The wind picks up as I stride across the grassy field, the chilled air nipping at my skin. I probably should’ve put on a jacket, but if I turn back now, I’ll more than likely talk myself out of doing this. So, wrapping my arms around myself, I hurry toward the forest where the trees sway with the wind.

When I reach the border, I pause, just like Hunter and Holden did, and move to elevate my hand.

Part of me questions if I hallucinated the rippling effect, that when I place my palm in the air, nothing will happen. But just like with Holden and Hunter, the air ripples like waves. It also feels warm against my skin, as if begging me to touch it longer.

My insides jitter with nerves, and the sky more than notices, lighting up like the Fourth of July.

Calm down, Sky, or you’re going to start a fire.

Summoning a deep breath, I step forward and through the rippling, clear wall.

Swoosh.

The second my foot enters the trees, sparkling warmth waterfalls over me. I’d be more concerned about it, except the scene in front of me has me very distracted.

The trees are taller than I’ve ever seen, the grass is greener than the greenest of shades, and the number of colorful flowers sprouting from everywhere is unnatural.

When I look up, my lips part in shock. The sky is an electric blue, not a single cloud evident.

“What is this place?” I whisper, peering around.

A few butterflies flutter around a rose bush, but other than that, I can’t see any signs of life. Water is flowing from somewhere close by, and when I listen closer, I hear faint voices drifting through the gentle breeze. I can’t make out what they’re saying or who they belong to so, putting my guard up, I endeavor deeper into the trees.

With each step, the colors of the forest sharpen, as if I’ve stepped into a portrait. And the voices also get louder, the faint murmurs turning into actual words.

“Just get in the middle, okay?” Gabe sounds as if he’s losing his patience.

A flutter of a second later, I slam to a halt as I reach the edge of a small clearing where all the Everettsons are standing in a circle. They’re dressed head to toe in black with hoods pulled over their heads, which I find odd for several different reasons, one being that Hunter and Holden weren’t wearing hoodies when they left the house.

Before they can spot me, I hunker down behind a tree and trap my breath in my chest. I’m not even sure why my instinct is to hide, or what I’m afraid of, other than this entire situation is straight-up crazy.

Maybe I’m crazy.

Maybe I’m hallucinating.

Maybe I’m still asleep in my bed, dreaming.

I pinch my arm to check and wince. Fuck, that hurt.

“I don’t know why we have to do this,” Foster growls out. “I’ve been getting better.”

“We know, son, but with all the storms that have been blowing through …” Gabe gives a short pause. “I think it’s best if we practice containing your powers, okay?”

“I already said I’m not causing those storms,” Foster bites out. “Something else is doing it.”

Silence momentarily stills the air.

“Sweetie, as far as everyone knows, you’re the only elemental enchanter alive right now,” Emaline says. “So, if the storms are being controlled, it’s probably your doing. Not that we’re mad at you—we know you’ve been stressed out lately. But we need to get your powers under control before you draw too much attention, which can’t happen. And while we’ll do anything to protect our secrets, I’d rather just make sure they stay secret.”

“Fine. Whatever,” Foster grumbles. “Let’s just get this over with.”

A quietness settles across the land.

Wondering what they could possibly be doing, I muster up every ounce of courage I possess and peer around the tree trunk I’m hiding behind.

Nothing could prepare me for what I see.

Foster has moved into the center of the circle, and his hands are crackling with lightning bolts. That’s not even the strangest part. Each Everettson has their hands out in front of them, and a ray of light is streaming from their palms and toward Foster. Even crazier? The rays of light match their eye colors.

“Holy shit,” I gasp out as I slowly back away.

Blue and silver electricity cracks across the sky, and I tense, trying to get my breathing under control.

Calm down. You’re going to be just fine.

Foster’s eyes snap open, and his lightning charged gaze welds with mine. He looks possessed. Demonic.

I recall the screams I heard last night.

Just who the hell are the Everettsons?

Panicking, I reel around and run like hell in the direction I came from, not looking back, even when I hear cursing from behind me.

When I stumble from the trees, I rush back toward the house and barrel inside. Then I sprint straight up to my room and start shoving my clothes into a backpack.

I need to get the hell out of here. Now. I can’t be here … not after what I just saw. Not when I have no clue what they were doing. Plus, I’m worried they might hurt me for finding out their secret. After all, I heard Max, Easton, and Foster verbalizing their concern for me discovering their family’s secrets. This has to be to what they were referring. I mean, what else could it be?

The idea that there could very well be even more to this makes me shiver.

Grabbing my phone, I send Nina and Gage a text.

Me: Can someone pick me up? It’s an emergency.

