She turns and gives me a shaky smile. I give her a thin-lipped one in return. I don’t think I could fake a smile even if I wanted to. Not today.
When we reach ground level, we join a line of women who must have come from a different floor than us. Most of the girls are resigned, with their heads down, and follow the queue blindly. Others have wide,nervous eyes that dart every which way. A few stand tall with looks of determination on their faces. I hoped that’s how I looked, though the queasiness in my belly said otherwise.
My eyes are running along the line of girls when I spy someone who looks an awful lot like Waverly, but when my eyes dart back to where I had thought I’d spotted her, I don’t see her. It couldn’t have been her, anyway. She and Rihana were safely camping out of range. They were fine.
Our line slows as we head towards the open doorways that lead outside. Purple-tinted light streams through the doors, and I hear a faint humming that makes my arm hair stand on end. I rub my hands over them briskly to soothe them, but I have no such luck. I notice some of the girls’ hair is also standing on end, which makes me move a hand to my head and hastily pat it down. It accomplishes nothing. Yikes. I have never been so glad not to have a mirror around. No one needs to know what an electrified version of themselves looks like.
I blink back the sun’s glare as I take my first steps outside in over a week. Has sunlight always been so bright?
It’s organized mayhem outside. A total contradiction upon themselves, but fitting as soldiers march here and there, officers yell, people rush, women cry, and…
Holy fuck, is that afae?!
It’s a stupid question because there is no doubt in my mind what the male was. He towers over the men at his side, a full two heads taller by my rough estimate. He’s wearing the solid black armor the fae are prone to wear, and the materials cling to every muscular groove. I swallowquickly as my mouth waters. I amnotattracted to this fae, or any, for that matter. They were our kidnappers. Our jailers. Possibly our murderers.
My eyes rise past his shoulders to his sharp, handsome face. His skin is pale, his hair snow white, and his eyes are a striking red. Did the fae have albinos? Or was he a specific type of fae? Hells,arethere different types? The pamphlet,How to Distinguish Fae from Human, had predicted as much, so it could be true.
Some girls in the line whisper amongst themselves as they spot the male, too. I keep quiet, following as the line progresses slowly toward the roiling portal. My eyes keep straying back to the male, no matter how many times I turn away. It’s as if he is magnetic, and I just can’t help but follow the pull.
I manage to dart my eyes away from him for a moment before I am irresistibly drawn back to him. And damn it all to hell, he’s staring right back at me.
I blink and stumble as our eyes lock. His eyes are like vortexes pulling me in, and I feel myself stepping out of line, but I have no control over my limbs. No thought to stop myself. Just his striking eyes drowning me in a cavern of rubies.
“Oi, you!” A barking, authoritative voice practically slaps me in the face. The owner of the voice is a fat and stout officer with bushy eyebrows and a mustache that bordered on belonging to a certain historical figure who was rotting in Hell, as he rightfully deserved. Just look at him, herding us to slaughter as guiltless as a nasty wasp. “Get back in line!”
I look around me, then, and realize I have taken two steps out of line as I had blindly followed the fae’s silent call. I am completely mortified as Itake in the cautious looks from the women behind me, the furious gaze of the officer, the serious expressions on the men at his side, and the satisfied smirk on the fae male’s face.
My lips turn up, and I bare my teeth animal-like at the male before stepping back into place. His smirk turns into a grin as he continues to watch me, but I firmly keep my head turned in the opposite direction until, finally, he is far behind and out of sight.
Except now I am closer to the portal. It looks hot and oily at the new angle our closeness to it has provided. It flashes a brilliant white every time a Chosen walks through its greasy depths. There are more fae this close to the portal. These ones all wear helmets, but each was as tall and muscular as the red-eyed demon from earlier.
Soldiers from the human army form lines of two men deep on either side of us, automatic rifles held ready at their chests. There will be no escaping this close to the Crossing. Not that I had had any hope of it, anyway. I had completely resigned myself to my fate for many days now.
I crane my neck as we get ever closer to the portal, trying to spot a familiar face.
There.
“Akari!”
Akari spins around with wide, terrified eyes. There are only two girls in front of her. She will make the Crossing in seconds.
Her eyes are desperate as they find mine.
I smile, as big and strong and encouraging as possible.
“I’ll see you on the other side!” I promise.
Akira’s face breaks into a small, nervous smile, and she nods before being roughly turned around and pushed towards the portal.
Ice freezes in my veins as I watch her. She is so tiny and inconsequential compared to the portal. I see her shoulders rise and fall in a final deep breath, then she throws back her shoulders and walks with purpose towards the gurgling purple pool.
It swallows her in a brilliant white flash. She’s gone. She’s in Faerie. And soon, I will be too. I look back at the line in front of me. It moves at a steady pace, and every time I try to count how many women are before me, another two make the Crossing. Before I know it, there are only three girls in front of me.
Two.
The girl ahead of me cries in earnest.
One.
