“Keep walking,” Isobel said, trudging past. “Others will come in behind us. It will delay us if they see you.”
Sean followed, but his attention strayed from one improbability to the next. Purple capped mushrooms lined the dirt path, silver light sparkling from their edges. A snow-white creature with golden rabbit ears and the tail of a fox perked up, its curious eyes following them through the dark.
Heknewthis place. The same way he knew these women. It all hid in a treasure trove in his mind.
Eventually the path grew wider and arches of giant branches rose overhead, connected by thin glittering fabric, creating a sort of tunnel into a wide clearing. Several large tents had been erected on wooden platforms, lit from within. Bonfires dotted the periphery of the camp.
An outpost of sorts?
Strangers gathered, dressed in the kind of clothes Sean thought people only wore in cosplay—leather vests and hooded tunics and laced bodices. Some women were clad in sheer lace overlays with nothing beneath, and several men sported loose harem pants with no shirts.
The same light that flickered in the air glittered in their skin. It winked in and out of existence, sparkling in the dark, like they werebacklit. Some of them were too tall to be human, others too narrow. Some had too many finger joints or ears that pointed like elves.
And some of them… Some looked just like Sean—that uncanny combination of tawny skin, ebony hair, and piercing blue eyes that had been fawned over asso uniqueby the folks of his town for the entirety of his life.
He was halfway into the camp, Isobel at his side, when he realized the strangers were staring, open-mouthed and silent. The driver led their party now, like he’d served as a herald for Sean’s approach, while inhuman eyes of violet and silver and aquamarine followed them, dumbfounded.
Everything went still around them.
Sean slowed to a stop, and every one of them dropped to their knees. They lowered their heads and touched two fingers to one temple, some foreign sign of respect.
Isobel continued to walk, ignoring the crowd. Gut roiling, Sean tried not to meet anyone’s eyes and sped up to keep pace with her.
Whispers followed in their wake.
Ashanta. Ashanta. Ashanta.
Spoken repeatedly, it hit his ears differently, somehow translating in his brain.
Savior. Savior. Savior.
But that wasn’t the exact translation. It had illumination to it. Almost like…divine light.
In his efforts to avoid eye contact, Sean’s attention caught on a massive shape beyond the clearing.
A giant tree rose into the sky. It disappeared into a mass of hazy leaves and branches, competing with the clouds for space. The milky silver of the moon bathed it in twilight. Nebulae and galactic clouds puffed out of the sky in bright rainbow hues of bloodred and poison green. Stars glittered like diamonds and rubies and sapphires.
Soon, they’d left the outpost and the whispers behind, weaving instead around the roots of the giant tree. No houses or other signs of civilization sprouted from the forest. Owls hooted and night insectsbuzzed. Creatures he couldn’t name howled and squawked. Everything glowed.
The pathways between the giant roots narrowed, and arches were carved into the taller ones to allow them passage underneath. Blue-lit water found its way into streams and waterfalls.
“What is this place?” Cole asked behind Sean, wonder saturating his voice.
“This is Luxoria,” Autumn said, chipper as the midday sun. “The realm of Queen Falan.”
Sean’s steps slowed. “Lux?—?”
Autumn’s head cocked, and her red hair gleamed like cherries dusted in gold. Her honey eyes, which had seemed marginally human outside the mist, suddenly took on a sunshine cast.
He looked to Isobel for reassurance and stopped in his tracks.
The curve of her mouth. The gemlike quality of her eyes. The long, delicate column of her throat, adorned with a necklace holding a vial of purple liquid.
“I know you,” he said, even though that wasn’t what he’d meant to say.
Her lips parted, but she glanced away, drawing breath without saying anything.
Sean stepped closer. “How do I know you?”
