Chapter Twenty-One

Tears moistened my cheeks when I woke. More than anything, I wanted to go back to sleep, but as my mind rebooted, I remembered where I was—trapped by Officer Gardener, the bloodthorn. My body ached as I crawled into a sitting position, and my skin, cold and covered in a clammy sweat, tingled as the blood returned to my muscles.

As I scanned the room, I saw Officer Gardener sitting in a chair across from me. He locked his eyes on me, and I was reminded of my near-nakedness. I hugged my arms around my legs.

“You’re just in time for breakfast,” he said, then tossed something at my feet.

I shied back as I realized it was a dead cottonmouth snake, and he laughed as I recoiled from the serpent. He wanted to frighten me, to make me feel afraid and helpless. He needed my soul at its weakest so he could take control of it. But I knew what game he was playing. I wouldn’t let him see my weakness.

“I’d like my clothes back, please,” I said, my voice hoarse.

“Sorry, can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“For the same reason I can’t give you food. Clothing is a comfort. It makes you feel warm and safe. Being cold and hungry will make the process of retrieving your soul’s energy go much quicker. Trust me, I would be doing you a disservice by returning your clothing.”

“I doubt it,” I said.

I huddled in my corner, trying to think past the drugs that still lingered in my system. I’d dreamed of Kull again but couldn’t remember where we’d been. Somewhere safe. And warm. My heart pounded in my chest, the cold making me shiver uncontrollably. Hunger pains pinched my stomach. Someone would save me. Kull was detained and wouldn’t be out anytime soon, but Brent would know I was missing. He would know something was wrong. I only had to endure this a little longer.

“I suppose you might believe someone will rescue you?” he asked, as if reading my thoughts. “Perhaps I need to inform you of the truth of your situation. Detective Sanchez has been informed that you were transferred to the downtown station, but there will be quite a bit of red tape and paperwork to be done before he can even see you. By the time he realizes you aren’t there, you will be a corpse resting on the bottom of the lake, and I will be gone from this place with the starstone.”

“It won’t happen,” I said. “You’re wrong.”

It was the only thing I could think to say. I didn’t want to let him see how completely terrified I felt.

I needed magic. If only I could find a way to remove the chains! My only option was to talk my way out, but how could I possibly get through to a creature of darkness?

“Please,” I said, “I’ll activate the portal for you. You don’t have to kill me. I’ll use my magic to open the portal, and then—”

He crossed the room and struck me across the face, hard. Stars danced in my vision as pain stung my cheek, then radiated through my skull.

Kneeling beside me, he took my face between his fingers, forcing me to look at him. His image blurred, and I was no longer looking into the face of a human. Slimy black magic surrounded him. His face was a horse’s skull, and his eyes—green points of light—seemed to peer straight into my soul.

My skin crawled.

“You,” he said, “will not tell me what to do.”

My mouth had grown so dry I couldn’t answer. Not soon enough, he backed away, appearing human once again.

I tried to steady my breathing. Being in the same room with that creature was more terrifying than I cared to let on. He knew it, too—he knew his presence would frighten me, and that’s why he was here. After several calming breaths, I focused on my options. I had to be overlooking something. He hadn’t killed me yet, so I still had time.

Officer Gardener sat at the table. He threaded his fingers together, staring pensively at the wall. Perhaps I couldn’t reason with the monster, but how much of Officer Gardener—the real person—still existed within him? Was there a way to get through to him?

“The man whose body you took,” I said, “where is he now? Is he dead?”

“His body remains alive for the time being, until I am finished with my work here.”

“So part of him is still alive?” I asked.

“Yes. I could not eradicate him completely or else his body would die, and then he would be of no use to me.”

“And you have all his memories?”

He nodded. “I have them all.”

“What will you do with his body once you are done here?”

“Kill it, of course. I cannot leave any loose ends.”

“Why? You’re never coming back to this world. Why does it matter if he’s dead or not?”

After a pause, he shrugged. “I suppose it does not matter one way or the other, except there are certain rules in place that must be abided by—rules about the truth of the undiscovered land and yours—things he would know that he should not.”

