Chapter 10
Chapter ten
Bridget
Beside her in the driver’s seat, Archer fidgeted and impatiently tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.
Every few minutes, he would hum a song under his breath.
Even though the noise did nothing to help her head, Bridget was too tired to tell him to stop.
When Nylah coughed from the backseat, he stiffened.
After peeking at the young girl through the rearview mirror, Archer turned to Bridget and asked, “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
“What other choice do we have?” Bridget muttered. “We need him to cross the gate.”
Her plan was a long shot, but it was the only one they had.
Even though Alexia had poisoned Nylah with the notion of forcing them to go to Andarre, she had no real way to get back or cross the gate.
Bridget nearly killed her a second time when she broke the news.
They needed a Shaman. And there was only one Bridget knew.
Or knew of. There was no guarantee he would show up back at the Cavamynian gate.
After all, the last time she’d seen him, he’d been at the Astraeus one.
But he was a Shaman. He’d been there when she’d come through before.
.. And if he was so determined to keep her from crossing, then surely he would show up to stop her again.
The Shaman would be there. He had to be.
From the backseat, Alexia poked her head over the center console. “There are still a few options. He’s seen Quinn perform the spell,” she said, nodding her head at Archer. “He can—”
“We’re not killing anyone,” Bridget snapped, cutting her off.
A shiver went down her spine as she remembered the first time she’d traveled through the gate.
She still saw Quinn holding up a bloody knife in her dreams. With a snide smile directed at Alexia, Bridget added, “Unless you’re volunteering. ”
Rolling her eyes, Alexia huffed and settled back in her seat beside Nylah.
“What if he’s not there?” Archer asked quietly. “What if we can’t find him?”
Bridget’s throat tightened. Craning her neck, she snuck a look at her sister.
Swollen, dark eyes glued to Archer’s phone, Nylah coughed again.
Her cheeks were flushed and there was a little bit of snot hanging from her nose.
Wordlessly, Bridget handed her a tissue.
Alexia had said the poison spread slowly, but every morning, Nylah’s condition worsened.
Forcing her gaze away, Bridget whispered, “We will.”
She wouldn’t fail her sister. Even if she had to parade around the gate for days and somehow lure the Shaman out with some spells by Archer, Bridget would find him.
There were a few blessed seconds of silence before the sound of Zac Efron’s voice blasted through the car.
Archer immediately perked up and started singing along.
Bridget rubbed her temples. She recognized the song from a musical that her and Archer sometimes watched on nights when they had too much tequila.
“This is entertainment?” Alexia asked scathingly.
“To some people,” Bridget sighed, giving Archer a sideways glance.
Alexia pushed another button and turned up the song louder. Over the noise, she yelled, “This little box says it’s in your top ten most watched. What does that mean?”
Bridget whirled around and swiped her phone out of Alexia’s hand. “Give me that.”
After exiting the app, she stuffed the device between her legs. She’d hoped giving Alexia her phone would distract her enough to stop talking, like Nylah. Whatever show her sister was watching had kept her silent most of the ride to Connecticut.
After a moment, Alexia said, “You haven’t asked me anything about Andarre.”
“And that surprises you? You poisoned my sister and are withholding the cure until we go there. Only you would think blackmail makes a person talkative.”
“Bitch move,” Nylah mumbled, not bothering to look up from the phone.
“Nylah,” Bridget scolded.
Archer shrugged. “She’s not wrong.”
“It’s your home,” Alexia argued, “only you would be stubborn enough not to ask any questions.”
Bridget pressed her lips into a determined line and stared out the window.
Supermarkets and gas stations blurred past, none of them holding her focus for more than a second.
All her effort went into keeping her expression blank.
She wouldn’t give Alexia the satisfaction of knowing how much a single word had affected her.
Home.
Contrary to Alexia’s unfounded belief, it was not the otherworldly place she’d once pretended to be from for the tournament.
It never would be. Home had evolved in her head over the years.
From a foreign concept, to locations and people.
It never stayed the same, until one constant came along.
Nylah. And then Bridget was sure she knew what the word meant.
