Chapter 8

I knew the falls were our ley line long before I saw them.

As soon as we hit the city, I could feel the pull of the water. The way it soothed my soul and renewed my energies. Even Starke looked better. I was ecstatic to see the spring in his step and the gleam back in his eyes. We were going in the right direction.

“Hear that?” I smiled at him as we traversed the overgrown city at a much quicker pace, eager to get to our destination.

He nodded back. The sound of the falls was unmistakable, flooding the quiet accompanying us for days, with its powerful roar.

“See the mist?” Luke threw over his shoulder. “We’re getting close.”

He was right. I hadn’t noticed before, but the air was humid, a vapor hanging thick and low over the city.Great. With my hair not having seen a comb or brush for days, this humidity was going to make it a bird’s nest of frizzy curls. No worries though, since it should fit in real nice with my no makeup and fuzzy eyebrow-on my way to a unibrow-look. Accompanied by my dirty clothes and no deodorant, I was rocking the au naturel style. Lexa Buttface would have a field day with me.

“Man, it’s loud,” Jill commented, craning her neck to try and catch sight of the waterfall. “It must be massive.”

I glanced back at her in surprise. “It’s not in your world?”

“No. Not that I know of. Never heard of Niagara Falls. We do have falls, but nothing that sounds as big as this.”

“Actually,” Gordo interrupted as he turned to join our conversation, ignoring the universal groans emitting from the others up front and a plead of ‘Please don’t start.’

“Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls over three thousand feet wide and one hundred and sixty-five feet high. I think. I can’t remember the exact numbers now. Its name, Niagara, is an Iroquois word that means water thunder. Oh, in case you didn’t know, the Iroquois were an indigenous people actually made up of five tribes I believe, and—"

“Gordo, if you don’t stop right now, I’m going to rip your tongue out and feed it to the crows.”

Gordo’s gaze bounced back and forth between us and Bixby, who issued the threat, as if deciding if he would chance it or not. Finally, deciding it wasn’t worth the risk, he threw a meek, “Yeah, it’s big,” at Jill before turning away.

Jill and I tried to hide our grins.

“Hey, thanks, Gordo. Appreciate the info. Good to know.” I couldn’t let the poor dude’s feelings stay hurt.

“Really?” He asked in excitement. “Cause…”

“No. Just no,” came from up front again. Gordo glanced back at us, jabbing a thumb their way and mouthing “arseholes.”

I snorted in laughter. Their camaraderie was evident. These people cared about one another. They were family. How they stayed sane and caring in a world that no longer appeared to contain either of those aspects, was beyond me. Maybe friends and family were not as overrated as I’d always believed. A huge admission coming from the world’s most dedicated loner.

Without warning, a sudden pang of melancholy washed over me. I missed Bish. And Kara. Even my prickly grandmother. We really needed to get back home. The depression was quickly followed by surprise. Home? When had I started thinking of Endova as home? That was new.

Home.

I tested the word out in my head. I had a home. And a family, no matter how eclectic they were. I belonged with a witch, a sensei, a Fairey-I glanced over at Starke-and a Fae prince. They were my family.

Admitting to myself I had a home was one thing. Admitting to myself that I may never see it again, was another. World jumping was not exactly one of the safest things to do if my recent experiences were anything to judge by.

As if Starke sensed my loneliness and sadness, he reached out and took my hand in his. I didn’t even protest or feel silly about the PDA. After all we’d been through, and sleeping conjoined to him for two nights, holding hands just felt normal.

“We’ll get back. Soon.”

I shot him a sideways look. “You a mind reader too now?”

He chuckled softly. “No. But you display your thoughts and feelings so candidly on your face. I can read you like a book, Jette.”

“Oh, you think so, do you?”

“I know so.”

“Yeah, see, I think that’s just your arrogance showing through again. Just another part of your ‘I know it all’ attitude.”

He barked a laugh. “I know that you resort to sarcasm and snark as soon as someone starts to unravel your secrets.” He squeezed my hand. “It’s okay to let down your walls, Jette. To trust another being is part and parcel of forming a bond.”

I quirked a brow at him in surprise. “Is that what we’re doing? Forming a bond?”

“I do believe so.”

“And by forming a bond you mean you trust the other person enough to tell them all your secrets, right?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t beat around the bush, Jette. That’s not you. What are you getting at?”

