“The darkness isn’t just a part of me, like some separate entity,” I said. “Itisme.”
“As is the light, and all the shades of gray that fall between.”
“Shades of gray?” Smiling, I nudged his shoulder with mine. “Another joke?”
“Of course not. A pun, perhaps, but not a joke.”
I felt him shift before me, and then the light came back, all at once and overwhelming—stars, moon, and magic, flickering once again in my hands.
I cupped my hands before me and blew, and the magic scattered, floating away like a child’s dandelion seed wishes.
The ground rumbled, then shifted before us, the tangle of vines and brambles retreating to reveal a vast lake, black as night. Ripples cascaded across the surface.
I gasped. “Where did that come from?”
“The lake is your unconscious mind, and as such, will seek to give you clarity on that which you know to be true in the depths of your soul.”
“It’s… it’s breathtaking.”
The lake stilled, it’s surface turning glassy, mirroring the stars so clearly it was difficult to tell where the sky ended and the water began. I was mesmerized, compelled to walk down off the rise and kneel at the water’s edge.
Liam didn’t follow, but I didn’t need him to. This wasmyplace; I wasn’t afraid.
I peered into the dark water, and peace settled over me, everything inside going calm and silent. Reflected in the lake’s obsidian surface, the stars began to swirl, winking out one at a time until there was nothing but blackness.
A shape appeared in the water, unrecognizable at first, then slowly coming into focus.
A face, with haunted blue eyes framed by dark, unruly curls…
“Reva!” I gasped, reaching for her. But the instant my fingers touched the cool water, the image of her face shattered, reforming in the shape of a shadow so dark and dense it swallowed up the stars.
Terror gripped my heart and I froze, but a strange, inexplicable compulsion urged me to step into the water. To feel it. To feelhim.
Jonathan…
The name slithered into my ear, and my senses were suddenly flooded with him: His scent, like fresh-cut grass and sweat. His red hair, coarse and wavy, stiff to the touch from the gel he used to like. His voice, older now, menacing and full of hatred.
He wasn’t in the water—not physically— but I couldfeelhim all around me, threatening me. Taunting me.
I’m waiting for you, Rayanne…
The water turned as thick and heavy as tar, sucking me in deeper, dragging me down. It swallowed my legs, making it impossible to move. My chest, crushing the air from my lungs. My shoulders. My neck. My chin.
I opened my mouth to scream for Liam, but no sound came. Only Jonathan, shouting in my head.
You belong to me, Rayanne…
I took a final deep breath and held it as the lake surged, sucking me under, dragging me down to the depths.
When I find you, I will burn you…
I struggled to break free, legs scissoring through the viscous black water, my fingers reaching for the moonlight that still glimmered on the surface. Raw, hot fear threatened to eat away my insides, but I had to stay calm. To find a way out of this.
I didn’t know how it was possible, but Jonathan was here. Changing the landscape of my magical realm. Turning it against me.
If I didn’t breach the surface, I was going to die.
Still holding my breath, I forced myself to relax. I pictured my blue-green flame again, imagining it surging up inside me, then radiating outward, encasing me in a bubble of warm, pure light that lifted me up from the depths.
