Marlena's disturbing words haunted me as I watched her kneel in front of the fire. She placed a handful of gemstones on a burlap mat.

When she had the nine different stones in a perfect circle, she placed a small brass bowl in the middle. With a piece of charcoal, she drew symbols directly on her wooden floor around the burlap.

"What's she doing?" I whispered softly.

"She's creating a summoning spell to call upon her Stitcher." Justin's lips grazed over my ear as we watched her scrawl nine separate symbols. And, yeah, Justin was still naked, and I was still sitting in his lap. It was a little awkward now that I was feeling better, but I guess I needed to start getting used to moments like these.

"What is a Stitcher?" I finally asked a question that had been on my mind for hours.

"A Stitcher is a powerful energy worker within the Fourth Realm. Kind of like what humans would think of as a Shaman, Warlock, or Witch, but Stitchers can do amazing things. I'm hoping to snuff out your mating call. At least until we can get more Guardians on our side. We need to cloak your energy and figure out a way to deter my father and others within the Realms from targeting you. Stitchers are unpredictable and have their own motives, so finding one that we can trust isn't easy, but the Sun Clan has the best Stitchers in the Realms."

"Well, that's nice to know. So, this mating call... what is it?" I bit my lip, hoping it wasn't something too crazy.

"Well," Justin inhaled deeply as his nostrils flared. "It's a mixture of things. It's partly your scent, but it's also your energy. Together they create a powerful desire to seek you out. Your bloodline is quite unique."

Marlena scoffed. "Unique? A better term is nonexistent."

Justin's gaze raked over my face. Gauging my expression, he spoke in my head. She's right, Angel. No one in the Nine Realms possesses your energy or has a scent as tempting as yours.

Taken aback, I squinted. "What do I smell like? Because I took a shower this morning... I mean, I probably should've taken one after practice, but do I stink?"

Marlena chuckled as she started collecting herbs from glass jars.

"No. It's unlike anything I've ever experienced. Your aroma is seductive as fuck, and combined with the power inside you, it makes people act irrationally just to be near you."

Grinding herbs together in a wooden bowl, Marlena nodded. "Irrational and unforgiving. Many souls will kill anyone and everyone to bond with you. The melancholy life of the Bringer is full of darkness, war, and death."

I stiffened as shivers ran down my spine. What the fuck?

"Why are you scaring her? Her life is full of love, joy, and delight too. She's a powerful leader that will bring peace like never before." Justin's arms tightened around me.

Marlena frowned. "The Prophecy of the Bringer is not a fairy tale created for humans, Prince. She deserves to know the truth. The prophecy is not for the faint of heart. She will not survive if we feed her lies of rainbows and moonbeams."

"I'm not so sure I am the Bringer. What does the prophecy even say?" I asked.

Marlena glanced up at my question with wide eyes. "Child, you are asking questions that you should already know the answers to. I find it hard to believe you know nothing of your father's life. He would have never left his child uneducated and unprotected concerning topics of such magnitude. He was the King of the Guardians for centuries. The idea of Malik abandoning his only child in the Mortal Realm is difficult for me to believe."

"Centuries?" Sitting up straight, I moved out of Justin's lap and stood. Folding my arms, I started pacing, keeping my eyes down. "My dad's in his forties. He's not centuries old. There's no way I'm related to Malik. I'm not even eighteen."

"Like many supernatural beings, Guardians have a different aging process than humans." Justin stood, but I didn't look at him since he was still naked.

Why the hell was I even here? They had to be mistaken. Justin was sure, but I wasn't. I mean, yeah, there was some supernatural voodoo shit going on, but Dad wasn't some crotchety king that was centuries old. He was a loving man that supported all my extravagant creative outlets.

Dad taught me everything and what he couldn't teach, he paid someone to teach me. He took me to lessons until I mastered each skill, and he let me do it all. Dad loved to watch me perform, and he especially enjoyed when I played string instruments.

