And then he took off.

Lucy didn't hesitate to follow him, and Brace and I soon caught up to the pixie. Colton was much faster than we were, but as long as we kept him in sight it wouldn't matter if he pulled ahead.

"Why is Colton so much quicker than regular Walkers?" I asked Brace.

He gave a half-grin. "Any Walkers that have a secondary ability "

"Like your tropical cyclone," I interrupted.

His grin widened. "Exactly. Well, we're faster and stronger in our other forms. It's as if that ability amplifies the already superior abilities of Walkers."

"Geez, Brace, you're just so modest. You should get some more confidence," Lucy drawled, fluttering her wings so rapidly I almost couldn't see them.

One thing Walkers had no lack of was confidence. Especially Brace. He knew he was awesomesauce.

He shrugged. "I just call them how I see them."

We were weaving through the main street of Angelisian. The day was warm. Angelisian rarely seemed to get cold, although I detected the slightest of chills in the air at night now; nothing like the frigid winters of New York, though. We were slowly working through the seasons of First World, but it seemed to be pretty much middle ground the entire time.

The various shoppers milling around the market square barely batted an eye as a large wolf, two Walkers and a pixie zipped past. It was like the start of a bad joke.

Colton led us out of the town. The gates knew us now and opened without pause. I recalled this path from our first journey so long ago.

My eyes clashed with Brace's. He'd told me that he remembered some of taking us to Angelisian, but it wasn't until I filled in the rest of the details he realized how much had been taken from him. Including the first time he'd called me Red. All the romantic memories.

"So much has changed," Lucy said, her tone low. "It's been a blink of an eye since we walked through that wall to First World, and yet in experiences at least ten lifetimes have pa.s.sed us by."

"Have you ever asked Quarn how he opened that doorway?" Brace asked. The superiorly-fit-a.s.s wasn't even breathing heavily. I had no doubt that he could go like this for days. "Because I've never heard of any but Walkers being able to move like that between the worlds."

My forehead crinkled as his words washed over me. "No, I haven't asked him again."

I felt as if there were so many little things which had happened that I had simply accepted or shoved from my mind. But were some of them important? Was I ignoring information that might give us some advantage against the Seventine?

"I just a.s.sumed it was because he held the laluna," Lucy said. "If they decided to open the s.h.i.+mmery portal thing for us, then they'd have no problem, right?"

Brace gave her a nod. "They most definitely could have achieved that. But it begs to be explained why they would respond to Quarn." His expression softened as it touched on my face. "It was probably because you were there, Red."

My laluna was very tied to me. But something was niggling at the back of my mind about that whole thing now. I hadn't been worried, but thanks to Brace's words, it was really bugging me. I needed to speak with Quarn. And I could check if my laluna was at the castle with the other royal stone. I hadn't seen it for a while.

"What about before that, when Abbs disappeared and ran into you in this forest?" Lucy said to Brace. "How the h.e.l.l did that happen. She had no laluna then?"

He didn't hesitate to answer; he'd clearly thought about it before. "I think as Red approached her enlightenment, our bond was attempting to connect us." He met my gaze. "Somehow our energy locked between the worlds and it was like you traced to me, but it was awkward because you didn't have your full powers yet."

I remembered the pressure and pain. It had been unpleasant. But meeting Brace ... more than worth it.

"Best day of my life," he said to me.

I blew him a kiss. "Mine too." And it had been. I never knew it then, but I was the luckiest person alive.

We entered the forest and either Colton was slowing or we were getting faster, because he was much closer in front.

"Did you tell Brace about Lucas' visit the other day?" Lucy changed the subject.

"What?" Brace's voice went in to the low, scary register. Where I knew he was thinking about doing bad things, like ripping Lucas' head from his shoulders. "Might be time to make it a little clearer that you are off-limits to him."

"Come on, it's not like I'm all loving-me-some Lucas," I pointed out. "Most of the time I don't even like him. He just thinks I'm still the empress."

"Plus he seemed to have a thing with Ria." Lucy was smiling. "And if anyone can keep his b.u.t.t in line it's Mother Nature."

"Well, let's hope that's the case, and I might let him keep his arms and legs attached to his body." Brace reached out and pulled me closer to him. We were practically running on top of each other and I was okay with that.

"You were always possessive," Lucy said, examining us. "But you seemed to have upped it a notch, Brace. What's with that? Are you and Colt having some sort of compet.i.tion?"

