“What is it?”
“We will have to part.”
I blinked at him. “What?”
“I used magic, and it gave me an aura.” He cursed some more.
I was a little confused. “Your magic is being traced?”
“Yes, I sense energy around me. I lit up like a beacon. The residue, it’s like the one you had when Luz infused you with the essence.”
I was so confused. “How does that work, anyway? You just said they sense it.”
“It used to be when magic was everywhere, you could feel a slight tingle to the air, but it was normal. Now, whenever someone uses magic, it’s like an electrical zap to whoever is close enough. It puts a target on the user until the mark fades away.”
I was starting to get anxious. I knew where he was going with this. “But Roark used while we were here, and he acted like it was no problem.”
He gave me a look. “That’s because it was Roark. I do not know if you’ve realized, but that narcissist isn’t fazed by much.”
I rolled my eyes at him and what he said clicked. “You’re leaving me?”
I was slightly ashamed at the desperate edge to my voice. Rian had been a constant recently, and although he annoyed me to no end with his straitlaced ways, he had a comforting presence.
“Yes, it should be no longer than two days. You should have already reached your friends.”
“But… but how am I going to get to them?”
He gave me a pitying look. “Rae, you’re from this world. I’m sure you know more than me.”
I looked around the dark forest, my pulse picking up. The cloudy sky not allowing the moonlight to brighten the area. Trees stretched high above and almost blocked out the sky and created a shroud of darkness that cocooned me. Brush rustled and I tensed. I squinted in its direction—on edge. What if I encountered more animals?
He sighed and closed his eyes. “Your heart is going crazy. You will do fine. You’ve accomplished so much.” He pointed over my shoulder. “Use your speed to run that way. That’s the closest way to civilization.”
He was right. I was needlessly freaking out. Plus, it wasn’t like I didn’t have super strength to defend myself. I needed to stop being a wimp.
“Okay, I’ll see you soon.” I gave him Camilla’s address.
“Whatever you do, don’t use magic. Stay safe and do nothing until I arrive, understood?”
I saluted him as he turned to go. It wasn’t like I could even access my magic. The best I’d been able to do was dip into it to control the weather. I’d gotten used to the feel of it, and it didn’t hurt when I accessed it anymore, but a very small part of me wondered what it would be like if it wasn’t stuck in me.
“By the way, your power is wicked cool,” I called after him.
“Thanks,” he said with a snort and disappeared.
I rubbed my arms. I was alone. It was something I used to be comfortable with. Hell, it was something I actively sought, but after being surrounded by so many people at the castle, I had kind of gotten used to having company.
I took a deep breath to settle my nerves before I started freaking out. Everything was going to be okay. The objective was to get to Camilla’s so I had somewhere to stay until Rian found me and we could see the goblins. Plus, we needed to figure out when the next full moon was.
I wished I knew where Annie was staying. I would have gone directly there. As soon as I got to Camilla’s house, I was borrowing a phone. Thankfully, I remembered her number. Or at least, I hoped it was the same one.
I took off with Fae speed and extended my hearing since everything around me looked the same. The faint sounds of a horn sounded, and I redirected to the left. I wondered what the girls were doing, how they were living their lives, if they’d returned to school.
School… I sighed. I’d had one measly semester before I would have graduated, but I’d gotten sucked into this mess. It had been so easy to push school down into the back of my head while surrounded by Fae and a beautiful, elaborate castle.
Unexpectedly, Lissa, Tanya, and Jen came to mind. I wondered if Jen had told them what had happened, if they’d looked for me when I disappeared.
I gritted my teeth. I needed to stop or I was going to send myself into a downward spiral that would lead to nothing good. The only positive was this sky didn’t reflect my emotions.
The bustling sounds of city life filtered in from far off. It sounded muffled as if I were listening through glass. Huffing out a breath, I picked up speed in the direction of civilization.
14
Fingering the rough edges of my ticket, I sat back and watched the large electronic board, waiting for the bright green lights to spell out which train departed to Galveston. It turned out the portal hadn’t spit us out too far from the girls.
Which was why I found myself impatiently waiting at the Dallas station as I pulled on my training and didn’t go crazy from the cacophony of sounds all around me. I’d resorted to stealing a bus pass someone had dropped, but desperate times and all that. I hoped whoever had lost it had it properly replaced.
My foot bounced up and down, and when the light finally formed the words I was waiting for, I hopped up and ambled to the slowing train as a line formed. When I was finally on, I slipped low into my seat. An older woman sat across from me, scolding someone from her end of the phone. The sassy rebuttal on the other end sounded very much like a teenager.
I eyed the device hungrily. I could call Annie now to find out where she was instead of waiting until I got to Camilla’s. Swallowing nervously, I waited until
