Home.

  It felt like home.

  I walked toward it, was drawn toward it. The further the hedges and brambles parted, the more clearly I could see it. Not Seattle, not really; but rather the inside of my apartment. I saw our crummy couch, our busted radiator, the Nirvana poster I had stuck to the wall after a piece of wallpaper tore itself clean off.

  It was all there.

  The living room, the TV, the window to the outside, and beyond it, the bar, Crash, Frankie, Rebellious Bladder. Fuck, that’s a stupid name for a band, but it’s our name. I could feel the energies at work around me, the power that made these feelings come surging out of a ball of light, the magic that linked two places in space and time.

  I didn’t like using the word magic, because it suggested a concept I couldn’t really wrap my mind around, but I didn’t have another word for what was happening.

  I approached, one of my hands starting to stretch, the light wrapping itself around my fingertips. Slowly, I thought I saw an iris form at the heart of the ball of light. That iris began to open, to bloom as so many things did in this world, and I thought I could actually smell the signature, trademark scent of my own pillows, my bedsheets, my covers.

  Kady was waiting, a smile on her face, the light dancing on her cheek, igniting the spark in her eyes. But the smile softly faded. “I’m sorry,” she said.

  I angled my head to look at her. “Sorry?” I asked, “For what?”

  “This.”

  She snaked her hand under my arm, pressed it against my chest, and it was as if she’d hit me with a hammer.

  Chapter 19

  I flew several feet back and slammed into a hedge, but it felt like I’d hit a brick wall. Pain filled me, flooded me, rushed through me. As I lay in a heap of myself on the gravelly ground, I couldn’t help but think about what it had felt like when the fat man, Vito, had struck me from a distance, without having had to touch me.

  I didn’t know Kady had that kind of power.

  I never thought she’d use it on me.

  Rell was gone. Sometime after being hit, I’d let him go. I turned my head, feeling the gravel scrape across my cheek, and there he was, on the ground on his side. The creature wasn’t moving, and his wings were a little slumped, but judging by the soft heaving of his chest, I could tell he was breathing, and that was something at least.

  “What… the hell…” I croaked.

  “I’m sorry, Avery,” Kady said. I heard her footfalls come crunching ever closer. “I can’t take you with me.”

  “Wh… why?”

  “They’ll never stop coming for me. No matter where I go, they’re always able to find me.”

  I planted my hands on the ground and tried picking myself up, but Kady flicked her wrist, and a weight fell onto my back, pinning me against the gravel, forcing the wind out of my lungs. “This is seriously messed up, Kady,” I croaked.

  “I know, and I’m sorry. I just don’t have another choice. If we both go through that portal, it’ll only be a matter of time until they figure out where I’ve gone and they come looking for me. But I have a solution.”

  “Kady, I swear, if you don’t let me get up right now—”

  “—it’s pretty genius, actually,” Kady continued, ignoring me. She took a squat before me and looked at me with genuine sadness in her eyes. Like the rest of the Fae, she was stunningly beautiful, a creature unlike anything most humans would ever be privileged enough to lay eyes on. But she was about to double-cross me, so she could suck it. “You’re going to stay here,” she said, “And I’m going to leave.”

  “How does that fix your problem?” I asked. My face was pressed against the ground, making it difficult not to sound like I had a mouth full of dirt, but I wasn’t going to keep quiet.

  “You ask too many questions. Do you know that? I’ve enjoyed being your roommate, but I’m not going to miss the questions.”

  She reached for my hair, twirled her fingers into it, and then yanked hard. I felt the sharp sting of hair being pulled. Instinct guided my hand to the patch of burning skin, but I couldn’t move. I was completely powerless.

  “Ouch!” I shrieked. “What the hell, Kady?!”

  She stood upright. Pulling up her dress slightly, she drew a small knife she had strapped to her ankle. “This will be over quickly, I promise.”

  “Are you going to kill me? Is that it?”

