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This is—problematic. The creature rolls, and I scream, clinging to it as best I can.
Until—sparks singe the monsters back.
Frantic, I press both hands to the thing as we go into a tailspin. My skin heats—a fever that licks at every inch of flesh until it pours from me and into the beast below me. It screeches, a horrifying, bone-chilling sound that sets in my stomach like a pile of rocks in a lake.
And then—slam.
* * *
“Dammit,”I groan as I roll onto my back. Hot sun beats down on my face, and every inch of my body aches. I suppose that’s to be expected when you fall from the damn sky.
“You all right?”
I glance up at Walter, who is just getting to his feet. “I’ll survive.”
He chuckles darkly. “More of a curse than you know, that I assure you.”
“I’m starting to see why.” I sit up then stand, and sand falls from my body to the ground. “Do those things come back to life when they die?” I ask.
“No. Why?”
“I think I killed it.”
“You did?”
“I mean. Unless it can survive being burned and slamming into the ground, maybe?”
Walter gapes at me, pride shining from his silver eyes. Pride that makes me helpless to do anything but smile. “That’s my girl.”
“Save your applause until we actually know what happened,” I warn him as I start walking. He falls into step beside me, and we close the distance between us and Faerie in silence. With the creature out of the way—if it is, in fact, dead—I’m one massive step closer to getting back to Rafferty.
A thrill that warms my body and sets the romantic in me on fire. I am just like him now. Well, almost. And being like him means we can actually be together. No threat of death keeping us apart, and once we end this war, there will be nothing in the way of him taking the throne.
King Rafferty.
Has a damn nice ring to it, and if anyone deserves that title, it’s him.
The shimmering tear comes into view just ahead. Walter and I exchange glances before linking hands and pushing through.
This time, there is little pain for me, and I emerge on the other side with nothing less than a minor earache.
“Damn, girl, you did it.”
I turn to where Walter is gesturing and take in the sight of the massive skeleton on the ground just ahead.
“What—how—I don’t understand.”
Walter sees my confusion and rests a hand on my shoulder. “Time passes differently here, my dear. That thing has been picked clean for likely a year. Maybe more.”
“No. That can’t be. If it’s been a year every time we walked—” My blood chills. “It’s been almost four years? Five? How—” Panic claws at my gut, and I focus on Rafferty. His handsome face swims into view, and I try to push my energy toward him.
The ground falls away, and my stomach plummets until I take form again, standing in a small cavern.
“Who the fuck are you?” a woman demands.
I turn and face a dark-haired woman I’ve never seen before. Freckles dot her nose and cheeks, and her dark eyes narrow on my face further. She’s dressed as though she came from my world: dark jeans, a leather jacket. With a gun trained on me, her expression is hard. “I’ll only ask one more time before I put a fucking hole in you.”
“How the crap did I get here?” I spin in a circle, searching for Wally, but he’s nowhere to be seen. My stomach twists. Did I just—did I just dematerialize?
