Baran’s expression was uneasy as he examined the passageway. “We’re not where we’re supposed to be.”
I looked from him to the dirt tunnel we’d been traveling through this entire time. “How can you tell?”
It all looked the same to me.
Dirt. Dirt. More dirt. A couple of roots hanging from the ceiling. Then, you guessed it, more dirt.
Baran turned in a circle. “We’ve strayed off course.”
Discretely, I put a little distance between me and the overly agitated Fae.
“Inara assured me this wouldn’t happen,” he spat in frustration.
“What does she have to do with this?”
“She’s the former barrow lord. She promised she could fool its defenses.” Baran glowered. “She lied.”
“You don’t know that,” I defended.
“Look, breaker. See with more than your eyes,” Baran snarled, his own glowing with power. “Where do you think we are right now?”
Curious as to what had set him off, I dropped into my other sight, being more careful than I’d been earlier. This time I didn’t submerge fully in the magic, barely opening that part of myself in case I accidentally ripped a hole in the fabric of this place and set off any alarm bells.
Just a dip of the toe in the flood of magic coursing around me.
It was more than enough though, breaking the illusion we’d somehow managed to wander into.
Cursing came from Baran as the tunnel walls morphed. Moss sprouted, the dirt eroding to reveal a forest of wild, untamed beauty. Full of ancient trees and towering brambles. Piercing sunlight that possessed a scorching heat that derived from the deepest part of summer.
“We’ve strayed into the Summer Lands,” Baran said, looking as antsy and freaked out as you’d expect.
“This isn’t good,” I whispered with a sinking feeling.
Baran grabbed my arm, hauling me after him. “We have to cross back. If we stay here, we’re dead.”
“How do you expect to do that?”
We hadn’t even been aware of the moment we’d crossed over the first time. How the hell would we find a way back?
“I don’t know,” Baran snarled.
The sound of breaking branches as something large moved through the forest to our right had us freezing.
Baran’s breathing shortened as he trained his gaze in that direction.
The rustle of leaves and the snap of dead branches came again.
Baran shoved me with his shoulder, forcing me to get moving.
“Go,” he mouthed.
I nodded, nearly stumbling as he put a hand on my back to urge me forward. Within steps, we were sprinting. The trees a blur as we raced through them.
Until finally we stumbled into a bright, sunshine filled meadow.
I gasped in pain at the touch of sunlight against my skin, jerking back into the shadows of the forest’s edge.
“No,” Baran moaned.