  “Kill you? No. You helped me when nobody else wouldn’t. I’m going to give you everything you ever wanted.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “Respect. Power. Even servants. You’re going to be able to do whatever you want for the rest of your days, and I’m going to be able to get out of this place once and for all.” She stifled a moan. Turning my eyes up as far as they could go, I saw her drag the tip of her blade through her palm. Kady then clutched tightly onto the strands of hair she’d pulled from my head, coating them in her blood. “Think about it, Avery. No more grinding for you, no more toiling away trying to make ends meet, no more hanging out at stupid bars and wasting your life away. You’ll have a purpose.”

  “Wait, wait,” I said, “What are you going to do to me?”

  Kady knelt in front of me again, giving me her blue eyes. They sparkled against the light coming off the portal as if they were jewels. I watched her work at the clasp of the choker she was wearing and pull it free from her neck. The green gems attached to it sparkled almost the same way her eyes did, and then a word rapidly entered my mind.

  Pendant.

  What had Rell said about a pendant?

  “Kady, wait,” I said, but she placed a bloody finger against my lips, and I instantly stopped talking. I tried to speak again, but I couldn’t. It was as if the muscles in my mouth were suddenly refusing to work.

  Without saying much else, Kady wrapped the choker around my neck and clicked the clasp into place. When she was done, she took her knife, cut off strands of her own hair, and placed then in my hand. I watched, motionless, unable to move or speak, as she smeared blood from her hand into my own.

  “I summon the lords of Spring,” she said, shutting her eyes, “I call upon the ancient magic of this place… to all the spirits and sprites of Arcadia, I ask of you; draw the strings of fate to me, that I may bind them to my will.”

  The wind began to kick up. I could hear it rustling against the hedges all around me, creeping past me, circling, gusting, whispering. They were talking about me again, laughing at me for being so stupid, for allowing myself to get duped like this. I had been told the Fae were all liars, untrustworthy, devious.

  Why did I think Kady would be any different?

  “Hear me, spirits,” she said, “My name is Kadeera Nightbloom, and I ask that you aid me now. Grant me your power.”

  Something was happening, though I couldn’t tell exactly what. It felt like the maze had come alive around me, but it wasn’t just the whispering or the wind anymore. There was something else now, too. I felt pressure around my ears, pressure that built up until they popped and started ringing. The heady aroma of spring itself surged into my nostrils, becoming instantly too much for me to take.

  I held my breath as the moment moved through me, as the magic of this place worked through me. I could feel it. It was a rush like an electrical current that made me vibrate and buzz all over. The whispering grew louder, and louder, and I thought I could see shapes forming in the hedges themselves; not quite like faces, but the features of faces.

  Angling my head away from Kady, I caught a glimpse of Rell starting to squirm. He turned, slowly, giving me his burning, amber eyes, and they shot wide open in an instant. Whatever he was seeing had filled him with something like panic, like horror. Shutting my own eyes, I was glad I couldn’t see whatever Kady was doing.

  The whispering reached a fever pitch, the voices rising, becoming a cacophony I couldn’t hope to understand any longer. In that moment I was sure, Kady, Rell and I weren’t alone in this small section of the maze. We were surrounded by invisible creatures, maybe even spirits, and all of them were talking about me.

  The noise died out in an instant, the sudden, sharp drop off leaving me dazed, confused, and with a ringing in my ears. There was a pause, and then Kady touched her fingertips to my throat. “Tell no one who you really are,” she said, “Tell no one what happened here. You are Kadeera Nightbloom, now.”

  Kady pulled back, and when she did, I turned my eyes up at her; and my heart could’ve stopped. Her hair wasn’t golden anymore—it was red, like mine. Her eyes, her mouth, her nose, her ears, they were all mine, and she was wearing my clothes. It was like looking into a mirror, if that mirror image could move about all on its own.

  I opened my mouth and tried to speak, to ask her what the hell she had done to me, but I found myself stuttering. “Wh—wh… wh…”

  “I’m sorry,” Kady said, “I know this is difficult for you, but I didn’t have a choice.”

