Page 17 of Heir of the Autumn Queen

Feeling the truth of her words in my body, the invisible female convinces me to take a deep breath, then another. Several breaths later, I can feel my heartbeat slowing to its normal rhythm when she speaks again.

“Your brother and friend are in perfect health. The magic has convinced you otherwise.”

The panic that had taken hold in my mind shrinks away as I process her words, feeling foolish that I didn’t recognize it sooner. The enchantments here have done exactly what we were told it would do by preying on my fears.

“Open your senses.” The strength of the voice is fading, and it’s almost like I can feel it rather than hear it at this point.

“Listen…” The voice whispers in my mind.“Then go, and you shall find what you seek.”

I do as she says, listening intently to every noise around me. At first, I can only hear my own body; my heart beating in my chest and my lungs filling and emptying. But after a few moments, I can hear a different heart beating, strong and steady, accompanied by another. I can hear someone else’s breath, and finally, I hear Killian, calling my name. It’s quiet at first, like he’s talking underwater, but the more I focus, the more I can hear him until I hear his voice, clear as if he were standing right next to me. My eyes snap open, even though I didn’t realize I had closed them.

I start walking, and somehow I know that my steps will lead to Killian, even though I can’t hear him anymore. It’s like my body knows where he is, even though my mind doesn’t. I sheath my dagger and continue walking until I literally bump into Killian’s back with anoomph. He jumps and shouts, startled, but I throw my arms around his torso, hugging him tightly, exhaling a sob of relief.

“Where were you?” Killian scolds me while simultaneously sounding relieved to see me. He untangles my arms from his body and pulls me around to his front as Briar wraps her arms around me in her own hug, squeezing me tightly.

“Hell if I know.” I laugh breathlessly now that we’ve been reunited.

“What happened?” Briar asks, pulling away from me.“We’ve been waiting for you.”

I frown, starting to question if the whole interaction with the voice was even real.“I went to pee and then came right back here, but you two were still gone. I felt like I waited forever, and when you still didn’t come back, I went looking for you.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Killian scratches his day-two stubble.“I was gone for less than a minute before coming right back here.”

“Me too.” Briar looks at me with concerned eyes.

“It must be the magic.” I shake my head.“I seriously thought I’d lost you guys.”

“Well, we’re all together now. Let’s keep it that way until we’re through the Pass.” Briar squeezes my hand.

“Agreed.” Killian grabs my other hand and we start walking again. It feels like the moment has passed to tell them about the mysterious voice, so we continue on silently. We wordlessly agree not to stop again, all of us anxious to get to the other side and avoid any more strange effects of the mist here.

Several uneventful hours later, we descend from the mountain and the mist clears as we emerge from the path into a lush, green forest.

We breathe a collective sigh of relief having made it through, and take in our surroundings. The sun is just starting to set, and the forest seems to be uninhabited, but I immediately notice that there are familiar sounds of wildlife, unlike the utter silence of the Pass. I can hear birds chirping, small critters rustling in the leaves and trees, and a larger water source, most likely a river, somewhere close by. We walk several hundred yards before picking a spot to settle for the night, all of us wanting to be a good distance from the mountains. We start making camp until the fire is burning brightly and we’re all sitting close together, utterly exhausted from the day.

Killian found an apple tree when he was gathering wood, and we all eat several for dinner, crunching away loudly.“These are the best godsdamned apples I’ve ever had,” he says, wiping some juice from his chin with the back of his hand.

I raise my own apple in a toast, swallowing a large bite and shamelessly starting in on another.

“I’m not saying you’re wrong,” Briar says around a mouthful. “But it’s probably just because we all thought we were gonna die today.”

I laugh, feeling sort of delirious.“Gods, I thought I was dead for sure.”

Killian laughs too, slowly at first, until he’s in hysterics.“Ithought you were dead.”

Briar joins us in our delirium until we’re all crying from laughing so hard. We settle down eventually, the reality of how serious our situation is gripping us one by one, causing us to lapse into silence. Before we turn in for the night, I decide now’s as good a time as any to tell them about the voice.

I clear my throat, making the strange mood even more tense.“Did you guys feel anything in the mountains?”

Killian shrugs.“I felt scared when we couldn’t find you.”

“Me too,” Briar says, before cocking her head and adding quietly,“and I felt alone… even though I was holding your hand basically the entire time.”

I nod in understanding while they eye me curiously, so I explain my theory of the ancient magic.“Bri, I think what you were feeling was the enchantments preying on your fears. As part of a coven, you’re stronger when you’re surrounded by your fellow witches, so it tracks that it would attack your insecurity of being alone.”

Briar nods, before Killian says,“The whole time we were in there… I felt like I couldn’t do anything right. Like I couldn’t even walk in a straight enough line.”

“You were afraid of disappointing us.” Briar stares at Killian in question, and he nods, meeting her intense gaze. They study each other for several moments, that familiar sexual tension coating the air between them like honey.

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