Read Online Clash of the Otherworlds: Book 1, After the Fall by Elle Casey - Free Book Online

I giggled at the vision he made, splayed out across the flower, his face hidden from view but his butt on full display.  One wing was lying flat and the other was sticking up.  His hair looked like he'd put his finger in an electric socket.  I wanted to leave him to his mess, but if I walked away and stopped supporting the flower, he'd for sure fall out onto the gravel path, so I stayed.
    "How long do we have to do this?" I asked, taking a moment to look around the garden, my hand supporting the base of the flower where the petals were secured.  I couldn't help but think that this place was magical - as in, literally, there was some serious hocus-pocus going on here.  Blooms of every color and shape were bursting out in full glory.  The air was crisp, so it felt like I should be seeing dead things and red leaves, but this place looked more like a garden in Spring.  
    "Wow," I said, my mouth on auto pilot.  "This place is like ... a magic garden or something.  The Garden of Eden."  I could feel the power of the Earth element humming under my feet.  The Green was strong out here and seemed as if it were waiting anxiously for me to connect.  I resisted, though, not wanting to use the power unless I had to.  I knew my future was going to be full of learning how to manage it, so for now, I just wanted to be me -just Jayne- in the garden.
    "I do my best," said Abby, her voice full of modesty.
    I looked down at her and caught her blushing.  "Do you use magic?"
    "Noooo, don't be silly.  I just talk to the flowers and my garden partners, and we do everything we can to make it work."  She hesitated.  "Well, okay, we did have a witch put up a little acceleration spell to get everything ready for you and Ben to move in, but the spells don't do much without us working together.  It was a one-time thing and won't need to be repeated."
    "Garden partners?"
    "Yes, of course.  I could never do this all on my own."
    "Who's helping?"  I could imagine one of the dirty gnomes I knew running around in here with clippers, and it made me nervous for my ankles and eyesight.  I examined the spaces between the plants, looking for signs of Scottish tartans hidden among the leaves.  The gnomes were prone to wearing very short kilts with nothing on underneath, which tended to make me want to gouge my eyeballs out when I made the mistake of looking at the ass-end of one of them when they were bending over.
    "Bees, worms, ladybugs, snails ... you name it.  We're all here for the garden."  She smiled, looking around her.
    "Well, whatever you're doing, keep on doing it," I said, giving her the props she deserved.  "This is the most peaceful place I've been in since ... ever."  Even my mom's garden didn't come close to this one.  "I feel like never leaving, actually," I said, my eyes moving from flower to flower, losing myself in the colors and lazy, dancing motes of pollen and fuzzy seed pods floating on the light breeze.  I felt my cheeks getting warm and a slight tingle moving over my skin.  A giggle rose up into my throat unbidden, making me smile like a loon.  My cheeks moved up in a huge grin, but I couldn't put my finger on what was so funny.  But then, I found that I didn't care, either.  This place was taking over ... me.
    "Get her out of here," said Tim weakly, his voice muffled in the flower petals.  "She's gonna get mesmerized and we'll never get her out."
    "Oh, you're right," said Abby, buzzing up near my face.  "Mother!  Listen to me!  You have to leave the garden right now!"
    My hand slipped away from Tim and fell to my side, my strength suddenly waning.  The pixie lady was flitting back and forth in front of my face like an irritating fly, so I tried to brush her away, my arm feeling as heavy as lead.  "You're annoying.  Beat it," I said absently, trying to focus on the pinky pink of a flower a few feet away from Tim.  It kept going in and out of focus for some reason.  I took a step towards it, but it