Sometimes, I would catch him with tears in his eyes as I played the piano or violin. He wasn't some domineering Guardian King like Justin's father. My dad was gentle and loving, and before he disappeared, he had a lot of life left in him.

"I don't know what I am, but I'm not some mean old king's long-lost daughter. My dad has been missing for years, and he's no king. He's a good, sweet man, and he's not judgmental like all of you. I should be focused on finding him rather than hiding here." My tone was harsh.

Their world was enlightening, but it was a lot for my head to handle, and they were wrong about me. I was obviously something from another Realm, but I wasn't some cursed Bringer or whatever.

Justin finally had a blanket wrapped around his waist as he assessed me carefully. Damn it! He was reading my mind again.

"King Malik wasn't old or mean," Justin said. "When he—"

"Ember?" Tyler's voice drowned out Justin's words, and I gasped in excitement.

I smiled, jogging toward the door. Somehow, I knew Tyler was waiting for me outside and I had to get to him.

Yeah? I'm here. Is Lucas with you? I opened the front door and ran down the stairs. Are you guys okay?

"Ember!" Justin hollered behind me, and I couldn't understand why he sounded so angry. Maybe he didn't hear Tyler like I had.

"It's Tyler. He's here." I shouted, unable to slow down.

I couldn't stop running toward Tyler. The fear and worry was suddenly overwhelming. I ran faster and harder than ever. I needed to see them, and I needed to make sure they were okay.

"Stop. It's not him. It's a trap." Justin's voice erupted into a rumbling growl.

Trying to stop, I discovered I couldn't as I ran like my life depended on it. I darted through the oily fog until I hit the edge of the force field. Falling to my hands and knees, I crawled forward, forcing down the pain.

My brain twisted into a million particles of brutal dark colors. Tyler was here. I knew it. I had to get to him. Why hadn't he spoken to me again? Was he hurt? Where was Lucas? Why weren't they talking to me?

Just as I got into the woods past the energy field, a charred bony hand with long black claws wrapped around my wrist, yanking me forward. "There you are. You came right to me, my little Sun Guardian."

The jagged flesh around my wrist was colder than ice. My entire body locked up as I crumbled to the ground. Icy darkness swept over me as my muscles cramped up. My teeth clenched so hard they bit through the side of my tongue as I began convulsing.

Then, I was being sucked into the ground. My skull squeezed my brain like it was in a vice. A metallic flavor filled my mouth as visions of tortured souls screaming for help flooded my pounding head.

Fire. There was fire everywhere, and they were all burning to death. My teeth finally released my tongue, and I screamed, trying to wrench my arm free as monstrous snarls and growls encompassed the smoky air around me.

"Grab him." A familiar voice instructed, but I could only see the blazing fires in the dark place. "Get his hand off her. He's taking her."

Everything went black and fell silent for a long moment. When the new reality forced itself to life, I was in the dark place, and countless fires raged around me, but I wasn't on fire.

I was on top of a rock mountain and the starless sky was blacker than ever. Puffs of thick smoke drifted toward me. The stench of burning bodies hit me hard as I sucked in a breath.

Movement caught my attention from the corner of my eye. A burned woman, maybe young, maybe old, sat in the corner of a cell. She was hunched over, chewing on something clasped between her filthy hands. I could barely make out the whites of her eyes as they darted back and forth until they landed on me. They were full of suspicion. I wanted to run, but I was frozen.

"Bringer." The woman's whisper was raspy. Her top lip curled back, revealing her blood-covered teeth.

Realizing I was inside the cell with her, I shuddered, still unable to move. I glanced around, trying to figure out how to escape. My hands were bound with thick black steel cuffs connected to a chain on the rock floor. What the fuck? How did I get here?

I pulled on the shackles as whispers began swirling around me. At first, they were indecipherable until I focused on understanding them.

"Look at her. She's not perfect like they said. How come they all want her?" A snotty girl asked.

"Ugly hair." A second bitchy girl pulled on my ponytail.

