Chapter 23
Graz
N ow that Vienne can get around on her leg again, we sprint down the hill as fast as we can while hot lava finally reaches the base of the mountain. It flows toward us, but it’s slow enough we’re making good progress getting ahead of it. I remember that less than a mile away, there’s a river with a bridge crossing. If we can make it to the other side, the river should slow the lava down.
We’re all panting by the time we reach where we’d left the horses tied up this morning, and we hurriedly pack up and untie them. I toss Vienne onto one horse’s back because her legs are shorter than mine, and this way, she can keep up.
Then we’re off again as another massive plume of smoke is belched into the air. The mountain itself is shaking, and Gusak gives it a skeptical look over his shoulder.
“I think this is about to get a lot worse,” he says. And sure enough, right then, a massive fountain of lava shoots out the top, scattering across the hillsides.
“Run!” I urge Vienne’s horse on ahead, and start running myself.
We all push ourselves as hard as we can as the peak erupts. Smoke and ash fills the sky, and I wonder if we’ve done something even worse than destroying that pool of magic.
But the lava never reaches us. Soon, the shaking under our feet slows, and behind us, the lava has reached the river. Sure enough, it doesn’t spread past the water, and far behind us, the peak starts to cool.
At last, it seems we’re out of range of the eruption. I come to a stop, sweating profusely and gasping for air. Gusak climbs off his horse, peering up at the darkened sky.
“What in the hell did you two do?”
I sigh, not looking forward to explaining the choice we made. I reach up to Vienne on the horse, clasping her hand in mine.
“We locked it away.” I grimace. “Now no one can get to it.”
Gusak is agog. “You made a fucking volcano erupt.” He shakes his head ruefully. “I came all this way for that?”
What now? Vienne asks, squeezing my fingers in return. I ought to go back and tell my mom what happened. She’ll want to know the legend was true.
Which means separating, as I can’t follow her home to the human capital city—and I don’t know where I stand with Gusak, either.
“Are you going to keep us prisoner?” I ask him.
He rubs his chin. “I ought to. I certainly shouldn’t let her go.” He nods at Vienne, who glares at him in return. Agna takes out her weapon, and Vienne drops her hand to her own gun—well, the one she stole from Kal'zan, anyway.
Gusak sighs and holds up his hands. “All right, everyone calm down.” He glares at me. “Tell your woman to relax.”
I could laugh in his face. “She’s not going to. Not while she has our whelp to protect.”
His eyebrow jumps. “Oh? Is that so?”
Vienne is clearly annoyed that we’re having a conversation without her. What’s going on? What’s he saying?
He’s trying to decide what to do with us, I explain.
What to do with us?! She drops her hand to her gun. He doesn’t get to decide that!
Damn it, how am I going to get her out of this situation safely?
“And what do you intend to do?” Gusak asks, squaring his shoulders. “Where do you think you and your little human mate will be safe with said whelp? You ought to return to Kalishagg. Stay under my protection.”
Vienne will never accept an outcome like that, even if it’s rather magnanimous of my boss to suggest it. She would never live under someone else’s thumb.
“You still work for me,” Gusak tells me in a warning tone. “Those are the terms for keeping your little human as your pet.”
Vienne still has her hand on her gun, and so does Agna. This is not looking good for anyone.
“What if I still work for you?” I ask hastily, putting myself between Vienne and Gusak. “You can have my shop. We could go to Eyra Cove—we’ve heard there are others like us there—and I could be a go-between for you. I know it’s the next neutral city in your sights.”
Gusak arches an eyebrow. “You would get me a foothold in Eyra Cove?”
I nod rapidly. “And I could make contact with Lo’zar. He has connections to the human underworld.”
This seems to get through. Gusak taps his chin, thinking, as we all wait with bated breath.
What’s he deciding? Vienne asks cautiously.
We might get to leave if I work for him.
She scowls. For this criminal?
All I can do is nod while I wait for Gusak to make his decision. He studies me like I’m an insect he’s about to crush under one shoe.
“Fine.” Gusak nods at Agna, who stands down. “I have one additional condition, though.”
I know I don’t have a choice, so I ask, “What is it?”
He gestures at Vienne. “The magic. I want some, in a container like yours that makes it safe.”
I squint at him. This feels like a very, very bad idea—but if it means that Vienne and I can get away safely...
I suppose I have to do it. What’s the most damage he could possibly do with a few drops of magic?
“All right,” I say with a deep sigh. “I’ll do it.”
Vienne shoots me an annoyed look. What are you agreeing to?