I move to hit send when my phone powers down. And not because it has a dead battery.

“Fuck. I need to get out of here.” My heart thumps in my chest as I shove my phone into my pocket, sling my bag over my shoulder, and hightail it out of the house.

My plan is to run to town and borrow someone’s phone so I can call Nina and Gage and tell them to come get me. Where I’ll go from there, I haven’t got a clue. But I’ll figure it out.

But what if they come looking for me? What if they find me? What will they do to me?

I swallow hard at the many ideas flowing through my mind and accelerate from a run to a full-on sprint.

By the time I reach the gated entrance, which is thankfully open, a hailstorm is blowing in. With how upset I am, I’m not shocked. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if a blizzard soon blew in.

Positioning my bag over my head, I squeeze through the gates and run out onto the street. Chips of ice plink against my body, pelting my arms and legs, but I continue on, my breaths fogging out in front of my face as the temperature plummets.

I don’t make it very far before Gabe’s truck pulls up behind me, the windshield wipers moving a million miles a minute against the hail.

I quicken my pace, refusing to slow down, and deliberate whether or not to duck into the trees lining the road to escape them.

“Sky!” Gabe calls out over the hammering hail.

Doors slam shut, and then footsteps thud against the asphalt behind me.

I run faster, the sizes of the hail growing bigger.

“Sky, wait up!” Max shouts. “Fuck, what is with this hail?”

“You don’t need to be afraid of us,” Holden yells after me. “Please, just slow down so we can talk.”

Jesus, are they all here?

Daring a glance behind me, I see Gabe, Max, and Holden. That makes me feel a drop better, since the three of them have been fairly nice to me.

“Sweetheart, just relax, okay?” Max jogs after me, the hood of his jacket pulled over his head. Hail is plinking off him, yet he appears unbothered—they all do. “We know what you saw looks really …” He wavers. “Odd.”

“And it is odd,” Holden clarifies, jogging beside Max. He’s pulled his hood down; little drops of ice cover his hair. “But we promise we won’t hurt you.”

As a hail pegs me straight between the eyes, I slow to a stop. “Mother effer, that hurt.”

“Are you okay?” Holden asks worriedly as he jogs up to me.

I hold up my hand and skitter back. “Just stay away from me.”

They all slow to a stop and cautiously raise their hands in front of them.

“Sky, if you’ll come back to the house with us,” Gabe says, walking toward us, “we’ll explain what you just saw.”

Max’s and Holden’s heads whip in his direction, surprise flickering across their expressions.

They weren’t expecting him to say that.

“Dad …” Max starts with reluctance, his eyelashes fluttering as hail pegs him in the face.

Gabe holds his hand up in Max’s direction. “Your mother and I already talked about this and decided that we can’t keep this from her. Not when she’s going to be living with us for months.” He lowers his hand to his side. “We should’ve just told her to begin with, but we were waiting for the right time …” He presses his lips together and shakes his head. “I’m sorry you had to find out that way, Sky. I’m sure what you saw was … frightening.”

Actually, what I saw wasn’t necessarily frightening. It was the worry of what they’d do to me if they found out I saw that sent me running.

“Dad, humans can’t understand.” Max presses, crossing his arms. “You of all people should know that.”

Humans? So, they aren’t human? I guess, when I really think about it, I’m not that surprised.

“Actually, they can.” Gabe looks at me while wiping melted hail from his face. “Skylin’s father and mother knew about us.”

My jaw drops. “They did?”

He nods, inching toward me, ice crunching underneath his boots. “I was once captured by some hunters who wanted to do experiments on me. Their experiments almost killed me, and probably would’ve, if your father hadn’t rescued me.”

Hearing his story makes me relax enough that the hail shifts to rain.

My dad and mom knew about this? He saved Gabe and kept Gabe’s secret? That means they won’t hurt me … I hope.

I lower my bag from my head, and raindrops dot my skin. “And, what are you exactly?”

Gabe glances at Holden and Max, who are bursting with tension, then redirects his attention back to me. “We’re elemental protectors. Max is wind, Porter and my wife are ice, Easton and I are water, Holden and Hunter are fire, and Foster is … well, he’s complicated, but I’ll explain that later.”

“You’re the only elemental enchanter alive right now,” Emaline had said to Foster in the forest.

They had also blamed the storms on him. Could it be that Foster controls storms? Could I be like Foster? Do the Everettsons know about my ability? Doubtful since, not only did they just refer to me as human, but they think Foster is responsible for all the storms.

“Foster really needs to practice controlling his abilities more,” Max utters as he peers up at the cloudy sky.

