Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
SERAFINA
“ W elcome home.”
Foster’s words echo around me, and slowly, I peel my eyelids open, my chest tight with the breath I can’t seem to release. I blink against the sharp sunlight, trying to take everything in at once.
I almost can’t believe what I’m seeing. This… This is something plucked straight out of a fairy tale.
“Oh my god.” I gape in awe, twisting out of Foster’s grip and spinning in a circle, desperate to see everything. I tilt my head back to view the sky and then stagger, only Foster’s hands keeping me upright. “There are… There are two suns!” I stammer, tugging on Foster’s hands and pointing to the stretch of sky above us, the eerie violet color blotted with fluffy clouds and yellow balls of fire. “Two!”
Foster chuckles, twining a strand of my hair around his finger. “There are three moons as well. I doubt you’ll see one today, but I’m not quite sure on the time difference, so you never know.”
I squeeze his hand, attempting to process everything at the same time, my brain refusing to click into play.
“Are you all right?” he asks, stroking a gentle hand down my back, and I can only nod, my mouth opening and closing as I try to find the words.
But I’m not all right. Not really.
I’m…home.
We seem to have stepped from the portal onto the edge of a village, but it isn’t shabby shacks or towering buildings. It’s a rainbow of colored homes—burnished oranges, forest greens, aspen yellows, and vibrant pinks—all vying for attention amongst strands of white, iridescent ivy climbing the sides and coating the tile roofs.
The walkways are overgrown with grass, but rather than the green I expect, the blades are a deep, sapphire blue, growing in fits and spurts among silvery cobblestones dotted with white and black mushrooms in varying sizes.
Surrounding us are forests of flowers, stalks towering dozens of feet into the air, shading us like a parade of multi-hued umbrellas as they bob over our heads in the breeze. In the distance, I can make out trees in variations of bronze and gold and, far beyond that, what seems to be some kind of silver filigree. A city, maybe? A castle?
A sharp cry has me reeling backwards, my eyes searching the sky.
What has to be birds—though I can only dare call them that due to the fact that they fly far overhead—dance through the air, weaving and darting around each other. Their feathers are translucent but colorful, reminding me of stained glass as the light trickles through them and creates rainbows in the air around them as they move.
I turn to stare at Foster, indicating the world around us. “Dude. What the hell was in that bottle?”
A chuckle starts in Foster’s chest and soon rolls into a deep, warm laugh that makes me tingle.
I shake the arousal away, waving a hand around us. “No, seriously. I was expecting something along the lines of Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings . This looks more like Avatar and Alice in Wonderland had a baby.”
Foster pulls me against him and presses his face against my neck. He skims his lips over my skin, eliciting a fresh round of goose bumps. “You really are a nerd, aren’t you?”
I huff but angle my head to give him better access. Even with the chill from the potion still permeating my veins, the heat he’s creating with his lips is too much for me to resist. As much as I want to pause and explore some more of the fire he’s creating, we’re on a timetable.
Later, though…I’d really like to see what Foster can do with those flames he stirs up.
“What exactly are we looking for?” Foster asks, pulling away reluctantly as though he’s on the same page as my own thoughts.
I shrug and stare around us at the rainbow wonderland we’ve been dropped into. “Honestly, I thought I’d know when we got here. It sounds silly now, but…” I trail off with a shake of my head.
That feeling of belonging hasn’t abated, but with no specific place to aim it at, I’m forced to start at square one. This world is vast . And if we only have an hour or two to find clues…
We’ll accomplish nothing.
Even still, I can’t help but wonder why the portal chose this specific town to drop us into. Is it the same for everyone? Or is there a reason we were brought here of all places?
Frustration battles with burgeoning hope as I take in my surroundings once more. The former wins.
I curl my hands into fists and kick at a loose pebble—an iridescent shade of pink that looks striking against the blue grass.
“Hey.” Foster squeezes my shoulder gently. “None of that. It makes sense, with you being born here, that you thought there may be a pull. I don’t have a better idea of where to start, but we can at least look around. Maybe something will jog your magic into a state of recognition.”
“Can that happen, even with the blocker?” I hope so because it’ll really suck if we just wasted our time here.
But luck isn’t something I usually have a large supply of, either.
“I don’t see why not. It mutes our powers but not what we are. This is our home…planet?” The word is more of a question than a statement, and I have to agree with him.
It’s one thing knowing we are from here and another actually seeing it.
I chew on my lower lip, looking around us in consideration. “Do you think we should check some of the houses?”
It feels odd, like breaking and entering, but they’re abandoned. Everyone I’ve talked to has been clear that no one lives here anymore, so it isn’t like we’re truly trespassing.
Hell, for all I know, one of these houses could be mine . Or my family’s, at the very least. Maybe I was born here…
Surely, I’ll be able to tell, right? My magic is screaming at me that I belong here, in the world of Faerie, so it shouldn’t be impossible to believe that it’ll direct me to my home.
“Lead the way, Lost.”
His teasing nickname is even more ridiculous in this situation, but I roll my eyes and push us forward, keeping an eye on the portal behind us so that we’re able to return. It looks more like a heat mirage on this side, wavy bands of light distorting the area around it. Is it heat that makes it work?
My mind’s turning the thought around even as I approach the first house. My fingers hesitate above the door latch, dancing across the thick, carved wood.
This was someone’s home.
My own, for all I know.
Did my parents live here? Did they leave me behind on purpose? Do I have aunts, uncles, grandparents? Anyone who is mourning the child they thought they lost?
Tears build in the corners of my eyes, and my breath catches in my chest as my vision wavers slightly, pain flaring through my muscles as they tighten. My knees wobble in time with the black and gray sparks dancing at the corner of my vision, nearly sending me to the ground, but I lock them in place.
