Page 15

Sleepless in Valandria

I take a look around and swallow.

We’re certainly not in Kansas anymore.

It’s daytime here. Midday, I’d guess, noticing that the sun is high above us. I squint at it—it looks different, more golden, bigger.

In fact, nothing is familiar. We’re on top of a hill, bare of vegetation. The short stubby grass looks as though it’s been scorched by something, and there’s a dirty smoky stench hanging in the air. Despite the sun, there’s a dank chill that seeps through my clothes.

Down below, a forest stretches as far as the eye can see, reaching out in every direction. Nothing moves in the darkness beneath the canopy.

I turn to Khaosti. “Do you know where we are?”

He frowns. “Why would I bring you somewhere I don’t know?”

I wonder if anyone has ever told him that he can be a real pain in the ass. Probably. But did they survive? “And are you going to share?”

“We’re on the world of Valandria.”

“We’re not on Earth anymore?” Zayne’s voice sounds strained. I hope it’s merely this whole new world thing and not the mysterious side effects Sheela mentioned.

Maybe Khaosti is thinking the same because he studies Zayne, peering into his face. He’s obviously not totally alarmed by what he sees, as he gives a casual shrug. “No,” he says. “We’re not on Earth anymore. In fact, we’re not even in your universe.”

I store the other world shit at the back of my mind along with all the rest of the stuff I’ll think about later. “But why are we here?”

“Because we’re going to see the Crone and, according to my brother, this is where she lives. Or where she lived three years ago. Though why anyone would choose to live here, I don’t know. It’s barely civilized. And it’s all trees.” He looks around. “And more trees.”

I breathe deeply. “It has a… bad feel.”

“Hopefully that’s because we’re close to the mirror. That’s often the case.”

“Why?”

“No one knows.” Then his eyes narrow on me, as though I’ve said something interesting. “Do you often get a feel for places?”

“Why?”

“Because I’m trying to get a feel for what you might be.”

The words don’t make a lot of sense; I suppose it’s just his way of trying to get to know me. “I do get a feel for places and people,” I say. “But my therapist said it might be my brain compensating for all the things it doesn’t know by assigning meaning where it doesn’t necessarily exist.” Though I don’t believe that because my feelings are invariably right. I remember the first time I walked into Lissa and Pete’s house. Ugh!

He looks like he’s going to say something more, but then he shrugs. “Let’s get moving,” he says. “We have a long way to go if we’re going to get to the safe house by nightfall.”

“Why couldn’t you have just zapped us in closer to where we need to be?” I ask.

“Because I didn’t ‘zap’ us anywhere. It doesn’t work like that. The portals are fixed in place. Usually, there is a mirror situated in the safe house, but sometimes the mirrors… die and can’t be replaced. It wasn’t always that way, but we lost the ability to make more of them many years ago.”

By portals, I presume he means the mirrors. “But how? And how do they work, and what happened and—”

“Enough. I’ll give you a history lesson later when we get to where we need to go. But for now, walk.”

I walk, heading down the hill, and Zayne falls in beside me. He’s really quiet. I’m starting to get worried. “Are you alright?” I whisper.

He gives me a sideways glance, his expression incredulous. “Fuck no. I’m so far beyond alright that I’ve dropped off the edge of the world. But right now, I’m just taking each moment as it comes. It’s not as though I have a lot of choice.” He walks in silence for a few minutes. “Amber, how do we get back home? He broke the mirror.”

Right now, I’m more concerned about what I’m going to find out and whether we’ll find this crone. “I presume Khaosti will know where to find another mirror that will take us home.”

Or maybe it would just take us back to that starlit room. Maybe that’s like a hub. I reach across and pat his arm; he looks so lost. He’s always been the confident one of the two of us, the one who tells me everything will work out. But then nothing is normal today.

We reach the edge of the forest, and my feet slow. The trees are like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It looks dark under the canopy; the trees grow close together, cutting out the sun, but at least the ground is level, making travel easy. Khaosti seems to know where he’s going, and I just get into the zone, not thinking, not worrying, just being.

