Kori POV

  Five hours later…

  My little car had made its way across the Atlantic Ocean, parts of Europe, and most of the Mediterranean Sea when Kalia finally began to relax a little. We were closing in on her home, which made me want to vomit the cheese puffs Felicity had fed me an hour ago due to my anxious stomach. About an hour and a half ago, the pain began to lessen. It was a huge relief. Getting closer to Selene seemed to be the answer to this surge of pain that took over my body. I still didn’t understand why this Selene person needed me. Maybe Kalia could tell me. I turned to her, catching her eye. “Hey, what did my ancestor do to earn this crescent moon mark?” I asked, breaking the silence. "I have no idea why a moon goddess would bless my ancestors."

  Kalia gave me a sly grin. "I wondered when you would ask, little wolf."

  There she goes with that wolf nickname again. Does she think I am some type of loner? I mean my best friend is in the car with me. "Will you answer Nymphie?"

  She gave me an annoyed stare for a minute. "I am not sure I am the one who should be answering that question. It seems like something that should be saved for Selene."

  "You are no help," I muttered, facing back toward my window. The view below was amazing. Greece was well behind us as we approached the coast of Turkey. The only reason I knew where we were is because of the map feature on my phone. All of a sudden, the car started soaring faster than before. I knew wind could be powerful, but Kalia seems to need speed. Within minutes we were over a rocky mountaintop. My heart wanted to beat out of my chest. I knew my life would be over the moment I met Selene.

  The car began to descend toward the mountainside. My stomach wretched from anxiety, forcing me to vomit out everything in my stomach. Thankfully, I was able to stick my head out the window in time to keep from wearing the cheese puff mess. I feel Felicity’s hand touch my back as I just rest my head on the car door. So much for eating…

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  The car touches down the ground, and I have to fight the urge to lock the car doors. Kalia sighs, finally relaxing in the backseat. I glanced behind me to see her looking a bit run down. At least, I am not the only one feeling awful right now. However, Felicity looks as excited as ever to be here. How is she so relaxed when we are going through this crazy fairy tale stuff? Normally, she is constantly needing structure because she has to plan everything out like the tech, solution-driven person she is. It’s like she has put her personality on vacation.

  “You okay there, Kalia? Looks like you are a bit winded,” Felicity tried to hold in her laughter, but it was nearly impossible for her. She likes to make terrible puns.

  Kalia just ignored Felicity like she had been doing nearly the entire time that I have known her, which is less than a day at this point. “Come on, let’s go see Selene,” Kalia forced herself to move even though she was unsteady and exhausted.

  “Wait a minute, Kalia. We can take our time. You need rest,” Felicity reached out for the nymph’s hand to keep her from opening the door. “Look at Korinne, the girl is paler than a ghost. We need to regroup.”

  “You may need time, human, but I live here. I want to go relax in my home,” Kalia yanked her hand back from Felicity and pushed her door open. “Let’s go, little wolf,” she called out, holding onto my car. She slowly made her way around my trunk toward my door. I rolled my window up and locked the door in protest. She banged on the door to get me to come out, but I ignored her.

  Felicity watched me in silence. Probably trying to decide if my actions were going to come back to haunt us, but I honestly didn’t care. The sun was about to set in the clear sky above us. Kalia had parked us on the side of a mountain on a steady incline. I could see a cave on the ridge above us, which is where Selene most likely lived. We would need to climb a bit to get up there. I wasn’t dressed for mountain climbing though. Felicity was wearing a sundress with flip-flops since we were headed for vacation. How many obstacles were going to run into this stupid adventure?

  Kalia grabbed both of us by the arm and forced us up to the ridge using her wind power once again. How this woman was even moving was beyond me. Aside from the gush of wind blowing Fe’s dress up, the burst of wind carried us up to the ridge quickly. Thank goodness, I am wearing green Converse, black jean shorts, and my yellow tank top. Once we stepped foot on the ridge, Kalia fell to her knees from exhaustion. Fe gave me a look telling me to help her get Kalia to her feet. I pulled the blue woman’s arm over my shoulder.

  Her knees were buckling as we tried to help her stand. She huffed trying to catch her breath. “In the cave…” she muttered. “I need…to rest…”

  “That’s what we told you to do while we were in the car,” I reminded her.

  She gave me an unamused side glance. “Be nice…little…wolf,” she managed to say.

  We walked toward the cave entrance, and I felt my birthmark heat up again. It was a short warm wave bursting through my body. This heat was my birthmark’s way of letting me know that I was close to Selene. Suddenly, my body wanted to curl up into a ball. I would even venture to say I felt worse than at the dorm the morning after my stupid breakup. In fact, I would rather deal with Asher than with this moon magic stuff. The cave was dark but dry, unlike most mysterious caves. I could see the light up ahead. There was nowhere to run now.