Without thinking, I reached up and traced my fingers over his lips. “Who are you really?” I asked him.
“I’m whoever you want me to be.”
“What does that mean?”
A ghost of a smile crossed his face. He leaned toward my ear. “May I kiss you?” he whispered.
I didn’t let him wait for my answer. My lips found his, and everything except us seemed to disappear. His lips were softer than I remembered, and I couldn’t seem to get enough of him. Kissing him only made me more impatient. Running my fingers along his chest, I felt the hard ridges of his muscles. He was more intoxicating than I imagined.
Too soon, he pulled away, our breathing heavy. He pushed a strand of hair away from my eyes.
“My apologies,” he said.
“Apologies?”
“I hadn’t intended on kissing you.”
“Then what had you intended?”
“I honestly need your help removing the disc.”
I studied his face, wondering if he’d really meant what he’d said about falling in love with me, but it seemed his timing was horrible. We were about to return to Faythander and lose all our memories of each other. I wanted to be angry with him, but all I could think about was the way his lips felt on mine.
“Very well,” I said. “Shall we get this over with?”
“Yes, are you ready?”
I nodded. We both took several deep breaths, and then we dove underwater. The world transformed as water surrounded me. As sounds drifted in fluid, muffled tones, I focused on the gleaming, golden disc at the pool’s bottom and swam toward it. Maveryck reached it first, and I drew closer, I noticed the shape of a dragon had been etched into the gold.
Maveryck grabbed one edge of the disc and I grabbed the other. Straining, we lifted it off the pool’s floor, but its weight was more than expected, and I almost dropped it. We were only able to bring it to the surface by dragging and pushing it up to shallow ground.
As we emerged from the water, we pushed the disc up the shore, and then finally out of the pool. The moment the disc touched dry land, the light in the room darkened. We stood by the pool’s edge, watching as the water grew agitated, slowly churning into a whirlpool. Flashes of lightning burst from the water and thunder boomed so loudly it shook the floor, making tremors fill the room.
“What’s happening?” I called over the noise.
“We’ve unleashed the magic! That disc must have been placed there to absorb the pool’s power, but now, the cave is no longer protected.”
The room shook so badly I feared it would tear apart. Clattering noise filled my ears, so loud I worried I might go deaf. We watched the water spiral upward, creating a spout, and then reformed to make a perfect circle. No longer did we stand over a pool of water. Instead, we stared into a shimmering blue portal. Magic burst with electrical intensity around the portal’s edges.
The air quieted, filled only by an occasional spark of energy from the portal.
“Was that supposed to happen?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen a portal form like this.”
“Do you trust it?”
“I’m not sure. If it’s unstable, it could tear us apart as we try to cross worlds.”
Wonderful.
He clutched the crystal around his neck. “I’m going to see if the portal is stable. Wait here.”
He walked down the slope of the now-dry lakebed. I grabbed my knife and then glanced back at the empty hallway, adopting Maveryck’s nervous tick as I began feeling increasingly anxious. When he reached the portal, he stopped in front of it and outstretched his hand. A zap of electric energy shot out, lancing his fingers. He cursed and stepped back.
“It’s as I expected,” he called back to me. “We can’t go through it as it is. I’ll have to use the crystal’s magic to open the portal to Faythander.”
As he removed his necklace, a gray mist formed silently behind him. The wraith appeared and glided forward.
“Maveryck, behind you,” I shouted as I grabbed my knife and sprinted toward the portal. Time seemed to slow, and all I could do was watch as the wraith lashed out, preternaturally fast, and slit Maveryck’s throat.
The world stopped.
Maveryck glanced at me, his eyes wide and pleading. He tried to speak, but the cut was too deep and had likely severed his life’s vein. He clutched his neck. Blood seeped between his fingers as he fell to his knees and collapsed. If I could get to him in time and take him through the portal, he might still have a chance.
I ran toward Maveryck when the wraith blocked my path, a wicked, curved knife clutched in his hands, Maveryck’s blood staining the blade.
I lashed out. Intent on killing the beast, I aimed my knife at the monster’s heart, but he disappeared and then reappeared behind me. I spun around as he tried to slit my throat the same way he had done to Maveryck.
Dodging his attack, I rounded and plunged my blade in the beast’s ribcage. It wasn’t a killing blow, but it would slow him down. I ripped my blade from the beast’s body, making him cry out. His pupils dilated and his eyes simmered with rage. The creature lunged for me, but I feinted backward, using the time to search for his weaknesses.
It was then I noticed he held the magical staff in one hand and a knife in the other, throwing off his balance. The beast was most likely not accustomed to fighting with the staff. The wraith swung it out, trying to knock me down, but I ducked and then grabbed the wood and jerked it from the beast’s hands. I saw my opportunity as he lost his footing and stumbled, so I planted my knife an inch to the left from