What will be, will be.

Yeah, I’m being totally philosophical about this.

There’s a strange tension in the air, but I ignore it. The sun is still high overhead, and enough light filters through the leaves to make it easy to see. We walk for hours without encountering any sign of life—apart from the vegetation.

And I start to worry that we may never stop. My legs are heavy, and my stomach is rumbling—the pizza seems like a long time ago—and my mouth is parched. Khaosti pauses and turns to us. “We’ll be stopping for the night soon. These forests aren’t safe once the sun goes down.” I want to ask why, but maybe it’s better not to know. He starts walking again before I can decide whether or not to ask.

The sun is setting, and the colors fade to muted shades of gray and black as the light filtering through the leaves and branches above us grows dim and murky. Eerie shadows reach toward us. Out of the corner of my eye, I sense movement in the trees. Something sliding between the trunks, keeping pace with us.

“Khaosti,” I whisper.

“Ignore what you see. Keep going.”

I have to trust him. What else can I do? My hands grow clammy while my fingers are icy, and my chest tightens with every breath I take.

Just keep going and don’t look.

I keep my gaze fixed on Khaosti’s back, but it’s getting awfully dark, only a smidgen of daylight left to light the way. Not enough. I give a quick glance to the side—eyes gleam in the shadows, but at least they’re not red. I look ahead again, the sour taste of fear flooding my mouth.

“Amber,” Zayne says from just behind me. “I feel strange.”

“Just keep going. We must be nearly there.” Except the forest up ahead looks the same as what we’ve left behind.

“I don’t think I—”

There’s a crash behind me, and I whirl around. Zayne is on his knees, his head gripped in his hands. He lets out a low moan.

What the hell?

“Khaos!” I yell. “It’s Zayne.”

He glances back over his shoulder.

“Fuck,” he snarls. Then he races back to us. He grabs Zayne and tosses him over his shoulder. “Run,” he yells. And then he’s off, and I follow, my legs pumping to keep up with him. I’d always thought I ran fast, but Khaosti is faster. It’s as though Zayne weighs nothing, and I find myself falling behind.

Things are running beside me; I can hear their footfalls echoing my own, but I keep my eyes straight ahead. A red haze forms in front of my eyes, and I know I can’t go much farther. I trip and almost fall, then I right myself and stumble on.

Finally, I’m out of the trees. I hurl myself toward the house that stands in the clearing. Khaosti is already there, and the door opens, warm light flooding out.

I’m gasping for breath as I skid to a halt, and I can’t stop myself from looking back. There are things at the edge of the forest; I can’t make them out, but I can sense their frustration that we’ve gotten away.

A man appears in the doorway. While not identical, he reminds me of Brown. He bows as he catches sight of Khaosti with Zayne over his shoulder. “Sire, you are welcome.”

“Thanks, Brown.”

What the fuck? Maybe they’re brothers?

“Come in,” Brown says, widening the doors. “The night is almost upon us.” At his words, I peer back into the forest. Those things are gone. There are just trees. All the same, a tremor runs through me, and I hurry through the front door.

Warmth embraces me. This place feels… welcoming. Brown leads us into a large room—the cottage seems bigger inside than out—with a table laid out for three, almost as though he expected us.

Khaosti carries Zayne through a doorway at the opposite side of the room, the door slamming behind them. I think about following, but Brown appears in front of me. He waves to a hallway. “The bathroom is through there.”

And I suddenly realize I desperately need to pee. I use the bathroom, then splash water over my face and gulp down mouthfuls. When I peer into the mirror, I almost expect to see something different, but I’m just the same. It seems unbelievable. I give the glass a prod, but it’s just a mirror, and I head back to the main room. Khaosti is seated, but Zayne is nowhere in sight.

“Is he okay?” I ask.

“It depends on your definition of okay. But he’ll live. He’s sleeping now.”

“What’s happening to him?”

“I’ve spoken to him. It’s up to him to tell you if he wants you to know.”

