Page 61 of Devastation
With that, she turns around and settles back on the ground in front of him, leaving us to enact our plans.
I pull the portal to the fae realm up with ease, and it pops into existence next to the twins and Zedd, spooking them a bit with the sudden appearance. Putting on my big girl panties, I whisper-yell, "Autobots, roll out!"
The twins and Zedd enter the portal first, and I'm quick to follow them through, with Hale bringing up the rear. Raucous laughter and voices fill the dining hall of the fae camp I spent weeks at.
"Lannie!" the soothing voice of my Grammie calls. My head whips to the right, and I hold my arms out as I run over to her, scooping her into my embrace and holding her tight.
"Oh, sweet girl. I missed you too," she coos as she rubs her hand up and down my back, soothing me. It's like she knows I'm breaking down before I do myself.
Breathing deeply in an effort to keep the tears at bay, I choke out, "I'm so glad everyone here is okay. The last time I was in this realm..." I break off, thinking of the deaths and abuse that happened to the fae in the dungeons of that horrid castle.
"Thanks to you, we have a chance to rebuild now—and to build a brighter future," she responds, with so much pride in her voice that my heart constricts, thinking of what I have to tell them now.
That the battle isn't even close to being over.
A mass of blue hair comes into view as Raven crosses in front of me, causing me to snap out of my haze of emotions and scream, “Blues Clues!”
She of course rolls her eyes at me, but I see the small smile she’s trying to hide as she stops and faces me. “Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in.”
Grammie releases me and steps to the side, chuckling, “You two play nice,” and walks away.
Right as I open my mouth to make a quip about the cat dragging in a delicacy—AKA me—I feel the knowing tug of my soul. For a moment, I think the pink strand that appears is connected to Raven, but as she notices my inspection of her, she glances down at herself to see if something is wrong with her.
“What are you staring at, you lunatic?”
Her pet names are so sweet.Not.
Pursing my lips at her, I retort, “Takes one to know one.”
“Lana! Welcome back,” the sweet voice of Noreen greets me as she pops up around Raven’s back and steps to the side.
The pink tether moves with her, and I can’t help the huge grin that takes up the width of what feels like my entire face. Noreen looks at me like I might be a lunatic as well.
“Hello, Little Queen,” I answer with a smirk.
Raven and Noreen’s mouths drop simultaneously at my greeting, causing my grin to turn into a belly laugh. “You guys should see your faces right now,” I tease.
Raven composes herself, “Wait, are you joking or not? I seriously can’t keep up with your mood swings,” she grumbles.
“Oh, I’m being totally serious. Noreen is the new queen,” I answer and wink in the direction of the younger fae, who looks like she might squeal, shit her pants, or throw up by the looks of her face.
It’s a toss up at this point as to which one she does.
I, for one, do not want to deal with shit on me again, as I’ve already done that once in this realm, so I take two steps back. Just for good measure. This is a splash zone that I donotwant to be in.
A shrill scream tears from her throat as her hands fly to her face, “No way!”
My body relaxes when I realize we’re no longer in danger from her bodily fluids.
“Yes way!” I squeal back, loving the absolute shock and joy radiating from her. “My new role as Mother Nature leaves the spot of the queen open for this realm. My soul chose yours as the new rightful queen.”
Raven chuckles, “I had a feeling this would happen.”
She looks like a proud sister, relieving me greatly that she isn’t jealous of this change. Raven had been an incredible leader for the fae in my absence, and truly I owe her so much for stepping up and training my people to defend themselves.
“You did?” Noreen asks her breathlessly, dropping her hands from her face.
“Mhm,” Raven confirms, “You just have that air about you. You've grown so much in just the past week. And I've watched you step so naturally into a role of leadership around here.”
