CHAPTER THREE
Astaroth
Aheady thrum filtered through my being, and I paused in the middle of the garden. I felt it here and there in regular increments when she was in close proximity to the stone, only to have her fade away again and leave me bereft and empty. Mergle prattled on about the newcomer from the other day, bringing up the same issues we had zero answers for, but I tuned him out. My attention was focused on the one person I desperately yearned for and who denied me access.
Calista.
Mergle’s voice broke through my reverie. “Within the same day, their shell withers, and their memories are sorely construed within mere moments.”
The realm was fading at a faster pace, sipping harder on the life source of newcomers the moment they stepped foot in thelabyrinth. For a time, I thought my magic was replenishing itself, like I was slowly healing from an almost fatal wound. And maybe it had. But with more and more fae crossing over, there was more sustenance for the realm to feed. Their entrance helped in the overall scheme. Our army grew, and old ones were relieved from feeding the realm for a moment, extending their life and reserving energy for what and when we did not know. But it was coming, and it was coming swiftly, if the influx of newcomers was our basis to judge by. Whomever was responsible for keeping the realm operational must have discovered something was amiss. Or someone.
I was that someone. Calista’s pendant that something.
Pensive, I waited for her to disappear and that delicious hum in my veins to vanish only to reach out through the stone so I could feel her again. But this time, it didn’t. The thrum built to a steady vibration, zinging through to the tips of my extremities and back again in an infinite loop. She was so close, I could taste her. Her frustration and helplessness coated my tongue and filled me. I wanted nothing more than to bring what ailed her to a crushing end. If only she would pick up the stone and make a wish. I could ease her troubles, and she would ease mine.
“Astaroth, are you listening to what I’m saying?”
I held my hand up to shush Mergle. It didn’t matter what he was saying. If we didn’t retrieve Calista and the stone soon, none of this would matter because we wouldn’t exist anymore. The realm would consume itself in its voracious hunger to feed. I needed to return my power so we would be prepared for what awaited us.
The slight beat of her heart told me this may be our only chance. Calista may not come this close again for a while. If I could but nudge her, tempt her to rely on me, then I could pull her over when I was ready. And we were almost ready.
I grabbed Mergle and blipped to my throne room. Torches fired to life around the room upon my entrance. He swayed when he dropped to his feet, and I took a seat on my throne. One of the mirrors lining the walls appeared in front of me, and Calista took shape within it, curled at the foot of her childhood bed.
Mergle rushed to my side. “Calista—” he began excitedly.
With a pinch of my fingers, his lips sealed shut, and he looked at me in shock as he touched his mouth unable to open it. Her head popped up at the sound of Mergle’s voice. I soaked up her beautiful, exhausted face for the first time in years as she looked around. What had she been doing to become so weary?
I reached out to connect with the stone and found it tucked within the wall. I couldn’t tempt her with it hidden away. Forming small portals, I collected the stone from inside the wall and placed it on the floor in front of her, then waited. When she took the bait, the vibrations reached a crescendo that rattled every fiber of my tapestry. Her heart raced, and her emotions spilled over.
I reveled in it.
“She took the necklace,” I breathed, relief and triumph exuded from me.
I retrieved the book hidden beneath my throne and caressed the cover. This held all of Calista’s wishes. I ran a fingertip along the roughened paper. Words appeared in a magical flourish, documenting her wish beneath the last one: the day she removed the necklace, hiding it away and nearly severing my connection to her. I closed the book and returned it to the magic drawer, sealing it away from prying eyes.
A muffled sound drew my attention, and I laughed. I waved my hand in the air, and Mergle’s lips opened. He gasped for breath and grumbled about silence being the death of him.Before he could say anything else, I felt it. A fissure on the peripheral of my magic. Another fae was entering the realm.
I spun a portal and appeared at the entrance to the labyrinth, running over the parched, sandy dirt. Ahead of me, the space ripped open as if a razor-sharp talon tore through the air itself. My magic responded in kind, spurring me to reach it and join it on the other side. A being with golden hair fell through the opening onto their knees. I leapt over them as they hit the ground, launching myself into the undulating blue waves of energy. Like always, it rejected me and repelled me backward. I shot through the air, arms and legs windmilling to right myself, and slammed onto the unforgiving ground. A poof of dirt shot up around my prone form and covered me in the grainy dust. I raised my head in time to see the portal zip closed. The top met the bottom in the middle and spun in a glorious facet of brilliance. With a pop that resonated deep inside me, the pressure changed, and it disappeared.
A curse formed on my lips, and I let my head fall back. Twilight skies embraced us from horizon to horizon. Shadows hung everywhere as if they were their own entity. Some of them were. For the millionth time, I wondered what my homeland looked like. Were their skies the brilliant blue of their portals? The Earth had beautiful blue skies like that. Darkness would soon be upon us. We needed to get them to shelter before the shadows and beasts came out to play. They enjoyed fresh blood.
Frantic, his wide, mossy green eyes flicked between me and the others as I stood to my full height. Pure terror radiated from him as he took in all of my seven feet. It brought me a mixture of satisfaction and sorrow. I straightened my clothing, brushed the dust away, and fixed my long, grayish hair back in its tie. I could fix it with a thought, but I wanted to offer him this moment—a kindness that he may not receive once he settles in here. The goblins remained still as I put on my show. The arrival of eachnew fae was a lesson learned. Some of the lessons were harder than others. This fae was skittish and already looking for a place to hide.
I relaxed my hands at my sides as my gaze traveled around the outer wall of the labyrinth and beyond. “Do not fear. You are safe here within my realm.”
My realm. I almost laughed. I claimed it only because it claimed me. The magic and energy within this place tied with my own when I was babe. Very little occurred here that I didn’t know about or could feel.
“Realm?” he stuttered. He studied the goblins around him before taking in my appearance. I could see him comparing us, weighing what he could see against what he didn’t know. “I thought it was a prison.”
I chuckled. It wasn’t funny though. “Anything can be a prison. Even freedom. It’s all an illusion.” I cocked my head to the side. “Who are you?”
His brow crinkled as he thought about what I said. “Niall.”
The effects of the realm were taking hold. I needed answers whether he was ready to give them or not. “What judgment do you carry, Niall?”
The lines deepened around his eyes. “Lies,” he whispered. His fingers dug into the fabric of his marred tunic; no doubt stained with his blood. “I carry the lies of others.” He began to grow frantic again and scurried to me on hands and knees. Dirt smears covered the fabric as he pulled on my trouser legs. “I didn’t do what they claimed! I would never go against our queen. Please believe me.”
I laid a gloved hand on his head, the golden strands of his hair a bit duller than they were when he arrived. The realm was hungrier, delving on insatiable. It used to take time to suck the magic from newcomers. Mergle was right. It was happening immediately. Like an unraveled string being tugged, the magicand our life sources were losing strength. I focused on the energy and could feel it being syphoned away from us.
