Page 102 of Woven Souls

I don’t believe him, but for now, I can’t worry about his feelings. We’re kind of fighting for our lives here.

Another round of bullets goes flying, and the demons that surround us start dropping. One by one they go down. Their whines sound awfully like the cry of a dog in pain. I hate it and try to think of anything else.

“Give up and come with us, intruders!” someone yells. “Our Elders wish to speak with you.”

I look over my shoulder at Kwil. “What do you think?”

“I think that’s a load of shit,” Kwil answers loud enough for any of the Fae nearby to hear. “Elders don’t talk, they kill or torture.”

“Torture? That could be our fate if we’re caught?” I huff. “I wish I’d knownthatbefore we jumped into this mess. Maybe we could have done things a bit differently.”

Kwil’s laughter has a bite to it. “Oh, yeah? Like what?”

I shrug. “I don’t know, maybe just summoned Theo’s father and asked him about any activity the Fae are responsible for when it comes to the Third Realm and the Realm of the Dead.”

There is a short pause as more bullets sprinkle the ground just outside our protective barrier.

“If our king had been sane, that plan may have worked. But since he wasn’t, who knows what his spirit would have told us?” Kwil admits when the bullets stop flying. “Besides, we need physical proof, or no one would believe us once we tried to alert someone.”

“Who are we going to alert, Kwil? We hadn’t gotten that far into planning, remember?” I throw up my hands in exasperation.

“Or your dad could do something—”

“We’re not talking about him right now.” I make sure he sees the glare I shoot him out of the corner of my eyes.

“Right, sorry.”

“Willow!”

I jump at the sound of a new voice. The two elderly Fae spirits appear on the other side of the barrier.

“Your friends are in trouble!” Eli yells.

The blood drains from my face. “What happened?”

“Who are you talking to?” Kwil asks. “Please tell me it’s the spirits from earlier telling us we’re clear to run.”

I ignore him.

“They got to their destination but were surrounded by guards being led by an Elder and knocked out. They’re being taken to the Brotherhood’s Temple,” Brillie shouts over the roar of the flames.

“Oh, no….” The breath is knocked out of me.

Theo, Viktor, and Jonah are in trouble. What are we going to do? We didn’t plan for this. They were supposed to slip in and out undetected. Even if they ran into trouble, I was sure they’d be able to handle it.

“Willow, talk to me,” Kwil growls as more bullets start flying.

A lone bullet flies just over our head and hits a nearby tree.

“How long ago was this?” Even as I ask the question, I scold myself. Spirits can’t sense time.

As if to confirm this, both spirits shrug.

“It can’t have been that long ago,” Eli offers with a frown. “We came straight here once they were drugged.”

I nod. “Thank you, you two.”

Both spirits nod eagerly.