Chapter 21
“Wake up.” I was being shaken in my sleep, and I grumbled in annoyance as I swatted random hands away from me. “Wake up, Van.”
Audrey sounded serious, which helped me shake off my sleepy fog.
I didn’t realize she was back. I spiraled all morning about what I had discovered in my bedroom the night before, wondering how the hell I was going to tell Audrey everything I found when she and Liam already had their hands full with their own drama.
She must have gotten back during my nap on the couch.
I rolled onto my back and stretched, peeking an eye open to find Audrey.
But she was fully dressed, and when I clocked movement in my peripheral vision, I saw Hush in all her leather siren militia clothes. Looking very out of place in our living room.
“What’s going on?” I asked, forcing myself to sit up.
Audrey frowned at Hush as she turned toward our coat closet to pull out a hoodie for me.
“Yes, Hush.” Audrey sounded very annoyed. “What is going on?”
“I gave you two days to enjoy your new mate,” Hush replied. “But time is up. I have something to share with you two.” Hush stood tall with her arms folded, mask perfectly in place, as her gold gaze bounced between the two of us. “But only you two.”
Something in her tone got to me, so I struggled to put my hoodie on as fast as I could. By the time Audrey tossed me some sneakers, I was able to slip them on and tie them without too much sleepy fumbling.
“Where’s Liam?” I asked.
“He’s still in Enhavenn,” Audrey replied. “I needed a break, but he was in the middle of an interview when I left.”
Once dressed, Hush stepped toward us and said, “Let’s go.”
I stepped back. “How are we getting there?”
“I’ll lyskift us.” Hush reached for my hand, and I immediately snatched it back.
“No thanks, let’s take the boat.”
“What? No. Lyskifting is more efficient.” Hush argued.
“Please—”
Hush grumbled in annoyance as she grasped Audrey’s wrist and reached for mine anyway.
“Wait, wait!” But my plea fell silent, because within milliseconds, I was squinting my eyes closed and preparing for the dizziness and nausea that inevitably came with lyskifting. I hated it. I braced myself for the worst of this experience.
What surprised me, however, was the complete lack of nausea and dizziness. A powerful gust of wind hit my face, and suddenly my feet were back on solid earth again. I stayed there, waiting, wondering why the nausea and my sensitive equilibrium weren’t wreaking havoc on me.
“We’re here, open your eyes,” Hush barked. I raised my eyebrows but slowly complied. We were…here. In Hyvenmere. The moon was high in the night sky, right as the sun was almost done setting, illuminating the otherworldly trees.
“Whoa.” I slowly took a step, then another, wondering why I felt so stable. “I don’t feel sick at all.”
“Glad to hear it.” Hush didn’t sound glad to hear it at all. “Follow me, please.”
Audrey gave me a wide-eyed look, an attempt to communicate how she was also surprised I wasn’t sick. With Hush, no nausea at all. Perhaps Hush was just better at lyskifting? I made a mental note to remember to roast Liam for his subpar teleporting skills later.
I had to jog to catch up to Hush’s fast-paced steps, glancing around to see if I could recognize exactly where we were. The woods, based on how dense the tall trees around us were. But unfamiliar woods.
“Where are we?” Audrey asked with a whisper.
“Lyndoruun,” Hush whispered, then turned to lift a finger over her mask where her lips would be, telling us to be quiet.
We walked in silence, carefully stepping over loose stones, and branches, and roots.
This wasn’t a regularly walked path, which made my hackles rise.
Where was Hush taking us? Why did she need to rush us?
Why couldn’t we speak? Who was listening that felt like a threat to her?
Eventually, after about thirty minutes of walking, we made it to the base of a large mountain range. Not just any mountain range.
The Fjellenheim Mountains.
It was difficult to spot it in the distance based on how dense the forest was, but it was definitely the Fjellenheim Mountains based on their size. The height of them almost hid the moon from view, casting a deep shadow right where Hush quietly led us.
I tapped Audrey on the back of her hand. She squeezed my fingers back. Reassuring, but also nervous. We were on the same page.
Hush stopped and stared at us, something flickering over her molten eyes that I couldn’t catch in the darkness, before she lifted overgrown shrubbery out of the way and revealed a small, run-down cabin built right against a surface of the mountains.
Vines of ivy crawled up the sides of the wood that could use a new paint job.
There was a crack in one of the glass windows on the second floor.
