I turned a little to the side, shoved off with all my might, and tried again.
“Oops,” I heard over the din.
The hairy creature stood just beyond the shadowy area, looking up at us.
“You must’ve been honest about Ivy House.” His smile showed a lot of teeth. “I can’t wait for those flowers. Oh, this makes me so happy. I am willing to overlook…whatever it is you are doing with that man. Seems complicated.”
I flapped my wings, trying to counter Austin’s weight and go straight up in the air. Except for some intense wobbling, I managed, but my stamina was wearing thin. I needed a lot more practice with these things, preferably without the extra weight.
“Well, as you can clearly see, I didn’t wrap my ankle.” The hairy creature shook his head. “I’d better go do that.” He turned and walked back toward the shadowy area, disappearing.
He would deserve those flowers.
I turned in the air, which was surprisingly difficult, and beat my wings harder, climbing. My breath came in ragged pants. Higher still, I tilted forward, Austin’s weight now propelling us toward the opening. I couldn’t wait to get to those shadowy forms, waiting just beyond that shimmering barrier.
But how were we going to get through it?
Fatigue pulling at me, keeping us in the air harder with each beat of my wings, I managed to stop us next to that barrier, it having no ledge or lip to stand on, now trying to rip and tear at it with my magic. Trying to counteract it, or think it away. Whatever it was, though, it refused to respond to my attempts to dispel it.
“Just go through,” Austin said, his voice hard with grim determination. “Go through. We’ll survive.”
We didn’t have much choice. I was losing altitude.
Summoning a last bit of strength, clamping my teeth shut, I did as he said and dove forward. Fire ignited my body, starting with my head. It plunged into my blood and seared flesh and bone. Pain such that I’d never known washed over me, through me, became me, until all I was saw black.27I came to slowly at first, and then all at once. I snapped my eyes open, remembering the pain of plunging through that magical barrier.
Oh Lord, did I remember the pain.
A head loomed over me.
“Hah!” I struck out, my fist connecting with a face and my magic following it up.
A tall, gangly body flew backward, curving through the air and landing facedown on my red Persian rug. We were in my bedroom.
“Yes, miss, good point.” Mr. Tom pushed himself to standing. “I should’ve announced myself after the ordeal you’ve had. I can appreciate you being a little jumpy.”
“Sorry.” I palmed my head, at the dull ache there. Weak morning sunlight filtered in through the window. The skin on my arms looked a little waxy. Although my skin had returned to its normal color, it was now devoid of moles, freckles, and blemishes.
“Not at all. It is quite all right. I should have been prepared for a quick punch from a sleeping woman. How are you feeling?”
He approached my bed again, somewhat hesitantly.
“Okay. A headache, but—”
“Ah. Yes. I have something here for that.” From my nightstand, he picked up a clear bottle of purple pills. “These are still in beta phase—apparently that’s what they call something experimental—but I have been assured they are very safe and quick acting.”
“No, that’s”—I pushed his hand away, bending my face the other way—“okay. I’ll just grab some Advil.”
“Advil is for blockheaded Janes who want to live with pain. No, no, try the magical variety.” He pushed the bottle at me again. “Just one, mind. There is no telling what might happen if you take more.”
I sat up and put out my arm to further avoid that bottle. As soon as my head stopped swimming, I reached for my magical connection with Austin—I felt him at once, his presence strong and sturdy. He wasn’t dead, thank God.
“How’s Austin?” I asked.
“Right as rain. He took one of the pills.”
“He did?”
“Well…” Mr. Tom lowered the bottle a little. “He took one and threw it while giving me a threat, but…”
“Is he really right as rain, then?”
Clearly seeing that he wouldn’t get his way, he pursed his lips and deposited the bottle back on the nightstand.
“He is, yes. Already out and searching for those mages who grabbed you. I’ve never seen him so worked up. He is taking the situation very personally, which is not good news for them. Too late now, eh? I’m forever glad he is on our side.”
“He healed and everything?”
“Mostly. He has an amazing capacity for pain. I am, quite frankly, shocked. He stayed awake all the way home, asking for status updates on you. He didn’t change form until he reached Ivy House soil and Ivy House started healing you both.”