Page 62 of Cherish

Hudson turns to Macy and me, his eyebrows raised as if he’s asking if we want him to wait, but I nod for him to go ahead. And then I turn to Heather.

“You’ve got your plane ticket, right?” I ask. “I sent you the email with the information on it last night, and a car should be coming to take you to the airport in the next few minutes.”

“I’ve got it, but I don’t want to go, Grace.”

“I know you don’t. But we’ve gone over this. You can’t come with us—it’s too dangerous.”

“I’m okay with it being dangerous, and shouldn’t that be my decision anyway?”

“On normal things, yes. There’s nothing normal about this, Heather. I don’t know what’s going to be waiting for us on the other side of this portal. I have no idea if the Shadow Queen is going to accept the deal or try to kill us. I have no idea if we’ll even find a way back from the Shadow Realm. What if we get stuck there forever?”

“Then we’ll figure it out. We’ve been figuring things out together since we were kids. I’ve come this far. Let me see it through.”

I want to say yes. Of course I want to say yes. But doing so is completely irresponsible. So instead, I say the only thing I can think of that might get through to her. “What about your parents?”

She jolts a little, like they haven’t even occurred to her. “What about them?”

“I lost my parents, and there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wish I could talk to them, hug them, be with them. And I know what happened to them. I know that they’re dead. Imagine what it would be like for your parents if you just disappeared off the face of the earth? If they had no idea where you’d gone or what had happened to you or even if you were alive or dead? You can’t tell me you’d wish that kind of torture on them.”

“Grace.” Heather reaches over and hugs me as tight as she can. I hug her right back, because what I say for her I also say for me. If we don’t make it back, this may be the last time I ever see my best friend. “I’ve tried to take care of you for as long as I’ve known you. Who’s going to do that if I’m not there?”

“I’m going to take care of myself,” I tell her. “And you are going to take care of yourself—back at school. And, hopefully, take really good notes that keep me from flunking out when I finally make it back. Okay?”

Heather nods against my shoulder and then pulls away slowly. “You better not get dead over there, or I’m going to be really mad at you.”

“Fair enough. Now, it’s time for you to catch your ride.”

She grins. “And time for you to catch your portal?”

“Something like that.” I give her a little wave. “See you soon?”

“You better.”

And then I turn and walk toward the fountain—and the portal—and can’t help wondering if I’m wrong and I’ll never see my best friend again.

37

It’s Just Another

Paranormal Pileup

“Well, this sure as shite isn’t the dignified entrance into the Shadow Realm I was imagining,” Jaxon says in a voice as dry as burned toast.

Eden snorts. “Hard to be dignified when you’re at the bottom of a dragon pile.”

“I think you mean dragon, witch, vampire, and gargoyle pile, don’t you?” Flint’s voice rumbles just below me as I try to get my bearings.

“Whatever the fuck it is, I’m done,” Jaxon growls.

The next thing I know, everything under me is moving—and that’s when I realize we really are in a dogpile of bodies. I just happen to be on the top of it, along with Macy, while Jaxon, apparently, is on the very bottom.

No wonder he sounds so annoyed.

I scramble off just in time, because people go sliding and flying in all directions. Seconds later, Jaxon stands up and brushes his hands off against his black jeans. “There. That’s much better,” he says, voice rife with satisfaction.

“For you, maybe,” Eden grumbles as she, too, stands up. “My hip may never be the same. Do you weigh three thousand pounds or something?” She glares at Flint.

“Iama dragon, in case you forgot,” he answers as he reaches down and pulls Macy to her feet.

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