I almost smile at the frilly little pink things, but fuck, I miss her too much. I'm too scared of what might happen if I'm wrong, or if they hurt her before I get there. She might be royalty to their family, but to Silas, she's just going to be a warm body, a meal ticket, a fucking broodmare. And the thought of his hands on her body makes me physically sick.
Frantically, I go through my closet, a plan already forming as I search for the costume that will make the most sense.
Squeezing into the olive green get-up, I take one last look at the home I've only ever shared with one person, praying to the gods above that I'll be able to see her in it again, safe and happy.
Then Itake astep backward into the Aether, exiting on the other side into a snowy, bare mountaintop.
I can only imagine how much Islais going tohate every second of being here. Even in May, there's white powder every which way I look, the snow making it impossible to tell which direction I'm even facing.
Even if I had more guidance, traversing this place would take medays,if not weeks. There has to be a ranger station around here somewhere. But walking is going to take too long.
Using my abilities, I walk through the Aether, landing on the other side a quarter mile south. Then, again, I jump through space and time, landing just out of sight of where I was before. For hours, I do this, heading south, then further east, north, east again, andthen finally south.
As thesun starts to set, and exhaustion from using my powers settles in. Finally, in the distance, I see smoke rising in the air, concentrated as if from a fireplace.
It may not be a ranger station, but it's something.
A whole row of somethings. This is the closest thing I've seen to civilization out here. A neighborhood of small cabins, with a main road heading out towards a large cluster of lights.I canonlyimagine out that way is a city of sorts, andmaybeIsla is in it somewhere.I want to track her down and drag her home, make sure she's safe and unharmed, then punish her for leaving me behind while she takes off and gambles with her own life like this. If her life is on the line, shehas to know thatmine is, too. That there's no point in living in this world if she ceases to exist in it.
The house on theedge of the neighborhoodcomesfullyinto view, the rear wall a sea of windows pressing up against the forest I'm hidden in.
As Icontinue towalk closer to it, staying in the growing shadows of the trees around me, I find what I've been looking for. The owners of the vehicle are going to be pissed, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and I am nothing if not fucking desperate.
Just asI get to the snowmobile, motion-detecting lights catch me, blinding me for a second before I can dart out of their view. A man stands from the warm brown couch inside, turningtoward the window to peer outside. I reach for his mind, easing it and convincing him that it must be a bunny or deer like it always is this time of year.I assure him thatthere's nobody out here thatcould be a threat.He knows all his neighbors; they're all perfectly safe people who wouldn't hurt a fly.
I feel bad takingwhat is clearlya well-loved toy, but I need it. I won't find Isla on time without it, and if they sneak her into some underground breeding area before I can stop them, there's no guarantee I'll ever find it or her.
As the snowmobile startsup, the man runs towards a safe in his living room.Fuck.Of course, he has firearms. He storms out the door, readying his rifle and pointing it at me.
I hold both hands up, shouting, "Official Park Ranger business, sir."
"Show me your badge," the white-haired, fully bearded man yells.
I flash him the fake ID, the flash of his bright yard lights in my eyes as I beg him to just let this go. "There's an injured hiker two miles east of here," I smoothly lie, putting on my most authoritative voice. "He's been missing for 18 hoursand we just found him with a broken ankle."
I push his mind to accept the lie. I really don't fucking have time for this.
"What about my snowmobile?" he asks, his mind clouding from my influence.
"The rangers will bring it back, fully fueled, just as soon as we can, sir." I could just leave. I'm already on the damned thing, and it's not like he could chase after me in his bathrobe. But if he shoots at me and hits it, I'm fucked.
He lifts the firearmup, laying it against his shoulder and watching me for a second before responding, "Fully fueled?"
I breathe a sigh of relief, "Yes, sir."
"Alright. Good luck,"hetells me, looking athissnowmobile warily, likely wondering if it can even carry my weight.
Revving it, I take off into the night, thankful for this man's small act of kindness, hoping it'll be enough to give me the edge to find my girl before time runs out.
Wedding Bells
Isla
I've dreamt of my wedding day no less than a million times.
Every single time, no matter who I was meeting at the end of the aisle, a few things were always the exact same.
Dress? Barely there. Just a cascade of thick lace with the little straps falling off my shoulders.
