“Calm before the shit-storm,” I panted. “We need to keep going.”
Haley nodded, still clasping my hand. The magic had bought us a precious few seconds, but it’d weakened us both severely, and now we stumbled awkwardly through the trees and out into the yard, pushing ourselves beyond all physical possibilities.
Everything below my waist was numb.
Sparkle and Sunshine were barking like mad, clearing a path ahead of us.
Slowly, the back deck came into view, and the sliding glass door opened, Emilio and Asher bolting out, their eyes wide with shock.
“Get back!” I shouted at them, knowing the ice-missile was already back in motion. “Move!”
They ignored me, both of them leaping off the deck and charging toward us at lightning speed. They reached us at the same time, grabbing us by our jackets and yanking us backward, half-carrying us back to the house. They practically threw us onto the deck, where Ronan and Elena were already reaching for us, hauling us in through the doorway. All four of us plus the hounds tumbled inside, and someone slammed the door shut behind us.
We all watched in horror as the white path that had been targeting us spread out, then crested, peaking as a giant wave that towered over the house.
“Everybody, duck and cover!” Elena shouted. “Away from the windows!”
Then the wave crashed. It broke upon the house, shaking it down to the foundation. Windows shattered. Shelves rattled, dishes crashed to the floor, door frames cracked under the pressure of trying to stabilize the walls.
And then, just as quickly as it had burst on the scene, the mysterious vortex was gone.
Gingerly, we all got to our feet, rounding up everyone inside and making sure no one got hurt. Miraculously, everyone was okay—just completely freaked.
Outside, as far as we could see, the entire property and the forest beyond—was encased in ice, a child’s fairytale wonderland that would’ve been beautiful if it wasn’t so absolutely deadly.
“What the hell is happening?” I asked, still panting. My heart was in my throat, hammering so hard I wasn’t sure I could even speak around it. “Is this all Darkwinter’s doing?”
“No,” Jael said. “The magic that made this is much more ancient. Much more deadly.”
“What the fuck is it?” Ronan asked.
A familiar voice echoed across the house, his ominous words sending a chill down my spine that had nothing to do with the ice palace outside.
“It seems the price of our actions in the realm has just gone up,” Liam said. “And our debtors are ever eager to collect.”
Twenty-Six
GRAY
“I’ve been banished to the material plane,” Liam said. “Delivered, in essence and body, to your doorstep. I fear my arrival is what brought about your current predicament.”
I picked a path across a sea of broken glass in the kitchen, slowly making my way over to Liam. He was in his human form, dressed in dark jeans and an olive green V-neck sweater that made his blue eyes look even more ethereal than usual. To say I was happy to see him was an understatement, despite the bad news he’d brought. Despite all the things that still lingered between us.
He’d brought Emilio back to us. And now he was here.
I pulled him in for a tight hug, my heart still pounding from the ordeal we’d all just been through. He seemed surprised by the contact, stiff in my arms, but I didn’t care. I’d missed him. Having him here… Well, it felt like the band was back together again. There was no other way to put it.
“How can the ice bomb be your fault?” I asked, pulling back to look him in the eye. “And what do you mean, you’ve been banished here? You can’t travel to the Shadowrealm?”
“In this form, I am unable to travelanywherenow, unless it’s on foot or by other normal means of transportation.” Liam lowered his eyes. “My powers have been temporarily suspended. I can still take on my raven or owl forms, but that is the extent of my magic. Even as an avian being, I must remain tethered to the material plane. I can no longer manipulate soul energies, travel to or between realms, or perform any of my sacred duties as Death. For all intents and purposes, I’m human.”
“Human?” I gasped. Liam had wanted a chance to live out the rest of his life as one of us, but something told me this wasn’t what he’d had in mind. “But if you’re here, without your powers, who is serving as Death?”
“There is none,” he replied somberly.
“But how can that be? For how long?”
“I know not. For as long as it takes the Old One to reach a decision, I suppose.”
