Chapter 5
Chapter
Five
Daniel pulled into the driveway of the rental house roughly three hours later. The autumn breeze rustled through the trees as he killed the engine, taking a deep breath to steady himself. He grabbed his phone from the cup holder and stepped out of the car.
His keys clattered to the ground as three figures materialized right beside him in a flash of silvery light.
"Jesus!" He stumbled backward, catching himself on the car door. "A little warning next time? What if the neighbors saw?"
"The neighbors won't notice," Elysia said, adjusting her elaborate sleeves.
"That's not the point." Daniel snatched his keys from the ground. "Next time, take an Uber like normal people."
Tarian's expression darkened. "We are not?—"
"Normal people, yeah, I got that." Daniel straightened his cardigan. "Just... wait here a minute. Let me talk to them first."
He approached the house, catching the scent of something cooking through an open window. Inside, he found Knox and Adrian in the kitchen, Adrian leaning against the counter while Knox stirred something on the stove. Zev and Lyrian sat on the couch, sharing headphones. Lyrian had become obsessed with pop music lately, so that was probably what they were listening to.
Leon sat cross-legged in an armchair, his guinea pig Nutmeg nibbling treats from his palm.
"Daniel!" Adrian approached him immediately. "Is your brother okay? You didn't text!"
"Yeah… I kind of got busy." Daniel fidgeted with his keys. "We need to talk. All of us."
Knox turned from the stove, his eyes narrowing. "What's wrong?"
Daniel glanced toward the front door. "I sort of brought guests."
The incubus set his wooden spoon down. "What kind of guests?"
Before Daniel could answer, the front door swung open. The three Barrier Keepers strode in as if they owned the place.
Lyrian yanked out his earbuds, studying the new arrivals curiously. "Fellow Veridians?"
"What?" Zev reached for the sword he wasn't carrying.
"We're not from Veridia." Elysia held up her hands, drawing everyone's attention to her. "We're Barrier Keepers."
The term didn't seem to mean anything to anyone but Lyrian. "You can't be," the siren said. "I thought you were creatures of myth."
While Lyrian was talking, Knox moved to stand between the keepers and everyone else. He glanced at Daniel. "Explain."
Daniel swallowed hard, feeling his friends' eyes on him. How could he explain what had made him lead these people here? "They can help us with the portals. Actually, it's more than just portals. It's like entire zones now where reality is just… dissolving. That's what's going on with the park near my brother's store."
"And you found them there and led them here...?" Knox's voice held no accusation, but it was clear that he had a lot of questions.
"We need to speak with all of you," Elysia said, relieving Daniel from his duty to explain. "About finding a permanent solution."
Adrian moved closer to Knox, their shoulders touching. "What kind of solution?"
"Perhaps we should all sit down," Tarian suggested, his gravelly voice oddly kind. "This may take some time to explain."
"The soup's going to burn," Knox said flatly, not moving from his protective stance.
"I've got it." Adrian squeezed Knox's arm before returning to the stove, though his attention remained firmly on the scene unfolding in their living room.
Leon carefully placed Nutmeg back in her cage. "I'll make coffee. Something tells me we're going to need it."
"Tea for me," Lyrian called after him, "with plenty of sugar!" He was still studying the keepers with undisguised fascination. "I have so many questions about?—"
"Later," Zev cut him off, moving to stand beside Knox.
The night fae and the incubus obviously weren't convinced they should welcome these visitors.
"Relax," Daniel said. "They promised me they wouldn't try to send you back or anything."
Knox's features darkened. "No one can make me go anywhere I do not want to go."
"You don't have to worry about that," Elysia said, holding Knox's gaze.
After a moment, Knox nodded once. "As long as we understand each other." He gestured to the dining area. "We can talk over lunch. Since we were about to eat, anyway."
The domestic normalcy of setting the table felt surreal with the keepers standing there, watching as Daniel helped Adrian carry bowls of tomato soup to the table, the ceramic warm against his palms.
Adrian caught his eye as they walked, giving him a reassuring smile. "Hey, if they can help with what's happening at your brother's store, that's good, right?"
"Yeah." Daniel managed a small smile back.
