AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She might be with her family,” Liam said. “The cousins said they’d been looking for Sera. She might not have gotten back home yet if they intercepted her.”
“Or Taneisha still has her,” Emrys added. “Damn it. Sera went through that last portal alone. We don’t know for sure where it led.”
During Emrys’ quest to win back his golden scorpion, he and I had traveled into a potential future where Sera had died. As I drove, I replayed scenes from the cemetery in my mind. The conversation with her family, the tombstone, the sense of certain dread.
“Let’s not jump to worst-case scenarios. We need to talk to her family. Sera’s most likely with them,” Marcos added.
“And we should figure out how to get in touch with Taneisha,” Emrys added.
I never wanted to see Taneisha again, but if she had Sera, I’d travel to the end of the world to find her.
“Come up with some ideas. We’ll call back with an update as soon as we have a look at Sera’s place,” I said.
Caden hung up the phone. “You need to keep it together,” Caden said softly.
I gripped the wheel like a vice. “Don’t I look like I’ve got it together?” I asked, grinding out the words.
“No. No, you don’t,” he replied. I shot Caden a glare, but he wasn’t having it. “I know you’re worried about Sera. I am too. But right now she needs us to rally and figure out what’s happened to her.”
I raked a sweaty hand through my curls. “I just keep thinking about that cemetery. I was so sure afterwards, after we’d avoided the temple mummies, that we’d prevented that dire future. What if I was wrong? What if the dire future wasn’t anything about that temple? What if Sera’s in trouble and we weren’t there for her when it mattered?”
Caden gripped my shoulder. “We’ll find her, Franc. We won’t stop until we do.”
I glanced over at him. “How can you be so sure?”
“Because you’ve never given up before.” Caden looked into my eyes, like he could see right through me. “You always believe that things can turn around. You always believe there’s a solution, even when I haven’t. I learned it from you, Franc.” He rubbed my shoulder, his confidence grounding my anxiety.
I nodded as I pressed on the accelerator, unable to find the words to voice my fears. I couldn’t imagine a future together with my brothers without our mate by our side. We had to find Sera, and she had to be okay.
Elder Lore
SERA
My shield held against the attack, yet the force of it knocked me back a step, and I stumbled on the uneven ground. The gnarled old faery watched me with a satisfied smile, his skin the color of wet bark and hair like tangled vines. Moss wound around his ancient form like it’d grown there over time as a second skin, in some places hanging like fabric from his wiry form. He could have been a hundred years old or a thousand. I had no way to judge.
I didn’t have time to wonder at his intent before another barrage of silvery lines shot through the air, this time aimed at my face. I threw up my hands to block them, but they were too fast and too many. The intense heat from the attack singed my hair and my skin as they hit home.
I cried out in pain as they hit my arms, legs, and torso with rapid-fire precision. The agony was unlike anything I’d felt before; it felt like being thrust into a fire repeatedly with no hope of escape. It took me several seconds to realize that the silvery lightning had stopped hitting me. It was only then that I realized I had fallen to the ground and lay curled up in a ball, gasping for breath while clutching my arms against my sides.
When did that happen? What had happened? How could one fae cause so much pain? Had he meant to kill me?
“Pardon, I did not mean for you to suffer so much,” said the fae as he crossed the watery expanse between us, using a rough-hewn staff for support. “I would never wish you ill upon this world or any other, Sera Lowe, but it’s important for you to understand you cannot withstand my will.”
Wait…what had he just said? “How do you know my name?” I asked him suspiciously as I struggled back to my feet, testing each limb before putting weight on it to make sure nothing was damaged during his attack.
“I know many things,” he replied simply. “I know you,” he said, pointing the staff at me. “You are the one I’ve been waiting for.”
The fae’s words, although spoken softly and almost reverently, hit me like a bucket of cold water. I looked him over again, this marsh fae that very much looked like he had the skin of a willow tree, wondering what type of fae I’d stumbled upon. “What? What do you mean? How can you have been waiting for me? I don’t even know you.”
The fae looked confused by my outburst and didn’t answer right away. “In due time. Understand it is by fate’s will that we meet here, now, in this way.”
“It’s always fate this, fate that,” I muttered under my breath.
His hairy brows knit with confusion, but then he moved on. “It’s good you understand. For now, all that matters is that we are together. But first, we need to do something about those nasty burns on your skin and hair. May I heal you?”
The fae was playing games with me, but he was also offering to heal my wounds? I felt like I was dealing with Taneisha all over again! I wasn’t sure what to think about what he meant by fate bringing us together. I recognized one thing; he had the power and control to make this situation easier on me if he wanted to. So far, he hadn’t threatened me and seemed upset he’d hurt me physically.
“What if I don’t want your help? Can you force me against my will? Is that what fate dictates?”
