“Well, sweet! They say the hardest part in solving a problem is admitting you got one, right?” Lynx exclaims, clapping his hands together before jumping up. “So, now that we know what she’s been hit with, we can find what’s needed to cure this," He pulls me up next to him, ignoring Reaper’s growl of disapproval, and pulls his shirt off to throw over my head. “Let's get our asses moving.”
I can’t help it, taking a big whiff as the shirt cascades over my head and smiling up at him. His turquoise eyes sparkle at me before turning to our group that hasn’t moved, and Knots looks as pale as a sheet.
“Well, come on, Sloths and DoorKnobs, times a-wasting.” Lynx points to the ground. “I would make the portal myself, but I’m a shifter, not a taxi service.”
“Did you forget where Angel admitted that she used the Eternal Flower, Bathmat? It’s attached to Rez’s soul,” Knots says to Lynx, stopping him in his tracks.
“Lynx,” Dean Caldron speaks up solemnly before his eyes deepen with terror as they seek mine out. “If that is true, then there’s no cure for God’s Trumpet. I’m sorry, Nerezza.”
“What is God’s Trumpet?” I weakly ask, lead hitting my stomach. I latch on harder to Lynx’s arm as my world starts to spin faster.
“Well, the good news is, it’s not deadly in a direct way,” Dr. Steinbeck starts, and I manage a slight smirk.
Well, that’s a good thing.
“But it’s a process that leaves you going through symptoms of feeling nauseated, disoriented, having chills or a fever, body aches, and possibly lethargic while your powers become unreliable, leaving you defenseless until you’re practically a human.”
Practically human.
So let me get this straight. I’m going to be human, defenseless, hunted by harpies, and now I’m supposed to enter the Gauntlet—a trial built for magic-users—without any magic. And on top of that, I have to survive a week of supernatural monsters and deadly terrain without a single spell to my name. Yeah, that seems completely fair.Who dealt this fucking hand of cards to me?
“It’s okay. The Fates have been fucking me since I got here. I’m used to it.” I swallow down the acidic bile rising in my throat as a cold chill runs over my body, before leaning over and expelling my drink over the floor.
“Hey, bartender. I need a stronger drink and keep my tab open,” I manage to say before plopping back down on the sofa.
CHAPTER 6
Catching Up
Rez
It’s a mutual understanding that talking about my and Levi’s handicaps is an off-limits topic for now, so we turn towards what all of us have missed during our time apart. I curl up on the sofa, but this time Dad insists on trying to mitigate my symptoms. The yellowish glow from his hand warms and calms the rolling nausea of my stomach. The light blue glow of his left hand over my forehead slowly cools my temples, and I suddenly want to rest my eyes.
“How are you feeling now, sweetie?” Dad whispers, trying not to disturb JP’s explanation on meeting Anwen before falling to Hell.
“A lot better, thank you,” I answer lazily, covering a yawn.
“Take a nap while you can. If we need you to clarify something, we’ll wake you or ask when you wake up,” he reassures me before kissing my forehead like he did when I was a child.
I drift to sleep for a few hours, and when I wake up, I ask for a recap of what I missed. During my snooze, the Leaders of Novaand my father caught up on how we ended up in Hell, Adam’s escape, Captain Brooks’ involvement, and Cain’s release, which, if I had to guess, made it uncomfortably obvious that Zeke is a Necromancer, but no one reacted or questioned further as far as I know. Lilith’s strange and erratic behavior was explained, and they completely agreed with L.A.M.B.’s mention of herdelicatestate. Lynx did disclose that his family was guarding the gate to the Trail of Worth, but he didn’t go into any further details.
Given all the horrors we faced, we are granted the relief of not having to relive all the gruesome details of the levels and safe houses that we came across, but once they catch me up, we do touch on what we suspect happened in our calculations.
“Time didn’t stop during your safe house stays as you had hoped, and those hours that you had to recover still ticked on against you,” Major Abernathy guesses. “It’s the only thing that adds up to the correct timeline now.” He nods, and the other leaders agree.
“Well, that does explain the strange looks we received when we popped up from Hell,” Lynx snorts.
“Yep, so what happened here?” Chester asks, leaning forward, his arms resting on his thighs.
“Yeah, how did you handle King Elverson?” Moni asks, sporting her neon green shade, her excitement to learn what she missed evident. She grabs a coffee from her S.I.N. box and lands on Chester’s shoulder, mimicking his stance.It’s kinda cute watching them.
“I bet he lost his shit when you told him the ceremony was off,” Ryker murmurs under his breath.
“The only person who lost their shit was Emer. We had to shut down the Flower Room for a few days so the Brownies could repair the damage.” Matthew clears his throat before continuing. “The strange part was how King Elverson was digging for information, and nothing he asked was on Levi.”
My stomach suddenly drops and rolls at that information, and when Matthew’s eyes meet mine, a groan slips from my lips.
“You’ve got to be kidding, right? My life can’t suck this much.” Looking at Dad, I complain, “Did I get hit by lightning as a baby? Or get cursed as a newborn? Or are we sure this is the life I should be living? Did I switch bodies with someone by accident?”
