42. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Calista
“ L et me out!” I pounded and slapped the stones where Astaroth walked through.
How did he get out without portaling? Can he manipulate the stones, too? Astaroth once said the magic manifests your truest desires. I desired to get the hell out of this room and far away from him. I focused on the wall and imagined the open archway and balcony. The bricks blocking it were only an illusion, one he built, and because that’s what I saw in front of me, it’s what I believed as reality.
“They aren’t real.” I laughed, then quickly sobered. “The wall isn’t real.”
Shoulders back and chest out, I walked to the wall with confidence, knowing I’d walk through it and out onto the balcony like he did.
And I smashed into it.
“Damn it, Astaroth.” My words were nasally from gripping my aching nose.
I slid down the wall and landed on my butt. The only comfort I’d find was hugging my knees to my chest. I wouldn’t get it anywhere else. Astaroth’s face stared at me from the photos littering the floor. They didn’t make it far when I kicked them with the toe of my shoe. More than anything, I wanted to see Kaiden and Gina.
I leaned my head back against the wall and wondered what they were doing. Were they at my place or one of theirs? Were they searching for a way to find me or boxing up all my shit since I couldn’t pay my rent? Tears pricked my eyes when I thought about our final moments together—running my fingers through Kaiden’s hair and the look in his eyes when I told him I loved him. I missed him so much that I swear I could hear his voice echo in my mind.
“I’m coming, sis. Please don’t give up.”
A sob rattled deep in my chest as I imagined him scruffy and sleep-deprived, pouring over any information he could find to make a rescue plan. It renewed my hope and saddened me at the same time.
“Kaiden,” I whimpered. “I miss you so much, turd.”
His quiet, muffled voice came again. “Great, I’m hearing shit.”
Kaiden’s voice pushed my tears over the edge. I scrubbed at my sore cheeks and shouted into the air, “It’s not enough I miss them, you have to torture me with his voice, too?”
The stone pulsed.
“Oh, shut up,” I growled.
“Sis?”
His muddled voice grew stronger. I swear it was like he was in the next room. Maybe I wasn’t hallucinating. “Kaiden?”
“I’m here!” His voice bounced off the stone walls.
I pushed up the wall and tiptoed to the center of the room. What if this was another one of Astaroth’s tricks?
“Did I lose you? No, no, no, no, no.” Kaiden’s frantic chant made it hard to pinpoint where he was. “Calista!”
His scream came through crystal clear. My head whipped to the left, expecting to see him running through the room to grab me up and whisk me home, but he wasn’t there.
“Kaiden, where are you?”
“ I’m right here. Where are you? ”
Confused, I looked up and even spun around. “I’m in the middle of the room. Can you see me?”
“ No. ” His frustrated voice drew me toward my open closet. Smoky waves rippled across the standing mirror nestled inside, much like when Astaroth talked to me through my bathroom mirror.
I watched the shadows move within the frame before edging closer. “Kaiden?”
He turned and took on a more human shape. “I can hear you!”
“Look in the mirror!”
Kaiden’s image came into focus as he ran toward me. A tad blurry at the edges, he looked like he stood behind a murky wall of water, or maybe it was the tears in my eyes blocking my own view.
“Whoa,” Kaiden breathed. I stepped closer and his eyes widened. “Sis.”
“I have missed you so much.”
Kaiden’s hand came up to the glass, and he poked it. The smoky shadows rippled outward, leaving the center clear for a moment. He looked disheveled and exhausted. “Are you okay?”
“No.” The tears caught in my throat. I had to stay strong long enough to get to him; then I could break down. “I want to come home.”
“What happened?”
I shook my head. “Too much to discuss now.” I checked behind me to make sure the room was still empty. “I don’t know how much time I have before he comes back.”
“How did you do this?” The shower curtain came into view when he opened the medicine cabinet.
“That’s an excellent question.” I ran my hands over the frame trying to figure it out.
“Is Gina okay?”
