TIED (A Fire Born Novel) (22 page)

I follow, unsteady. “I … I lost my way.” Unable to find my voice, I stare at my surroundings—the babbling stream rushing nearby, and the waterfall.

“You’re so silly, Teine. You know the way.”

We wind through an overgrown forest, treading on cushioned ferns and ducking underneath branching vines. Hazy patches of sunlight peek through the trees, creating kaleidoscopic patterns across leaves and branches.

“Mother, Teine’s here!” Cara calls into the woods.

The forest opens onto a vast green clearing blanketed in wild orchids, their lavender blooms strewn across a sun-drenched field. A mass of laughing children run through various gaps in the trees and gather around us, before a woman enters the clearing, parting the tide. Her long, yellow hair drapes over her shoulders, flowing down her back. A golden crown adorns her head.

With arms held out, she beckons me forward. “It has been far too long. I was concerned you might never return to us.”

“Aunt Flidais?” I fight for breath.

“Who did you expect, child?” She chuckles, pulling me into her arms. “I am so relieved to see you.”

Fresh tears roll down my face, and I smile against my will, memories flooding my mind.

Her warm embrace envelopes me as does the flowery smell of her hair. When I was a little girl, she’d been one of my favorite people. That seemed like another life, though. Someone else’s life.

How did I get here? Here with my … family?
All the words die in my throat as she holds me close.

The rich fragrance of gardenias drifts in on a breeze, the aroma stabbing at my broken heart. Sorrow rushes over my body in waves, threatening to crush me, until choking sobs take over.

My aunt releases me, her narrowed eyes tracing my form. “You are not well. What has happened, child? “

The pit in my heart deepens, unable to catch my breath. “I … I tried … to … save him.”

“Save who?”

“Max … I tried … to help … but—” I shook my head. “I did something wrong. I thought … he was ready.” My weight gives way, and she catches me by the arm.

“Calm, child. It will be all right.”

Murmurs of concern reach my ears. Children’s voices. Cara’s hand slips against mine.

It wouldn’t be all right. Nothing would ever be right again. I shake my head, tears dropping off my chin. “He’s … gone.” My throat thickens, unable to swallow. “I watched him … fall. I couldn’t save him.”

My aunt tilts her head, seeming to study me. “Save him, you say?” She smiles as a mother would when looking upon an innocent child. “Sweet niece, how did you come upon us today?”

“I … I don’t know.” I wipe my face and glance around the forest, the clearing, at my arms, my body. Whole. In one piece. No scratches, no broken bones. “I just … I—”

She lifts my chin and holds it in her hand, redirecting my gaze. “Wake, my niece, and return. MacKenzie needs you.”

“Wha—” My heart skips and lodges in my throat.

“He is in pain.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Your instincts will not lead you astray.” She tucks loose strands of hair behind my ear. “A fall is not likely to kill one of our kind.”

I scrunch my eyebrows.

A slight knowing smile touches her lips. “I forget how long you have been gone from our world. You must believe, child, and listen with your heart, not with your head. MacKenzie is calling for you. Trust in me and listen.”

• • •

“Layla? Benny’s terrified voice rang out next to me. The ground shook underneath my body, flapping wings blowing a cool breeze against my face.

“Layla! Benny, what happened?” Max’s voice lashed out, trembling.

“I don’t know. Somehow, she managed to traverse back home, and then she just … collapsed here in the driveway.”

“I don’t understand. I mean … I caught her. I separated from The Leanaan Sidhe, and I saw Layla falling. I caught her, in my arms, and then she … vanished. How long has she been under?” Max asked.

“Just a minute or two, but she hasn’t gone under since …”

“Since The Fomore were calling to her. Oh, god, no, please wake up!” Max shook me by my shoulders, rolling my head from side to side. “Come on, don’t do this. Benny, open the front door. Lorelei!”

The slapping of feet on wood floors rattled my senses. “What happened? I told you. I warned you!” My mother’s exclamation couldn’t have been more terrified if she’d seen me die in Max’s arms.

He laid me down. “She was trying to save me. She collapsed in the driveway.” His voice sounded gentle.

••

I look around the dense forest, a beautiful, shimmering light beckoning me.

“Wake up now, Teine,” my aunt says.

“I don’t know what I’m doing, Aunt Flidais.” Tears roll down my face.

