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RHYS
ONE MONTH LATER
“What the hell are you doing, Lena?” I hiss at my sister, who is crawling on her hands and knees toward my former best friend, Archer Warren.
This entire night has been a test of my patience and I’m about to lose my shit. I kept my mouth shut, mostly, when Lena decided she was going to talk to ghosts. That alone was a challenge, because in order to do so, she needed to use her magic. Magic that we’ve always avoided until a few months ago. She acts like she has years of experience messing around with how to manipulate her powers, but she doesn’t. The only thing she has is words from books. It’s reckless and so unlike her.
Then there’s Archer. Fuck. Just thinking about him has me wanting to punch something. Or someone. Him, specifically. My best friend has been sneaking around with my sister and lying to me about it. What kind of friend lies about shit like that?
Lena reaches Archer’s feet, sitting back on her heels as she grins up at him. Her eyes are glassy and her lids droop to half-mast.
She’s high as hell.
We’re in the clearing in the Fae Woods, where a scorched circle marks the grass. Lena’s been sitting inside the damn thing for the last hour, vacillating between total quiet, laughter, and hysterical crying. Me, Archer, Ruby, Miri, Davis, and Ezra have been waiting on the edge of the circle like a bunch of helpless idiots. Watching her with our thumbs up our asses, clueless about what to do. All the while, Lena tried to use magic to talk to the dead.
“You’re so sexy. Like a giant man-tree. I wanna climb you and scrape my knees, eat up all your good parts.”
“Christ,” Archer coughs out in a half laugh.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I grit my teeth, glaring down at my twin. I’m not sure if I want to throttle her or Archer more.
Lena doesn’t even notice. She’s focused on something else. Her eyes going wide as she looks over Archer’s shoulder.
“Hey. I thought you were a ghost. What are you doing here?” Lena’s slurred words take a minute to register. Who is she talking to? Is she hallucinating? What was in that potion Miri gave her? I follow the line of her stare and grunt in surprise. There’s a woman standing at the edge of the clearing. She takes small steps toward us, tentatively leaving the cover of the woods.
There are a few lanterns set up around the circle, but the light is dim. When she steps into the clearing, revealing her face, my jaw drops in shock and my feet freeze in place.
“What the fuck?” Ruby yells, surprise lacing her words. She shuffles back and Ezra catches her, tucking her against his side. I don’t have time to question Ruby’s casual acceptance of his touch because my heart starts beating so furiously in my chest, I’m afraid I’m having a heart attack. It happened the moment my eyes locked on the woman.
She looks like Ruby, only not quite. Instead of the violet hair, it’s blonde strands that are pulled up in a messy bun on top of her head. She’s slightly thinner, as if she hasn’t had a decent meal in a while. She’s hugging her arms to herself and her shoulders hunch forward, making her seem even smaller. The shape of her eyes, the slope of her nose, the slash of her brows, they’re so much like Ruby it’s unnerving.
Lena is babbling something to Archer, and I shift my attention toward them when her hands start to disappear in his pants.
I lose it. It’s one too many things happening right now. Lena trying to figure out if our mother was murdered, Archer and Lena lying to me, Ruby’s fucking mirror image making my chest seize up and stealing my oxygen. I can’t take any more revelations. I’m at my limit.
“What the fuck is going on?” I drive my hands into my hair, not knowing where to look. At Lena and Archer, or the woman from the woods. I need to do something to stop feeling so damn helpless.
Archer it is.
I tug at Lena’s arm to get her off Archer, but she’s holding on like she’s been super glued to the asshole. Archer turns, trying to move Lena away from me, but my arm is hooked through hers and I break her free from his hold. As soon as she’s out of the way, my fist flies through the air and slams into Archer’s jaw.
I know I’m out of line, but the burning anger, the lack of control I have over every goddamn thing in my life right now, has me swinging again. Before I get another punch to connect, Archer plows into me, taking me down to the ground. My back screams at me, and fuck, I’m going to be so damn sore tomorrow.
A fist connects with my ribs, and I throw Archer off before he can get another shot in. I return the favor, ramming into Archer’s legs and knocking him onto his ass. The fight is sloppy and ugly as hell.
I swing again, but Ezra has my arms pinned before I connect and is yanking me away while Davis pulls Archer back. We’re both breathing hard, but I actually feel marginally better. Ruby makes a God-awful sound and everyone turns to gape at her.
“Can you assholes keep it together for two mother-effing minutes while we figure out what the fuck is going on?”
My eyes shoot back to the woman who looks like Ruby but is so different at the same time. Hell, Ruby is right, and those are words I never thought I’d say. This is not the time to air out my bullshit with Archer. I don’t bother looking back at Archer, but I point at him and let him know this isn’t over. Now just isn’t the time.
“Who are you?” Ruby’s face is pale as she stares at the woman. I think she might be in shock.
“I’ve been on the other side, trapped in Fairy.”
Fuck. Her voice even sounds like Ruby’s. What in the actual fuck is going on? And what did she just say?
She was in Fairy.