Yeah, they definitely don’t know about me. I could tell them, but something holds me back. I’m not even sure what. Years of silence? The fear of knowing the truth about myself? The fear of finding out I’m not like them and am a freak of nature?

One thing is certain; I have a choice to make right now. I can run away from them and the truth, or trust Gabe and find out what exactly it is that I saw in the forest.

Part of me wants to keep on running, but deep down, I know that isn’t what I’m going to do. I need to trust Gabe and go back with him. After all, if my dad knew about his powers, then he can’t be too horrible. Plus, maybe I can find out more about my ability. That is, if I’m like the Everettsons.

“All right, I’ll go back with you.” I sling the handle of my bag over my shoulder and walk toward them.

Fog laces from their lips as they exhale in relief then turn back for the truck. Me? I’m a nervous fucking wreck as I climb into the truck with them.

All these years, I believed I was the only one with strange powers. Now, come to find out, I’m not. It’s a lot to take in. All of this is.

We remain silent for the short ride home. Max and Holden keep throwing worried glances at me, as if expecting me to dive out of the truck or something. Their attention makes me feel squirmy inside, for several different reasons, some of which are for similar reasons as to why I blushed earlier today around Hunter.

By the time we pull up into the driveway, I’m a jumble of nerves, and my skin is sparkling with warmth.

I wonder if one of them is making me feel this way.

When Gabe parks the truck, everyone hops out and hikes up the pathway toward the front door, boots splashing in puddles.

Holden slows down when he nears the steps and waits for me to catch up.

“Are you okay?” he whispers lowly.

Max pauses by the front door and glances over his shoulder at me, waiting for my answer, I’m assuming.

I shrug as the image of them in the forest with their hands lit up flashes through my mind. “I’m really not sure.”

Holden squeezes my hand. “Everything’s going to be okay, Sky.” Despite his words, the hesitancy in his expression has me questioning if he believes his own words. But I don’t get too much time to stress about it as he folds his hand around mine and glittery warmth kisses my fingertips.

I bite down on my tongue to keep a gasp from fumbling past my lips.

I don’t … What is that?

Holden doesn’t seem to notice my reaction, holding my hand as he steers me past Max.

Gabe pushes the doors open then ushers us through the foyer and into the massive living room where the rest of the Everettsons are waiting. A fire is crackling in the fireplace, and the air smells of hot chocolate and cinnamon. The scene would feel homey, except for the nervousness trickling through the air.

“Go ahead and have a seat,” Gabe tells me while shucking off his jacket.

Swallowing nervously, I peer inside the room.

Easton and Foster are sitting on a sectional sofa, along with Emaline, and Hunter is lounging in a chair, his boots kicked off and his feet kicked up on an ottoman. Mugs are on the coffee table, along with a plate of cookies. And all their gazes are fixed on me. Well, not me per se, but mine and Holden’s interlocked fingers.

Shit, I forgot we were holding hands. Probably because the warmth of his touch makes me feel so relaxed.

I wiggle my hand from his grip and stuff my hands into the pockets of my jacket to hide how bad I’m trembling.

“Oh, sweetie.” Emaline rises to her feet, whisks across the room, and wraps her arms around me. “I’m so sorry you had to find out this way. We should’ve told you the moment you came to our home.” She hugs me tightly. “I just hope we didn’t scare you too badly.”

“It’s fine.” A partial lie, but what else am I supposed to say? “I just …” I sigh as she pulls back and looks me directly in the eye. “I just don’t understand why my parents never mentioned stuff like … well, whatever you were doing in those trees.” If they had said something, maybe I would’ve told them about my ability a long time ago. Not that we spent a lot of time talking to each other, but we did speak about important stuff sometimes. Now I can’t even tell them anything at all.

“They probably didn’t mention it because we asked them not to.” She smooths my hair out of my eyes. “It’s very important that no one finds out about us. If the wrong people did, we could end up experiments in some lab.”

“Like Gabe was?” I slip my hands out of my pockets.

Her wide eyes land on Gabe. “You told her that part already?”

He ruffles his damp hair into place. “I thought, if she knew what her father did for me, it’d help her feel a bit better about this.”

Emaline nods, her gaze traveling back to me. “So, you understand what’s at stake if anyone finds out about us?”

I nod, even though I don’t know all the details about what happened to Gabe or who these scientists are. But I’ve felt that fear myself of someone finding out about me, so I understand where they’re coming from.

“I won’t tell anyone. I promise.” It’s the truth. I have no plans of telling anyone about what I saw in the woods. If I did, people would think I was insane.

She smiles. “Thank you. You don’t know how much we appreciate this.”

