"What about Ria?" I asked.

His expression closed off, his features motionless. "It's kinder if we both forget about our childhood dreams. Reality doesn't favor this union."

And with a huff of breath he left the room.

"I'm going to find Ria," I said once I knew he was gone.

I left to the sound of Lucy explaining to Josian what we'd just learned: Lucas and Ria's connection, and also the conclusions we'd reached about my role as empress. I knew my father would not be happy about this, the same as Brace wouldn't have been. My loyalties, power and energies were already stretched in too many directions. But for some reason I had faith that there was a point to all of this, that somehow it would all come together and make sense in the end.

Lucy's voice faded out as I hurried along the hall and down the stairs, jumping the last few. It was then a simple move to head out of the house and onto the dark front balcony. I had a suspicion where I would find the Regali queen. She often headed into the forest beside our house. It wasn't large, but there were quite a few densely packed trees and other plants. And sure enough, as I stepped into the cool, dark eeriness of the forest area, I sensed her green energy.

"I hate him." Her voice echoed because she was flinging herself through the trees, her beloved vines catching and throwing her slim figure. She dropped down next to me, the leaves still hugging her close. "I even hated him when I thought a figment of my imagination had abandoned me. Now I find out he was real."

Blasts of energy leaked off her. I absorbed some my well inside loving the new influx of power while others flickered off and had plants blossoming around us. Flowers of red and yellow bloomed to my right, and the dense undergrowth puffed out with life.

"Maybe it was nothing to do with Lucas." I tried to offer a third-person perspective. "Whilst I think he's generally a selfish a.s.s, often these dream things are out of your control. He probably had no say over his appearances or lack thereof."

Ria was so covered in greenery now I could only just see her face. "And where is he now, Abby? I notice that he's not here making sure I'm fine."

I shrugged. "I did say he was an a.s.s."

A glimmer of a smile crossed her lips then.

"And, to be fair, he was worried about you."

Something flickered in her purple eyes, before she lowered her face slightly. "Can you tell me why half-Walkers can't open doorways?"

My eyes widened as she hit me from the side with a subject change. But I could see that it was something she'd been thinking about; and right then she probably hated that she was beholden to me or Josian to return her to Regali.

"Josian seems to think that I'm the anomaly. He originally felt that us halves would not have access to the doorways."

Ria's eyebrows contracted. "I'm usually so even tempered, but I find it decidedly unfair that you can use the doorways and trace." Her attempt to smile was dismal.

Her words gave me a moment's thought.

"Wait, you can't use the doorways, but ... can you trace?" We'd never even thought to try that.

"I asked Josian when he was taking me to Klea yesterday," Ria said. "He told me that was a power only the ancients had."

I grabbed her hand, my tone increasing in pitch. "The ancients and ... me. Because we believe that the seven half-Walkers hold the power of the ancients."

Ria stepped free of her viney cage. "Show me, Abby. How do you trace?"

Good question. It was something I had accidentally discovered, and I had no idea how to explain it. I hoped if I just went over the steps, she'd be able to do it.

"Okay, try and mentally picture the front door of the house." I pointed back through the trees to my home. "Have you got the image?"

Ria closed her eyes. "Yes," she said after a moment. "I see the door and balcony."

"On the edge of the image is there anything strange?" It wouldn't work if she couldn't see the tethers.

She didn't answer straight away. I could see her eyelids fluttering. They hid her stunning violet eyes, but something was happening behind them.

"Yes!" she suddenly exclaimed. "It took me some time, but there are these glittery strands all around." Her breath was coming in gasps. "Some are thick, others are shorter or thinner. They're all different."

A grin crossed my features. Mentally I connected to Fury and Talina.

Come out to the front and bring Lucy. I think I can show you how to use the tethers.

h.e.l.l, yeah, Fury yelled.

Be right there, Abbs. Talina's voice rose in pitch.

I released my tie to them.

"Okay, Ria, now I want you to mentally reach out and grab onto the largest, strongest looking strand. I'll meet you at the house."

I took off running then, hoping like h.e.l.l that she would be waiting for me. And sure enough as I cleared the forest and rounded the side of the house, Ria was standing there. Her hands were fisted in her long strands of hair, her eyes wide and her grin even wider. The front door burst open and the girls piled out, along with Josian, Lallielle, Dune, Raror, and Francesca. Gee, they must have brought everyone with them. What had Fury done? Run through the house screaming? At least Samuel wasn't there. I avoided him a lot. I knew I was being petty, but the truth was I didn't trust him and I hadn't forgiven him.

Well, that's what I kept telling myself, even though the guilty thoughts never went away.

"What's going on?" Josian asked, taking in our animated faces. "I heard yelling and thought we were under attack." His bronze eyes were twinkling.

"We can use the tethers." The words burst from Ria. For the first time since finding her in the jungle of Artwon, she seemed like a giddy kid.

Josian's expression didn't change. His grin remained in place, but something flickered across his eyes. He seemed pleased. I was distracted though by Lallielle's exclamation. She moved forward to hug me and each of the girls.

