11. CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Calista
P anicked, Kaiden grabbed the chain from the back of my neck and yanked on it. I fought to keep it on, but he was stronger than me and jerked it over my head. I yelped as he took some of my hair with him.
“Wait!” He dashed to the door and pushed it shut before Gina could leave. Something intimate passed in the silence between them. Had they been seeing each other in secret?
Gina sighed and returned to the couch with Kaiden behind her.
“What's this proof?” Gina wrapped one arm over her stomach and propped her other elbow on top of it, cradling the bottle to her chest. “Show me so I can leave.”
Kaiden opened his fist, and the necklace fell from his palm, the chain pinched between his fingers. Determination lit up his face as it swayed.
“Your grandma’s necklace?” Her index finger lifted off the bottle, and she pointed at it. “I've seen that a billion times.”
His smile drooped on one side. For a moment, Kaiden resembled the younger version of himself. The one who had me eating out of his hand because I felt guilty for being mean or not including him. It pained me to see the hurt written so clearly across his face. If it were anyone else, he could mask it from them. But for Gina and me, he wore his heart on his sleeve.
“It wasn't my grandma's,” I told her. “It was a gift.”
“Sorry, it was a gift from your grandma. Same difference.”
“It was a gift,” I gulped, then whispered, “from Astaroth.”
“I'll bite.” She took another drink and watched us for signs of deceit. If she wasn’t careful, she’d be drunk in the next few minutes. “Who is Astaroth?”
Kaiden waved his other hand. “What matters most right now is what it does.”
Its energy reached out to me, and when it connected, a flash rolled over the cursed stone, enticing me to use it. Telling Gina was the worst mistake.
“It's a wishing stone.”
“A wishing stone?” Her incredulous tone said it all.
“That’s enough, Kaiden.” I tried to take it from him, but he pushed my hand away.
“Ever wonder how so many things worked out in her favor?”
Gina looked at me but still didn’t buy it. “You were pretty lucky growing up.”
“Try it out yourself,” Kaiden said.
I scrambled to get it back, but he blocked me every time. “I’m not sure it will work for anyone but me.”
He frowned when I tried to wedge myself between him and Gina. “What is your deal? This is our proof.”
Her face scrunched up as she took a step back.
Kaiden prompted her with his chin. “Take the necklace, Gina. Make a wish.”
Her chuckle sounded forced. “This will never work.”
Gina reached out for it, and Kaiden put his hand against my chest to hold me in place. I reluctantly let her take it. Uncertainty transformed her face when she felt the power emanating from the stone. I wanted to snatch it back, wish for her and Kaiden to forget all this, and grieve our father in peace.
I reached for it when she tried to give it back, but Kaiden shoved my arm down again. “Make a wish. That’s all we ask.”
“Don’t include me in this.” I crossed my arms. “This is a bad idea.”
“This is stupid,” she huffed. “You expect me to believe that if I say, ‘I wish for a hundred dollars,’ that it'll appear in my pocket?”
Gina jerked when the stone flashed beneath the light. I was positive it warmed in her hand the way it always did mine when it granted my wish.
I sighed and worried my temples. “Check your pocket, Gina.”
She slid her hand in the right front pocket of her jeans and pulled it inside out. With a laugh, she said, “Empty.”
“You have three other pockets,” Kaiden reminded her.
Rolling her eyes, Gina checked the others. When she slid her hand in the final back pocket, she paused. A crisp, folded hundred-dollar bill emerged tucked between two fingers.
“That's a fluke.” I could hear the uncertainty in her voice. “I could've forgotten to check my pockets on laundry day.”
She huffed and dropped her hands to her sides before I could grab it. “I just wish you both would tell me the truth.”
Compelled by something greater than our own will, we spoke words that weren't ours in unison. “If it is truth you seek, you must open your eyes to hear it.”
The energy drained, sending a shiver over our bodies.
“I always hated that feeling,” Kaiden spat.
“I will never do that to anyone ever again,” I grimaced and shook my head. “That was awful.”
“What does that even mean? I must open my eyes to hear it?”
I wasn't sure I wanted to find out. The fae meant things literally, and it creeped me out even more that it gave a direct response, like we were a conduit, and it was speaking through us.
A glint in Gina's eye said she might have figured it out. My stomach knotted. “I wish for Jessandra to appear in front of me. Right now.”
“It doesn’t wor—” I started to tell her, but the words died on my tongue as a dark cloud appeared between us in the brightly lit room. The shadowy mass grew larger, swirling counterclockwise, until it was big enough for a person. Kaiden gripped my shoulders and stumbled backward, pulling me with him. Our nightmares were manifesting out of thin air.
A choking noise caught my attention. “Gina?”
Held tight in the vice grip of Kaiden's arms, I scratched and pinched at him to release me. He refused. Suddenly, the shadow swirled faster, growing smaller, until it swallowed itself. A giant stood in the middle of the room. Gina dangled from their massive grip, feet kicking out in the air as she clawed at their hand to let her go.
“Who are you?” They commanded. “Why have you summoned me?”
Gina could barely make a sound. Her eyes bulged from their sockets as her face turned shades of red.
“Holy shit,” Kaiden whispered, his head tilting up. “That's who helped you?”
“Jessandra?”
The woman spun on her filthy booted feet readying herself for an attack. Sludge and muck embedded in the carpet under her weight. Even with Gina still high in the air, her fighting stance was perfection.
Jessandra’s confusion was evident. Her tense muscles relaxed when she saw me. “It can’t be.” She blinked. “Calista, is that you?”