That was why he was doing all of this, after all, to keep Jamie safe.
As lunch was served, everyone settled around the table, the keepers taking seats as if this was a normal lunch meeting. Knox ladled out soup, and Leon returned with coffee and Lyrian's tea.
"So," Lyrian said, blowing on his tea. Even the smell of it was sweet enough to make Daniel's teeth ache. "Barrier Keepers," the siren mused. "I remember songs about you from when I was young. Guardians of the boundaries between worlds." He tilted his head. "I always thought you'd be... scarier."
Galen's mouth twitched. "We try not to stick out."
Daniel couldn't keep his mouth shut. "In that case, your wardrobe needs an update."
"If we could focus," Elysia said with only a little sharpness. "We're here because the situation is becoming critical. The barriers between worlds are weakening."
"We know," Knox said. "We've been dealing with the portals."
"It's more than just portals now." Daniel reminded them, stirring his soup. "There are these zones where reality just... isn't right."
"Zones of overlap," Galen supplied. "Areas where the fabric between worlds has worn so thin that reality itself becomes unstable. They're spreading."
Adrian set his spoon down. "Is that what's happening in Oakridge?"
"Yes." Elysia nodded, not even trying the soup that sat in front of her. "And it will only get worse unless we take action. That's why we're here. To help you... adjust."
"Adjust?" Knox's voice held a note of wariness.
"To living in this world permanently." Elysia's gaze swept around the table. "We can help you integrate fully into human society. The way you are now, you are contributing to the rifts widening, but it doesn't have to be that way."
Lyrian leaned forward, curious. "And how exactly would that work?"
Elysia smiled, but something in her expression made Daniel tense. "We have ways of helping beings like yourselves... adapt to human existence. To truly become part of this world."
"Adapt?" Knox set his spoon down carefully. "What exactly does that mean?"
"It means we can help you become human," Galen said. "Completely human. No more magic, no more otherworldly attributes. You would be indistinguishable from any other person in this world."
A pin drop would have sounded deafening in the silence that followed. Daniel's soup suddenly felt like lead in his stomach.
This was wrong.
This wasn't what he'd wanted.
"You want to take our magic?" Lyrian's eyebrows shot all the way up. "My voice?"
"Your siren song would become a normal human singing voice," Elysia explained, as if this should be reassuring. "Still beautiful, I'm sure, but without the supernatural element."
"You're talking about stripping away our essence," Knox said, exuding a quiet kind of power. Not quite a threat, but almost. "Everything that makes us who we are."
"All of it would fade." Elysia's tone remained gentle. "You would be free to live normal human lives. No more hiding, no more danger from the deteriorating barriers."
"Or," Tarian added, "you can return to Veridia. Permanently."
Daniel whirled to Tarian. "You promised you wouldn't make them go back!"
"We're not forcing their hands," Elysia defended her colleague. "We're offering your friends a choice we don't have to offer them."
"There's got to be something else." Adrian shifted closer to Knox, his face pale. Knox wrapped an arm around Adrian's shoulders, glaring at Elysia.
"Adrian's right," Zev's grumbled. "What you're offering is unacceptable."
"The barriers must be stabilized," Galen said. "The longer beings from Veridia remain here, straddling both worlds, the worse the deterioration becomes. We're offering you a choice—and time to make it. We don't expect an immediate answer."
"How generous," Knox said flatly.
"We understand this is a lot to process." Elysia stood, the others following her lead. "We'll return tomorrow for your decisions. Remember, this isn't just about you. The overlapping zones will continue to spread, putting everyone in danger. Human and Veridian alike."
Daniel studied his friends as they took in the implications of what the keepers were saying. Lyrian's thoughtful frown. Zev's clenched jaw. The rigid set of Knox's shoulders as Adrian pressed against his side.
Daniel hated it all.
What had he done? He'd brought these people here, into their home, thinking they would help. Instead, he was forcing the Veridians to choose between their very nature and staying here.
What kind of bullshit was that?
The kind he wasn't going to put up with any longer.
He got to his feet. "I'll show you out," he said, gesturing for the keepers to follow him to the door.
