Of Dreams and Sorcery (Royal Fae Guardians #1) - Heather Renee Page 0,54
to rush bringing the bonded animals.
Either way, things were about to escalate quickly, and our team was not at all prepared.
Chapter Nineteen
Going through the portal back to Arvayta wasn’t nearly as terrifying as the first time. Staying as far away from Jordan as I could, I watched Oliver walk through first, then followed after. My eyes stayed open, taking in the void and vibrant lights off in the distance that I assumed were other portal entrances.
When the light before me got too bright again, I closed my eyes and stiffened my body to hopefully stay upright and not stumble like before. Thankfully, it worked and I was able to walk right onto the ground. My only confusion was the darkness surrounding me.
“How long were we gone?” I asked, as I glanced around. It had been early afternoon when we’d left, but the sun was nowhere to be seen and we’d only been gone a couple hours.
“For too long,” a deep and not-very-happy voice grumbled from the shadows.
Ryland stepped closer, and I’d never seen him more livid, not even when I hit him with the orb full of bee stings.
“What happened?” I asked, looking only at him, afraid something had happened to my parents.
When his eyes met mine, they softened and surprised the hell out of me. “Nothing around here, but you may want to say goodbye to your best friend.”
Jordan stepped through the portal right as he said that. “Oh, serves you right to be left out. You’ve been a Class A jerk lately, so I don’t even want to hear it. Don’t think I don’t know what you were up to, because I do. As did Stryx, and it still needs to wait about another hour.”
What in the world was she talking about? I tried asking Stryx, but he was conveniently ignoring me through our bond. Ryland was up to something that had to do with me, and they really should have let me know. Or maybe I should have already known due to our Meraki bond that wasn’t really a bond. Stupid soulmate stuff was really frustrating.
Ryland’s eyes moved from Jordan to Stryx to me several times before he finally nodded. “I take it things didn’t go as planned in the Otherworld?”
“They went just fine, and we have the full support of Queen Navi and Yelah, but we need to move swiftly and without notice in order to keep everyone safe. Alaryk is making moves in the Otherworld, and I don’t believe it will be long before he shows up here,” Stryx said from his perch on a rock.
“Let’s go speak with Brooks and Daliah. They can fill the council in for us,” Jordan said with a shudder.
“Is there something wrong with the council?” I asked, wondering if there was something else that I was missing.
“No, I just hate having to keep my mouth shut for meetings with them. It gives me a headache.” She shrugged and moved on as I shook my head.
Stryx flew to my shoulder and positioned himself between me and Ryland, who seemed to be sticking pretty close to my side.
Are you seriously going to make me wait? I asked Stryx through our bond.
Wait for what?
Don’t play coy with me. What is going on with Ryland and why wasn’t he allowed with us? I demanded.
Ryland may have received some news that made him feel guilty for some of his actions. I knew from the Fates, and Jordan figured part of it out on her own. I’m sure that once we’re done speaking with your parents, you’ll know all about it. Just be patient, he said with a bit of a laugh at the end. We both knew I had zero patience.
However, I was eager to get the full story about what happened with Queen Navi, so I stopped questioning Stryx and we all ported to my parents’ house.
Our entire group entered through the already-open back door, and everyone moved around the spacious living room in various places. I then understood why this part of the house was so much bigger than the one we lived in back on Earth.
Oliver stuck close to Jordan, and they kept whispering about stuff that was really starting to irritate me. Stryx took residence on the back of the couch near my parents who continued to stand even after they both hugged me tight.
“You’ll have to tell us what you thought about the Otherworld later,” Mom said, and I nodded at her before flinching at the shadow near me.