Free Dolmarehn - Book Two of the Otherworld Trilogy by Jenna Elizabeth Johnson

nodded his agreement and set his bow aside, walking over to a fallen tree to rest against.  I sat down beside him on the log, leaned my bow against its side, and proceeded to peel off my archery glove.
    Finally, Cade glanced up and caught my eyes with his.  There was something there, something more than what he normally revealed, but I couldn’t quite grasp it.  My heart sped up.  Stupid organ.  If it wasn’t such an important necessity to life, I’d try to find some way to get rid of it.  Hearts caused far more trouble than what they were worth.
    “I want you to come with me to the Otherworld, to Eilé, for a visit.”
    Oh.  From such an intense gaze I expected something much more daunting, or revealing.  My heartbeat slowed, but my skin prickled with goose bumps.  He’s only asking you to go with him to the Otherworld.  It’s not like he’s asking you out on a date !
    “Go with you to Eilé?” I asked as I rubbed at my arms in an attempt to make the goose pimples vanish and to force my conscious to shut up.  “Sure, I mean, I guess I’d like to go to Eilé, again.  As long as I don’t have to go by myself.  Because, well, if those faelah decide to show up . . .”
    I was babbling.  I shrugged and grinned, trying to lighten the mood.  When had everything grown so serious?  We had been laughing only a half an hour ago.  Heck, I was even hitting the bull’s eye two times out of . . . twenty.
    Before I could consider his proposition any further, Meridian swooped down out of the canopy, screeching her delight as she came to rest in a small oak growing only a few feet away.  I glanced at her, grinning when I saw the tiny dead faelah hanging from her beak.  It was the size of a mouse but had long, ugly, reptilian feet, and black, hairless skin.
    “Good girl,” I murmured.
    She chittered and got to her meal.  Tasty , she sent.
    I chuckled and turned my eyes back on Cade.  He gave me a small grin and I caught my breath.  He looked so relaxed now, sitting in the sun, leaning over with his elbows resting on his knees.  His dark auburn hair was slightly disheveled and for the time being his eyes shone with a pale hazel green.
    I released a tiny sigh and looked away.  Would there ever come a time when he didn’t have such a distracting effect on me?
    “About going to the Otherworld,” Cade continued after a few more moments of silence.  He gestured in the general direction of the dolmarehn lying hidden up the gully several hundred yards away.
    “The reason I want you to go is so I can test your magic potential.”
    Huh?  “Test my magic potential?  What do you mean?”
    He took a deep breath and sat up a little straighter.
    “Do you remember Meghan, when I told you about the Faelorehn and their glamour?  How it is connected to Eilé itself and how yours isn’t strong because you’ve been in the mortal world all this time?”
    I nodded.  I remembered.  I also remembered that if Cade or any of the faelah stayed in this world too long their natural magic would drain and they’d need to go back to the Otherworld to recharge.
    “I guess what I’m saying is, I want to see what you are like, fully charged, or at least more so than you are now.”
    “Okay,” I replied, still a bit confused.
    He acted as if he planned on asking me to make some impossible sacrifice or suffer through uncomfortable pain.
    “In order for that to happen,” Cade continued carefully, “you’ll need to stay in the Otherworld.  For more than a single day.”
    “Okay.”
    I still didn’t fully understand what he meant.  What was the big deal?  Why did he appear so wary?  I could brave the Otherworld for a few days, as long as Cade stayed with me and . . . Oh .  Stay more than one day in Eilé.  Got it.
    I brushed back my hair nervously, turning my eyes towards Meridian.  She had managed to gut the creature she’d killed, but witnessing her gory snacking skills felt safer than looking at