last night.
“Moving realms, or even jumping states on Earth, is no small feat. Buckle up.” She indicated the chair on the far wall that had a five-point harness.
My eyes widened a little as I walked over and strapped myself in, careful not to sit on my wings. “Heading to Faerie,” she announced, and started to tinker with the dials, spinning one a quarter turn and another a full turn. Her cuffs lit up with blue-green glowing magic as she spun them faster and faster. Suddenly I was pinned to the chair as a force knocked into me, and then just as quickly it stopped.
“Open the door, will you?” She nodded to her closed office door.
I felt a little dizzy, but unclipped my harness and walked over, placing my hand on the doorknob. I wrenched it back expecting to see the hallway inside of her house, but instead I was met with the somber faces of Trissa and Elle. Behind them was the raging river of Faerie. They were at the blue door in the cliffs. I didn’t even have time to marvel at Mara’s ability. Elle lurched forward and slammed into me, wrapping her arms around my neck as she hugged me tightly. Everything I’d pushed down in order to cope with my current circumstances welled up again as my best friend sobbed into my shoulder. “Lil, I’m so sorry.”
Elle. Elle was more like my sister than a best friend. Her mom was the nursery tender for all of the babies in Faerie. I literally grew up sharing a crib with her daughter. Elle was feisty yet loving, and took us all by surprise when she declared at age twelve that she didn’t want to be a nursery tender like her mother, she wanted to be a warrior like Trissa. She’d been my best friend and sparring partner my whole life, and I was so damn glad she was here with me now.
When I pulled back, I watched the tears draw tracks onto her cheeks. Her short bob was a honey colored brown that set a nice background for her arresting green eyes and smattering of freckles. She loved my mom, called her aunty Vi, and I knew this news would hit her hard. My mother always brought back trinkets from Earth, one for me and one for Elle. I was grateful to share my grief with someone.
“The people are chanting her name,” Elle said, looking deeply into my eyes. “The wildflowers are being collected, mead is brewing. She will have a beautiful celebration of life.”
I nodded, chewing my lip to keep from completely falling apart.
Elle leaned closer to me, lowering her voice. “What the fuck is up with the Sons of Darkness and these crystals? This shit is crazy!”
Trissa cleared her throat and we turned to face her, Elle rosy-cheeked. “I’ve filled Elle in on everything. She’s met briefly with the elders, and saw the tree and the crystals. She’s fully prepared to help you with your task.”
Elle reached out and squeezed my hand. “We’ve got this. We won’t let Faerie down.”
That was Elle. Always so positive.
Mara checked her trinkets on the table. “Sun is setting in Seattle. We should get a move on.”
I frowned. “But it was just morning in Venice Beach.”
Mara waved her hand at me. “Time in the in-between passes differently. It’s unpredictable.”
Trissa nodded, closing the blue door, and I caught just a glimpse of someone walking past with remembrance wreaths. Each person in the village would hang one on their door out of respect. When you had such a small population, any death hit the community hard, but my mom … she was special and now I knew why. She alone kept Faerie standing.
“Strap in,” Mara called out. I looked over to where there had been only one chair with a harness and now there were three.
“Wait…” I looked at Mara in shock and she winked.
How powerful was she? Clearly not powerful enough to rip off those cuffs … I wondered what got her imprisoned in the first place. The elders didn’t dish out punishments that easily. We were a forgiving people, so her crimes must have been bad. Really bad.
I strapped in, Elle next to me and then Trissa on her right. They were both wearing full leather battle gear, two swords each. I knew my mother had a guard and I’d asked her why once. “Because mommy’s job can get dangerous,” she had said. I’d just left it at that, never asking many