Sylvan headed back inside of her house, Peony beside her. She tried to talk to her, but everything she wanted to say became useless the minute she opened her mouth. She decided to keep her thoughts to herself for now and went to her guest room to check up on Kara. Peony heard the sounds from inside before she did. "She's crying."
"What?" Sylvan pressed her ear to the door. That was true. Kara was in her guest room, sobbing at a volume that was quieting now, but had been quite unpleasant before. "Oh my goodness," she murmured. "Should we-"
Before Sylvan could finish her sentence, a Peony grabbed for the doorknob and went into the room with a distant look on her pale face.
Sylvan trembled, then pushed back her anger and just followed her. Kara was laying on her bed, her body draped over the entirety of it.
She was mostly sniffling now, but her cries were still there, though they were hard to hear.
Sylvan approached her with caution, but Peony was already there, watching her with a sudden curiosity. "Kara..." Sylvan began, uneasily looking at her. "Kara, are you alright?"
The upset girl moved her head a little, then rose up from the bed to look at them in shock. "What the-Sylvan? How long have you guys been in here for?"
"Two minutes," came Peony's answer.
Kara looked at the Gifted fairy with some concern, then shook her head and moved to the side of the bed to sit up. "I'm fine," she managed to say. "Really, I am. Um..how's the Gateway coming along?"
Before Sylvan could say anything, Peony did it for her. "Fine. It is completed and functional."
"Really? Oh, thank you so much!" At this, Kara's sadness fell away, replaced by a boundless joy. She hugged both Sylvan and Peony in quick succession, then smiled at them. A hint of her earlier emotions still lingered on her face, but Sylvan knew better than to question it. "Well, what are we waiting for? We'd better go and use it." With that, the Hybrid girl hurried out of the room, grabbing her jacket and her shoes. Sylvan cast daggers at Peony with her eyes. "You know, it'd be nice if you let me talk to her once in a while."
Peony started to walk out, but she spoke to her still. "I would, but you're slow to answer. That's not my fault."
Sylvan gritted her teeth. Her magic was gathering at the edges of her fingers again, but she soon brushed it off. Right now, the importance of what Peony thought had to be set aside for now. Once this issue with the Flightless and Caleb's kid was taken care of, she could sort out that problem once and for all. Shaking her head, she started running to catch up with her fellow Gifted fairy, hoping that the children in her care hadn't gotten to the Gateway they had made just yet.

