He runs a hand over his stubbled jaw. “Yeah, but he didn’t say anything about it. And I didn’t tell him she was coming.” There’s a weighted pause. “He’s waiting for our decision.”
I cast a glance at Malik, who’s leaning on the SUV, looking like someone kicked his puppy. Or like he kicked someone’s puppy.
“Sam said he should come because of his healing abilities,” I say.
“Maybe she should go home, then. It’s dangerous anyway.”
“Trust me, once Sam sets her mind on something, there’s no deterring her.”
A soft smile pulls at his mouth. “Sounds like someone else Iknow.” He tied his hair at the nape today, accentuating the sharp planes of his gorgeous face while creating a stark contrast with the softness of his lips. God, he’s beautiful in an otherworldly yet terrifying way. Not only does every cell in my body yearn for him, but my soul does, too. And as if his devastating beauty wasn’t enough, he’s also charming on top of it.
I brush his comment off my shoulders. It’s going to be nothing short of a miracle if Sam doesn’t end up killing Malik.
Icy Iceland windcracks across my face like a whip. As if sensing the guilt and sorrow blazing through me, the ocean roars, crashing against the onyx rocks. Droplets of salty water rain down on us to mix with the tears carving a fresh path on my cheeks. Sam intertwines our fingers and squeezes my hand in a silent show of support while Kaiden flanks my other side.
“I wish you would have given me—us—a chance,” Rhett whispers, bending at the waist to place a soft kiss on Adrianna’s forehead, whose lifeless body is laid inside a small wooden boat. I don’t want to intrude more than I already have on their moment, so I concentrate on the ocean’s rage as he murmurs something else in her ear.
When he straightens, shoulders sagged as if weighing a thousand pounds, he gives a curt nod to Kaiden. He, Malik, and Kaiden push the boat into the tide. Malik uses magic to make it float atop the swell. Rhett picks up the wooden bow and arrow from the coal-black sand at his feet, then widens his stance,nocks the arrow, and draws back the string. With a touch of his fingers, Kaiden sets the gasoline-soaked cloth wrapped around the tip ablaze before Rhett releases it. The arrow streaks across the sky until it lands inside the boat. In less than a minute, hellfire envelops the wood.
We all watch the flames kiss the gunmetal clouds in heavy silence. I inhale a shuddering, briny breath.I’m so sorry, Ms. Robbins. Say hi to Mom, will you? Tell her I miss her.
One by one, we make our way to the chopper Kaiden rented once we landed in Iceland, giving Rhett a few moments to say his last goodbyes.
The tension between Sam and Malik is so fraught in the cramped space that it makes my skin itch. It wasn’t much better on the flight here, but at least the plane also had a bedroom where Sam and I hid for the entirety of the seven-hour flight.
Every few seconds, Malik’s dejected gaze finds Sam as if he’s starved of her and can’t get his fill. She, of course, pretends he doesn’t even exist. But if the muscles around her spine get any stiffer, I’m afraid she’s going to snap in two. I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that Malik is Ian, the same boy who shattered Sam’s heart to smithereens—the reason why she’s not able to trust men anymore and throws herself into meaningless hookups instead. I mean, what were the chances?
The air currents aren’t strong enough to hinder our journey, but they make for a bumpy ride, which combined with the small space must trick my brain into believing I’m in a jostling car. I fist my sweat-slicked fingers to stop their tremor.
“You okay?” Kaiden rumbles, his gravelly voice filling my headset over the loud sound of the propellers. The second he tries to place his hand on my knee, Sam slaps it away while throwing him a withering glare.
“I got her,” she snaps.
A muscle feathers along his taut jaw, but he doesn’t respond.
“Iris, close your eyes. Imagine you’re somewhere open. Safe.” She laces our fingers, using her light magic to send calming waves through my body.
It works. For the rest of our twenty-minute ride to the Vatnajökull National Park, I keep my eyes closed. The pilot lands the helicopter with expert maneuvers right next to the highest peak, where—if Rhett’s calculations are correct—the portal to Faerie should open in the next ten minutes. Snow crunches under our boots as we hop off, then slide on our hiking backpacks. The cold is jarring after Louisiana’s torrid heat.
“Any minute now,” Rhett says while taking out an unusual compass, his breath fogging in front of his face. “Remember, we never know where the portal might send us. I can only approximate its location near the forest, but a different magic imbues the lands of Faerie than the human realm. It’s sentient. We call it Mother Draia. Sometimes, she can be fickle…or even volatile. I don’t know how she’s going to react to strangers, so be prepared for anything.”
As the needles in the compass start spinning, a perfect, fiery circle appears out of nowhere in front of us—as if someone took a flaming dagger to the immaterial air. Aside from Rhett, we all stare at it, slack-jawed.
“Okay. Don’t forget to count to twenty after the person in front of you crosses,” he instructs.
Malik is first, followed by Kaiden. The moment I step through, the world whirls around me at a dizzying speed.
35
Iris
I’m falling.
FUCK.
My ears pop and ring back to life as tree branches snap under my plummeting weight one by one. At least they somewhat slow down my descent. There’s only one thing I can do: mentally prepare myself for impact. Grinding my teeth, I wait for the sickening moment my organs will be rearranged, but at the last second, something akin to a gentle breeze catches me, then releases me slowly until my feet touch the ground.
Kaiden and Malik zip through the trees before skidding to a halt. They’re inhaling labored breaths as if they just ran a marathon. “You all right?” Kaiden asks, alarmed, while his obsidian eyes scan every inch of me.
