Chapter 26 Sky
Sky
“It’s like we’re twins, you and me.
“They can’t see that you belong to me.
“You’re truly my brother from another mother.
“And it’s your love that carries me.
“Don’t ever leave me, brother of mine.
“My world would cease to shine.
“So always fight, to come back to me.
“And together, we’ll fight to be free.”
The words of the song Ego had written for us as middle schoolers rose up inside of me, overtaking the voice of my father. This ghoulish creature was nothing, and it couldn’t have King!
The slit it had opened was stretching wider, oh so slowly, as my candles held up, giving me more time.
If this didn’t prove to King that he had something powerful, then I didn’t know what would.
The only reason this dumb creature had even been able to open a space to get out of this pocket of the Dream-veil was because he held King.
“Go ahead, Sky. Why don’t you cry and give me some more of your excuses about why there’s nothing wrong with you.
If that was true, your boyfriend wouldn’t be about to die here in the veil.
Or should I take you over, you soft, weak man?
I can leave the other weakling and become your echo instead.
Go back in your body and let this tasty morsel be mine. ”
It cackled, but this time I ignored it and looked down. “Booker,” I hissed. Silver energy crackled across the top of the mirror like lightning.
He looked into my cupped hands, and a blinding smile lit up his face. He gripped my shoulder. “You can do this, Sky. Elyse told me to remind you that you were born to do this. You and King carry the soulmate birthmarks because this is your destiny. She said, don’t forget.”
Between her words and the echoes of Ego’s song, I felt my confidence returning. I could do this. Fuck my dad. Fuck this mimic. I would do this.
The mirror crackled again, sparks of purple and red shooting through the silver.
“Wow,” Booker murmured.
Looking from the mirror to the oversized replica of my dad, I began the transfer.
“What looks wrong, what sounds wrong
“Creature with no place to belong.”
“What are you doing, boy? You can’t harm me,” it said, swinging King again. I glanced with concern at my boyfriend, who had turned a little green, like being swung by the mimic was the worst swing carnival ride in existence.
“What looks wrong, what sounds wrong
“You don’t belong.
“What looks wrong, what sounds wrong
“I have built you a home where echoes stay strong.”
“No!” it screeched. Glancing up, I saw it reaching, stretching, trying to get even a finger tip through the slit.
Raising my voice, I continued,
“No further, no farther, no flesh to borrow
“Return to your echo, you being of sorrow
“What looks wrong, what sounds wrong
“This is your home
“Come home.”
I held the mirror up higher, and the creature shrieked again, lifting King higher toward the slit he’d created. “You might get me, but you won’t get your Dreamwalker.”
Ignoring its claims, I chanted with more conviction.
“You don’t belong here.
“Not in light, not in breath, not in form
“By mirror and flame, by sound and name
“Return to your echo and be gone.”
The thing shrank down, and as soon as it and King were the same size, my guy kicked out with his feet, shoving off its chest. He fell into a heap on the floor, and Patchy immediately jumped into his lap, licking at his face.
The creatures screamed, trying to intimidate me, then Booker, but the shrinking process was too far underway, and it reached the size of a flea, making nothing more than squeaky noises.
Instead of realizing it was done, the mimic tried putting one last burst of speed into a flight for the still-open slit.
“Return to the echo chamber and be gone!” I thundered, putting every bit of intent and conviction I possessed into it. As it fell, I clapped the compact closed around its body.
“Holy shit, you got it,” King said, pushing up from the floor.
He reached for me, but I stepped back, shaking my head. “Let’s finish this first.” I held the clasped the compact between my hands, conjuring fire to run through my veins until my hands heated.
“Dream to dream, veil to veil
“I unmake the path, I choose the trail
“Light remembers, shadows forget
“You are unspoken, and our world resets.”
As I finished, all the adrenaline rushed out of me, and King and Booker each caught an arm as I stumbled forward. King kissed the side of my head. “You did it, sweetheart.”
Booker squeezed my arm. “You saved us.”
Feeling thankful and so very grateful this nightmare was done, I said, “Patchy, home.”
I woke up snuggled in King’s arms with the feeling of sunshine on my face. Had I slept in after all of that?
“King,” I mumbled.
“Oh, thank the goddess, Sky.” He squeezed me tighter to his chest.
“What’s wrong? What time is it?” I blinked my eyes open to find everyone standing over the blow-up mattress, staring down at me with various expressions of concern and happiness. “Did something else happen?”
Chance threw his hands up in the air. “The man’s been asleep for twelve hours straight, scaring me half to death, and he wants to know if something else happened. Like what he did last night wasn’t enough.”
“Twelve hours?” I shook my head, trying to pull my brain online. If it had been that long, what was Sky’s boss or Carli and Cassi doing here? Or Jetty, for that matter. He’d already taken off work yesterday.
“Mhm,” Elyse said, dropping down next to me and smoothing my hair back off my forehead. “You really tuckered yourself out.”
