Magic flowed from my heart, through my arms and hands, and into the mirror. Gold and amber swirls licked like fire over my skin as the magic interacted with the mirror, mingling with the blue glow coming from the plastic case.
The power grew inside me as the portal opened. Wind swirled around me until the room disappeared and I floated in a void. Voices came from somewhere. Soft whispers. Among them was a familiar one. The cold, detached voice of Theht.
I am here. I am waiting.
I’d gotten better at tuning her out, but being in a place like this, between worlds, made it almost impossible to keep her away.
Soon, we shall destroy the world together. Deathbringer.
The wind grew stronger and faster, wrapping around me, squeezing the air from my lungs. It compressed me until I couldn’t breathe. Pain coursed through my nerve endings as the pressure weighed me down. I felt as if I’d been buried under millions of tons of sand.
I cried out, but couldn’t hear my voice over the wind. Tears leaked from my eyes. I felt their warmth on my cheeks. In a desperate attempt to survive, I focused on the magic within me, unleashing every ounce, pouring it into the portal to keep it steady.
I thought for sure I was dead when I hit the ground. I landed awkwardly, my shoulder and hips taking the brunt of the impact. My mirror, on the other hand, made a graceful landing in a pile of leaves beside me.
I lay on the ground, panting for air, staring at the faded blue sky through the patchwork of branches with budding green shoots.
“Never again,” I muttered between gasps. Next time, I would find a Viking ship and cross through an underground ocean filled with man-eating sea-snakes before using a portal. “Never. Again.”
On the bright side, at least I’d finally made it back to Faythander. The ninety-nine-cent investment into the Barbie mirror wasn’t such a bad buy after all. Gritting my teeth, I sat up, trying to ignore my aching shoulder and hip. After replacing the mirror in my bag, I stood and walked down a narrow trail. Leaves and twigs snapped under my feet as I stared around the forest. Flower buds sprouted from the tree branches, bringing a splash of color to the world. When I crested a hill, the trees thinned.
Below me, and far in the distance, the towers of the Wult keep rose above the forest. The gray stones reflected the sunlight. My heart leapt with excitement and nervousness.
Kull was most likely down there. I hadn’t seen him in four months, though I’d dreamed of him plenty. Sometimes I would wake up and think I was back in Faythander, only to remember I was on Earth without him. I thought of him constantly. Although we were engaged, we were still distant. But that was about to change. I was here now, and I would find him soon.
I descended the hill and kept my eyes on the towers. Occasionally, it was impossible to see them through the trees’ canopy, but when a clearing appeared, I spotted them once again and made my way toward the castle.
As I neared yet another clearing, I heard voices.
“—thrust forward, toward me. No, not like that. Toward me!”
I found a gap in the tree branches and looked out over the clearing. Kull and Rolf practiced swordplay in the grassy field. My heart leapt at the sight of the Wult king. He’d removed his shirt and wore only a pair of black pants. His muscles flexed as his sword clashed with Rolf’s. I stood, fixed to the spot where I stood, unable to take another step. Sunlight gleamed on his skin, highlighting the bumps and ridges of his well-defined arms, torso, and back.
It couldn’t be possible that I was engaged to him. Could it? I’d never had great luck with relationships. In fact, I’d always had really rotten luck. I had to physically pinch my arm to make sure I was actually standing here looking at the man who’d pledged his heart to me.
I waited a moment more, enjoying the view. He must have been spending a lot of time outdoors, as the sun had tanned his skin a deeper shade of bronze. His hair, which he’d pulled back into a low ponytail, had also been bleached by the sun and had grown longer. Heat welled inside me as I stood watching him. I wanted him so badly, but we’d never been intimate. Having a piece of Theht invading my consciousness had made me push him away. But was I ready now?
Theht still bothered me, and even if she wasn’t part of the picture, I knew I had other deep-rooted issues that I needed to sort out, but right now, none of it seemed to matter. Four months of solitude had done something to my head. I’d always wanted him, but the feeling had grown stronger. Resisting him now would be almost impossible.
But I would have to, because he’d informed me that he was hearkening back to the teachings of the old ways, and he wanted to do things properly—like wait to have sex until we were married.
If that was the case, then he’d better be ready to marry me soon, because I was certain I couldn’t last much longer.
I tromped out of the woods and entered the clearing. As I did, Kull and Rolf looked up.
Kull dropped the sword, his mouth slacking open.
“Olive?” he breathed. He stood, staring at me without moving.
I stopped several paces away from him. His eyes, that same glacier blue I’d seen in my dreams for the past four months, locked with mine. He crossed the distance between us and grabbed me in his arms, lifting my feet off the ground.
“It’s you?” he asked.
“Yes, of course it’s me. Who else would it be?”
His skin smelled of the sun and the calming scent of sandalwood.
