Chapter Ten

Wilder

A light so bright that I have to turn my head to the side and it still pierces through my closed eyelids, explodes from in front of us. It barely fades before I feel the need to walk through it. It’s like a rope is tied around my waist and it is pulling me into the light. Wait. I’m feeling the pull to walk into the light. AM I DEAD? The thought stops me in my tracks. This is magic. I don’t know anything about magic. But Elia does. And I trust her. Though my entire body is screaming against my moving forward, I take another step. And another. And another. Before long the light becomes unbearable and it disappears suddenly. I open my eyes slowly, wary of the light. My breath is ripped from my lungs and my eyes fly open all the way. In front of me lies a city. A city with glistening white houses and cobblestone paths. Gardens are left in perfect condition in front of each house. Everything looks as if someone hit paused before they left. I raise my head slightly and find the largest palace in gleaming white sitting in the middle of the city. It has high arches and spires and a large balcony that opens into a room that can only be a throne room.

“Is this?” I ask in a whisper.

“The Hidden World.” Elia answers in a whisper. I turn to her to find her eyes fading from fully pink to their normal size. She is beautiful. But more somehow. Her pale skin shines brighter, as do her eyes. Her hair seems fuller and is adorned with a diadem of rose gold color with pink gemstones. Her usual outfit of a pink tank top and white shorts has been replaced with a long light pink gown that hugs her torso and explodes in tulle from her waist down. It hangs off her shoulders and reveals a rose gold chain necklace with a golden crescent moon holding another large pink gemstone. I just stare at her, my mouth hanging open. She chuckles. “You’re not looking too bad yourself, love.” I frown and glance down to find myself wearing a maroon-colored suit with golden detailing and a heavy ring on my head tells me that I’m wearing a crown. I whip my head around to look at the others to find them all wearing outfits similar to ours. Meera has a Marin blue mermaid dress with a matching crown. Akira is wearing a golden gown with a golden diadem in her elaborately braided hair. Aiden is dressed in a suit that reflects all of the colors of a flame whilst Roan looks downright lethal in his blood-red suit. Although his goofy ness offsets the lethality of his clothes as he whistles.

”Looking fine people.” He winks at Elia. “How did you know red was my color?”

“Sorry, Roan, not my doing.” She winks back, which leaves Roan with yet another stumped look on his face. She gestures around us. “It’s the magic of this world welcoming us home.” We all look at her with confused expressions. She just rolls her eyes. “It’s magic y’all! It has its own rules.” The clearing of a throat behind us reminds us of the supernaturals that we brought with us. We turn to face them.

“Forgive me, your majesties, but what do we do know?” A vampire asks. A woman, holding a baby in her arms and a child clinging to her leg. Roan loses his goofy persona and walks up to her. She bows deeply and he thrusts out his arms to pull her up, making sure that her baby is secure in her arms. He smiled at her before turning his gaze to the entire crowd.

“Now, we settle. Find a home and settle in with your family.”

“We will have laws, but we require a few days to finalize them.” Aiden steps up beside Roan. “However, basic laws have already been decided upon.” He motions for the rest of us to stand next to them. I grab Elia’s hand pull her with me. “There will be no divide between the species.” A few gasps, but a lot more nods in agreement. They are already accepting each other. “There will be no harassment, harming, or defacing another species or members of your own species. It has been too long since we were all united and we will not make the same mistakes that cost us our home years ago. We are a family. We live here together. In unity.”

The castle is huge and even brighter on the inside. After we saw the supernaturals move towards their new homes, we headed up into the castle and followed the hallways until we found the balcony that could be seen from the city. As I guessed, it leads into a giant throne room with six thrones out of the same white material as the rest of the castle. I rest my hand against the throne with a wolf carved in a circle at its head. It is cool to the touch.

“Can you believe it?” Meera asks no one in particular. Our silence is answer enough as we start to move into the middle.

“I still can’t believe that my mom knew about this but never told me.” Elia whispers, probably not meaning for any of us to hear her. I frown and meet the others’ eyes. With a nod of my head, they silently exit the room. Elia doesn’t notice, her gaze locked on something on the balcony. I walk up next to her and wrap my arms around her waist, the soft material of her dress caressing my palms. She leans back into me, and I drop my head to her head and kiss her hair just behind her diadem. We stand like that for a few minutes in complete silence. My heart beats against her back and I can feel hers.

“She would be so proud of you.” I whisper and a silent sob wracks through her petite frame. She turns in my arms and barries her face in my chest. I hold her. I keep her standing as she falls apart. That’s all I can do. I got some of my family back, she didn’t. I wish that I could take away her pain, but I can’t. So all I can do is stand here and hold her, and let her know that I will always be here to put her back together when she falls apart.