Page 26 of Boundless

I was still trying to calm the racing of my heart when she turned her head and snapped, “Coming or what?” As if she couldn’t care less that it was the middle of the night for real, and that my dad and Fiona were in the house right behind me, sleeping.

Nobody heard, though. At least no lights came on for another moment, and I didn’t wait longer before I followed Betty into the forest.

“It’s dangerous out here at night—did that occur to you?” I muttered, though I knew she didn’t care. She never really wasafraid of anything or anyone. Betty had more balls than any person I knew. I always envied her for it.

“Pfft. You got actual magic and I’ve seen it with these eyes. A damn lion wouldn’t scare me now,” she said, waving her finger in front of her eyes.

“And if I make it?”

The silence that followed was deafening, and I wasn’t even thinking aboutactually making ittonight.

Then Betty said, “I’ll survive. Don’t you worry about me.”

I sighed. “Of course, I worry.”

The smile she gave me. “You’re not going to get out of here tonight, babe. But we can still try.”

She was absolutely right, of course. I rolled my eyes just for show, but the part of me that believed her was terrified. That part of me didn’t know what the hell to do with the knowledge that I might have to stay here another day. Maybe even longer.

What a funny little joke my life had become. Several days ago I’d been held hostage by a building, and I’d been stuck there, desperate to find my way back home.

Now that I was home, I wanted to get back to Verenthia, but I was stuck here, too.

Really fucking funny. The universe was a true comedian when it came to me.

Betty nudged my arm. “Hey, cheer up. It’s not so bad.”

“Itis!Remember the part where it hurts a lot when I try to get through?” She knew this. She kneweverythingby now, even the parts I hadn’t allowed myself to even think about yet. Not here. Not without Rune.

“Then try not to think about it,” she said, and she did walk like she couldn’t care less what was around us in the forest. It was dark, and the deeper we went, the denser the trees, the thicker the canopy over us. I had no choice but to make another light ball so we didn’t run into a tree somewhere, and I wasn’tafraid, either. I doubted any animal would want to come near me, and if fae had crossed the Aetherway and were coming our way, we’d see them. Ihoped.

“What did you do last night? Did you sneak another beer from your old man? Because I was going to but then I nearly slept on the toilet when I sat down to pee, so I figured I’d just go to bed.”

“Nope. Dad keeps those wine bottles as decoration in his bedroom,” I said. “I did some online searching for Verenthia, thought maybe I could find some kind of information.”

“Nope. Already tried that when you first left,” Betty said.

“Yep. Looks like it. I think I even posted on a social media app—not sure which.”

“No, you didn’t,” Betty said.

“No, I think I did,” I said with a flinch, the memory just coming back to me now. “I think I asked any Verenthian who saw my post to contact me or something.” Yep.That was exactly what I’d posted, and now I was cringing at the mere thought. “Ugh. I made an ass of myself, didn’t I.” I must have been way more exhausted and drunk than I first thought.

“Babe, I get notifications when you post on all platforms. You didn’t post anything anywhere,” Betty said, grinning now, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

The relief was instant, even though I was pretty sure that I typed those words and hitPostsomewhere.

“Well, fuck. I guess I imagined it.” And I’d be forever grateful that that hadn’t been real.

Betty laughed, like itwasn’tthe middle of the night, and we weren’t in the middle of a dark forest.

She was right, though. No animal and no person could get to us if they tried, but still. If we’d been in a Mysthaven forest, we’d have had no choice but to be cautious.

We’re not in Mysthaven,I reminded myself.

We were on Earth. There was no magic here. No sorcerers. Just animals—and men.

“Look who got shitfaced on less than three beers,” Betty said, laughing still.