“How?” Lady Thornton asked in an awed whisper.
“I can do much more than that,” he said, a small hint of pride swelling up in him.
“They’re going that way!” The fae shouted, and as he hoped, they took the bait.
He listened as their voices faded in the opposite direction. Now all that was left was finding the gateway. And lucky for him, he had just the right person to help.
“Tell me, Lady Thornton, how did you summon the gateway? Back at Thornwood Abbey?” he asked.
She looked at him wide-eyed. “I didn’t summon anything. I found it by following the music.”
She heard the song of the ancients from beyond the gateway? Just how powerful was she?
“Can you hear the song now?”
She frowned and looked away from him. Maybe he had been too hopeful. After all, she was just a human, perhaps with an unusual amount of power. But a human woman nonetheless.
“I can.” She screwed her face in concentration.
“From where?” he asked.
She lifted her hand and pointed in the north-eastern direction. He took off in that direction, his eyes scanning the horizon in case they happened to run into the Twilight Court again. It didn’t take long before he could see it in the distance. They were nearly home free now. But the door was already firmly closed, large spikes barring any entry. If they were to get through, he would have to trust that Lady Thornton’s powers were enough to open it. He was still depleted from making the duplicate.
They were nearly upon it, a few yards remained, when he heard the shouts again. And a barrage of arrows came flying from overhead. Ray took to a run.
“We’re going to make a run for it. You’ll need to open the gateway,” Ray said.
“I don’t know how. You have to stop before we are be impaled on the spikes!” she shouted and tried to pull away from him.
“You can open it. I believe in you.”
“How do you know?” She stilled against him. There was a catch to her voice, as if she were on the verge of tears.
The gateway was a few feet away now, and the thunder of fae footsteps followed him.
“Because I can feel the power in you. I believe in you, now you just need to believe in yourself.”
The spikes glinted menacingly. If he were wrong, they’d both have their guts hanging from spikes before the Twilight Court ever got to them.
His feet pounded the ground beneath him. He turned her to face it straight on, or else any hesitation might mean it wouldn’t work. They were inches away.
“Now, Lady Thornton!” he shouted.
She threw her arms out to brace herself seconds before the gateway rolled back, creating a space just large enough for them to glide through. They landed on the lawn on the other side. Lady Thornton slid out of his grip. A single arrow flew through the gateway after them and got caught in the door as it was slammed shut. The Twilight Court on the other side. Ray rolled onto his back and stared into the burning bright noonday sun of the human realm.
A bird chirped merrily in a nearby tree. She’d really done it. He laughed. They were there at the edge of the field. In the gardens of Thornwood Abbey. Lady Thornton stared up at the sky, clutching the fabric of her dress, eyes wide.
“Am I dead?” she whispered.
Ray threw his head back and laughed hard. “Far from it.” He rolled over to face her. “You were brilliant. This sort of power I haven’t seen it in...”
She stared up at him wide-eyed, dazed. Maybe now wasn’t the time to talk about her powers. They were probably just as much a surprise to her as they were to him.
He leaped to his feet and offered a hand to her. “Can you stand?” he asked her.
She nodded her head slowly, and he put her onto her feet. She wobbled a bit, her hair was tangled up with leaves and sticks, and her clothes were a bit torn, but otherwise, she seemed unharmed.
“Will they be able to find us?” she asked, eyeing where the gateway had been. She turned on her bare feet.