"She has a nose like a weasel." The third girl giggled and pushed my nose hard, but I didn't react. "She can't even hear us."

According to my eyes, there was no one here, but I could feel them hovering.

"Her eyes are brown as dirt." Snotty flicked my temple. "I've never seen anything so horrid."

Flinching, I let my head fall. Why were they doing this? I didn't even know them, did I?

"Why does she get to be the Bringer? She's not even good enough to hang out with the Angels, and they always hang out with their kind." Bitchy remarked.

"I wonder if I can get inside her." Giggly was right in my face. "Let me see."

She slapped me across the face. My face whipped to the side, and my cheek burned like I'd been hit with a hot coal.

"Bringer." The charred woman began hobbling over to me, still chewing on her food. And fuck, she smelled like shit.

"Get back," I commanded.

The woman's eyes danced with delight as she continued in my direction. Her nose scrunched as she tore off a piece of whatever was clamped in her dirty hands, and I couldn't be sure, but I think it was moving.

"The Bringer would never be here. So, this can't be her. She's too ugly and too weak." Snotty whispered as another girl yanked my hair back. I couldn't see a face, but I could feel hot breath on my skin.

I screamed out as they pulled harder.

"No one can hear you, ugly." Bitchy whispered before another slap across my face brought tears to my eyes.

"Get inside her, Pen. I know you can. Look how weak she is. She can't even break her puny hands free." Snotty said.

"Ember!" A male yelled from somewhere. I thought I knew the voice, but honestly, I couldn't remember much of anything anymore.

"She's so pathetic. What kind of sad creature bears such fear? She deserves to be here." Giggly said sarcastically, and the hand released my ponytail.

"Bringer?" The woman was chewing directly in my face now, and I could smell her burning hair and skin.

Repulsed, my gaze landed on the food in her hands. It was a long, tiny colorful creature with dozens of moving legs. The nasty witch's bloody teeth bit into two more legs and ripped them off. The creature's small screams hurt my heart as the woman ground the legs between her disgusting teeth. I watched the tiny creature mercilessly wriggle, trying to free itself.

Anger rolled off me when she went back for another. "Let it go!"

The woman's eyes snapped to mine as a wave of smoke from the fires clouded our cell. I barked out a cough.

Pretending she hadn't heard me, the woman pulled off another tiny leg and watched me cough as she chewed slowly like a cow.

Enraged, I glared at her. "Let it go, or so help me, when I get free I'll kill—

Cackles from Snotty filled the surrounding space. "She thinks she can't get free. What an imbecile."

Could I get free? But how? Where the flying fuck was I? How did I get here? Or here's a better question... who the fuck was I? I couldn't remember anything from before.

Tortured screams from someplace far, far away caught my attention. I listened. It was a girl. I glanced down at something tapping against my chest, but nothing was there.

"Bringer." The burned woman's raspy voice brought me back to the present moment in my cell.

When my eyes focused in on her, she spat in my face. Flinching back, I barely noticed the leg fragments stuck to my cheeks before she threw the little body at me.

Reacting quickly, I tried to catch it, but I missed it since my wrists were chained. The poor little body bounced off my chest, and I barely managed to catch it between my wrists. The burned woman hobbled back to the corner of her cell, talking to herself.

Focused on not hurting the creature any more than my witchy cellmate already had, I cupped its limp body in one hand while backing up to the cell bars.

"What's she doing with that repugnant thing?" Bitchy asked.

"She doesn't know what they are." Giggly whispered.

Curiosity took over, and I glanced down.

Its centipede-like body was fascinating and hypnotic. Luminescent colors rippled down its back as it quietly sighed, curling up against my hand.

This precious creature was something special and somehow I knew, it didn't belong here. Blue blood poured from its multiple wounds, dripping off my knuckles. I wanted to heal it, but I didn't know how.

"It's okay." I smiled as my eyes watered. "I'm gonna take care of you now."

"Possess her, Pen, and crush it. Hurry!" Snotty instructed.