  She started walking over toward Rell. I tried reaching for him, but my entire body felt like it was numb. My limbs were tingling, and they refused to move when I asked them to. I thought I could just about get my fingers to wiggle, but it wasn’t enough.

  Rell got onto his feet, took a step away from Kady, arched his back, and unfurled his wings. They looked leathery, and red, but the patterns on the wings themselves was vibrant, and colorful, and more like the wings of a butterfly, than a reptile.

  “Don’t come any closer,” Rell warned.

  “Or what, sprite?” Kady asked.

  “I’m part drake,” he snarled, flashing his sharp teeth, “On my father’s side.”

  Kady raised her hand toward him, and I felt the air get sucked right past me and go shooting off toward him. Rell tumbled over to the side, righted himself, and then opened his mouth. His throat began to glow bright orange, and for a moment I thought he was about to breathe fire onto her, but he could only generate a few spurts, a couple of sparks, and then he started coughing.

  Her hand flew to her mouth, as if to stifle her giggle. “Is that it?” she asked, “That’s disappointing.”

  “I’m a little out of practice,” Rell said, between coughs.

  “No, you’re just a sad little half-breed, aren’t you? Poor thing. I would stand here and feel sorry for you, but I really can’t.”

  “What you’ve just done is unforgivable, do you understand that? You have broken Arcadia’s laws, not to mention your own family’s.”

  “I’ve given her everything she’s ever whined about not having. She’s going to love it here, and I’m going to love it out there, away from this circus.” Kady whipped her hand toward Rell, and this time he wasn’t able to move out of the way of her magic.

  A powerful, invisible force struck him, forcing him to the ground. Groaning, he tried to get up, and so did I, but neither of us were having much luck. Kady moved around behind Rell, then she grabbed hold of one of his wings and pulled it up.

  “What are you doing?!” Rell shrieked.

  “You can’t breathe fire because you’re not a dragon,” she said, “But there is one thing you can do pretty well.”

  “No, wait, don’t!”

  Kady broke one of Rell’s wings with a sickening crunch. The little, red creature shrieked into the night, his voice shooting up and past the hedges so violently, I was sure the house had heard it. It was a sad, pained cry that made my heart instantly break, but that wasn’t all. From Rell’s body came a sudden surge of light, a shockwave that pushed outward around him, and in all directions.

  Instinct forced me to shut my eyes, but not before I caught sight of Kady dropping Rell and starting to dash. I pinched my eyes closed just as the shockwave hit me. It felt like being bathed in cold light, it electrified my skin and invigorated my muscles, freeing me from the numbing sensation that was keeping me down to the ground.

  When the shockwave passed, I hoisted myself up and turned around to find the portal Kady had uncovered, but all was dark, the portal was gone, and so was Kady.

  Chapter 20

  The maze was dark, now. There were no lights around us, and the moonlight that had guided our path earlier seemed far too weak now. Slowly, the sounds of distant chirping crickets caught my attention. The night birds and owls started singing again, and while the wind made its way back to me, it wasn’t whispering anymore.

  But something felt different. I could feel it, even if I couldn’t see it yet. The sickening crunch of Rell’s wing breaking wormed its way into my head again. I winced at the memory, and then I rushed over to the little creature lying broken on the ground. He wasn’t groaning, he wasn’t complaining—the only indication that his wing had been broken was the wing itself, which sat at a weird angle.

  “Rell,” I said, as I knelt beside him. “Are you okay?”

  “It had finally healed,” he said, sounding defeated, and small. “I was this close to being able to fly again.”

  “I’m sorry. I tried to get up and help you, but I couldn’t.”

  Rell shook his head. “There was nothing you could’ve done. This is karma for letting you carry me all the way through the maze when I was capable of walking around on my own power.”

  I cocked an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

  “What? We needed to make haste, and you’d already picked me up. I’m not too proud to allow myself to be carried.”

