Between (8 page)

“We have a pretty extensive process in place for bringing Apprentices to Ellauria. I set yours in motion when I brought you into the Between. Basically, there’s a spell for everything. All of your clothes, jewelry, makeup, shoes, some photographs—whatever we can do to make it feel like home.”

A silk-covered jewelry box sits on the dresser between the bathroom and closet. I flip the lid open. Yep. It’s all there. I don’t wear a lot of jewelry—just a few random pieces that put me in a good mood—but it’s nice to have them. I glance over my shoulder toward the bookshelf on the other side of the bed. The shelves are mostly empty, aside from a couple of notebooks and a jar of pencils. “Art supplies?”

“They’re not here?” Seth sits up and turns toward the shelves, then stands to inspect them. He stares at the meager amount of supplies for a moment and frowns. “They should be here,” he murmurs. His brow lowers and he shakes his head. “I’ll look into it.”

“But we can still get them, right?” I worked a long time on my collection of colors and charcoals. More than that, I want my sketchbooks.

He runs his fingers along the notebooks and looks at the empty space that should be filled with my things. “I think so, but—”

“Everything that’s ever meant anything to me is in them,” I say. The idea of being here without my drawings brings on an unexpected quiver in my belly. I need them. They’re more “home” to me than anything else I own.

The sooner Mom and Sam get here, the better.

Seth nods once, meeting my gaze. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

I nod back.

He’ll take care of it. It’s going to be okay.

Listen to Seth
.

I step backward until the edge of the bed presses into the backs of my knees. I sit down and stretch out across the bright-green duvet cover, melting into its softness. A weird mix of exhaustion and alertness settles over me, like my mind and body are at war. I glance at the clock on the nightstand. “Seven o’clock? How big of a time difference is there?”

He turns toward me, leaning his shoulder against the bookshelf. “It’s seven here, but almost one o’clock in the morning to you.”

Impossible. Four hours ago, Sam and I were sitting on the front porch, trading bracelets. I run my fingers over the silver beads, remembering the way Sam’s face lit up when he saw the guitar pick.

There’s a knock at the door, and Seth pushes off the shelf with a grin. He’s halfway across the room before I make it off my bed. “That must be Adele and Sam,” he says.

They’re here!

I hop off the bed and run to the door, ready to throw my arms around them in a hug that would bring every other hug in the history of hugs to shame.

Seth places a hand on the door, and it slides open. A towering man in my doorway stops me in my tracks.

He’s at least a foot taller than Seth and almost twice as wide, with the dark, hardened skin of someone who’s spent some time in the elements. Thick blond hair streaked with silver flows freely past his shoulders and down his back, like the pictures of Vikings I’ve seen in history books. He’s dressed like one too, wearing brown pants tucked into tall leather boots and a long gray tunic with a drawstring tied around his middle. His shoulders are broad, his arms enormous. His eyes are his most striking feature, a vibrant mix of green and yellow. The peculiar color practically glows against his tanned skin. It’s all at once beautiful and unsettling.

Nothing about him looks huggable.

Seth’s posture straightens. “Alexander! Come in! I didn’t expect to see you tonight!”

The surprised expression on Seth’s face makes me feel somewhat better about the fact that I’m staring. I have never seen such a large person in my life.

I clamp my mouth shut and pull my shoulders back. No. More. Gawking.

Alexander ducks his head as he steps inside, shrinking the room. He nods at Seth, then turns his attention to me. Something like a smile happens on my lips, but I’m not entirely sure it’s believable. This man is the very definition of intimidating. He holds my gaze, and I have no idea where to look.

Sam and I found a stray dog in the barn once. When we tried to get close, it bared its teeth and chased us all the way up the hill to the house. We’d practically leapfrogged over each other to get inside the door. Mom told us to never look a strange animal in the eye because they might consider it a threat. I’ve never forgotten that.

On the other hand, she also told us it’s respectful to maintain eye contact when you’re dealing with people so they know you’re paying attention.

I can’t decide if Alexander is more human or animal.

“Hello, Charlotte,” the giant man says, his yellow-green eyes bearing down on me.