I followed his line of thought. “You’re not supposed to speak about the world you found?”

He nodded.

“Can you at least tell me its name?”

“No. To speak its name is forbidden. I can only tell you that I will return there soon.”

“Why is it forbidden?”

Not answering, he gave me a hard stare.

Forbidden name. Got it. Change the subject.

“Can’t you take away this man’s memories before you leave his body?”

“Why would I do that?”

“It seems like it would be the safer way to handle the situation. If you leave his corpse behind, there will be an inquiry as to how he was killed—especially since he’s a cop. There is a chance, however remote, that the authorities here could discover the undiscovered land as a result of his death.”

“Not likely. The humans here are too preoccupied with their own problems to understand anything that exists beyond their own world.”

“But there is still a chance the investigators would find out about the undiscovered land,” I said. “Wouldn’t it be better to leave the man behind with no memory of his encounter with you?”

He tapped his fingers on the table, a rapping sound that echoed through the cold, empty cabin. “No. You are only trying to make me spare this man’s life. It will not work.”

Frustrated, I sighed. There had to be some way to get through to him.

“Why is it of any concern to you if this man lives?” he asked.

“Because he does not deserve death. Murder is something we don’t take lightly here on Earth. It’s one of the worst criminal acts one can do to another. It is evil and abhorrent.”

“But why does it make any difference to you?”

“I suppose it doesn’t,” I answered. “But there are those who would never be the same if he died.”

Officer Gardener kept his eyes on the wall as he spoke. “Yes, he thinks of them often. A daughter—Julie. He likes to take her to the shooting range when she visits. Her favorite gun is a pink-camo .34 caliber. He gave it to her for her fourteenth birthday. His ex-wife hates it. Her name is Kate. He still loves her, and he suspects she loves him still, but he won’t tell her.”

“Can you hear all of his thoughts?” I asked.

“Yes, if I allow them.”

“What else does he say?”

“That,” he said with sternness, “is not something I wish to discuss.”

“Fine,” I mumbled, rubbing my arms for an attempt at warmth, my stomach growling.

Concentrating was getting harder to do in my weakened state, and talking morality to a depraved creature of darkness was something that took energy—a resource I was short on at the moment.

“These chains,” I said, “what are they?”

“They are spellcasted with an omaji-word. They will repel any spell except for those I allow.” Abruptly, the officer stood and walked to the door. “I must go,” he said. “The others will get suspicious if I’m gone for too long.”

Without another word, he left the cabin through the front door. I watched as he went. When he opened the door, a hint of blue sky shone through the opening for a brief moment. I longed to be outside, to be free. Somehow, I would find a way to get these chains off my wrists.

Perhaps if I slept my strength would return, and hopefully, I would be able to think of a way out. It was the only hope I had left.

I awoke to the sensation of freezing water being tossed in my face. Gasping, I sat up as icy needles bored through my skin. A rough kick to my ribs brought me fully awake. Officer Gardener stood over me. His overconfident smile had been replaced with tightly drawn lips and narrowed eyes.

As I sat up, he tossed a cloak at my feet.

“Put this on,” he said.

“How?” I asked, but then I realized he’d chained each of my wrists separately, so I threaded my arms through the cloak’s sleeves. Never in my life had wearing clothing felt this good. He was right. Clothing was a comfort. A tiny part of me began to feel human again as I wrapped the thick cloth around me.

“We’re leaving,” he said.

My heart leapt. “Leaving?”

“Yes.”

He jerked me off the ground. My feet wobbled. It had been so long since I’d eaten anything, I wasn’t sure I had the strength to move forward, but as he yanked me up, I had no choice but to follow. We made it to the door, and he whispered a word. His magic swirled, its taint licking my skin, and when the ward dissipated, the door swung open.

He pushed me onto the cabin’s porch, where we were greeted by a chilly gust of October air. A patrol vehicle sat in front of us, but instead of walking toward it, Officer Gardener led me around the cabin.

A narrow footpath wound through the trees. I had no choice but to take the trail as he pushed me forward, but my bare feet were no match against the twigs and rocks that littered the path. Several times I winced when I stepped on a sharp stick, but Officer Gardener kept pushing me forward.

