“Bound souls always find one another.”
Maybe our soul bond ran deeper than either of us knew. Could it be once bound always bound?
Only one way to find out.
The opposite side of the Threshold into the Sixth is nothing to call home about. I gasp for air as my hand searches for the hilt of my weapon. Gah, I won’t get used to its absence anytime soon. I whirl, examining my new surroundings.
I’m standing in a shallow well. The wall isn’t high and water isn’t deep. In fact, it’s almost completely gone. The Threshold became a wormhole, I’m certain, but did the drink from the Fountain control where we traveled?
The drink. Crowe, David. Why did you have to go and mess everything up?
I climb out of the well just as Josh shows up behind me. I knew he was Josh before he snatched the vial. The look in his eyes, the way he talked about “feelings” as if they were a disease. Team David lost another point while Team Josh took the lead.
Dahlia and Wren soon follow. Then Preacher. The well dries up with a loud sucking sound only moments after the last of us exits.
“Well, this is lovely. Nice going, Rhyen. You’ve taken us to the middle of nowhere.”
Wren’s snarky comment makes me wish she’d stayed behind. If this is how she’s going to be the entire journey, maybe she needs an Unbinding Elixir. The kind that makes her forget how to talk.
“This ain’t the middle of nowhere, Miss Song.” Dahlia wrings out her wet dress. “No, ma’am. This, doll, is the Sixth Reflection, otherwise known as Oz.”
Oz, huh? The ache inside me grows. The burns beneath my shirt feel fresh. But not because I regret saving Em from the fire that day. “Did you hear that, David? Or should I say Josh now? We’re in the Sixth. The wormhole took us exactly where the Threshold led. We were supposed to find Em and now we’re not any closer to getting to her or destroying the Void. Are you happy? We can’t do this without her, and time is slipping through our fingers. Who knows if the next Threshold will even have a drop of water left!”
“Cool your head, Brother. Maybe Eliyana is here, did that cross your mind? The Threshold behind the cottage in the Fifth led into the Sixth as well. Perhaps she went through before it became an actual wormhole. Perhaps she has been here in the Sixth all along.”
I grind my teeth. I can’t argue, though my dark side is begging to rip him a new one. Fine. If he’s wrong, I’ll deal with him then. There’s still an ounce of hope. If Em is here, we’ll find her.
“Where to?” I turn toward Dahlia and take a look around. The shallow well is at the center of a cornfield. I sense no immediate threats. At least none aside from Josh and Wren.
Dahlia licks her finger and sticks it in the air. “We follow the south wind.”
“And where will that lead?”
Ha. As if Josh cares. I believe David, at least, loves Em enough to know she and I are connected—were connected—in a way they’ll never be. The real David would have let me take the drink.
Hitching up her skirt, the Ever woman begins to cut through the dried cornstalks. “The Emerald City won’t wait all day. Hurry up.”
“You heard the woman,” Preacher says. “Move out.”
We take our places behind her. I don’t know enough about this Reflection to even guess what awaits us at the end of our trek. But if it takes us one step closer to Em, I’ll run if I have to.
I just hope someone in the city can help us. If I remember correctly, Oz has a Wizard. Maybe he can at least tell us where Em has gone. Give us someplace to start.
Picking up my pace, I abandon Preacher and pass Dahlia. Navigation isn’t foreign to me. I follow the wind to the road, then I sprint down its unearthed yellow bricks until I’m too tired to breathe.
I’ll find you, Em. I’ll find you.
ASIDE
Josh
He’s quick, I’ll give him that. Figured I was back before I even had a chance to catch my breath.
“Things will change when they find El,” Joshua says. “She’ll see right through you. I know the way out now. And I will find it once more.”
I may have let my guard down with you before. I will not be so careless again.
“Is all of this really worth it?” Wren asks.
She’s cute, I won’t deny it. But El is something else. Joshua and I at least agree on that.
“What do you love about her?” Joshua asks.
What do you mean?
“I mean, El is good and kind and vulnerable and insecure. But she’s also confident when she so desires. And she is smart. Everything about her is beautiful. If you hold the Void in such high esteem, what could you possibly love about El? She’s opposite of the Void. In every way.”
Oh wow, has my too-good-for-anyone conscience been so clueless this entire time? Does he truly believe I love his girlfriend for her heart?
“I can hear you,” he says.
Can you? Can you really? You have been so focused on getting rid of me, on escaping and redeeming yourself, you have failed to see into the farthest corner of my thoughts.
I feel him searching, digging through the mind we share. I sit back and wait. Wren’s yapping about something or other on the outside. My fellow Ever doesn’t trust me, so I steer clear of her. Preacher? The brute won’t be a problem. As with Makai, his loyalties lie with me first.
“That is where you are wrong,” Joshua says. “Or did you forget Makai named Rhyen his second in command?”
Unimportant. A minor hiccup.
My brother leads us, and I let him believe he’s really in charge. The Void will take him over soon, and then what? He’ll be nothing. Because he fights it. If only he would give in, he could see what I already see.
The Void is beautiful.
“You can’t. She’ll never fall for it. Never.” How thrilling.
Ah, and so Joshua has figured out my secret. My lips curl into a smile. Because as beautiful as the Void is, nothing is lovelier than turning something from light to darkness.
Eliyana, get ready. The shadows are coming for you.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Ebony
Let’s see, where do I begin? You want the moment I decided I hated my mother? Sorry to break it to you, honey, but there wasn’t any specific turning point or anything. I mean, sure, she probably loved me as a baby, didn’t shake me or knock me upside the head. But as long as I can remember, we never got along. I was never good enough and never would be.
What will she say when she sees me now?
Stormy and Khloe didn’t go far, just as I expected. When I approach them where they lie amidst a bed of fern and clover, Stormy looks up and places a finger to her lips. “Shhh.”
My gaze follows her to Khloe, fast asleep in Stormy’s arms. The kid is wiped and I can’t blame her. This is a lot for anyone to take, especially her. I can’t help but be proud of her, though. She hasn’t complained or asked to slow down. A real trooper.