I suck in my breath, waiting. This is what Tavian has wanted. And even if he refuses, why would that stop a Druid? I look around, searching for windows and doors, searching for a way to flee, wondering if I can find my way back to the Waystone. I see no options.
A moment. The air thickens between the three of us.
Tavian takes three measured breaths before answering. "Metsi, you do not wish to press me. We leave now."
"Guards!" the Druid screams, and dozens of armed soldiers surround us.
I pull my sword out, but Tavian lays a hand on mine. "Trust me, please," he whispers.
I don't sheathe my sword, but I lower it slowly.
All eyes are on us.
Tavian growls again, and the room grows dark. Candles flicker out. Smoke fills the space around us and the air crackles with lightning. His voice sounds louder, deeper, when he speaks. "Have you forgotten who I am? Do you take me for a common Fae? You do not wish to challenge me, Druid."
Metsi's eyes widen, and she takes a step back. Her serpent recoils. With a flick of her wrist, Metsi signals the guards, and they disappear from sight. Only then does the light return and the air settle. Only then does the tension fall from Tavian’s body.
Metsi walks slowly back to her throne and sits gracefully. Despite her mannerism, I can see the fear on her face, though I do not understand what a Druid has to fear but a prince of hell. "Now, now, Tavian. No need for all that. It was just a friendly request. Of course you and the princess are free to go."
The look Metsi gives me sends a chill up my back. Then it fills me with anger for the vampires and Shade outside, and I clutch my sword harder. But Tavian wastes no time. He grabs my hand and pulls us out of the room.
We speak no words as we make our way through the garden and back to the Waystone. It isn't until we are behind the stone door and moving back to the Outlands that I finally ask. "Who are you, Tavian? Who are you, to scare a Druid?"
He looks at me, his emerald eyes hiding so many secrets. "I'm not one to be trifled with."
Chapter 7
THE PLEASURE PALACE
"You will wake the ancient powers of our kind and bring balance back to the Four Tribes. And then we will free our people and rule our world once again."
—Madrid
I sit on a stump calming my breath after our escape, keeping my eye on the mirror. A part of me still fears Sly’s pet will follow us, finish what it started, but then I remember it’s not the mirror that is magic, but the vampires who brought me here.
Es bends over, puking and cursing between bouts of vomiting. "What just happened?" she mumbles, leaning against a tree in the moonlight. "What was that… that…" She collapses, and Pete barely catches her before her head hits the ground. He pats her face, calling out her name, but she doesn’t respond.
Fen walks over to them, Baron at his side. "She has witnessed too much too soon. I have seen this happen before. It will pass in time, but she needs a healer." He reaches for Pete’s shoulder, to comfort him.
Pete smacks his hand away. "Get off her. Where the hell have you taken us? She’ll be fine back home. Back where—"
"You cannot go back," says Fen. "Not if you want to live."
Pete clenches his jaw. "Fine. A healer then."
Dean leans over to me, whispering, "What’s wrong with the redhead?"
I roll my eyes, "How about the fact that his girlfriend just passed out? Or that they almost ended up as dinner for a giant bat? Or maybe it’s the fact that they’re in a new strange place, surrounded by things and creatures they don't understand, with no way home?"
Dean raises an eyebrow. "You sure he didn’t just have a bad lunch?"
I groan and push him away, then stand and walk over to Es. "Here, I can help."
Pete looks at me coldly, the same stare he gave Fen, but then his face calms, and he nods.
I hold my hands over Es’s chest, and whisper incantations Varis taught me. My energy flows through me, and I feel a presence I have not felt in a long time.
Yami.
I turn my face, seeing the little dragon perching on my shoulder, his skin like moving stars in a dark sky. His company fills me with happiness, and I channel that bliss into Es.
She gasps, then breathes in deeply, steadily. Her eyes do not open, but she is stronger than she was.
"Thank you," says Pete, avoiding eye contact with me. I'm waiting for the questions, but whatever he's thinking, he doesn’t ask. I'm sure he wishes I'd never brought him and Es to The Black Lotus, never gotten them involved. I wish that had been an option. I wish I could explain it all to him in a way he'd believe. And for a moment, I wish I had never come to Inferna myself.