Will Be

Chance couldn't believe it. His twin flame was with him. After years of searching and following dead leads, he was actually holding her. He remembered the handful of times he chased after her in the ancient Ashling Forest, where only the Keys were allowed to go. The Sprites were both souls from living and deceased Keys who had remained guardians instead of reincarnating. Other pairs of Keys before them had their own version of Ashling Forest, where they would convene. As Sprites, Chance and his fellow Keys could visit the ones holding the position as Keys currently.

When the Sprites had alerted them that Kayleigh had finally shown up after a full year of not catching any glimpse of her, Chance and the others couldn't help but stare transfixed at her. They all shared the same fear pulsing through their bodies. They hadn't wanted to spook her and have her run from them again.

Time was running out. The changing of the guard was so close now and the next generation depended on them to carry on tradition. They were the next to continue on the Keys' legacy.

When Kayleigh showed up and she tried to get answers, he knew he had to try to get her name before she disappeared again. He and the others had been drawn to Maine for some reason. When she mentioned she lived in Maine, it all made sense why. They weren't too far away, but they were far enough not to get there quite on time. The Darklings had a one-up on them. He had suspected they had always been there since they attacked Kayleigh's grandma.

Just as they made it out of the passageway, Kayleigh stopped for a moment, ripping herself out of his arms. Chance knew she was mentally tapping out with everything that was going on. He wished he could give her more time to process everything, but time was of the essence. They had to keep moving. They couldn't afford for the Darklings to catch up on them.

"Kayleigh," he whispered as she stood there, swaying at the opening of the passageway.

The others stopped, but Chance could feel their anxiety buzzing around him. His heart constricted at the amount of emotion pouring out of her. The girl had lost so much and dealt with so much alone, but she didn't have to anymore. She had him and the others. They had come for her to rescue her from the bubble she was living in. They had felt the Darkness the moment they entered town lines.

"Kayleigh," he repeated.

She glanced up at him. Her dark brown eyes met his. Tears swam in them. He sighed, reaching out to cup her face in his hands. He didn't care if the others were watching them. He had to get her on the same page right now.

"We have to keep moving," he told her gently. "When we're safe, we'll talk about everything I promise. You're not safe here. You were never safe here."

She swallowed then nodded her head in understanding. He brought her into a quick embrace and kissed her forehead. He quickly grabbed her hand and rushed forward. The others were quick to fall in step.

"What do we do?" Alessia asked Liam. "We left the cars back in town."

Liam stayed silent. Chance could feel his frustration mounting. All they had was to keep moving. They had no transportation to make a clean getaway. The passageway bought them time to escape, but they needed to get to New York to make it below to Eden Borough. There was a hidden portal at the Statue Of Liberty that nobody but the otherwordly knew about.

"There's a horse farm," Kayleigh piped up next to Chance. "I know it's not cars--"

"Horses will do just fine," Liam told her appreciatively.

Kayleigh pointed at the clearing and beyond. Chance's heart dropped at the view of the farm on the hill. There was a strange atmosphere surrounding it. He suspected Darklings, but he sensed that none of them were there now. They must have gone into town to ambush the bookshop.

"Careful," Kasper muttered. "Darklings inhabited this place."

Kayleigh frowned, glancing around at everyone. "Wiley's farm?" Anger spurred, flaring in her eyes. "Was my entire town infested with these things?"

Nobody wanted to answer her. Darklings had overwhelmed her town. Once they knew where one of the new Keys was located, it made sense that they would keep them under lock and key. If it hadn't been for Liam and Alessia finding him at college, he would've been murdered by his English Lit professor. They had come in to stop the Darkling from strangling him to death.

"It's a miracle that they let you live as long as they did," Arcardia told Kayleigh honestly.

"They got cocky," Kasper said with a shrug. "They wanted to play with their food. They got sloppy. We got lucky."

"She said that all I had to do was keep taking my medicine and nobody had to die," Kayleigh said, glancing around. "If I hadn't come to you in my dream, would we all be in danger?"

