Epilogue
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CYRIL WASN’T SURE HOW long they were in the car, but it was long enough for his ass to start feeling like a pancake.
He didn’t complain. He knew that Vale would stop the car if he asked, but he couldn’t.
The sooner they got to Meridian, the sooner they’d get answers, and that was the thing Cyril wanted the most.
He needed to know what would happen to him if he crossed the Threshold.
He needed to know what he could do to not cross it at all.
He wasn’t going to do to Vale and the other people he loved what Asher’s parents had done to him.
He didn’t care that Asher thought he would.
He didn’t know Cyril, but Cyril would prove him wrong.
He’d never been this far from the city where he was born.
He’d never felt the need to travel, but maybe once this mess was over, he and Vale could take a vacation together.
It would be nice to do something like that with his boyfriend.
Since they’d gotten together, it felt like they’d been going from disaster to disaster, and Cyril wanted to be able to relax.
He wanted not to have to fear that they would be attacked, that someone they loved would be hurt, or that disaster would strike while they were living their everyday life.
But for now, disaster seemed to strike every day, and there was nothing they could do about it except take it and deal with it.
“How you feeling?” Vale asked.
His gaze was on the road, and he seemed to know where he was going, which was good because Cyril had no idea where they were.
He didn’t even know if they were still in the same state.
Vale hadn’t told him where they were headed.
He’d just started driving, and that was fine with Cyril.
He trusted his boyfriend with his life, never mind with this trip.
“I just wish we were there already,” Cyril murmured, looking out the window.
The areas they were driving through had started becoming more and more isolated.
At first, they’d passed through small towns and had seen many people around.
The small towns had grown farther and farther apart, then vanished completely, giving way to a few farmhouses here and there.
Now, there wasn’t even that. All that surrounded them was trees and, sometimes, a few bushes.
Cyril was pretty sure the last sign of human beings they’d passed had been the gas station where they’d stopped to take a break a few hours ago.
That couldn’t be right, though, could it?
He’d probably missed something. He’d been lost in his thoughts, after all.
“We’re almost there,” Vale told him. “The island should be close by.”
Cyril blinked. He’d heard the island mentioned before by Iris, but he’d been dubious. Who would willingly live on a deserted island? “Does Meridian really live on an island?”
“Looks like it. My guess is that he thought people wouldn’t reach him if he did.”
“How are we going to reach him?”
“Don’t worry about that. Rachel and I have planned everything.”
Cyril was curious. Rachel was a good person to have in his life. By the time he realized he had a problem, she’d already solved it.
Cyril wasn’t surprised when Vale eventually stopped the car. He was surprised by where Vale did so, though. He hadn’t expected Meridian’s island to be in the middle of a lake, but he probably should have. They were inland, not by the ocean.
He climbed out of the car and went to stand on the shore, staring at the island at the center of the lake.
The water was flat and dark, reflecting the cloudy sky.
The lake was big, but not so big that he couldn’t make out the structure sitting on the island.
It was a tall, narrow building half-hidden by trees.
It rose above them, though, and it looked slightly like a lighthouse, which made no sense here.
There was no sea and no one who needed guiding, which made him wonder who had built it and why.
The vegetation around it was untamed, and vines trailed over the stone, making it look like it was abandoned and had been for a while.
There were no lights visible in any of the windows.
If someone lived there, they didn’t seem to want anyone to know it.
“Rachel looked into this place,” Vale said as he came to stand next to Cyril. “It used to be frequented by tourists, but that stopped years ago. The facilities that were built for them were abandoned. We should be able to find a boat here somewhere.”
“Will it get us across, or are we going to sink in the middle of the lake?” Considering the state of everything Cyril could see, it was a distinct possibility.
Vale huffed and shook his head. “Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of everything.”
“I’m not worried. I know you will.”
Vale was slightly hesitant as he stepped away, but it wasn’t like he had a choice, and Cyril wasn’t unsafe here. They were the only ones around. Well, along with the squirrels and birds, and of course, Oscar, who was still snoozing in the backseat of the car.