“You were chosen to walk this path. No one knows why events unfold the way they do.” Her voice lowers to a whisper. “Remember … we must open the book in order to read the pages, niece. Have a little faith.”

• • •

“Layla, can you hear me?” Max ran his hand along my face, his touch warming my heart. “Open your eyes.” His voice cracked and hitched.

••

“I’ll miss you, Aunt Flidais. Cara, too. I’ll come back soon. I promise.”

“We will see you very soon.”

• • •

My eyelids fluttered, eyes rolling back in my head, as I tried to break away from the Wood.

“Lay, you can’t leave me.”

I wanted to open my eyes, force them open against the weight holding me down, to see Max’s face, but it was as if they’d been glued shut.

He squeezed my hand, heavy breath enveloping my senses, staggering in sobbing gasps.

I pushed as hard as I could, trying to reach him, to let him know I was okay, but I couldn’t move.

“Benny, do something!”

“There’s nothing I can do. If she went under … if she walked through the doorway … you know I can’t follow her there.” Benny’s voice sounded thick with sadness.

“Then I will!”

“You can’t just walk into the Underworld. They’ll kill you.”

“You don’t seem to understand what I’m saying. I. Don’t. Care. I’m not going to just sit here, doing nothing!”

“MacKenzie, be reasonable.” My mother raised her voice over his. “You cannot go into the Underworld; it has been a long time, but … I may be able to find her.”

“What’re you waiting for?” Max asked.

Every word, every touch sat right beyond my reach. As much as I tried, I couldn’t go to them. I lay trapped in my own body, somewhere between our world and the Otherworld. Max’s cry killed me, like knives stabbing my heart, over and over, again.

••

“Teine, your mother is here, child. Please listen. Do as she tells you.” My Aunt speaks through the haze of trees again; Cara stands anxiously behind her.

“Teine … can you hear me?” My mother’s voice calls out. “If you can, I need you to walk toward the light. You are stuck between two worlds. Can you see the light?”

I nod and walk toward it, unsteady and unsure. It’s so bright. Too bright. I can barely see.

Someone squeezes my hand. I walk a little faster.

“Max is here,” my mother says. “He’s waiting for you.”

My heart thrums in my chest.

“Layla?” his voice calls.

I squint to see through the slits my eyelids have become, and walk faster still, seeing his body outlined against the bright light, his arms held wide. I break into a run, branches and limbs clipping my arms, my legs, cutting me, but I don’t care.

Relief washes over Max’s face, smoothing the anguished lines marking his mouth and forehead. His shoulders relax, his head bows, as I come closer, the remnants of tears glistening his cheeks.

I run faster, sprinting out of the forest, and collide into him at full speed, wrapping my arms around him as he lifts me off the ground.

“I thought I lost you.” He buries his face in my hair, gripping my body.

“I’m so sorry.” I pull him closer, crying as I try to breathe. “I shouldn’t have let you fall.” I cry harder, his shirt gripped in both fists. “Don’t let go.”

He kisses my neck, my cheek. “Never.”

22

“Is she gone?” My face remained buried in Max’s shoulder, afraid to let go.

He tilted his head; the bites that trailed down his neck had left only the slightest hint of color. “Gone.”

“What happened? You were falling. I watched you fall.” I regained my footing as he set me down, and I stared in wide eyed shock at my surroundings; hazy sunlight blanketed an overgrown green field, alive with black and yellow striped bumblebees hovering above hundreds of purple flowers.

I tightened my hold on Max. “Where are we?”

He rested his forehead against mine. “We’re in the Otherworld.” He beamed down at me. “Remember?” Max kissed my check. “You traversed here.”

I what?
I shook my head. “I saw my aunt and my cousin, Cara, in a vision, a dream, and I heard you and Benny yelling, but … I … I was dreaming … or—”

He cupped my chin, redirecting my gaze to his eyes. “You’re weren’t dreaming, Lay. Everything you see, everything you experience, is real.”

“So … what happened to you,” I asked again. “You hit—“

“You didn’t see me hit the ground.” An eyebrow lifted up as he smirked.

“No … but—”

“The fall separated me from the Leanaan Sidhe like I thought it would.” He shrugged. “When I regained full control, I saw you falling, and I caught you.”

“You were below me. You couldn’t have.” I shook my head. “There’s no way. I mean, you could never rebound that fast, not with the wind blowing the way it was.”

