Page 86 of Locked

I frowned, looking at the settling dust as Kinden cranked the key. "Wait…" I said, squinting into the dust.

"We can't wait, we have to go!" Sorrel said anxiously.

"It's too late…" Rifyr muttered, frowning in the same direction I was.

"What?" They all looked in the direction I was, just in time to see the pinkish purple dust begin to swirl around and take a form.

"Oh shit…" Sorrel grunted, reaching for the door handle. "Get out of the car and scatter. Rifyr, go with Zelle, try to run."

I shook my head, squinting harder at the dust. It was so brightly colored, it almost hurt to look at it. Nothing about this was right. Nothing.

It was all a show. Overly exaggerated. A stage. A show.

I glanced around us, at the sky that had suddenly turned dark and glittered with stars.

"She's not fae," Kinden finally said, straightening up and waving his arm to cast a shield over the four of us. "And we can't run. Not yet."

"Why?" Rifyr asked, glancing around at the sky. "What--"

"She put us in a pocket," Kinden said, whistling under his breath.

"A what?" I asked. "A pocket?"

"Think of the earth like a really big purse with a set number of pockets… each pocket is a dimension, right?"

I shrugged. "I guess."

"Mother created another mini-pocket and stuck us inside."

"And faeries can't do that?" Sorrel asked.

"Nope. Faeries can't do that."

"Who can?" I asked.

"Warlocks. Ancient ones."

"Mother's a warlock?" I asked, in awe.

"Yep. Which would explain why she smelled off to us. Most warlocks are undead. Or they might as well be. The only limit to a warlock's longevity is how often they feed their demons and the physical limits of a human body."

Rifyr reached for my hand and squeezed. "Running won't do any good, then?"

"No, we won't be able to outrun her. And if we split up, our powers won't be as strong… We need to huddle up," Kinden said, reaching for the door handle. "I'll cast a shield. The closer we are, the tighter the spellwork will be…"

We all got out of the car, huddling on the opposite side of it as fushia and purple glitter began to shimmer around us.

He succeeded in making a shield, keeping us on grey asphalt instead of the glittery arcane dust that was all over the ground around us.

As the glitter shimmered, a dark form made its way over to us.

A spirit, as it seemed.

"Dearheart…" It cooed, dark eyes surveying the four of us where we stood. It sounded like nothing of this world, but with that one word, I knew exactly who it was.

Also, unless there were other beings in this pocket-verse Mother had created, there was really only one being itcouldbe, since the other four were here, myself included.

"Mother…" I said, trying not to choke on the words. The presence was oppressive. Choking.