
Giving in, I turned to face him and met his glare. I hoped he would see that I was scared. I hoped he would see it in my eyes so that I wouldn’t have to say it out loud.
Jason gave a defeated sigh.
“Tell me this isn’t just about finding your parents,” he said softly.
“Ruth is my aunt. If I can help her, I’m going to,” I said, sidestepping his question.
He nodded.
“You don’t have to come,” I said softly, eyeing the tree. Ren stood with his back to it, facing us.
“Have I ever let you do anything reckless alone?” Jason replied. “There’s no chance I am letting you go with this guy without me.”
“I’m glad,” I admitted wholeheartedly.
Ren was standing still, watching us and clearly listening, even if he wasn’t chiming in.
“You never have to go at it alone, Mads.” Jason rested his hand on my shoulder. “What’s on your shoulder? Is this blood? Are you hurt?” he said, looking at his hand and then showing me.
“Oh, it’s just that guy’s blood, not mine.”
Jason cringed. “Um, eww.”
“I am not really worried about that right now, Jason.” I rolled my eyes a little.
“Hepatitis. Hepatitis doesn’t worry you?”
I chuckled.
“Ready?” Ren asked, gesturing to the tree.
“Ready for what?” I looked up at the oak with unease. “I am not going near that thing.”
“If you want to go to Everly, you are.”
I scrunched my nose. “Isn’t there another way to get there?”
“No,” Ren answered. He reached out and grabbed my wrist with one hand and Jason’s with the other.
“Let go,” I demanded, trying to pull my arm from his grasp. “That thing’s dangerous!”
“Home,” Ren whispered.
And just like that, he closed his eyes and threw himself backward toward the tree trunk, pulling Jason and me with him. Just as Ren’s back hit the bark, a brilliant flash of light erupted from the tree’s center. Then we fell through the trunk, and I felt as though we were spinning wildly in circles. There was a deafening roar all around us. The light was so bright, I couldn’t see a thing, and then I hit the ground hard.
CHAPTER 9
I blinked frantically, still disoriented from the fall. My eyes began to focus. Lying flat on my back, I saw only trees. Infinite deep green leaves poking out of curving branches blocked the sunlight.
The sun? Was it daytime now?
I sat
up slowly and rubbed a dull ache in my lower back. The ground felt wet under my hand as I propped myself up to sitting. Jason was next to me, picking leaves off his arm.
“What the frickin’ hell was that?” Jason demanded.
Ren hopped up quickly but didn’t answer.
“Jason, are you okay?” I asked him.
“You are both fine,” Ren responded as Jason nodded to me.
“I wasn’t talking to you, dick!” I said through my teeth.
Ren loomed over us, his arms bent, hands resting on his hips like an overgrown Peter Pan. My eyes were still shocked by the sudden light. It was a jarring switch from the pitch black of Ruth’s yard to here.
But where was here?
Jason rubbed his eyes, too, clearly having the same trouble as me.
I could see Ren better now. He had sandy brown hair that swept back and off his forehead. The stubble on his jawline was thicker than I thought, but he still had a boyish quality to his face, making him look my age or maybe a few years older. He had dark eyelashes that drew even more attention to his eyes. They weren’t as distinct here and certainly didn’t look as luminous as they did when I had encountered him earlier, but they were still a striking green. I brushed my hands together, shaking off the bits of leaves and dirt that clung to my empty palms. Empty?
The sword! Where is the sword?
My hands flew over the ground, searching through the clumps of dirt and broken leaves around me on the moist ground.
“Relax,” Ren said. I looked up to see him holding the sword. I slid my hand over the grip and sighed in relief. The now-familiar blue that I had come to expect still glowed under my hand. I didn’t know why, but it was a comfort to me.
“Oh, wow! That thing really glows. I thought it was my eyes playing tricks on me,” Jason said. I turned to face him. He looked a little calmer than he was a few minutes ago.
The light went off and then on again as I passed the sword to my other hand. “No, it really does that.”
“But how?” Jason asked. The blue light hung in the thick, hazy air of the forest.
I looked down at the sword, turning it over and back, not really sure how to answer. “I don’t know. It just does that.” I shrugged, examining it further.
“You got this from the Witch, right?” Ren asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at the blade.
“A what? No, I got it from Lacy.”
Ren gave me a little nod and he half smiled. “We need to get moving.” He turned from Jason and me and started toward a little path where the ground was more worn.
“Whoa there, Skippy. Hang on. How is it daytime?” I called after him. “Did we get knocked out?”
He turned back to look at us, cocking his head to the side a touch. “No. Different dimension. Pay attention.”
Jason and I exchanged confused glances before looking back at Ren.
“I really don’t like you. Where is Aunt Ruth?” I replied, pushing myself off the ground.
“The temple is this way. Follow me.” He pointed up the path.
“I don’t see anything!” Jason angrily protested as I pulled him to his feet. We were both a little wobbly.
“Then walk faster,” Ren replied.
“Wait, Ren. What―what is all of this? Seriously? Where are we?” I demanded.
I placed my hand on the towering tree trunk next to me. The trees were massively tall. Taller than any tree I had ever seen. The trunks were impossibly wide, and their bark was so dark, they looked black. “This doesn’t look like Greenrock,” I said as I turned in a circle.
“That is because it is Everly. You are not in Greenrock anymore,” Ren explained, sounding annoyed.
