AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The earth at the base of the tree creaked and groaned, but then split in two, revealing a descending stairway formed from dirt and moss leading down into the pitch darkness.
I raised my eyebrows. “You’re taking me to my roots?”
He nodded. “You will find the answers you seek there.”
“You know I’m not a tree, right?”
“That is of little consequence.”
“We’re in the middle of a swamp. Won’t it be all water and mud down there?”
Vedreel rolled his eyes. “Magic finds a way.”
I sighed, frustrated with his enigmatic platitudes. “What if I don’t want the answers you offer?” I asked, but Vedreel was already walking away, leaving me no choice but to follow him down the stairs.
By my mental calculations, I was exactly three missteps away from the quest Taneisha had sent me off on just a few hours ago. The Lady Alia, the manticore Miriss, and now the marsh-tree-fae Vedreel. Was this typical for faery, for the realm and inhabitants to waylay you at every step?
Yet Vedreel had hooked my curiosity with his tease about understanding things about my magic I never had. In this moment, my inquisitiveness far outweighed my fear. I had questions for this fae, and he wasn’t getting away from me.
I followed him down into the depths of the earth, descending into what felt like a crypt or tomb. What other roots could he mean? The magic within me thrummed with energy, seeming to know where we were headed and eager for answers. A flock of the glowing ball creatures swirled around us, racing ahead of us down into the depths of the earth.
As we descended further into the earth, the air became cooler and damper. When we reached the bottom of the stairwell, a new tunnel appeared before us, leading deeper into darkness. The ball creatures lit our path, and I had to wonder if Vedreel had summoned their aid.
We walked along it for some time in silence before I couldn’t resist asking more questions. “So, how long have you lived in this marsh?”
He glanced over his shoulder at me. “I am the lord of the marsh. I am its foundation, its strength, and its guardian.”
“That’s quite a title. You said you’re taking me to my roots? Why?”
He turned back around and continued walking, staff in hand. “Because you need to see them for yourself to believe them.”
I frowned, thinking over his words. Had he meant literally, or metaphorically? Either way, I didn’t like how cryptic he was being with his answers.
“I have a right to know where you’re taking me.”
He stopped short in front of me and turned around to face me again. His expression was grave as he looked me over from head to toe. He held up his hand and spread his fingers wide apart as he counted off on them one by one with each answer he gave me.
“To the center of your magic, to the source of your power. Are you ready for that? Will you trust me?”
The sudden intensity in Vedreel made my heart race faster. I nodded at him, not trusting myself to speak just yet without revealing my anxiety or excitement at what was next within reach of us all along our journey through this labyrinth of caves beneath the swampy earth here in faery.
A Question of Abduction
EMRYS
“Ican’t just stand around,” I said. I paced back and forth in front of the bar at Velvet. So much had happened that I couldn’t just wait and see what Franc and Caden found out.
In response to Franc and Marcos’ call, the place was a flurry of activity as construction workers and cleaners brought in equipment and supplies to repair what Taneisha had broken. They gave Liam, Marcos and I a wide berth, no doubt to the glowering shifters who were barely keeping control over their inner beasts. All the contractors were supes, so I didn’t worry about them seeing Liam’s and Marcos’ eyes flare yellow and green with concern for our mate. That didn’t mean we wanted to be overheard.
“Well, that’s good because we’re not going to. We need to keep all of our anxious energy in check while we wait to hear from them,” Marcos replied.
“There’s a strong possibility that Sera’s has spent time with her family since she returned home from the quests,” Liam said. “I’m not letting her out of my sight once she’s back with us for at least a week. Since I’ve been living out of town the past few years, I don’t have strong contacts with the local supe community.”
“I bet I can make a few calls,” I replied, pulling out my phone. “I have a lot of contacts, none with mages, but I bet I can find someone who knows someone.” I scrolled through numbers, wondering where I should start. “You guys have any ideas how we might get a hold of Taneisha?”
There was a heavy silence as Marcos rubbed his hand up and down the back of his neck. Liam’s frown lines grew deeper, deepening the creases on his forehead. None of us wanted to deal with the fae again; doing so would mean risking our lives. However, we had little choice but to do it; the consequences might mean risking Sera again.
Marcos put his finger to his lips, a habit he had when thinking, and said, “I wonder if we could contact Goldenbriar Academy and see if their alumni department might help us out?”
