My sister has turned into a complete bitch. I held Myra as we hoofed it to wherever this hideout was. We didn’t rest for the night. I knew this was all because of Myra. My sister was hellbent on seeing us separated. Yeah, I saw my demise, and yeah, it was freaky the way it happened, cause normally I wouldn’t do something like that. I glanced at a sleeping Myra. I wonder why I did that? It didn’t help matters, but it saved Myra. I gave my life...for hers.

  Did I really see her as so important? I knew now that my sister was another savior. Myra didn’t have to save the slaves and the kids alone. I could tell my sister, and she could help us. She had the help of the others and the alliance as well. Maybe my sister could help depose the council and change the laws, while we freed the rest of the slaves and the kids. It was worth a shot. Myra didn’t need eleven voices again or unnatural powers.

  She could keep learning runes; heaven knew she had a real gift for them. She could use them here, as every human could. And she was smart. She could be like Tasha and lead the slaves to freedom and save the kids while the alliance handled the military stuff.

  I took another glance at Myra and smirked. She was meant for a lot of things, and now so was my sister. They could share the load between them. There didn’t have to be this animosity between them.

  I picked up the pace as we rounded the woods, thick and heavy with greening foliage. We arrived at the beginning of the Water season, where the humidity and rain were constant, and everything was green, in other words, Spring. We hoofed it to the end of the forest that was littered with caves. The whole mountain face was one big cave Swiss cheese thing.

  We walked through following a winding path, making turns every which way. The paths were overgrown with tall grasses and weeds. Dandelions or what could pass as such. I wasn’t stupid enough to go pluck one and make a wish. We gained in altitude, the paths became narrower until I was glad to carry Myra. She could have fallen to her death here!

  We came to a wide entrance with two large boulders covered in runes. Datha bit her finger, drawing blood, and I winced. That was not the best way to go about it since it left marks and saliva contaminated the blood. She smeared it on the bright red teardrop.

  “Starlight thread,” said Datha, and the doors shifted open with a grating sound that woke Myra. She stared as the doors folded in on themselves, and we were allowed passage. I set Myra down and we entered behind the group. I glanced at Myra, whose eyes darted back and forth between the door and some carved runes. Datha gave us a minute to study them, then she led us farther in.

  “Datha! Where have you been?” A tall, brown-haired male said. His sparkling blue eyes made me feel cold as they stared at us, but especially at Myra.

  Datha seemed to instantly brighten, but I noticed Nero stiffen.

  “Mikale! We were trapped in a village for a few days,” she said, beaming.

  Mikale snorted. “I told Jason you’d be useless. Did you find the savior at least?”

  “No, but I found the otherworlders, although the girl is useless without her powers,” she sneered.

  I stiffened and pulled Myra against me. If they tried to get rid of her we were gone and my sister could face the savior crap alone!

  “Get me, Natasha,” she said, and Mikale raised an eyebrow but went to find whoever Natasha was. A few minutes later, the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen came into the cavern room. She had scintillating almond skin and the darkest of violet eyes. Her curves were perfect, and she moved in a way that mesmerized most guys. It was even starting to work on me as she approached in her grecian dress. The waist was tiny. I wanted to hold her! Then she spotted Myra, and the spell was over.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Gods above! It’s you! Our rescuers! Oh, I can’t tell you how happy we’ve been since the rescue! Gods above! Everyone will want to meet you two,” she blathered and I had to stop the hysterical girl from hugging me. Only Myra hugged me. No one else, well, and my sister if she would stop being a grade a bitch.

  I saw her face fall when Natasha gushed at Myra, who simply smiled gently and hugged the hysterical girl. How did I confuse her for a woman? Yeah, she was beautiful, but had the mentality of a five-year-old as she gushed at Myra like a kid to a proud parent. At least I saw it that way.

  “Natasha!” muttered my sister, shaking her head.

  Guess whatever plan she had failed. Natasha went back to being entrancing, but now that I knew her personality, she didn’t interest me. I glanced at Myra, who looked a little flustered, and I smiled.

  This was what she should have come back to. Not the adoration but to signs of friendship and amicability. The group that should have stood by her the most had abandoned her, and the group that she thought would forget her hadn’t and adored her.

  That was life, I guess. There was one face that we hadn’t seen yet, and I wondered about her. Misty. Had she been poisoned against Myra, or had she been left to adore her? Natasha showed us the cave system, and as I thought, the other slaves remembered us and came to greet us.

