Oh.I was going to have to sit down with her when I felt emotionally ready and find out exactly what happened that night to my mom. But that might not be for years, if I would ever be ready. For now, Faerie depended on me to find that crystal.
Trissa pointed to a button. “Kill switch.” Then she pointed to another thing. “Petcock.”
It took every ounce of maturity I possessed not to bust out laughing at “petcock,” but Elle did it for the both of us. Trissa shot her a glare and then pointed to something else. “Throttle.”
Then Trissa pushed something, flipped another thing, and twisted something else and the motorcycle roared to life.
“Got it?” she asked.
No. Hell fucking no. I nodded, because I was so far into this shit train … what did it matter?
“You start seeking. Take Elle, I’ll follow on this.” She pulled a little electric scooter out from behind her back and popped it open.
Elle jumped on the bike behind me and hooked her arms around my waist. This was no big deal, like seeking anything. I’d done it hundreds of time. Taking a deep breath, I remembered the bluish-purple color and texture of the crystal, the way it was cool to my touch and how the light bounced off of it. As I was imagining it, there was a small tug at my navel.
“Got it,” I declared. The thrill of seeking always excited me. Feeling that intuitive hunch and pull in the general direction was always a bit like solving a mystery.
Elle clung to me. “Don’t kill us!” she shouted.
I nodded and pulled on the throttle lightly. The bike lurched forward and both Elle and I screamed. I slammed on the brake and we jerked to a halt.
“Okay, you know what, let’s work up to the motorcycle.” Trissa set the electric scooter on its kickstand and I frowned. “You ride the scooter and Elle and I will follow you.”
My one shot to be a badass bicker chick and I blew it.
Get your shit together, Lily.
“Come on, Lily, we need to hurry. They’ll move the crystal,” Trissa urged me.
Right.
Walking over to the scooter, I jumped on and set off at a whopping ten miles an hour. I followed my instinct out onto the road, and then to the right at a fork when I felt a strong tug in that direction. It was hard to keep my mind clear when I kept thinking about my mom. Had her celebration of life started yet? Were the elders bathing her body in crystal water and wrapping her in white silk? It was hard to get the gruesome bloody image from my head of her in that bathtub.
I got so wrapped up in my thoughts, I barely felt the tug to the left at the next fork in the road. Craning the handlebars at the last minute, I drifted down the road scolding myself for losing the connection with the crystal.
“Focus, Lily,” I told the wind, thinking again of how the crystal had felt, the way the sunlight shone on its light purple and blue.
Like a kick to the gut, my connection was back again, and so strong it knocked the wind out of me. We were close.
Trusting my gifts and following that tug, I careened the scooter down a small side street. I would have missed it had I not been looking; it was marked by two huge trees. We were here. After turning in, I immediately steered into the thick bushes, hiding from view.
Trissa and Elle pulled in behind me and cut the motor, walking the bike to where I stood and stashing it in the foliage. I peered through a gap in the hedge and gazed upon a yellow dilapidated farmhouse. Something kicked in my belly, signaling the object I sought was here.
“It’s here,” I whispered.
Trissa consulted her watch. “Different place than last night. They’re moving it every twenty-four hours or so.”
Nerves prickled along my skin. My mom died going after this crystal … and now I needed it to save Faerie. No fucking pressure.
Breathe.
Trissa pulled out a small vial of purple juice. “This is pricklewart juice. One drink gives you about sixty seconds of invisibility. After that, you will be seen, but it should be enough to get you in the room with the crystal, then you can jump out the window, where I’ll be waiting.”
My face scrunched up. Pricklewarts were nasty. Worse than nasty, they were literal warts that grew at the base of troll trees in the dark forest. They smelled like a dying animal, so I’d obviously never tasted one. But invisibility would be a decent tradeoff for drinking something nasty…
Triss looked impatient, tapping her foot. “Lily, I’m sorry to rush you, but we are on borrowed time.” She popped the cap off the vial and shoved it in my hand. “If they move this crystal again, it could take you weeks to find. Earth is big, you’ve never had to seek something that’s another country away. I knew it was in this city, so it was easy for you, but next time it might not be. Next time might be too late for Faerie.”
Shit.