Cyril went to wake him up. He wasn’t about to leave his pet alone in the car, even though technically, nothing would happen to Oscar even if he did. He doubted Oscar would allow it anyway.
Oscar stirred when Cyril opened the door, the sockets of his skull tilting upward, a few of his bony tentacles uncurling from where they’d been tucked beneath him.
Cyril was glad to have Oscar to hold as they waited for Vale to come back.
It made him feel less lonely, though it didn’t help with the sense of dread he felt staring at the island.
Something was off, and he was about to find out what.
“Ready?” Vale asked when he returned.
“Not really, but we don’t have a choice.”
“You always have a choice, Cyril. If you don’t want to meet Meridian, I can go on my own. You’d probably have to write me a list of questions to ask him, but I can do it.”
Cyril shook his head. “I’ll do it.”
Thankfully, Vale didn’t try to change his mind.
He probably knew it would be useless. Instead, he led Cyril to a crumbling shed near the water’s edge.
There was a short pier next to it, which told Cyril that the shed probably contained boating equipment.
He wasn’t surprised to see a small motorboat already in the water beside it.
Vale had clearly gotten it out while Cyril was staring at the island.
Vale climbed in first, then turned and offered Cyril his hand.
Cyril accepted gratefully, clambering aboard with Oscar tucked against his chest. The pet was still half-asleep, but he woke up quickly when Vale turned on the engine, his tentacles clicking softly against each other as he moved and looked toward the island.
“Was there still enough fuel in it to work?” Cyril asked.
“No. I brought some.”
“You really were prepared for everything.”
“I have to be if I’m going to protect you.”
Cyril settled on the small bench closest to Vale.
A sense of dread was filling him, and it didn’t get any better as they drew closer to the island.
If anything, it got worse, especially when Oscar started to grow agitated.
There was a reason he was reacting like that, and it couldn’t be good.
He was tense in Cyril’s arms, angled toward the island, tentacles curled tight.
It was only Meridian on the island, though.
If someone was going to threaten Cyril, it would be him, and that wasn’t something Cyril wanted to happen. They needed answers, not a fight.
“I don’t like this place,” he murmured as they reached the island. “It doesn’t feel right.”
“I’m not a necromancer, and it doesn’t feel right to me either, so I can’t imagine how it feels to you,” Vale said.
“Like we shouldn’t be here. Like no one should be here.”
“We’ll be quick.”
Cyril nodded and swallowed. It was an empty promise, because it would take as long as it took. There was no way out of this. They were here to get answers from Meridian, and until they did, they wouldn’t be going anywhere.
Even though every instinct Cyril had was screaming at him that he shouldn’t be here and that the only thing that belonged on this island was death.
* * * *
VALE WASN’T A NECROMANCER, but even he could tell there was something very wrong with the island.
From the outside, it looked perfectly fine. There were trees and bushes, and even a few flowers poking up through the cracked stone path that wound toward the building. Vale wasn’t sure he could call it a house, even though it seemed to be Meridian’s home. It certainly didn’t look like a house.
It took Vale a second to realize what was missing, and when he did, dread settled in his chest. There were no birds.
He couldn’t hear a single one, and the only sound came from the wind moving through the leaves.
No flies, no insects, nothing buzzing or chirping or rustling around them.
It felt as if he and Cyril were the only living things on the island.
But that couldn’t be true. There was a second boat tied up at the pier. It was empty, but it was a clear sign that someone else was here. Vale was glad they hadn’t come for nothing. They had to face Meridian. He wasn’t sure he’d feel glad about that part once they did.
Even though every instinct screamed at him to turn around and take Cyril back to the car, he did the opposite. He got the boat as close to the pier as he could, hooked it up, and turned the engine off. Once he was sure everything was secured, he clambered out and offered Cyril his hand.
Oscar was very much awake now. Cyril put him down so he could get out of the boat, and Oscar immediately jumped onto the pier and planted himself between Cyril and the building. If he’d had fur, Vale was certain it would be standing straight up.
“This isn’t good, is it?” Cyril murmured.
“He doesn’t often react like this,” Vale murmured back. There was no reason to keep their voices down, but it felt right.