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Now it’s the only plan I can stomach.
“Saving Hannah,” I reply, emotionless.
“Saving… what? How does that have anything to do with me?”
Silly humans.
They’re so used to their magicless world, it doesn’t even occur to them when something spectacular is happening.
It’s funny that Faith hasn’t questioned where we are. Or brought up the fact that I sucked her through a swirling window in the middle of her living room.
You’d think either of those topics would be her immediate concern.
I suppose I can’t blame her. If I were taken against my will, I might focus on the why instead of the how.
“Tell me what’s going on,” Faith demands, fear evident in her wild eyes as she stumbles alongside me on. “Where the fuck are we?”
Ah, it’s finally sinking in that she’s no longer on Earth.
“I already told you—you’re saving Hannah.”
“You’re not making any sense. Whatever you’re doing, you won’t get away with it. My father knows the chief of police. If something happens to me, he’ll hunt you down.” Her narrowed gaze shoots daggers at me as anger becomes her shield.
She no longer looks upon me with sexual intent, and I’m glad.
When I showed up at her door unannounced, she was all too willing to let me into her apartment. The fact that I had to pretend to return her attraction is bad enough.
The faked smiles. The forced friendliness. The flirtation.
Faith’s welcoming attitude quickly changed after I started forming a vortex. First, she was confused as the air became restless. Then she experienced shock when the force pulled her toward me. Quite a few profanities were shouted at me as we tumbled through the abyss between the universes, and now her survival instinct is kicking in.
Using her nails, she claws at the back of my hand to try to get me to release her.
Hissing at the sting, I give her a shake and tighten my grip. “If you could give your life in exchange for Hannah’s, would you?”
She stops her pursuit to injure me, and she wrinkles her nose. “No. Why would I do that?”
“You told me you’re very good friends,” I remind her of the short conversation we had at the fundraiser. “Bestiesis the term you used, if I recall correctly.”
“I mean, we used to be. That was a long time ago, though. We haven’t been close in years. I hardly even know her.”
“So you lied to me to make yourself sound more noble, and you came to the event to appease your own guilt,” I conclude, feeling even better about my decision to offer an exchange. “I think you’ll fit in here just fine.”
We’re getting close to the wooden door of the castle. It’s cracked and rotting, but it’s still attached by the hinges. It creaks loudly when I open it, and after I shove my guest inside, it swings shut with a loud bang.
The air is so stagnant. As still as time.
There’s no such thing as minutes, hours, or days in the Lost Land, and I feel the wrongness of it.
“This place isn’t as bad as it used to be,” I tell Faith. “At one point, the atmosphere was uninhabitable for the mind. You have no idea what it’s like for your thoughts to be a confusing jumble of nothing and everything all at once. It would feel like months were going by in just one short moment. At the same time, years could pass in a few blinks. Now, there’s an enchantment over the castle grounds, so you won’t suffer from that.”
Faith gawks at me like I’m speaking a different language. “You’re a psycho! Like, absolutely certifiable.”
I ignore her insults and point to a couple wicker chairs made from sticks. “And look, we even have new furniture.”
My reassurance gives her no comfort, and her voice becomes a shriek. “Let me go!”
“Hush. I told you, Vaeront doesn’t like needless noise.”
