Chapter 14
Effie Harlow
Ihad absolutely no idea how to get us out of this situation. I looked around for solutions and was met by the simple void of white space, my magic offering me a confused look that didn’t help in the least.
“It’s probably an illusion,” Ryder reasoned.
“But which part? Because I don’t want to step off this island if the illusion was the forest being there in the first place,” Julian said, and I felt my chest flare in panic.
We knew so little about how the magic here worked and what could be in store for us if we made the wrong move.
Or not in store for us, if our decision was fatal.
“I don’t think there have been any illusions so far,” I said.
“This one felt different, and we all noticed it…I think this may be the start of the illusions. I just wish my wolf was being a bit more communicative.” Although she wasn’t really just a wolf, was she?
Could I switch away from thinking about her like that? I wasn’t sure.
An idea popped into my head.
“Can I have the diamond, Ryder?” If it had aided in my bringing forth my magic before, maybe it could help again…I mean it wouldn’t hurt to try, right? Ryder placed the diamond in my hand, and I cupped it as I closed my eyes, trying to focus on the energy coming from it.
At first I felt absolutely nothing, but then, like a small ignition, my magic wrapped around the stone, and I knew if I opened my eyes, there would be flames surrounding it.
That was when it revealed our path forward.
Despite my eyes being closed, I could see a single red path directly ahead of me, and while it led directly off our island and into the void, I had to trust that it would keep us safe.
I had to trust my magic.
I would keep repeating that exact thing to myself because it was something I had avoided for so long, scared to give into my natural instincts, but time and time again it had helped others around me, saved others around me, not to mention myself.
“We need to go forward,” I said softly but clearly. “I know you probably can’t see what I do, but the diamond is showing me a pathway forward. I think we should trust it.”
“We trust you,” Dakota said, “but one of us should go first.”
That would only complicate things. Shaking my head, I stepped forward and trusted in my instincts. My foot came off the edge of the solid surface underneath me and crossed into the void.
But I didn’t fall.
Instead, my foot hit solid ground. I didn’t dare open my eyes, not knowing how I would react if it appeared I was walking on air. So I continued with my eyes squeezed tight, careful to keep to the path.
“Stay directly behind me, the path is narrow!” I called out to my mates, hoping they were already doing so. Considering I could feel their strong bonds behind me, I was hopeful nothing bad had happened yet.
“We’re following you, Effie. You’ve got this,” Tore assured me.
I felt like I had walked for hours, even though it had probably been only moments.
The unknown of when this would end had me feeling queasy.
There was a shakiness to my legs, and I could feel a cool breeze running over my skin, making it prickle uncomfortably.
Suddenly, two warm hands wrapped around my arms, and I jolted, terrified that something had gone wrong. My eyes snapped open to find Caedmon in front of me and the world around us…restored. Completely.
A shaky breath left me as my knees broke and tears of relief swarmed my eyes, so incredibly happy to see all my mates safely around me and the void gone. I leaned into Caedmon as he whispered assurances against my ear, causing me to squeeze him tighter.
“You did amazing, lil bit,” Tore said, rubbing my back.
“I hope that’s the last fucking illusion,” Dakota murmured. “I don’t like how much danger this bastard dark god is putting you in.”
“Considering we aren’t at a garden yet…doubtful,” Ryder said, his brow furrowed in frustration.
“We should keep moving,” I said, looking up and finding Caedmon and Julian right next to me, his eyes dark and filled with worry.
“Do you need a minute? We’re in no rush. Whatever pace you want to take this at, Effie, is what we’ll do, gods be damned.”
I loved Julian—I loved him so much, especially when he said stuff like that.
“I want to finish this,” I said evenly. “Let’s find this garden—”
The rustling of bushes ahead betrayed that we weren’t alone. Panic hit me square in the chest as we all looked forward, and it was only when the sound of someone yelling ‘HELP’ rang out that I was broken from the trance.
I didn’t hesitate to shift into my wolf form and sprint ahead.
Ryder Bosu
I’d absolutely never considered myself a ‘good’ person by any stretch of the imagination.
In fact, I’d been called a cold-hearted bastard and asshole more often than not, especially when I was working in stock trading.