He met her gaze with his own serious expression, but I saw a twinkle in his eyes. "I think it's because we have no bond at the moment. My entire being wants to tie Red to me. It goes against the order of nature for Walkers to stay unbonded, and that causes a bit of aggressive and possessive nature."

"Well, that might explain Colton. He informed me last night that he wasn't waiting any longer for us to complete our mating bond. He said it's too dangerous for his wolf. He wants to have the ceremony after we get back from Nephilius." Her blue eyes sparkled. The yellow threading them was glowing too. "I need you to be there, Abbs. I told him I want to incorporate some of an Earth wedding ceremony in too. So you're my bridesmaid, and Brace will be a groomsman."

Even though legal marriages no longer occurred on Earth there was no way to officially get those doc.u.ments anymore some of the rebels still held ceremonies in their compounds. We had gone to a few when we were younger, before New York became a complete s.h.i.+t-hole of a city, and Lucy had talked about them for days. The beautiful dresses, kissing the love of your life, flowers, and romantic words. I'd always been cynical, knowing the reality of married life was vastly different. On Earth, anyway. But Lucy had believed in the beautiful concept of forever-love.

"I wouldn't miss it for any of the worlds, Luce. We should have told Lallielle. She works magic setting up events."

Lucy smiled. "Oh, well, we can figure it out when we get back. I don't need anything special, just Colt."

Lucy deserved a perfect moment, so with that in mind I reached out for Lallielle.

Mom, can you hear me? I still sucked at mind-talking. I didn't like others in my head, and it made me wary of reaching out or dropping my own barriers.

Aribella, is everything alright, baby girl? She used Josian's nickname for me quite a lot now.

I quickly explained to her about the mating ceremony for Lucy, and I showed her some mental pictures of Earth weddings.

Do you think you can organize something for her? It doesn't need to be much, just so it feels a little special.

I felt her smile. It surrounded me with warmth. Leave it with me. I have the perfect thing in mind. She paused. And please tell me that I'll get to organize something like this for my daughter one day soon.

I laughed. You never know, Mom, but I have to save the worlds first.

Okay, I love you, and I'll see you all back at the house tonight. Stay safe.

I tightened my barriers as we cut off the mind-speak.

I realized that she didn't know we weren't on Nephilius. Oh, well, there was no need to worry her until we found out exactly what we were chasing. Rounding the bend, I recognized the area we were crossing now.

"Hey look, Brace, we can stop in and say hi to your dad." I lifted my brows as we moved around the little clearing that held Deralick's camouflaged house. "Sorry, I mean your fake-dad."

He gave me a full smile, sending a trail of warmth from my chest all the way to my toes. It was rare to see his real, happy face. In fact I was sure this was one of his first filled-with-joy smiles since I'd broken the melding bond.

"Smart a.s.s," he said, pulling me even closer. He was pretty much carrying me under his arm now. And still I was not complaining. h.e.l.l, no.

"We're coming in on the side of the castle." Brace lowered his voice. "The guards are around."

We'd been running for miles. Luckily we were supernatural creatures now.

"They're going to freak when they catch sight of Colt." Lucy snorted out a few giggle noises.

And right then the wolf slowed before stopping. We came up next to him.

"Colt says that the trail disappears here. So either they're standing somewhere in this vicinity invisible, or they've hidden their scent." Brace stood next to his best friend.

Lucy was on the other side of the wolf, one of her hands threaded through the thick fur. "Well, at least Colt has his scent now. If he comes around again we'll know."

"Why did you chase him anyways?" I asked the giant wolf. "I know it's wrong seeing a creeper at the window, but you chased him like the man had seen Lucy naked."

At Lucy's cough I swung my head around.

"Really, Luce? In the front room."

Those two were a hot mess. Fighting one minute and loving the next. Oh, well, it would never be boring in their house.

"I wasn't naked." Lucy defended herself. "Well, not completely."

She winked at me; I shook my head.

"Will you two be okay for a minute?" Brace said. "I need to get Colt some clothes."

At my nod, he kissed me on the cheek and left.

The wolf stayed right between us while Brace was gone, his head flicking left and right as he sensed things that we were unaware of. Lucy and I just chatted quietly.

"So have you seen much about Ria and Lucas?" Those two fascinated me. It made sense and yet how could it possibly work?

