Carve My Pumpkin (The Night Realm: Halloween Marked #3)

Chapter 29

TWENTY-NINE

MATEO

There had to be a way to stop this, to end this madness I felt for Colette. She consumed my thoughts daily, and it was enough to make me feel like drowning in guilt. I had a soulmate, someone I was already promised to by fate. I wasn’t one to deny fate, nor was I one to deny my feelings. The only way I could define this was . . . a blackhole. The fact that Colette had caught my attention so completely did not bode well for either of us. I had to do something, and it had to be now. If only I could find my real soulmate, then these feelings for Colette would soon subside. I didn’t have a future to promise her. Even now I knew my feelings for her were unfair to us both.

So I did the unthinkable and returned back to a realm where they deported the troublemakers to—the realm that’d just survived thousands of years of oppression. I loved being here with Colette, but now I was on my own with Collins and Bash. As we strolled through the portal of the realm, I was once again greeted with the dazzling colors this place had to offer. Colette’s face had lit up with so much life and excitement at being here. It was difficult not to remember the way she glowed in the realm. I loved the way the breeze caught her hair, the way the sun kissed her skin, and the way she found excitement in new places the way I did.

I am so screwed.

“Do you think this will really work?” I was desperate for it to work. I was too attached, too addicted, and too bloody needy for her.

Collins glanced at me over her shoulder and gave me a smirk. “The stones speak to me almost like they’re people. That’s the only way I can explain it. We have conversations. They tell me things. But I can also almost become one with them. When I do, I can feel what they’re feeling, see what they’re seeing. However, as the Stonekeeper, this is a gift of mine alone. Only other royals would be able to speak to them and then they’d have to interpret the messages.”

“I know how to take a message. You taught me,” Bash grumbled by her side.“I tried.”

Collins flew up and kissed his cheek. “You did well. I suspect this may be a difficult answer to interpret.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Well, if she’s Bregan’s daughter, which I suspect is true based on what Bash has said . . . then the stones could be nervous to relay her information to just anyone. They’re protective of what’s theirs. They showed Bash the best they could, but with me there to talk to them, they’ll know you can be trusted.”

“Oh.” I nodded. “This isn’t weird at all.”

Third Realm was in full glory, displaying all the best it had to offer to Bash and Collins. With each step she took, the ground glowed a different color under her feet. Birds flew overhead, and when they spotted her, they dropped down to circle around her before flying away. A giant green bull-deer-looking thing strolled into the field next to us. Though it seemed tame, I could tell by the twitch of its muscles it was watching her and would respond to her. When she let her fingers run over a few high strands of grass, tiny woodland creatures hopped out to greet her. They were made of both flesh and bone, as well as colorful crystals. Collins giggled as they all seemed to greet her. A wide smile spread over Bash’s face as he watched her every move.

It amazed me how palpable their connection was, and if I were being honest, I felt a pang of jealousy. They were so comfortable with each other and seemed so at peace together. I longed for my own peace. She chuckled and shook her head, sending those long pink and purple locks in all different directions around her hips. Her crystal wings seemed to flutter with each step she took.

“You know, I’ve learned a lot while you’ve been searching for your friend,” Bash teased.

“Well, you know, you could throw me through an open portal and just hope for the best and then maybe I’d actually find Tallulah.” She winked at him.“That’s about how that went for her, right?”

“If you leap, I leap. So, we can jump into whichever portal you’d like, so long as it’s together,” Bash said in a matter-of-fact tone that I knew was anything but nonchalant.

“When I figure out how to get to Tally, then trust me, there will be no stopping us. Until then, I have to chase down every single lead.” She was so calm, like she knew she was going to find her friend. It was inevitable.

If only I felt that sure when looking for my soulmate.

I need this to work. I didn’t want to explain to them that I had fallen for Colette when I was destined for another. The loss of Colette hurt. I was drowning in my pain for her, my longing for her. It was such a rude twist of fate to feel this strongly for the first time in my life for another woman while in the process of tracking down my soulmate.

“Right, let’s get this done. Fangy prince is twitching.” She gave a single nod to Bash, and he wrapped his hand around my upper arms.

My feet shot off the ground and my stomach dropped into my feet. The world zoomed by in a blur, and the wind whipped around my face. Collins’ wings flapped furiously to keep up with how quickly Bash moved.

We moved over the open fields, the trickling streams, and the swaying forest. The mountains came into view, and I knew we were getting closer to answers. My heart hammered in my chest, and my breath caught in my throat. Bash dropped down into the center of Crystal Henge. The second Collins touched down, the ground lit beneath her feet. Bursts of rainbow colors flowed out from her and turquoise magic flowed from her hands and up her arms. It dropped down to the ground and flowed over the ground around her in a glittering pool.

