Dark Promise by Annika West

53

The pyramid shook. Stone ground and fell on itself.

It was a perfect metaphor for how I felt.

“I did what?” The words screeched from my dry throat.

My hands roved over my abdomen and the torn hole in my spy catsuit. The rip in my clothing was there.

The wound was not.

The flesh there was a little sensitive, almost as if I’d gotten a sunburn.

Nothing to scream into the abyss about.

“Holy fuckknuckles. What the hell? What the hell?!”

Somewhere in the pyramid, stones collapsed and fell.

Should I try to stand beneath them to test my immortality out? Was this real?

Hux was all business now that I was alive, and the world was crashing down around us. “It appears they didn’t intend to leave you here after all.”

The previous plan reentered my brain, and even though it took me a few seconds to refocus, I said, “Well, I still have this.” I pulled the crystal from my pocket.

He stood up, still holding me and not letting me down. “We need to leave. Now.”

The scary sounds of the pyramid falling into itself grew louder and more insistent.

Then, another worry came to me.

I could escape with the energetic realm. Easy.

Hux couldn’t.

I kicked my feet. “Let me down. I can walk, Overlord.”

To my surprise, he listened.

Suppressing a groan as I adjusted to being on my feet, I looked around. I was sore all over, but I definitely felt different.

Immortality. We’ll see about that.

The center of the room held the crystal port. Just a little hole in a small altar, made perfectly for this artifact.

I slammed the crystal into the port.

“Huh.” I propped my hands on my hips. “Feels like that should have been more dramatic.”

Hux touched my arm the moment before it activated.

The room began to vibrate and shiver.

In less than a second, the entire room ripped away from us in a gust of wind and magic. We hunkered down, Hux hovering over me protectively.

We would have been crushed if not for the epic blue dome that appeared around us. There was wind that had zero origin. Stones fell onto the shield and broke on it.

The crystal pulsed with light as the pyramid crumbled.

It was the strangest sense of déjà vu when the doorway appeared. I was taken back to the beach, where I’d first seen Adair step out into the open and invite me into Faery like it was no big deal.

But instead of seeing Faery, I saw layers of reality.

As I stared into the portal, others stared back.

Fae in silly-looking armor and scared expressions. Some, angry. Fae in robes holding swords and bows.

Instinctually, I flinched away. I really didn’t want to be stabbed.

Hux pulled me to my feet and faced the door. “Look at them. Remember the role you chose!” He had to shout over the magical tornado around us.

“Fuck that role!” I shouted. “What, do you expect me to look prestigious and queenly? I did recently dump a vase of flowers on myself in front of the Winter Lord!”

“Bear witness, Aster! That is your only job. You could wear your potato sack, and I wouldn’t say a word. You could cuss them out and insult their lineage like I know you are most capable of. As long as you bear witness to your own actions, your own choices, that is all that matters. When it comes to world-changing decisions, those who make them must acknowledge what they have caused. The good and the bad.”

I stilled. He was right.

If he could stare at the truth of his own choices with Rimini, then I could look at the dozens of fae guardians looking at me and at each other.

Chills ran across my skin. Another connection seemed to wrap around my chest and tug me.

All at once, the physics-defying places I was seeing in this portal reacted the same.

Our skin brightened with magic as if a light had turned on beneath our tissues. The doorway snapped with power, and it was an electric jolt that went straight to my chest.

Both Hux and I, along with the dozens of fae guardians, all pressed our palms to our hearts as the electricity ran through us.

They all could see my ears and my birthmark. The mixtures of surprise and anger were clear enough.

I grinned into the portal.

It wasn’t a nice grin.

It was the psycho-Aster grin.

“Welcome to Earth, motherfuckers.”

* * *

Once the doorway solidified, the images of the other fae disappeared behind a mirror-like surface.

I didn’t try to touch it in case I’d be magically transported somewhere I didn’t ask to go. See? Look at me. Making wise, mature decisions.

I was such a world savior, wasn’t I?

The blue shield dome faded after the mirror showed up. Then Hux and I took a long, hard look at the mess around us.

The pyramid was destroyed. There wasn’t anything left of it besides rubble.

Already, the world was in chaos.

The Summer and Autumn armies had been blocked in and contained, but now, they were filing through a glowing red portal large enough for a fleet of elephants to traipse through.

I pointed from our perch. “That seems illegal.”

Hux nodded. “It may be. But I imagine several fae have the power to open temporary doorways.”

My portal wasn’t disappearing, though. It was hanging out like a good little permanent gateway.

The permanence of my portals was obvious. I sensed the connection I had with the portal magic, but I wasn’t personally keeping it from collapsing. It was as stationary as a whole-ass continent.

My heart sunk.

Oh shit.

Where was the team? Willow and August? Mom and Dad?

“We need to find everyone,” I urged. “I can still… I don’t know… feel them. I’m almost positive they’re all alive.”

My instincts claimed to know this for certain, but there was no reason to build any false hope in my panic-driven heart.

“Agreed. We won’t rest until we recover them.”

Nodding, I said, “I’ll go into the energetic realm. If I find someone, can I tug on that…” I trailed off, tapping my wrist where the gold tether always pulled me.

I’d never tried to pull it back, yet. But I was pretty certain I could.

Hux frowned. The wind blew his hair in a flurry, and his throat glowed with fire.

Great. Now it was time for the, you will not leave my side, Aster, and I will drag you back to me if you —

“Yes. You can tug it when you find someone who must be transported. Promise to alert me if there is trouble. In fifteen minutes, if we haven’t discovered anyone, meet me at our starting point at the back of the armored forces. After all, we aren’t sure whether Adair made it out alive.”

I blinked.

His frown deepened. The fire still glowed in his throat.

“That’s all?”

The muscle in his jaw ticked. “Yes.”

A savage smile stretched my face. “Really? That’s all the CEO of Vulcan Corp. has to say to his mate who almost died? Just ‘be careful and meet up later’?”

Teeth clenched and brows set lower than hell itself, he replied, “I trust in your abilities.”

“Ha!” I clapped a hand over my mouth. “How hard was it to say that?”

“Please do your job before I change my mind.”

Giggling, I planted a kiss on his mouth and shifted into the energetic realm. There wasn’t any time to marvel at the mess of magic currently staining this entire area, but I went to work quickly.

I passed through the legions of soldiers, most of them relieved and tired. Several dead. Even more injured.

Wincing but unwilling to waste time steeped in guilt, I kept moving forward. Willow and August were alive, and so were my parents. I just had to find them — there!

Gasping beneath the shade of pyramid rubble were a pair of idiots I loved.

Willow was busy smearing droplets of blood across a few scratches August sustained. There were three bottles of discarded healing potion beside them, and a mess of crimson on the ground.

I snapped into reality, and to my complete happiness, August squealed.

Hand on chest, the sweetest man in the whole world squealed. What a happy day.

Shifting into invisibility, I tugged on the golden tether and held onto it as I returned to my teammates.

“What was that about?” Willow snapped. “And don’t just stand there like an idiot. Did you do it? Is the portal open?”

“Yup! Everything’s good!”

She narrowed her eyes. “You took your fucking time.”

“Sorry. I was busy downloading upgrades.”

August’s eyes widened. “Upgrades…?”

Hux came flying over a moment later, my parents in tow. Everyone but me hitched a ride on him and returned to our base camp.

But when we arrived, the next battle was already upon us. And it was much, much worse than anything I could have anticipated.

Politics.