Despite my bold declaration to Adrian the night before, the absence of Luis gnawed at me. Going to this trial without him felt like trying to breathe without lungs. Each step forward was a reminder of how much I relied on him, but if my victory meant saving my mother's world and freeing an oppressed people, I had no choice but to keep moving.
We had to take two vehicles because of the growing size of my entourage. Erick and Brin, the replacement for Luis, were in the other limo, along with Elsie and Beth. Jeanne, Adrian, Luke, Ciaran, and Dominic made up the party limo with me.
I would give you all the apples of Hesperides for your thoughts, little Princess." Ciaran's voice dripped with mischief, his eyes catching mine before I could look away.
The memory of the night before hit me like a wave, and along with it a rush of desire that I struggled to stamp down. By the way the others stared at me, I wasn't successful
I mumbled something unintelligible, sinking deeper into my seat, wishing I could disappear.
Ciaran chuckled, the timbre filled with both heat and amusement. I felt the familiar tug on our link, his attempt to play footsie. I mentally shoved him away, but it only made his grin widen.
Luke spoke up, sounding both annoyed and strained. "Stop toying with her, Ciaran." His eyes narrowed. "Your position here is suspect enough without you addling her mind."
I kicked Luke's shin under the seat, startling him. "My mind is fine, thank you.
"I only meant that Ciaran is a crafty god who might not be on your side."
"Me?" Ciaran chuckled. "Oh Luke, if you're not the blackest pot in existence, I don't know who is."
"Guys, stop bickering," Dominic said as he draped his arm over me. "See how tired she is!"
Could everyone stop patronizing me until after the trial?" I muttered, barely holding back a yawn. My body wanted to fold into Dominic's warmth, even though I knew I should push him away. But I was too tired to care.
Jeanne squeezed my hand gently. "So many swains after your heart, my lady. You have a court that adores you."
Not Jeanne too! I made a spluttering sound with my lips, then closed my eyes. Adrian caused them to open wide again as he spoke to me through my link.
"Just ignore them all, G. You've got this."
I smiled at him."This new gift of yours could be amazingly useful."
"Right? I'm feeling pretty special now. I was wondering what I could do with no powers. This gives me some rep now."
"No lie! You even have the power to cure insomnia."
"Oh, so I'm boring, huh?"
I twisted my lips with my fingers to keep me from grinning. "Sorry."
"Well, you can make up for insulting me by joining the boy band when we get back to earth."
"Consider it done." I laughed out loud, and Dominic squeezed me.
"What's so funny, Matty?" he asked.
I shook my head as I forced myself not to look at Adrian. I wanted to keep it a secret for a little while longer, especially from Luke and Ciaran. It would be nice to have an ace if they wound up using me.
"Don't tell anyone yet," I thought to Adrian.
"Got it."
Dominic's arm tightened around me, his voice light as he talked about cooking with Danela. But my mind was elsewhere, circling back to Luis. If he were here, he'd be hovering, trying to guard me on both sides. I might have liked that attention at once timeâyet here I was, sinking deeper into someone else's embrace without protest. Maybe I didn't mind Dominic's fussing as much as I should have.
I must have fallen asleep, because Jeanne nudged me awake as we entered the city gates, and I stretched forwards. Dominic helped me out of the car, and we walked to the temple steps where Duir was standing. There was a crush of people to muscle through, but we made it to our place.
We were the last ones there. Again.
"So kind of you to make it!" Duir said with a bright grin. I could see how Valenia could be her priestess. There were two other girls with their entourage that I hadn't met at the party.
"Madeline, meet Zovria and Xanda. They held their Becoming ceremonies in their countries and joined us here."
I nodded at the two women. Xanda looked much like the girl with the waterfall dress at the party, and I wondered if she was related. The other girl was an adorable confection with lavender hair and eyes. She smiled at me sweetly.
In front of us was a portal that shimmered like water within a gilt frame.
"You know, Madeline, it doesn't have to be this hard," Duir said, her eyes gleaming. "Give up now, join my court, and I'll send your friends home. You can walk away unscathed." Her voice was soft, almost kind.
For a split second, the temptation gripped me. A way out. But it was an illusion. A trap.
I straightened, staring her down. "You know I've never been good at following the rules, Duir. Why would I start now?"
Duir humphed. "Well, it was nice knowing you then." She nodded at Valenia. "Let's begin."
Regina was the first to go through the portal, but she was happy to give me a dig before she did. "Oh no. You're missing another member of your court? Did he tire of you and run away?"
At the look on my face, she cackled. "Oh, no! He did! How absolutely grand!" She disappeared into the portal, still cackling.
Marisol parted with a dig as well. "Hope we find enough of you left for your funeral!"
The other two ladies disappeared with polite nods of their heads. Lavender girl also offered me a friendly smile before disappearing.
That left us. "Any of you that don't want to go, let me know."
When no one voiced any regret, I armed myself with that courage and stepped through the portal.
Then I screamed, and my friends stumbled through the portal with their weapons raised.
"What are you screaming for, Matt!" Mike hollered, waving his arms around. He'd been hiding behind the hideous creature and had nearly made me jump right out of my skin when he popped out.
"Are you crazy?? What are you doing here??" I pressed a hand to my heart as I scowled at him.
"I'm here to help! I swear!"
"Like I'll believe that. And what in the heck is that thing!"
The creature frowned at meâthough how, I wasn't sure, since its eyes were water lilies. The crinkled petals gave the impression of displeasure. I had bumped into its snout when I entered, and it blew hot breath at me in outrage. Its skeletal head resembled a deer's, while its massive body, bigger than a double-decker bus, was covered in mossy bark. Its legs looked like oversized pliers, and it made a whooshing sound with each breath.
