Sapphire Falls (The Lost Realm #2)

7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Morgan

S oft, low sunlight drifted into the room as Morgan stirred. She realized that after Avery got in bed that she’d slept deeper than she’d slept since reducing her pain medication for her injuries. Next to her, Avery slept soundly. No doubt she was exhausted after the previous day.

Morgan slipped out of the covers and padded to the balcony door. Her breath caught in her throat as she felt the chill of a fall wind rush past her. Looking out across the morning sky, she saw just how high up in this tower she was. Far, far below her, down at least three hundred feet was the river that she had been transported to. The whitewater of the waterfall was nothing but a speck on the landscape. Would she return home if she jumped off the waterfall? Did this portal work both ways, or was she trapped in this place, like Avery claimed?

She had hundreds of questions for Avery about what she’d learned of this place and what her plan was to get back home, but she wasn’t about to wake her sister up and badger her with her questions. Morgan suspected that her sister wasn’t as interested in leaving this place as she had let on last night. She heard how Savine, that big, handsome man with the strange crown and tattooed skin, had called her twin sister his soulmate. Yeah, Avery was going to have to do a lot of explaining this morning.

Across the canyon, Morgan saw other towers jutting out of the landscape and winged fairies, or fae as Avery had called them, flying between the massive buildings. At least these winged creatures didn’t remind her as much of the monster that had taken her on Quartz Mountain. If she didn’t notice their pointy ears, she’d think they were angels. Super hot angels, with chiseled features and a strange glow to them, but angels nonetheless.

“Morgan!” Avery called out, her voice frantic.

She stepped back into the room to see Avery standing beside the bed, hair tousled into a mess of waves and tangles.

“I’m here. I was just checking out the view,” Morgan said with a smirk.

“Oh, good. You scared me. Has Edet come by with breakfast? She usually does by now,” Avery said as she walked to the door.

“Daily breakfast in bed? You really are becoming a princess, Ave. You’ll never want to go home after getting used to this type of lifestyle.” Morgan’s words came out harsher than she intended. She wanted to joke with her sister, but there was an undeniable bite to her tone.

Avery sighed as she pushed in two trays of food on a cart, a tea set for two, and fresh juice. “Usually Edet comes in. She’s a terrible gossip and likes to catch Savine and me…”

Avery’s voice trailed off as she looked down. Morgan pursed her lips as she looked at her sister. “Savine and me what?”

“Oh, nothing,” Avery said, her cheeks glowing crimson.

Morgan let out a huff as she removed the cover on her tray. The food smelled delicious, a mingling of rich, delicate flavors. It seemed to be some sort of egg dish mixed with sauteed vegetables and berries on the side.

Avery slipped into the bathroom, and Morgan noticed the red stain left on the bed.

“No!” Avery called from the bathroom. “I just started my period! I don’t have anything in my backpack either.”

Morgan grabbed a cloth napkin from the breakfast tray before bringing it to her sister. “Here, this isn’t ideal, but it should help until you figure out something else.”

“Thanks,” Avery said, taking the napkin before Morgan left her sister alone. She kept talking, despite the door between them. “My period was late—I guess from stress. I knew it was late, but I was a little relieved it hadn’t come yet. The fae have a freaky sense of smell, so this is probably going to be awkward for a few days.”

Morgan grimaced. “I’ve never been so happy to have an IUD. I haven’t had a period in over a year.”

Avery came out of the bathroom, sitting beside Morgan at the table as she poured herself some tea and assessed the meal before them. “So hygiene wise: I have a feeling that having my period here is going to be horrible. Like medieval level.”

Morgan shrugged. It seemed like they had bigger issues to deal with than her sister’s menstrual cycle. Avery took off the lid of her breakfast tray.

“Just so you know, the Nephel eat all kinds of weird eggs. I think it has something to do with them being the sky kingdom and all, but that is definitely not made out of a chicken egg. In fact, they probably don’t even have chickens here. I’m not up to date on all the livestock, but I do know there aren’t any horses around here. The Latians ride around on giant elks and moose. Oh, and the Nephel ride on terrifyingly huge eagles called eagans. I got to ride on one too, but I was unconscious.”

Morgan felt like she already had a headache coming on from the information overload, and they’d only discussed eggs and a lack of tampons in this world. “Giant elk and eagles? You were unconscious? What’s been happening to you here?”

“I told you last night—I was kidnapped by Rylo and taken here. But I’m getting ahead of myself. I need to tell you everything that’s happened.”

“Yeah. I hope you’ve figured out a way to get us home,” Morgan said as she took a tiny bite of the breakfast. It was more flavorful than she’d expected, like an explosion on her taste buds.

“I don’t think going home is possible, but we’ll be safe with Savine. Once we’re in Orofine we won’t have to come back here. The fae can’t lie. They still seem to think we wouldn’t break an oath, but obviously I’m not above breaking my agreement with Rylo if it means keeping you safe,” Avery said as she casually sipped at her tea.

“Aren’t you worried about going to Orofine?”

“Of course not. Savine saved me and his folk have kept me alive. He won’t let anything happen to us. Meanwhile, Rylo is a crazy demon. I can’t wait to get away from him. Are you worried?”

