Page 133 of Blood that Burns
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
MAGGIE
That next morning was a flurry of activity. Law and I both overslept and missed our flight. We were able to get out on a red eye and managed to finally arrive at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport a little after ten the following morning.
We rented a basic four-door sedan and began our trek outside of the city limits.
Guilt is settling in about not looping Marina into our plans, but with all the warnings surrounding her, I felt it best to do this on the sly. My gut tells me to trust Reese, and she said Marina could not be here.
I know my sister, and she doesn’t listen to advice as easily as I do. If she knew I was running headfirst into danger, she’d insist on coming, to hell with the consequences, and that’s not something I’m going to allow.
Madame Solheim had said the gem would guide us, but she hadn’t said how. I found out when we laid out a map of Washington, scoping out the various forests.
I had no idea what I was doing, but my gut told me to call out the names and the gem would respond to the location I was meant to travel to. When I read out Olympic National Park, the stone warmed in my hand. Two hours later we were in the center of ONP, trying to determine our next move.
We followed the same routine and it led us all the way to where we are now. Standing in front of a gnarled tree on Kalaloch Beach.
The light shining through the branches illuminates the tree like a beacon.
“What do you make of this?” I ask Law, who’s been quiet for the past five minutes, staring at the exposed roots that travel down and around what looks like the mouth of a cave.
“This entire experience has been nothing less than bizarre, sunshine. I couldn’t dream of trying to guess what’s next.”
He may be at a loss, but something deep within me knows exactly what I need to do. Maybe it’s intuition. Perhaps it’s the power of the emerald continuing to lead even when I’m not asking the questions.
No. It’s none of those things.
It’s the magic of the Fae, beckoning me.
How I know this, I haven’t a clue, but that’s exactly what this is.
“We need to go inside the roots.”
“Inside the roots.” Law repeats, sounding entirely unconvinced.
“All right. If you don’t want to do it, I’ll go first.”
Law steps in front of me. “I don’t think so, sunshine. If we’re going into that dark, ominous-looking cave, I’m going first.”
He moves forward, pushing a hanging vine out of his way, and steps through, swallowed by the darkness.
“Law?” I call out, and he doesn’t respond.
“Ugh. I don’t like this,” I say to nobody in particular. God if he’s listening. The Fae if they’re bothering.
I take a deep breath, palm the stone, and ask if I’m right. It warms in my hand, so I step forward to find Law.
Electricity rushes over my body, causing all the tiny hairs to stand on end, but it only lasts for a minute before phantom hands push me from behind and I find myself in a wide-open field covered with flowers in brilliant shades of red and yellow and a random cluster of trees off to the left.
“What the fuck was that?”
I spin around at the sound of Law’s voice, jumping into his arms.
“I think we did it.”
He hugs me tight, blowing out a breath into the side of my neck. “Was that a wormhole?”
“That or a portal?” I say, looking around. All I see is miles and miles of fields, dotted with clusters of trees and carpeted in brilliant blooms. “Do you think this is the Fae kingdom?”