Everwild (The Healer Series, #1) by Kayla Jo

unknown.
    “We don’t have much time,” Carmela said, not
answering her question. “I’ve already opened the portal. We have
only minutes until it closes again. I can only open it every thirty
days.”
    “You dare Seeker!” Emerson said enraged. “No
warning or time for preparation!” Carmela just shrugged, none the
least bit fazed. “Brothers, I need to talk to you, quickly,”
Emerson said and motioned to the other warlocks.
    Declan came by Willow’s side as she fumbled
putting the backpack back on. Carmela came up to him and whispered
something in his ear that made his eyebrows quirk up.
    “Good luck, dear,” Carmela said coming up to
her. “Remember what I said about not using magic.” She pushed and
shoved Willow towards the curtain, making her trip over her heavy
feet.
    “Hey! Wait!” Declan shouted behind them.
Before she knew what was happening, Willow was thrown through the
curtain. A swirling vortex of white and silver light was all that
was back here. Beyond the vortex, Willow saw thick, dense trees.
The Everwild lay just beyond.
    “Stop!” Declan’s voice shouted somewhere
behind her. “Father! Bane! Henry!”
    Willow screamed as she was thrust through the
vortex, falling into nothingness. She couldn’t feel the ground, her
body felt heavy as she twirled and swirled through the nothingness.
“Help!” she screamed in the void and then seconds later Smack! She hit her body on hard ground, back facing upwards.
She had landed awkwardly on her backpack; her legs twisted under
her.
    Willow looked up into the sky. It was
twilight and all she could see were huge brown trunks and branches.
Dark green leaves swayed in the breeze and rustled all around her.
The trees blocked the sky making it dark, but every so often she
caught glimpses of burning stars above. In the distance, the sound
of wings and a shrill call from some kind of bird echoed longingly
through the wind.
    Willow stood up and brushed the dirt from her
knees. She had just adjusted her pack when something harshly rammed
into her, knocking her flat on her back. Again! She screamed from
the impact and the whiplash of the fall. Something caught her! A
creature! She was dead! A hand came up and clamped her mouth shut
when she continued to scream.
    “Stop screaming!” the voice hissed. Willow
stilled. It wasn’t Bane or any scary creature from the Everwild.
She looked up to see Declan on top of her, effectively pinning her
down with his body. Where was Bane? Why the heck was he here? She
squirmed and grunted into his hand, but he continued to lye on top
of her. “I’m going to remove my hand now,” Declan said piercing her
with his eyes, “Don’t scream, okay?” Willow quickly nodded as he
removed his hand and rolled off her. She gasped for air.
    “What are you doing here?” Willow exclaimed
breathless. Declan stood above her and offered his hand. He helped
pull her up, but didn’t look happy.
    “How do you think?” he snapped. “Carmela
pushed me through the portal!” He put his hands on his hips and
looked around skeptically. The breeze picked up sending chills down
Willow’s spine. They were in the Everwild. This was uncharted
territory, unaffected by human life-untainted by the threat of
deforestation. They were placed right in the middle of the scariest
place on Earth, completely void of time and space. It was like the
Earth itself stopped moving and was waiting for wild things to
grow. It was eerie and strange, the trees were twisted and evil
looking.
    “What do we do now?” Willow said, her heart
beating wildly. She was all alone with Declan, no shelter or
anything to hide her from the shadows and dark things that were
surely hiding and waiting to snatch them up. They were left to fend
themselves with no aide of magic.
    The dark sky grew darker and the stars loomed
hauntingly over them. The silence in the sky made her wonder if the
stars watched them through the cracks in the trees, waiting for
something disastrous to