Skye returned to my shoulder as I lifted off the ground, still holding her hands, whether she could feel my touch or not.
“It won’t work.” Her other slinked off the wall, and Whisper’s gaze shot up to it. “You know that. You can’t fly on your own.”
“You’re not alone.” I squeezed her hands.
Whisper’s fists clenched as she met her other’s eyes. “What makes you think I’m alone?”
The woman who wasn’t quite Whisper smirked. “Look around. It would take an awful lot of belief to assume otherwise.”
The creature’s words pounded into my skull, and I whipped my gaze to her. She winked, and everything changed in that moment. These beings weren’t our enemy . They were us. Us and those before us. Neverland’s spirit. They wanted us to succeed . I called on the air around us, curling it in a hug that pulled Whisper off the ground for the first second.
“I believe Lyric’s right here then!” Whisper laughed. “We have never been apart.” Tears pooled in her eyes, and she extended her pinky, bowing her head forward. I linked my finger around hers, noting the moment when my wind ceased, and she remained airborne beside me.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Skye murmured, his blue eyes wide.
“More darling language?” I snickered.
He grumbled, “It happens when I’m stressed.”
By all appearances, we rose out of the fortress, though when I checked the air, we hadn’t moved but a foot off the ground. As Whisper’s other disappeared below us in the vision, I watched her shift forms. For a split second, it was Bay. Then in the last instant before the vision disappeared, Peter grinned up at me, folded his arms, and nodded me onward.
My eyes closed; emotion choked me.
Whisper’s gasp yanked me from the moment, and her arms crushed me against her body. “Oh, my airwoman! You were here!” She looked down and squealed. “And I’m flying !” Her gaze went huge. “And that was you making freak wind!” Excitement bubbled around her, something physical in the air, until her smile fell away, a little at a time. “How long have you been listening to…everything?”
My head shook even as my chest pinched. “It doesn’t matter. Trust me, I said far worse things about myself.”
“I believe that.” Her attention drifted down the hall lit with blue flame. It seemed to go on for an eternity, and both directions looked identical. “I suppose we have to find Bay next…?”
I nodded.
She winced, gnawing her lip. “If I’m honest, I don’t trust him.” She looked at Skye, and her brow furrowed. “I don’t actually trust you either. I’m a thousand percent sure I’m only flying because of Lyly right now.”
“It’s nice that you’re bringing down your walls, but do you really have to insult me to my face like that?” Skye rolled his eyes, hardly sounding perturbed.
Whisper smiled. “Yep, still can’t understand him.”
“The Nixies implied we all made it out together, and besides,” I pursed my lips and met her gaze, “Bay isn’t like his father.”
I wonder about that .
The words slithered into my head, chilling my blood, and in the next instant, Whisper and Skye were gone. The scene had changed completely, and I was alone on the edge of something…something terrifying and magical.
It was a grove. And there was a fountain.
26th November
L ight gleamed off the pool of water, winking into my eyes, and I had to squint to make out the rivulets shooting from the center in rainbow arcs. Trees curled their bows over the fountain, blocking out a would-be sky with foliage and dangling moss.
So enclosed, I wondered where the light came from, but I didn’t have much time to find it.
“Wind Song.” The words came breathless behind me, and I turned to face Bay. “You’re here.”
He strode to me, cupped my cheek, and kissed me. Any relief at seeing him vanished in that moment. My heart thundered within my chest, and creatures exploded in my stomach. Heat bloomed on my cheeks, and where his hand found my waist, his touch scathed me. When he pulled away, I was almost too shocked to notice how tired he looked or how battered he was.
Blood smudged his cheeks and his hands and his clothes. My heart rate picked up. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” He smiled, glancing over my shoulder at the glimmering water. “I can’t believe all this time it’s been here. I waited for you; I thought we should do this together.”
Magic pulsed in the air, and my brows bent. This couldn’t be the real Fountain; the water of the real Fountain was gold. I peered around for Bay’s other, but no one else stood in the grove. Unrest made me tense. “What happened? What have I missed?” Something was wrong because something had to be wrong. That was the point of a trial.
“A skirmish or two. It’s fine. I knew there’d be trouble.” He shrugged easily despite the blood all over him. I examined him closer, and my stomach went sick. He wasn’t injured .
It wasn’t his blood.
“Bay…” My throat closed, and my gaze fell on his sheath. It was hooked on his belt, and blood dripped through the laced leather. “What did you do?”
He quirked a brow at me, then looked himself over. “Oh. Right.” He ruffled his hair, having the nerve to appear embarrassed. “Yeah, I know it looks bad, but none of it is real. The temple guardians aren’t real. I’ve done this before; we both have, remember?” He touched my hand with his bloody fingers, but I didn’t feel the stickiness, and none left a trail. “See?”
“You killed your other…?”
“If you’d met him, you’d have killed him too.” Bay laughed, but there was something deeper in the sound, and it died far too quickly. His shadowed eyes recalled whatever dark words had been said, or maybe they still spilled into his skull. He shook either or both free. “I knew you’d make it. Should we wait for Whispering Meadow?”
Whisper had vanished along with Skye. My chest was panicking right now, but I checked the air for them. No breath disrupted the space, though, as I’d guessed, we were in a room. This wasn’t real. “Whisper and Skye aren’t in the temple anymore.”
His brows rose. “Really? I suppose it decided only we would take care of this, then.” He faced the fountain and sighed. “Look at it. Isn’t it perfect? All this time, and now, finally, I have what I need to save my mother.” His hand found mine, and my heart leaped when he smiled at me. It was purely joyful. How was I supposed to tell him it was all a lie? That we still had work to do?
