Thirty minutes later, we reached a steep mountain range. Emrys directed the carriage through a deep valley between the mountains. The horses galloped through the passage. On either side of us, the mountains rose high into the air.

Eventually, the passage ended, opening up to a grassy plain that stretched ahead of us.

“That’s it up ahead,” Emrys said. He pointed toward a grove of massive trees about three hundred yards away. Each one had to be a thousand feet tall. They put the redwoods to shame.

Awe filled me at the sight of them towering far overhead. Huge branches extended outward, each dotted with black specs.

“Are those black things the VDBs?”

Emrys nodded. “It’s why they like that area so much. They don’t care much for the town, which is in the middle of the grove, but they love the trees.”

“How do you get across? Just hope that your spell will keep you concealed?”

“That might work, but normally I play it safe.” He jumped off the carriage and tied it off to a large rock. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

Cade and I hopped down and followed Emrys to a break between two rocks. It was a skinny opening, but wide enough that we could fit. Barely.

Emrys pointed into it. “You’ll go in there. It leads one way—straight into town. I think it used to be an escape route for the town in times of war, but now it’s unused.”

“You sure you won’t come with?” I asked.

“No way in hell. Just be careful in the tunnel. It’s lit by the glowing amber, but don’t touch it. The pixies won’t like it.”

“Aye, we won’t.” Cade stuck out his hand. “Thanks, mate.”

“Do you need a ride back?”

Cade shook his head. “This sounds like what we’re looking for. Once we’ve done some recon, we can use a transport charm to get home.”

“Good. Be safe. And don’t let the VDBs see you. They’re always hungry.”

I nodded, shivering at the memory of their long fangs. “Thanks again, Emrys. And thanks for the drink at the bar.”

“Good luck,” he said. “You need anything to help with this, let me know. I want it gone from this realm.”

“I don’t blame you.” I shook his hand, and he made quick work of leaving. I turned to Cade. “Ready?”

“More than. I’m ready to get out of this realm.”

“Me too.” The dangers here made Earth look like a kid’s playground.

I followed Cade into the darkened tunnel, my eyes adjusting to the low light. As Emrys had said, veins of amber ran through the walls, glowing with a golden sheen. Pixies floated near the ceiling, shining with their own light. They were amazing.

“I’ve never seen anything like them. Normally, pixies don’t like it underground.”

“They feed on the amber.” Cade set off down the tunnel.

I followed, my gaze tracing over the jagged rock and gleaming amber. The pixies floated around my head, tiny fairies that peered closely at me before darting away.

The air smelled dusty and dry, and the farther we got into the tunnel, the darker the amber grew. I peered at it, realizing the dark curse was staining the surface.

“It gets worse,” I said.

“There’s barely any glow up ahead,” Cade said.

He was right. A hundred yards ahead, there were no more pixies and the amber was so muted that it was hard to see.

“Oh, this curse sucks.” I shivered, horrified at the idea of this curse spreading far enough to break down the Fae city and eventually the Protectorate.

“We’ll stop it.”

I liked the certainty in Cade’s voice.

Finally, we reached a larger opening. The room was entirely black, with only the slightest glow allowing me to see the ladder that rose up along one wall.

“That way.” I pointed to it.

Cade, of course, managed to get to the ladder first and go up, but I was right behind him.

The stench of the curse—which I thought I’d become inured to—made my eyes water anew and my gag reflex act up. I swallowed hard and kept climbing, desperately trying to focus.

By the time I climbed through the trap door into the room above, my heart was thundering with anticipation and fear.

What would we find here?

The room that housed the trap door to the passage was small and nondescript. Piles of blackened wood rested against the walls, and a quick inspection revealed that it was furniture—destroyed by the curse.

“Holy fates.” I stepped back, horror opening a chasm in my chest.

“Come on,” Cade said. “We shouldn’t spend long here.”

“No kidding.” I followed him to the door, which had completely decayed away, and peered out into what had once been a central square in town.

A massive well sat in the middle of it, big enough to drive a bus into. All around, the buildings were black and decayed, crumbling on their foundations. The trees rose high above the town, the bottoms of their trunks blackened.

“I hope this doesn’t kill the trees.” I’d never seen anything so magnificent.

“It’s doing us a small favor though.” Cade pointed up. “No VDBs in those branches.”

I squinted upward. He was right. They were bare. I stepped out of the doorway, ready to get this over with and check out the portal. “Come on.”

We hurried across the square to the portal, which gleamed with the same oily black sheen as the one leading to the Protectorate’s castle.

I stopped when I was still about fifteen feet away. This was more than close enough to see—and smell. The stench of rotten eggs was so strong that my eyes burned.

“This place feels haunted,” Cade said.

“Agreed.” I stared hard at the oily surface of the portal, trying to see through it to the other side. It was an impossible endeavor, but I was desperate. “Ready to go in?”

“Aye.”

I climbed onto the low, stone wall that surrounded the well. Cade joined me. I held out a hand. He took it.

He counted down. “Three, two, one.”

We jumped, plunging into cold, oily water.

Shit!

I hadn’t realized it’d be full.

I called on my magic, forcing the water down through the well. We fell along with it, whooshing through the tunnel until the ether sucked us in, taking control.

It thrust us out onto hard ground. I stumbled, falling to my knees and barely stopping myself with my hands. Gravel cut into my palms.

I looked up. My skin crawled.

This was hell.

The sky was black, cut through by frequent lightning strikes, and thunder shook the earth. Far in the distance, a large building sat on a hill, surrounded by a wall.

The curse came from there. I could just feel it. The magic was so strong here that it made my insides feel tainted. Polluted.

Between us and the building were rows of protections. Massive monsters prowled just outside the building gates, an unidentifiable species from this distance. They looked tiny from here—but the fact that I could see them at all indicated how big they really were.

Then there were rows upon rows of thorny brambles. The spikes on the edges of the branches were at least a foot long, and I’d bet money the brambles could move, striking out at a person.

But closest to us were the same kinds of oily monsters that had attacked us at the other portal. They were tall and slim with elongated heads, and their skin was covered in shiny black oil that gleamed whenever the lightning struck.

As if on cue, they turned to us.

Then they charged.

I looked at Cade.

“We need reinforcements,” Cade said.

“Yep!” I turned.

Together, we leapt back into the portal. This time, it easily sucked us through, spitting us back out in the Fae realm.

I’d never have thought this place felt safe, but life comes at you fast.

Panting, I turned to look at Cade. “I hate to run from a fight, but that was a good move.”

“Aye. If we tried to cross that wasteland and failed, the Protectorate will fall. They won’t have time to learn what we’ve learned. We need to come back with something that will destroy this portal from the other side.”

“And get us across that land so we can get some answers. Because whoever is sending that curse here—they’re protecting themselves. They don’t want us to stop them.” I turned to study the oily surface of the portal, trying to see through it to the other side.

When the sleek, faceless figure pushed out of the black surface, reaching for me with a clawed hand, I jumped backward.

“Breeeee,” it hissed. “Come to me.”

“Oh, crap.” My heart thundered.

But the figure couldn’t escape—all it could do was reach for me and call out.

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Cade said.

I hurried to him as he pulled a transport stone from his pocket. I grabbed his hand, and he hurled the stone to the ground. As I stepped into the cloud, the creature called my name again.

“Breeeeeee.”