“Piper—”
“I’ll keep the portal open from the other side,” I said, cutting off the vampire king. “I promise.”
The pain in the stares of those around me was evident, as was their desire to argue. But they also knew that, one way or another, a showdown with the fey royals was going to happen soon, either in our world or theirs. And with their combined power, we didn’t know how well we’d fare on our side of the veil. But with the element of surprise in their world…
Maybe, just maybe, we’d be okay.
“I love you,” I said, my gaze drifting from Knox to Merc and his brothers to Kat and Grizz and everyone else standing on the rickety bridge that I feared would collapse. “Wait for my call.”
“Piper—”
Before they could say anything to change my mind, I jumped off the railing and dove head first into the cyclone of river water. The silver flashed so bright that I had to close my eyes, diving blindly into the unknown. The air grew thicker as I plummeted toward the voices that were growing in volume, making it hard to breathe. I took one final gulp of air and held it tight in my lungs for fear that I might not get another anytime soon—possibly ever.
The world suddenly grew dark, and my eyes flew open to see the mouth in the river where the spout had originated swallow me whole. I let out a scream, my precious last breath rushing out with it. I braced myself for impact, but felt none as I slipped through the portal, the familiar disorienting feeling washing over me as I did. Instead of crashing to the ground with a thud on the other side of the veil, I landed gently on my feet, placed there by the multiple sets of hands that caught me.
I gasped for breath, the air raking down my throat like sand as I stabilized myself with my hands on my knees.
“You came,” that familiar voice said. I looked up to find Bea smiling at me. And she wasn’t alone. Witches surrounded her, crowding around us as I tried to take them all in, but their numbers were too many—far greater than the coven queen had ever let on.
“Bea—”
“Did you come alone?” she asked quickly.
“Sort of. The others are waiting on the bridge—”
“Call them down now,” she said. “You will need them to face the king and queen.”
“How do you know about—”
“I know what happened with them. I know that they plan to kill you. We can’t let that happen, which is why you need to bring the others here.”
“But the wolves—the king can control them.”
A smile as wicked as her brother’s spread wide across her face. “Not here, he can’t.”
“What do you mean, Bea?” I asked, an icy finger running down my spine. “Where’s ‘here’?”
She opened her arms wide. “Welcome to the Ether, Piper—the forgotten land of Faerie.”
I let out a frustrated breath. Of course the realm had forgotten part of itself.
Because motherfucking Faerie.
Chapter Ten
“Guys!” I screamed up at the filmy barrier above my head. The one I hoped was still open to the gorge. “Get down here fast!” I whispered to the portal to help me bring them safely—to stay open until they all arrived. When nothing responded, I began to seriously doubt my decision to jump headfirst into the portal.
“They’re coming,” Bea said, placing a comforting hand on my back.
Then sure enough, one by one, Merc, Knox, and everyone else from the bridge fell through the portal far more gracefully than I had, though it was still a bit dodgy in parts. When Foust, Jagger, Kat, and Brunton landed in a heap with Grizz not far behind, a pretty epic pile-up resulted.
Merc took in the massive stone cave-like space and the missing witches, then rushed over and scooped me up in his arms, squeezing me as though he’d never let me go—at least until Knox came up beside him and cleared his throat. I soon found myself in the embrace of the alpha of NYC, whose crushing grip was no gentler than the vampire king’s. But it was the man-bear (after he crawled off his werewolf landing pad) who took the cake. He snatched me away from Knox to engulf me in his massive arms. I could feel him assessing our surroundings as he held me, making sure no danger was looming. Twice, he growled at someone who came too near, but when I tried to see who or what it was, he just smooshed me against him.
“Okay, big guy. Need some air down here.”
Begrudgingly, he let me go.
I turned to face those that had braved the swirling vortex to land in the unknown and found them rigid and spread out in fighting formation. Before I could ask what the fuck was going on—what threat they thought was coming—I saw a small army of beings edging forward from the shadows. Beings like nothing I’d ever seen before.
Creatures of Faerie.
“Bea,” I called, doing nothing to hide the concern in my voice, “you’d better start explaining before everything pops off down here.”
“I’m not sure I can,” she said as she ambled into the no man’s land between the fey beings and our crew. “All I know is that I remember waking up here, with the other witches and these…beings.” I looked at the witches from her coven surrounding us. Somehow, they all looked no worse for the wear, which was impressive for would-be magical sacrifices. “We’ve been here since without food or water, though that doesn’t seem to matter somehow. It’s like time doesn’t matter—like everything has paused even as it continues on, if that makes any sense.”
“Sounds like Faerie,” I mumbled under my breath. “Do you remember anything else?” I asked.
Bea and the other witches merely shook their heads.
“What exactly is this place?” Merc asked, scrutinizing both it and the silent beings on the far side of the witches.
“A forgotten piece of Faerie,” she explained, “but beyond that, I don’t know.”
I took a moment to look around at the stone and rock that surrounded us, glittering with an unnatural sheen. I walked toward one of the craggy walls and drew my finger along it. The shimmering rainbow-colored stone warmed with my touch. Brightened. Pulsed.
Like it was coming alive.
The fey creatures stared at me with a wide-eyed reverence I didn’t understand but was hardly going to argue with, given that I had no idea who or what they were, why they were there, or, more importantly, what they were capable of. Instead, I focused on the hope in their eyes—the hope of the desperate who thought their savior had arrived. Pushing that possibility deep down in my mind, I withdrew my hand and retreated a step, right into Merc and Knox.
“Bea called it the Ether when I arrived.”
The second the word left my mouth, the ground began to quake beneath our feet so violently that many of those inhabiting the strange cave were tossed to the rock floor. The fey cried out in fear, clutching one another like death was imminent.
Clearly, they knew something I didn’t.
“Piper,” Bea whispered in my ear. Fear tainted her voice as well. “This place—"
“Silence, witch!” A booming voice cut her off before she could explain any further. It came from everywhere and nowhere, and the lot of us spun in circles, searching high and low for its owner. “You,” he called out. “I see you finally decided to follow my directive.”