“Trying to save the world.” Lil grinned, returning the hug as fiercely as Jamey was giving it. “Do me a favor and call Mom.”
Jamey gave her a guilty look. “I already did. I told her I saw you across the street. She told me to stay inside, but I couldn't listen. I had to see you, Lil!” She hugged her sister again, tighter.
Lil patted Jamey's back. “I missed you too, tiger.”
Jamey stepped back, examining the rest of the group. She gave a peculiar look to Lil when she saw Lil's doppelganger beside her. “I'm confused.”
“I was too,” Lil said. “We don't have much time. You should get home, lock the front door, and stay inside, where it's safe.”
“No!” Jamey was adamant. “I'm not leaving you again, Lil.”
“Lil's right. It's not safe for you here, Jamey. Do you see how your sister is dressed?” Bray asked.
Jamey eyed the sword hanging over Lil's back and the eternal suit she wore. “Cosplay?” she guessed.
“Oh, I wish it were that.” Lil kissed Jamey's cheek, trying to usher her back outside, but it was too late.
Glass from the back door shattered and flew through the air. Lil ducked, trying to shield her sister from the shards cascading onto them. A roar of air and a whoosh of smoke permeated the first floor, followed by a rich laughter, causing Lil to shudder.
“There you are!” Eilith beamed as she glided in through the shattered back door. Eilith ran a hand over Arianna’s arm when she was close enough to touch her. “I'm glad to have you back, dear.”
“I’m not going with anywhere with you.” Arianna stood her ground. “Leave us alone. Go back to Orenda.”
“You can't have her!” Rawlie shouted at Eilith. He gripped the dagger in his right hand.
Lil pushed Jamey behind her. “Go home, now!” she demanded.
“
What is she
?” Jamey whispered in awe.
Eilith flashed her set of double razor sharp teeth. One hand gripped Arianna's arm, and her nails left scratches on her bare skin. She would not let her go again.
Lil refused to bow down before Eilith. She tried to keep Jamey hidden behind her. The others reached for their weapons.
Eilith let go of her daughter long enough to freeze Jamey in place. She was displaying her power, showing everyone what she was capable of, if they betrayed her. “Do you really want to defy me?” Jamey was breathing but unable to move or react. “Give me
The
Book of Incantations,
and I’ll let her go. I’ll be generous and let you
all
live.”
“The book is here?” Lil asked, surprised. Her eyes flashed toward the bookshelf. Could it be so obvious to be hiding in front of everyone? She rushed toward the shelf in the study, Eilith just inches behind her. Nothing looked different, or out of place. If it was magical, wouldn’t it be someplace safe from evil?
“I see it!” Hudson ran for the shelf, his eyes a sea of green that Lil had never noticed before. His pale skin glowed a warm cream, and he reached toward a book, blue and thick with antique pages, only to be stopped short by Eilith.
She threw a dagger across the room, just missing Lil. Hudson wasn’t so lucky. The blade slammed into his back, causing him to cry out in pain. “Thank you. Seems you came into your powers, just in time,” she said, snickering. She reached for the book that he’d been attempting to get off the shelf and spun around on her heels.
Lil reached for her sword, surprised to find it was heavier now than when in Orenda, but it was not impossible to wield. “Drop the book, now!” she spat. She wanted to bend down and check on him, but she couldn’t yet. But Arianna rushed over to his side, the only one unafraid of Eilith.
Lil held the sword out, pointed it away from Eilith, and turned the blade on Arianna. “I’ll kill her.” She knew Eilith’s weakness. She could see the flaw behind the sorceress’s eyes, a hint of love that was buried deep within her.
“You wouldn’t dare. You care about her too much to kill her.” Eilith’s hand whipped through the air, throwing Jamey across the room. Jamey’s head smacked loudly against the wall before she fell to the ground, unconscious. “Who are you going to save?” Eilith beamed. “If you’re lucky enough to wield power here, you won’t have enough for Jamey and Hudson.”
Lil glanced back over her shoulder. There was a tremendous amount of blood coming from the wound on Jamey's head.
“Go home! Back to Orenda. Leave us alone!” Bray shouted.
Lil plunged the sword at Eilith’s chest and found herself forced back against the wall. Eilith lifted her off the ground. As her feet dangled, she gasped for breath, choking underneath Eilith’s boney fingers.
