Filed To Story: Chasing the Rejected Luna's Heart (Clara & Liam) Book PDF Free
I stared in disbelief at the sight in front of us. It was a creek alright, if not a small river, but it sure as hell wasn’t the one under the bridge we had crossed over.
The blue water was smoking, and there were tiny ripples all over the surface that disturbed the current, appearing and disappearing rapidly as if it was raining. I felt my throat tighten up, and my lungs ached from not taking a deep breath.
Then something leapt out of the stream, and while it wasn’t like any fish I had ever seen, my brain instantly began trying to dismiss what I saw. It was at least six feet long, with brilliant green-and-purple scales forming a gradient all the way down the elegant curve of its body. It had a massive spine that looked like it was made of glass, catching the light for a split second before it dove back into the water.”What the fuck was that?” Cole cried.
Okay, so he had seen it, too. I never thought I would’ve been relieved to find I was hallucinating, but that was the direction my life had taken.
I shook my head. “I don’t know. But either there’s some serious toxic runoff in this place, or that was not a fucking fish.””We should follow the stream,” Cole said, still looking a bit dazed even though I could tell he was trying to shake it off. “It has to lead us out of the woods eventually.”
I sure as hell hoped he was right. We kept walking, and while I didn’t see any more monster fish, I was admittedly not looking closely. It took enough energy just to keep my focus straight ahead.”So, does all this warrant another day off when we get back, or…?”
Cole gave me a look over his shoulder. “You sure you’ve never seen anything like that before?””Glowing trees and Lisa Frank fish?” I challenged. “Yeah, pretty sure I would’ve remembered that.”
Cole fell silent, but he was thinking so hard I could practically hear it. And I was lost in my own thoughts, so I didn’t feel like dragging him out. The forest was strangely quiet, and I found myself wondering when the chirping of the birds had ceased.
I stopped. “Do you hear that?”
Cole looked back at me. “No. Hear what?””Nothing,” I said, studying the thick expanse of trees a bit closer. They were willows, nothing out of the ordinary about them. And yet, something about the entire forest just felt…different. Off. “Where are the birds?”
Cole didn’t answer, but I could tell the realization hit him with the same unease as it had me. He started walking again, faster than before, and this time, I wasn’t going to complain. The sooner we got out of this place, the better.
The stream was getting narrower and narrower, and I saw no sign of the road or the welcome center. As the trees cleared, I could see a large structure in the distance, but it was way too big to be the welcome center. And there were two towering points I was sure we would’ve seen from the road.”What is that place?” I asked.”Who knows. Let’s just hope someone’s there.”
I was torn as to whether that would be a good thing or not. No reason to freak him out even more by saying that, though. I was doing enough of that myself.
Eventually, the structure came into clear view, and I realized it was a massive stone building–or at least, the remnants of one. The two spires were tall towers with sharp points that appeared to be made of some dark gray metal. The stones had all fallen away, aside from those that formed the front wall of what had once been a great building.
A castle.”Does this look familiar to you?” I asked warily.”No,” Cole said, his voice low and tight. “It doesn’t.”
I swallowed hard. “I don’t suppose it’s possible you guys just missed the giant castle in the middle of the woods on those camping trips?””This is impossible,” he muttered, raking a hand through his hair. I knew what he was doing. Trying to rationalize the irrational. I had been doing plenty of that on the walk, but now, I was starting to shift into a different frame of mind. Panic.”Maybe you were right,” I said, unable to believe what I was thinking, let alone that I was about to pose it as a potential explanation. “Maybe that thing was some kind of portal.”
Cole’s eyes darkened, and I could tell he wanted to argue, but he didn’t. We were both awakening to this new reality in our own way.”That means this place is…” He trailed off, and it was all I could do not to stick my fingers in my ears and refuse to listen like a stubborn child.
Don’t say it, don’t say it, don’t say it…”The other world,” Cole finally murmured.
The moment he said those words, I knew it was true. And ifthatwas true, it meant he was right about my origins as well. Somehow, some way, this was the place I had come from. Or at least, the place my real father had come from.
This was the land of the fae.
So what the hell did that make me?