Kara and Foster had gone outside as soon as they could. The two had gone separately, though, not saying much. The most she'd said to him today was "Come on!" when Peony had confirmed that they could go home now. Once she'd said that, it had been enough. She hardly even wanted to look at him now.
The portal of sorts that would take them both home resided by the forest's edge, hidden by some trees from any prying eyes. At least, that's what Sylvan had told them on the way there, at least. It was silver and purple around the edges, with blue at the center, It fizzed and sparked, throwing its tendrils of magic onto the grass below. Kara hadn't noticed it earlier, but Sylvan and Peony looked exhausted, as if they could fall asleep at any moment. Sylvan gestured with a slightly limp hand to the Gateway. "Here it is," she mumbled. "All you have to do is tell it where you want to go, and it will take you there. All the other necessary words have been said by us already."
Kara nodded. The remorse from before was starting to come back, both from looking at Foster and from looking at the Gateway that blazed and burned in front of her.
"Okay. I know I said it already, but Sylvan and Peony-thank you."
Peony had a hint of a smile on her face. Kara hadn't seen her smile much, so it was an interesting thing to see. "You are quite welcome. Go on now. I imagine that your father would like to see you again."
Kara nodded again, a little creeped out by Peony's words. How had she known about her father? Foster interrupted her thoughts. He stepped forward, casting a worried glance at the large amalgamation of magic that was supposed to take him home. He didn't say a word to Kara, but did speak to Sylvan. "So...we just say it out loud?"
"Yes." Kara cleared her throat and did it for him. "Medford, New Jersey, 7 Redwood Drive."
The Gateway palpitated and shivered, changing from a mess of color and magic to a solid looking door. It was wooden, with a brass doorknob and silver and purple trimmings that resembled blue and purple flowers. Sylvan watched, happy with this. "It's stabilized itself," she told them. "I thought it never would. You can go through it now. Go on, before it disappears."
Kara ran to Sylvan. To the fairy's surprise, she was hugged again, much tighter than the last time. She stiffened up, her cobalt eyes wide, before she accepted the gesture fully and returned it. Kara released her. "I know you don't like humans very much," she began, "but you were nice to me when I first came here. I deserved none of that." She laughed. "I was rude and stupid, and I'm sorry for that."
"That's okay," she replied. "There's no need to apologize. If I ended up in a strange new world like this one, I'd probably be rude and stupid, too." She laughed too, her face softening with good humor. "You are just like your mother."
Before Kara could say something about that, the fairy girl had turned to leave, and Peony had gone with her. Foster nudged her arm. "Are you ready to go, Kara?" His voice was as monotonous as his expression.
Kara sighed. "Yeah, I guess so. You're okay, aren't you?"
Foster didn't answer, only turning say from her to look at the door that had been made for them. Remorse made Kara's stomach turn with dread. She hadn't known that their breakup would hurt him this much. Kara stepped up so that she was closer to him, and reached for his hand. He moved it away from her, and she tried not to cry. Maybe it had been wrong to break up with him, but it really hadn't felt like it at the time. Even now, it still felt right to her.
There was a rustling from a bush close to her, and a sudden yell that nearly made her fall out of astonishment. "Kara! Kara, wait! Please!"
Kara's Guardian burst out of the undergrowth, his pale green eyes looking wide and almost wild when they met with hers. "Shade?" Kara gasped out. "What are you doing here? Did you forget what I said? I can take care of myself now." Shade shook his head. The rebellious glint in his eye didn't go away. "I know, but I can't let you get yourself killed. Demise beasts are everywhere, Kara, and because they are, I'm coming with you." He gestured to the Gateway. Kara noticed that he was now wearing steel toed boots and a leather jacket over a white t-shirt. A bulging backpack was with him too. "I'm coming with you wherever you're headed. I need to know that you're safe."
Kara considered it, then found herself nodding.
Shade's face lit up. "Was that a yes?"
"Uh huh. I mean, you're gonna need your sword back anyway. You shouldn't stay long, though. My dad would kill me if he saw me with a boy he doesn't know."

She held out an open hand to Shade. Was that defiance in her eyes? He wondered what had happened, but those thoughts left his mind when he took her hand. Kara smiled at Shade, the way the angels of old probably did before they fell from grace, and the three of them opened the door and went through to the other side, leaving the fairy realm Lymeria far behind them.

Kara felt like she was falling this time, falling out of the sky after jumping from a plane. Only there were no parachutes for this jump. She gripped both Shade and Foster's arms tightly, trying not to scream as wind and swirling multicolored snow-like magic spun and danced around her. She was then roughly placed on concrete ground, and she fell, scraping up her knees and arms in the process. Wincing, she stood up, and her ex and her Guardian did the same. Kara recognized her house, with his blue roof and inviting front porch with its little steps. Tears filled her eyes, but they were happy ones now. Regardless of what she'd told herself while she'd been away, she had missed this a lot. Kara turned to look at her former boyfriend. He was facing away from her, his body rigidly still. She had hoped that the boy would share her glee at being back home again, but he didn't seem to. This worried her. "Foster, we're home!" she cheered. He didn't say anything. In fact, he didn't turn around, either. Kara was fed up with this. "Foster, I know you're mad at me, but you said it was fine. We can still be friends." Shade beside her was wary. There was an air of tension now, like a storm about to break. He took out a knife that blazed with fragmented light just like his war sword had.
"Kara, run," he said. "Run. Run away to your house now, Kara."
Kara looked at him, irritated. "I'm just trying to talk to Foster. Just because you hate him doesn't mean I have to."
Shade shook his head, tightening his grip on his knife. "No, you don't understand. That's not Foster."
Kara looked back at Shade, incredibly confused. "What? What do you-"
A voice interrupted her.
"Kara Acacia Tilling."
It was Foster who had spoken, but it didn't sound like him. The voice was too throaty, too low and raspy. Kara backed away, terrified.
"Finally. We have found you at last."
As horns sprouted up from the sides of Foster's head, and Shade jumped in front of her, his weapon at the ready, Kara was already shaking. When her ex lunged at him and howled like a banshee, all she could think to do was scream.

End of book 1