"I'm so happy to hear that. I hated thinking that the other girls were vulnerable and unable to leave a bad situation," she said as she moved back next to Francesca.

The soothsayer's white eyes moved between us, but she didn't say much, which was usual since she'd returned. Losing her visions had shaken her badly. Samuel and Francesca were both damaged at the moment, and a part of me felt bad for never having any time or interest in talking with them. I just felt as if I couldn't take on one more problem. I was at my limit.

"Show us, Supes." Fury was basically bouncing off my arm. "Being a half-Walker is about to get a h.e.l.l of a lot more awesome."

I quickly went through the same explanation as I had with Ria. We decided to see if they could just go to the other end of the balcony we were standing on. The three girls closed their eyes, and on my command found their tethers and reached for them. And just like that they disappeared. Their excited shrieks when they landed together at the intended destination said everything.

We had just added another impressive skill to our Seventine-smas.h.i.+ng a.r.s.enal. Every little step we took forward gave me some hope hope that in the end we would be strong enough. Although at the same time it also pointed out how many things we didn't know about each other, our powers and what happened when the half-Walkers came together. If we could just get the information about the exact powers the originals held, maybe we would have a hope of finding our own strengths and destroying the threat of the Seventine.

Chapter 12.

The next morning the girls took full advantage of their new abilities, each one tracing to their home planets. Talina was taking Ladre. She'd told me privately that she would not ask him to return to First World with her, but would let him decide what he wanted. Fury and Dune were going to check on Cleo, his dragoona. They were going in sneaky, and Fury couldn't use her fire power while she was there. If the nomads sensed her they'd be all over her b.u.t.t. And Ria was visiting Klea again, which brought about her first real smiles since running into Lucas.

All three of the half-Walkers were beyond excited to have the ability to go back to their old worlds if required. It gave us all a new lease on life, and made the task that was stealing so much of our lives from us the Seventine battle much easier to take each day. For Lucy and me it was time to head back to Nephilius.

And I don't care what anyone says, I did not get dressed nicely, and start anxiously pacing the white room because Brace was going to arrive any time soon.

"Abbs! Stop! You're giving me a headache with your constant back and forth." Lucy was almost as bad as me, fluttering her wings as she darted over to the window for her fiftieth glance.

"At least you know you can throw yourself into the arms of your mate," I vented, forcing my feet to halt. I sounded annoyed, but it wasn't with Lucy, just with the situation.

"I know. This whole thing freaking sucks so bad for you." Her wide blue eyes found mine, and they were sympathetic. "It's hard for me to be away from Colt, but I know it's nothing on the way you have to distance yourself from Brace."

I tilted my head back, gracing her with a smile before I dropped onto the white couch. "Yeah, but it is what it is, no point b.i.t.c.hing and moaning. It's just so hard to stop myself from touching him. I belong in his arms. He soothes the ragged edges of my soul. And right now I feel as if I'm slowly unravelling without Brace. I'm losing myself."

My powers felt weaker every day. My mind was clouded and I wasn't thinking clearly. How was I supposed to plan and lead the half-Walkers against an ancient and methodically intelligent life form when I felt like I'd never been less switched on?

"My instincts are urging me to tell you to reform your melding bond." Lucy dropped next to me. "But I can't tell if it's truly instinct or just me wanting your pain to eff the h.e.l.l off."

I hugged her, my arm gentle around her left wing. "You' re a good friend, Luce."

"Yep, I'm the best." She dropped her arm around my waist. "If you discount the fact it was my vision that forced you to break the melding bond."

I laughed. "Well, in that case you're a s.h.i.+thouse ..." My words trailed off as a doorway appeared beyond the front window and our men emerged.

The pressure on my chest increased. My breathing was heavier as I struggled to contain the pleasure-pain flooding my body. Brace was dressed in a white ribbed s.h.i.+rt with black pants and boots. His hair was stylishly tousled.

"Does he have to be so d.a.m.n gorgeous?" I sighed as we watched their long-legged strides across the gra.s.s. I guess it wouldn't make any difference; he was my mate and I'd want him regardless.

"Oh, yeah, Brace is freaking hot." Lucy whistled under her breath. "If I didn't have my own s.e.xy Walker I'd curse you for snagging the hottest bada.s.s Walker in existence."

I narrowed my eyes at her, but as she waggled her eyebrows at me a few times, my scowl faded away to a few chuckles. She was incorrigible. But I knew my friend and, since finding her mate, Lucy had never really looked at any man besides Colton.

We met the guys at the front door. With a quick sympathetic look in my direction, Lucy threw herself into Colton's arms. The blond Walker dropped his head into the crease of her neck and shoulder and breathed deeply. He was smelling her. Freaky wolf.

I turned away from their ardor to find the pa.s.sive features of Brace before me. He was watching me, calm, except for his eyes. They burned with some emotion that I could only guess at.

"How was your night?" he asked as those burning eyes roamed over my face. Before moving down the length of my body.

The curl of his lips indicted I'd made the right choice to wear my skinny black jeans, a boldly cut red sweater and tight black boots that slid over my knees and gave me two inches of height. But, as I said earlier, I wasn't dressing up for anyone.

