Thunder: The Shadows Are Stirring (Thunder Stories Book 1) (29 page)

We’ve been walking for ages, and my mind feels like peach fuzz. I say the one thing that makes sense to me.

“Let’s eat, hey?”

“Sure. Afterwards, we can see if there’s any sign of your brothers.” His eyes take in the task ahead, viewing up and down the huge expanse of shoreline, but he doesn’t let any doubt show on his face. “You said they were in a jail surrounded by water? If someone kidnapped them or something, there could be boat marks somewhere, right?”

True
, I can’t help but think,
if they’re on this lake and not one of the others
. I bite my lip and send positive thoughts to my brain.

We sit on some rocks near the water and eat. Rolls, meat, cheese, oranges. And chocolate. I’d been saving that for a treat. Gads, food tastes good when life is a constant adrenaline rush. I swat at something that brushes by my hair and turn my head when I hear a voice from behind me. No one is there.

“Ethan? Did you hear that?”

He swallows his bite and asks, “Hear what? Hey! Something poked me!” He flicks his hand, a look of annoyance crossing his face.

We both stand, scanning the air for Slider bugs. Just beyond Ethan’s head, I see the air shimmer like a stray sunbeam had exploded.

“Oh! Right there!” I point my finger. “Behind your right ear! There’s some kind of glimmer there. Can you see it?”

He spins, but it follows behind him before zipping away. “Where’d it go?”

Ethan’s gaze swivels and focuses past me as he exclaims, “Right behind you!”

The air around the two of us abruptly sparks into a puff of glitter. I cover my eyes with my arms, and my body feels like it’s getting vacuum-sucked and compressed—not quite like when I’ve done the Bending stuff, but similar. I uncover my eyes and cover my mouth in shock. We’re standing in a huge desert of pebbles; one direction holds insanely colossal trees, like a mile high, and, at the other, lies a choppy ocean. My jaw drops.

I spin back to face Ethan. And almost swallow my tongue. Next to him stands a tall man with his arms folded across his chest. Which, like the rest of his visible extremities, is maroon. Oh, and he has wings. And despite that, he is gorgeous. Oh, my! With amazingly dark crinkly eyes and well-honed muscles. Hmm ….

Feeling bedazzled, I shake my head and turn my attention to Ethan, and there I find my balance. Compared to this winged guy, Ethan is even more real to me. During our journey, I have learned a lot about his strength and integrity, and that seals the deal. He outshines Maroon Dude a hundred times over. But something is obviously wrong. Ethan’s holding way too still, a dagger clenched in his balled fist.

Remaining as calm as possible, I squeak out, “What on earth just happened and who the heck are you?”

Maroon Dude smiles, flashing pearly white teeth. His voice is surprisingly calming. “Olivia, I presume? I have been told to find you and … Ethan, is it?” He takes a step forward.

“Wha—?”

“I am Jax. Sit. I have a story for you.”

Huh?

I sit, not intentionally, but it’s like my body has a separate mind from my own and it’s saying, “Yes! Let’s sit! Let’s listen to this strange maroon man’s story. In the desert. Next to an ocean. With Ethan, who’s not moving?” Jax sits. He leaves Ethan standing where he is, the expression on his face clearly stating he really wants to be able to swing his arm. I wonder if he can hear us. His eyes aren’t even blinking.

Jax’s wings flutter and draw my attention back to him. At first, it’s hard to concentrate on anything but the wings, but when he begins to talk, I pay attention.

“Once upon a time, about a year ago,” he begins, “Queen Viola, of the Fairies, guardian of Faisle and the People of the Lake, took it upon herself to journey away from the Lakes to an undisclosed location and leave behind something precious and necessary to her. She did this because, even out here, there are ripples of change in the air. As a people, we could not decide where to place ourselves in this conflict. Queen Viola, in her wisdom, decided whoever is worthy of our championship shall be the bearer who bestows upon her the hidden item. I ask you now: Do you come bearing something found; have you been sent here with it?”

“Huh?” I’m still wrapping my head around the word “fairy” and the fact that it appears we have been shrunk, rather than brought to some crazy different location in the Shadows.

