Page 109 of Faerie Hunted

He’d never told me this part of his history. A mix of emotions flooded through me, from concern and rage to terror and gratitude that Onyx trusted me enough to share it now.

“Would you be willing to take us there?” I squeezed his fingers. “To the point where you came out?”

“Tavi.” Laina’s voice held a world of warning.

“If we really need those journals, then we have to get into the Abyss. And we have a person who has not only been there but made it out. Somehow.” I refused to take my attention away from Onyx. This was between me and him. If no one else cared to join us, then it wouldn’t matter. I’d go alone.

“Are you sure you need these books?” He asked the question to me, not the others. “Are you really sure? The Abyss…you’re right to be afraid. I smell it on you. Your fear is tangible.”

Of course he did. The more I learned about the world–theworlds, plural—the more it terrified me. It felt like every day I discovered something new, perfectly designed to kill me.

Was I sure?No.

“The spell is of the utmost importance,” Livvy answered. “It’s the only way to unlock your powers, Tavi. And without them…”

She trailed off but I didn’t need her to finish the statement. We all knew what had to happen next. A pall fell over our group, a heaviness none of us were able to shake off. We knew where we were headed next, and luckily for us, Onyx knew the way.

Or maybe it was unlucky for us.

Onyx nodded, a decisive movement at whatever he saw on my face. Nothing good.

Noneof this was good, and every step we took to try to fix our mess led us into deeper and more dangerous terrain. For once, could our escape route head into fluffy unicorn and rainbow territory?

He drew his fingers from mine and limped ahead with a sullen cast to his features. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mike watching us and silently taking in the display.

“I can lead you to the place where I came out,” Onyx said at last. “From there, it might get tricky. But I remember the location.”

“Are we close?” Bronwen asked, biting down on her lip.

Onyx huffed out a laugh. “Of course not. I’m not sure how long it will be on foot. Not to mention, time has a different meaning in the Abyss. It may be a year inside, but only a few minutes in Faerie.”

Something hard and cold dropped from my chest and burned a hole on its way through me. A future I’d never wanted and never even considered a possibility was now locked into place and a part of me desperately beat against it. One tiny me in the huge face of the D-word.

Destiny.

Do people want to be special this way? Because I sure as shit didn’t.

Or are there more of them out there like me who just want to have a life where they feel normal, with a family and friends and school? It’s tough enough to navigate those things.

Onyx closed his eyes and lifted his face to the sky, inhaling. “We need to change our course a little bit. We follow the lines of energy. They all lead back.”

But Livvy seemed to understand him. I caught a flash of her bobbing her head although the lines of worry surrounding her eyes deepened along with the furrow in her brow.

I halfway expected Laina to argue. She knew more about this land than anyone else. If the Abyss were as dangerous as Livvy made it out to be, then wouldn’t Laina put her foot down? Tell us all to forget it?

I desperately wanted us to find another way but it didn’t really matter in the end. It wasn’t what I wanted but what I needed to do, and once again I swallowed every instinct screaming at me to run.

Onyx set the course for us.

We traveled for a whole day and only stopped intermittently to rest and eat. Or when his legs gave out under a rough spasm of pain.

Laina had been right about my return to Faerie. Whatever had happened to me in the mortal world seemed to have dissipated once we stepped foot into this world, but not entirely.

I still tired out easily and had to rest more often than not. My arm burned, and occasionally the dizziness got so out of control I almost puked.

Another lucky stroke—Onyx set the pace for us and he was no longer able to travel swiftly. Not with the ravages to his body.

We kept the conversation light until even trying to talk took much more energy than any of us were willing to expend. Silence fell easily as we struggled to put one foot in front of the other.

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