Page 156 of Wrath of the Fae

I know I’ve been completely washed and dressed. And as I lie here, smiling at my new reality of being back with them, I suddenly realise they’re arguing.

Sure, they’re whispering, but I can hear the anger and frustration in their words as they hiss and snap at one another. I don’t stir. They’ll stop if I do, and I want to know what they’re arguing about.

My eyes, or lack of them, sting and ache. It’s strange to feel like I’m waking up and opening my eyes only to see nothing. No eyes. No sight. What am I going to do? How can I fight like this? How can I protect them?

‘We know you’re awake,’ Cyrus announces. ‘We’re connected again. You’re anxious and annoyed. We can feel it.’

‘And I can hear you two are pissed off.’

As I go to sit, hands ease me up. I know it’s Reid. He sweeps my hair from my face.

‘Why are you arguing?’ Neither says a word. ‘I can feel you two looking at each other. It’s not fair. I can’t see, so you have to tell me what’s happening.’ My fingers caress Reid’s features. ‘A scowl. Shocker,’ I tease.

‘Cyrus wants to get you back to the Fae Realm as soon as possible,’ Reid confesses, taking my hand and kissing my knuckles. ‘I think we should wait until you have recovered more.’

‘That’s not why you think we should stay,’ Cyrus scoffs.

‘Why do you think we should stay?’ I push.

‘I think Cyrus and I should check on Ivan. See what his machine is doing.’

‘Play spy, he means. Whilst you’re in the state you are, and fuck knows what is going on back home. What if we die? She’ll be stuck here, Reid. Blind and alone.’

‘You can see the state of this realm, Cyrus!’ Reid snaps. ‘Raven said he’s merging this nightmare with our home. A few more cracks and that’s it. The world will be his. Besides, how the fuck do you plan on getting home? Raven’s powers aren’t exactly stable, you know. And she can’t make portals to the other realm.’

I mean… he has a point. They both do. The idea of being left here alone, unable to see, doesn’t feel great. But neither does running away.

Cyrus approaches and takes my arm. ‘We should go home and come back and kill Ivan when we have gathered an army strong enough.’

‘I agree with Cyrus,’ I tell them. ‘Besides, he needs my power to trigger the machine and make his cracks, right? I’m safer back home, where he has to wait for me to maybe use my shield. Whereas here, he can just shove me back in the arch.’

I run cold at the idea. I know they feel my dread.

I reach out my hands. They take them, and I hold them close.

‘I want to go home. Take me home?’

‘How?’ Reid demands sharply. ‘How do we get you home?’

Annoyance flickers in my heart. His annoyance, just as Cyrus’s anger appears inside me too.

‘I’m going to have to practice blocking you two out. Your emotions are strange to feel all at once.’ I reach out, feeling for their heads. ‘When I touched Ivan’s arch and connected to the power inside it, I saw these.’ I share the images of the stone structures. Hundreds of them all flash through our connected minds.

Cyrus pulls my hand away.

‘I know one of them. Well, the forest it was in any way. I don’t remember seeing a stone structure there, but I know where those trees grow. What did you just show us?’

‘The magic in those stone circles are from the beginning. An escape plan in case the Fae needed to run again. They’re connected to portals back home. Nature portals made from trees, rocks, and ice. There are hundreds all over, connecting this realm to that one.’

‘Are you certain you know where the stone circle is?’ Reid asks. ‘How far?’

‘Maybe a day if we fly. A day and a half as we’ll have to carry Raven. Or, we could portal.’

‘Portal?’ I repeat, my insides squirming at the idea.

‘If not your normal one, then make one with the markings. It worked before.’

‘Let’s try it,’ Cyrus suggests. ‘Make a portal to me.’ He walks across the room. ‘Use me as your anchor. Think of me.’

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