Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
ELARIYA
Istared back at Wolfe, my heart aching.
The flower in my hand was a cheerless-looking thing, but to me, it was more beautiful than all the long-stemmed roses at King Varis’ palace that had been imported from the Southern Seas.
Wolfe loomed before me, and even though I couldn’t make out his face in the dark hollow that gazed back at me, I imagined it.
Devastatingly handsome and chiseled, his eyes watching me with that soft longing that reflected my own.
He was still in there. Somewhere beyond the darkness was my Wolfe Nightblade.
We stared at each other for a few heartbeats before I looked away, taking in our surroundings.
Where were we?
The question suddenly sprung to my mind, followed by the memory of what happened at the Citadel. A pang of worry tightened my chest as I thought of the others, and Zyrra.
I looked back at Wolfe again. “Are the others safe?”
His hollow form nodded. The worry for my friends instantly eased from my mind.
But, gods, where had we ended up?
I took in the stony brown walls, a ceiling with firefly-looking insects that produced light, and eerie plants I’d never seen in my life. It was a distorted dream. Or a nightmare? This place tread a thin line between the two.
We were in some sort of cave. That much was clear.
But where was the cave?
I turned back to Wolfe again, this time pushing to my feet. “Do you know where we are?”
He rasped out a scratchy sound.
Apart from the nods, I wouldn’t be able to understand him.
But he could understand me.
“I’m going to try and contact the others.”
He shook his head.
“I have to let them know we’re safe.” I didn’t wait for a response.
I didn’t want to endanger anyone further by having them out looking for us.
Arielle had taught me a simple contact spell the other day. It would carry a secret message on the edge of the wind. It was best used in times like these when you wanted to remain inconspicuous.
I muttered the spell, but nothing happened. Not the spark that signaled the spell was active, nor the tinge that activated the air.
It was just nothing. And…
I actually couldn’t feel my magic. None of it. I summoned the time threads, and yes, that was gone, too.
Panicked, I looked back at Wolfe, then something dawned on me.
A memory. Of where I’d been the last time I felt this way.
“The Interstice.” The words trembled out of me, and when Wolfe nodded, my stomach bottomed out. Blessed Mother, the last time I was here, I was breaths away from death. “We have to get out of here.”
Wolfe shook his head vigorously then raised his hands. Reams of shadow fell away from them, revealing patches of skin. Skin taking form.
I understood immediately. The magic here—or the neutral current—stripped away everything that didn’t belong. It prevented powers that didn’t belong here from working.
Powers like mine. And his.
His Deathwalker powers were always consuming him. That must have stopped when we got here, so his Fae essence was getting a break to restore itself.
“Gods,” I muttered, gazing at his opaque arms. “Maybe this will be enough to—”
The thought cut from my mind as the other shoe dropped. Chances were it would work, but when we left here… the problem would still be there. His Deathwalker powers would resume consuming him.
We couldn’t stay here, though. It was far too dangerous.
The encounter with Zyrra had been bad enough. I didn’t want to run into another demon like Erethis. Wolfe had no Deathwalker powers and his Fae essence was weak.
And me…
I wasn’t an option. The few days of training I’d had with Alaric had given me more confidence to protect myself, but I was no match for a demon.
I met Wolfe’s bottomless gaze. He would have figured all of that out well before me.
“Wolfe, we have to get back to Vyrenth Hollow,” I began. “I can freeze you. I can stop time completely now and keep you frozen while we figure things out. That was the plan. Kaem sent word to the Seer. We’re hoping she’ll have some ideas.”
He raised his hands, shadows covering them again. “Nooooo.” The word rattled out on the edge of that chilling voice, sending shivers through me.
“Wolfe, please. We can’t stay here.”
This time, he rose above me and shadows gathered all around us, disturbing the creatures on the ceiling. Their lights flickered as they scrambled.
“Noooo.” The resounding answer was more absolute, brokering no room for argument.
He didn’t want to leave, and all previous experiences with my husband reminded me that when Wolfe made a decision, there was no way around it.
Deathwalker or not, he always got what he wanted.
Especially when it came to me.
Hours must’ve passed; I was sure of it. But time seemed to move differently in this place, just like all the other strange realms outside of the real world that I’d visited.
It felt late. Outside the cavern, that dreary color was still there. I could just about see it from where I sat.
