Page 68 of Storm

“The point is that scaring a pregnant woman is no fun, especially if she goes into labour early.” His smile disappears.

“Noted,” he replies. “Now, let’s go.”

“What?” I remark, confused by his sudden urgency.

“I said I would be back for you, and here I am. In the flesh, back to take you towards your desired destination.”

I’m not ready. The thought is a whirling avalanche inside me. This is too soon. I can’t believe I forgot. I fucking forgot that my time was almost up. After spending the day in the happiness and safety of my home, I forgot the plan to escape from Halo. Fuck.

“Come on, human, I do not have all day. The sleeping mist I diffused between your maid and the surrounding keepers will only last the hour. We need to be long gone when they wake up.”

Grasping the end of Sunny’s bedpost, I stand. “Sunny hurt his arm,” I stupidly say.

“Can you walk, child?” He directs the question at my son.

“Yep. Papa said it’s only a bruise and I’m super brave.” He gets up on his feet and jogs on the spot, showing how nimble he is.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

The green giant turns to walk out the door. I panic, sweat gracing my forehead. “The bag?”

Stick to the plan, Storm. What if this is the last chance you get to save your children? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to keep Sunny and Phoenix out of the clutches of the hollow. If they get them, they will destroy them. They’ll never find true happiness…

A memory of a startling blue fae with midnight black hair telling the hollow I was not one of them when I was six crosses my mind. If he was willing to lie to the hollow for me—an unknown serond—surely that is proof enough that the fae are good…

“What bag?” he asks, turning back towards me, blocking the whole frame of our way out.

“I packed a backpack. It’s just in the spare bedroom.” Squeezing around him as best as I can at eight months pregnant, a glare from above lets me know I’m not doing such a great job. Once I’m through, I head to Phoenix’s room, finding the nondescript black canvas backpack I stashed in the closet behind a bunch of baby boxes.

Am I doing this? I question myself as I open the bag to quickly make sure my locket is in it. A gleam of silver twinkles back at me, the word fight flashing across my mind. I quickly zip it up for safekeeping. I can’t risk losing it, the last lifeline to my family. Shouldering the bag, I return to Sunny’s room. The necklace is my reminder to keep going, even when things feel different. Changed. Melek?

“Can you put warm clothes and shoes on him?”

Adam nods.

Briskly walking over to my room, I fetch my thickest coat and boots and add some woolen pants under my nightgown. Sunny is already wearing thermal pyjamas, so at least he won’t freeze to death. If the weather is cold, like in Halo. The factory visit proved much warmer than I had expected, and it is closer to the tree line. I’m unsure what to anticipate.

Anxiety begins to claw its way up my throat; concern for my baby. They have magic, I remind myself. She’ll be safer in the Fairy Lands than in Halo. She has to be. The most dangerous part will be the journey. I can manage a few days on the road, especially with how energised I feel after Melek’s transfusion.

On autopilot, I continue, regardless of my heart screaming out for its commander. Rushing from my room at the same time as they do, we all head for the stairs.

“Adam said we get to go see Papa at work.” Lies. It’s probably better than telling him he’s never going to see his father again. I’ll cross that bridge later.

Back before the magical creature, I began to question everything. For all I know, he could be a species that eats humans for lunch. What if they aren’t the people my brother used to tell hero stories about? The mysterious, colorful creatures fighting for souls who have lost all hope, oppressed by their own kind. What right did they have to fight for us? What worth did we possess? Yet the fae stood ground against Halo for decades, perhaps a century.

Red cheeks and clenched jaw must display my every doubt. Adam reaches out for me, taking my shoulders before I can blink. “I will only ask you this once, human. Do you want to stay or leave?”

Radiant hazel eyes linger, waiting. I suck down air like it’ll be my last. “I want to leave, but—” He waits, surprisingly patient for my response. “I don’t trust you.”

Placing his calloused palm in mine, he says, “Good. Don’t trust anyone.”

Adam tugs me towards the stairs, and I don’t put up any fight. I latch onto Sunny’s hand as we head down the steps, the creak of the stair singing our farewell. This is it. The one dream I’ve possessed since I was a child is finally coming true, and everything in me is screaming to stop. Don’t leave him.

And I ignore it all.

Halo is destruction. Death.

The Fairy Lands are our rebirth. I’m sure of it. I have to be. Nix would’ve never led me astray.