Just as I darted to the side, Kaylin landed on his feet in a crouch. He moved to the side next to me. Rhiannon was next, and she nearly took a nasty tumble, but Kaylin managed to catch her before she fell. She flashed me an anxious look as we waited. Within another moment, Chatter and Grieve had joined us.
“How do we get back up again?” Rhia glanced up at the swirling, nebulous, glowing clouds that covered the entrance to the portal. “And what about the trapdoor?”
Chatter shook his head. “Not to worry, I cloaked the entrance. But as for getting back up through that, I have no clue. We’ll figure it out when we come to that point.”
I moved over to examine the wall. It was glowing with the same shimmer that the other tunnel had had, only this one was brighter, warmer. I leaned my forehead against the smooth wall. Something within the glassy tile connected with me, sparking off images of summer nights, warm and delicious and filled with ice-cream cones and stargazing and dragonflies. I could almost smell the dusky summer evening riding the slipstream as Ulean swept this way and that.
Grieve joined me. “What do you feel, my love?”
I took his hand, slapped it against the wall, palm first. “Tell me what you sense, can you feel it? Can you feel Lainule’s heart? This is her private sanctuary. Can you feel the essence of summer, deep within the structure of the tile?”
He closed his eyes, took a long, deep breath. And then, as he started to shake his head, his eyes flew open and he jolted back, panting raggedly as he dropped to his knees and curled over, hiding his face with his hands. “I remember…I remember…” The pain in his voice tore me to shreds as I ran to him, knelt by him.
“Are you all right? What happened?” I wrapped my arm around his shoulders, but he shook me off.
“I…remember what it was like…what
Chatter rushed forward. “Grieve, can you hear me? You must listen to my voice. Follow my voice. Follow it home. Follow me.” His words took on a dark tone, swirling like autumn leaves, and I found myself falling into their cadence as he spoke.
Grieve snarled again, and I could see the Shadow Hunter within him, waiting for release. But he remained in control, his expression set, as he fixated on Chatter’s face. I did not speak.
“Follow my voice home, follow it back…follow the thread through the snow. Can you see the snow around you?”
As if in trance, Grieve nodded. “All around me. There is only snow, only the everlasting chill and the silver stars in her eyes. She is so cold…so terribly cold.” He shivered, but Chatter gave me a look that kept me frozen in place.
Chatter whispered to Grieve. “Follow my voice through the snow, follow it through the woodland, through the deep, dark forest. Like a golden thread it unfurls, like a golden arrow, my voice will point the way. Can you see the words on the slipstream? Can you feel them calling you?”
Exhaling slowly, Grieve’s eyes began to flutter, and I realized Chatter was hypnotizing him. Rhia and Kaylin stood by my side, frozen, waiting.
“Yes, I can see them.” Grieve’s answer was quiet, without the snarl, without emotion.
“Follow my words as they guide you through the snow.” He paused, then said, “The snow is beginning to melt, turning into a trickle of water. The trickle of water grows, turning into small rivulets, and then into small creeks, into raging streams that follow the path through the woods. See the snow vanish, feel the sun rising higher in the sky as Summer regains the land. Can you see this? Can you feel the warmth on your face as the light returns?”
“Yes, I can see it. I can feel it!” The longing in my beloved’s voice cut me to the quick. We had to find a way to break the hold Myst had on him, to clear his blood…There had to be a way to turn him back into the noble prince he once was.
“Let the light encompass you, draw you back, bring you back to your heart again, to your core, to your wolf. Let the light into your eyes, let Summer’s song fill your heart.” Chatter knelt by Grieve, and he reached out and cupped Grieve’s chin with his palm. I could see how much it cost him to watch his best friend stagger under the weight of Myst’s curse.
After a moment, Grieve took another long breath, and he looked up at Chatter. While no words were said, I clearly heard a whisper of thanks pass between them. Chatter offered Grieve his hand, and as Grieve rose, the two nodded, a private moment between them. I looked away, feeling helpless and hopeless. But then, as I leaned back against the tile, the tingle of Lainule’s heartstone echoed through me and I stood, ready to press on.
The tunnel was full of her essence. It was all around us, almost as if she, herself, were here. I turned to the others. Rather than embarrass Grieve by asking how he was, I decided to just continue.
“Ready to go?” I wasn’t sure if he’d want to take the lead or not, but Grieve and Chatter moved to the front again.
“We’re ready. Let’s go.” Chatter gave me a quiet nod.
I swept in behind him, Rhia took her place behind me, and then Kaylin at the back. As Grieve led us down the passage, away from the glowing clouds of the portal, the tiles took on a life of their own and whatever spark was within them shone through, as if we were walking through a hallway surrounded by shooting stars.
I wondered how far we’d have to go and how we’d find the heartstone. I wanted to shake the worries out of my head-I’d been too entrapped by my own thoughts lately and the constant questioning of every move I made was beginning to wear on me. Not to mention it had been a couple of days since I’d gone out in my owl form and I was beginning to realize that that was not a good thing. Once I’d unleashed my Uwilahsidhe nature, it needed to stretch its wings and fly on a regular basis.
Speaking of…I glanced back at Rhiannon. She’d seen the door. Only those with Cambyra blood could see the door. Which meant…I slipped back and took her hand.
“Lost in your thoughts?” I said as she startled, looking up at me as if she hadn’t realized I’d been there.
She nodded. “Yes, thinking…”
“About your father.”
“About my father, yes. If I am like you…we are truly twin-cousins. But I can’t help but wonder. Do you think Wrath is my father, too?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. He could be. Which would mean we truly are sisters.” I found myself hoping that was the case-Rhia was the only sister I’d ever known, and to know that we were not only cousins but sisters would be a blessing. “I hope he is.”
She smiled then. “I think I’d like that. I like Wrath.”
“I guess we’ll have to wait and see.” I squeezed her hand. “We’ll find out when we return home. If we can retrieve Lainule’s heartstone, surely she’ll tell us the truth.” But the Summer Queen’s words suddenly echoed through my mind, rushing through on a cool gust of wind.
Up ahead, Grieve suddenly stopped. The passage ended, opening into a chamber. Chatter and Grieve slowly entered, standing to the side. I dropped Rhia’s hand and walked toward the arch. As I stepped through the arch, my breath spiraled out of my body and I found myself on my knees, facing the most incomparable beauty I’d ever seen in my life.
The chamber was vast. So vast there was no telling how wide or long it was. Filled with giant dark roots of