Morgan could feel herself losing patience with her sister. Couldn’t she understand what she was saying? “Of course I’m worried! First of all, if there are those shifting bear people, I’m not interested in being there. I’d rather stay with the angel looking people. At least one of them didn’t attack us and hold me captive. Second, I just killed these creatures’ king. Shouldn’t I be worried about going to their capital? They could take revenge on me.”

Morgan shivered at the thought. She could tell, just based on how everyone was armed, that this was a dangerous place and she didn’t want to be anyone’s revenge kill. “Not only that, but I want to try and jump off the waterfall. I think I should be able to get home if I do.”

Avery shook her head as her eyes widened and her mouth went slack. “Morgan, you can’t jump off Sapphire Falls. It will most likely kill you, and there’s no way you’ll make it back.”

Morgan went rigid. Avery was going to fight her on this. “Look, I want to try getting home. I don’t care if you think you’ve found your alleged soulmate and don’t want to leave. I can’t stay here without trying to go home.”

Avery reached over and squeezed Morgan’s hand. Her sister’s hand was rougher than hers, more calloused, but they always had been thanks to Avery’s work outside. Morgan pulled her hand back and looked down at her plate, avoiding her sister’s glance.

“I get why you want to try, Morgan. I really do. I even tried too. I returned to Quartz Mountain and tried to go through the portal, but nothing happened. It just broke my heart all over again. You—you could break your body in the process too. I can’t watch you die all over again,” Avery said with such gentleness that it caught Morgan off guard. “Besides,” Avery continued, “Susan tried too, and she couldn’t get back either. She’s another human trapped here.”

Morgan wasn’t surprised. If she and Avery had managed to both fall into another realm, then why wouldn’t others? “I was wondering how many people ended up getting stuck in this world.”

“Maybe more than I thought. Anyway, I think you’ll like Susan. She’s more knowledgeable about this place and our magic, plus she loves researching the history of witches in Aeritis. Susan came through as a kid and got lucky enough to be adopted by kind folk. She hardly even remembers Montana.”

“That’s messed up.” Morgan’s body shook and Avery placed a reassuring hand on hers. Avery’s hands were warm against her cold skin, but that was normal. She’d always felt like she had ice in her veins.

After a long silence, Morgan asked, “What do you know about the history of the witches here?”

Avery told Morgan how there were once humans in Aeritis. She shared how magical humans—witches—saved the human race by separating the two realms between Earth and Aeritis. That’s when things started getting confusing. There were whisperings of humans in this realm. But, most humans had been killed or died in the journey through the portal. Avery even suggested that Morgan wasn’t the first human to enter the realm through Sapphire Falls, and that the Nepheli king had been responsible for their deaths. However, she and Avery were inexplicably chosen by the goddess to fulfill some prophecy. It was all too much for Morgan to take in. She pressed the palms of her hands against her eyes, and sank back in her seat before she looked at her sister.

“So these people think we’re here to destroy their land? They’re going to kill us off,” Morgan said with a heavy sigh. She couldn’t believe that she and Avery were trapped in a land like this.

Avery’s face flashed with concern. “No, it’s not going to be like that. Savine will keep us safe.”

“Savine? The supposed soulmate, Avery? You trust someone who isn’t even part of our species with your life only after a little over a month of knowing him?” Morgan rolled her eyes. Avery had always been slightly gullible, but this was insane.

Hurt shone in Avery’s eyes before she said, “You don’t have to believe me that he’s my soulmate, but I know what I feel, and it’s real.”

“I know what you feel! You feel good fucking a creature that isn’t even human!” It was a low blow, but she still couldn’t believe that Avery had spent her time here falling for a creature that claimed to be her soulmate instead of trying to get back home.

Avery stood, hurt shining in her eyes before she took steady steps to the balcony.

Morgan turned back to her tea, which somehow was warm long after it should have been cooled. Just like her bath the previous night. Avery stayed outside, and Morgan didn’t bother to go to her. She’d let her sister cool off first before they talked again.

Eventually, she came back into the room. Her eyes were red lined and her cheeks puffy. Avery cleared her throat before she spoke. “You know, last night I thought that this was sort of a dream come true. I don’t have to worry every day if you survived the attack, instead I get to have you here with me. But, we always have a way of getting under each other's skin. Even still, I love you. I love you in a way that I can never love someone else. And having you here gives me hope. So yeah, I may not have spent my time here researching how to escape or formulating some grand plan. Yeah, I found someone who I care deeply for, and I want to be happy about that. But we’ve got to be a team here. There’s some messed up stuff in this world and I want to know you’ve got my back no matter what.”

Morgan fidgeted with the cuticle of her nail as she looked at her sister. “Of course. You’ve got my back and I’ve got yours. We’re not going to let this place tear us apart. I’m sorry I said that about you and Savine. It’s just caught me off guard.”

Avery came closer to Morgan before she pulled her into a hug. “Good. We stick together. We learn together. And we fight together.”

Morgan let out a nervous giggle. “The Hollis sisters: badass fairy fighters.”

Avery laughed in return as she pulled away. “Speaking of fairy fighters, we have to train. At least in our magic and self defense. Savine told me I’ll never have to fight another battle, and I plan on that being a reality.”

Morgan shook her head. A sense of dread coming over her. This was all too real, this nightmare she found herself in. It was easy enough to joke that they’d be fairy fighters, but the reality of that situation sent cold dread through her. “I’m still not ready to commit to anything crazy here. I want to try and get home. Nothing else is as important as finding a way back to Montana.”