To give him a little magic. I’ll have to go back to my shop to ? —
You can’t be serious! She looks ready to hop off the horse and strangle me. You’re going to hand some over to some mob boss?
I walk over to the horse and take her hand in mine. This is what we have to do if we want to get out of this.
She studies me skeptically, but I can tell she’s weighing the benefits. We get out of here alive, on one side, or we become Gusak’s prisoners.
But you can’t give it to him as it is , Vienne finally says, eyes narrowed. Can you stop him from doing anything dangerous with it?
I hadn’t considered that. I could imprint the magic with my own desire before sealing it up, and do it without Gusak being any the wiser.
I grin up at my mate, impressed with her yet again.
Good idea.
Then I’ll accept, she says, straightening on the horse and leaving her gun where it is in her holster.
“We’ll do it,” I tell Gusak, and he clucks in approval.
“Then let’s get the fuck out of here,” Kal'zan interjects. “Before we run into humans.”
Vienne keeps his gun, and no one tries to fight her for it.
* * *
Vienne
We have no choice but to go separate ways—for now. Graz has a job to do for his boss before he can be free, and I have a lot to tell Mom. And it’ll be much easier traveling by myself in human territory.
I’ll be glad to never see that big orc Gusak or his two cronies again, that’s for sure.
But we have a plan and a destination: the neutral city of Eyra Cove, far off the coast in the Frattern Islands. The whole area is contested territory, so even though we live in times of peace, it can be a dicey place to go.
Still, there are others there, like Graz and I. Like our child will be. It’s as good of a place as any to put down roots. Not that we’ll live that way for the long term, but it sure would be nice to slow down for a while after all this.
How I’m going to explain what happened to Raiden, though... I hope I can get in and out of Culberra before anyone starts to inquire about the night I left and shot a hole through my ceiling.
Carting around magic the way I have been is dangerous, we both know, so Graz and I decide to dispose of it. Then he pulls me into his arms and buries his face in my hair.
I’ll see you really soon. He runs a hand down over my belly. Both of you. All right?
You don’t need to assure me. I rub one of his tusks affectionately. If you don’t show up, I’ll hunt you down.
He snickers. I know you will.
It’s hard watching him go, but it’s the right thing for now.
* * *
As soon as I make it back to Culberra, I head right to find Mom. I’m simply buzzing with how much I have to tell her, but weighed down that I’ll have to say goodbye, too. She won’t leave the archive, as afraid of the outside world as she is, and I don’t know how often I’ll be able to come and see her once I have the baby.
When she finally lets me in, Mom pulls me into her arms and hugs me tight, which isn’t the usual greeting for her.
“I’m so glad you’re all right,” she murmurs. “When you didn’t come back, I was so worried! It looked like your apartment had been ransacked.”
I sigh. “It was.”
“By who?”
“Sit down and pour yourself some wine,” I tell her. “Have I got the story you won’t believe.”
Not to mention that she’s going to be a grandmother.
My mother listens raptly as I spill everything, from reuniting with Graz to the damned kingpin he brought along with him. What we saw in our vision, what choice we decided to make.
“It was all true, just like you said.” I lean back in my chair. “But Riggamora isn’t gone.”
“I wonder where he is now. If all of this war and death in my lifetime was his doing, somehow.” Mom leans across the desk toward me. “I think you made the right choice. And going to Eyra Cove—where you can be with others like you—is the right choice, too.” She sighs. “My daughter. Always so damned smart.”
I laugh, because her approval means the world to me.
“Never expected you’d be having a child of your own, though,” she says thoughtfully. “Certainly not with an orc.”
She’s taking this all much better than I expected. I’m so grateful for her, I hug her once more. Then she snaps her fingers in the air.
“I got most of your things.” Mom urges me to follow her into the back of the archives. “You shouldn’t go back to your apartment. I think it’s being watched. Raiden must have told someone where he was going.”
Fuck. Does that make me an outlaw? Well, I guess this makes packing simpler.
I rifle through what she was able to recover from my home for what’s most important, then load up two bags. Then Mom suggests I get going now, just in case anyone’s seen me.
She hugs me again, her eyes soft. “I’ll come,” she says. “Send me a letter when you have the baby, and I’ll come visit.”
I gape at her. “Really? You’ll leave the archive?”
“To see my grandchild? Of course.” She kisses my cheek. “Now go. You don’t want to leave your new husband waiting.”
I groan. “That’s not... ugh. Never mind.” I kiss her back, and then I’m off to find my new life across the sea.