He repeats, “Have you found anything that belongs to the fairy queen?”

“Uh. I don’t think so? I mean, can you stop being mysterious and let me know what it is? That could be helpful.” I bite my lip. I don’t want him to think I’m being impertinent.

Jax leans forward and whispers conspiratorially, “She doesn’t want this getting around. It’s a bit of an embarrassment for her, even though it wasn’t taken, but freely given.”

I bunch my eyebrows. “And …?”

“Her
shadow
. She removed her shadow and hid it where it could be protected and be given to—or found by—the right person. And we want to know: Are you the right person?”

I regard him in confusion but follow his lead and whisper as he had. “Shadow? Her shadow’s missing? Like Peter Pan?” I regard him in confusion, but follow his lead and whisper as he had.

“Who?”

“He’s … oh, never mind. Uh, what happens if I don’t have this shadow?”

“I take you to our prison with your brothers and their friend to await trial.”

“My brothers!” I gasp. “Await trial? What did we do? And why are they in a prison?”

He smiles apologetically, “Technically, you two haven’t done anything. Yet. But your brothers seem to want to see you. Once I take you to them, you’ll be trespassing, so we’ll have to imprison you, too.”

Gee, that makes a whole lot of sense. But I need to see my brothers. And I sure as heck don’t have a fairy shadow on me. Because how would
that
even be possible? Man, this sucks. I jut my chin in the air. Or I would if I could move more than just my lips at the moment. “Fine, then, Jax. You’ll need to bring us in because I don’t seem to be the right person.”

Chapter Twenty-Four: A Meeting

(SAMUEL)

W
E’VE BEEN STUCK HERE FOR DAYS NOW
, which wouldn’t be too awful if we weren’t in a time crunch. If Livs makes it to her destination before we’ve collected even a third of her potential warriors, then what? She closes the rift, and we all die in an overwhelming attack that has massive repercussions all the way through to the human layer? Or they destroy her, and a huge Slider army runs rampant through all the layers? No. She needs us out of here, gathering her backup army.

I growl at our prison barriers, making Jamie jump. He and Maddix are in the middle of an intense game of Crazy-Eights. Storm is chewing on a large bone that appeared the other day; some of his sharp baby teeth are a little loose and he’s trying to gnaw them out. He nearly flipped at the idea of losing a tooth in Faisle, imagining, I bet, at least ten tooth fairies in the vicinity.

I lean my forehead against the smooth wooden bars and sigh. Judging by the lighting outside our window, and going by the fact that the lunch table vanished some time ago, I’d guess it’s midafternoon. My annoyance is interrupted by a maroon face, which briefly approaches the casement and offers a jaunty wink before disappearing from view. What is it with these people? My frustration oozes back.

Down the hallway, I hear two familiar voices: Raz and Asleigh. They seem to be having a whispered argument that involves a lot of shushing and muttered threats about binding something or someone tighter. There’s a shimmer of glittery light and Raz materializes in front of us. Apparently, they only use the door when they want to.

“Okay, people, we’ve captured some new prisoners and we’re currently running to full capacity; they’ll be joining you in this cell. Word of warning: One is a little belligerent. You’ll want to keep an eye on him. You don’t want anyone causing the flood waters to drown you all if they try to break out. An escape attempt is not worth it. Aisleigh will be leading them in. It’d be easier for me to freeze you, but I’m going to make the judgment that you know better than to mess with us.

“Also, upon a new briefing, you may possibly be seeing Queen Viola for your sentencing before the month is up. Just to make room in these blasted cells.” Raz eyes the room with a mixture of distaste and contempt and makes a casual flick of her fingers. Jamie and Maddix fall onto their rears, their chairs having dissolved into thin air. So. We’re back to the bare floor and bars.

Raz turns her back on us and claps her hands to pompously summon forth Aisleigh.

“Is this all necessary?” asks Aisleigh’s voice, drawing nearer. “Seems a little like dramatic over-kill to me.

