Mag Mell

RHIANNON

There are several moments of silence that pass between us. I can feel everyone’s eyes on me, but I can’t seem to look up from the ground. I’m not sure what to do or say.

Isaac’s hands graze my cheeks, and I move back lightly into my hair. He pulls gently to force my head up, making me meet his gaze.

“Wings,” he says quietly, like he’s talking to himself. “My little angel has wings.”

“You’re not freaked out?”

“No. I’m surprised but definitely not freaked out, Annie.” He reaches his hand behind me to touch the top of one of the wings.

I feel a jolt course through me when his fingers come into contact with them. My mark tingles, and my knees wobble.

“They’re beautiful, little mate,” he nuzzles his face into my neck, leaving soft kisses over my mark.

“I-Isaac…”

Rhodes clears his throat loudly, reminding us that we are in front of an audience.

“Shit,” Isaac pulls back and straightens his back, looking authoritative and serious suddenly. “Sorry, we should get out of the wide open.”

They nod and begin walking toward the car. We all inspect the flat tires.

“Well…fuck,” Isaac growls as Rhodes grumbles something similar under his breath.

I sit down on the side of the road, and Madelyn joins me.

“How do I get these things to go away?” I ask out loud but not necessarily to her.

“When we shift, we just mentally connect to our wolf. Think about the wings, then…think about them being gone or appearing.”

I take a deep breath and close my eyes. I focus on the wings. I can feel them behind me, the chilly breeze blowing through the feathers.

After several minutes, nothing happens. In frustration, I snap at myself, “Go away!”

A warmth tingles in my shoulder blades, and the wings disappear.

I gasp and open my eyes. Everyone is watching me again. I look behind me, but it’s just instinct. I know they’re gone.

I quickly close my eyes again and ask them to come out, and they do. This is definitely easier than I thought.

“Away,” I whisper again, and they’re gone.

I look up and meet Isaac’s eyes. He’s smiling.

“That was easier than I was expecting,” I smile up at him.

The sound of a leaf crunching behind me draws all of our attention. Before I can even react, Isaac is behind me, pulling me into his body.

Rhodes and Madelyn are standing defensively on either side of us. A deep, defensive growl rips through Isaac’s chest.

A woman steps out from behind the trees. Her long black hair and large blue eyes immediately make me relax.

I can feel Isaac is still tense behind me, but he relaxes slightly. This girl is definitely not a vampire.

She steps forward with shock and confusion etched into her face.

“Rhiannon?” she’s looking at me.

Our group is quiet. I look up at Isaac, who is staring at her, mirroring her expression. I look at her and I suddenly can’t find any words, so I just point to myself and she nods slightly.

Unexpectedly, she’s gripping her hair in both hands, tugging in frustration.

“Shit, shit, shit,” she repeats over and over to herself.

“Who are you?” Isaac’s asks tightly.

“My name is Alix, and this is Shazi,” she says, turning back to the tree line. She’s obviously frustrated as she motions for someone to come out.

Another girl that looks exactly like Alix steps out from the tree line.

“Who is Rhiannon?” I ask desperately.

“Y-you are,” Shazi whispers, “and you’re not supposed to be here.”

“How do you know her?” Isaac asks, his tense chest still pressed firmly against my back.

“What do you remember?” Alix ignores Isaac’s question.

“Nothing, I don’t remember anything about my life or who I am.”

“Shit.” Alix starts tugging at her hair again, while Shazi looks like she might start to cry.

“Do you know Sabina?” Isaac asks them.

They both look up, like they’re surprised he knows that name. After a moment of silence, Alix nods her head. They know Sabina.

“Take us to her,” Isaac’s voice is laced with power.

“Oh, God,” Shazi says. She really looks like she’s going to burst into tears.

“Okay,” Alix says before turning and walking away without another word.

We follow behind her quietly, back in the direction we came from, toward the strange tree.

“What is this place? That tree…it makes me feel strange,” I tell them.

Shazi turns to me. Her expression holds the deep sadness that the tree made me feel.

“This used to be the port to our kingdom,” she says emotionally.

“What kingdom?”

“The fairy kingdom, Mag Mell. It was a…a secret world that only fairies knew of. It was hidden from the rest of the world.”

“Hidden? What do you mean?” This isn’t making sense to me.

“Only fairies knew where it was, only we had access to it. It was a hidden kingdom that was invisible to outsiders.”

“So, like…Wakanda?” I ask. Madelyn snorts.

Alix and Shazi stop dead in their tracks and turn to me.

“No! Not like Wakanda. Mag Mell was real. It was our home. Your home.” They both look at me with disgust.

“Sorry, I don’t remember it, I meant no disrespect. What happened to it?” I try to move on from my misstep.

“Vampires destroyed it. It’s completely gone, burned to ash. Most of our kind with it,” Shazi says sadly.

I have a million more questions, but I decide to stop asking. This is a sensitive subject, and I don’t want to push them.

After walking for close to two hours, we come to the bank of a crystal-clear lake, a large waterfall emptying into it from a jagged cliff.

We walk on the bank, around the water. The rushing sound of the waterfall gets louder as we move closer to the base. Isaac locks our hands together and rubs circles into my hand with his thumb.

Huge, moss-covered trees grow right out of the sandy ground by the water. Roots twist up out of the sand, some so large that it’s hard to climb over them.

As we break the tree line, the air grows tight, humid. The moss from the trees hangs down like curtains. We walk for several minutes through branches, leaves, and moss, and over roots.

As we step under the umbrella of moss and branches from another large tree, a woman with striking red hair steps under the same tree from the opposite side.

She stops when she sees us. Her eyes nearly triple in size when her gaze lands on me.

“Rhiannon?” Her voice is a hoarse whisper.

“Sabina?”