1
Mae
I sensed the people behind me, like ghosts trailing my every step. But I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. My feet compelled me forward, my boots crunched over broken glass that covered the ground like snow. This world… it was strange to me, like a dream or a nightmare. I wasn’t sure which.
My hands touched the door of the house, and for a second I just ran my hands along the smooth wood, closing my eyes. How long had it been since I felt wood? Tears choked my throat, and I willed myself to push the door open with hands that shook.
A gasp slipped past my lips and I stood in the open doorway, staring out at the most indescribable thing. A sun set, painting a brilliant sky in reds, oranges, and yellows. Gray crept in behind the other colors, beautiful in its own subtle way. And beneath the sky, a forest stretched out in all directions.
I cried hot tears that raced down my cheeks. Messy tears that made my entire chest ache as I sobbed and sobbed.
The wind picked up around me, brushing away some of my tears like an old friend. Which, of course, only made me cry harder. Wind. Real wind. So sweet and different from the stale nothingness of the mirror realm.
None of this could be real.
It was impossible.
I continued moving, even though I swore my knees would give out from beneath me. I crept across a rickety bridge that stretched across a lake, and looked down into the crystal blue water. Fish swam lazily beneath the surface, their scales a brilliant array of crystals. I took another deep breath, breathing in the scent of the water.
The sudden urge to jump in and swim filled me, and I almost did it. I almost threw myself off that rickety bridge. But the teasing wind came again, and my gaze moved back to the trees and the sunset. Running my hand along the rope of the bridge, I continued forward until I reached the other side.
And then I laid down in the grass and closed my eyes, feeling the soft strands cradling my body. Teasing the strands between my fingertips.
This moment. This was everything.
Perfection.
And then someone cleared their throat above me.
I didn’t want to open my eyes, but I did anyway.
For some reason, I couldn’t recall the name of this man… Hunter’s friend, but I regarded him with fascination as the sun’s rays washed over him. He was remarkably handsome, different from Hunter’s unique darkness. Instead, he looked like someone’s hot older brother. His light brown hair was messy and sexy all at once. His blue eyes studied me as if I was some foreign creature he didn’t know whether to step on or avoid, and the cut of his broad shoulders and narrow waist whispered of a man who took care of himself.
And yet, I couldn’t seem to decide why he was staring down at me.
“Mae?” My name was a question. His voice was kind, almost musical, and he radiated a comforting energy.
“Yes?”
“Uh, what are you doing?”
I heard Hunter sigh, and he moved to stand beside his friend. “She was trapped in that hell hole for longer than she can remember. Can’t you give her some time, Ellis?”
Ellis. I remembered the stunning man now.
He ran his hands through that sexy hair of his. “I just thought after all we’ve been through, we don’t really need to waste time lying in the grass.”
Hunter looked surprised as he faced his friend. “What crawled up your ass?”
Ellis crossed big, muscular arms over his chest. “We had to give up a lot to save her. Alastair is hurt--”
“The banshees are trying to help him,” Hunter replied far too gruffly.
He spent time with me in that mirror realm, a place that was always dark, a place without any real life except the demons that hunted me. That wanted to feast on my flesh. Only he could understand why I needed this moment, why I treasured everything around me.
This other man… he was spoiled by color, light, wind, and nature. He had been spoiled by the life that hummed from every inch of this beautiful world. To him, I made no sense.
To him, I was just some crazed legend set free.
Ellis continued to stare down at me, looking irritated.
“Excuse me?”
My head turned toward the soft woman’s voice, and I saw a young woman with long white hair and a blue gown. “The High Priestess asked me to speak with you.”
“I thought the High Priestess was dead.” Hunter flinched. “I mean…”
“Our Under Priestess is now our High Priestess,” the woman said, bowing her head slightly in a sign of respect.
Running my fingers through the grass again, I turned to watch the sun setting. “What did she want you to speak with me about?”
My words sounded exactly the way I felt, like I was having trouble caring about whatever these banshees might want from me when the sunset is so beautiful and the night smells of the woods and freedom.
The woman stood for a long moment in silence before releasing a loud breath. “I am gifted with more… sensitivity to the world than most of my kind.”
Are those birds? I closed my eyes, listening to their songs. Their beautiful, perfect songs.
“Something changed when you came back to this world. Something dark and powerful.” She sounded uncertain. “What I mean is… something awakened.”
I didn’t answer her. It didn’t matter. Whatever happened so that I could be here now, it was worth it.
“What awakened?” Hunter asked, and there was an edge to his question.
“We don’t know, but we suspect...we saw...well, Bloody Mary is in danger.”
I finally opened my eyes and looked back at her. “I was always in danger in the mirror realm. Why should it be any different in this world?”
But even though I wanted to push away all this talk of darkness and danger, I felt it creeping into my mind, pushing away my excitement and relief at finally escaping the mirror realm. And I hated that fact. Wasn’t it enough that I spent my life protecting the innocent and fighting anyone who might do them harm? Then I was cast into that terrible place and lived a life of loneliness and pain.
Every fucking scar on my body was a testiment to the thousands of times I’d smashed through a mirror to rescue someone in need. And now? Now, after lifetimes of sacrifices, I couldn’t have a damned hour to enjoy life?
“Mae…” Hunter began.
“No,” I told him, the word harsher than I intended.
The woman pressed on as if I hadn’t just made myself clear. “You have enemies coming for you Ms… Ms. Mary, and if you aren’t prepared, you and your… friends will be dead.”
“Are they coming right now?” I snapped.
Her face paled. “No.”
“Then just… just let me have this.”
“Mae--” Ellis drew himself up taller, irritation in his voice.
“No!” I snapped again. “Everyone just shut up. Give me five god damn minutes to be grateful to be alive and back on Earth, and then we can talk about the next fucking thing coming to ruin my life.”
“Now, listen here--” Ellis began.
Anger uncoiled within me.
Hunter grabbed his arm. “Let’s go inside and check on Alastair and Grim. We’ll also let them know about all of this.”
Ellis looked mad. “She can’t just pretend--”