Raz drawls. “Yes, sugar. By command of Queen Viola herself. She is quite short tempered these days. I, for one, would not change her orders without authorization. Besides, you have no imagination. It’s all about keeping them on their toes.”

A huff. “Fine.”

 There’s a muffled scuffing of approaching footsteps and my heart nearly stops as I recognize the two figures who walk around the corner. Livs and Ethan. They actually have Ethan in shackles and he’s walking very stiffly. Like it’s not his choice to be moving forward. I wonder if he’d tried to fight back or something. But, wouldn’t they have used their magic to get him to do what they wanted? It’s more of a scare tactic, I bet. Something physical he can see to remind him of his vulnerability, keep him discouraged. With a gleam of blue, Aisleigh walks around the bend and directs them forward.

Livs, unlike us, seems to have been prepared for this. She comes running forward without hesitation. “Ohmygawd! Jamie! Samuel! Stranger kid! Ohmigosh! Oh man! Are you okay? How are you? Tell me everything!” Her excited squeals echo off the wood and water as she tumbles through the entryway. She trips in her haste to gather us all at once into her arms. We jumble together hugging, exclaiming, pulling back, and looking. “OH! And
Storm
, too!” And he’s lifted for hugs, too.

“Ahem.” Raz clears her throat. “These are your new inmate-roommates. According to the Code of the Lakes, Article—”

“Give it a rest, Raz,” Aisleigh interrupts. She taps me on the shoulder and cocks her head. “We’ll be back in a while. Just make sure you explain the rules. You’re still prisoners.” She flashes a blinding smile, grabs Raz’s elbow, and they sprinkle away into flecks of rainbow glitter. I wonder if the different colors they use signify anything.

I hear a loud clattering of metal hitting against wood, and my attention swivels back to Livs and Ethan. Ethan, who’d been standing to the side during the initial ruckus of greetings, is now rubbing his arms and legs.

“’Bout time!” he mutters.

“Hey, Eth,” I greet him with an unembarrassed hug. “What’s up? What’d you do to make them lock you up anyway? Attack?”

He shrugs sheepishly. “Kinda. I pulled my knife on one of them when he showed up out of nowhere. Didn’t go over too well. Why? What’d they do to you guys?”

“They froze us with their powder and floated us in. We didn’t even have a chance to try to fight; none of us had on our gear.”

“Oh, my gosh, guys, let me see you! Do you realize how long it’s been?” Livs pulls each of us into individual hugs, even Maddix, who appears a little surprised at the enthusiastic greeting as Olivia makes her introductions. She takes a step backwards to get a better view of our confined area and her brow creases in confusion. “This cell seemed a lot smaller when we walked in. Or did they shrink us some more?”

We all look around and, sure enough, there is now room for our two new “roommates.” Ethan paces around the perimeter, shaking at the bars, testing their sturdiness, and my gut clenches as I watch the water in the moat rise with the vibrations.

“Uh, man, could you step away from the bars?” I gesture to the elevated water levels. “There’s a lot of stuff we need to go over.”

Ethan is startled by the request but listens without saying anything. As he backs away from the bars, he unwittingly crashes into a newly materialized over-stuffed armchair. The empty cell is now housing a bunch of comfortable furniture and a coffee table covered with steaming mugs of hot chocolate, fresh moist muffins, and unique fruits. Olivia’s mouth hangs open, dumbfounded. Even with everything else we’ve seen in our cell, I’ve got to admit it’s impressive.

The four of us, who have been prisoners for a while, tip back our heads and holler in unison, “Thanks! We appreciate it!” And listen for the return “huff,” signifying that the ultimate grievance has been achieved. I shake my head and try not to smile. Even though we’re being held against our will, Raz and Aisleigh are growing on me.

Olivia’s still staring around with disbelieving eyes. “Wait a minute. Is it always like this? Changing on you and giving you furniture and food and stuff?”

“Yeah, it’s Raz and Aisleigh. They change it around for meals and bedtime and stuff. I don’t know if they’re supposed to be doing it or not. I imagine it could be a lot less comfortable for us if they didn’t like our reasons for being here or didn’t like us in general. Maybe it’s because of Storm. They think he’s cute.”