Another slap across my face pissed me the fuck off as my head snapped up, narrowing my gaze at the person or thing that I knew was in front of me. "Do it again, asshole. I fucking dare you!"

The invisible girls gasped.

"That's right. I don't have to see you to know you're there. If any of you fucking touch me again, I'll feed you to my cellmate, and she loves chewing on assholes." A light suddenly emanated from my hand. I glanced down at my new friend. It was glowing and its light was blinding.

"It's activating. Let's get out of here before we all die with it." Snotty instructed as I felt them leave.

"I can't stop it." A voice spoke to me, and I knew it was the small soul in my hand. "I-I'm dying."

"I'm so sorry I couldn't help you sooner." My eyes brimmed with tears as I cradled it beside my heart.

"You did what you could." The bright light coming from its frail body began to blink in and out as tears ran down my cheeks. One tear fell onto the creature. "You cry for me, Pure One? Tears of the pure don't belong in this Realm."

"I-I don't want you to die." I stared at its beautiful light as it started flipping through every color in the spectrum. "You're so beautiful. I wish I could save you."

"Beautiful?" Its voice was harmonic, and it sounded female.

"Tell me how I can save you." More tears ran off my chin.

"No one wants to save a bug." She said sadly.

"I do. I can feel how amazing you are. I don't want you to die." I whispered over my tears.

"There is a way to save me, but I must travel with you." The kind creature said.

"What do you mean?" I sniffed.

"They're calling to you." Her light pulsed faster.

"Who's calling me?" I asked.

"Listen." She whispered.

I gasped as deep voices echoed in my head. "I can hear them."

"Yes. Can I go with you?" Her body shook in my hands. "I can help you find them."

"How?" I asked.

"My body is dying, but my soul... it can travel with yours until you find me a new body or release me, Pure One." She said as the life began to drain from her limp form.

"Please," I begged as I sucked in my upper lip, licking my salty tears. "I don't know who I am or where I'm going, but please come with me."

"You have my gratitude, Pure One." Her words were barely audible as her light expanded, filling the entire cell, and it was so bright that I had to shut my eyes as more strange voices filled my head.

The charred witch in the corner of my cell released a blood-curdling scream before everything went black. As I floated peacefully in the silent blackness, the sound of women chanting came into earshot, and it was oddly comforting.

Suddenly I was inside a body, I tried to open my eyes, but they were too heavy.

"I can't believe you let her run off like that." Someone bellowed as glass shattered. "There's no way to get her back. He locked her soul in the Eighth Realm."

"Lucas, they've already warned us that they'll kick us out if you break anything else." A low voice whispered.

"Fuck you and fuck them, Justin. You told me you'd die before you let anything happen to her." The guy named Lucas seethed. "We trusted you."

"You have no idea how horrible I feel." A quivering hand ran down my arm, settling on top of my hand, and I assumed it was the guy named Justin. "I'd rather die than lose her."

"I'm so glad she's not screaming anymore." A new, low voice whispered as his finger ran down my cheek and over my lips. "She's terrified, and she's all alone down there. Gods, I never told her how I feel. I'm such a fucker. And now, I'll never have the chance."

"We can get her back." The trembling guy, Justin, picked up my hand and opened it, pressing my palm to his cheek. "Be strong and fight, Angel. Come back to us."

"Stitchers aren't Crosslings. They can't fix this. She doesn't even know where or who she is. We had a chance to stop this before she crossed, but not now. I tried to tell you we had to find a fucking Stitcher first. The Timeweaver was a waste of time." Lucas snapped as he wrapped his hands around my ankles.

Justin moved my hand off his cheek and kissed my palm. "We can't lose hope. She's surprised us over and over. She'll find a way back to us."

"If she does..." The third guy was crying. His soft thumb ran over my eyelids before his knuckles ran down my cheek. "She won't remember us when she comes back. It won't be the same. She'll be different."

💙💙💙💙💙💙