I’d seen around fae all my life but never around one this powerful. The magic around her was palpable. It made the air thick and the colors of the world more vibrant. The crystals all around us glowed bright, brilliant colors that lit up the sky. The colors drifted over the fluffy, white clouds as they passed over us. When she held her hands open, the stones vibrated so hard it made my whole body quake.

“Why, hello to you too.” She smiled and spun in a small circle.“I missed you too.”

“That’s fascinating,” I breathed, trying to be hopeful even while secretly wishing Peggy’s spell was wrong and Colette was somehow mine.

“Easy there, Mateo. The stones can feel your energy, and let me tell you, you are lighting up with conflict. Also, a touch of guilt with a mix of nervousness, so if you could take that down a touch, that’d be great.” She moved into the center of Crystal Henge and the outer crystals lit one right after another, like chasing Christmas lights.

I didn’t know how to lighten up on that. I was conflicted between the soulmate-to-be and the one who’d currently captured my heart. I didn’t know how it was all going to work out, and the only thing I wanted was so far out of reach. I wanted what I couldn’t have and had something I no longer wanted.

“Yeah, I’ll work on that.”

Collins shook her head and chuckled. “This is not a we’ll burn that bridge when we get there situation.”

Oh, but I so wanted it to be. “Listen, I’m doing the best with what I’ve got.”

“Fair enough.”

Bash clapped me on the shoulder. “Colette is pretty great.”

I shot him a look. “I thought you weren’t using your mind-reading abilities.”

“It’s not easy when you’re yelling at me.” He shrugged. “All will be fine.”

“How can you think that?” Nothing felt like it would work out. My heart belonged to Colette and was meant for another.

“If I can survive my family and end up with Collins, then anything is possible.”

I groaned. “Okay, let’s just not mention her right now or imma piss off all your crystal friends and they seem nice.”

“They said thank you.” Collins smiled and lifted her hand, and the ground cracked at her feet. It fell into a deep hole and a small pedestal emerged from the pit. A small bowl sat on top with nothing in it. She wiggled her fingers at me. “Hand please.”

I held my hand out toward her, and she grabbed my wrist. She pulled a tiny crystal dagger from behind her back. Her turquoise magic swirled around it, and the blade extended into a longer, sharper point.

My eyes widened and my heart leapt in my chest. She slashed the dagger across my palm and held it over the bowl. My brow furrowed. “Ouch.”

“Oh please.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s barely a scratch. Besides, we need to ask for a bit of clarity. Bash told me what you saw, and I think you interpreted what you saw backwards. You all think that fae woman you saw might still be here, but the images weren’t in perfect order, and I believe she’s no longer in this realm. All we need is a very simple way to track her.”

“How simple could it be if you need my blood?” I yanked my hand back and held the small cut to my lips. My own blood tasted tangy on my tongue and clung to my lips.

She waved her hand over the bowl. “Okay, friends, help me find his soulmate. She’s one of us.”

Turquoise magic flowed over the bowl and down all around us. The crystals all glowed brighter and then started to flash as the ground shook beneath our feet. Between her magic and the crystals, it was nearly blinding. I stepped closer to the bowl and watched my blood seep into the bottom of it as though it was drinking it in. A moment later the bowl shattered into a pile of dust. I took a step back and Collins smirked at me as she shoved her hands in it.

“Thank you for this gift.” She breathed the words almost like a whisper.

She wrapped her hand around something, and that turquoise power flowed around her fist. The pedestal lowered back down into the ground as the stone closed up over it. Collins blew the dust off her hand, then slowly opened her palm toward me. There, in the middle of her hand, sat a perfectly shaped pendulum. It was a brown stone with swirls of blacks, reds, and golds in it. There was a single line of red wrapped all the way around it. I instantly recognized my own blood trapped within the stone.

“How is that going to help us?”

Collins let the stone drop from her palm, then let it dangle from a delicate chain. It swung in gentle circles. “We follow the direction of the pendulum, and it should lead us right to her.”

I narrowed my eyes at the stone. “Is that?—”

“Tiger’s-eye.” She nodded.

Bash sucked in a deep breath. “That’s my so-called father’s stone.”

“Yes, it was Bregan’s. It wants to find her, too, since she’s also a part of him.”

I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose. I knew Colette was perfect for me. What if my soulmate wasn’t? She was the spawn of an evil king with evil intentions. I wasn’t naive to how violent the realms could be, and I knew violence was a way of life. “What if she’s like Bregan? What if she’s evil?”

“Then I guess we’ll burn that bridge when we get there.” Collins shrugged.

Bash groaned and shook his head. “That’s still not how that saying goes.”

“It is now.” She turned to me. “Ready to go find your soulmate?”

No, absolutely not. But what choice do I have ? “Yeah . . . I guess so.”