The keepers exchanged glances, but rose without another word. Daniel led them to the front door, hands clenched at his sides to keep from showing how angry he was becoming.
"Remember," Elysia said as they stepped outside, "we need their answer by?—"
"Tomorrow, yes. Your incredibly generous timeline for life-altering decisions has been noted." Daniel glared. He wanted them gone, needed time to think, to figure out how to fix this mess he'd created.
"This is the kindest solution," Galen added. "The most humane way to deal with things."
"Right, because nothing says 'humane' like 'give up your entire identity or get out.'" The words burst out sharp and bitter. "Just fuck off."
He shut the door before they could respond, leaning his forehead against it for a moment.
Was it smart to curse at powerful magical beings? Probably not, but Daniel had never been great at controlling his impulses.
Behind him, he could hear the murmur of voices from the dining room, his friends probably trying to process what had just happened.
God, he needed to fix this. There had to be another way.
His mind flickered to his dreams, to Caelen's warnings about the keepers. He'd been right, hadn't he? But Daniel couldn't think about that right now. First, he needed to face his friends and apologize for bringing this down on them.
When Daniel returned to the dining room, he heard Adrian say, "If you're going back to Veridia, I'm going with you."
Daniel swallowed, remembering what Caelen had told him. "Humans don't always survive the journey there."
Adrian paled. "That's a risk I'll have to take."
Knox cut in. "You won't be taking any such risk."
Silence fell over the room, thick and oppressive. Lyrian was still frowning, absently trailing his finger around the rim of his teacup. "Something's not right."
"Besides everything?" Zev huffed.
"No, I mean..." Lyrian searched his mind. "All the old songs about the Barrier Keepers… They always mentioned teams of four. Always four."
"Maybe one of them stayed home to cook dinner," Zev said dryly. "Make sure there's a hot meal waiting after a long day of messing with people's lives."
But Lyrian shook his head, his usual playfulness absent. "No, it was important. The songs were specific about that. Four Keepers, four elements, four corners..." He trailed off, staring into his tea again.
"Songs aren't always accurate," Knox said. "Especially not when they've been carried on by a race of poets who'd rather sacrifice truth for a good rhyme."
"Hey!" Lyrian protested, but there was no heat in it.
Daniel dropped back into his chair. This day was going just great, wasn't it? He opened his mouth to apologize, but Knox spoke first.
"Whatever their number should be," Knox said, "the real question is whether we can trust anything they're telling us."
"The odd zones are real enough," Daniel said. "I saw what's happening outside my brother's store."
"No one's disputing that," Adrian added quietly. "But their solution..." He trailed off, his hand finding Knox's shoulder.
"Become human or get out." Zev's lip curled. "They can't seriously expect Knox and Adrian to—" He cut himself off, shaking his head.
"No, they can't," Lyrian agreed quietly. "And we still don't even know why we were brought here in the first place. Something pulled us through those portals for a reason."
Knox spoke up to dispute that. "We don't know that for sure. We do know now that the Barrier Keepers do not want us here. There is nothing keeping you and Zev here if you'd rather go home than get into trouble with them."
"And lose out on solving this delicious mystery?" Lyrian almost sounded offended. "No, I'm sure I'm meant to be here. Someone has to write the songs future generations will sing about our grand adventures."
"I suppose I should never have expected reason from you." Knox looked to Zev next. "What about you?"
"I don't abandon my friends," the night fae said flatly. "You risked your life for me once. I will not walk away."
Knox's expression turned very serious. "I do not consider you to be in debt to me."
"I don't abandon my friends," Zev repeated, and it was clear he wasn't going to say anything more on the topic.
Accepting that response, Knox looked at Daniel. "Did the Barrier Keepers say anything else? About the odd zones, or why this is happening now?"
Daniel shook his head. "Just that it's getting worse. That's why I brought them here in the first place. Jamie's store..." He swallowed hard. "I need to make sure nothing happens to it, or him."
"You need to protect your world and your brother." The incubus nodded. "I understand this."
Daniel didn't know what to say. Understanding was all nice and good, but he still felt like shit.
Maybe that was what he deserved.