Queen Alpha (NYC Mecca #2)(70)

As Sabina knelt to heal Larak, Kade’s hand slipped into mine and then he was pulling me down the hall.

Selene’s voice boomed out around me as she screamed. “This isn’t over Arianna! The next time I see you I will rip you apart limb by limb! You’re dead!” The final two words shook the walls and I knew then that she wasn’t kidding. And she was possibly powerful enough to do it. The mecca coursed through both of us. The next time I saw her it would be a fight to the death.

As we rounded the corner, I was beyond relieved to see the door to the sitting room that hid the mecca stone being held open by Blaine. A flapping of wings and a howl from Finn let me know the familiars were right on our tail. I didn’t dare look behind me as we all raced into the room, Blaine slamming the doors closed after us. Just as the door slammed shut, thuds could be heard, and we all jumped back as the tip of an arrow pierced right through the wooden barrier.

The royal guard were here. Nikoli stepped up and started chanting, holding both hands out. A blue mist leaked toward the door. Blaine dived to the side to avoid being touched by the magic born’s spell. The blue increased across the door, thickening until no more arrows were visible, but I could still hear commotion on the other side.

After a few seconds, Nikoli turned to us. “It should hold long enough, but we have to hurry.”

Racing across the room, I pulled down the book that was the secret door lever into the mecca stone room. As the hidden door popped open, I was blasted with mecca. More than usual. The energy had increased again. Great.

I wished I could get word to the Summer Prince to tell him all that had happened, ask for his assistance traversing into the Otherworld, but that damn flower was in my old room.

Kade strode in behind me and the others followed. From what I could see of my people, Monica’s right arm was injured, but otherwise she looked okay. The rest were pretty much unscathed. Blaine, Monica, and Victor were all grimacing as they tried to trudge through the mecca energy in the room.

“It’s stronger,” Kade yelled over the buzzing noise the crystal was emitting.

So much stronger. Touching it right now felt like a stupid thing to do. Who knew if any of us would even survive that much mecca flooding through our bodies, but … I had to try for Violet. She was my sister, present in almost every one of my memories growing up. Like the time she was seven and had had a rough day in the human world. Some of them had teased her for her peculiar pale looks, told her she was a freak. I’d been so mad, I told her that I wanted names and addresses so I could go beat them all up. She’d laughed through her tears, told me that it didn’t matter, that our friendship was all she needed. It was probably that moment I knew we’d be lifelong best friends. We’d even decided to seal our bond with a blood oath. Violet was my blood sister, and I would literally do anything to get her back. Some people were just worth dying for.

I could tell Kade had been reading my emotions, if not my thoughts. He grabbed my hand and together we touched the crystal. That told me he was all in. He would also risk everything for Violet. For me. She was that important to me and I was that important to him.

The mecca shot into me so hard I let out a strangled cry. Somehow I managed to hold on. I could feel Kade filtering the energy so it wouldn’t affect me as much, but it was straining him. We needed to do this quickly. Channeling the energy into what I needed, the portal began to open, the faint image becoming clearer by the second, trees and bushes appearing before us.

Someone gasped behind me, then Nikoli said, “I didn’t believe you could actually do it. We’ve always been taught that only fae can open portals to the Otherworld.”

Yeah, we’re part fae, I wanted to say, but that was a whole other conversation for another day.

“Go! We can’t hold it much longer,” I shouted. Blaine seemed cemented to the spot, staring at the image, but at my command he grabbed Monica’s hand and nudged Victor’s shoulder.

“We’ll head west before doubling back toward the east so we can meet up with you in a few days,” I heard Blaine say, before he stepped through. Finn ran in after them.

I’ll stick with them for now and keep in touch, he said. That way we can communicate easily between our groups. I hated being apart from him, but it was a good plan. He’d keep them safe.

Take care, old friend!

Nikoli and Nix went through next, and I noticed Kade’s forehead had broken out with beads of sweat.

“Arianna, go!” he bellowed, letting go of my hand, his other remaining on the crystal.

“No way! We go together!” I shouted, snatching his hand back up. The mecca was buzzing so loudly now I wanted to cover my ears.

I heard the door in the sitting room crash open. Now or never. On the other side of the portal, Nikoli and Nix were waiting for us. The magic born had a ball of orange fire in his hands, gearing up for some spell, hopefully to help keep the portal open while we jumped through, or maybe to stop anyone else following us.

On three… Kade said. I readied myself and tried not to think of what would happen if the portal closed while we were halfway through it. Most likely it would slice our bodies in half.

Stop thinking!

“One … two … three!” Kade shouted and we pulled our hands off in unison, stepping around the mecca crystal and charging at the open portal. As we neared it, it began to shrink.

“Jump!” I yelled, both of us taking a leap at the same time. We hit the portal just as Nikoli’s orange ball of fire slammed in from the side. The closing of the entrance slowed, his power keeping it open for us. As I passed through the portal opening, I heard that voice again, that familiar voice that had been in the mecca for weeks.