And there was a faint rush of water under my feet.
I looked down and my eyes widened. We stood on a ten-foot-long sheet of ice. The ocean was the darkest shade of blue I’d ever seen. All around us huge chunks of ice floated while seeming to not move at all. Mountainous glaciers covered in snow stood tall in every direction.
Babe. Why are we here? I said into Tenn’s mind because it felt wrong to speak out loud.
“I don’t like this,” Tenn whispered.
And then I felt a pulse of wild, raw energy slam into my spine. I spun on my toes – and gasped. My jaw dropped. My heart stopped. I grabbed Tenn by his leather jacket and spun him around. Everything seemed to slide into slow motion. Tenn inhaled sharply and I knew he saw her.
It was impossible not to.
Her red hair hanging wildly down by her elbows was a beacon of color in a world of white. Those big lavender eyes widened and shined bright like a full moon despite it being daylight. Her long violet gown fell onto the ice and snow around her as she stood still like a statue. Her normally pale pink wings looked different than I’d ever seen them, like floating crystals – like white fireflies.
I knew I needed to go to her. I knew this moment was only a matter of seconds but I was frozen in place and it had nothing to do with the temperature. Saffie.
Saffie gasped. “TENNESSEE.”
My soulmate dove for her in an instant, shouting her name, “SAFFIE!”
The air flashed behind her and then a thick arm covered in golden armor shot out and wrapped around her waist and yanked her backwards. The Seelie tunnel opened up in a hole just big enough for her to be dragged through but I recognized those wicked vines immediately. That green light pierced my eyes and I winced.
Large hands gripped Saffie’s arms and then she was lifted in the air. She screamed and kicked her legs but there was golden armor everywhere. The Knights. Tenn was racing across the ice toward the tunnel opening, but he wasn’t going to make it. Even he wasn’t fast enough for that. It was already closing. But we had to do something. We had to help her. Somehow.
I threw my arms out in front of me and my magic shot out like a rocket in a rainbow cloud. It flew past Tennessee just as those Knights tackled Saffie to the ground inside the tunnel. I sucked in a breath and clenched my teeth. Come on, come on, come on.
My rainbow magic slammed into the Knights and sent them flying into the air.
Saffie jumped to her feet and leapt for the tunnel opening just as it closed in her face.
But not before I saw her golden glittery magic flying all around her. Not before her eyes met mine and I knew. She remembered. She remembered everything. I knew by the look on her face. It was an expression I hadn’t seen on her since 1692.
Tennessee dropped to his knees, half on the ice and half on the water. He cursed and slammed his fist on the ice beside him, snapping it in half. Not that it mattered or that he noticed. Water was our element. He sat atop the surface like it was concrete.
I let myself dissolve into bubbles and then reappeared beside him. “She remembers, babe.”
He groaned. “How did that just happen? How were we not fast enough?”
My stomach turned. “I…I don’t know. We weren’t expecting all of this. It caught us off guard. But it won’t happen again.”
“No. It won’t.” He growled and jumped back to his feet, then turned to me with a fire in his eyes that told me someone was going to pay for this. “From this moment on nothing else matters more. The second you feel her, you go. Whether anyone is with you or not. Whether I am with you or not. Okay? They. Can’t. Have. Her.”
I reached and took his hand in mine and nodded. “Then I guess you better stay beside me at all times, because our odds are better together.”
He nodded. “Bathroom breaks are about to get real personal.”
That made me smile. Tennessee and I had no boundaries at this point…except the bathroom. But for Saffie, I’d gladly give that up. He was my soulmate. If we couldn’t handle it, then that would be a problem. I snapped my fingers and that all-too-familiar white flash of my portal wrapped around us…and then we were back on the streets of New York City, right where we’d left everyone.
Emersyn gasped and jumped up, the fuzzy blanket I’d wrapped around her mere minutes ago dropped to the blood-splattered ground. Her face paled. Her flames vanished. “What happened? Was it Saffie?”
I nodded. “It was.”
Deacon’s eyes widened. He gripped his chest and I knew he was thinking about why Saffie took that curse for him. “Where is she? Did you see her?”
Tennessee cursed a string of words so violent and vulgar it actually made me smile.
Deacon was trying and failing not to smile. “…that bad?”
I sighed. “We came out of my portal in the damned Arctic Circle. There were polar bears, y’all. It caught us off guard for literally a second and that’s all it took. We turned and spotted her and then the tunnel opened up and they grabbed her.”
Deacon groaned and cursed. “It’s not your fault. That damn tunnel. The damn fae.”
“How did she look?” Emersyn asked in a small voice.
“In that same purple gown you saw her in last night. But that doesn’t tell us how much time is passing for her yet.”
“What do you mean?” Em frowned. “Tenn?”
“It means for all we know last night for us could’ve been a month ago for her. Or ten minutes ago, or last night. We have no way of knowing. You know time works differently.” He shook his head and put his hands on his hips. “But we’ll be ready next time. They won’t catch us by surprise a second time.”
Deacon scratched his jaw and narrowed his violet eyes. “Why the Arctic Circle?”
My stomach turned. “I suspect she can’t control where she’s coming out. It’s obvious from the Knights chasing her that she is trying to escape and somehow bursting out of the tunnel on her own…and it drops her…wherever.”
“What does control the tunnel?”
At Em’s question, they all turned to me. I shrugged. “The only note on that I found in the Book of Shadows was from Althea…and she suspects Prince Thorne and Princess Sage control them.”
Deacon cursed.
Tears filled my twin’s eyes but I knew they were in anger. “So what now? How do we save her?”
I pursed my lips and tried to ignore the chill sliding down my spine. “We’re going to have to be creative if we’re going to get her back.”
Deacon sighed so hard I thought I felt his ribs crack. “So what now? Like right now, what do you want us to do?”
“You two need to stick around here for a few days, make sure everything is safe. Talk to Koth. Talk to the students. We’re obviously going to be here with you but if Tegan gets a track on her we’ll be going without warning. Once SOMA is safe, we’ll return to Eden and…plan.”
Deacon nodded. “Okay. Okay, you got it, boss.”
“We are going to get her back. I will raise hell if I must.” I grinned. “But for now, let’s get Emersyn some pants on?”
Chapter Two
Saffie