Monsters: The Folklore Trilogy Book 3

In Which We Go Soul Searching

SIERRA

I was a little distracted going through the portal.

If you've never traveled via portal, it's a very odd sensation, like when you've been hanging upside down and then sit up too fast and your vision goes black for a second. It's disorienting and dizzying. But my stomach was still doing flips and my heart was still racing when the other symptoms wore off, which made me think that perhaps they were connected to something else that had just happened.

I shouldn't have kissed Ravi. What was I thinking? It was a huge battle and he probably wasn't interested anyway. Not that you would know, I thought to myself, seeing as you literally ran away.

But I pushed the thoughts and turmoil aside as best I could. It was only on the cheek, anyway, and we had bigger things to worry about—like the war that we were currently trying to stop.

I took a deep breath and glanced around the small island. It felt weird to call it an island. It was more of a large sandy rock in the middle of the sea, the kind of island sailors get marooned on in cartoons.

"This island is enchanted," I explained to Amarie. "Once you fall asleep here, you don't wake up unless someone else wakes you."

Her brow creased. "How will they know when to wake us?"

I bit my lip. "I'm not sure," I admitted.

"We'll wake you up after an hour," Juan said. "If you aren't done, you can go back to sleep."

I didn't love the idea, but I couldn't think of any alternatives. "Alright, but if we look like we might be in trouble, wake us up before then. I don't know what's going to happen in there."

Juan nodded.

Amarie and I sat down on the sand and laid prone. I blinked at the bright sun overhead and closed my eyes.

I tried to take a deep breath and relax, but my head was spinning. It was hot, my best friends were fighting an army of soulless monsters, and I had just basically confessed to having a crush on the most incredible guy I had ever met. How was I supposed to relax?

My eyes snapped open. "This isn't working."

"I agree," Amarie said apologetically. "Sleeping under pressure is not easy."

Giselle and Juan shared a look. Giselle turned back to us. "I could put you to sleep, but it would require that you trust me."

A lump formed in my throat. "What do you mean?"

"Usually, a sorcerer could enchant an object," Juan explained, "and when you touched it, you'd fall asleep immediately, but only if you didn't know it was enchanted. The application works only with vulnerability, since sleep is our most vulnerable form."

I hesitated. I had forgiven Giselle, believed strongly in all the good she was capable of, but to trust her to put me in a vulnerable position was something different. I wasn't sure if I trusted anyone other than my friends and family with that. At the same time, I couldn't imagine how Amarie must have been feeling. Giselle hurt me in the past, that much was true, but nowhere near the amount of pain Amarie had endured under her rule.

I glanced at Amarie and she held my gaze, fear evident in her eyes.

I looked at Juan. "Is there any other way?"

He hesitated and I knew there probably wasn't... at least, not within the time constraints.

I reached out my hand to Amarie. "I'll be with you. And I promise that we're going to be okay."