Mike put his palm against his forehead and rubbed. "That's the vaadin, you spoon. What did you think it would be?"
"M'sorry..." I mumbled, embarrassed. Then I remembered I was angry at him. "Wait a minute; I asked you what you were doing here!"
"I told you why. Geez-Louise, Matt! Why couldn't you have let Franco grab you! I would have fixed it, I swear! I was outside the restaurant waiting to save the day, but then that old bat, Aisa, grabbed me and knocked me out. She put me in the freaking garbage can! Disgusting!"
"I wouldn't have needed any day to be saved if you hadn't done it in the first place!"
"I had to save you! Your freaking grandpa wanted me to kill you to pay my debt! You've been a son to me, Matt!"
"Daughter now."
He shrugged, "Meh. Semantics."
Should I trust him? His story seemed plausible. "You sure you didn't lose a bet again? Is this a trick?"
"We should bring him along for now. He may have booby-trapped the vaadin, and at least taking him with us will ensure he falls into his own trap." Ciaran said.
"I disagree. He's proven to be impulsive and untrustworthy. He may sabotage us in the air when the vaadin is carrying us all. Besides, we don't have an acorn for him," Erick said.
"Oh, those? He opened a bag holding dozens of golden acorns. "I got plenty. Don't worry."
I was definitely worried. "Where did you get them?"
He grinned. "I won a game! We use these acorns as money all over Aleria. Seriously!"
"He is correct," Luke said.
Great. Now that my three concubines were miles away.
Mike glanced up at the vaadin. "She's sorry, she's not from around here. We good?"
The creature responded with a hot blast of air that smelled like a sewer. I coughed, waving my hand. The vaadin stamped one of its tong-like legs, clearly unimpressed.
"What? There was a fly, right?" Mike said with a grin. I quickly dropped my hand, nodding, trying not to breathe too deeply.
"Hold up the payment," he added.
I fumbled with my bag of acorns. "Oh, right. Here." I held it up, and Mike tossed in one of his own acorns. The creature stopped frowning, so I guessed that meant we were okay. Mike scrambled onto the beast, perching precariously on top.
"Sure, if you want to hike for miles through monster-infested territory," Mike replied.
"Okay, how about I wait here, and you guys come back for me?"
"You'd be eaten before we got back. We're in the Betwixt, Matt. Just get on the vaadin and stop bein' a girl," Mike grumbled.
"You're the only one who can complete the task," Luke added, watching me closely.
I wasn't scared of ghosts or zombies. But this thing? I was trembling.
Ciaran sidled up, nudging me. "I'll sit behind you and make sure you don't fall."
"Promise?" I asked, biting my lip. So much for not wanting to be patronized after all my protests. And so much for avoiding being right next to Ciaran. Would he behave?
"Promise," he said with a grin.
He didn't look like he would behave.
I scowled at Mike as I held out my hand, letting him pull me up. Ciaran gave me a push from behind, and I clutched Mike's shirt as I settled in. "Cut it out, Matt, or we'll both fall," Mike growled.
"I'm dealing with it," I huffed. I knew why this thing freaked me outâit reminded me of creepy dolls. I could handle the things I created myself, but someone else's monster? That was different. I half-expected something to crawl out of its belly and eat me.
Ciaran nimbly jumped onto the vaadin and wrapped an arm around my waist. "Don't worry, you won't fall."
"Okay..." I sighed, defeated. As I turned, I caught Luke glaring, his eyes narrowed at Ciaran's arm around me.
"You seem awfully chummy with Madeline, despiteful godling," Luke said.
Ciaran laughed. "Despiteful godling! I'll get that as a tattoo. The Princess and I became good friends during training, didn't we, Princess?" He squeezed me, but I just shrugged. "I've decided you'll be my rival. Isn't that fun?" he added, grinning at Luke.
Luke shook his head, eyes on me. "You can try, Ciaran."
Erick climbed up behind him, muttering, "Can we get going?"
Soon everyone had mounted, and there was still room for more. My body lurched as the vaadin began walking. I turned away from Erick and clutched at the bark beneath me. The stupid thing's back was so broad that my legs were already aching from the half-split they were in. It didn't have a smooth surface because of the thick vines that comprised its back.
All around there were trees, but it wasn't peaceful. I could hear things crashing through the bushes and other things skittering as we traveled forward. The reindeer-thing's wheezing joined with the noise. Occasionally I'd hear something like a roar that would make me flinch, and Ciaran would hold me tighter. I noted how comfortable that felt. So much for keeping myself separate.
I tried to distract myself from my violent attraction to Ciaran by thinking about the trial. I hoped this Emperor of Tears wouldn't jerk us around because I thought everything was already in danger of falling apart. In order to distract everyone, I asked Ciaran and Luke to tell me about my two new opponents.
"Xanda is a siren from the Autumn court, and Zovria is a goblin," Luke said.
"That is a goblin?" I gaped at him, half turning.
"Maybe you should turn completely around, Princess? I'm sure it would be more comfortable. I certainly wouldn't mind."
I smacked Ciaran for his seductive comment and waited for Luke to answer.
Luke gave Ciaran a narrowed gaze, then returned to explaining to me about my opponents. "Zovria is a goblin, yes. Don't believe the human tales about them. They had seen the creatures when they were angry or hunting. Goblins have two forms they take, and the other form is quite hideous indeed. Their more pleasant form lures the unsuspecting into their traps. They love the flesh of other sentient beings. I am amazed that the stone would accept her."
"Maybe it didn't."
"That could be true, Princess." Ciaran chuckled.
I managed a derisive laugh, but inside I was worrying. If Duir had stooped to cheating to make sure I didn't win, then who knew what sort of danger was lying in wait ahead?