And now her deep magic filled body seemed to be drawn to the opening like a pair of magnets, forced to join.
She had to stop the Hunters before they pushed her into that portal, into whatever they had planned on the other side of that barrier.
“No!” Avery shouted, releasing a stream of brilliant light that struck with a force that sent shock waves through her arms. Two of the Hunters fell to the ground. One, the man with the injured nose, was sprawled in the snow, his neck at an unnatural angle as if the power welling inside her had snapped his spine like a brittle twig.
The other Hunter was crying out as he bled, painting the snow a brilliant shade of crimson.
Two more remained, their bodies thin and frail from the years of wasting away, depleting their essence in her world. All the time searching to end her, to never let her make it to Aeritis.
They charged her, and she felt the deep magic respond to the threat. What came out of her nearly stunned her.
Coiling thorny vines shot from her fingertips, burning her skin and blasting holes in her leather gloves. But she didn’t back down from the pain. This, somehow, was a gift from her soulmate. The man she had no intention of leaving. Not today, and not ever.
The vines worked their way over and around the two fae, and Avery relished in the look on their faces as she let those thorns grow longer, sinking through their threadbare winter clothing, through their flesh. One screamed out in such horror that Averyalmostrelented.
Almost.
The fae fell to the snow.
If they wanted Avery to be the monster the prophecy made her out to be, then she’d do it. She’d tear this world apart before she let someone take her from Savine again.
The buzzing of the portal grew louder. Avery looked over her shoulder. No, it wasn’t possible. The portal was pulling her in. She tried to run back from its tug, but her feet sank in the deep snow, trenching her toward the electric energy of the portal.
Just then, she saw two figures flying atop an eagan. Her breath escaped in a gasp as she saw Morgan and Susan bank toward her.
Morgan
The first thing Morgan noticed from the sky was the red streaks in the freshly fallen snow. So much blood, it looked like the site of a battle. Then she saw a slight figure in a coat far too large for her.
“Avery!”
Morgan directed the eagan toward the ground, but she kept her eyes locked on her sister as they descended. Avery was the only one standing, but there was obviously something wrong. She seemed to be battling an unseen force that was dragging her across the snow, sinking her body until it formed a trench that Avery fought against.
The eagan landed near a dead woman. Morgan and Susan both jumped off the bird and sank into the deep powder.
“Don’t come close!” Avery shouted.
That’s when Morgan heard the familiar buzz that had brought both of them to Aeritis.
“It’s an open portal?” Her aching heart rattled against her ribs. She could go home. She could leave this place. The rattle in her heart was replaced by a queasy sensation.Did she even want that anymore?
Morgan wasn’t sure if she truly wanted to go home any longer. Give up magic, give up all she’d worked on and learned, the goal of finding the relics.
Give up Rylo and all she’d promised him.
She shivered and shook the thought from her mind.
“Don’t come close! The portal is drawing me in! There’s some kind of trap on the other side!”
Morgan looked at Susan and Susan nodded.
“We can help you!” Susan called out. Morgan reached for the cool stones of the relic around her neck. Unlike the scepter, this one didn’t flood her body with deep magic. It wasn’t as in tune to her touch and needs as the scepter was, but as she grasped it, she felt the stirring of magic deep within its stones.
Morgan’s shadows wrapped around and Susan grasped her hand. “We need to try to close the portal,” Susan said. “Together. Unless you want to risk going through? Going home now?”
Morgan’s voice was steady, her mind made up as she said, “It’s not my time to go home yet. Someday, but not today. There will be other portals.”
“You’re sure?”