Foster glares at me. “Yeah, if she keeps her word.” His eyes have returned to their normal shade of sky blue, but his gaze is still piercing.

“Foster,” Gabe warns in a cold tone. “I trust that Skylin will keep her word, and you will, too.”

“Why should we trust her?” Easton asks his dad. “We don’t even know her.”

“But your mother and I knew her parents, and they’ve kept our secret for decades.” Gabe hangs up his jacket on a nearby coatrack, walks into the room, and then sinks into a chair with his shoulders slumped. “Scott, Skylin’s father, was the man who rescued me from the hunters.” He rubs his hand across his head. “He saved my life and was—is the most trustworthy person I know. Her mother is equally as trustworthy, and I have no doubt that their daughter is the same way.”

The room grows so quiet I can hear the embers in the fire hissing.

“I trust her,” Holden utters from beside me.

“Me, too,” Max says with his eyes trained on me.

“I really don’t know her.” Porter shrugs. “However, she let the whole eyeballs-in-the-fridge thing drop pretty easily, even though I could tell she was freaked out by it.”

“And the screaming last night,” Max adds. “She didn’t question that too much.”

Yeah, speaking of which, I really want to find out what that was because I’m starting to question if it was because Easton was pranked.

“Maybe she’s insane then.” Easton smirks at me as he reclines back in the chair with his hands tucked behind his head.

I’ve seriously had enough of his crap, and with the day I’ve had …

Anger bursts through like a zap of lightning.

“You know, you’ve smirked at me so many times that, at this point, I’m actually starting to wonder if it’s just how your face looks. Perhaps you did it so many times that your lips just got stuck in that stupid position. Well, either that or you secretly want to look like the Cheshire Cat. Which, if you do, good job. You’re almost there.” I bite down on my tongue to stop myself from saying anything else.

Easton’s brows lift to his hairline in surprise while Max chokes on a laugh, and Emaline grins.

“Good job.” She smiles at me, leaving confusion twirling in my mind.

She’s glad I basically told Easton to fuck off?

“He’ll be easier to deal with now that you’ve pushed back,” Max whispers, leaning toward me.

“You know what, maybe you’re not half bad,” Easton confirms Max’s words.

Foster gives Easton the hardest look ever, but Easton ignores it, grinning at me.

“Why don’t you come sit down?” Emaline takes a seat on the sofa again. “I’m sure you have questions.”

I make my way into the room and sit down on an empty sofa, feeling as though I’m going to need as much breathing room as possible. But Max and Holden take a seat on either side of me, so there goes that plan. They sit really close to me, too. So close I can feel heat emitting from their bodies, seeping through the fabric of my wet clothes.

Instead of saying something, everyone remains silent, as if waiting for me to speak first.

I pick at my fingernails, trying to figure out what to say next. “Gabe said you’re elemental protectors and that you are wind, fire, water, and ice … But I’m not really sure what that means. Well, not completely anyway.”

They all look to Gabe to answer.

He scrubs his hand across his jawline. “Well, to put it simply, it basically means we’re able to control the elements. So, for instance, I can control water and channel my powers from it. So, every spell I cast has to be directly related to the water element. Same with fire, ice, and wind.”

“Oh …” Wow, that was so not what I was expecting. Honestly, I thought he was going to say they were witches or something—it’s what it looked like. “So, what were those rays of light you were shooting out of your hands and into Foster? Because I sort of noticed the color of them matched your eyes.”

“The color is a representation of our power,” Gabe explains, sitting back in the chair. “When you run into other elemental protectors, you’ll be able to tell their power just by the color of their eyes.”

My jaw nearly bitch-slaps the ground. “There’re more of you?”

Gabe gives a nod. “There’s a lot actually.”

This would be a great time to tell them about my ability, but the words won’t pass my lips.

Just say it aloud, Sky. Tell them!

But it’s as if my lips are being controlled by an unseen force, and my mouth won’t even open.

“You’re very tense,” Max whispers, rubbing my back.

Everyone is staring at us now, and for some stupid reason, I blush.

Easton smirks, his lips parting, but thankfully, Gabe cuts him off with a string of curses as he fishes his phone from his pocket.

A second later, all the Everettsons are taking out their phones.

“The council at headquarters has called an emergency meeting,” Gabe mutters as he reads a text. He glances up at Emaline, and they trade a cryptic look. “It says everyone needs to attend.”

Worry floods Emaline’s face. “I wonder what it could be about.”

“I have no idea, but we need to go.” Gabe stands and puts his phone away.

Emaline pushes to her feet. “We can’t just leave Sky here by herself.”