“Let her go!” Bray ran up from behind, taking a frying pan with him and slamming it against Eilith’s head. The frying pan bent in half, having no effect on Eilith. Bray cursed under his breath.
“Nice try, mortal.” Eilith flicked her wrist, tossing Bray across the room, slamming him into the bookshelf. The top two rows slid down the shelf, burying him.
Lil dropped the sword as she tried prying Eilith's fingers away from around her throat. Her mouth opened, choking from the absence of air as she struggled to stay conscious. The world was spinning, black dots floating across her vision.
Eilith's arms stretched beyond any natural capacity. One hand held Lil to the wall, choking her. The other struggled to lift the sword.
“No!” Willow shouted, but it was too late.
Eilith whispered a chant and the sword beneath her right hand glowed gold with an unrecognizable Latin inscription on the blade. She lifted it with ease and stabbed Lil. Only the eternal suit saved her life from the enchanted blade. Lil's outfit sizzled and sparked. Eilith groaned as her hand holding the blade burned, and she dropped Lil to the floor.
“Touch me again, I
dare
you.” Lil refused to show fear. But her heart pounded in her chest, terrified as her friends and family were dying beside her.
“Another time,” Eilith said, looking Lil over, taking note of her outfit. With the book in her hands, she walked out the back door toward the forest.
“Where's she going?” Lil asked. “We have to go after her!”
“To the open portal in the forest,” Willow said. “Go check on your sister.”
Lil didn't waste another second. She rushed to Jamey’s side. A puddle of blood smeared the linoleum. “Jamey, no.” Lil's eyes burned with tears as she tried to save Jamey in the same way she'd saved Willow's brother. Nothing happened.
Willow walked over to look through the window shades. She stared at the house across the street. It looked just like her home. A car pulled into the driveway, and her breath caught in her throat. She glanced at Lil and the young girl in her arms. “Lil, you have to go back to Orenda. It's the only way to save them both. Your magic will work back there.”
Lil nodded. Rawlie bent down, helping Lil lift Jamey into his arms. Arianna and Jamie helped Hudson, sharing his weight.
“Willow, come on,” Jamie said.
“I can't, I'm sorry,” Willow called out as she rushed out the front door. She wasted no time, running across the street.
Lil didn't have time to turn around and see the exchange. She suspected her mother would throw her arms around Willow and be grateful she was home. Her mother wouldn’t know it wasn’t really Lil, but a lookalike from another world. They didn’t have time to consider Willow; right now, they needed to save Jamey and Hudson. “Are you coming?” Lil asked Bray. He was looking better than he had when Eilith flung him across the room.
“I have to sit this one out,” Bray said. “Someone needs to clean up the mess before my parents get home.”
She nodded at Bray and offered a weak smile. “I’ll see you later.”
Everyone but Willow and Bray gathered in a circle, grabbing each other’s hands. Jamie held up the fairy wand and transported them back to Orenda.
“Mom?” Willow couldn't stop herself. The moment she laid eyes on Lil's mother, looking exactly like her mother had, she rushed across the street in a daze. Lil would be back later, and she didn’t need her help now.
“Lil?” Lil's mother dropped her keys on the grass, her arms wide as she rushed toward her missing daughter. “Lil, you're okay.”
Willow buried her face in her mother's neck. She smelled sweet, like cherries and vanilla. It was different from how she remembered her own mother smelling, but it was familiar enough. Willow refused to loosen her grip. “I missed you so much.”
Her mother’s hold relaxed and she pulled back, searching Willow’s eyes. She unlocked the front door, leading Willow inside and shut it forcefully behind her. “Where’s my daughter? Who are you?”
“What?” Willow stammered. It wasn’t possible for Lil’s mother to be able to tell them apart. Sure there were tiny differences, but it could be explained away. At least Willow had hoped that was the case.
“You're from Orenda.”
“How did you know?” It wasn't possible.
“I met your parents once, a long time ago. Your mother traveled to our world, looking for our help. It was after Eilith had begun destroying your world. It was a difficult time. I wouldn't put my children in danger, and I wouldn’t leave them motherless. Your mother came looking for my help; she wanted me to raise you and your brother. She hoped sending you here would protect you.” She sighed, staring down at her hands in her lap. “Your mother asked a lot of me. I couldn’t care for four children. I was struggling with just Lil and Jamey. I'm sorry you lost your mother.” She gently placed her hand over Willow's. “If I had any idea the type of life you would have had, I'd have agreed to take care of you and your brother. Your parents died saving the two of you.”
