“Yeah. Thanks for catching me,” I tell Malik, who’s bent at the waist, a hand on one of the gargantuan tree trunks.
“That wasn’t me,” he wheezes out.
“I did that,” Rhett chimes in as he floats to the ground from the same direction I came. “I’m an air wielder.”
“Oh. Thanks. Wait. Weren’t you the last one? Where’s Sam?”
A shrill cry cuts through the eerie silence. Our heads jerk in its direction. Sam is plunging from the sky straight toward the startling turquoise lake below. Before I can even move, Malik is already zipping toward her. We all follow, and I try to tap into the unearthly speed, but it’s as if I’m hitting a wall. Despite countless attempts, my legs refuse to move faster. I wrestle off my heavy backpack and throw it to the ground. However, that doesn’t help. Rhett lifts his hands and uses a gust of air to slow her down.
“Can you hold her weight?” I ask him through heavy pants as I pump my arms.
“Only for a few seconds.”
Shitshitshitshitshitshit.
“Iris!” she bellows.
“I’m coming!” I shout back. Then terror sinks its sharp claws into me when she drops into the water with a plop. “She doesn’t know how to swim,” I scream to the others. “Kaiden! Do your Houdini thing!”
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean you can’t?!?”
“I already tried when I saw you falling. I can’t.”
Malik dives. Sweat drips down my face, and a coppery tang coats my tongue when I finally reach the rocky shore, soles on fire. Water splashes around me as I dart through it. I only get in to my thighs when Malik pops to the surface, holding an unconscious Sam. He ignores my attempt to take her and lays Sam on the beach, tilting her head back before fusing theirmouths to blow life back into her.
Why the fuck isn’t he using magic?
I drop to my knees and hold on to her pale hand like to a lifeline. “Sam, you better not die! You hear me?”
Malik laces his fingers and begins applying chest compressions at the perfect rhythm. Each passing second blisters my skin with dread. Then, there’s a wet gurgling sound. Her eyes fly open. She throws up water, then coughs as though she’s going to hack up a lung. The next breath she takes feels like my first one, and I almost faint from relief. Malik turns her to the side. I want to hug her so badly my whole body is shaking, but I should wait for her to fully regain consciousness.
Malik’s fingers tremble as he brushes the drenched copper strands out of her face while murmuring, “It’s okay. You’re okay.” However, it seems he’s trying to reassure himself rather than Sam, who’s still out of it.
After a few moments, the hazy fog covering her emerald eyes dissipates. She leans into his touch for a fraction of a second, then, as if finally realizing her mistake, she bats his hand away. “Don’t fucking touch me,” she hisses.
Hurt ripples through Malik’s features before he pushes to stand next to Kaiden and Rhett.
Thanking every deity in the universe, I pull Sam to my chest, careful not to restrict her breathing. “Fuck. Don’t you scare me like that ever again.”
She snorts. “Welcome to the club. Hecate knows how many times I wanted you to understand what it’s like to almost lose your best friend.” Her nose wrinkles. “But this is not exactly what I had in mind.”
Now that the adrenaline is wearing off, I’m cooking from the inside out in the light winter jacket. I unzip it before shrugging it off and throwing it over the pile where the others left theirs. When I try to help Sam take off hers, she doesn’t allow me.“Wait, let me dry myself first.” She waves a hand in front of her body. Nothing. She tries again. And again. “Why is this not working?” she mutters in pure frustration.
“I think we can’t access our powers,” Kaiden cuts in. “I can’t pop around at whim anymore.”
“And when I tried to magically resuscitate you earlier, it didn’t work,” Malik adds as he wrings the water out of his long, silver hair.
Rhett presses his lips in a tight line. “I was afraid this might happen.”
“And why didn’t you say anything?” I inquire, annoyance dripping from my tone when I remember trying to tap into my enhanced speed and failing.
“I did.” He shrugs. “I warned you that I didn’t know how Mother Draia would react to strangers. I’ve never brought someone from the human realm to Faerie before; I’m always getting people out, not in. Even when I first crossed into your world, it took months before I could wield air again. I can only assume Mother Draia was furious I dared to leave Faerie. She’s probably blocking your abilities, now. Or she’s just playing a cruel joke. You never know.”
“Great,” I mutter, then look up at Kaiden. Worry is etched in the lines around his eyes and mouth. I’m sure they mirror my own. “What about your hellfire?”
“I can try.” Concentration creases his forehead as he flexes his fingers. His sheer effort is evident in the protruding veins over the thick ropes of muscle while sweat dots his forehead. We wait with bated breath, but nothing happens.
