“I’m not leaving her,” I shoot back, shaking my head. “Not with that mist creep sniffing around the house like it’s kindling.”
Nick drags a hand down his face. “Max. We’re walking into Faerie without the first clue on how to defend ourselves. And your solution is a cat carrier? How did you even manage to get her inside?”
“I…drugged her,” I say defensively.
His head jerks up. “You what?”
“I spiked her milk with a touch of sleep potion. She’s fine. Just drowsy.”
I pet Lady’s head through the mesh part of the carrier to ease my guilt.
“Isn’t it enough that I agreed to take your ghost?” Nick blinks a few times before picking up the crate holding the Spindle of the Gods. “She’s a cat, Maxie. Why don’t you just leave the door open for her?”
I serve my brother a reproachful glare and grab the lantern. The usual heat that floods me whenever I touch it mingles with the restless energy already thrumming beneath my skin.
“Yes, she’s a cat. And she’s coming.”
Without another word, I forge ahead, heading straight for the black passage. With all these nerves rattling through me, I feel almost too large for the portal.
The black, shimmering glass is not glass at all. It’s not exactly liquid either, more like the sensation of being sucked into a vacuum and immediately spit out.
A hard exhale quakes my lungs, the world around me blooming with colors and sounds, like Dorothy stepping into Oz. The happy chirps of woodland birds greet me as I squeeze past the rough bark of a crevasse that splits the trunk of a giant tree in half.
A wall of tangled roots immediately blocks my path. I set the lantern down at my feet, plant both palms against the damp branches, and shove. The roots groan and resist before slowly shifting, parting just enough for me to pass.
Beyond them, the path opens into a meadow.
Leftover shadows from the event horizon dance along my skin for a moment, hopping from spot to spot until they wane.
“By the Dark One,” I breathe softly, barely aware of the loud rustle in the roots as Nick steps out behind me.
The incredible scenery of a forest flaunting every imaginable shade of red ravishes my eyes. The woods are locked in an endless autumn that paints the canopy, branches, and trunksin strokes of scarlet, ruby, maroon, orange, yellow, crimson, sienna, and burnt umber. Cold air sweeps past my face, carrying scents that cajole lost memories out of me. Pine resin. Autumn crocus. Iron-rich earth.
My body remembers this place, even if I spent my entire adult life turning my back on it.
This is the Red Forest. My birthplace. The land that would have welcomed me if history had been kinder.
“It’s…monumental,” I whisper.
Nick slips his hand in mine and gives it a meaningful squeeze. “It’s home,” he croaks.
A tremor runs through us both.
“The Red Forest…” E whistles in awe. “Very efficient branding.”
I release Nick’s hand and thread deeper into the clearing, Lady’s soft purring mellowing the loud beats of my heart. Leaves rustle in the trees. Shadows shift on the ground, the overcast sky glowing with a pale, unearthly light, and a lump forms in my throat.
Iamhome.
The air is richer here, and vibrations tickle the soles of my feet through my boots, as though the land itself is celebrating my return.
I remember our mother breathing this same air. I picture her life before she had us, before her unsanctioned pregnancy made her a prime target for the Reds. If not for the stupid laws they invented, her life wouldn’t have ended. I might have grown up here, without having to hide, to lie, and without shame in the power coursing through me.
We came here looking for freedom, for justice, for the parts of ourselves we never found in the mortal world, but we have to be careful. The bed of fiery leaves at my feet may be beautiful,but I can’t forget that the soil beneath it swallowed my mother’s blood.
“Mabel certainly hasn’t snuck anyone out of the Red Forest through this portal in ages,” Nick breathes. “Look at this mess.”
I spin around.