Maybe he did know me after all. I cleared my throat and asked the question that had been eating at me for days.

“What happened to you the other night when you did blood magic and took out all those ravagers? You were so…different. Like you weren’t even yourself. I mean, dude, you had black eyes. What the heck was that all about?”

I felt him pull away from me long before he dropped my hand.

“Not the time to discuss this.”

Irritation prickled at the back of my neck.

“So what I’m hearing is, ‘you can tell me all your secrets, Jette, but don’t ask about mine’. Does that about sum it up?”

He whirled on me.

“Do you think that’s what blood magic is? A secret?” His snarled words whipped across me like a slap to the face. “Blood magic is a disease. A curse handed down through the Unseelie line. A plague I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.”

I shrunk back a little. I couldn’t help it. The Starke speaking to me at this moment reminded me so much of the onyx-eyed Starke who had cut down the ravagers two nights ago, fear curdled in my gut. Who the hell was this Starke? I felt like I didn’t know him at all. The fear must have shown on my face as well since he pulled his claws back and ran a hand over his weary face.

“I’m sorry, Jette. Please forgive me. That was totally not necessary.”

“Ya think?” I asked, but my words were void of their usual bite. This side of Starke was new to me and I didn’t like it. He opened his mouth as if to respond but was interrupted as a yell sounded from up front.

“Everything okay back there?”

I glanced away from Starke before lying through my teeth. “Yeah, everything is fine.”

“Good, because we’re almost at the falls. Skylon tower ahead.”

###

I’d never been to Niagara Falls in my life, so I was nowhere prepared for the sight that met my eyes. Gordo was right. It was massive. But it wasn’t the dizzying height and width of it, or the cascading roar that monopolized the air that beckoned me. It was the power radiating from it. It poured from the falls like a musical beat underlying the thunder, pounding in time to my own heartbeat. I was entranced by it. I glanced at the others, wondering if they felt the same way I did. Starke and Jill stood as slack jawed as I did, their magic responding to it as mine was.It didn’t seem to affect the others in quite the same manner.

Euphoria spilled through me as I took another step forward. The magic beckoned to me, skittering over my skin and whispering sweet nothings in my ear. I wanted nothing more than to run to it. Jump into the falls. Surround myself with the all-encompassing magic. With great effort, I held myself back, unsure on how to proceed.

I caught Bixby’s quizzical gaze as she stared at the three of us. “So now what?”

My thoughts exactly.

I turned to face Starke. “What she said. What do we do? Do we have to drink the water? Dip our toes in? Skinny dip?”

“Nothing so corporeal. Just open up your mind, body, and soul and allow it in. Like you did when Satoga taught you to jump.”

“But what if we do it wrong?” Jill squeaked, just as unsure as I was.

“You can’t. Just close your eyes, open your mind and absorb the magic. It will take care of the rest.”

I blew out my cheeks. “Okay, here goes nothin’. I’m about to absorb your essence, falls, and lose my sponge towel virginity.”

I rolled my shoulders and closed my eyes, calming my mind. Almost immediately a jolt of power shot into my veins, surging through my blood. A shaky sigh escaped my lips as the power filled me with exhilaration. The ley line magic was powerful, potent, and mine. Strength surged through me. I felt invincible. Magical. As an elemental should feel.

I welcomed it into my body and soul like it was a long-lost friend. Even as the power surged and took me to a level of euphoria I’d never experienced before, something intervened. Underneath the pure magic I felt something burrowing its way through. Something dark, and diseased and slimy. Something that made me physically sick to my stomach, for as much as it disgusted me, it was also enticing me into its dark grasp. It whispered to me with its promise of infinite power and as much as I knew it was wrong, that it shouldn’t be there, I wanted to know more.

“Jette.”

Strong hands gripped my shoulders, shaking me out of my trancelike state.

I blinked as Starke’s worried gaze bored into mine.

“Are you okay?”

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

“What…?” I cleared my throat and tried again. “Did you guys feel that too? The…wrongness?”

Jill nodded, even as Starke pulled his sword and whirled around.

“What’s wrong? What was that?”

“As much as I know you need time to absorb the magic properly, Jette, we do not have time. You need to focus on one of the other elementals and open the door now.”

His words scared me to no end. “Starke, what’s happening?”

He ignored me. He turned his attention to our other companions.

“Thank you for all your help, my friends, but you have to leave right away. Move quickly and stay hidden.”

