Page 94 of A Bargain with the Fae King

He releases me and pulls a sheathed dagger from his side. “No humans have come to harm from what we’ve discovered, but just in case.”

The blade is heavier in my hands than it looks, but it’s a comfort all the same. “Can’t be too careful.”

“Never. May I?”

I hand the blade back, and he secures it to a belt at my waist. When he’s done, he slips his hand in mine. “I’ll go with you. As far as I can.”

A good thing too because every step I take toward that shrouded hedge only increases the voice in the back of my head yelling at me to turn and run. As far as he can, turns out to be about two feet from the entrance. Riven grits his teeth and smashes his fist against the invisible barrier to no avail.

“It’s okay.” I swallow my nerves and force a tentative smile. “We knew I had to go alone, right?”

“Lia… I…”

I take a step. Other than a slight drop in temperature, nothing changes. I turn to the man at my back, kept from me by the witch’s magic.

“You do…” He trails off, staring at me in wide-eyed wonder.

He really didn’t think I could go through? I tilt my head to the side.

Riven shakes his head and the look is gone. “You can do this.”

“Yes.” I suck in a breath and bounce on my toes. Somehow, I think I can. He starts to say more, but I shake my head. “It’s okay. I’ll see you at the exit.”

Wherever the hell that is.

Before I can lose my nerve, I turn and enter the maze without a backward glance. One second more and I’d have run the other way.

It doesn’t take long to get lost. There are no markers, no signs. The perfectly manicured hedge walls reach over my head and disappear into the heavy fog above. The packed dirt of the floor is the same every path I turn down.

The worst of it, though, is the eerie quiet. No birds. No bugs. I call for Riven, and no one answers, as if I’ve stepped into a different world. I start to turn back, to try and find my way back to the entrance and come up with a different plan, when whispers tickle my ears, the words just out of reach.

Goosebumps shiver across my skin.

“Hello?” I call, turning in a tight circle. Straining. Searching.

More whispers answer. “…stone. You…”

I run in their direction, heedless of anything, as I turn one corner after another, chasing the phantom words.

“…seek it…”

“…so long…”

“…trust…”

I turn another corner.

A ghost looms between the hedges.

I scream. My boots skid on the dirt as my body locks up, nearly tumbling me forward onto the ground.

Her angular, refined face stares at me, surrounded by a halo of dark hair that drifts down around her pale shoulders as if she’s underwater. Faint bits of blue and black accent her long dress. Like a faded photograph, she lacks color. The dark green hedges visible through her translucent form have more vibrance than she does.

“It’s been so long, sister.”

I gasp as the words echo in my head, spoken…but not. “May?”

Her head tilts to the side.

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