Chapter 10

Our arrival in the Unseelie realm made me feel like a bug flying too close to a web. Except it turned out I traveled with the spider and his name was Herbert. I didn't trust the bastard. As dangerous as this mission was, I'd rather be on my own, especially after what had happened to Sarah. I shivered, remembering the zenyar sputtering out of my core and into my baton. Amid all this crap, there was a bright side—the lancing pain in my arm and skull. Yay for me.

Mason sneezed, and a flock of ravens burst from the trees overhead. Their caws broke the silence and they disappeared into the portal and through into the human world. Owls, ravens, and cats could walk through a witch's zenyar circle and not disturb the magic. And they could pass easily in and out of the portal.

Sarah must have known that the animal part of her was required to pave the way for us. But since she was a shifter and not a pure animal, she couldn't pass through the barrier.

“Where do you think they'd be holding Daniella?” Mason asked as we tromped through the Unseelie world. It was dreary, an eerie green shade of nightmares. Twisted trees and charred grass. Even the sky was dark purple, but it only added to the strangeness of this place.

“My guess would be an enclosure or cave maybe.” Since there were no buildings or forts anywhere in sight. Was everywhere in this land similar to here? No flowers or chirping songbirds. Nothing but rocks, soil, and trees along with creepiness that itched along my skin. As much as part of me wanted to explore, I couldn't shake the feeling of unease pressing in on me. Let's rescue who we could and get the hell out of here.

Herbert marched ahead and I ran to catch up to him. Something was off and warning bells were blaring in my skull.

“How is it you know where to go? Have you been here before?” I asked when I caught up with him.

He tripped over a tree root, but caught himself. “Uh… I sent out tracers to find non-fae. Shouldn't be much farther.”

When had he used magic? I would've sensed it, right? Any zenyar users, when around a spell, gave off a tingling sensation to me. Or had this land distracted me that much? Still, if he had a lead it would get this mission done that much faster and I'd get this stupid blood vow completed and get back to my life.

Our footsteps crunched over fallen dried leaves, and I looked around. Strange that there were no fae guards or anything yet. Then again, guess they didn't much worry about anyone coming over to their side. At least not voluntarily. I sure didn't want to stay for the tour.

Ahead bubbled a yellow bog. Out of its center rose an antenna.

“What is that?” I asked, edging away from the thing.

“A durrett.” Herbert kept waking.

“And that would be, what exactly?”

“It's a type of slug creature. Usually harmless unless you swim in its home, then it gets rather nasty and snaps your appendages off.” He chuckled.

Did he think this was funny? “How do you know about it?”

He paused for a moment. “I've studied everything about the fae and Unseelie.”

“Why?” Call me curious, but why would a wizard dedicate so much time to learning about this place?

“Just an obsession of mine.” He scratched the side of his nose.

Mason coughed. “Sorry, a bug tried to fly down my throat.”

A growl sounded ahead, and I stopped. It came again, this time to the right. More than one? I didn't trust my wand, not after everything that happened. I just hoped whatever creature came our way wasn't immune to earth zenyar.

I gathered up a handful of dirt and whispered an incantation over it, “Sulcheral unchevio.” The soil changed to purplish glitter. It was supposed to be green and hex the animals into confusion, running them off. Why the hell was it purple?

At least Herbert could use his wizard zenyar. Wait. I scanned the area. Where was he? “Herbert!” I shouted in a strained whisper. Freaking great. Maybe he'd gotten dragged off by whatever circled us and it would leave now.

A roar that sounded like a cross between a bear and a lion tightened the knot between my shoulder blades.

From every direction, huge beasts stalked toward us. Five of them and two of us. They had dark gray fur and appeared to be wolves on steroids. My stomach clenched. If they attacked, I didn't think I could stop them all. And as big as they were, it would only take one to maim me and Mason.

One of the wolves with a red mark down his front leg crouched. Before he leaped, Mason fired the gun. The bullet slammed into the creature's head. It whimpered and fell.

I dared not take my attention from the other wolves to ask her what the fuck she was doing. If they weren't going to attack, they surely would now; they crept forward with heads low, growling.

The shot wolf convulsed, then stood back up. Holy Mother Goddess! A bullet couldn't stop them. But what had I expected? These were fae wolves. Who knew what they were capable of?

“All right, let's see how this works.” I blew the purple dirt in a wide circle, hoping to catch all the wolves.

When the zenyar hit them, the wolves snorted and shook their heads. Not the effect I was after, but I'd work with it.

I snagged Mason's sleeve and drew her to an opening in the pack. “Hurry, before the spell wears off.”

“Why didn't you set it to kill them or put them to sleep?”

Past the wolves, we tore through the woods.

“I did. Well, try to make them sleep.” I didn't believe in harming an animal. But I'd thought the magic would do more than make the wolves itchy.

Crashes sounded behind us.