“Whoa now,” Bixby held her hands out to each side as if she actually was trying to stop a runaway horse. “That’s it? We get you to your destination and that’s all the thanks we get? Go away? Hell no. You’re supposed to help us. Where’s the fucking help?”

Starke ignored the anger radiating from her as he stepped toward her, pulling his sword up as he went. I stiffened, even as Luke stepped between Starke and Bixby, ready to protect her at all costs.

“What the hell, guys?” I shrieked; my words tinged with confusion. But Starke didn’t swing the sword. Instead he stopped right in front of Luke and Bixby.Dropping to one knee in front of them, he held the sword upright by the blade.

“I swear by my blade and by the word of Fae that we will return. We will not desert you in your time of need, my friends. Have faith and stay strong until our return to help defeat your enemy.”

Starke stood upright, oblivious to their confusion at his stupid noble Fae gesture. “Now go. Our enemy approaches and she will not show mercy to anyone who stands in her way.”

Aww crap. Asha. That’s what I felt. Her dark magic. Right. I should have recognized it for what it was since I’d already suffered so much under it when she captured us. The sooner I got started on this portal, the better.

“Jill.” I held out my hand. “Help me.”

She nodded, grasping my sweaty palm within hers. I glanced over our companions one last time. Our saviors. Our new friends. Most of them appeared confused, but Gordo looked like he was about to cry. Even Scruff was whining like he knew exactly what was happening.

“You promise you’ll come back?” Gordo yelled at me, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. My heart swelled at his emotion and tears filled my own eyes. Damn. I was becoming a right crybaby. What was happening to me? I blamed the emotion on the fear pounding through my body right now. Sticking out the pinky of my free hand, I ducked my head.

“I pinky swear.” I hooked my finger with his and shook. “Now go. You don’t want to meet what’s coming for us.”

“No time to waste, Jette. Open the portal.” I dropped Gordo’s hand at Starke’s prompt. He was right.

With the magic still coursing through me it took no time for the hallway of doors to appear. And with the image of Curly etched in my brain, I chose the door without hesitation. The familiar static occurred over my head and I opened my eyes to the crackling blue ring. Bixby and Gordo and all the rest were backing off, but the disbelief on their faces at what they were witnessing almost made me laugh.

I know exactly how you feel, dudes.

Pulling my sai, I began opening the portal. I only got three rotations in when a jolt of pain exploded in my head so bad my vision blurred and my stomach flopped like I was about to puke. But it wasn’t only me. Jill screamed and fell to her knees, while Starke wobbled but managed to stay on his feet.

“Hurry, Jette. She’s trying to come through.”

Shaking my head to clear the black spots, I twirled my sai once again, but for every twist of my sai, the blade in my brain twisted along with it. She was attempting to rip Curly’s coordinates from my head, I just knew it.

“Hell no,” I growled, not sure if she could hear me or not. I was not going to let her in.

“Almost there,” I groaned at Starke.

I twirled my blade once more and the portal spun delicately, opening enough to allow us access.

“Go. I’m right behind you,” I gritted through my teeth, struggling to keep the portal open. Starke pulled Jill to her feet and practically pushed her through the door, before leaping after her. I ran at the blue ring, ready to jump when another powerful pulse of Asha’s dark magic took me down. My head exploded with pain so excruciating, my knees wobbled. It felt like there were a network of tiny hooks piercing and tearing through my brain. My legs unable to hold me any longer, I collapsed to the wet grass cradling my head in my hands.

No. I had to fight this. I couldn’t let her get the coordinates. Asha could not hijack this jump. I refused to lead her to Jill and Curly.

Pushing myself to my knees I tried to drag my dead weight across the slick ground. Without my sai controlling the door, the portal began to change direction, collapsing in on itself. Dammit, it was going to close and leave me here.

Move your ass, Jette.

“Get up,” a voice snarled in my ear seconds after hands grabbed me and yanked me to my feet. Through my blurred vision I saw Bixby on one side and Luke on the other. They dragged me through the wet grass toward the blue ring of fire.

“Don’t you dare give up.” Bixby’s hard eyes stared into mine. “You promised Amy. You promised us. Don’t let us down or you better believe I will find you, and I will kick your damn ass.”

That threat was the last thing I heard before I was tossed unceremoniously through the portal and away from Asha’s debilitating mind assault.