Bree smiles when she feels Niadryan's presence outside of her bars once again, the smell of the blood packets in his hands already filling her senses.
He chucks them through the bars. "For you, Bree Hampshire. Drink up."
Niadryan doesn't have to tell her twice; she snatches the packets up from the floor, without even stopping to think about how disgusting what she is about to do is, and she rips them open, gulping down the thick, warm, red substance, then immediately feeling satisfied. Bree wipes her mouth. "Thank you," she whispers to Niadryan.
His eyes sparkle as he says, "But of course." He lowers himself down, careful not to touch the bars this time, and he sits cross-legged. Bree mirrors him.
"Aren't you going to get into trouble?" Bree asks.
Niadryan snorts, "Only if I'm caught."
And behind him, an elf sneers, "How unlucky that would be. It'd mean the little monster here would get a roomate."
Niadryan squeezes his eyes shut and Bree hits her forehead on her knee, murmuring, "Well done, genius. Now we're both going to be stuck in here."
Unable to do anything to escape, Niadryan groans as the elf advances towards him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We're here."
Jens' voice is enough to cut through Layla's thoughts of Castor and Nina and how close they are, and of the conversation she had with her uncle about her parents, where he practically came out to her. Rak had pulled him away, insisting that it was time for them to leave, before Layla even had the chance to ask any questions or give her uncle a hug and tell him that, no matter what, she loves him more than anyone else in this world, and if it's boys for him- or maybe girls too, if he's bi; she doesn't know- then that's okay.
Layla can't believe she didn't guess, really. It's like all the puzzle pieces about her uncle seemed to immediately fit together and fall into place when he told her.
It also explains...
She glances at Lewis, ahead of her.
This can't keep going on. Castor can't be trusted; he has a vendetta against Jens. Why should she use Lewis as a reason to stay close to him? Why should they both pretend to be together when they both know it's not real? Lewis' parents are miles away, after all. They can keep thinking whatever the hell they want about Lewis and Layla supposedly being together. But she can't keep doing this. She can't keep taking a lie and twisting it, and then try to reap the benefits of it.
Layla loves Lewis, of course. How could she not? He's sweet and awkward, yet unfathomably courageous. She loves him in a way that she would have loved a little brother; in a way that she will love her corumpake, should she ever find anyone that she can trust as much as Lewis.
She can feel the unsaid prayers of all the people around her. They hang heavily in the air like a death sentence, radiating the most off of Lewis. They all have their own reasons for wanting this to be over, if you exclude just the humane want for Umah to be unharmed. They all have their own Afters waiting for them. When all of this is over, Layla and Rak will have Operation Fortunate to concentrate on; Cas will be on the run from Heidi Lucindel, unless she allows him back into the fold; Nina will return to where she came from, or she might even follow Cas, seen as how they're now joint at the hip.
Then there's her uncle. And Lewis.
God, how she hopes that their After is each other. If Lewis is like Jens, and doesn't love just girls, then the puzzle that is her uncle will finally be complete. Because he is in love with that boy. And Layla is an idiot for not having seen it sooner.
Umah has to be alive, though. If she isn't, Lewis might not find the strength within himself to love anyone again. And Layla refuses to see her uncle with a broken heart. She refuses to let him get hurt again.
Even if the person who hurt him the first time was her own father, which she really needs to find out more about.
Before them stands an archway. Inside it looks like running water and Layla reaches forward and places a hand on the supposed liquid, but it comes away dry.
She frowns. Fey magic. Always tricky.
Jens sweeps an arm towards the mirror. "Go ahead, Layla."
Layla nods and clears her throat. "I request the presence of the nymph, Eudora."
Then the strangest thing happens: The ripples in the archway begin to seperate, stretching further and further away from one another, as Layla, Jens, Rak, Lewis, Castor and Nina all watch in awe.
"Quick!" Rak says. "Through the gap. We won't have a lot of time before she comes."
Layla holds back and Nina stays by her side, as agreed. Jens grabs her hand and squeezes it. "I love you," he murmurs.
"Likewise," Layla murmurs back.
Rak ducks through the hole, followed by Jens and then Lewis. But Castor hangs back, looking at Layla and Nina like he has something to say.
Layla raises an eyebrow at him. "Well?" She asks, and her voice comes out harder than what she meant it to.
Castor looks down. "Stay safe. Both of you."
He's on the other side of the archway seconds after.
Layla and Nina stare at each other.
"What do we do when Eudora arrives?" Nina whispers.
Layla pulls out her dagger in reply and chucks into the air, catching it perfectly in the opposite hand.
She grins.
Nina just sighs. "Oh."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As soon as Lewis stepped through the archway and into the Fair Woodlands, he lost his footing and almost fell face-first into a pile of blooming flowers that, despite being beautiful, are probably lethal, with scarlet red thorns framing their rosy petals, like blood dripping from a wound.
Cas pulls him back before he can fall, shaking his head and laughing slightly. "Forever with two left feet, little brother."
Lewis finds himself smiling.
Both boys look to Jens and Rak, who are not as much in awe as they are, clearly having seen this place once already.
