“Kirin!” she shouts, reaching for me. “Don’t you dare!”
I reach for her in return, but no matter how hard I try, I can’t touch her. Can’t feel her silky-smooth skin or smell the intoxicating scent of her hair.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I have to go.”
Unable to bear the weight of this loss, I open my eyes.
Stevie vanishes from my mind.
Before me, Dark Judgment raises his wand and grins. His teeth are like barbed wire. When he speaks, I feel my heart turn to stone.
“By decree of the Dark One, the first son, the sole and rightful heir of magick…All who are deemed unworthy shall burn.”
Six
STEVIE
The sea coughs me up on the shoreline in an unfamiliar landscape, then hastily retreats, calm and serene once again. All around me, the broken remnants of majestic sandstone towers smolder, black smoke curling to the sky. It looks as if the whole place was set on fire.
I take a deep breath, my lungs still burning. At least I can breathe again.
I get to my feet, unsteady and a little queasy. I haven’t even begun to process what just happened when Lala washes up next to me, offering a wet but apologetic grin as she quickly rights herself.
“You are alive and unharmed,” she announces, holding her hands up in surrender as if I might just murder her. Despite her friendly demeanor, the idea is not off the table. “Bear that in mind as you allow me to explain. Now, take a few cleansing, calming breaths, and we’ll—”
“What. The hell. Was that?” Digging my fingernails into my palms to keep from throttling her, I stare the woman down, hard, my blood running so hot I don’t even feel the icy wet dress clinging to my skin.
“It was only a water spell,” she says. “To reveal what lies on your path in this realm. It was for your own good, child. To help you see.”
“And you couldn’t have mentioned that part before you knifed me and sucked me out to sea?”
“There was no time. The water was becoming unstable, unreadable.”
“So you sent me through a cosmic spin cycle? Lala, I nearly drowned!”
“But you didn’t,” she says. “Besides, the vortex itself wasn’t my doing. That was simply the dream realm’s response to my water magick. As you may have gathered, things are not quite as predictable here as they are back home.”
“Oh, I’ve gathered all right. Gathered enough tricks and manipulations to last a lifetime. So please forgive me if I’m not interested in hearing any more of your whimsical visions right now.” I heft up the heavy, wet fabric of my gown and clomp toward a rise of dry land, trying to get my bearings. “I just need to find Kirin and Baz, so unless you can help me with that, please leave.”
“You will find them, Starla.”
“I don’t even know if they made it to the dream realm.” I glance out across the landscape. The mist has dissipated, revealing deep rifts that scar the scorched earth. Jagged, smoking rocks jut out against the horizon.
“Your friends are here with you,” Lala says. “I assure you.”
This gets my attention, and I turn back to face her. “You know that for certain? Where are they?”
“The precise location I cannot see. I can only sense their nearness. They’re not far now.”
It’s the first bit of good news I’ve gotten all night—almost good enough to make up for the fact that she nearly killed me.
Keeping my smile to myself, I turn to scope out the landscape again, picking out a clear path through the maze of decimated boulders. “If they’re close, I’m pretty sure I can find them. Maybe I can do a revealing spell or something.”
“Youwillfind them.” She reaches for my arm, her touch warm but unyielding. “But you must know what the magick has revealed to me. You must know what lies ahead.”
“Ah. And there it is,” I say, my momentary hope fading away. “The other shoe.” I feel it drop to the bottom of my gut, cold and painful. I should’ve known it wouldn’t be a simple matter of finding my guys and getting the job done. Not here. Not now.
I turn back to face her, trying to keep the disappointment and frustration at bay. A calm, clear head—that’s what I need right now. Not to mention an ally, even if she is prone to dramatics.