“Hello,” I say, but it comes out like a whisper. I take a deep breath and raise my voice a bit. “It’s nice to meet you.” I force myself to blink, breaking away from his eyes. I don’t even correct him on his use of “Charlotte.” I lift my hand in a tiny wave and immediately regret it. I should’ve shaken his hand or nodded at him or something. A wave is far too frivolous.

Seth clears his throat. “Charlie, I’d like you to meet Alexander, one of the Fellowship’s founders. If Principal Command is Congress, then Alexander is the President.”

Alexander nods at me, his eyes barely softening, before he looks back to Seth. “We have a situation.”

“What’s wrong?” Seth asks.

“Adele hasn’t crossed into Ellauria yet.”

The weight that had lifted before comes crashing down again, stealing my breath. Heat rises from my knees to my arms to my cheeks. I pushed my fear away before, but now it’s clear—there’s a reason to worry. They should be here by now.

“What does that mean?” I ask, stepping closer. “Where is she? Where’s Sam?”

My voice is a little too high-pitched, too loud. I suck in a breath and hold it, waiting for an answer. Seth and Alexander stare at each other, conversing in silence. My heart pounds against the front of my chest.

Alexander didn’t mention Sam. Why wouldn’t he mention Sam?

“Where are they?” I ask again, louder.

Seth can’t quite make eye contact. “We don’t know.”

They don’t know.

They don’t
know
?

Tears form behind my eyes, and pressure builds there, waiting for me to break down and release them. I swallow hard and look at Alexander. “Are they still in the Between?”

He shakes his head. “They haven’t left the mortal realm.”

Are they together?

They haven’t made it out of the mortal realm. So either Mom’s hurt and Sam doesn’t know enough to know where to go, or Sam’s hurt and Mom doesn’t want to leave him. Or they’re both hurt. Hurt. Not dead. Oh God, are they dead? Would the Fellowship know?

I’d know. Right? I’d have to know. If my twin brother was dead, I’d feel it.

I stare at the red string knotted around my wrist.

The air is too heavy. I have to get out of here.

“Charlie.” Seth steps toward me, lifting his hand like he might hug me. A hug is the absolute last thing I want right now.

I need air.

I push past Seth and step around Alexander toward the door. Two giant hands lift me by my arms and place me by the table, and I gasp.

“You need to stay calm,” Alexander orders.

“Stay calm? What if the Mothman found them?” The room closes in on me. I imagine the Mothman tracking them, howling, toying with them before he finally swoops down and—

“We’ve already sent a team to the mortal realm,” Alexander says. “Whatever the outcome, we’ll know what’s happened to them.”

Whatever the outcome. No three words have ever sounded so terrifying.

Neither of them says it, but I know. It’s possible Mom and Sam are dead. Seth’s fingers brush across my shoulder and I jerk away, glaring at him. This shouldn’t have happened. The Mothman should never have been so close to us. We shouldn’t have left them. “You should’ve been there. You’re supposed to be watching the Mothman. That’s your job.”

Alexander’s forehead creases. “Watching the Mothman?”

Seth blinks and squints at me before he shakes his head. “
You
are my job. I’m supposed to be watching you.”

“Oh, I know I’m your Apprentice,” I say, waving my hand in the air and rushing my words, “but you’re on the Mothman’s unit. You’re supposed to make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone.”

“No, Charlie. I never said that.” Seth rubs his hand up the back of his head. “The Mothman doesn’t have a unit, and even if he did, Adele and I wouldn’t be on it.” He takes a deep breath. “We’re on yours.”

Alexander leans against the kitchen island.

Mine? I can’t even comprehend what this means. “What do you mean, mine? I thought the units were assigned to creatures that need extra—”

I grab the edge of the table when my head starts to spin.

Oh my God.

I stare down at my white-knuckled grip on the table.

I was right. Back in the Between. Mom isn’t human. And I am my mother’s daughter.

My lungs fill with air and stop, like the world will wait for me to exhale.

I look to Seth.

I am an assignment.

“Charlotte,” Alexander says. He keeps his voice low and even. “Have a seat on the sofa. There are things you need to know.”

Alexander’s hand presses against my upper back, and Seth stays beside me as the three of us move toward the sofa. The cool leather chills my thighs as I sink into it, and I slip my hands under my legs for warmth. Seth sits next to me. A stained glass window hangs on the wall across from me like a painting, and I focus on it. There’s a wide, white chest beneath it topped with a lime-green cushion. I stare at all of it, through it, until the colors blur.

