Page 103 of Woven Souls

“Good luck!” Billie shouts before they disappear into the woods.

“Willow!” Kwil snaps.

“The others were caught,” I tell him weakly as I try to figure out how to handle this.

Killed or tortured, isn’t that what Kwil just said would happen if we’re brought to the Elders? Now that’s the fate that awaits the other three. A wail of denial gets lodged in my throat as my hands shake.

“We have to help them, Kwil.”

Kwil says nothing as the ground shakes again. Shit, the Utikyie. They’re close. I can see the tips of their helmets coming into view over the tops of the trees.

“I don’t know what we’ll be able to do, Willow.” The pain in Kwil’s voice mirrors mine.

My thoughts race as my eyes sweep over the scene before us. The full helmet of a Utikyie emerges over the trees. Then another. A few more steps and they’ll be able to grab us with no problem. These flames won’t be a deterrent to them. If I’m going to do something, it needs to be now.

“Do you trust me?”

As the words spill out of my mouth, my power builds beneath my skin. The ground beneath us begins to gather frost, and the leaves hanging above us freeze over.

“Yes.”

“Then brace yourself.” It’s the only warning I give him as I allow Death Magic to spill out in all of its glory around us.

The flames shoot outwards, creating a larger, more intense ring of fire, killing everything in its wake. Ash plumes in small bursts as the threat of demons subsides. As the fire continues outwards, I hear the guards scream. Giving my next move all of my attention, I take a deep breath and pull up the Veil. The world around us turns gray. The air grows painfully cold to breathe. All sound becomes muted as my feet come off the ground once more. The world around us becomes slightly out of focus.

As the flames flare out, Kwil tenses by my side. “What’s going on Willow?”

The grayscale of the world darkens before I pull back a bit.

“We’re toeing the line between the Realms of the Dead and the Living,” I tell him through clenched teeth. “We can walk straight into Everlast like this without being touched.”

It’s a heavy gamble. At the campground, I threw us half through the Veil. The risk to us there was getting sucked all the way through into the Realm of the Dead. Now, however, I’ve opened the Veil just enough to hide in its darkness, but not enough to necessarily travel through. The risk to us now, traveling like this between realms, is that our spirits will feel the call to cross over or the spirits over there may be tempted to come back into this realm.

"How is this possible?”

I ignore Kwil’s question to ask, “Which way to the entrance?”

Reaching up, he takes my hand gently and pulls me in the direction we just ran from. “It’s this way.”

The Fae guards scream. Through the woods, I can see them take off. The few that linger somewhere out of sight start to fire at us. Kwil was right. Before they were firing around us, now they’re firing at us. Their bullets sail through us and the darkness they must see coming at them. Even the Utikyie aren’t able to reach us as their hands come crashing through the trees to grab for us. But while they can’t reach us like this, I can feel the rush of air as their hand goesthroughus. I let out a hysterical giggle as my heart races. That was close. I hadn’t been too sure it would work…

Kwil picks up the pace and starts to run, dragging my floating body behind him. “Willow, how are you doing this?”

“I can’t talk and focus,” I tell him as the grayness darkens once more. I pull back again to keep us closer to the Realm of the Living.

“Right, you keep us safe, and I’ll take us to the others.”

I give him a tight smile but turn my attention to the task at hand.

Chapter26

VIKTOR

Iwake with a start.

My eyes fly open, and as my vision clears, as best it can, I find myself in a dimly lit room with no windows and just a single door. It’s not overly big but very empty, which gives it the feeling of being much larger than it is. There are two Ghosts posted on either side of the door and two standing along the remaining three walls of the room. It’s cool in here, which gives me the impression we’re underground.

With my heart slamming against my ribs, I sit upright and note how my hands are bound behind me in shackles. The metal clinks as I try to pull my hands free. With a grimace, I come onto my knees and find the others nearby.

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