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“When did I do it the first time?” I said.
She snorted, and her eyes drifted closed.
“She’s been holding the dimension together for over a week,” Oscar said. “No sleep at all.”
Beackon placed a hand on Juniper’s forehead and nodded. “She’s not injured, just very tired.”
I sighed in relief.
As Minnie shouted that she was calling ambulances for any who needed it, I wandered away from the crowd. With a word, I closed the portal to Free Jinx: the home I had built for myself and other lost souls where we could hide from the world that hated us, and that we were at risk of hating back.
“No more hiding,” I muttered and turned to an empty spot on the road. I had one more set of people to rescue.
Chapter 36
Itwasthesmellsthat did it.
I remembered Jag’s scent, sweet and warm like hot cider on a fall day. Moe’s was musky with a touch of saltiness that reminded me of the beach in summer, while Elliot’s was fragrant and fresh like a forest after spring rain. Ram’s smell I knew from years ago. It was rich and piney.
I remembered them all.
My magic flowed into the Astrosmos, and a ball of wind whooshed about it, spinning like a spherical tornado. The air before me tore like tissue paper. Without hesitation, I stepped through.
I landed on sand that was blue and glittery like some shit from a stupid gender reveal party. Nothingness hung heavy above, as claustrophobic as being in a coffin underground. Across from me, a giant snail snored.
Well, snail was the closest word I had for it. It was slug-shaped, but its body gleamed like stained glass in a hundred colors, and where a shell should be, a spiral galaxy swirled instead. Its snores made the ground rumble, but they couldn’t block out the sound of music. Sweet, calming music that made my skin tingle.
Jag, Elliot, and Moe’s backs were to me as they played in unison. The gold ribbons were back, connecting me to them, and something settled inside me like a restless cat curling up in bed. I paused to eye their bare asses—well, Jag and Elliot’s. Moe’s was mostly covered by his hands playing a slow beat. His pale skin was red from all his drumming, poor guy.
To their left, Ram slumped on the sand with one arm bandaged in a strip of fabric torn from his shirt. It was caked with dry blood, which made my stomach twist. Not from the sight of blood—I saw plenty of that monthly—but from worry. Actual worry. For Ram.
His other hand was raised. Purple magic sparked on fingers while matching ones danced along the edge of the nothingness like fireworks. He was keeping what little was left of this world from fully collapsing like Juniper had in Free Jinx.
And apparently, JEM was keeping that giant galactic snail asleep so it wouldn’t cause them trouble.
Though I was worried about Ram, he was holding the dimension together. He couldn’t leave until Jag, Elliot, and Moe were safely back in the real world, so I ran to my musicians first.
As I dashed in front of them, the music jerked to a stop. Their eyes were bloodshot and baggy. Clearly, they hadn’t slept much, if at all.
“Alyssa!” Jag, Elliot, and Moe shouted.
As they threw their arms around me, I laughed and clutched at their arms, their backs, and any part of them I could reach with my free hand. Jag and Elliot’s dickstruments pressed against my chest and side.
Elliot nuzzled my neck. “I missed you!” he said.
Jag squeezed me tight. “I knew you’d save us.”
“I love you,” Moe declared.
I didn’t even feel panicked or confused by his affection. I just kissed his nose because it was the closest part of him to my mouth.
Behind me, the snail groaned, and the world shook.
With his eyes widening, Elliot stepped out of my reach and started playing his dickstrument again. The dimension stilled as his lullaby-like tune calmed the creature.
I turned to the snail. It blinked eyes that were larger than I was tall.
“I’ll handle it. You three get to the portal.”