Even when they no longer lived under the same roof, Bridget had held on to that version of home like a lifeline…
had fought like hell to make sure it would return to her.
Until golden brown eyes and a snarky smile changed everything.
In the blink of an eye, home transformed to include not just one person, but two.
And it became full of color and life and a joy she hadn’t thought possible.
But then it was erased… and replaced with a land full of magic and darkness. A darkness that would always linger on her soul. Still, even there, the word rebuilt and transformed in her mind. Just as she had begun to grasp the new version, it was ripped from her. Again.
Now, home was smaller, quieter. It consisted of a tiny house in a new city and bright smiles from her sister. Sometimes Archer’s singing and bad jokes. But only half of her heart. Real, but only slightly.
One day, the word would have true meaning again.
One day, she would figure out exactly where she belonged.
One day, she wouldn’t wake up and think that maybe her memories weren’t the only thing she’d been cursed to lose.
Alexia’s taunting voice cracked through her suffocating reverie.
“Why are you so angry that I’m making you cross the gate? Don’t you want to see your prince again?”
Bridget turned around to glare at her, only to realize Alexia’s eyes were glued to the phone on her lap.
Throat tight, Bridget looked down to realize she’d unconsciously tapped on her device’s little screen to look at the background picture.
The one she’d spent days scrolling through a club’s social media to find.
Even though he hardly looked like himself in the Bob Ross costume, Cade’s wide grin never failed to make her stomach flutter.
She hated that it felt like the only thing she had left of him.
“We’re going to Andarre, not Elyria. That is the end goal of your not so thought out master plan, right?
” Bridget said, stuffing her phone in her purse so she wouldn’t be tempted to look at it again.
Of course, she wanted to see Cade. Bridget didn’t think that would come as a surprise to anyone in the car.
But if they were stuck in Andarre past the spring solstice…
then she was never setting foot in Elyria again.
After a brief pause, Alexia said, “Since you won’t ask, Andarre is beautiful.”
“For fuck’s sake…” Archer groaned, knocking his forehead into the steering wheel. “Learn to read the room.”
Nylah snorted. “More like the car.”
“It’s an island surrounded by the bluest ocean,” Alexia continued. “Every city is built with white brick and light blue roofs. Every beach is full of the softest, palest sand. It’s always the perfect temperature, even in winter. And the food… better than anything a Fae can cook up.”
Bridget rolled her eyes and tried not to be appealed by the description. “Sounds magical.”
“So does Jamaica. At least I wouldn’t get executed on the spot there,” Archer let slip under his breath.
“There’s nothing magical about it.” Alexia sneered. “Magic is forbidden there.”
“Except for the use of protective runes. And Shamans, when whoever’s in charge needs help with the future,” Bridget chided. “Seems hypocritical.”
Alexia raised a brow. “You can take that up with the King when we get there.”
“Yeah, I’m sure I will,” Bridget replied blithely, returning her gaze to the window. The conspiratorial, taunting gleam brewing in Alexia’s eyes rattled her. When they got there, there would be no time to complain to kings. Once Nylah was healed, they would get the hell out of there.
The expanse of forest outside New London gave Bridget the chills.
She barely remembered being in the shrouded, dark state park where the gate to Cavamyne was located, but the hairs on her arm stood straight up, like her body subconsciously relived the memory with every step she took.
Bridget squeezed Nylah’s hand tighter and followed Archer down a narrow path.
Since they’d parked the car, he’d been unusually quiet.
Every few seconds, he nervously glanced at the shadows around them.
“Didn’t you drive us right up to the gate last time?” Bridget asked.
“Last time, there wasn’t four inches of snow on the ground. Do you really think that rental car could make it up this hill?”
Seconds later, Nylah slipped and pulled Bridget down with her.
Falling on her knees, Bridget quickly lifted her arm to make sure her sister didn’t fall on her face.
He did have a point. The steep incline into the trees was icy.
A few feet behind them, Alexia grasped a tree and tried to stay upright.
Bridget hoped she would fall on her ass and break her tailbone.