"I just see them together. Their auras intertwine with each other the same way that the gold links you and Brace."

"You can see that?" I stared at her wide-eyed.

She nodded. "Occasionally, when things get emotional."

I opened my vision to include the energy around us and held my breath, hoping I would see the truth. I had nothing to worry about. There were ties between Lucy and Colton. They were green and white. Sparkling, s.h.i.+mmering and drawing those two souls toward each other.

"You and Colt have energy ties as well," I said with a smile.

"I know." She dropped down to burrow her cheek into her wolf. Right near his face. "Colt's my other half." Lifting her face again she focused on me.

"Are you really going to reform the melding bond?"

Colt gave a soft growl at this. "He's a little annoyed that I didn't tell him." Lucy's grin went almost from one side of her face to the other. She loved tormenting Colton.

"Josian wants me to talk to the lalunas, make sure that nothing crazy is going to happen. But yes, I think your vision was wrong. I've never felt weaker since breaking our bond."

I sounded a little defensive. Lucy held up her hands.

"No judging, Abbs, I'm inclined to dismiss most of the planted visions." Her brow furrowed. "I just wish some of them hadn't come true. Leaves a small parcel of doubt."

I had a thought. "Maybe the lalunas can tell us if the visions were legitimate."

Lucy shrugged. "Worth a try, but I'm not owing those creepy little nuts a favor." She shuddered. "I have nightmares thinking about what they could demand from you."

"Word," I said. I was totally feeling that sentiment. "But Josian trusts them, so I'm sure it can't be too bad."

Wishful thinking there.

I had another thought. "Didn't Malisna say that the fey or faerie land was somewhere near the castle? Do you think ... maybe your visitor was ..." I trailed off.

A few varied emotions crossed her face fear, intrigue, relief and curiosity were all present before finally she lowered her eyes to stare at the ground. "I felt something strange when the man was close. I don't know, Abbs, but a spy from faerie land ... well, that's as good an explanation as any right now."

I studied her face closely, so different now, and yet still as familiar as my own reflection. "So how else have you changed since your powers were unlocked?"

We hadn't had much chance to really chat about it. I felt as if we were losing bits and pieces of the closeness we used to have. We used to sit for hours every night chatting at the compound. And now, well, we were lucky to have an hour a week for conversation.

She dug her fingers deeper into Colton. She was almost lying across him. "Well, I have wings "

She stopped as I snorted and rolled my eyes at the same time.

"I meant besides the obvious."

She grinned at me. "Just wanted to make sure you hadn't forgotten. Other than that my senses have kicked up an awesome notch; hearing, sight, smell all heightened." She glanced down at her wolf. "Even taste and touch."

Colton growled, but this time it was like a purring rumble.

"I sometimes sense things just before they're about to happen, like if there's a knock at the door, I'll know who's there. I heal really quickly," she said, holding up her index finger as if she was ticking off her new attributes. "My pixie dust can bespell someone if I flick it into their eyes and add some words from the ancient language."

Well, that was almost as awesome as her wings. Pixie power.

"Men are drawn to me, but thanks to my ma.s.sive guard-wolf, I don't have to worry about that. Malisna ... mother seems to think that there should be more powers from my faerie side. My father was also one of the leaders of that race, but so far everything I have is pure pixie."

"Maybe you need your faerie side unlocked also," I suggested, wrinkling my brow at the thought of her getting stabbed again.

"Yes, maybe," she agreed. Her slight wince indicated that she hadn't forgotten the pain either.

I brushed my head, pus.h.i.+ng a few leaves out of my hair. "You know, I'm wondering if we should be gathering all these different races, from across the seven worlds." I mused for a moment, crumbling the dry thud tree leaves in my hands.

"Maybe the final battle will come down to the seven half-Walkers, but would it hurt to have some powerful backup?"

Lucy and Colton were both staring at me, in such a way that I knew they were thinking very seriously about what I'd said. Lucy opened her mouth but paused when a doorway appeared and Brace stepped back through. He strode across and dropped a bundle of folded clothes in front of Colton.

I kissed Brace's chest as he drew me into his arms. And then as Colton prepared to change back, Brace turned me so I was facing away from the wolf. I buried my laughter in his s.h.i.+rt.

"What?" My voice was m.u.f.fled. "You can't seriously be worried that I'm going to drool all over his nakedness." Teasing Brace was fun. "I've seen him naked before."