I didn’t know if the Spatial realm had a night time or even if perhaps the Interstice didn’t. For all I knew, this could be how it looked all the time and the only light we’d ever get came from the fireflies.
I sighed. Even they had to go to bed at some point.
None of that mattered, though. A hundred years could pass, and Wolfe Nightblade would stand his ground.
We weren’t leaving.
We weren’t going anywhere until he decided.
I would have loved to leave or at least try to. But I wasn’t as foolhardy as I had been weeks ago, when I’d tried that and failed miserably.
The only option I had was to convince him we should go home, and it was an option I’d more than exhausted.
I’d grown tired of asking, so I’d given up. For now.
No matter what I’d said, he wouldn’t budge. And every time I brought it up, I’d get a wail or a growl.
After the last attempt, I’d slinked back to the wall and sat with my back against it, my sword resting by my side. That was about an hour ago.
Wolfe was across from me, taking up the whole corner. I wasn’t sure if he was asleep or awake, though he seemed to be resting. The subtle rise and fall of where his chest should be suggested he could be sleeping.
It was unsettling that I couldn’t be sure. I’d had moments before he’d become like this when he would quite happily stand and watch me try to argue with him, knowing he’d wear me down eventually. So, this could be just like that.
The breathing thing was just… breathing.
Honestly, as mad as I was at him for practically taking me captive—again— watching him breathe was a small comfort. It felt human. Fae, for him.
Anything besides death.
I’d also noticed that more of his arm had taken form and it didn’t have that translucency about it like before.
I hoped he could change back fully. And I foolishly hoped it would happen soon so we could at least argue like real people.
Talking to him like this was like talking to a wall that could growl.
I rested my head against the wall and allowed my body to slump. I was tired, and the crude reality was, although I was hellbent on getting Wolfe back to Vyrenth Hollow, no one had a plan to fix him. Nothing but freezing him, and that would just buy us more time.
I’d never imagined finding the ring on my own. I wasn’t sure it was possible. Wolfe was supposed to teach me to bond with my dragon and do all that other stuff he was better at.
Going back would just mean we were all together. But that sure as hells beat being down here. At least for me.
For him it was different. I understood that. He was healing. I wanted that, too, badly. But we were in a place where anything could happen, and no matter how much he healed here, it wasn’t a permanent solution.
I closed my eyes, not intending to sleep, but I drifted away into a dream about flying Hedion over the mountain tops near Vyrenth Hollow.
I stirred when my head dropped. The motion made me jump. For a moment, I almost believed I’d slipped off the dragon’s back. I was glad to find I was already on the ground.
I straightened. The cavern had brightened substantially; not as bright as daylight but enough that the light spread throughout the entire space. The fireflies were also gone. I figured they must gather at a certain time of night.
Wolfe was still in the same spot, still breathing slowly. I gasped. Both his arms had fully formed now, as had parts of his chest beneath the mass of shadows.
Gods, it was working. It was really working.
I shuffled to stand and moved closer. I thought he would wake on hearing me, but he didn’t.
I glanced outside to where it was brightest wondering what lay beyond the walls of the cave.
I needed water badly. I hadn’t had any since maybe around lunchtime yesterday. I was too nervous. Now I was paying the price.
I didn’t think I’d ever be able to eat anything here, but water was non-negotiable.
There had to be water nearby. There were plants in here, and grass. Even though they didn’t exactly look the healthiest, they needed some moisture to grow.
We could go out looking for water together, then, when we got back, I could resume the mission of trying to convince him to go home.
I was about to wake Wolfe but suddenly thought better of it.
If I went alone, I might be able to find a way to contact the others.
We couldn’t use magic here to contact anyone, but I’d learned at Hyxian that there were gateways to get in and out of the Spatial Realm. I wouldn’t profess to know how to find them, but I was told you could sense them when they were nearby. Magic from the other realms converged and bled through.
As stubborn as Wolfe was, I wasn’t going to leave him here, but I did think it would be a good idea to get a message to everyone letting them know where we were.
Maybe someone could find us and talk some sense into him. Someone like Kaem.
He’d almost become the father of the group. And Wolfe seemed to listen to him. Maybe because he was older and had this history with his family.
The more I thought of it, the better the idea felt.
I wouldn’t go far. No. Just far enough so I was still close by in case there was trouble.