I froze. “What do you mean?”
“She disappeared right after you. I’ve been freaking the fuck out because I didn’t know how to find you two.”
My heart raced. “Kaiden—”
“I’ve researched everything I can. Asked questions everywhere I could. People on Reddit think I’m insane and need psychiatric help. Maybe I do!”
“Kaiden, listen—”
He ran a hand through his hair, and it stuck straight up. “I’m talking to my sister through a smoky mirror!”
“Kaiden, shut up!”
His mouth snapped closed and the defeat on his face nearly killed me.
“Which portal did she go through?”
“That dude took her through the blue one.”
The room spun, and I gripped the mirror to keep me upright. I didn’t know where the blue portal led, but I had to find one and get to Gina.
Kaiden’s image began to fade, and I touched my palm to the mirror in a panic. It wasn’t hard like I thought it would be, but thin and malleable like a membrane. I pressed, and it enveloped my hand, allowing me to move within. Kaiden jerked backward slightly horrified.
“Holy shit,” he whispered before grabbing my hand. “I can feel you!”
He gave me a tug, but I couldn’t feel it beyond my wrist. It was the oddest sensation.
“Can you break through whatever this is?”
“I don’t know, but I’m gonna try.” If I could get home, maybe that guy would come back for the pendant, and we could find Gina.
I pushed both hands against the mirror, and he grabbed me from the other side and tugged as I fought to break through the barrier.
“This isn’t working,” he gritted as he put all his weight behind him.
“Let go and back up. I’ve got an idea.”
He stepped to the side as I went into the bedroom to get a running start. I spoke a silent prayer and took off. When I reached the middle of the closet I jumped, turned to the side, and covered my face just in case the glass shattered. The membrane wrapped around my body and stretched taught. It was the weirdest sensation because it didn’t feel like it physically touched me, even though it did. I leaned into it and reached out my hands to claw at it. Then suddenly, it gave, and I broke through.
The drop wasn’t high, but the fear made it seem like I fell forever. I tucked into a ball and squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for impact. The air gushed out of my lungs when I hit and slightly bounced on the ground.
“Kaiden?” My eyes popped open as I scrambled to my hands and knees. Icky, cool bricks rested beneath me instead of the laminate flooring of my bathroom. “No, no, no.”
A creature bayed off in the distance. I jerked my head up and looked around the darkened corridor. Illumination from the softly glowing orbs gave just enough light for me to settle my nerves and recognize where I was.
Vines wiggled to life when I sat back on my heels and looked around. The castle towered up behind me and was quiet and mostly dark. The murder ceremony must have wrapped up and everyone was safe and sound in their homes. Everyone but me.
Why didn’t I end up on the other side of the mirror with Kaiden?
A nibble on my finger made me jerk. Bloodsuckles danced in front of me. Their little heads turned up with mouths open and ready for a treat.
“Calista,” Astaroth roared from a balcony.
My heart jumped into my throat. I couldn’t go back into that room and be trapped with him after learning the truth. I had to find Gina and get us home. I stared at the tunnel ahead of me. If I had more time, maybe I could figure out how to open that portal again and actually make it to the other side.
Hand shaking, I petted my little friends. At least I hoped they were. Astaroth told me to never enter without him, but I trusted them more at this point. “I need inside.”
Their little mouths made kissing noises, reminding me I had to pay the tithe. I hurried to the entrance that led to the tree.
Astaroth shouted my name again when he spotted me. “Don’t do it!”
I turned to him as a portal began to form in front me. Panicked, I held my arms out and told the suckles, “Take what you need and keep him out.”
Ravenous, they struck, sinking their razor-sharp teeth into my flesh as they coiled tight around my body. My knees buckled, but they caught me and shot me up into the air and over the viny path when Astaroth emerged from the portal.
I heard him command, “Bring her to me!”
But they didn’t. They carried me to the end of the path, set me on my feet, and unwound themselves from my body. I nearly cried. “Thank you.”
