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Kellan caught me at the creek and tugged me back against him. His breath warmed the back of my neck. “Anti-heroes always catch the girl, Josephine. Remember that.”
I smiled up at him. A distant scream echoed through the woods. Kellan dropped the canteen at his feet and turned his attention toward the clearing.
I couldn’t decipher Fern’s voice from the distance, but it sounded like excitement.
Kellan grabbed my hand and ran with me toward the clearing. We dodged the trees and branches until we stood at the tree line.
Ernest stood in the spot we’d left him with a portal open in front of him. Fern jumped up and down, pointing and screaming.
Kellan chuckled under his breath. “Good job, old man.”
He turned and looked down at me. There was so much emotion on his face that I couldn’t pinpoint what was what. It was time for me to leave him.
The hollow ache inside of me shook with fear. I was afraid. “Will the portal still be open when I get back?”
Kellan nodded. “Unless he tries to close it, yes.”
“I’m scared.”
“Me too,” he whispered.
Kellan tightened his fingers around my own, slightly pulling me forward. The fear sinking into me felt like nails in my skin. I couldn’t leave him. What if I didn’t make it back?
The cawing of Deidamia’s crow came from the tree line. He was watching us. Warning her. What if she closed it after I went through? What if I couldn’t get back?
Not seeing Kellan again wasn’t an option.
I had to make it back to him. I stopped abruptly and jerked his hand backward. Kellan looked at me over his shoulder with tears pooled in his eyes. It was the first time I’d seen him this sad.
“I can’t go,” I whispered, shaking my head. “What if Deidamia closes it? You hear the crow—”
“We’ll hide it the best we can,” Kellan said. “You two have to get through, so you can find the spindle.”
He cupped my face, those dark eyes searing into mine like a well-lit fire. “You can do this. You will survive this,” he whispered. “You’ll make it back.”
“And if I don’t?” I whispered, my bottom lip trembling.
Kellan bent his mouth against mine, inches away. He whispered, “I’ll find you. Always.”
Tears raced down my cheeks. I knew I needed to do this. I had to do this to save us.
Kellan pressed his mouth against mine. I tasted my tears along with the savory taste of his mouth. The portal whirled in the distance, a siren’s song beckoning me forward while my feet dug into the earth for stability.
“Josie!” Fern yelled, but I couldn’t let go.
Kellan broke away, always stronger than me, and gestured toward the portal with his head.
With weak legs, I followed him toward the portal, the wind blowing my hair around my head.
Fern looked excited, while I fought with the reality of what I was doing.
Going to face my family for being thieves.
Going to find a magical spindle that would keep Deidamia young.
Going to leave Kellan in another realm, where I had no way of getting back on my own.
Kellan clasped his palm over Ernest’s shoulder. “Good job, old man.”