  I shook my head, then looked over at the dark, empty space where the portal had been a moment ago. “Do you know what happened to it?”

  Rell nodded. “She used me to destabilize it.”

  “She used your pain, you mean… that’s what it looked like to me, anyway.”

  “You’re not wrong. It’s how I broke the first portal.”

  “How is that even possible?”

  “I wish I knew the answer to that. Anyway, I should be the one apologizing.”

  “For what?”

  “That portal is gone, now. For good. There’s no getting it back open.”

  I shook my head. “Figured.”

  “And you… I mean, you look…”

  “Like her?” I pulled some of my hair around in front of my face. It was blonde, not red, and it smelled like spring flowers. Like Kady. I also noticed I was wearing the green dress she’d been wearing a moment ago, right down to the heels. “Yeah, I figured that, too. I even sound like her.”

  “It really is uncanny.”

  “Unsettling is the word I’d use. How did she do that?”

  “I wish I could tell you this was some ancient magic, not usually practiced by the Fae. But the truth is, they’re all shifty bastards and none of this is out of their wheelhouse. I did tell you they couldn’t be trusted. That included her.”

  “I just feel like such a fucking idiot. I trusted her. I really did.”

  “Moral of the story, don’t trust anyone.”

  I looked at my hands, at the warm tone of my skin, then I touched my fingers against the tips of my ears… they were pointed, and a little longer than the ears I’d had all my life. Running my tongue along my teeth, I noticed my canines also had a point of their own. I looked like one of them. I looked like one of the Fae.

  Only, I wasn’t Fae.

  I was human.

  “What are we going to do now?” Rell asked. “There’s no way Emerald Hall missed all this. The guards are probably all on their way already.”

  I turned my face up at the sky, felt the moonlight kiss my cheeks, then I balled my hands into fists. “I need to find another way out of this place,” I said, “I need to find Kady and teach that asshole a lesson.”

  “How? The portal is gone.”

  “There have to be others. This portal looks like it was hidden, a secret only Kady knew about. Besides, you said the Fae that came to find Kady in the first place used their own portal. That means they can create them, right?”

  “They can, but some serious magic is required. The kind of magic only nobles usually have access to. Not even Kady could’ve opened her own portal, which means that one was a natural gateway.”

  I turned my eyes down at Rell. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

  Rell cocked an eyebrow. “Is that another one of those human expressions?”

  I paused. “Yes… why?”

  The miniature dragon groaned. “Nothing, nothing. I guess I just have to learn to accept your people’s way of thinking, even if it is incredibly limited, oftentimes deluded, and always short-sighted.”

  I reached for Rell and went to pick him up. “So, tell me, of all the sprites-slash-drakes I’m going to meet, are you the biggest pain in the ass? Or are you all like this?”

  “I doubt if you’ll ever meet another like me. I’m one of a kind.”

  Once I had Rell in my arms, I turned around to make my way back through the maze, back the way we had come. It was the only path to take, considering the one ahead of me ended at a wall of brambles, leaves, and thorns. I hadn’t kept track of the twists and turns we’d taken to get here, so I was going to have to guess, but between the two of us, I was confident we would be able to navigate our way out of here.

  I didn’t even want to think of the alternative.

  Making the first right turn, I stopped, dead in my tracks. There was someone standing ahead of us, someone blocking our way, someone wearing all black with a bandana obscuring most of their face. My mind raced back to a moment not long ago when I thought I had seen someone, and the image in my head merged perfectly with the vision of the person standing ahead of me.

  My heart wedged itself into my throat and started beating hard and fast.

  I pulled Rell more tightly toward my chest and stared across the way at the figure in black. “Hey buddy,” I called out.

  Nothing.

  “I don’t like this,” Rell whispered.

  I scanned for another way around the person blocking our path, but the only way past them was through. The dark figure raised a hand and pointed a black-gloved finger at me. “The pendant,” came a soft, yet masculine voice.