“Oh, good. You scared me. Has Edet come by with breakfast? She usually does by now,” Avery said as she walked to the door.
“Daily breakfast in bed? You really are becoming a princess, Ave. You’ll never want to go home after getting used to this type of lifestyle.” Morgan’s words came out harsher than she intended. She wanted to joke with her sister, but there was an undeniable bite to her tone.
Avery sighed as she pushed in two trays of food on a cart, a tea set for two, and fresh juice. “Usually Edet comes in. She’s a terrible gossip and likes to catch Savine and me…”
Avery’s voice trailed off as she looked down. Morgan pursed her lips as she looked at her sister. “Savine and me what?”
“Oh, nothing,” Avery said, her cheeks glowing crimson.
Morgan let out a huff as she removed the cover on her tray. The food smelled delicious, a mingling of rich, delicate flavors. It seemed to be some sort of egg dish mixed with sauteed vegetables and berries on the side.
Avery slipped into the bathroom, and Morgan noticed the red stain left on the bed.
“No!” Avery called from the bathroom. “I just started my period! I don’t have anything in my backpack either.”
Morgan grabbed a cloth napkin from the breakfast tray before bringing it to her sister. “Here, this isn’t ideal, but it should help until you figure out something else.”
“Thanks,” Avery said, taking the napkin before Morgan left her sister alone. She kept talking, despite the door between them. “My period was late—I guess from stress. I knew it was late, but I was a little relieved it hadn’t come yet. The fae have a freaky sense of smell, so this is probably going to be awkward for a few days.”
Morgan grimaced. “I’ve never been so happy to have an IUD. I haven’t had a period in over a year.”
Avery came out of the bathroom, sitting beside Morgan at the table as she poured herself some tea and assessed the meal before them. “So hygiene wise: I have a feeling that having my period here is going to be horrible. Like medieval level.”
Morgan shrugged. It seemed like they had bigger issues to deal with than her sister’s menstrual cycle. Avery took off the lid of her breakfast tray.
“Just so you know, the Nephel eat all kinds of weird eggs. I think it has something to do with them being the sky kingdom and all, but that is definitely not made out of a chicken egg. In fact, they probably don’t even have chickens here. I’m not up to date on all the livestock, but I do know there aren’t any horses around here. The Latians ride around on giant elks and moose. Oh, and the Nephel ride on terrifyingly huge eagles called eagans. I got to ride on one too, but I was unconscious.”
Morgan felt like she already had a headache coming on from the information overload, and they’d only discussed eggs and a lack of tampons in this world. “Giant elk and eagles? You were unconscious? What’s been happening to you here?”
“I told you last night—I was kidnapped by Rylo and taken here. But I’m getting ahead of myself. I need to tell you everything that’s happened.”
“Yeah. I hope you’ve figured out a way to get us home,” Morgan said as she took a tiny bite of the breakfast. It was more flavorful than she’d expected, like an explosion on her taste buds.
“I don’t think going home is possible, but we’ll be safe with Savine. Once we’re in Orofine we won’t have to come back here. The fae can’t lie. They still seem to think we wouldn’t break an oath, but obviously I’m not above breaking my agreement with Rylo if it means keeping you safe,” Avery said as she casually sipped at her tea.
“Aren’t you worried about going to Orofine?”
“Of course not. Savine saved me and his folk have kept me alive. He won’t let anything happen to us. Meanwhile, Rylo is a crazy demon. I can’t wait to get away from him. Are you worried?”
Morgan could feel herself losing patience with her sister. Couldn’t she understand what she was saying? “Of course I’m worried! First of all, if there are those shifting bear people,I’m not interested in being there. I’d rather stay with the angel looking people. At least one of them didn’t attack us and hold me captive. Second, I just killed these creatures’ king. Shouldn’tIbe worried about going to their capital? They could take revenge on me.”
Morgan shivered at the thought. She could tell, just based on how everyone was armed, that this was a dangerous place and she didn’t want to be anyone’s revenge kill. “Not only that, but I want to try and jump off the waterfall. I think I should be able to get home if I do.”
Avery shook her head as her eyes widened and her mouth went slack. “Morgan, you can’t jump off Sapphire Falls. It will most likely kill you, and there’s no way you’ll make it back.”
Morgan went rigid. Avery was going to fight her on this. “Look, I want to try getting home. I don’t care if you think you’ve found your alleged soulmate and don’t want to leave. I can’t stay here without trying to go home.”
Avery reached over and squeezed Morgan’s hand. Her sister’s hand was rougher than hers, more calloused, but they always had been thanks to Avery’s work outside. Morgan pulled her hand back and looked down at her plate, avoiding her sister’s glance.
“I get why you want to try, Morgan. I really do. I even tried too. I returned to Quartz Mountain and tried to go through the portal, but nothing happened. It just broke my heart all over again. You—you could break your body in the process too. I can’t watch you die all over again,” Avery said with such gentleness that it caught Morgan off guard. “Besides,” Avery continued, “Susan tried too, and she couldn’t get back either. She’s another human trapped here.”
Morgan wasn’t surprised. If she and Avery had managed to both fall into another realm, then why wouldn’t others? “I waswondering how many people ended up getting stuck in this world.”
“Maybe more than I thought. Anyway, I think you’ll like Susan. She’s more knowledgeable about this place and our magic, plus she loves researching the history of witches in Aeritis. Susan came through as a kid and got lucky enough to be adopted by kind folk. She hardly even remembers Montana.”
“That’s messed up.” Morgan’s body shook and Avery placed a reassuring hand on hers. Avery’s hands were warm against her cold skin, but that was normal. She’d always felt like she had ice in her veins.
After a long silence, Morgan asked, “What do you know about the history of the witches here?”