I threw the length of my braid over my shoulder. "It was good. We hung out with the girls and had a slumber party."

"And the other half-Walkers figured out how to trace," Lucy added, when she managed to pull her face from the force field of Colton.

Brace's eyebrows rose as he nodded his head a few times. "So it's looking more and more likely that you seven hold the free energy of the originals." He was, as always, switched on.

"Yes, there isn't much doubt about our abilities." My shoulders dropped a little as the ma.s.ses of responsibilities fell onto me again.

"Are we ready to go to Nephilius?" Colton said. "We need to find these half-Walkers and stop the Seventine, not just because I never want to see s.h.i.+t like the dark mountains again, but because I'm not giving up Lucy, not when I've just found her."

"You're a sweet fur-ball lately." I grinned at him, showing all teeth.

He returned the favor, his teeth a sight more lethal than mine. With a smirk I turned back to Brace.

"Did the princeps discuss how many tethers have been lost to the seven worlds since we destroyed the room of horrors?" I'd been worried about the ricocheting effect of the Seventine losing that place. It had been a major energy collection center.

"Not one of our clan members has come to us with new information. And since many of them travel through the seven worlds frequently, they would have heard of major tether losses." Brace ran a hand over his chin. "It's odd, because the Seventine have to be gathering energy from somewhere. We know they're on a deadline to free the rest of their brothers."

Something told me, the way the first continued to follow me, I was going to find out the Seventines' wicked plan very soon.

As we stepped free of the doorway, the white mists whipped around us. I bounced for a few minutes, readjusting to the lighter gravity. Which might have included one sprawl to the ground. Still, that was an improvement.

Striding in the direction of the black-flock house, we pa.s.sed the empty tournament grounds, mist-filled without the white-wings to clear the zone. I knew in a few hours it would be occupied with training and fighting flock members. I hoped we would manage to deal with this Isle-of-Souls problem that day. I really needed to focus on finding the half-Walker, which meant I needed to be here, not across the other side of Nephilius.

Brace continued to steal glances at me, and my own gaze was drawn to him. The more time we spent together, the harder it was to deny our bond. It was as if our bodies were putting more and pressure on us to be with each other. He opened his mouth a few times, clearly wanting to say something, but I wasn't really giving him an opening. I was worried he'd ask me about our melding bond, or his fragments of memory and I'd have to lie to him again and I freaking hated lying. Better that he didn't ask the question.

Luckily, we reached the mist city before he verbalized his thoughts. Steva and Delane were waiting for us out the front of the main dwelling. It was eerily quiet otherwise.

"The flocks of Angelica are meditating in preparation for today's battle," Steva said, as if she'd read my thoughts. "You'll have plenty of time to journey to the Isle of Souls."

"How will this work?" I said. "We don't have powers to fly, and unless we can see the destination we can't open a doorway." And I couldn't trace without a clear image either.

"Um, actually, Abbs, remember I have the power to fly." Lucy's soft voice cut through the misty air.

"h.e.l.l, no," I said at the same time as Colton growled.

"You can't go off on your own." I lowered my voice. "You're the most vulnerable, and I don't trust the Angelica or the Isle of Souls."

Her hands flew to her hips, and I knew Lucy was about to get her att.i.tude on. She hated being told what to do and, even worse, she hated being weaker than others. Although I didn't actually know how tough pixies were, I still figured she'd be the most vulnerable.

"No," Colton growled again. It reverberated in his chest like the rumble of an active volcano. "I won't allow it."

Oh, s.h.i.+t b.a.l.l.s. It was about to get real.

Lucy rose in the air. She was almost lost in the puffs of green pixie dust that were shedding from her skin. Colton crossed his arms across his chest, a half-smirk arrogantly turning up one corner of his mouth. The moron was actually enjoying his ability to p.i.s.s Lucy off.

"Can you lower the s.h.i.+elds on your mind?" Brace interrupted before Lucy threw down with all the force her pixie and faerie b.u.t.t could gather.

"What?" Delane and Steva asked together.

"You have energy protecting your minds, which prevents me from reading your thoughts. I could push, but I don't want to hurt you," Brace explained.

The confused expression didn't leave their faces. Brace exchanged a glance with me and I could see his resignation toward what he would consider the stupidity of lesser species. Walkers were not great with the attempting-to-appear-less-superior when around others. But I knew what it was like to have new concepts thrown at you in random snippets of information, so I explained further.

"If you lower the s.h.i.+elds on your minds and picture the isle you want us to go to, then we can open a doorway there."

And then we wouldn't have to watch a wolf and pixie throw down.

Delane nodded once as understanding crossed her exotic features. Her black eyes locked onto Brace. "I will allow this. Do not search where you are not permitted."

He returned her brief nod, accepting her terms. Delane closed her eyes, and there was a pause. I felt the exact moment that her mind was freed. The few thoughts that emerged were methodical. Her mind was as regimented as the rest of the Angelica. I knew she didn't want us to see into her head, so I tried to concentrate on something else until she was s.h.i.+elded again.