And what a place it is. Elegance radiates from every corner- nook and cranny would not fit for the Fair Woodlands at all, for it seems too perfectly molded for such terms- and the warmth of the sun washes over them, only to be snatched back and replaced with the frigidity of night, in which the wind whistles through their ears. Such bitter cold has produced frost that blankets flower stems and tree trunks, only for the opposing warmth to thaw it slowly, both temperatures constantly melting into one another.
Lewis and Cas begin to nod along to a lilting, eerie melody that has caught on the air, and suddenly Lewis feels so much calmer; like a hand has been squeezing his heart and has only now just decided to pull away. He realises, almost with a dry sort of amusement, that the real reason he is here is not to save Umah, but to join the Fair Folk. To sing until his throat is raw and the words no longer make sense, and to dance until his feet fall off.
He sneaks a glimpse at Castor, only to see his brother is deep in thought, also, his eyes heavy and unfocused.
Lewis imagines long nights just having fun with his brother here, like the good old days. Never again would they be separated... They'd be happy...
Then suddenly Jens is clicking his fingers in Lewis' face and Rak is lightly slapping Castor on the cheek. "Wake up," Jens says firmly. "And whatever it is you're thinking about that music, stop thinking it."
The world regains balance and Lewis' head clears.
Castor's eyes are no longer glazed over, he notices, and immediately Lewis begins to panic. "No. No, Jens, that can't happen again. The things I-"
"Let me guess," Jens interrupts, his eyebrow raised. "You suddenly thought it not worth saving Umah?"
Lewis turns his sole attention to the ground.
"Understandable. Lewis, I told you what the fey are like. They'll use everything they can to take your goal and twist it into something that seems insignificant. To fight it, you just have to remember that goal and why it became just that in the first place. Fight for it."
Lewis nods; as does Castor, although he looks quite rattled by the words.
"We don't have a lot of time," Rak says. "We need to move now and we need to move quick. There's a lot of ground to cover here."
Cas rocks back and forth on his heels. "I say we split up."
Lewis squints at his brother. Calmly, he says, "That is probably the worst idea you've ever had, and you've had quite a few of them."
"Actually," Rak interjects, "Its quite a good one. If we split up, the chances we find Umah will be higher with us all covering different ground."
At this, Cas sticks his tongue out at Lewis, at which point Lewis shoves him.
"But there's safety in numbers," Lewis counters.
Castor is quick, "So we partner up. Me and you and Jens and Rak."
Lewis hesitates.
Jens shrugs, looking at him. "Your friend, your call."
Lewis closes his eyes. Imagines Umah screaming for him, for someone, anyone, to come and save her. Perhaps she's already dead. Maybe she's alive but wants to die; she could have been tortured into insanity. Maybe she's okay, and Ignara and the fey haven't touched a hair on her head, for she's only bait, isn't she?
All of these are possibilities. That's how little Lewis knows about the situation with his best friend right now.
But a mere possibility is all he needs.
He nods. "Let's do it."
So it was that the Burwell brothers went right and Jens and Rak went left, both parties with one member who'd rather swap partners, in order to know the other is safe.
Cas and Rak seem not to notice this at all, even though Cas knows his brother like the back of his hand and Rak could recite everything Jens says before he's even said it.
Love is tricky like that. You notice what you notice and take what you can get, until you have to share; until your love is overpowered by a whole different love altogether. A love that is deeper; a love that is without hesitation.
A love that riddles the minds of both Lewis Burwell and Jens Lane.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jens and Rak had been right about the lack of time that Layla and Nina would have, because only five minutes after they went through the archway, the nymph, Eudora, came out of it, looking at Layla and Nina with irritated, mossy eyes.
She narrows her eyes in recognition when she sees Layla. "So you've no doubt summoned me to confess that you Wielders are traitorous thieves like we spoke about in the coffee shop? Is that what this is, Layla Lane?"
Layla and Nina exchange a quick glance and Layla clears her throat. "We're here to talk, actually. Our alliance with the fey that allowed them to guard the Blade in the first place has grown ever weaker since the accusations against the Wielders were made. It has been a heavy loss, which is why I'm here to offer an olive branch on behalf of my people."
Eudora nods but wrinkles her nose at Nina." Why bring the werewolf?"
Nina flushes at being so easily recognised.
Layla continues, "My people were scared for my safety, I won't lie. But I can assure you that no harm will come to you, as I think you may quite like my offer."
Eudora's eyes twinkle. "Please," she says, stepping aside, "We can talk more inside."
Nina shoots Layla an 'I hope you know what you're doing' look and then steps through the archway. Layla does the same, a smirk playing on her lips and her dagger growing heavier in her pocket.
It's moments like these when she aches for her Blade back.
Eudora follows, and just as she steps through the archway, Layla is jamming the hilt of her dagger into the side of Eudora's head.
Eudora thumps off the ground and Nina claps softly for Layla. "That was brilliant."
Layla grins; she hadn't realised how much she'd missed the exhilaration of this kind of thing.
"Come on, help me lift her," Layla says, and she grabs Eudora's legs as Nina picks up her arms.
"Where are we putting her?" Nina asks.
Layla thinks for a moment and then her eyes begin to glitter. "She's a tree nymph; so let's take her into the trees," Layla says, turning her head towards the mass of trees nearby. "And I mean deep into the trees."
Nina smiles. "Classy."
"I try," Layla laughs, and together they carry Eudora's unconscious form towards the trees.