“Hurry.” I snatched a small, fallen branch. The wood was cool and almost wet in my palm. Not good to break in a wand like this, but I wasn't ever going to use my baton again. When I got home, I'd do a cleansing ceremony and burn the thing. Then I'd have to start all over with a new one. This darkened wood in my hand was just to throw some wizard fire at the wolves and get them to leave us the hell alone.

Two of the wolves closed in, and I pointed the stick at them. “Grulvier Tromalez!” White sparks flew out of the end. Instead of flames bursting in front of the wolves, it brought up white roses. Stupid fae wood!

Mason fired her gun and missed.

“Let's go!” I turned and a few feet away spotted a cave. “Inside, quick.” Pushing her ahead of me, I drew a line across the entrance of the cave, then pressed the stick into the crevice. “Aerivate Supkatra.”

A shimmer of blue light shot up. Yay, it worked. The wolves crashed into the barrier, which wobbled with each impact, and I wasn't sure how long it would hold. “Come on, Mason.”

We didn't need to wait around. Maybe there was a back exit out of this place.

Following the twisty path underground, the cave broke into more caverns, and I grabbed President Mason's arm when I saw footprints on the sandy floor ahead of us. “Wait.”

I bent down and examined the prints. Boot marks. A lot of them. Which told me this was used frequently. And back in the electric chair, Stryker had said that they couldn't complete a locator spell on Daniella… the caves would be enough to confuse most magic users. Except Herbert had said he knew where she was when we'd crossed over into this land. And then he'd vanished.

To say my instincts screamed he was untrustworthy would be like saying I didn't want to build a summer home in this realm.

“Which way?” Mason asked.

The tracks led in two different directions. If they had a group of prisoners they were holding hostage down here, then this would be the most traveled path. I hunted through the footprints until I found one that had a deeper impression on one side and I hoped that meant this person either carried a weapon or weight. I placed my fingertips inside the print, calling on the witch zenyar deep inside me and the earth magic in the soil. “Revo Magurea Ilumatre.”

The footprint lit up, then another and another. Each and every step this person had ever taken down here recently, no matter how buried or obscured by others, would glow.

The majority of the prints led down and to the left.

“This way.” I just hoped we weren't walking into a dangerous trap.

* * *

Half a dozen turns later, two fae guards stood at attention, an iron gate behind them. Mason raised her gun, but I pushed down on her wrist.

“Don't shoot. We don't know how a human weapon warped with magic might affect them.”

Plus, I didn't want to go around killing people just because they were in my way. I had way too many unnecessary deaths on my conscience already.

I searched our alcove for something to use with my earth zenyar. I found two stones, roughly the same size. Holding them tight in my palm, I concentrated, letting them heat in my hand. “Jestbrem Oblera.”

When smoke trickled out of my fist, I tossed the rocks at the guards. Their shouts cut off a second later.

I lifted my shirt over my mouth and nose and directed Mason to do the same. She kept one hand on her gun.

We eased forward. Both guards were slumped over, and I removed the keys from one. Unlocking the jail, agitation and unease jangled along my nerves. More jail cells laid ahead. Each had prisoners.

One had a woman in black leather hanging from chains fastened to the ceiling. Crimson streaks ran down her dark face and she glared down at me. Then, seeing Mason behind me, recognition lit her features. I unlocked the cells as we went.

“Here.” I handed President Mason the keys and went to help the others. “Follow the glowing footsteps.” I pointed the way. “They lead out of here.”

Several shifters, their eyes shining like polished amber, nodded at me as they passed. Did they know the sacrifice Sarah had made to get us through the barrier to rescue them?

“Thank y—” Mason said, but stopped short at something behind me.

I spun and a four-foot red spider crawled toward us from a dark corner.

The woman in leather pushed out of Mason's hold. “I can fight.”

But even I could see she wobbled when she took a step forward.

“It's okay. I got this.” I waved her back. “Get the others to safety. And there might be more guards at the exit.”

She nodded. “You a witch?”

“Something like that.” No time to go into my heritage. “Now go.” And hopefully, I'd be right behind them.

I dodged to the right, drawing the spider's attention, and it darted toward me, so the others could get past. As though sensing its meal was gone, it sprang forward. I kicked its side, it tumbled back a few steps. Grabbing a sharp stone, I hurled it at the creature. Blue blood boiled from its wound and scorched the ground like acid.

Wonderful. As if I didn't have enough trouble. I picked up another rock and swung it at the thing. It hissed and snapped its mandibles. “Fretxhnicht.” Fire flickered to life at the end of the twig and into the spider. It curled up, blackening and oozing blue goo. Gross.

After I tossed the stick aside, I headed after the others when multiple popping sounds behind me drew my attention.

Out of the spider's carcass rose hundreds of more spiders that grew from the size of pinheads to bigger than my head in seconds. And I was pretty certain using fire would just multiply them more.

Where was a big can of bug spray when I needed it? My mind raced with strategies of what to do next as my heart pounded in my ears.