It was something I’d been more than comfortable with because it keeps others at a distance and made people think that I wanted nothing to do with them—which until recently had been mostly true.
Then my kitten came along and changed everything.
Effie was the type of ‘good’ you didn’t find often—her compassion and empathy something you only heard about—and I found myself constantly wanting to rise to her level. To improve myself to hopefully live up to her standard of belief on how people should act towards each other.
Of course she would never ask that of me—she probably didn’t consider herself ‘good’ at all—but she had the strongest moral code of anyone I knew. I had been around a lot of shitty and corrupt bastards, so the difference was startling.
Which was why I also wasn’t surprised to see her shift and sprint ahead the moment someone shouted ‘HELP’ at the top of their lungs.
Surprising even myself, I didn’t even hesitate to follow.
I would love to say it was only because of my love and fixation on Effie, but there was a small part of my heart that had melted while around my kitten—that had started to be concerned about others outside of myself and the few people I cared about.
I also knew that she wasn’t thinking about what type of danger could lay ahead, so when Dakota and Julian shifted as well, sprinting ahead to catch up and surpass her, Caedmon, Tore, and I brought up the back.
Effie had given the diamond back to me, and I could feel it vibrating with warmth in my pocket, as if the forest itself was fueling it.
Or maybe it was because of Effie’s magic that had grown in intensity when she shifted into her new form. Her kitsune form.
Fucking beautiful. She was an absolute masterpiece. I still couldn’t believe everything that had happened since entering this forest, especially with those damn illusions, but the kitsune form…that had been something else.
The six of us burst through a thick wall of vegetation and into a clearing where we all came to a solid fucking stop. What the hell… In that moment it was never clearer that I had absolutely no understanding of the magic around here or this realm in general.
“This is just in the damn forest,” Caedmon murmured in confusion.
“Unbelievable.”
In the center of the clearing, was a sticky tar-like creature that had created a flat hill surrounded by a valley that stretched down into an unreachable abyss.
The organism was moving and shifting, holding its prisoner captive at the top of the hill.
The older woman’s face was chalky, her eyes wide in authentic terror.
“Thank the dark god you’re here,” she said, her words coming out in a jumbled rush. “I didn’t expect anyone to hear me.”
“What is that…” I drew out quietly, more to myself than anything.
“No idea,” she said, her eyes welling with tears. “I was walking the path like normal and cut through the clearing to get back faster in case there was another storm. Then all of the sudden, I was lifted up into the air by this…this thing!”
Thing. That was a good word for it.
Effie shifted, the instantaneous transformation startling the woman, and offered us a questioning look. “Do we think this could be an illusion?”
“It’s possible,” I admitted, “but then when she touched it, it should have disappeared.”
“Unless this is what happened after she triggered the illusion?” Dakota suggested.
“I can’t hear you well from up here,” the woman shouted down at us.
“We’re talking about what it could be, if it’s the result of an illusion,” I said loudly as I smoothed the diamond between my fingers, wondering if it could help us again. We also hadn’t considered if this woman was part of the illusion…but her terror seemed very real to me, so I doubted it.
Effie was clearly on the same page as me, approaching me and offering her hand out.
Since I wasn’t getting anything from it, I placed it in her soft hands and watched as she pressed it between them, the woman staring on in awe.
Wind rustled over my mate, and I was mesmerized by the way her skin seemed to light up in rivulets of magic, like cracks in lava rock.
Little flames even danced on her fingers.
I was hoping she was getting something, but when she opened her eyes she looked disappointed. “Nothing.”
“Maybe the person in the illusion has to use it,” Tore suggested. Julian barked in agreement as he and Dakota inspected the perimeter of the illusion, trying to gain a better sense of what the hell this shit was. I didn’t like the idea of it being within twenty feet of Effie, let alone this close.
“Which means she would need the diamond.” Effie bit her lip. “How would we get it up there? I don’t want to risk throwing it.”
The woman’s sudden pitched scream had us snapping our gazes up. The organism pulled her knee-deep into the sticky tar, tears streaming down her cheeks. Fuck.
“How do we know this isn’t a trap?” Caedmon asked.
“We’re here to be tested in the first place, so we don’t know,” I said.