Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
When Gabriel and Mistral still hadn’t returned, the rest of us went inside to peruse more jars.
The estate didn’t have regular electricity or refrigeration, but there was running water.
Crispin theorized that much of the estate was run on goblin magic, and we simply didn’t understand how to work things.
There were a few colorful blown glass items that could have been lamps, supporting his theory.
Candles were easier to figure out though, and we used long, roughly carved matches to light a few more.
We set up in a small sitting room with two more jars.
I hoped the contents were olives and carrots, but I couldn’t be sure.
I was far from comfortable in my dirty dress, but at least I finally had my boots off.
My sweaty socks were airing out over the arm of the stiff-cushioned sofa.
Sometimes I know shame, but not when I’m trapped in mysterious realms with spooky gray meadows.
Lucas could deal with my stinky socks while he peered broodily out the window.
Sebastian and Crispin were discussing how we might access the vortex within the Bogs.
I listened quietly, fascinated. If we could actually retrieve it, it might fix what was happening in the Bogs.
Well, not all of it, but the gray. And with such a power-charged item, we could surely fix my great grandfather.
I popped a carrot into my mouth—they were indeed carrots—and chewed thoughtfully. I sure hoped Marcie was okay. We weren’t even sure if my grandfather was the one who took her. It stood to reason though, considering he attacked us in the Bogs the very next morning.
Although— “If my grandfather planned to attack us at the Citadel, why bother taking Marcie the night before?”
Crispin and Sebastian both turned to me with identical expressions. Sebastian sat on the same sofa I did, while Crispin had pulled up a matching chair. Ringo was sleeping in Crispin’s lap.
“What do you mean?” Crispin asked.
I shrugged, not sure if I was really on to something, or delirious from exhaustion.
I set the half-eaten jar of carrots onto the floor, my stomach sour.
“When they took Marcie, they didn’t try to hurt any of us.
And if my grandfather orchestrated it all…
I mean, I was right there. Even once I was over the boundary, he could have grabbed me, even if his henchmen couldn’t. ”
Crispin looked at Sebastian. “That’s true. We’ve only been assuming the werewolves and fairies are working for him. They could have simply formed their own pact to retrieve the blade. They may even be working for Varian.”
“He was the one with the vortex,” I added meaningfully.
Lucas had turned to observe our conversation, but didn’t comment. I still couldn’t quite tell how he felt toward Marcie. He seemed to dislike her, but he’d also been intent on saving her.
“But why take Marcie?” Crispin asked. “She’s a full head shorter than you. It’s not as if you’re easy to mix up.”
That was where my thought trail ended. I couldn’t think of a reason for anyone else to go after Marcie. If it was just to lure me in, one of the guys would have been a better choice. Crispin or Gabriel, since they couldn’t just poof out and escape.
I held up my hands and stifled a yawn. “You two are the plotters. I made my suggestion, now I leave it to you.” I settled back against the stiff cushions, moving my head back and forth until I found a relatively comfortable position. I closed my eyes.
Sebastian tsked, then muttered, “Always sleeping when we have things to do.”
I could hear the amusement in his voice, so I ignored him.
Crispin and I had somehow replenished each other’s energy that morning, but I was back to being exhausted.
Soft fur brushed my cheek as Ringo abandoned Crispin to curl against my throat.
Thoughts of Marcie, my mom, werewolves, fairies, and my scary celestial great grandfather swirled in my mind until sleep took me.
I woke alone in the sitting room. The candles had been extinguished. Eerie blue light cast by the moon shone through the sole window. Something had woken me, but what?
I sat up, realizing that even Ringo was gone. Something wasn’t right. Not to sound like a spoiled princess, but the guys wouldn’t have left me alone and vulnerable. I went perfectly still when I realized what had woken me. Someone or something was tapping at the window.
My body broke into a cold sweat, and I could taste my pulse in my throat.
Slowly, I slid off the sofa and onto the floor, out of sight of the window. If it was just a branch being moved outside by the wind, I was going to feel ridiculous, but if there was a monster out there watching me…
I slithered awkwardly behind the sofa, then rose to a crouch. Once I had moved, the tapping stopped. Definitely not just a branch in the wind. And I didn’t remember any foliage that close to the window anyway.
