|
|
|
While the thought of finally getting Laikynn was exhilarating, once we were on the campus and walking to the lab, it hit home.
Yes, I’d finally have the bastard.
But it also marked the end of my time here.
I glanced at my companion, Foster. The others were waiting nearby in case we needed help or interference, though their voices still buzzed in my ear through the earpiece.
Once I was back in Faerie, I’d no longer get to hear Jason in my ear, too excited about using something so fancy to speak to others. Nor would I get to analyze Waylon’s blank expressions to get to the root of his thoughts. Or the warmth from being so close to Foster.
We’d be apart once again. That reality was waiting, ready to pull me into its dark chasm.
“Josie?” Foster whispered.
I blinked out of my thoughts and forced a smile.
“Yeah?”
“What’s wrong?”
I sighed, my shoulders slumping. “Later?” I asked. “I want to focus on this right now. We can talk after.”
He stared at me for a long moment before giving me a sharp nod and opening the door for me using a card he got from Judah. It gave us access to the lab, the system thinking it was the professor’s card.
Being the middle of the night, there was low risk of anyone being around.
“How is it?” Foster asked, talking to the rest of our team.
“Man mopping on the second floor. Path to the lab is currently clear. There is a student in the lab next to the one you need to go to so be quiet. Looks like they are deep into whatever they’re doing,” Waylon said. “We’ll let you know if that changes.”
“Roger that. Over and out,” I said playfully.
“You know we don’t really do that in the military, right?”
“Lies, don’t lie to me.”
He fought to hide his smile. “Maybe over to transmit that we are done talking since only one person can talk at a time. But that’s on a walkie talkie. We don’t have that issue. You don’t need to say over.”
I nudged him with elbows. “Stop breaking dreams. Jason will be mortified.”
“I will not,” Jason said.
“Stop listening in on other people’s conversations.”
“Can’t help it. All eyes and ears are on you, baby.”
The playful banter worked in relaxing me as we whispered to each other, teasing. Frankly, if the situation weren’t what it was, this would have been really good foreplay.
“All right, clear comms,” Foster warned once we got to the third floor. “Update on the student.”
“Still buried in a microscope, back to the door. Be quiet and they’ll never know,” Jason said.
We shared a glance before inching forward. I peeked into the lab with the student to confirm we were clear. His back was to the door, so we slipped by without worry and stopped at the next lab.
Foster scanned his card, and put the password into the keypad. It clicked open and we slipped through, softly closing it behind us.
The moment we were in, the magic tingled along my skin. The room was brimming with it all.
“This is different than the lab we found,” I said.
“It looks more complex.”
“Bigger.”
“Can’t be good.” Foster moved to one of the benches.
“Let’s focus. Once this is over, Judah’s men can come in and dismantle all this shit safely. Coffey has already given him the information and has promised to oversee the proper destruction of magic.” I didn’t mention the hundreds of promises I had to drag out of Coffey to make sure it was actually destroyed and not to be used by anyone or do any damage to the planet.
“How does that work?” Jason asked as we went to one of the hoods. It was of course covered in spells to keep us out. I was betting on them. Laikynn needed to know what we did in his lab. We’d have only the time it took him to come to the lab to see what we did and then the time to track me to our location. We had to be ready and I had a feeling Laikynn was going to move quickly.
“Here.” Foster stepped to the side so I could see. All the glass beakers, tubes, and cylinders led to a thick liquid dripping into a small flask filled with what I was familiar with seeing at the sites. The pure faerie magic he was able to take.
“Good. This is perfect. Be ready. Once these wards are down, we need to haul ass out of here and to the others,” I said.
“We are ready to pick up,” Waylon said through the earpiece.
“Great, keep that engine running.” I always wanted to say that. Maybe Jason wasn’t the only one having fun acting like we were in the military.
I unhooked a charm from my bracelet, its magic already reaching for me, ready to be used. Coffey had helped me create it, and I only hoped it was enough to blast through the ward. I also pulled on the magic within and reached out for the ward.
This was going to hurt a lot, but it needed to be done, and only I could do it. Since I could absorb the magic around me, I could absorb the magic used to create wards. It wasn’t the easiest and something this level could knock me out cold. It was the whole reason Foster was with me. He’d be able to help get me out if I needed it.
“Ready?” I asked.
Foster moved to my back, ready to react. “Do it.”
I smashed the charm against the ward as hard as I could. At the very moment of contact, the ward’s magic slammed into me, trying to force me away. Foster grunted, no doubt feeling the effects of the backlash from his position. I had already prepped him so he wouldn’t feel the need to leave, and his awareness helped him get through it.
Biting down on my lip, I pushed back with my magic, stretching it out to form a wall with the barrier. Wherever the barrier stretched to, my magic formed a thin layer over it. My arm ached, trembling against the pressure. My conscious screamed to back off, that it was time for me to leave. My free hand turned into a fist, my nails digging into my palm. I drew on the small sting to remind me that I was exactly where I was supposed to be. The ward’s compulsion wasn’t going to work on me.
“Josie,” Foster whispered in a strained voice.
“Almost,” I forced out.
My magic finally stretched along the ward.
“Now!”
I slammed it hard into it. His magic against mine. And as I thought, mine won. It wrapped around the magic creating the ward and turned it into my own. It didn’t take long for the ward to disappear. Once all of it was mine, I reigned it all in, my skin prickling, sweat dripping down my neck.
Relaxing, I stepped back with a grin. “Easy.”
