Page 20 of Ignite
“Wait.” A whisper is all that escapes my lips, so quiet I can barely hear it over the sound of blood rushing in my ears. The scent of smoke begins to fill my nose, my Essence awakened by my frustration.
“Wait!”This time, the word tears from my mouth, the insects of the forest falling silent as my voice echoes through the trees.
I feel the eyes of everyone snap to me, but I keep my gaze on the two fae who brought us here.
“I’m not leaving him,” I snap, pausing to calm my rapid breaths and the heaving of my chest.
“Lu, we can’t get Graylen—” Leda starts.
“No,” I growl. “I’m not filling my belly with food and giving my body rest knowing where he is.”
Willow tilts her head to the side, and I explain in a rushed hiss, “The man that I love is trapped in the Vale. I’m going to get him back.”
A strangled noise comes from behind me, followed by a curse that sounds an awful lot like Adrian. I ignore him, pushing ahead.
I nod to Aster with the hope that I can appeal to his connection with Willow as I say, “If it were Willow stuck with Vidaris right now, would you leave her? Would you not riskeverythingto get her back?”
Aster’s eyes flash with pain, and I know that I’m right—that he would do anything for the woman beside him.
He opens his mouth, but Leda steps between us, her gaze cold.
“You’re no good to Graylen if you get yourself killed trying to get him back,” she bites out, her stare unwavering. “Not a single one of us is in any state to go back there.”
Leda may be right, but that doesn’t lessen the way my skin crawls without him near, or the way my muscles haven’t relaxed since watching him shove Vidaris back into her realm.
“But I feel?—”
Her hands grip my shoulders, fingernails digging into my flesh until tears spring into my eyes. The pain grounds me, gives me something to grab onto.
“Fine?” She laughs bitterly. “We haven’t eaten in nearly a day, you just killed the only father you’ve ever known while simultaneously learning he wasn’t your father by blood. None of us are in a place to properly plan a rescue mission. Take a deep breath—we can figure this out together.”
Her fingertips relax a little, her gaze softening slightly. “I know it feels like you’re abandoning him, but getting yourself caught by running there without a plan? It would make what he did for you be in vain. Do you want that?”
I blink back the tears that blur my vision.
“You need rest,” she adds, looking around at our group. “Wealldo.”
The fire in my chest begins to cool, but it doesn’t ease the pain. Doesn’t ease the burning desire to ignore Leda and flyheadfirst into the Shadow Lands. But as much as I hate to admit it, she’s right.
Leda waits until I nod before she releases me, turning around toward Willow and Aster without a second glance. Calix comes up to my right. We still don’t know who these fae are or why they saved us, but none of us are in any shape to fly, so we have no choice but to follow them.
Eight
Celestite
The wayto the tops of the trees isn’t by magical wings or floating. Somehow, this feels more out of the realm of possibilities than even that. Instead, the bark of the tree ahead shifts, softly splintering, making room for a rounded door to appear directly in the trunk.
A flicker of light catches my attention. Then several more. Soon, the entire forest around me is filled with little glowing dots blinking to life. They remind me of the illuminated butterflies in Nox Grove, but something about these is slightly different.
A tiny one floats toward me, leaving a softly glowing trail behind it as it nears. It hovers in front of my nose, as if waiting.
“Your hand,” Willow whispers. “Let it rest there.”
I swallow, mesmerized by its light as I stick out my finger. Instantly, it moves over to rest on the end of my finger. Smallinsect-like legs wrap around my nail. I examine it closer, bringing my hand up to my eyes.
Their wings are longer than butterflies’, sweeping down into a long tail on the ends. The one on my finger is smaller than the others drifting through the trees. This one is only the size of a coin, while others are bigger than my hand. They’re all varying shades of pastel green, their lights pulsating from dim to bright.
“What are they?” I ask softly.