The founder stands in the middle of the room, larger than ever. He’s waiting for me to look at him, I know, but I can’t yet. My mind races. I’d pushed away these thoughts back in the Between. It’s so obvious. Seth flickered. Mom flickered. If Mom’s not human, I must not be. What am I? I comb through memories, searching for anything that seems out of place, any clue to a different sort of existence, until I become lost in the complete impossibility of it all.

I need Sam.

Seth leans back and grabs the chenille throw from the corner of the couch and drapes it over my shoulders. His hands linger there, warming me. The blanket’s softness glides over my arms like a hug. I turn my head slightly to look at Seth, and his eyebrows pull down. I focus on the feel of his fingers sliding down my back. He nods, silently assuring me, and I take a deep breath.

Okay.

I exhale and slowly raise my eyes to Alexander.

“What happened today was no coincidence, Charlotte,” Alexander says, clasping his hands together. He looks down at me, pursing his lips, and continues. “You are an extremely unique being with a specific mix of powers that makes you a valuable asset to the mystical realm. For this reason, there is a unit assigned to protect you from those who would harm you.”

“I have powers?” I look from Alexander to Seth. How have I lived seventeen years without noticing this? Seth’s already watching me.

“You are a muralet, a direct descendant of Mother Nature herself.”

Mother Nature. The faceless, shapeless entity I’d considered back in the Between enters my mind again—a wide vision of nothing, pulling in from all directions to create a more human shape. She was a person. She lived.

I press my fingertips to my forehead, dragging them down my face and over my eyes. Beside me, Seth shifts, pulling his leg onto the couch and turning his entire body toward me. He rests one warm hand on my back, and I look at him with my fingers pressed to my lips.

Mother Nature lived, and I come from her.

I release a quick burst of air and lower my hands. “I come from Mother Nature.”

“Well, in a way, we all do.” Seth leans forward, resting his elbow on his knee. His eyes are on the blanket as he speaks. “Mother Nature is the reason magic exists. After she created the Between, she built the mystical realm. Each and every one of us comes from her design, because of her abilities.”

She was real and she’s sort of a god? I picture the beauty of the Between and the enchantment of Ellauria. The architect of all of this is at the top of my family tree?

“A lot of creatures have the ability to call upon magic for various purposes. I can. Alexander can. But you…” Seth’s voice trails off as he lifts his head to look at me.

And does he ever. Seth’s gaze travels from my eyes to my hair to my hands, and he shakes his head like he can’t quite believe what he sees. “Essentially, Charlie, you
are
magic. It’s woven into every fiber of your being.”

I don’t know if it’s what he said or the way he said it or a combination of the two, but I’m suddenly unable to look at him. Warmth creeps across my cheeks before flooding down the rest of my body. It’s a little ridiculous, really. Having a gorgeous guy say you’re magical is super-dreamy until it means “terrifying creatures show up to attack you at your house after dark.”

Muralet
. I whisper the word to myself. Descended from magic and requiring the protection of a secret organization dedicated to guarding the secrets I’ve learned today.

“Why would anyone want to harm me?”

Seth looks to Alexander, and the floor groans as the founder paces from one side of the room to the other. “The story goes that, a long time ago, an ogre killed a muralet. After feeding on her, he noticed a drastic increase in his strength. From that point on, muralets were hunted for their blood. Whatever powers a creature possesses, drinking muralet blood makes them better—stronger, smarter, faster, and in some cases, nearly invincible.”

My middle feels like one giant knot. Hunted for their blood.
My
blood. They want to drink the blood from my body. I curl my hands over my knees, squeezing them to keep from trembling. The Mothman could’ve grabbed me and drained me in no time. Did he already do that to Mom and Sam? I flinch at the thought, and goosebumps explode across my arms. Seth pulls the blanket more tightly over me.

“It was slow at first,” Alexander continues. “Muralets didn’t live together in large groups, so when one or two of them vanished it wasn’t immediately noticeable. By the time we realized what was happening, there were less than thirty left in the entire world. Then they started disappearing, too.”