Page 19 of Bound Paths
“I don’t know,” Juliette replied.
Rose was still marveling over the door and its mirror in the heart of her magic. Did the similarity mean anything? There was no way the tree on Vesten property opened like the one in the heart of her magic did—was there? Juliette’s vague response brought her focus back to the conversation.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Rose cut in, narrowing her eyes at Juliette.
“What you face depends entirely on what you fear,” she replied casually.
“What we fear?” Rose echoed as her mind scattered into a million directions all at once. She feared never getting Luc back. And what the Norden fae needed of her. And not knowing how she’d improve life on the continent if they could deal with their current problems.
Juliette nodded. “You have to face your fears before you can use the portal.”
“Face our fears?” Carter asked a little skeptically. “How so?”
“The magic can be quite distressing. I believe Zrak himself set it up. If I understand it correctly, it takes the idea of secrets from the wind to a new level. It pulls distressing secrets from your mind and reflects them to the traveler.”
“I didn’t know that was possible,” Rose said.
“I don’t think even I know all of what can be done with the Osten wind,” Juliette said with a shrug. She had a point. They probably wouldn’t know all the wind could do until Zrak was back on the continent, but that didn’t make Rose any more comfortable. She peered down the staircase with trepidation. Carter rocked back and forth on his heels next to her, realizing what this would mean for them.
“When we descend, the magic will come for you both. It will play back awful thoughts, fears, memories, whatever it can find. You will need to keep going.”
“You do this every time you commune with Zrak?” Carter asked, bewildered.
“I do.” Juliette nodded. “I’ll admit, I have learned to keep my mind blank as I descend. If you give the magic nothing to work with, it has nothing to throw at you.” Her gaze rested on Rose. “I know that might be incredibly difficult for you right now, but it’s the only defense I know.”
Rose sighed, her shoulders falling. This was going to be bad. Her mind had been working double time since returning to Compass Lake. They had so much to do and only ideas of how to start. Emptying her mind seemed so far out of reach. “What happens if I can’t do that?”
“You will have to walk through the pain,” Juliette said, not unkindly. “In that case, the best news I can offer is it only takes moments once you begin, though, with the attack on your mind,it will feel longer. Keep moving, keep taking steps—it’s the best advice I can offer. You’ll eventually hit the portal and land in the caves.”
Rose looked at Carter. He shrugged. “We don’t have another option.”
She moved first, leading the group down the stairs. If this was going to be awful, she wanted to get it over with. Carter followed, and Juliette told Lela to stay at Osten house as she closed the door, taking the final position behind them.
Rose supposed Carter was right—they didn’t have another option—and her pull to Luc was stronger than whatever fears her mind could conjure. This challenge was a small price to get him back and save the continent. Though these seemed innocent enough thoughts, the wind struck as it found its mark.
Luc was never returning.
She would find him too late.
Tara still slept beneath a mist-plague-coated Bury.
Rose realized what she’d done as the wind whipped at her mind. She took a breath, refusing to focus on what could go wrong. Another breath and an image of the future—the balanced continent she fought for.
Rose and Luc together at Compass Lake. They left Suden house hand in hand and walked through Vesten property to Norden house where Tara waited.
She would will this future into existence if she had to. She took another step. Another strong gust pushed at her mind. She shook it off.
Another step down into the darkness. She pushed her shoulders back, readying herself. The wind whooshed around her, searching for an opening in her defenses.
It was a summer day on Norden beach. Rose and Luc sprawled on the sand. Their hair was wet and disheveled from a recent swim. Laughter echoed through her mind as their limbsentangled. He rolled over, his hands propping his full weight just above her. Her fingers twined in the hair at the back of his neck as she tugged him into a scorching kiss. He pulled back as he let some of his weight settle between them, a wicked grin spreading across his features. “I’m going to take my time with you,” he said as his hand roamed the curve of her hip, the swell of her breast.
“As you should,” she replied, staring into Luc’s dark brown eyes.
Then he was gone.
A dark, empty room was before her. It was familiar—one of the many in Norden house. It was cold—so cold—but it was hers. This was her room. A room she’d spent hundreds, thousands of nights in just like this.
Alone.
