Wren
My head throbs with a force that makes my vision blur more than it already was.
I scrape my fingers along the ground, desperate for any indication of my location. The air is cool and fresh as I suck in each gasping lungful, and despite it making no sense at all, gravity itself seems to have changed, too.
I blink once, twice, three times. My chest heaves, matching the same frantic energy as every other ounce of myself.
“Wes!” I call out into the abyss. “Bo!” I pause. “Dash!”
Slowly, I rise to my feet with my hands out.
“Where the fuck am I?” I whisper into the nothingness around me.
So, help me Angels, I will murder Tremont if he betrayed us.
The last thing I remember is holding on for dear life while being shoved into a vacuum of darkness. I’m not certain how much time has passed, or if we all made it out alive, let alone to the same place.
I close my eyes and steady my breath before opening them again. This time, my surroundings come into focus, and the ringing in my ears fades to a dull murmur.
A writhing body draws my attention from a few feet away, and I rush over to it without another thought.
“Wr-Wren, is that you?” Jade squints at me and sits upright. “Where’s—” She glances around and I watch as her eyes widen. If I had to guess the same panic I’m feeling is now coursing through her. “Everest?” She scrambles to her feet. “Where are we?”
Clenching my jaw, I scan the vicinity and try to make an educated guess. But it’s too dark. Too different. Too unfamiliar to state a conclusion.
“I don’t know.” I swallow harshly and beg the Angels help me locate any of the men we came here with.
“There.” Jade points ahead and takes off toward another lump of a person littered in this desolate forest.
I run past her and skid to a halt beside the body. Gripping the collars of his shirt, I shake him harder than I probably should. “What the fuck have you done?”
Tremont snaps his gaze up at me. “It worked.”
Within a split second, I slide a small knife out of my waistband and press it to his throat. “Where are they? Tell me what you did to them or I’ll gut you right here and now.”
He wiggles under my grasp but it’s no use, not when I’ve already made up my mind.
“You have five fucking seconds…four…” I push the blade deeper into his skin without fully penetrating the soft flesh.
Jade reaches for my shoulder, but I shrug her off.
“Where are they?” I yell at him. “Where arewe?”
A sly grin eases its way across his face.
“Arthlia.” But it isn’t Tremont’s voice, instead, it’s that of my fated mate.
My sights dart from the man I was poised to kill and up at the man who appears from the shadows ahead.
“Wes.” His name is barely a whisper lingering on my lips. I drop Tremont with a thud, and rise to my feet once again, rushing over to throw my arms around Wes.
His strong grip catches and drags me toward him. “My girl.” Wes inhales deeply and hugs me tighter. “We did it.”
It’s then that Dash and Bo come into my line of sight behind Wes, and Everest follows up the rear.
“Did I hear you threaten to kill someone, Birdie?” Bo says as he approaches. “Not going to wait for me?”

Wes sets me on the ground, and I pull Bo and Dash in for a group embrace.
“Aw.” Bo pats my head. “You missed us.”
I release him and punch him in the shoulder. “I thought you guys were goners.”
Dash kisses the top of my head. “Going to have to try harder than that.”
I exhale and bask in knowing that all three of these men are safe, but the overwhelming realization that we did the impossible punches me in the gut.
“Wait a minute.” I point toward Wes. “You said we're in Arthlia. How?" I train my focus on the man responsible for our escape. "Is that true?"
Tremont rubs at the spot on his neck where the blade nicked him and pushes up onto his feet, dusting his legs off and glancing around. “Well, like I said, there was a weak spot in the fold.”
“No.” I shake my head. “You…” I desperately try to recall our last moments in Prania. “You said you didn’t need it because…” I shift my gaze to the ground but struggle to recall the memory of the time not too long ago.
“We’re here now,” Jade tells us. “We’re safe. And that’s a win in my book.” She clings to Everest’s arm, and he seems to gravitate toward her with equal force.
“It’s darker than I thought it would be.” Wes cranes his head toward the sky.
“It must be a new moon,” Tremont announces. “See that bright star right there? That’s Polaris, the North Star. We can follow that and head north until we find somewhere to stay.”
“Together?” I ask him.
The older man nods. “I didn’t anticipate stranding you in unfamiliar territory.”
