Year Two: Rebels - Cara Wylde Page 0,64

Not only for me, but also for Inna. El hadn’t told me who her father was, but if it turned out it was Adrian, then I needed Akkadia Aeterna for her, too.

I was in my room, it was a few minutes past midnight, and Seth, Davien, and Adrian had pulled chairs and armchairs close to my bed. Corri was agitated. In the end, I had to ask her to leave, because she couldn’t settle down to save her life – or mine – and she was only distracting me and making me feel nervous. I sent her to check on the apartment in New York. Before I crawled into bed, I swallowed one sleeping pill. If nothing else, it would help me relax. I was getting better at falling asleep while being watched, which was… a little bit creepy.

“Are you sure about this?” Adrian asked.

I nodded. “It’s now or never. It has to be done.”

Davien leaned in and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

“We’ll be here, waiting. Take your time, and don’t get lost.”

Seth lifted my hand to his lips. “In and out. Don’t linger, and if you find one of those monsters, don’t look at it. Just get out of there.”

“Your safety comes first,” Adrian said. I could tell that he wanted to touch me, too. He wanted to kiss me and whisper in my ear, but he didn’t feel comfortable doing any of that in the other guys’ presence. “If you can’t find the flower, don’t waste time. Just grab some soil and come back to us.”

I nodded. “Okay, I’m ready. Let’s do this. In a few hours, we’ll have soil for the ritual and enough Akkadia Aeterna for me, my aunt, and for Inna.” In my mind, I counted El, too. Just in case.

I fell asleep in minutes. Mind awake, traveling – body paralyzed. I let my thoughts drift away from me. I was going to do this differently than the first time. Instead of focusing on jumping to the cosmic network of dimensions, I simply allowed my mind to relax and go where it pleased. Soon enough, I felt El’s presence near. I opened my eyes and found myself in a forest. It was summer again, and I could only guess that El loved summer. I materialized my body as best as I could and studied my surroundings. This time, from behind the trees, a young woman stepped out. She was tall and slender, with fiery red hair and blue eyes. Davien’s hair. My eyes. She had his nose, too, sharp and noble, and my full lips. I let out a breath of relief.

“You’re Davien’s daughter.” I laughed. “Oh, thank God!”

She smiled as she looked at herself, then shrugged. “It appears I am. Half demon, half human.”

“You have no idea how happy that makes me.”

“I do.”

“So, does your offer still stand?”

“Take my hand.”

She was just as solid and real as I was. I couldn’t believe I was holding the hand of my daughter, the daughter that was merely the size of a bean in my womb, the daughter that would be born in August.

“Let me lead.”

I did. In the blink of an eye, the landscape changed. We weren’t in the forest anymore, and it wasn’t summer. I looked at my feet, and it seemed that I was on a square piece of land floating in the middle of nowhere. El was right next to me, and we were still holding hands.

“Breathe,” she said.

I tried to relax and do as she said. My lungs filled with fresh, crisp air. It didn’t even matter where or what this place was because it felt good. The air was refreshing, the peace was all-encompassing, and I felt at ease for, most likely, the first time in my life.

“This is my point of neutrality,” El said, “And now it’s yours.”

“It feels… right.”

We took our time grounding ourselves. On second thought, maybe she didn’t need to ground herself like I did. I still wasn’t sure how all of this worked. I imagined roots extending out of the base of my spine and plunging into the small patch of land. The more roots grew out of me and into the soil, the more I felt like I belonged. I belonged to the here and now, and at the same time, I belonged in my home dimension, with the three men who were guarding my sleeping form. I belonged with El, my daughter. Since the day of my birth, nothing had been coincidental, and