Persie Merlin and the Door to Nowhere by Bella Forrest Page 0,112

invisibility spell instead. Sure enough, the shield of green slid over me. I let it slough away again, not wanting to go through the burning pains for the sake of an experiment.

Well, that’s weird… and probably not good. Wherever I was, it seemed to have some kind of ability dampener on it. Hexes and spells worked, but not innate powers. Still, I had to cross this freaking water. Even if I had to do it the hard way.

Sadly, I had no ‘walking on water’ spells up my sleeve. I didn’t love the idea of the water being purple, but it didn’t look too deep. And it was totally clear, revealing every rock and shiny pebble below the surface.

Keeping my gaze locked on the guy, I clambered into the water. My body braced for the shock of cold wet, but it didn’t come. The stream felt like I’d stepped into the Goldilocks of baths. Not too hot, not too cold. It did, however, have a bit of a current. I used my hands like paddles to help me cross.

I was halfway—a few more steps and I’d be there. The other side of the water. That’s where I’ll find answers. I slipped on a smooth stone on the riverbed, and as I regained my footing, I saw the man whisper something. The precise words were lost over the babbling rush of the water.

I thought I’d try again. “Hello?”

He turned his back on me and walked back toward the white-leafed tree behind him.

“Hey! Would you just… wait!” I swallowed the despair in my voice. “I need to—”

My words died on my lips as I noticed something else coming toward me at breakneck speed: all of the glowing lights that had been hovering around, minding their own business… Well, they weren’t minding their own business anymore. Whatever that man had whispered, these orbs had heard. And now, they were coming for me. Fifty or more of them, rocketing through the air.

Panic set in. Scooping my hands through the water as fast as possible, I struggled to cross the riverbed. But I was still at the center, where the current was strongest. Leaning forward, I forced my thighs to power through. If that guy thought he could send a horde of… aggressive lights after me and not get an earful, he was sorely mistaken.

I ran through the water, keeping my eyes fixed on sweet, dry ground. After clawing with all my might to haul my body out, I collapsed onto the crunchy grass… just as the orbs descended. They spiraled around me, blocking my view of the tree and the man. I turned this way and that, looking for an escape, but they only whizzed faster and faster, overwhelming my senses until all I saw was bright, blinding light.

And then, I saw nothing at all.

Twenty-Six

Persie

Landing on my butt with an unexpected thud that ricocheted up my spine, I reached the end of the fireman’s pole. A soft, gauzy light made the eerie darkness down here marginally less terrifying. At first, I thought it was coming from the pixies, or that the Wisps had come back. But then, I saw it—the faint outline of a doorway, hovering just above solid ground—four glowing lines that formed a rectangle.

Nathan reached down and grabbed my arm, pulling me to my feet. “Are you hurt?”

“I’ll have a nasty bruise, but it’ll heal.”

I observed the doorway, taking it in. There wasn’t a handle or solid wood or… anything. Just a glowing outline.

Nathan nodded. “Same here.” Like me, he was staring at the rectangle. “I think we found it.”

“But how do we get in?” I stepped toward it, half-expecting it to open in welcome. But nothing happened. Without the Wisps leading us, maybe we weren’t allowed to enter. And that wouldn’t do at all, not with Genie on the other side.

If she’s still alive… My heart clenched and my breath hitched. The Wisps led souls off the beaten path for the sake of adding more spirits to their guiding legions. What if I was already too late? What if she’d turned into a shadowy soul, wielding a candle to lead more people astray? Perhaps, now that the door had been opened again, their deadly cycle had been triggered. There was no way of knowing.

I looked at Nathan in desperation. “Can you get us through? Did your father have any spells in his Grimoire that could work for this? Otherwise, we’re going to have to let the Wisps hypnotize us again, and that’s