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At least that’s what I’ve always thought.
“There’s more to it than that,” he mumbles, shifting his weight and scratching at his brow, a strange flurry of emotions whisking down the link, some laced with pain and others laced with worry.
What’s going on with him? What isn’t he telling me?
I’m about to ask, not that I think he’ll tell me, but the snapping of branches snags my attention.
My power instantly snaps out, bolts of lightning humming across my skin as I position myself in front of Sky. East draws his power out too, rain dewing his skin as he moves up beside Sky and stares out at the trees in front of us.
“What if it’s the fey?” I hiss underneath my breath.
“We could be okay, although maybe not. It all really depends on whether or not their friends with Porter,” he replies, reminding me that I don’t know my brothers as well as I thought.
“I didn’t realize he had friends here,” I mumble, my gaze skimming the trees.
East gives a tense shrug without looking at me, his gaze fixed in the direction we heard the noise. When branches snap again, I prepare to have another problem on our hands as three figures emerge from the trees.
“What are they?” I whisper to East.
He shakes his head, squinting against the sunlight. “I’m not sure.”
I let my power charge. But as the figures get closer, I can make out their faces. Relief suddenly washes over me.
Max, Holden, and Porter.
Easton frees a breath, his arms lowering to his sides. “Man, you’re paranoia is starting to rub off on me.” He glances at me, amusement tugging at his lips, reverting back to his normal, joking self.
For right now, I’ll let him be, but make a mental note to ask him why the hell he’s been hanging out in the fey world with Porter and why he’s never mentioned it to me before. And also why he’s carrying this sadness inside him.
I cup my hands around my mouth and call out to my brothers, “Where’s Hunter?”
“He’s at the hotel,” Holden hollers back, plucking a leaf out of his hair as he hikes through the grass toward East and I. “He was preoccupied with an idea he had for fixing the altered link when we felt you guys enter this world.”
“You act as if he can’t just use his powers to fix it,” I say, my brows dipping. “But he hasn’t even tried yet, right? So how does he even know if he can?”
Holden hesitates, taking a few more steps before he says, “He did try, back when the link was first altered and Porter, Max, and him drove Sky home. He was struggling and…” He wavers his head from side to side. “He just wants to make sure he has enough power to do it before he tries it again.”
“But he can do it, right?” I ask, worry stewing through me.
What if he can’t? What if my brothers are connected to Sky forever?
Fuuuck.
“He’ll do it,” Holden promises. “Just give him some time to make sure he does it correctly, okay? If you rush him, he could mess it up.”
As much as it hurts me to do so, I know he’s right, so I nod.
The wind kicks up and blows crisped autumn leaves around us as silence sets in. That’s the thing about the fey world. At any given point in the year, all the seasons are visible, the leaves constantly flourishing and withering. While the sun may be shining right now, a rain or snowstorm could blow at any moment.
“Why are you guys even in the fey world?" I ask in an attempt to distract myself from all the problems filling up my head.
“Well, we were here to talk to someone about why Hunter is struggling to heal the link. It wasn’t supposed to take this long, though, but Camille—the faerie that’s supposed to help Hunter—wasn’t here when we showed up so it’s taken a bit longer than we hoped,” Max explains as a couple of snowflakes fall from the now cloudy sky. “But I think I should be asking you the same question since as far as I know, you guys are supposed to be in Enchantment, protecting Sky…” He slams to an abrupt halt as his gaze lands on Sky crouched behind us, wisps of darkness coiling from her like the branches above our heads. “What the hell happened?” He hurries toward us, his boots scuffing against the dirt.
Holden spots Sky then, and he rushes toward us too, closing the space between us in the snap of a lightning bolt. Porter, however, assesses the situation with his head tilted to the side and keeps his steps lazy and slow. But that’s Porter for you, hardly ever acting like he gives a shit. Honestly, if I didn’t know his story, I’d think he was a creepy fucker who liked seeing other creatures in pain.
“She found out about Brody,” I inform Max as guilt crushes my chest.
Frowning, he nudges me out of the way and crouches down in front of Sky, reaching to touch her.