No, no, no.
I will not have a seizure here. I’m not going to lose this chance.
I press on the latch, and the door swings open silently, baring a dusty cottage full of heavily carved furnishings.
“It’s like Snow White’s house,” I murmur, careful not to touch anything as we wander through.
The room is small but well laid out, and it has either been abandoned in a hurry or ransacked at some point, as some pieces of furniture are turned haphazardly and dishes and pieces of clothing are scattered here and there.
However, it’s not nearly as dilapidated as I would’ve suspected, considering that Faerie has been abandoned for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. The wood of the home hasn’t begun deteriorating yet.
Does time move differently in Faerie? Does a century on Earth equate to only a few minutes in this world? Or does the magic itself keep the buildings maintained, even when they’ve been abandoned?
I make a mental note to ask Xander about it—casually, of course. I don’t want him to know the true reason for my curiosity.
Nothing seems to be drawing my magic, though, and rather than sort through a long-dead stranger’s belongings, I wander back into the open air, Foster at my side.
“It doesn’t feel right.” I shrug, unable to explain it better than that when he arches a crimson brow at me. “I don’t know. It’s…”
How do I explain all of the feelings rampaging through me? That feeling of belonging that doesn’t have a specific location?
“It’s not surprising,” Foster murmurs, his fingers playing with the straps of his backpack and his gaze sharp as he watches around us. “I doubt this world is tiny, and the chances of us walking out of a portal neither of us actually knows how to set and landing in the correct place? I’d say it’s likely astronomical.”
Maybe. But a voice in the back of my head warns me we’re closer than we know.
A rustle makes both of us freeze, before a small “mew” precedes a kitten tumbling out of the tall sapphire grass. He goes head over tail, landing in a heap of white paws, his gray- and black-striped fur sticking up in places and his ears quivering as he tries to right himself.
“Someone left their cat? How is it still alive? Do animals just live longer on Faerie? It’s just a baby, though…”
His eyes are a tawny gold, and his little pink nose twitches as he scents the air. He cocks his head to the side as he studies us and lets out another plaintive “mew.”
The poor thing is probably afraid and starving.
Is he a stray? Does he have a mother?
“Here, kitty kitty,” I encourage, getting onto my knees on the hard stones, trying to imitate the “pspsps” sound I heard on television.
I’m a dog person and never owned a cat, so sue me. But I can’t in good conscience leave this cutie on his own. Who knows what could happen to him?
I keep making the ridiculous sound as the kitten watches me warily, inching forward with his nose twitching in the air. He’s only a finger’s length away from me now, his mewls evolving into plaintive chirps as he investigates me.
“Wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a deep voice calls out with a chuckle.
I shriek, tumbling backwards and hitting the ground with a thud, as movement in front of me steals my gaze.
V stands there, holding the kitten by the scruff of the neck, his glittery wings spread wide, fitting perfectly into the magical scenery.
“What. The. Fuck. Vagina!” I screech, pushing myself to my feet and dusting myself off. “How the hell are you here?”
He arches a brow at me. “You really think there’s anywhere someone can tell me I’m not allowed to go?”
“Considering I’ve found you in my bedroom, I’m going to say you suck at boundaries,” I snap. Foster chokes at my retort, glancing frantically between the pair of us. “Did you follow us? I thought we talked about the whole stalking thing. Stalking bad, remember?”
He shrugs as if this entire argument is ridiculous. “You’re mine.”
I roll my eyes, muttering about conceited macho men as I indicate the squirming bundle in his grip. “Don’t hurt that kitten,” I warn him emphatically. “You may usually like it when I hurt you, but I’ll make Foster do it.”
Not that Foster actually can hurt V, considering my angel prince doesn’t feel pain. But whatever. It’s the thought that counts.
Foster sputters, but I just glare at V.
He cocks his head to the side, eyeing Foster up and down. “He is pretty, isn’t he? Especially when he lets those flames go. A shame he muted them here.”
“Why are your wings out? Do you want to die or something?” Foster interjects, choosing to ignore V’s blatant sexual reference.
Probably a good idea. It’s a coin toss if the prince of insanity would follow through with his unspoken threats or not.
“Has your potion worn off?” Foster asks. “You should know better than anyone that you shouldn’t use your magic unless it’s a life-or-death situation!”
Worry thrums through me at that, and I step forward, reaching a hand out to stroke over one of the giant, curved wings, the feathers soft and silken under my fingertips.
V smirks at us. “Never limit yourself. You don’t know what dangers you may face.”
As if to prove his point, he tosses the kitten into the air, flinging it high above his head. I gasp, reaching out to catch the creature, but he swirls and twists in the air above us.
I’m not sure if it’s Foster or I who yelp, but we both take a large step back from the creature that could have been a cross between a small saber-toothed tiger and an armadillo now standing in front of us, shaking itself and growling at V.
He has the face of a tiger, his fur purple with splashes of pink, but the body of an armadillo, complete with a white, bony shell that covers the length of his back.
“What. The. Fuck.” At this point, I need it tattooed on my forehead.
I can only stare at the scaled, purple and white creature who settles onto his hindquarters and begins to lick a paw as though that has been his intent all along.
“It’s a shade,” V explains. “He probably would have just taken a finger or two, but they’ll take more if they can get it. They are carnivorous.” His gaze is judgmental as it lands on me. “I’ve told you before to always be on guard. Extra practice starting tomorrow.”
“Ms. Jenkins!” Another commanding voice rings out, and Foster and I both groan.
“Maybe I should have just let it eat me,” I mutter, and Foster nods his agreement as we turn to face the raging man stalking towards us, fury written across every line of his face—from his stormy eyes to the deep grooves of his scowl.
Yeah, letting it eat me is probably the better plan.