I rose up enough to peek beyond the couch toward the window. There was now a shadow there, blocking the moonlight. Frozen once more with fear, I tried to sense the guys, but I couldn’t feel anything. It was like the golden cords between us had been severed.
The window creaked open, the glass panel swinging inward. Holy shit, had there not been a lock on it? I knew I should run, but I just crouched there, paralyzed as a sound like tinkling glass filled the room.
I blinked, and suddenly I was outside under a sea of glittering stars.
“What the—” Was this a dream? But it didn’t feel like a dream. The air was cold. Painfully cold. And fear churned my stomach so violently I thought I might vomit.
I sensed a presence behind me and turned.
I was still within the wall protecting the estate from the gray, but something else was in here with me.
That something shifted in the darkness between me and the doors of the estate.
I heard the tinkling glass sound again as the form grew more solid.
It was mostly black, but every so often it shifted and something within it glittered like the stars overhead.
I thought of the guys, intent on jumping to one of them even if magic was muted in this place.
You have finally come, a voice spoke into my mind.
I held out my hands as the figure shifted closer. It was forming more solidly into the shape of a person, but was still made of swirling darkness and stars. “W-what are you?” Maybe that was rude. Maybe I should have asked who are you, but mostly I was just trying not to wet myself.
A guardian, nothing more. Created and left behind to protect this waypoint.
“Waypoint?”
The figure shifted, forming an arm to sweep back and encompass the estate.
Okay, it was here to protect things, and it wasn’t attacking me. Maybe it wasn’t a monster after all. Still though, if it got too close to me, I would try to jump myself back to the guys… wherever they were. “Is this another pocket realm?” I asked. “A place between earth and the goblin realm?”
The figure seemed to nod, showing more stars glittering inside its faceless head. A waypoint. Its head seemed to tilt. You are half human. The voice in my head sounded utterly perplexed. How did you travel the pathway?
Ye-ah, didn’t really want to explain the conduit stuff to a weird star being in another realm. “I don’t know,” I lied. “So this isn’t the goblin realm? Do you know if that gray area out there was caused by a vortex?”
Vortex?
It was clear it didn’t know what I was talking about, but I wasn’t sure how to explain it. “Do you know what happened here?” I tried instead. “Is there anyone else in this realm?”
No one. No one ever comes. It sounded sad. I sensed you. I thought— It cut itself off. Its form shifted and started to fade.
“Wait.” I held up a hand, stepping closer, but the guardian unformed, the stars within it drifting out in every direction. I sighed. “Shit.” I didn’t have a chance to ask it where the guys were. They wouldn’t have left me alone.
Not knowing what else to do, I started walking toward the nearest doorway. Nothing stopped me from going back inside, but I hesitated in the entrance. It was pitch dark inside. The tiny hairs at the back of my neck prickled. Having a bad feeling, I stepped back out into the night.
“Mistral!” I called out, taking a few more steps back to observe the visible windows. They were all dark. “Gabriel! Crispin!”
No one answered.
I backed further away from the estate. I could wait until morning, but it was freezing out, and what if the guys were in trouble? I longed to hear a voice, any voice. Even the voice of the strange guardian creature.
As if summoned by my thoughts, it appeared before me again, making that tinkling glass sound as it formed.
“Do you know where the guys went?” My voice came out shrill. “The ones I arrived here with?”
I exist to guard the waypoint.
“Did you do something to them?” I had stepped toward the guardian without thinking. I wasn’t sure what I could do to it, but if it took the guys I’d find a way.
They brought ruin. Something drains the magic of this place. I exist to protect. You are half celestial. Perhaps it is enough.
Oh gods, it had done something to them. And I couldn’t sense our cords.
“They didn’t do anything!” I choked out, worried it would disappear again.
“The magic was being drained here before we arrived. It’s a vortex, somewhere in…
the realm that connects to this one.” It didn’t seem to comprehend half of what I said, so it probably wouldn’t know what I was talking about if I mentioned the Bogs.
If it had been left here before the pathways were severed, it wouldn’t know much about my current world at all.
I was starting to hyperventilate, and had to take a moment to force my breathing to slow. “I need them back if I’m to fix what’s happening. We’ll find the vortex, and it will stop draining the magic here. Your waypoint will be safe.”