Page 28 of Boundless

Vair was there, too, all alone, probablylostagain, just like he had been before he found me in the Mercove.

And I was here, in front of the Aetherway that refused to let me through.

Fucking hell, it pissed me off.

I stood up, ignoring the weakness in my body.

“Nilah,” Betty called, and she stood up, too, came with me closer to the Aetherway.

“I’m thinking,” I told her—and I was. “There’s another Aetherway here on Earth, Bet. Helid told me about it—he said there aretwoof them on Earth, and only one in Verenthia.”

Betty paused. “Where?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask.” Because I didn’t think I’d ever need to know. Not even in my wildest imagination could I have foreseen that I’d actually get banished by a dying king.

“And you think the other one is going to let you through?” Betty wondered.

Goose bumps all over my skin.

We were standing just three feet away from the trees, and she still couldn’t even see the shimmer, but it was there. The fae lightthat hovered over my head reflected on it, and I felt its warmth. I knew exactly what it was and how it worked.

“I don’t know,” I repeated, but I did. Because it wasn’t this Aetherway that was the problem. It was the magic inked on my skin.

Then we heard the snap.

Both of us jumped around, and the light over my head moved forward without my needing to even specifically command it to.

For a second, we didn’t breathe, didn’t blink, didn’t move a single inch. The snap had come from somewhere behind us, all right, and it sounded like someone had stepped on a twig. The magic in meburnedby how quickly it cooled down the blood in my veins.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck…” Betty whispered, and I grabbed her hand absentmindedly, stepped forward and pulled her behind my back.

I was not afraid. It was an animal that had come near us—it had to be. “Who’s there?” I demanded, and I didn’t actually expect an answer.

I expected silence or the footsteps of the fox or the raccoon or whatever kind of animal had come close to retreat somewhere in the darkness, but…

Something moved right behind that same tree where I’d been sitting with Betty a moment ago. A creature no taller than four feet was standing there, half covered by darkness, half under the fae light hovering in the air over us. I saw the eyes, the hair, the skin—and the skirt made of bright pink sequins.

“No Aetherway is going to let you through, I’m afraid.”

The voice was female, soft, and she spoke with a perfect American accent.

“What the fuck.” This from Betty, and she sounded positively shocked.

Then the creature stepped forward and under the fae light so that we could see all of her with clarity. My mind stopped functioning completely for a good moment because,holy fuck, it’s a golem!

There was a golem in the woods with us.

“Hi,” she said, raising a hand with four fingers on it. “I’m Arez Valdi. It’s nice to meet you, Nilah Dune.”

My mouth opened but no words came out for much longer than I liked to admit.

The night was far from over, indeed.

nine

There wasa golem with short blonde hair dyed pink at the ends and wearing a sequin skirt standing in front of me.

I’d seen them before in Verenthia, only a few, and I could have sworn they’d all been smaller, and their clothes most definitely hadn’t had sequins on them.