“Why?” I narrow my gaze at him.
“Because that’s not who I am. Not anymore. You’re the reason I’m free of that place. The least I could do is give you some advice before parting ways.”
“Advice?” I cross my arms over my chest.
“Yes, Wren, advice. For starters, humans don’t take kindly to being threatened within an inch of their life.”
“How else am I supposed to get information out of them?”
“Like this. With your words.” He motions between us. “You communicate.”
I sigh and roll my eyes. “Seems ineffective.”
The throbbing in my skull picks up its tempo, my body tilting off balance as I struggle to regain composure.
“Wren.” Dash steadies me with his soft but strong hands.
Wes appears in front of me. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m fine, really.” I swallow down the aching in my head and take a few steps toward Tremont. “This North Star, where is it leading us?”
"Hopefully someplace where we can find food and shelter."
“Are we in danger here?”
He glances over at me like he’s about to spill a secret but decides to keep it to himself. “No. You have nothing to fear from the humans, so long as you don’t give them a reason to cause trouble. They’re rather ignorant and oblivious.”
“But.” I flit my gaze behind me at Wes temporarily. “Humans aren’t the only creatures in this realm, correct?”
Tremont continues his trek forward. "That's right. Many supernatural beings reside on Earth."
Supernaturals can’t even get along amongst themselves, how are they able to with a whole other species?

“The supernaturals keep their existence a secret. Ensuring the humans stay in the dark is what allows peace between them.”
“But how? That doesn’t make sense. How is it possible for them to fly so far under the radar that they are undetected? No one sees the horns or claws or fangs or the magic?”
“The supernatural living on earth make it a part of their life’s mission to keep the truth a secret. Because if the humans were ever to learn that truth, there’s no telling what they would do. It’s safer this way, for everyone involved.”
I walk next to him without any real idea of where we are going. A million questions fill my head faster than they can be answered. Supernaturals are just allowed to exist in this realm without consequence? Safely and peacefully? While we’ve been fighting for our lives in a neighboring realm and knowing no sense of freedom.
Guilt flows its way up my back and sends a chill down my spine. My stomach tightens at the thought of all the monsters I left behind to rot and never escape the hell hole I once called home.
“And it’s not like they go around with their claws and fangs and horns out in the open. Those with non-human-like traits avoid those things ever being seen. Most of the supernaturals here blend in with the rest of humanity. The witches don’t use their magic out in the open. The vampires feast discreetly. The werewolves go deep into the forest during a full moon. The others find homes in sleepy towns or long-forgotten cities where they can go undetected and live their lives without concern for being found out. Not everyone is as cautious but the majority of them are. Because they know what’s at stake if their secret comes out into the open.”
I let his words simmer before asking another question. Surely things can’t be this simple in this realm. There must be a catch. Something he isn’t telling me.
Tremont looks back at the hodgepodge group following closely behind him. “You can all pass as humans if you don’t let your magic rise to the surface and give you away.” His gaze lingers on me. “Although you may want to find some different clothing. Something that fits this realm and doesn’t make you look like you came out of a fantasy movie.”
“Movie?” I pinch my brows together.
“Mmhm. A motion picture.” He sighs and continues on his way. “You have much to learn about Earth.”
But Tremont stops after a few steps and holds out his arms to stop us, too.
Instinctually, I press the hilt of a blade into each of my hands and ready myself for the threat. “What is it?” I whisper to the man and attempt to locate the source of his concern.
“It…It can’t be.”
My sights settle on a large building in the distance. Its shape is massive, and it’s barely visible with the minimal illumination from the night sky. “What is this place?” I ask the man leading us through this uncharted territory. “Have you been here before?”
I study the way his shoulders tense, and he harshly swallows the lump in his throat.
“Yes,” he mutters. “A lifetime ago.”
“Is it safe?” Jade says softly from behind us.
“I’m fucking starving,” Bo tells us as he shoves his way forward. “This place better have some fucking food. I could eat twelve loaves of bread.”
“What an oddly specific number.” I follow behind him and hope there’s no danger ahead. We’ve already been through hell and back; we could use a little break from the chaos.
I want to believe things will be better but a voice in my head reminds me that the worst is yet to come.