Peering up into the thickly treed canopy, I knew that if we tried to fly, we risked wing injury for all of the low hanging branches.
We reached the edge of the black river in record time and Trissa looked over at me. “Jump!”
I nodded as they dove into the water, but something pulled at my consciousness, forcing me to freeze. Peering over my shoulder, my mouth unhinged as I gazed upon dozens of vibrant green patches of grass and pink and purple flowers. They were in the shape of footsteps.My footsteps.Looking down at my feet planted in the earth, lush green grass grew where I stood.
Holy hell. What was this?
The creature was gone, giving me a moment to really absorb what I was seeing. Did I really do this? Was my secret unlocked power, a garden tender Fae?
“Lily!” Trissa snapped, and I shook myself, diving into the water and over to where they floated near the protection. I didn’t want Trissa to see it, whateveritwas, because it scared the shit out of me.
A thought came to me then and relief rushed through my body. It was the healing water? Yes! That was it. The healing water I’d swam in had rolled onto the land and healed it.
A reasonable explanation, which also made me wonder if that was the key to eventually healing Faerie if I couldn’t wake the queen. Was there enough water to heal it? I didn’t know. Paddling hard, I reached the protection and handed the jar to Trissa. She took it but kept her eyes on the murky water for any more psycho fish. Reaching my palms up to lay them on the protection spell, I used my seeker power to quickly open a hole so we could all slip inside, and then quickly closed it before too much black water polluted Faerie.
After we finally made it to the shore, we lay on the sand, panting and out of breath.
Elle’s hand slipped into mine. “We did it.”
“We did it,” I agreed. I didn’t want to tell them about the footprints because I still wasn’t one hundred percent sure that it was because of the healing water, and that scared me shitless.
Twenty minutes later, Elle and I had changed and we were ready to meet up with Liam and find two crystals. One for each of us. The elders had showed up on shore and taken the healing water for “safekeeping,” saying that it could not leave Faerie. I was getting pretty damned tired of them telling me what to do. I mean, I knew they were the leaders of our world, but it seemed like I was doing all the work and they were giving the orders. My rebellious nature wasn’t having that, but I didn’t feel like starting a war, so I allowed them to take it. They must not have trusted me to bring it to Earth, which really pissed me off.
“So you’re letting him keep a crystal?” Elle pulled her short brown hair into a tiny ponytail at the nape of her neck. “Must be love.”
I rolled my eyes. “We have a business agreement. Love isn’t even on the radar.”
Not with him anyway.
She nodded, “Mhh hmm, sure.”
I reached for the blue door handle to Mara’s wearing a slight grin, and I opened it. Mara was standing there with Bashur, playing checkers.
“Did you figure out what that earthquake was?” I asked her, noticing she’d gotten everything back onto their shelves.
She looked up. “Nope. Not a clue. Ready for the next adventure?”
I nodded. “Back to Seattle. I need to pick up Liam and get the next crystal.”
Her face drew into a frown. “Why are you still working with him?”
I sighed. “Look, I know you don’t like him, or trust the halflings or whatever, but I need him. Only he can touch the dark crystals and bring them to Faerie to be healed.”
Mara came around the desk, golden handcuffs clanking together as she sat on the edge of the desk and looked up at me. “I’m not that worried about Liam. He could be a great guy for all I know.”
I frowned. Not worried my ass. She’d all but told me he was a liar who was hiding something and she didn’t trust him.
She lowered her voice. “I’m worried about what the elders will do to you when they find out you’re continuing to work with him.”
My head reeled back. “Doto me?” Chills ran the length of my arms and tears lined Mara’s eyes.
“You want to know my story?” She held up the cuffs. Elle and I shared a look and nodded. I’d been waiting to hear this for so long, ever since my mother told me of the imprisoned fae. Now I wondered if I really wanted to.
She took in a deep breath. “I’ve had to forgive myself a lot over the years.”
Forgive herself?
Tipping up her chin, lip quivering, Mara said, “I started the Dark War.”
