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~Foster’s POV~
For the first time in ten years, all three of us were in agreement with one thing: Josie was not leaving without us.
We had to hurry. Time was ticking. The air stirred as they fought. Josie against that male fae. Our final goodbye was at the tip of our fingertips and I refused to let it go. We were not going to let her go this time.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Jason asked, nervous as he kept pace with Waylon and me.
“Would you rather she disappear and we never see her again?” I said.
“Will we survive it?” he asked. “What kind of effects will it have on us?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t care. Can’t you feel it? The pull to her. I need to be by her side, and if that’s in Faerie, then so be it. It’s better than being in this world without her warmth.”
“Fuck.” Jason grumbled some more, but I knew it was just him blowing off steam, trying to settle his nerves. What we were about to do was far from safe, and there wasn’t any assurance I could give him. Even I wasn’t sure what was going to happen.
The only difference between Jason and me was that I had experience in jumping into the unknown. I did that continually while serving in the military. I did what I had to do to survive in situations that one could only witness in their nightmares.
This was exactly the same.
I kept my thoughts calm, my focus clear, and my plan solid in my head. We were going with Josie. She wasn’t leaving us again. It was as simple as that. We had all agreed on it. Waylon was at my side, worried, but he did so silently. He understood better than Jason the stresses that we were facing.
The air was thick with what felt like electrical currents, the hair on my body standing up. The fight was ramping up. We were still working our way down the building, then we had to get around the building and to Josie without her or any of her companions noticing.
And we had to do it quickly.
We couldn’t miss our opportunity.
I didn’t realize that getting there would be the easiest part. Dr. Coffey was off to the side, watching the fight with furrowed brows. Josie and Berry were inside the barrier, clearly distracted with facing their enemy. Laikynn.
This was my first time getting a good look at him. Long black hair, braided. Ivory white skin. His features were long, his face twisted in rage as he charged at the barrier between him and Josie.
“How do we know when to go in?” Waylon asked.
“When that second barrier is down between the two of them,” I said. “We only need to get through the outer one from my understanding. And Dr. Coffey mentioned no fae would be able to cross it, but he said nothing about humans.”
Laikynn hit the barrier again, while Josie simply looked at him, unperturbed.
“We should go through now,” Jason said.
“No. If we go in too early, they’ll be able to stop us. Or we’ll be used against Josie. We need to time this perfectly. Now shut up. Let me watch.”
We had to get this perfect. We had to. I was relying on cues from Josie and also my instincts. No matter what, we’d make it.
She wasn’t leaving us again.
Finally, Laikynn broke through the barrier and slammed into Josie. I wanted to charge forward and get the bastard off of her. He wrapped his hands around her, choking her.
“Now!” I charged forward.
Jason swore behind me but came with me. We broke through the first barrier. It pressed against our skin, hated that we were there, but did nothing to stop us. It felt like we had to push through a wall of cold gel, but then we were on the other side.
Just in time to hear Josie say, “I have already won. Say goodbye, Laikynn. You’re going to be lucky if you’re still breathing once Faerie deals with you.”
“Josie,” Jason said, but by then the trap already clamped shut as the spell activated.
Describing what happened was impossible. I’d had bombs explode close by to feel the heat against my skin. I’d had to run through a dust storm that scraped at my skin until I felt raw, had jumped out of planes enough to recognize that weightlessness in the pit of my stomach as it tried to drift into my chest.
What we went through was all of that and none of that at the same time. My skin felt completely scraped off, and yet I felt like none of me existed at the same time. It was complete silence all around, the white noise so loud, I thought my ear drums were going to break.
I landed on grass for only a second until I felt someone pressing into me. The warmth told me it was Josie. Then there was more warmth and I knew all of them were with me. Jason. Waylon. We were all together still.
Until what I felt grew tenfold and I thought I was going to die.
I became nothing. Didn’t exist. Had been torn apart into particles returned to the universe. It lasted for an eternity until it was over and I was sure this was an epic fail.
Then my lungs filled with fresh air, my hands were in something soft and plush, and the black haze that had taken over my sight disappeared, surrounding me in a land of green.
I coughed, drawing in air, my chest feeling like it was trying to explode. Waylon and Jason were around me, doing the same, trying to regain their reality.
We’d done it. We were in Faerie.
We were still with Josie.