He eyed me, his brows knitting up. “Um … Lay, haven’t you noticed anything … odd at all about me? I mean besides the whole Ancient Fire Born thing?” He pulled his hand through his hair, smiling.

Suspicion leached into my brain. “Like?”

“Nothing bad.” He laughed. “It’s just, well … the thing with the Leanaan Sidhe was kind of a fluke. I’m generally a bit more … in control … of situations.” He lifted his eyebrows, clearly hoping I’d catch on to what he was trying to say.

I raised my eyebrow, not getting it.

He grinned and held his hands out between us with his palms facing up, and closed his eyes. Leaves rustled on the ground at my feet, swirling around my ankles, and rose into the air, encircling my body in a brown and green spiral of color.

I glanced at Max, laughing as my hair lifted off my shoulders like a billowy cloud.

His grey eyes opened, and the leaves blew away, leaving the softest of warm breezes brushing across my face before he closed his hands, and my hair tumbled back down my shoulders.

Amazed, I smiled. “How’d you do that?”

He reached for my hand and shrugged. “How do you throw fire? We have gifts. Mine is wind.”

At the sound of footsteps crunching the leaves behind me, I glanced over my shoulder.

“Children. Let us move inside, please.” My Aunt Flidais’ voice made me jump. She stood under a shaded tree line and beckoned me forward with a wave, smile and a raised brow.

“It is good to see you, Mackenzie.” She approached, long white robes trailing the ground behind her.

“And you, My Lady.” Max bowed. “It’s been a long time.”

“It has. I trust the Leanaan Sidhe is gone?”

“She vanished in the fall,” Max said.

“I see.” Her tone sounded skeptical. “Well, I am pleased you are in one piece. Teine feared the worst, I am afraid. Are you well, my sweet niece?” She inclined her head.

I coughed, clearing my throat. “I’m … I … It
was
you?” Heat warmed my face.

She smiled and caressed my check with a soft hand. “It was and is me. You are very much here. For a short time, anyway, and I am glad that is so. Shall we walk?” She led the way through the clearing. “Our visit must be short, I fear, as you traversed to your mother’s house, and your body remains there.”

What?

She stopped and smiled again as the color drained from my face. “I apologize for my bluntness. Our people may travel between worlds in sleep and in wake. Sleep isn’t always safe, as you are not here in entirety, and your defenses are weakened. You will need to return home soon.”

I gaped at Max.

He squeezed my hand. “You were stuck between worlds. I traversed here with your mother. She returned to watch over you from … well, your house.” He rubbed the back of his neck, seeming uncomfortable.

I swallowed the massive knot lodged in my throat.

“I trust Mairsile is well?” my aunt asked as if discussing something mundane like the weather.

“My grandmother is well, yes,” Max said.

“She was always a strong soul. A good match for you.” My aunt continued across the sun-drenched field, the afternoon growing brighter, creating a glittered mist that bled through the treetops. A giggle rang from the forest, its source concealed by shadows.

“What is that?” Max pulled me to a stop.

“It’s my cousin.” The words sprang from my mouth without a thought.

Max grinned. “So, you do remember.”

I smiled a little, my nerve endings jumping in spasms as my head tried to make sense of what my eyes saw—and my ears heard. I pinched my arm until it stung and left a mark.

Laughter echoed through the trees, sending an eerie howl into the open clearing.

“Kinda creepy,” Max said.

“Come out, Cara.” My aunt called in the direction of rustling leaves.

A squealing giggle sang from the trees, and Cara jumped in front of us, throwing her arms around me. “Teine!”

“Hi.” I hugged her, reeling.

“You didn’t forget me, did you?”

“I didn’t forget you.”

“Almost, though … I heard you.” She glanced up, peering at me from under long blonde lashes.

“I won’t forget again.” I smiled.

She peeked over at Max and giggled. “Good!” she said, and jumped at him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Hi, MacKenzie!”

“Hi.” His arms lifted in the air like he wasn’t sure what to do with them.

“You remember me, right?” Her green eyes batted.

He patted the top of her head. “Of course I do. You were a lot smaller, though.”

“You’re really handsome, now.” She grinned.

His face flushed red. “Well … thank you.”

“Cara, please run and play now. We have pressing matters at hand.” My aunt shooed her off.