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RHYS
“Tell me again why we have to go inside this godforsaken place?” Davis complains as we pull off the boards covering the entrance of the tunnel that leads to Miri’s store. He hates enclosed spaces and I’m not much of a fan of them myself.
“This place has a lot of power, and we need every ounce of help we can get to do this.” Zara replies. She doesn’t even flinch at Davis’s tone these days and pride swells in my chest.
“It is the most central point of the island,” Lena adds in, always ready to chip in with a factoid.
We’re all assembled here, the Lughnasadh festival having ended an hour earlier, without incident. Thank fuck. Archer is leading the way down the tunnels, the smell of damp earth and closed up air thick around us.
“That’s probably why someone decided to create a casting room down here. This tunnel and the room have probably been here since the original sentinels arrived. They would have found the spot where the four corners of the island were balanced and realized it was a good spot to do magic.” Lena goes on like she’s a professor lecturing her classroom.
“How the hell do you know that?” Ezra barks from the back of the line.
“Well, it’s a lot of guesswork, but based on things Zara’s told me about Fae and what I’ve read, it seems kind of obvious.”
There are a lot of snorts, and then I hear Archer murmur to my sister, “Only to your brilliant mind, Luna.”
“Don’t mind me, just puking in my mouth over here,” Ruby calls out, and there’s laughter and groans that echo around the tunnel.
“We don’t all want to be complimented by having our ass smacked and being called a bad girl, Ruby,” Archer tosses back at her.
Ruby scoffs. “I prefer dirty girl, not bad girl.”
“Fuck me, everyone shut up,” Ezra groans.
If everything goes well tonight without blowing up in our faces, I will be shocked. We’re like the reject circus. How any of us function in our day-to-day lives is amazing. Although maybe it’s only when we’re all together that our intelligence seems to drop a few points.
“Thank fuck,” Davis grumbles when we finally reach the entrance to the casting room. It’s a stone archway with symbols carved into it; a sun, moon, leaf and flower.
“Were you hiding out in here, when you first got to Wild Haven?” Archer looks at Zara. She’s helping Miri unpack a bag of stuff that we need for the magic we’re attempting.
Zara stops organizing things on top of a dusty altar and tenses up. I immediately move to her side, dropping my hand to the back of her neck to squeeze gently, letting her know she’s not alone.
Archer, Ruby, Davis, and Ezra set the battery powered lanterns we brought with us around the room. It’s not dim but the light is an almost whitish-blue and unnatural. It’s throwing off weird shadows, like there’s a filter or haze over my eyes. We just need to get this done and get the fuck out of here.
“I needed somewhere out of the cold. I stumbled upon the boarded-up entrance and made my way down here. It was away from the elements and since it was closed off, I didn’t think anyone ever came in here.”
I tug her against me, and her hands clutch at my sides as I lean down to whisper in her ear. “I hate that you were out here alone, with no place to go.”
Zara looks up at me and I don’t think I’ve ever felt anything as strongly as the emotion that’s crushing my heart.
“It was worth it.”
“Seriously, now it’s my turn to puke. Can everyone stop being so fucking sappy,” Miri groans. “Let’s do this and get out of here.”
Lena takes a notebook out of her bag and drags one of the lanterns closer to where she’s standing next to the altar. “I made some notes, but nothing’s changed from what I’ve already shared with everyone.”
“Wait, did you email directions or something, because I don’t check my email.” Ruby says, making everyone groan again.
“I mean what we discussed the last fifty times we talked about this. You do recall the conversations we’ve had about all this, correct?”
“Oh, yeah. Nothing’s changed, right?”
“No. Nothing’s changed. Just stand next to Ezra. Can the two of you hold hands without it turning into a fight to the death.”
“No promises,” they both say at the same time and then glower at each other.
“Good enough,” Lena mutters, setting her notebook down and then brushing her hands together to get the dust off. Anyone else would just wipe their hands on their pants, but even in clothing she put on to wander around in these tunnels, she still won’t get them any messier than necessary.