I bite back my frustration as exhaustion rolls over me. I don’t have the energy to argue right now. I don’t even have the energy to worry. Instead, I collapse into a chair opposite him. Brown pours golden liquid into crystal goblets. He hands the first to Khaosti with another small bow.

“What is it with the bowing and scraping? Are you some kind of royalty?”

Khaosti just drinks his wine.

I pick up my own and take a sip. Wine is not something I’ve drunk a lot of in my life. Zayne gave me a bottle—probably pinched—for my eighteenth birthday. It tasted nothing like this. This stuff is cold and tart and sweet at the same time. I empty my glass, and Brown immediately fills it, which earns a raised brow from Khaosti.

“Don’t get drunk. We’ve got a long way to go tomorrow.”

At his words, I drain my glass and smirk.

“Very mature,” he murmurs.

“I’m nineteen. I’m not supposed to be mature.”

He shakes his head. “So young,” he says. “Too young.”

For what? Maybe that’s something else I’m better off not knowing. I’m distracted at that moment by Brown setting a steaming tray of food on the table. I breathe in and almost swoon.

I’m not sure what I’m eating: some version of vegetable stew topped with light, fluffy dumplings, and crusty bread still warm from the oven. It’s delicious, and I wash it down with more wine. Before long, my stomach is full, and my head is swimming.

Khaosti has finished and is leaning back in his chair, sipping wine and watching me out of half-closed eyes. I wish he wouldn’t do that. It makes me twitchy, and suddenly, I have an overwhelming urge to be alone. I give an exaggerated yawn. Questions will have to wait until morning. “I don’t suppose there’s a bed with my name on it around here somewhere?”

Brown appears from out of nowhere. “Follow me, my lady.” He’s definitely related to the original Brown.

I push myself up, then waggle my fingers at Khaosti. As I pass the window, I peer outside. It’s seriously dark. No moon. Maybe there isn’t one in this world. A prickle runs down my spine, and I hurry after Brown. He pushes open a door and waves me in. “Take no notice of things you may hear in the night,” he says. “You’re safe inside the wards.”

And then he’s gone.

I wake to darkness, thick and oppressive. It’s clearly the middle of the night. I close my eyes. I want to go back to sleep so badly, to just forget everything for a while.

But it’s not happening, and I lie on my back in the blackness.

Why couldn’t I have been a princess? I suppose I still could be, but I doubt it. And if so, why couldn’t the king just show up on Lissa’s doorstep and tell me I’m his long-lost daughter and…

I try to lose myself in the old fairy tale, but that’s not happening either. I’m filled with a sense of restlessness, like I should be up and doing something. I just have no clue what.

Somewhere outside, a mournful howl cuts through the silence of the night. It’s answered by another. I remember Brown’s words: Take no notice of things you may hear in the night.

Good advice, but the call comes again, and I find myself sitting up, shrugging off the covers.

I cross to the window and pull back the curtain. The moon is bright, and I scan the area. No wolves. Well, except one, and he’s in human form. Khaosti is leaning against a tree, gazing into the forest.

Maybe he couldn’t sleep either. Or maybe he’s having a conversation with the wolves.

I’m still fully dressed, so all I have to do is lean down and fumble for my boots in the darkness. I pull them on, then feel my way along the edge of the room to the doorway. Light filters into my room as I tug open the door. Someone has left a lamp burning low on the table in the hallway.

The front door opens easily, and a waft of cool night air washes over me.

For a moment, I stand motionless. The night calls to me, as tingles run up and down my spine. The howl comes again from somewhere straight in front of me. It’s answered from my right, then again from somewhere behind me, as though whatever is out there is all around. A cloud blows across the sky, freeing a sickle moon from its shadow, and I see Khaosti silhouetted against the trees.

The bad feeling that haunted us all the way here from the mirror is gone. I stand there, breathing slowly and evenly, my heart back to normal. The howling continues, and I follow my instincts and step forward off the porch and toward Khaosti.