Clash of the Otherworlds: Book 1, After the Fall by Elle Casey

bitch.
    "I do not want to be tied to this guy for the rest of my life!  He's arrogant and bossy and annoying as hell!" I yelled out into the empty hallway.  I had no destination in mind and wasn't picturing any door to the compound, so I knew I'd be wandering this corridor forever until I did; the damn witch spell would make sure of that.
    "Feel like talking about it?" asked the mystery girl's voice in my head.
    "Oh, so you're back?" I said into the air around me.  "Great.  You want to lecture me too?  Fine.  That's awesome.  The voices in my head are giving me shit me now, right along with my best friends.  I should just go into that friggin garden and never come out."  It was tempting, too.  Getting lost in the colors and the smells had been so peaceful.  It was like a dangerous drug, and I was seriously considering overdosing on it right now.  Every anchor I thought I had keeping me firmly tied to this place and its people felt like it was dragging me down somewhere I didn't want to be - into a dark abyss very much like the one I thought I'd left behind in the human world, where everyone else decided what was best for me and disregarded what I wanted.
    "Who are you talking to?" asked Tim, flying up from behind me.
    "Myself.  What are you doing here?"
    "Pfft.   Like you even have to ask.  That Ben guy is a total gnome-butt.  He makes me lose my appetite, too."
    I smiled, more than glad for the loyalty.  "Me too.  But you may want to abandon ship right now, because I'm going to go see Maggie."  The decision had come to me the instant Tim's voice had hit my ears.
    "Are you serious?  Why would you want to do that?"
    "Council business."  I strode down the hallway, imagining the door with the small gargoyle head on it so the spell that kept the corridor going on forever would allow me to reach my destination.
    "Hmmm, what to do, what to do ... ?  Risk life and limb to hear possibly earth-shattering secrets or stay safe and warm in bed?"
    "With the booger-eating pixie baby," I added.
    "Excellent point.  I'll risk it.  What are we going to talk to her about?"  He landed on my shoulder, grabbing a hunk of hair to keep himself steady.
    I laughed at Tim's lame-ass parenting, even though I probably should have scolded him.  "They think she might know something about how the demon got over here.  And someone on the council mentioned scrying."
    Tim's sharp intake of breath told me how he felt even before he spoke.  "Baaaaad idea, Jayne.  Super bad.  Like pixelation-of-the-entire-compound bad.  Like making booger-eaters with Ben bad.  Don't do it."
    "I don't get why it's so awful, but you're not the only one who thinks so, so I'm not saying I'm going to ask her to do it."
    "You know I'm all for bucking the system and thumbing my nose at the Man, but not this time.  Not for scrying.  No good comes from seeing the future."
    "Why?  I don't get that at all; I mean, couldn't it help us fix our problems before they happen?"  We'd reached the gargoyle door and I pushed it open to step out into the meadow that would connect us to the part of the forest where Maggie lived in a tree called the Ancient One.  Already I felt its presence in the Green; it was always there waiting for me to reach in and connect.
    "Everything we do is linked and interrelated.  You mess up one of those links in that chain of fae and time and places and humans, and it can set off a series of catastrophes that are impossible to stop or control.  We live in a symphony, Jayne.  Can't you hear it?  Imagine what would happen to that symphony if one of the instruments started playing the wrong notes."
    "I'm not sure if I believe that," I said, pushing through the thigh-high grasses.  The chill of an early autumn had set in, making me wish I'd put on a heavier cloak.  My tunic and jeans weren't enough at this time of day, after the sun had gone down, to keep me warm.  I rubbed my upper arms quickly, trying to build up some friction as I