She'd always considered her parents to be heroes, but she'd never heard the words from anyone else. “I miss them,” Willow said.
“Thomas, Bray's father, built a window, the size of a mirror, between our world and Orenda. We watched the devastation take over your land. We saw Eilith murder your family and leave you both as orphans. Thomas and I tried to create a device to help us travel to Orenda and bring you back with us. We wanted to protect you, but we couldn't figure out the mechanics of it. I worked in secret for a decade before I returned full-time to it a few months ago.”
“What about the device across the street?” Willow asked. “It works, but only in one direction.”
“It didn’t work at the lab—it wouldn’t even power on. Thomas suggested moving the machine, after running a series of tests and discovering the space between worlds was malleable in our neighborhood. I honestly didn’t think it would work. There were some strange fluctuations in the data that still don’t make sense, but we decided to test the device in his basement. What was the worst thing that could happen?” She laughed softly. “We turned it on only a few weeks ago. Shortly after, Lil and Bray went missing. I feared that we made the doorway between worlds unstable. Thomas tried to power off the device, but it’s not running on any natural power source. We even unplugged it, yet the gateway in the forest is still open.”
Willow nodded. “There
has
to be a way to turn it off. We need to do whatever we can to protect your world from destruction. I’m sorry,” Willow said, her voice barely audible. “Jamey was hurt.” It hurt to confess the truth, but it needed to be said. Her heart ached thinking about Jamey and Hudson. “Eilith attacked us when we were trying to disable the device. Lil can heal now . . . It’s a power she developed in my world, and it only works in Orenda. She left with Jamey to save her.” Willow paused, seeing the frightened look in Lil's mother’s eyes. “They'll both be back. We just have to give them time.”
“How long?” she asked.
“Hopefully it won't be more than a few hours.” There was no knowing for certain. “They’ll be back, but in the meantime, I need your help.”
“I'm listening.”
Elfinland appeared around them and Rawlie placed Jamey on the cold tiled floor. Lil bent down, and her hands cradled the wound on Jamey's head, trying to heal her sister.
“Such a sad sight to see, your sister dying.” Morgan’s attention turned toward Hudson. Her fingers ran over his shirt. He grimaced in pain as she touched him.
“They won't die!” Rawlie's fists bunched together as he approached Morgan. “Lil can help them both.”
Morgan approached Jamie, gliding her fingers along his arm as she took his gift that he had promised her. “Have you come to make another deal? I see you have Arianna and Lil with you, but no Willow. How interesting . . . ” She clasped her hands together and sat on her throne again.
“Why can't I save Jamey?” Lil whispered, staring down at her sister. She felt helpless.
Morgan smiled from atop her seat. “You're in Elfinland, dear. Your powers are mute within our realm. I can save her—for a price.”
“Please. You can have the memory of my first love. Save them both.” She knew what Morgan was capable of and what making a deal meant. In that moment, she didn't care. She would do anything to save Jamey and Hudson.
Morgan's eyes shined as she stepped down from her throne and waved a hand over Jamey's body. Glitter trailed a path down and across Jamey's body before her eyes fluttered open. Lil threw her arms around her sister, relieved she was alive.
“Lil? Where are we?” Jamey asked, seeing the strangely beautiful creature looking down at her.
“Don't stare at her,” Lil warned her sister. She took her hand, averting Jamey's eyes. Lil kissed the top of Jamey's head before standing up, facing Morgan. “I will give you what I promised.”
Morgan smiled. “Done.”
“No!” Hudson yelled. “Lil, what have you done?”
Morgan's eyes flashed from Hudson back to Lil. “Interesting.” She laughed. “I should have seen it coming. Lovers from different worlds—oh the heartache you would have had apart. I'm doing you a favor, aren't I?” She pulled the memory and the emotion tangled with it from Lil. Perhaps it wasn't a full-blossomed romance yet, but Morgan was happy with what she was able to take.
Lil's eyes flashed a quick shade of purple before reverting back to their natural blue. The memory and feeling of soaring like a balloon through the summer sky when she kissed Hudson for the first time vanished. Lil's eyes locked on Hudson, but the feelings that had once stirred within her were gone. Now they were nothing more than acquaintances.