“I cannot return there,” Lucas said, shaking his head. “I want to look for my son.”
I heaved a sigh. “I know, but how will you ever find him? I doubt you remember how to get to The Oasis—assuming that’s where he is. In fact, I’m not even sure how to get there myself. But Corrine knows.”
At the mention of Corrine—someone who I guessed had never hidden her opinion on his character from him—Lucas looked even more reluctant.
“Just come with me, Lucas. Come with us…” My voice trailed off as I remembered Nolan, Chantel and Marcilla. “Will you come to The Shade?” I asked them.
They nodded eagerly.
“Yes. We’ll do anything to help you,” Nolan said. He had tears of joy in his eyes. “We’ll do anything to help you secure these bodies for us.”
I turned back to my uncle. “Our first priority is to secure these bodies. Then we can look for your son.”
He grimaced. “I’ll just… wait by the boundaries then,” he muttered.
I wasn’t going to argue with him further. There was no time. If he didn’t want to come into the island that was his choice, but he was clearly a changed person and I was sure that everyone would give him a second chance. They had given Kiev a second chance, after all.
Still, I couldn’t mull over this now. I gazed out toward the ocean, sparkling in the sunlight. Now I was faced with the daunting proposition of finding my way back to The Shade. Again. But at least by now, I had done it a number of times, and it should be faster and easier. Now of all times, we really could not afford to get lost.
We set off—Lucas in his new fae body was thankfully just as fast as the rest of us. It was a real blessing that fae were able to travel with such speed. I found myself zooming as fast as I had while still a ghost. Fae could assume physical bodies—like jinn and ghouls—but they also had subtle forms they could switch into, which I guessed gave them the best of both worlds. Although, even as we flew, I remained in my solid state the entire time and it didn’t appear to hamper my speed. I’d had enough of being a spirit. Enough for a million lifetimes.
As quickly as we traveled, the journey was agony. Each hour that passed was one less hour that we had to accomplish our mission, and we only had three days. When we arrived back in The Shade, it would be a shock for everyone, but there wouldn’t be much time to explain. Although I would make time to see River, even if it meant shaving an extra hour.
Finally, we reached the island. And I was comforted to see that the sun had only just begun to descend in the sky. By my estimate, it was still early afternoon. I could only count my lucky stars.
“This could’ve been worse,” I muttered to Kailyn. “A lot worse.”
As soon as the familiar rock formation came into view, I lurched forward full speed… forgetting entirely about the boundary. I whacked into it and bounced off. I could barely even bring myself to be annoyed or concerned about how long it might take for us to attract the attention of one of the three authorized witches. To me it was only a joyous reminder that I was back. I was real.
Kailyn and I began hollering as loud as we could until, what felt like fifteen minutes later, Corrine emerged.
Laying eyes on us, she practically choked on her tongue. She seemed to even stop breathing as she gaped at us. She blinked several times, her mouth opening and closing like a fish as she looked from me to Kailyn to our other three companions and then, with eyes bulging like a frog’s, to Lucas.
“My God,” she rasped. “My God. This is not happening. This isn’t real.”
I hurried over to her, cutting off her rambling as I gripped her shoulders—a little harder than I’d intended. I relished the feel of her solid body between my hands.
“You need to take us inside,” I urged.
“Oh, no, no, no, no!” she shrilled, shaking her head. “I’m not falling for this. You are… jinn or… witches or… something!” With that, she turned her back and began to flee, but I held on to her. Apparently, Corrine has never encountered fae before. Glaring into her eyes, I had to get through to her before she decided to vanish into thin air.
“Perform the test on me,” I said, glowering down at her. “The same test you performed on River and Hero before letting them in.”
Corrine’s lips parted in a gasp. She narrowed her eyes on me and frowned so hard her forehead rippled. “Ben?” she breathed.
“Yes!” I said. “Test me!”
She did it immediately, placing her hands against my bare right arm. I felt a slight electric shock—similar to what I’d felt while inhabiting the griffin’s body. When I didn’t change form, the witch’s eyes filled with tears.
“Oh, my God. I can’t believe it!” She launched herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and hugging me so tight I could barely breathe.
“Corrine,” I said, detaching myself from her. “There’s no time. You must let us in now!”
Corrine’s eyes roamed the others once again as I gestured toward them. “Test them all if you must, but I can assure you that they are who they look like.”
Corrine tested them all one by one swiftly, but as she approached Lucas—still gaping as though he had tentacles sprouting from his nostrils—Lucas caught my eye and shook his head. “As I told you, Ben, I don’t wish to come in.”
“Just come with us!” I urged. “God knows, we might even forget about you in all the rush if you stay up here.”