Flower boxes that hung off the front porch were overgrown with various weeds and—based on the smell in the air—herbs.
Audrey and I stared at each other, having a silent conversation.
Do we do it?
We’re already here, I guess.
It could be a trap.
We’re probably dead anyway if it’s a trap.
…Might as well.
After that, Audrey followed Hush up the wooden steps, across the porch, and into the cabin. Before I followed, I studied my surroundings, committing whatever I could see to memory.
It was musky in the clearly abandoned home Hush quietly led us through.
Dusty, worn books lined the far wall of what looked like a sitting room.
There was a fireplace bracketed by two floor-to-ceiling windows, exposing a view to the dark woods along the side of the mountains.
Halos of dust and dirt circled random spots on the walls, where picture frames used to be.
A broken flat screen TV sat in the far corner.
But Hush didn’t acknowledge any of it, taking us to the very back of the cabin, into an empty room that looked like a study. Brushing her fingers over the paneling of the far wall, she slowly pulled it back to reveal a dark tunnel and promptly disappeared through it.
Audrey shook her head before following Hush. And I followed Audrey.
Hush waited until we were through before she pushed the paneling shut behind us, encasing us in complete darkness.
I trailed my fingertips on the rough stone walls on either side of me, keeping up solely based on the sound of their steps as my eyes struggled to adjust to the dark.
Audrey and Hush’s footsteps were the only confirmation I had that I wasn’t left behind in here.
We turned a corner, I assumed. A few more quiet moments passed, and a light started to shine up ahead.
It was muted, but a light at the end of the tunnel all the same.
The small tunnel that could barely fit the width of two of us finally widened, revealing a large wooden door. Ancient designs were carved into it; images I couldn’t quite make sense of. Next to the door, a small sconce. The only one in here.
Hush turned to face us, giving her back the door, as we finally made it to the opening.
“Do you truly want to help Hyvenmerians? All Hyvenmerians?” Hush asked us. She still wore her mask, like always, but after maybe an hour of silence, her voice startled me. It sounded loud.
Audrey swallowed and nodded. “Yes, of course.”
Hush narrowed her eyes at her. “What I’m about to show you could get all of us killed.”
I raised my eyebrows at her. “…You didn’t want to mention that before you dragged us here?”
Hush popped her shoulders and said, “I trust you two.”
“…Does Liam know about this?” Audrey’s voice was quieter. Hush studied her for a moment before shaking her head. Silence hung in the air again.
“…Why do we get to see, and not Liam?”
Hush crossed her arms and braced her stance, replying in a low voice, “Because males have failed us. Perhaps showing his mate first, however, will get him to understand why I’ve done everything that I have.
” Audrey and I let her sentence sink in, and I couldn’t speak for Audrey, but something deep in my bones confirmed the truth of her words.
Were things escalating more than I realized in Hyvenmere?
What about Audrey and me made Hush feel the need to expose whatever was behind the door?
“If I show you this…” Hush tipped her head toward the wooden entrance behind her. “And if, for some reason, you two decide you are no longer with us…” I lifted an eyebrow at her, wondering what that meant. “I will lock you both out of Hyvenmere myself.”
Audrey stiffened at that, I didn’t. I ended up crossing my arms and studying the designs on the wood.
My eyes were still adjusting, and I could make out the faded markings better.
It was a root system, that much was obvious.
A large tree, with branches and roots connecting what looked like thousands of different icons. Animals. Plants. Oceans. People.
Children.
I squinted, focusing on a smaller carving in particular. Branches in the shape of hands and fingers, cradling children. Something sank low in my gut, and I cut my gaze over to Hush, who was watching me closely.
“Show us,” I said. “You know we’ll be on your side,” I spoke to Hush quietly. “That’s why you felt safe bringing us here.”
Hush’s eyes darted between the two of us, landing on Audrey and waiting. Audrey inhaled a deep breath, nodded her consent, and said, “Show us.” Giving us one last lingering look, Hush turned and banged on the door with the side of her fist.
Thump, thump, thump…thump…thump, thump…thump.
A specific pattern. A code, I realized.
Moments later, the large door groaned on its hinges as it opened, and distant noise echoed out to us.
A lot of people were in there.
One of Ilia’s siren guards was on the other side of the door, dressed just like Hush with the siren mask over his mouth and everything. Holding it open with one arm, he allowed us to follow Hush through.