  Quite a few guys made a pass at Myra, and she was as red as a cherry. I laughed and decided to help her out a bit. So the next pretender to offer himself was shocked when I pulled Myra close.

  “Sorry, bud, she’s all mine,” I purred, making her blush that much harder.

  I smirked and ran my hand through her hair gently as I’ve been wanting to do since before the Ice Palace. I trailed my fingers from root to tip and smiled. It was silkier than I thought it would be and really soft like a warm blanket, almost.

  “I don’t know whether to thank you or hit you,” she muttered.

  “You want to thank me in front of an audience, My?” I said, smirking.

  “Jonah!” she said, blushing and continuing to walk down the hall.

  I laughed and followed. At the end of the hallway, it branched out into two large caverns. We were led to the right cavern, where a giant sitting room was. Beige walls rose all around while semi-comfortable couches and metal chairs, slightly padded, ruled the remainder of the space. A small round table took the back where hybrids played the sapphrine equivalent of Black Jack. More slaves swarmed us, and I finally saw her. Misty.

  She had grown a little and was healthier, but did she believe Datha’s lies? Well, exaggerations then. My did hear voices in her head. Misty’s grey eyes narrowed, not a good sign. Hopefully, Myra didn’t see it. It would break her to have to lose Misty too. She’d worried the most over the little girl.

  As it stood, Misty had taken her book elsewhere to read and ignored us. Maybe she was annoyed with the noise? That could be it. At least I hoped so. Datha walked over to Misty and hugged her.

  Not good as Misty hugged back and left. She grinned at me, and I scowled. Mikale pulled her to the left cavern, and I was glad for his interference. I went in search of Misty and found her down the hall, across from another cavern we had skipped. This cavern was a big walk-in closet-like thing with clothes and a bed. Misty was sitting and had taken off her shoes.

  “Cruddy place for a room. Not going to say hi,” I asked, spooking the poor kid, but I wasn’t going to say sorry til I knew the damage.

  Her grey eyes narrowed. “This is a rest place! And why should I? You abandoned me! ” she cried.

  I sighed. “We were forced back to our world by a God. How do you fight a God?” I asked, bending down and removing her book from her red face.

  She shrugged, and I nodded. “That’s right, you don’t.”

  “But Datha said you left willingly,” she said, looking contrite and confused. She pulled her book from my grasp and raised it to her face again.

  I laughed. “Yeah, because being booted into a space rift is leaving willingly. Did Datha say anything else?” I asked, putting one finger on the spine and tilting it to see her eyes, which were sad and solemn.

  “Yes. That girl is crazy and a danger to us,” she mimicked Datha’s tone, but I could tell it was costing her to do so.

  I stared into her eyes. I was unnerving her from her sudden fidgeting. Good! This was serious business. “Myra released you from being a Morgan out of her own will. She did the same with Datha. She’s not crazy and has missed you loads, kid.”

  Misty’s grey eyes widened. “She remembered me?”

  “She remembered everyone, but almost everyone has turned against her. Will you turn against her, too?” I glared, and she fidgeted more, putting her book between us again.

  Misty bit her lip. “Datha hates her.”

  “Are you going to hate her because Datha hates her, then?” I said, tracing her book’s spine. Depending on what she said, I’d be–

  “Datha’s been real nice to me, like my mom.”

  Shit no. I grabbed her book and snatched it away from her.

  “Hey! Give that back!” she cried, reaching for it. I rose to my feet, all six feet of me, and read the title.

  “The Wizard and the Phoenix of Stonemark. Should you even be reading this?” I asked, leafing through the book and finding it good for a fifteen-year-old old not a ten-year-old.

  “Datha doesn’t care!” she said, hopping for the book.

  “Well, I do. You are not reading this. Someone rips another’s entrails out for god’s sake!”

  She paled. “Oh, um–”

  “As for Datha being your mom, sometimes our parents do bad things,” I said, shrugging. “We can follow in their footsteps or risk their ire and find our own place, but I assure you, Myra has missed you and cares about you. It would brighten her day if you went and said a simple hello,” I said, turning and returning to the sitting room with the book. She was not reading this.

  Myra was sitting and conversing with some slaves. She was hearing their tales of capture and torture at the hands of the council. I knew this only strengthened her resolve to free the others.

  The door opened, and Misty poked her head in. She walked up to Myra, hugged her, then disappeared out the door again. At least she showed her face. Myra was beaming. I sat and opened the book. Just because Misty was too young didn’t mean I was. This seemed interesting.