When we entered a clearing, I was surprised to find a perfectly round hole in the ground. It was filled with the same sort of greenish substance we’d encountered in the unicorns’ forest, although this hole looked freshly dug, as there was a pile of dirt and a shovel not far away.

Officer Gardener grabbed my shoulder and pushed me onto my knees. I almost fell over when I hit the ground but managed to hold steady.

I watched as the officer circled the pool, and as he did, his body transformed. A monster stood in his place, with a knotted mane that fell down his back. Gnarled, unnaturally long fingers lengthened and ended in tapered claws. Chains formed around his shoulders that clanked as he walked.

As he stood over the pool, I felt magic gathering around him. He whispered a word that made the green substance start swirling—slowly at first, and then faster as a dark mist formed over its surface.

Something broke free from the pool. A red gemstone—the fairies’ lost stone—rose into the air. Though it had been inside the tarry pool, its glistening facets were clean and pristine, reflecting a reddish glow that flashed around the clearing, making spots of light appear on the forest floor.

I’d finally found it. If only my magic weren’t gone and I weren’t on the brink of complete exhaustion, I would’ve grabbed the stone and run. But as it was, I was barely able to focus.

My mouth was so dry that my tongue had swollen, making it hard for me to speak. “This is where it was?”

“Your Wult companion nearly found its hiding spot. If I had not struck him down, he would have found it.”

His whispered voice was deep and primal, a sound that made my skin crawl.

The creature took the stone and held it between his hands. Carefully, he placed the stone on the ground beside him, then removed a ring from his pocket. I recognized the tiny red stone as the fairy princess’s ring. It seemed wrong for such evil hands to hold such a sacred talisman.

He lifted the ring into the air, and while chanting, the light in the forest grew dimmer. Lightning crackled around him, brushing my cheeks with its energy. The ring hissed with blue sparks of energy, and then it broke apart. Its tiny pieces hovered, reforming, and then each jewel reunited with the larger stone. The ring’s golden band fell, hitting the grass with a quiet thud.

Now, the bloodthorn had only to take my soul and open the portal.

If only I could use my magic to stop this. But how?

The starstone rose into the air as the bloodthorn backed away. Spinning slowly, its facets grew brighter, a glowing red that reminded me of the rays of the setting sun.

I had to stop him—I couldn’t let him do this. He would destroy the fairies, and without them, I couldn’t even begin to wrap my mind around the consequences. Life as we knew it would never be the same. Faythander would suffer and slowly die.

My raw skin stung where the chains dug into my wrists, but despite the pain, I pulled at the chains, doing my best to break the metal loops apart. My efforts were in vain, and I knew it. I would never be able to undo the magic.

But, maybe I didn’t have to.

Relying on my magic had become second nature, and perhaps now was the time to stop depending on it. I had to take him down. I had to do it now while he was distracted. What would happen if he landed in the pool?

Standing was harder and took more effort than I’d envisioned, but luckily, the bloodthorn didn’t notice. I crept behind him, then ran as fast as my body would allow, shoving him forward. Knocked off balance, the creature pitched forward and landed with his head and hands in the dark liquid.

Steam hissed and fizzed as living tissue mingled with the liquid in the pool. Screaming, the beast crawled away from the pond, greenish ooze dripping from his head and hands. Pink muscle tissue peeked through sections where the liquid had burned through the monster’s skin. Beneath the hands clamped to his face, I could see that half his skull had burned away.

He rounded on me, thrashing and shrieking so loudly it caused the birds in the trees overhead to take flight. As he thrashed, I reached for a stone that lay on the ground near the pool, but his feet nearly trampled me and I was forced to back away.

“What have you done?” he yelled, rounding on me.

I hoped, since his hands were still clamped to his face, I’d damaged his vision. Huddling under the cloak, I backed toward the trees’ shadows.

He faced me, growling, blood dripping from open wounds. As he stalked toward me, my heartbeat grew wild. I hadn’t hurt him badly enough. In fact, I’d only made him angrier.