Chapter Thirteen
Drew paced across the mossy ground. He remembered an explosion rocking his house and pain that infiltrated every inch of his body, and then nothing more. When he'd awakened in the healing springs, the faeries had said Pandimora was gone.
He hadn't been able to find a way out of the sanctuary and everyone seemed to have disappeared. At least they'd left him some clothes but he was stuck here until he was teleported out or could find a way out. He didn't see any portals, just this Disney-like setting no matter where he walked.
Where had she gone? Was Pandimora all right?
"Drew, I'm sending help to get you out of there." Drew turned around. Irfin's voice was all around him but he couldn't see him.
"Where are you?" Drew said. "Do you know the mess you've created, the danger you've put Pandimora in? I suppose you've given Lukais the crystal and we're all screwed."
"Calm down --"
"Stop hiding and face me."
"I-I can't -- but I've done the best I can to make this right."
Drew gritted his teeth. "I don't think that's possible."
A hologram began to take shape in front of Drew. He stepped back warily and Irfin's image was before him. Frowning, Drew put his hand through the image. Tiny particles moved around and then reshaped to form Irfin's image once again. "What's going on?"
"This is the best I can do," Irfin said. "Everything's changed in my life."
"I don't care," Drew said harshly. "Where is Pandimora?"
"First, I'm sending someone to get you out. Second, Pandimora is in Aisywel."
"And the elder?"
"Right now he is occupied with lying to the high elder council. Lukais is going to destroy this sanctuary."
"Get me to Pandimora."
Irfin shook his head. "No, your association ends here. You will awaken in your home, which by the way is repaired, and everything will be a hazy dream."
"No. What gives you the right?" Angry, Drew swiped his hand through the hologram, once more displacing the particles. Forget everything? Forget Pandimora?
"Pandimora deserves more than you thinking you'll love her if she's not sick. She deserves someone who will be there for her no matter what genetics she carries. If you're afraid to love her, she's better off without you."
"This is not up to you." Drew clenched his fists.
"That's right. It's all up to you, Drew." Irfin's image dissolved.
"Irfin -- Irfin -- come back!" Drew felt as if he'd run for miles, his chest suddenly heaving as emotions coursed through him. Forget everything that had happened? He didn't want to forget Pandimora. How do you forget a woman who's never given up on her family, who cares more about doing the right thing than possibly, living? No matter the outcome, he couldn't let her go.