“Let’s get out of here.” Foster was already scanning the area, expecting Laikynn to pop in at any moment. If he were close by already, he could, but I had a feeling he wasn’t. We chose a lab that was the farthest away from the city so if he were even in the middle of it, he wouldn’t be able to pop in on us. He’d need to get closer first.
I grabbed the tube, used a nearby cover to put on it, and then shoved it into my bag. “He’s going to feel that for a moment, so let’s get going.”
“As soon as you’re here, we’re off,” Jason said. “It’s clear to get out.”
We ran for it, not bothering to be careful. Jason gave us the all-clear, so we were going to haul ass. The entire time, something buzzed at the back of my mind. It was dark and heavy, trying to entice me.
The addiction that drew in the other fae. It was a sweet promise to give me the world.
Too bad for it, I didn’t want the world and what I truly wanted, it’d never be able to give me. Pure Faerie magic was potent. If I had Judah coming in with me, even he might fall prey to its temptation. I was fine only because I lived in Faerie. I knew exactly what Faerie could do and promise, and I also knew how those promises destroyed the fae who fell into her trap.
Her sweet temptation only ever pushed me away. Never enticed me.
So no. Fuck this magic.
“Are you okay?” Foster asked as we slowed down and headed to the pick-up point.
“Yes. Let’s get this over with.”
The SUV pulled up to the curb and the two of us jumped in. The moment the door was closed, Waylon was peeling out of the parking lot and heading to Coffey’s location.
“Are you all set?” I asked the moment Coffey answered the phone.
“Just about. It’ll be ready by the time you arrive.”
“All right. I doubt we’ll have to wait long for Laikynn once we get there. If he isn’t already on his way to the lab now, he’s about to be. And once he figures out what we did, he’s going to be too furious to think straight.”
“Exactly how we want him,” Coffey said.
“Yes.”
The location was pretty far away, so I made sure the vial was safely tucked away before settling into the seat. The silence didn’t last long before Foster spoke.
“This is it, isn’t it? You’ll bring Laikynn back to Faerie tonight.”
“Yes.”
That had Jason turning in his seat with wide eyes. “Wait. That means you go back.”
I didn’t look away from his gaze, taking in his hurt and fear as I replied with a solid, “Yes.”
There was no other answer to give.
“Once the spell is activated, it’ll transfer both Laikynn and me to the transport circle I had created to come here. The spell will automatically transport us from that circle back into Faerie thanks to Coffey’s spell. It’s going to be fast.”
“And you’ll be gone,” Waylon whispered.
“Yes. Then I’m gone again.”
“Fuck.” Jason whirled in his seat, his shoulders stiff as he glared out the window. I wished there were words I could say to alleviate the pain that was radiating off all three of them. This was why I hadn’t wanted to see them. I wasn’t here to stay.
I took in a deep breath, trying to keep the pain back, but it was building as a tidal wave, and I had a feeling this time, going back to Faerie was going to destroy me.
“There’s no way?” Jason asked.
“No. If I stay here, I will die, and it won’t be pretty.”
“What if we go with you?” Foster asked.
“No!” My sharp response caused them to wince. “No,” I said in a lower voice. “You’ll be dead within days.”
“You survived there.”
“I had a fae there to keep me alive.”
“You can keep us alive.”
“No. Faerie is not a place for humans. Any who even sneak into it, even if they don’t die, are twisted into something else. A human body is unable to be sustained there. The magic in the air alone will change you.” I grimaced. “And it isn’t always pretty.”
“What about the other humans that are abducted and taken there.”
“Their blood is bound to the fae taking them. They are slaves, bound to the fae, and who they are slowly slips away until there is nothing left. No personality. Little drones ready to jump off a cliff if their master wishes it so.”
“We can bind ourselves to you.”
“No,” I snapped. “You don’t fucking get it. I cannot protect you. I cannot preserve who you are. If you bind yourself to me, and even if I’m careful, you’ll still lose yourself. You won’t be Waylon or Jason or Foster anymore. You’ll be nothing. Just a body willing to act out my will.”
That shut them up for a while. We were almost at our destination when Foster spoke up.
“This is fucked up. You’re finally here again. I have you in my arms again. And now you have to tell me I have to let you go. To lose you?”
“I never wanted you to find me. I never even considered you being in New York City.”
“Fate is a cruel bitch,” Jason muttered.
“I’d like to blame Faerie on this. If there were a way to stay, at least Fate brought us together. It’s Faerie that’s keeping us apart,” I replied.
“Fuck them both,” Jason said.
I agreed with him on that.
We pulled into a small parking lot, a truck the only other vehicle there. The area was lit up thanks to a little magic to help Coffey work. He was bent over the pavement, drawing on the ground. When we turned off the car, he straightened and wiped his hands on his dark jeans.
Berry was there waiting when I hopped out.
I am your guardian. No one else’s. I only protect you.
“You did protect me,” I replied, petting him. I kneeled down and kissed his head. “We needed to make sure nothing happened to Coffey. Otherwise, we could have come here and drove right into an ambush.
I am not leaving you again.
“You never have.” I kissed his head again, just above his eyes, before standing.
“We are set,” Coffey said.
I pulled out the vial. “Me too. Now, all we do is wait.”
“Think it will take long?” Waylon asked.
“Not at all. I need you guys to hide yourselves.” I jerked my head at the SUV. “I already showed you where to park. The area is all set to keep you hidden from Laikynn. We can’t let him know I have backup.”
I wait with you.
I grinned down at Berry. “I wouldn’t want you anywhere else.”
