I cupped my hand over my eyes to shield from the sun and looked to the sky. Planes with weird red flags and strange black cross-like symbols flew overhead. These weren’t like the planes I’d seen flying over Hidden Kingdom. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen planes like these. They each dropped large dark objects that exploded in flames and smoke when they hit the ground, like cannons on a pirate ship. The walls around me shook from each explosion, the cobblestones trembling under my feet. White buildings crumbled to the ground around me.
The sound of the flying cannon balls made a deafening boom. I cupped my hands over my ears trying to block it out just as relentless sounds of gun fire filled my ears. I recognized the sound from that awful war over a century ago, before the theme park ever existed. Tiny holes blasted through the wall next to me. I cursed and dove to the ground. I looked to the end of the alley to the rubble that was left of this town. I needed to find out what year this was or I needed back in that tunnel, except I didn’t see a person in sight. Dampness seeped into my bare feet yet the sky above didn’t hold a cloud. I looked down – and gasped. My hands were red. I glanced down at my feet and found the ground was also red…blood red. I was huddled in a pool of blood. And it wasn’t mine. My stomach turned.
I’d stepped out of the tunnel and right into the middle of a war.
Wait. War…blood…death was here.
The XIII Mark on my arm practically sang for attention.
I took a deep breath, then pressed my palm into the puddle of blood that still clung to the warmth of whatever body it came from. Then I pushed my magic into my hand and whispered, “Are you still here?”
Blue light flashed from the edge of the blood puddle. It rose from between the cobblestones until it towered over me and took the form of a man wearing a helmet and guns strapped to his body. He glanced left and right with wide, panicked eyes and I felt the fear rolling through him.
“Down here,” I hissed and tugged on his pant leg.
The spirit looked down and gasped. He tried to jump away from me but I had ahold of him.
I smiled. “It’s okay. I’m going to help you.”
“Y-y-you c-c-can’t. I’m d-d-dead—”
“And I can send your soul to peace.”
His face fell. He just stared at me.
I pulled my hand off of his leg and then waved for him to join me crouched behind the wall. “Come down here so no one sees us. Please?”
He crouched down and our eyes met. “Who are you?” he asked softly.
“A friend. Don’t worry, all this fear and pain will be over. I’m going to help you…” I licked my lips and glanced around. “But first, can you tell me where we are?”
“This is France, ma’am.”
France? I frowned. “What year is it?”
His eyes widened. “It’s 1944, ma’am.”
I sighed. So close. SO close. Tegan and Tennessee weren’t alive yet. Hell, their parents weren’t even alive yet. This meant I had to try again with the tunnel.
“Ma’am, I don’t know where you came from but the Nazis aren’t going to treat you nicely. You need to get out of here.” He pointed backward to his right. “The bombs should drop less that way. I can try and guide you out—”
“No.” I pressed my palm to his translucent glowing blue chest and his form solidified under my touch. I still didn’t know how I was doing this, but it felt like it was working. “Thank you for your help. Be at peace now.”
Then I pushed my magic into him. Golden glitter coiled around his body. He glowed a soft golden light and hovered off the ground. He sighed and then a huge smile spread across his face…and then he was gone.
I took a deep breath, then sprinted in the direction he’d pointed to where there was an opening between two walls. My magic was going haywire. Normally I could tell if other living creatures were nearby but with my new Mark, it appeared my magic registered spirits as living as well. So while there was no one within view of me, I felt at least a dozen eyes on me. I hated that so many lives were lost here and their spirits couldn’t pass on, I wanted to put them at rest but I didn’t know how to do that in bulk…or if I’d give myself witch’s shock in the process.
So with a heavy heart, I jumped through the opening and sped around a corner— and slid to a stop.
A dozen men in dark uniforms stood in a straight line in front of me with massive long guns pointed right at my face. They each wore that same red flag with the strange black symbol like I saw on the planes. Then it hit me. Nazis. I’d seen movies about the Nazis. I knew what kind of monsters these men were. I knew what they’d done. I knew how many innocent lives they stole. And I knew they wouldn’t lose sleep over killing me right where I stood.
My magic burned to be unleashed on these heinous monsters. But I hesitated. I heard Tegan in one ear telling me they deserved every ounce of my rage yet I also heard Tennessee in my other ear saying not to use magic in front of humans.
One of the men shouted in a harsh language I didn’t know, but then I heard their guns click.
A dozen pairs of eyes locked on me and narrowed. Fingers curled around triggers.
I summoned my magic to my palms just as a person in bright golden armor tackled the first Nazi soldier to the ground. The rest toppled like dominos. In the blink of an eye all twelve of them were sprawled on the cobblestone floor. Silver magic coiled around their bodies like they’d been caught in a spider’s web.
The smell of burning embers washed over me and butterflies danced in my stomach.
Riah.
Damn it.
STOP RESCUING ME! I AM NO DAMSEL IN DISTRESS!
He was already back on his feet, facing the Nazis with his arms raised, conducting his magic like a master puppeteer. His pale blond hair swayed in the cold breeze just a few feet in front of me. He’d just saved my life, but that didn’t erase his betrayal when it mattered the most. I spun on my toes and sprinted back into that same alley I’d been in a moment ago and then out the other side.
The ground exploded in front of me and I flew back but my wings caught me mid-air. I shook my head as the blast made my ears ring. My head throbbed, drowning out the gunfire around me – no wait. I looked to the ground below, the war was still raging on but up here their bullets could not touch me. I glanced up to the sky but there were no more planes above me. If I stayed off the ground I could get away from this mess.
I swerved around the orange flames and pillar of thick white smoke — and froze.
My stomach dropped but my wings fluttered strongly behind me.
Two rows of Seelie Knights dressed in gleaming gold armor and dripping with weapons hovered in the air in front of me. In perfect unison they unsheathed their swords…but for the first time in my life, I wasn’t afraid. I wasn’t a sixteen-year-old half-breed witch terrified to tap into my other side. I wasn’t a cursed, two-foot-tall vulnerable fairy. I wasn’t an amnesiac afraid of her own shadow because she felt it move on its own.
I had magic.
I had power.
I was Death.
And they would hear me roar.
I held my hands out to my sides and gently wiggled my fingers, summoning my magic to come out and play. Come to me. Instantly I felt electricity sparkle as my magic touched it. I didn’t look down. I knew what I’d found. A soft blue glow glistened against the bottom of my palm. Wait for me.