forest with them out would be more than a little difficult.
“We need to go this way,” Fallon says, looking at her map and pointing into the distance.
“I’ll go first, Fallon, you stay in the middle, just keep on top of where we’re going. Remy you bring up the back,” Nevin says, and I agree. He’s been scouting the area, so it’s better for him to go up front, though I always did hate taking up the back.
We walk for an age, but it doesn’t feel like we get very far because the foliage is so thick where we are. I try not to get pissy about it, because I love being outdoors, but still. Tripping on the undergrowth wasn’t something I exactly planned for today.
Fallon stops in front of me, her hands clutching her head. “Wards,” she groans as she falls to her knees.
I rush towards her, but fall to my knees when the overwhelming pain slices through my mind too.
“Fuck!” Nevin roars. “Fallon, you need to overpower them!”
She looks at me with a tear rolling down her eye, but nods and she starts to glow as she shakes. It hurts to keep my eyes open, but I don’t lose eye contact with her. As her power builds, the pain starts to subside in my mind and I take her hand, hoping that my conduit can work with her too. It only takes a second after I touch her that a pop sounds and my ears ring, but Nevin is on us and pulling us backwards.
When the ringing pulls back, the sounds of fighting intrude. So much for our stealthy approach. My heart jumps to my throat. How many of the others were trapped in wards? Did Fallon break all of them or just ours?
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Nevin creases the map in his hand. “Amelia is gone.”
Fallon’s phone starts to sound in her pocket, and her eyes clear a little as she brings the phone to her ear. “Okay. Yeah I got it,” is all that she says.
“Mama tracked her. I have the location, but we need to go. I’ll text the others with the update incase Mama can’t reach them.”
“Should we really leave without them knowing?” Nevin asks, looking nervous.
“Yes, there is no fucking way I’m letting her escape us again. If she’s on the run, she won’t have as many people with her, and it’s likely she won’t have time to set any wards. She might have a witch with her, but so do we. I am not giving up, not when we’re this close to putting an end to this bullshit.”
“I don’t know…” Nevin shifts, biting his lip in nervousness. “Levi is going to have my fucking hide.”
“You don’t have to come with us. I can go with Fallon, she can portal us, you can stay here and find the others.”
“Are you kidding me? Levi might kill me for leaving here, but if I let you go alone he’ll skin me alive, wait till I heal, and then do it all over a-fucking-gain. I think not.” He turns to Fallon, whose eyes are still cloudy while she glows. “Can you portal us to where we need to go?”
“I can,” she tells him, nodding. My gut twists, because she obviously used a lot of power already and I don’t want to push her, not when she looks so off already.
“Are you sure? If you don’t have enough juice left, we can fly. You just need to adjust the map.”
“No, I can do this,” she says, sighing as she gets back to her feet. She sways a little, but Nevin steadies her, eyeing me warily.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” he asks me, as the shouts continue in the distance.
“No, but it’s our only shot. If we don’t go soon, the guards we were here to find will find us, and that could give Amelia too much fucking time. I’m not risking it.”
“Okay, then let’s do this.” He nods. I turn to Fallon, worrying about if she can do this, but if my friend says she can, I trust her.
“Open this portal.”
We step out of the portal into another forest, but the humidity here is almost suffocating. I’m currently severely regretting my wardrobe options. I push it to the back of my mind as I take in our surroundings.
“Are you sure this is the right place?” I ask Fallon as the portal closes behind her and Nevin.
“Yes, there’s a building not far from here.” She shows me