“Because of the mist?” Kirin asks.
“That, and it feels familiar to me.” I recall the nightmares that led me here—me in a makeshift wedding gown stained with holly berries, a bouquet of black dahlias in my hand as I stumbled out of the mist. “That darker patch at the base of the rise? I’m pretty sure that’s the holly thicket, which means the rise itself is the top of the cave system. If what Doc told me last night still holds true, that’s where they’ve got our guys.”
“So that’s where we going, then,” Baz says. “We’ll find our way into the caves, find Doc, see what we can do about Ani’s soul, and…”
He trails off, because all we’ve got is a vague plan and an even more vague hope that we can harness the magick in the Arcana objects to heal Doc and reunite Ani’s soul with his body—preferably before this version regains consciousness or gets help from his Dark masters.
A chill rises along my arms, but I fight back the urge to shiver. “Okay, guys. Last chance to eat, drink, and take a bathroom break. No more jokes, complaints, or other random commentary after this, either. From here on out, we’re in absolute stealth mode.”
Kirin gazes out through the mist. In the distance, we can just make out the flickering of its magick. “We’re walking into a trap, Stevie.”
“No,” I insist. “We’recreepinginto a trap. Creeping into a trap is… marginally safer.”
Baz laughs. “I’ll remember you said that when I have to save your ass from a Dark Arcana ambush.”
“Such confidence!” I tease, whipping my Sword from its bonds and holding it high. “MaybeI’llbe saving you, mortal.”
“Don’t.” His eyes flare with heat. “When you do those Viking warrior princess moves, all I can think about is seeing you in a little fur-trimmed leather bikini studded with—”
“Pro tip, asshole.” Kirin smacks me on the back. “Stealth mode? Doesn’t include sharing your depraved fantasies about our girl with the rest of the class.”
Baz smirks, his gaze trailing down to the sudden bulge in Kirin’s pants. “Yeah, I can see youhatemy depraved fantasies.”
“Tell you what, boys.” I put away the Sword and flash them a wicked grin. “We make it through this alive? I’ll wear whatever your barbarian little hearts, minds, dicks, and everything else desires. But seriously—no more talking.”
With that, we finish up our break, reassemble the packs and Ani, and head off into the mist.
Sixteen
STEVIE
“Whatever happens,” Kirin whispers darkly, doing his best to carry Ani through the holly thicket without hurting him, “donotgo near the Void.”
We’ve managed to get this far without alerting our enemies to our presence. But at the mere mention of the Void, the dark mist shrinks away from us, revealing a brief glimpse of the ground. The earth is stained red with crushed berries, and all around us, black dahlias bloom, choking out the once-vibrant ivy.
Goddess, even in the waking world, this place gives me the fuckingcreeps.
Somewhere in the distance, the Void exists. Awaits. Though I’ve never seen it up close, I can still hear its call.
Starla…it whispers.Wish upon a falling star… Starla…
Forcing the reminder of my mother’s prophecy from my mind, I keep moving, one foot in front of the other, hoping that on the other side of this thicket, our destination still exists.
I look up and try to spot Jareth, but it’s no use. The mist is so thick now, it may as well be midnight.
It’s another hour or so of grueling, bone-chilling hiking through mud and tangled vines before the mist finally parts before us like a curtain opening on a new act.
And there, as clear as it was in my nightmares, is the ancient, spiral-carved stone wall. Like the holly, the mistletoe that once grew wild at its base is now choked with black dahlias.
“Is there an entrance?” Baz whispers. The wall before is solid and unbroken, stretching for what seems like miles in either direction.
Assuming things work like they did in my nightmares, I press my hands to the carved spirals and wait. The magick stirs to life behind the rock, pulsing through me like a heartbeat. This time, there’s no great bellowing of the druid’s horn, but the rock still rumbles and cracks, breaking away into a makeshift doorway.
On my first visit here, the Fool emerged in the form of a baby, whom Judgment promptly ate. Thankfully, there’s no one to greet us today.
Of course it’s a fucking trap, but I’ll take whatever small blessings we can get right now.
On silent footsteps, we enter the cave, and I follow the tug of my intuition through dark and winding paths deeper into the earth. The mist follows us even here, rising waist-high in a deep cavern lit only by the flickering magick of the mist itself.
