I didn’t dignify the look with a response and instead watched as our desks disappeared into mist, the room shifting forms to resemble a gymnasium-sized arena with marks along the floor. The first time this happened, I’d gaped at th
e transformation.
Now, I’d expected it and waited until it was done before allowing the illuminated cord to guide me to the appropriate sparring ring. As soon as Emelyn and I were in position, the magic vanished and she readied her wand.
The spell left her lips before I even had a chance to prepare. Bright red flames engulfed me, the heat shocking the hell out of my system. It felt real. It burned. My knees buckled on instinct, my hands frantically seeking a wand that didn’t exist. Somehow, she’d cloaked it. I couldn’t find it. I searched futilely while the fire ate through my clothing, leaving me naked and hot and mortified as everyone turned to watch me fail.
Then they all evaporated into a cloud of smoke, the infamous death fields in the Spirit Kingdom taking their place.
Screams.
Terror.
Death.
I couldn’t breathe. This place had haunted my nightmares as a child. Every Earth Fae feared this place—the one where plagued souls went to die.
And I had firsthand experience battling at the entrance in soul form. Sort of. In a weird metaphorical way.
This isn’t real, I promised myself, closing my eyes. This isn’t happening.
And then I heard a whisper against my ear that had me spinning on my heels. Just my name, but it sounded unmistakably like my father.
Impossible.
“…forest,” he whispered, the words before it lost to a subtle breeze scented of pine and lavender. “My sweet, beautiful flower. I’ve missed you. Meet me, my darling. Meet me soon. Join us. Come home.”
I whirled in a circle, searching for the source of those words, my heart in my throat. “Dad?” I shook my head. No. It couldn’t be him. This was all a game. A trick. A mind illusion, one I needed to break. But I couldn’t. Not without my wand.
Then I recalled Zeph’s earlier training. Conduits were used to focus control and weren’t the source of magic. That came from within.
I searched inside, fighting to untangle the spell Emelyn had woven through my aura. All around me, trees wept, her newest attack an illusion of killing the element I held dear—my precious earth.
Flowers wilted.
Branches burned.
Leaves fell like tears against the ground.
And all the while, my father’s spirit hovered nearby, murmuring words I didn’t understand. A warning, maybe. But no. This was all tied to Emelyn’s cruelty, her wicked intent to destroy me in the harshest manner possible by attacking everything I cherished, including my memories of parents I barely had the chance to know.
She’d taken the mean-girl act too far, had made this personal and shown her vicious nature.
Vindictive.
Evil.
Bully.
I crossed my arms and pretended to cower on the floor, then fought the binds she held on my mind, unweaving them one at a time while carefully keeping my magic hidden. I didn’t want her to feel my approach, preferring to take her by surprise.
“Meet me,” my father whispered once more.
His voice was a shock to my system, causing tears to well behind my eyes.
I focused on that link next, ripping the anchor out of my heart, unable to take another second of his torment. He’s not real. Not real. Not real. Not real!
Power blasted out of me, the focal point on Emelyn. I threw her vision into the death fields of the Spirit Kingdom, forcing her to see and feel every spirit’s pain of being trapped there. She thought to use it against me, not realizing I knew more about that realm than most Elemental Fae. I’d been taken there by a horrendous abomination who tried to plague my entire kind. I’d stood at the gates, blocking their entry in spirit form while I fought to dismantle her powerful hold and thwart her attempts at accessing the earth source.