Persie Merlin and the Door to Nowhere by Bella Forrest Page 0,129

chattered, but I refused to give in.

Fergus smirked in my periphery, giving a small nod of approval to the guardian Wisps. With his focus distracted for a second, it gave me the chance to palm the specterglass in Nathan’s hand and slip it into my own pocket before Fergus noticed. I had to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, what this Wisp trance did to people. And I prayed that when I looked through that lens, it wouldn’t show me they were all dead. My heart wouldn’t be able to take it.

“Why are you doing this?!” I screamed. “Give them back. Give them all back, or so help me, I’ll rain monsters down on your little paradise until you can be certain it’s hell.”

I had enough panic coursing through my veins to make good on that promise, though I was surprised at the ferocity in my voice. It didn’t sound like me talking. It sounded more like… No, I wasn’t like him. I wasn’t anything like him. I would not fall prey to Leviathan’s will. This was about Genie and Nathan, and all the people Fergus had taken. Nothing more.

Fergus laughed coldly. “Aye, o’ course ye will. And I’m Queen Mab.” He whispered something, and the Wisps came spinning back. For someone who obviously loathed these beings, he seemed to rely a whole lot on their obedience. “Ye’ll be a lot happier when ye stop fightin’ it, lass. I suggest ye give in.”

Not a chance. I didn’t have useful abilities, but if the Wisps attacked, I’d do what I could to punch and swipe them back. Plus, I supposed I had my not-so secret weapon: the creatures I’d created. As if sensing my need for help, they rallied to my aid. The pixies might’ve been decimated, their number halved, but the remaining horde left their dead and hurled themselves into the air, coming to my defense. The Wisps wanted to take me, but I’d stopped hearing their music. The voices had to be singing somewhere, or Nathan wouldn’t have fallen under their spell, but I was deaf to them. And I had no idea why. Was it Leviathan, somehow protecting me from afar? Or the pixies? Or had the Wisps’ song just stopped working on me?

As the Wisps made their charge, the pixies formed a protective circle around me, their pulsating lights on full blast. They joined hands, forming a chain. A moment later, they lit up like a Christmas tree, chanting in their pixie tongue. Fizzing threads of dazzling purple light shot down their arms and into their neighbors’, connecting them as one entity, with me in the center of their defensive ring. Their voices grew louder until an almighty explosion of violet-tinged energy surged from them in a juddering pulse, pushing the Wisps back. Nathan toppled like a domino, too, though it didn’t seem to affect him. He kept right on repeating his mantra, curled on his side with that blank look in his eyes.

They’ve adapted. There might’ve been fewer pixies, but their strength didn’t necessarily appear to depend on their number. Their survival instincts had kicked in, and they were stepping up their game to avoid a second round of decimation. It seemed they were willing to throw everything they had at these Wisps… and all to protect me. Why? Was there so much power in being their creator? I didn’t know. But I did know that if we made it out of here alive, I would give the pixies what they deserved for this—their freedom.

“You asked a Child of Chaos to build this realm for you, to trap the Wisps. You obviously hate them, yet you use them to round up people for you,” I ranted, trying to buy the pixies some time. Fergus clearly controlled the Wisps, and if I could keep him talking, perhaps he’d call them off. “You can’t possibly believe this is the best place for anyone. Even you don’t want to be here—I can see it in your face. I want to know why you’re doing this.”

He paused, and so did the Wisps. “Ain’t it obvious?”

“If it were, would I be asking?” I retorted. So far, the plan to keep him talking was working.

“Color me surprised, since ye seem to know so much already.” Sarcasm dripped from his tongue. “Aye, I did ask a Child o’ Chaos for this world. I called te Gaia, and she answered. I did it for love, and I’d do it again, a thousand times