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“You can’t just say something like that and walk away, but I suppose that’s what you’re best at. Walking away from responsibility.”
The muscles of Jack’s jawline visibly tighten. My taunt worked. He’s on the verge of telling me everything.
“Why do you believe you’re the reason Boris is my father? Tell me!”
“Because it’s my blood that saved his life and allowed him to be able to touch you.”
I gasp. “What do you mean your blood? How? When?”
Jack lets out an irritated sigh as he realizes he let me goad him into revealing the truth.
“The night Mable hit Boris over the head when he tried to steal the Queen’s Circlet is the night Boris became immune to your poison. Fae blood, when administered in time, can heal humans. Since the poison in my blood was taken out before I came to the world to be a scout, I was able to use it to heal Boris. He has immunity from your poison because of me.”
Finally, an explanation. One I’ve waited my whole life to hear.
“We thought it was the power of love that made him immune to me,” I say, “but it was you.”
“It doesn’t make the love you have for one another any less magical. In fact, it makes it even more special. You don’t know what I would give to go back in time to do things differently, Ivy, but that would rob you of the connection you have with Boris. In my eyes, that would be an even worse crime.”
I don’t know what to say, so I say nothing at all.
“Why don’t you find a comfortable spot to rest,” Jack suggests. “I’ll find a way to start a fire.”
Jack walks back into the grove of short trees. Once he’s out of sight, my weariness returns.
I practically collapse on the ground near a large bush and look up at the sky, pondering the crack and wondering why it’s there. It’s obvious that something major has happened in the real world, the one the fae control, but what?
A small tremor shakes the ground, causing me to sit straight up. The crack in the sky begins to grow longer. When it stops, the world stops shaking.
“What is going on?” I whisper to myself. At least I think I’m alone until I hear the rustling of leaves and see a black wolf walk out. He stares straight at me with no fear. He’s a wolf of Midnight, but where did he come from? And then it dawns on me. We’re not alone out here in the Barrens. There are others.
“Alek?” I ask. “Is that you?”
The wolf sits on his haunches in front of me.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” I say, “or you’re at least one of his men from the ship. I was told you escaped the prison and came out here to find the cure for yourself.”
Still, the wolf simply watches and waits for me to continue.
“I need your help.” My voice cracks, mirroring the ache in my heart and the helplessness I feel. I point to the blocked entrance of the cave. “Everyone I love is trapped inside that cave. Please, Alek, I need you and your men to help me move the rocks out of the way and save them. I don’t often beg, but I’m begging you now. Can you put aside all our differences for a little while and help me save them?”
Alek, or at least I think it’s Alek, turns his head toward the mountain. When he looks back at me, I have no idea what he’s thinking. He lifts his snout and howls at the sky. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what he’s asking.
“I don’t exactly know what the crack in the sky is.” It’s not a lie. I don’t know for sure, but Jack already warned me that I couldn’t tell anyone that we’re all living inside a sphere. Who would believe such an outlandish story anyway?
Alek stands and starts to stride back in the direction he came from.
“Alek!” Desperation forces me to follow him. “Alek, stop!”
He does stop and look back at me.
“You owe me,” I declare angrily. “Help me now and I’ll forgive you for kidnapping me.”
Alek turns his head around and starts to leave again.
“Wait!” I run up to stand in front of him so he has to hear me out. “I’ll make sure Damon gives your people some of the cure.”
It’s an empty promise, but Alek doesn’t know that. No one does except for me and Jack. Emily told us that there was no more cure, but she is working on an alternative way to help everyone. I should feel bad for lying to Alek, but I’ll do whatever it takes to save my family and my future.