The suckles rubbed against me with what looked like tiny smiles on their lips.
Astaroth’s shouts put me in motion. “Keep him out as long as you can.”
As I backed up, they wove together in an intricate formation, sealing the entrance to the garden. I hoped Astaroth didn’t hurt any of them while he advanced through the tunnel. I spun around and froze.
Glowing orbs hung throughout the branches of the tree. The leaves shimmered where the light touched. It reminded me of moonlight filtering through on a fall night. The stones that matched mine twinkled at the base. It was the most magical thing I’d ever seen. What would it look like if the pixies were free to flutter around it? Would it be similar to fireflies?
Muffled shouts snapped me back to reality. I ran along the walls looking for an exit, but it was fruitless. They were as tight as the bricks that trapped me in Astaroth’s room. His voice grew closer and closer during my search until I could hear him on the other side of the barricade.
“Let me in or I will destroy every last one you.”
The vine wall protruded as he shoved against it, but they held tight. It wouldn’t be long before he made it through and forced me to return to the castle. I leaned against the backside of the tree, out of view of the entrance, and began praying for an answer or anything to keep him away so I could find a way home.
A pixie orb hung from a low branch across from me. Its little body pressed against the glass looking as desperate as I felt. I plucked it from the tree, and the branch it hung from snapped off landing at my feet.
I ran my fingertip along the curve of the glass over their little hand. “Can you help me?”
It fluttered and turned in excited circles. I wasn’t sure what that meant or how to let them out without hurting them.
Loud hissing distracted me from the pixie. I leaned to the side to see Astaroth’s knife sawing through the middle of the vine wall. The bloodsuckles writhed and tried their best to block the open holes as he fought to get through.
I returned to my hiding spot and studied the pixie. A wrinkle formed between my eyes as I tried with all my might to manipulate the orb into disappearing, but I knew, after the wall in Astaroth’s room, I wouldn’t be able to do it.
Shoulders drooping, I sagged against the tree. “I wish we could both go home.”
My pendant pulsed, then the ground around me vibrated as the other stones responded as well.
Astaroth’s fear slammed through our connection. “Calista!”
Oh shit, what did I just do?
The orb disappeared, and the pixie fluttered in front of me. A high-pitched whining rang in my ears. I winced and the pixie flew in the direction of the wall.
I peeked around to see where Astaroth was. He’d made it through, but the vines kept wrapping around him and pulling him back.
“I’m coming for you.”
The hell he was. I snatched the fallen branch from the ground. Magic tickled my palm and ran through my tightened fist. The branch changed shape within my grasp like it had before. Only this time, instead of a dagger, it created a short-handled spear.
“Please don’t leave me,” I scream-whispered to the pixie and gave chase.
I panicked as it reached the wall and flew through. That’s when I noticed a small gap between the bricks that wasn’t there before. Did my wish do this? I looked back over my shoulder, but the tree blocked Astaroth from view. This was my chance. Despite the dangers that lurked around every corner in the darkness, I leaned myself out and wedged myself between the bricks. The pixie waited for me on the other side.
The wall shifted back into place sealing us out and trapping Astaroth in. I looked around, wondering what came next. Now that the goblins saw me as their queen, would one let me in their home and not tell their king? I doubted it. Astaroth would find me with this cursed thing around my neck.
I went to take it off when Astaroth screamed my name. He had made it to the tree. Fear radiated up my spine.
The pixie flew closer, that incessant whining growing louder, and then touched the stone. Peace flowed through me, along with the tune from my music box that Astaroth called the song of the realm.
Mixed in with the tune, I could hear her singsong voice. “I owe you a debt for saving me.”
I swallowed, thinking the same thing, but I never knew what the fae would require in return.
“Follow the music wherever it may lead, but you must be quick before it flees. Remember, never doubt and never lead, only follow until you’re free.”
Astaroth bellowed from the other side of the garden. He was trying to get out. I had to move.
Her wings sped up. “Run.”