“I’ll be fine,” I lie. I’m not sure I’ll ever be fine again.

I’m not even sure if I was ever fine.

Gabe rakes his fingers through his hair. “Actually, the council is requesting that Sky come, too.”

Silent tension electrifies around the room.

“Why?” Holden finally breaks the silence.

“I’m not sure.” Gabe casts a worried glance in my direction. “I guess we’ll find out, though.” He looks at Emaline. “We just need to make sure we’re careful while we’re there… you know how things are there.” When she nods worriedly, I gulp. Then Gabe turns to me. “I know this is going to sound a bit weird but, would you mind putting on something that has a bit of steel in it?”

Like my necklace?

“Why?” I ask warily.

He scratches between his brows. “Where we’re going … your body will be able to handle it better if you have steel on you.”

My nervousness slams through the roof, my palms beginning to sweat. “Where are we going? And what is this council?”

They all exchange an uneasy look, and then Emaline says, “We’re going to our homeland, which technically isn’t in this world. And as for the council… They’re basically like our form of government is the best way to put it. Well, they have been for the last couple of decades.”

And just like that, I become painfully aware that nothing is what I ever thought it was. It also makes me question why my mom gave me the steel necklace to begin with. Because she knew that people like the Everettsons existed? Or is there more to it?

Hopefully, I can find out some answers soon because I feel like I’m losing my damn mind.

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Since I never put my necklace on after I got out of the shower, I go upstairs to do so.

I feel like I’m in a daze as I return back downstairs, my mind crammed with too many questions. But I immediately get distracted when a shriek cuts through the air. It’s kind of like the noise I heard last night, but sounds more inhuman.

Maybe it’s a bat in the attic?

Seriously, Sky? Like bats can scream. And besides, after what you just learned, you should probably be thinking more creatively.

“Just ignore it,” I whisper to myself.

But as I pass by the room Emaline was in last night, it’s pretty clear the noise is coming from in there. Beyond curious, I step toward the door. I almost feel bad for snooping, but not enough to back out. Wrapping my fingers around the doorknob, I push the door open. Or well, try to push the door open, but it’s locked.

As the shrieking grows rambunctious, I crouch down and peer through the door lock. What I see makes me question if I am insane, if maybe I did a hit of acid somehow without knowing and have lost my mind. Because on the other side of the door is a room covered in trees and flowers, so thick it looks like a forest is growing in there. But that’s not even the craziest part. No, the craziest part is the blond haired man… creature with glittery purple skin and pale blue lips screaming at the top of his lungs.

I gasp, slapping my hand over my mouth. What is this?

The man/creature pauses, his gaze flicking toward the door. A grin curls at his lips, and then just like that, one of his beady, purple eyes is peering through the lock at me.

“Hey little enchanted one, why don’t you let me out of here?” he purrs.

A chill slithers down my spine, and I trip back, shaking my head. “No way.”

“Oh come on,” he begs hypnotically. “I promise I don’t bite.”

I shake my head again, and he completely contradicts himself as he snaps his teeth.

Fuck this shit.

I take off sprinting down the stairs, my feet hammering against the steps.

“Are you okay?” Emaline asks as I enter the room, panting.

Only her, Gabe, and Max are in the room. The rest of the Everettsons are MIA, and a circle of rainbow-tinted light is now funneling in the center of the fireplace instead of a fire.

“Um…” I struggle to catch my breath. “Were you aware there’s a screaming… man in your room?”

Her expression drops. “That’s not a man. That’s a… faerie?” She says it more like a question.

My eyes snap wide. “Faerie’s exist?”

Max finds my reaction amusing. “They do. And there’s a lot more than just faeries wandering around in this world and other worlds too.”

“Oh.” I have so many questions yet not a damn one seems to want to leave my lips.

“Will explain more when we get back, okay?” Emaline steps toward me. “Right now, we really need to get going.” She nods at the rainbow-tinted light swirling in the fireplace.

I’m uncertain what I expected when Emaline said we’d be leaving this world, but I didn’t consider it’d be through some sort of portal in the fireplace.

“Go ahead and walk through the portal, Sky.” Emaline points at the circle of rainbow light then offers me an encouraging smile. “My boys are waiting for you on the other side, and Gabe, Max, and I will be right behind you.”

I stare at the shimmering light moving like a tornado into the unknown. I attempt to will my feet forward, but my boots feel as heavy as bricks of lead.

Max steps up beside me. “You’ll be fine. Just hold my hand, okay?” He laces his fingers through mine.

He doesn’t give me any time to back out, tugging me into the light. And all I can do is hold my breath and hope I make it out of this alive.

Hope that I can trust the Everettsons.