Trapped in Kaiden’s arms, I wiggled my hand in an awkward wave. “Hey, Jess!”
“It is you.” Jessandra’s attention snapped to my brother. “Unhand her!”
As she rushed forward, Gina swaying in her grip, Kaiden slid his hands to my waist and hid behind me. I just became his human shield. Nice to know what I was good for to him. Guess he hadn’t grown up much after all.
“Whoa! I’m not in danger!” She stopped in front of me. “But my friend is.” I pointed up at Gina’s chameleon face. “Please put her down.”
Jessandra released her, and the apartment shook when Gina crumpled to the floor. The colors bled from her face as she coughed and gasped for air.
Both Kaiden and I dropped to our knees. None of her bones appeared broken. “You okay?” Ginger touches from the tips of my fingers over her swollen neck made her wince.
Her head bobbed as she grabbed my hand. With a weak, hoarse voice, she said, “I think I’m gonna be sick.”
Jessandra rubbed her forehead as she took in her surroundings. “Where have you brought me?”
“To our world,” I responded, as Kaiden and I fanned Gina’s feverish face.
“What!” Pure terror stole over her. She rushed to the window, knocking into the glass, and looked out with cautious yet adventurous wonder. “How?”
Gina opened her palm to reveal the wishing stone. The dark bauble pulsed, and little glints of color flickered to life in its depths. Goosebumps peppered my skin. I always imagined it had its own sonar. No matter where it was in the room, I could feel it… sensing, watching, searching for me.
In the blink of an eye, Jessandra stood over us. Her long, gray braid trailed over her shoulder. She gave off major Tomb Raider vibes. “That does not belong here.”
I agreed wholeheartedly. Astaroth had no business giving this type of power to a child—or any human for that matter. I took the stone from Gina and went to give it to Jessandra, when the air shifted with a pop.
Jessandra spun around in a defensive stance. Brilliant, blue light radiated around her form. “Hide.” When we didn’t move, she shouted, “Now!”
The three of scurried behind the couch as another giant appeared in the center of my living room.
“Where is the draiocht?”
We looked at each other in shock. That wasn’t Astaroth. I didn’t know who he was. Kaiden peered around one side of the couch, and I peered around the other. The dazzling light was blinding, but in the midst of it stood a god-like man. He stood taller than Jessandra by at least a foot, with a curtain of pale blond hair reflecting the electric blue light dancing in the middle of my living room. His golden skin made Jessandra’s look sicklier.
“I know not what that is,” she said. “Leave.”
The man looked around, and his gaze landed on the center of the couch. I tucked behind to see Gina dropping to the floor.
“He saw me!” she whisper-screamed.
“No shit,” I mouthed.
I shoved the necklace over my head and hid it in my shirt as all out war began a few feet away. Glass shattered around the room, and the couch pushed us across the floor, wedging us between it and the wall. With a screech, we jumped out from behind it, revealing all of us.
The two giants moved so fast that they blurred through the small space. The man would make a move toward us and Jessandra would block and fight him off. We didn’t know which way to go, and I couldn’t leave her there to face him alone. The stone pulsed and warmed against my skin. His presence surrounded me, raising the hairs on arms.
“He’s coming,” I whispered.
Astaroth
Terror, the likes I’d never felt, filtered through the stone. I was preparing to cross over to Earth to collect both Jessandra and Calista when the sensation seized me and stopped me in my tracks. Jessandra would never hurt Calista, so what scared her so?
With the wave of my hand, the mirror appeared, and Calista’s home came into view. I stood from my throne and stared at the radiant portal in her living room. The only reason they would be there was my magic.
I snapped my fingers and donned a mask and my weapon, then stepped through the shadows into the chaos. My gaze went immediately to Calista, standing in front of her brother and the person she called Gina. The person she allowed to use the gift I bestowed to her. They were safe for the moment. Jessandra saw to that.
Wind whipped through the small enclosure, sucking objects through the shadows and into the labyrinth. The realm could taste the trickling power from Faery from the open doorway, just as I could, and wanted more, just as I did. It sang to every part of me, plucking the fibers of my tapestry like strings. The vibrations trilled through me and revealed nuances of the realm’s song I’d never heard. I longed to merge with it and feel it in its entirety. I blipped to the portal, but when I tried to go through, energy zipped through my body and rattled my teeth before exploding and knocking me backward. It rejected me even from Earth.
Calista’s scream rent the air and reminded me why I was truly there.
“You can help… at any… point.” Jessandra ground out between attacks.
The man studied me as he fought off Jessandra’s advancements. If I was here to retrieve the power source, so was he. One moment he headed toward Calista, the next toward me. Back and forth he zigzagged, and uncertainty furrowed his brow until he made his decision. I wrapped the shadows around myself and moved when he blurred toward me. Like an intricate game of chess, I maneuvered myself across the room until I stood before her. Squatted on the balls of her feet, she protected her unconscious brother from attack. It was futile. If the fae being wanted to annihilate them, he would. There was nothing she could do to stop him.
“Please don’t hurt us,” Gina whimpered as she cowered behind Calista.
“He won’t,” Calista whispered. The confidence and relief in her voice transformed into resentment. “I owe him.”
My jaw clenched. She owed me much and would pay for it, except for the one thing I wanted most from her. That I had to earn. There was no time to explain or respond. The portal to the realm flickered in warning. Soon it would disappear, and I feared what would happen if I was trapped outside it. I snatched Calista off the floor and blipped to it with Jessandra following on my heels.