"We're always in danger," Fallon said. "It wouldn't have made a difference."

Rose touched her arm. "You're one of us, Kayleigh. We're more powerful when we're working together."

Chance noticed the tension in Kayleigh's body release. He squeezed her hand and he smiled when she felt her return the favor. He couldn't wait until her medicine wore off so they could all show her how unique their bonds were. He wished they had more time to keep together as a group instead of separating into pairs.

The passing of the torch was happening and all of them needed to get to their respective Elysiums. They all needed to get to their Temples. According to the Sprites, the duration before the new Keys took over was the most vulnerable. The old Keys could only handle the weight of responsibility for so long before their light faded.

If the Keys weren't replaced, the order couldn't be upheld. They would be too weak as a smaller group to handle the weight. It was like Atlas holding up the world. They needed every Key to make it function correctly. They had feared what would happen if Kayleigh hadn't shown up when she did.

He shuddered at the thought. Kayleigh squeezed his hand and he glanced over at her.

"You okay?" she whispered to him.

He offered her a small smile. "Will be."

He would be okay when they were all safe.

~~~

When they approached the farm, Chance watched Kasper and Fallon glance over at Liam. With Liam’s nod, they both set off to scout out the surroundings and check out the house across from the barn. Chance would’ve normally joined them, but with Kayleigh needing him, he walked at her pace. She came to a stop, causing him to look directly at her. She pointed to the barn.

“The horses are kept in there,” she told him. Her eyes bounced over to Liam. “I used to ride horses with Sara. I know where everything is. Do you want me prep the horses?”

Liam’s eyes slid to him and nodded. Kayleigh’s eyes returned to Chance and he gave her a small smile.

“Show me?”

Kayleigh nodded and started leading me to the barn. The others joined Kasper and Fallon hoping to find some supplies. Chance watched Kayleigh as she walked to the barn. The barn door was already partially open, causing her to hesitate. Chance didn’t feel any other Darklings, but he didn’t want to the make the mistake of being fooled by a cunning ambush. He gently tugged her behind him and he was glad she didn’t resist him. His hand touched the handle of his spirit sword, preparing to draw it if things went awry.

He took a deep breath and gently pushed the door open wider. Warily, he forced himself to move inside the barn. So far, so good. No attack. No rustling. No movement. His eyes darted and scanned the area, looking for any threats.

“Is-Is it safe?” she whispered behind him as his eyes continued to sweep over a primarily vacant barn.

He glanced back at her. He wouldn’t lie to her. “Feels it,” he admitted. “But it—”

“What happened to all their animals?” she gasped when she peeked around his shoulder. Her voice was strained and tight.

His eyes took in the empty stalls filled with hay. He sighed, suspecting they had gotten rid of most of the animals… except for a few horses in a couple stalls in the back. He knew this would cause her to spiral more emotionally, but it was something she needed to see and understand. She was in grave danger and had been the entire time.

“This place used to be filled up with…” she trailed off. Tears filled her eyes. “They-They really took over, didn’t they? These-These things? They're really after me.” She shook her head. "Us. They're after all of us."

He tugged her into his arms and held her as she tried to get ahold of herself. “I’m sorry,” he whispered into her hair. “I know this is a lot to take in—”

“Please. Just get me out of here. I-I never want to come back.”

As if the others heard her plea, he heard the others burst into his mind, forcing him to focus on the conversation. Kasper and Fallon had found an old pickup and a small sedan. Rose pitched in that she found a motorcycle. He quickly told them that they also found the horses, but there were no other animals.

It’s like a ghost farm, Kasper agreed.

Chance once again scanned the vacant barn and shook his head, agreeing wholeheartedly with that observation. His heart clenched when he heard the unmistakable sound of a vehicle's engine rumbling and rattling. It was getting closer and closer to the property. It brought that all too familiar disgusting smell and it was getting stronger.

Shit, Fallon's voice echoed in his mind.

Split up, Liam instructed. We need to split up.