The tops of the massive trees seemed to curve together down the path in front of us, making a long, lush archway. The ground was covered in giant green leaves and twigs that snapped and crunched beneath our feet. Dew had collected on almost everything and glistened in the beams of sunlight that shone through breaks in the tree cover like hazy spotlights. The air was damp and clung to my skin.
“How is it daylight?” I asked again.
“Time moves a little differently here, you will find,” Ren answered. “Too much to explain right now. We need to get moving. You will want to do this quickly.”
Jason looked awestruck as he stepped around a cluster of stones on the ground at the base of one of the trees and started to follow Ren. I hooked a finger in Jason’s shirt to stop him.
“Stay by me. I don’t trust him,” I whispered in Jason’s ear. We followed Ren but stayed about ten feet behind, just to be on the safe side. I still wasn’t sure where we were exactly. Or maybe I was dreaming and this was just a really crappy nightmare.
I pinched myself. Nothing happened.
I reached over and pinched Jason.
“Ouch! Quit it.” He swatted my hand away.
Nope. Not a dream.
“Your aunt is a Witch, so they are taking her to the Temple of the Ember Isle. That is where they take all the Magics,” Ren explained. “We need to get to her before she gets to the temple and they put her with the other Magics.”
I balled my fist and shook it out nervously as I spoke. “Magics?”
“Yes, Magics. Witches, trolls, fairies, Merfolk, Readers and the like.” He nodded. “I think we can cut them off on the Temple Road, but we must go now. Getting to her before she is taken into the temple will be best because, like the Witch said, the king keeps a tight schedule.”
“Um, okay.” I shook my head, not fully sure that I understood anything that came out of Ren’s mouth, other than that we needed to get to Aunt Ruth.
Jason looped his arm through mine. He was still looking around at the trees that surrounded us. They seemed to get bigger as we kept following Ren, and our path became more and more cluttered with branches and large rocks as we walked. Jason leaned close to my ear. “Why do you think he’s helping us?”
I shrugged. “Let’s find out.”
“Ren? Question. What do you get out of this? Why are you helping us?” I asked him. Ren turned his head to glance at me but kept walking.
“Just be happy that I am helping you, or you would have been right there with your aunt in that roundup.” He laughed a little.
I swallowed hard. “Oh, yes, this is all sooooo funny,” I said sarcastically. “What is it you need from us, exactly?”
This time, Ren stopped and turned around. I stepped in front of Jason and kept my focus on Ren. I lifted my sword up just enough to remind him I had it.
“What is the problem?” Ren asked. “You should be grateful, not suspicious.”
“Why?” I put my hand on my hip. “You sucked me through a tree and have given us zero information. I just met you like five seconds ago, so, yeah, suspicious.”
“That is not true. It was at least thirty minutes ago,” Ren replied, but not in a joking way. He looked one hundred percent serious, and I wasn’t sure how to respond. I rolled my eyes.
“Look, where I come from, people don’t just help people for no reason,” I stated firmly.
“You do not know where you come from,” Ren replied with a cold, blank stare.
Jason’s hand was on my shoulder before I could react to Ren. I squeezed the grip of the sword so tightly, my fingertips began to go numb.
“Chill out, guys,” Jason said behind me.
I could feel my face burning like it did when I was mortified or angry. I couldn’t really tell which I was now—maybe a mix of both—but I didn’t take my eyes off Ren.
“Let’s just go find my aunt,” I said through my teeth, still locked in a stare with Ren. He didn’t seem to like me, which made absolutely no sense.
Ren sighed a lengthy, annoyed sigh, then turned and started down the path once more.
“I’m going to find out more about this place,” Jason said, hurrying past me to Ren’s side before I could object. My sword and I trudged along behind them while Jason probed Re
n for information. I didn’t like Jason so close to Ren, but so far, Ren didn’t seem like he had any intention of hurting us, so I didn’t freak out. But I kept a watchful eye on their every move.
“So, Magics, trolls, and fairies?” Jason asked Ren. “You’re telling me that those things are real?”
“I am.” Ren nodded. “And Strongbloods.”
“What is a Strongblood, exactly?” Jason asked.
“It is a race of superior humans. They are faster, stronger, and incredible fighters. They keep order here in Everly. I am a Strongblood,” Ren answered.
“What does Aunt Ruth have to do with any of this?” I called to them, a foot or two in front of me.
“Everything.” Ren slowed until he was next to me, but we still kept up a brisk pace.
“Meaning what?” I asked.
“Well, all Magics are to be executed under the king’s Magus Decree, but your aunt is the reason the Magus Decree exists.”
“Huh?”
“She is a Witch, so she is subject to the Magus Decree on that alone. She also took you from your parents and raised you in a different world,” Ren explained, running a hand through his hair. “She is also the most wanted fugitive in Everly.”
“Ruth, a fugitive?” Jason scoffed.
“Wait, so you’re saying I was born here?” I pointed at the ground.
Ren nodded. “On the Ember Isle.”
“What’s the Ember Isle?” Jason asked.
“The Ember Isle is where the Strongbloods live. The king of the Ember Isle lives in the temple there, ruling over the other Strongbloods and non-Magics.”
“What about this?” I held out the sword.
“Your sword? That is Witch magic. Do not wave that around when you see anyone out here, or they will haul you right off, too.”
“So all that stuff—fairy tales, magic stuff—it’s all real?” Jason asked, sounding shrill.
“In Everly, yes,” Ren replied.
I chewed my lip and nodded. Jason’s eyes were wide, and his pace had slowed. “You okay, Jason?” I cut behind Ren and walked with Jason at his new snail-like pace.