Home. This was home. It was in the shape of every layer of quartz and in the interaction of every element. And the elements . . . They floated with me, crisper than I’d ever seen them, five pieces of the same magic. Enraptured, I drifted among them, glorifying in their perfection. The pattern of the baetyl filled me with rapture; the patterns of life moving in it elicited pride and awe. I belonged here, a part of this world and the elements. I couldn’t see myself, but I could feel me. I was beautiful and perfect, in harmony with everything around me.
Fire lit through me, the scorching pain spinning the world around me. A buzzing enveloped me, and I pushed it away, only to be singed again. I screamed and tried to fight off the flames, but they’d disappeared. Unbalanced and hurting, I sought out my previous bliss, but it eluded me. The clarity of the elements had blurred, disguising the gorgeous patterns hidden among them. Something had stolen my perfection, and without it, I didn’t belong here.
Irate, I chased the fire the next time it attacked. When I found the source, I pounced, wrapping around it to extinguish it. Flames licked through me. Snarled inside the agonizing blast were the other four elements in a pattern I didn’t recognize and that didn’t matter. It wasn’t a true pattern. It wasn’t beautiful. It was a trap.
I fought, entangling myself further. The buzzing had become a drone that encased me, constricting the binding elements.
“Damn it, Mika, I won’t let you die.”
Agony seared through me and my eyes burst open. A claustrophobic world greeted me, filled with dreary shades of brown and black. I closed my eyes. I wanted to go back to floating with the elements.
Fresh pain forced my eyes open again.
“You are Mika Stillwater. You are a gargoyle healer and guardian. You . . .”
The sounds washed over me. My eyes roved over the tiny, drab world, stopping when they encountered blue. It wasn’t gargoyle blue but it had its own beauty, flecked with navy . . .
The baetyl’s sweet promise sang at the edge of my perception, and I closed my eyes again and stretched for it. I started to drift free of the trap, but sparks rained pain through me, tightening me in place. When the world jostled, I looked around with fresh hope, but I hadn’t escaped. Above me, the rocky brown ceiling shifted and the baetyl grew farther away, its song fading. Tears leaked from my eyes.
“Your parents are water elementals. You have a younger sister. You once seared your eyebrows off in an Elemental’s Apprentice duel. You make miniature figurines with quartz that look like they could come alive.”
Golden warmth hit my face and I squinted against the bright light. A vast indigo sky arched overhead and spun toward a lighter blue horizon and the sun’s fiery orb cresting the green tree-covered hills. Wind picked at my loose hair, carrying the crisp scent of dew and pine and damp soil. The man was still speaking, his voice a pleasant rumble. I relaxed and let myself go.
The trap holding me loosened and I was floating. All remnants of pain faded, taking with it my exhaustion. I didn’t have to fight anymore. I could just let go.
White light swept over the hills, erasing them. It grew brighter until it consumed the sky, my body, and everything in between. I looked into the face of every possibility, every truth, and love infused me. Everything was okay. All I had to do was . . .
Let . . .
Go.
17
“Mika!”
The trilling voice speared through me. The bright light trembled.
“Mika, wake up.”
Oliver.
I fell, sinking into a body. My body? Air rushed into my lungs, drawing pain in its wake. Groaning, I opened my eyes.
A carnelian gargoyle stood over me, the sunlight on his flared wings making them look like fans of flame. He thrust his worried square face into mine. “Mika?”
Oliver. I knew him, knew he was important to me, but everything felt fuzzy. The gargoyles—
I had to get the gargoyles into the baetyl!
Tentatively, I gathered elements to reach for Oliver. He couldn’t move himself, so I had to get him inside before he died. Except, he was moving. I let the elements unravel, confused.
“Come on, Mika. Come back to us, you stubborn woman.”
I shifted to look for the source of the rough, masculine voice, surprised to find the man’s face inches from mine. I was in his arms, and the feeling was as familiar as his voice. Marcus. His fierce scowl should have been intimidating, but it infused me with warmth.
“You are Mika Stillwater. You live in Terra Haven in a tiny apartment in Ms. Zuberrie’s house. Your best friend is Kylie Grayson. Oliver is your gargoyle companion.”
A zing of recognition sparked. He was telling me about myself. I tried to concentrate but the words couldn’t compete with my emotions. I liked being held by Marcus. I liked the concern so evident in his tone.
Oliver rested his muzzle on my stomach, and a rush of love for the gargoyle drowned out all other sensations. When I turned back to Marcus, an echo of that love, softer, less sure, darted through me. Lifting a hand to grip the back of his neck, I pulled Marcus to me.
The soft heat of his surprised exhale fanned across my mouth, followed by the delicious, shocking contact of his lips. Tingles raced through my body and my spirit snicked home.
Marcus hesitated; then he kissed me back, his arms tightening around me.
“I am Mika Stillwater,” I said when he pulled back a few inches.
His luminous blue eyes searched my face and a decade of worry lifted from his expression.
“Thank you for saving me,” I said.
“I thought you were going to die,” he whispered, the words a confession.
“I think I did.” With every passing second in my body, my memory of my spirit being adrift faded, but the emotional resonance remained. I’d experienced an unearthly bliss born of an indescribable harmony, and the sensation remained imprinted on my spirit.
“But you brought me back. You and Oliver.”