AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"I don't care if you're a woman or not. You're not welcome here, so go before I make you go."
Suddenly, the silver doors began to sizzle with electricity and Macey jumped back. She turned to Amber who had her hands outstretched, pointing towards the entrance.
"Amber, what's wrong?"
"It's my magic. They're using my magic. It's like they're copying it and then using it for their own purpose. It's not draining me, but it's really uncomfortable."
When Izban heard that, he put an arm around Amber, pressing her close. She gave him a small smile, but she kept her hands outstretched as if she was trying to defend herself.
"Stop hurting my friend!" Macey shouted at the doors, anger bubbling up in her. All she'd wanted was to talk to the sìth. Weren't they supposed to be the nice ones? Or had they accidentally landed in the Unseelie Court, where the not-so-nice sìth lived?
"Shhh, over here!" someone whispered from their left. It took Macey a moment to see the woman who was pressed against the cloudy wall of the building. She almost seemed to be part of the cloud herself: her white hair blended in perfectly with her surroundings and her pale skin made an ideal camouflage. She was thin as a wisp and looked as if the slightest gust of air could blow her away. Was that a fairy?
"They won't talk to you but I know who will," the woman whispered. "Come with me."
Macey looked at the other Wardens. Was it safe to trust this sìth? Or was this a trick intended to get rid of them?
Amber shrugged. "I really want to get away from these doors, so let's see what she has to say."
Even though Amber had said that the magic wasn't draining her, her cheeks had lost a bit of colour. Yes, getting away from here sounded like a good idea.
"Let's follow her," Macey decided and ignored the doubtful looks her men were giving her. She was beginning to like the idea that the women in the queendom were in charge. Maybe it was contagious, maybe that's why she was suddenly feeling like it was best for her to make all the decisions. Of course, she'd felt like that before, but now she was actually acting on it.
With one last wistful look at the closed silver doors, she walked towards the woman who was impatiently waiting for them. Now that they were closer, it was obvious that the woman was a little older than them. Well, in looks at least. Macey was well aware that her men were older than they looked, but this woman seemed in her mid-thirties perhaps, not twenties like herself and the rest of the Wardens. Amber was the youngest at eighteen, and she didn't know how old Izban was. Maybe the same age as Macey?
But then, who cared. Age was just a number.
"Who are you?" Macey asked, but the woman just shook her head.
"Later, follow me and be quick about it."
Without further warning, she ran off, keeping close to the buildings on their right, the woman blending into the cloudy walls. Macey and the other Wardens had to stand out like dark spots on white linen. Everything here was so bright, so ethereal. It was beautiful and pure, but after her first encounter with the closed doors and the weird magic copying thing, she didn't trust the innocent looks of everything around them. Just like Cam had said, loo
ks may be deceiving in this place.
The woman floated, which was unsurprising really, given her appearance, and was moving surprisingly quickly. Even so, the Wardens managed to keep pace, though it was growing more and more difficult. The last time Macey had slept, she'd been in captivity. The same went for Amber. The men didn't look as fresh as they could be either. It was a good job they all had the superior strength of being more than human to keep themselves going, or they'd probably be dead.
Maybe they all should be anyway. They'd been through a lot, and had several narrow escapes, none of which had left them completely whole. Mental torture took its toll too. And while Macey knew her and Amber had their own issues from the captivity to deal with, she was sure the men were suffering similarly for being away from them.
"You know, I'm kind of getting tired of blindly following people I don't know," Flint chuntered.
Macey didn't say anything. She could either agree with him, and risk turning their current host against them, or she could lie and tell him she wasn't fed up of that exact thing. Ever since she'd met her men, she'd been thrust into the position of being around people she didn't know. She was just lucky a lot of them had become her friends. More so than had become her enemies. Thankfully.
As far as she was aware, there was just the Voice who was actually against them. Though knowing her luck, there'd be someone else along the way. Not to mention, someone could betray them at any moment. Cat-man hadn't been all that friendly towards her, she reckoned he could be turned against her still.
"It's just for a little longer," Cam consoled him.
"We have a time limit?" Macey blurted, without mulling it over in her head.
She looked over her shoulder, and the guilty look on Cam's face said it all.
"I-"
"Why the fuck didn't you tell me?" she demanded.
"We didn't know until we went to see Malan again. Before that, we just thought we were going up against how sick the Staran were getting. But he..."
"How long have we got?" Amber asked, her voice soft and instantly calming the tensions rising between them all.
