The drop wasn’t high, but the fear made it seem like I fell forever. I tucked into a ball and squeezed my eyes shut, bracing for impact. The air gushed out of my lungs when I hit and slightly bounced on the ground.
“Kaiden?” My eyes popped open as I scrambled to my hands and knees. Icky, cool bricks rested beneath me instead of the laminate flooring of my bathroom. “No, no, no.”
A creature bayed off in the distance. I jerked my head up and looked around the darkened corridor. Illumination from the softly glowing orbs gave just enough light for me to settle my nerves and recognize where I was.
Vines wiggled to life when I sat back on my heels and looked around. The castle towered up behind me and was quiet and mostly dark. The murder ceremony must have wrapped up and everyone was safe and sound in their homes. Everyone but me.
Why didn’t I end up on the other side of the mirror with Kaiden?
A nibble on my finger made me jerk. Bloodsuckles danced in front of me. Their little heads turned up with mouths open and ready for a treat.
“Calista,” Astaroth roared from a balcony.
My heart jumped into my throat. I couldn’t go back into that room and be trapped with him after learning the truth. I had to find Gina and get us home. I stared at the tunnel ahead of me. If I had more time, maybe I could figure out how to open that portal again and actually make it to the other side.
Hand shaking, I petted my little friends. At least I hoped they were. Astaroth told me to never enter without him, but I trusted them more at this point. “I need inside.”
Their little mouths made kissing noises, reminding me I had to pay the tithe. I hurried to the entrance that led to the tree.
Astaroth shouted my name again when he spotted me. “Don’t do it!”
I turned to him as a portal began to form in front me. Panicked, I held my arms out and told the suckles, “Take what you need and keep him out.”
Ravenous, they struck, sinking their razor-sharp teeth into my flesh as they coiled tight around my body. My knees buckled, but they caught me and shot me up into the air and over the viny path when Astaroth emerged from the portal.
I heard him command, “Bring her to me!”
But they didn’t. They carried me to the end of the path, set me on my feet, and unwound themselves from my body. I nearly cried. “Thank you.”
The suckles rubbed against me with what looked like tiny smiles on their lips.
Astaroth’s shouts put me in motion. “Keep him out as long as you can.”
As I backed up, they wove together in an intricate formation, sealing the entrance to the garden. I hoped Astaroth didn’t hurt any of them while he advanced through the tunnel. I spun around and froze.
Glowing orbs hung throughout the branches of the tree. The leaves shimmered where the light touched. It reminded me of moonlight filtering through on a fall night. The stones that matched mine twinkled at the base. It was the most magical thing I’d ever seen. What would it look like if the pixies were free to flutter around it? Would it be similar to fireflies?
Muffled shouts snapped me back to reality. I ran along the walls looking for an exit, but it was fruitless. They were as tight as the bricks that trapped me in Astaroth’s room. His voice grew closer and closer during my search until I could hear him on the other side of the barricade.
“Let me in or I will destroy every last one you.”
The vine wall protruded as he shoved against it, but they held tight. It wouldn’t be long before he made it through and forced me to return to the castle. I leaned against the backside of the tree, out of view of the entrance, and began praying for an answer or anything to keep him away so I could find a way home.
A pixie orb hung from a low branch across from me. Its little body pressed against the glass looking as desperate as I felt. I plucked it from the tree, and the branch it hung from snapped off landing at my feet.
I ran my fingertip along the curve of the glass over their little hand. “Can you help me?”
It fluttered and turned in excited circles. I wasn’t sure what that meant or how to let them out without hurting them.
Loud hissing distracted me from the pixie. I leaned to the side to see Astaroth’s knife sawing through the middle of the vine wall. The bloodsuckles writhed and tried their best to block the open holes as he fought to get through.
I returned to my hiding spot and studied the pixie. A wrinkle formed between my eyes as I tried with all my might to manipulate the orb into disappearing, but I knew, after the wall in Astaroth’s room, I wouldn’t be able to do it.
Shoulders drooping, I sagged against the tree. “I wish we could both go home.”
My pendant pulsed, then the ground around me vibrated as the other stones responded as well.
Astaroth’s fear slammed through our connection. “Calista!”