“Will it always be like that?” I asked, my gaze moving from her to Rosie.
“No, dear. I’m not sure your body was quite ready to contain all that power. We usually work up to that.”
King’s arms tightened around me. “You were magnificent, Sky.”
I huffed. “Thank you, but I couldn’t have done it without Ego.”
My cousin blinked, dropping down to sit at my feet. “What do you mean?”
“I heard that song you made up for us when we were teenagers. Do you remember the one?”
“It’s like we’re twins, you and me.
“They can’t see that you belong to me.
“You’re truly my brother from another mother.
“And it’s your love that carries me.
“Don’t ever leave me, brother of mine.
“My world would cease to shine.
“So always fight, to come back to me.
“And together, we’ll fight to be free,” he sang.
“Yes. That one. I heard it.” I coughed, and Harry appeared with a glass of water.
“You need to hydrate, master Skylar. You made us all proud last night.”
My cheeks heated under his approving gaze, and I took a long drink, then looked back to my cousin. “I don’t know why, but it came up in my thoughts just when I needed it.”
Chance grinned. “It’s because he sang it. Right here in the living room when you were fighting that thing.”
“According to what we’ve pieced together, he started singing not long after the mimic transformed into your father,” King said.
“No way. How is that possible?” I asked, amazed.
Looking as awed as I felt, Ego shook his head again. “Chance thinks, well, he thinks I’m a sound witch.”
“Really? That’s a thing? How freakin’ cool is that.”
“Right? I don’t know what it means, but it feels cool. Maybe even a little important.”
Gran hummed. “You Reigns are gifted, that’s for sure.”
My cousin and I locked gazes, both of our mouths tightening in acknowledgement that this must come from our fathers’ side of the family then, which kinda sucked, but then again. “We rock!” I yelled.
“Yeah, we do.” He laughed a joyous sound that warmed my heart.
As my gaze moved around the room, I noticed Scotty staring at Ego like he was a puzzle he couldn’t figure out, and I hoped that meant my friend would eventually give my cousin a chance.
Not in a romantic way or anything, but at least to prove to him that he could be another person that he could trust and depend on.
Snuggling back into King, I catalogued his breath on the side of my face and the way his arms held me so tenderly.
I could’ve lost this last night. We could’ve lost what we were building together, and just the thought of it made me want to throw up.
But we both knew better now. He wouldn’t deny me the pleasure of his company, and I’d take my training seriously.
I never wanted to encounter a situation like last night again without feeling more prepared to hold my own.
“Has anyone seen Patchy?” I wondered aloud.
Pops snorted. “Your little pup is giving Duchess a run for her money. The last I saw, he was following her around the parlor.”
Just thinking about it cracked me up, and as much as I’d love to get up and see, I was exhausted and there were other things I needed to know first. “No, really. Why is everyone here, though? Who opened Witch’s Brew?”
Carli smiled sweetly. “We were there this morning for the rush, then took the afternoon off and came back.”
“We’re so proud of you,” Cassi added. “We wanted to be here to congratulate you.”
“Although,” Carli said, picking up again. “We expected you to be up and about by the time we returned. Who knew you’d be such a sleepy head?”
Chance put his hand in the air. “Me. He used to love to sleep in.”
King’s chuckle heated the shell of my ear. “I think he deserved a little lie-in this time.”
My gaze moved to Malcolm. “You stayed, too? Or did you come back?”
He chuckled. “Well, Marc and I ran and picked up bagels from The Daily Knead to give the guys a break, but then I came back. Being Lorewarden all these years has been such a lonely job. The only people who remember exactly who I am don’t live local. It’s nice to have people to talk to.”
I craned my head and met King’s gaze. He shrugged, and I knew we’d have to come back to that once we were alone.
“I think it’s nice for my Mr. to have a running buddy,” Elyse said with a giggle.
“Like you don’t, Mrs.,” he responded, pointing a finger at Rosie. He had a valid point.
My gaze finally rested on Booker. “How are you feeling?”
“Better.” He huffed. “Relieved. I can never thank you all enough. Especially you, Sky. You saved my life.”
“I don’t know about that.” Or maybe I did.
Maybe King’s dreamwalking leading us to him really did save the young sorcerer from eventually losing his mind and giving in to the mimic.
What would it be like to have one of those things walking around on this side of the veil?
What could it do? I shivered, not even wanting to know. “What will you do now?”
A small self-conscious grin crept onto his face, and he darted a glance over at Carli and Cassi. “The Harts have, uh, offered to let me work for them.”
Cassi tutted. “It’s more than that. We needed help anyway, so we’re renting him out the apartment above the café as part of his wages, and we’ll be training at night.”
Carli smiled widely. “Imagine that, getting to train the next great sorcerer.”
Booker’s cheeks tinged pink, and he ducked his head, much to all of our amusement.
“So you all just sat around and watched me sleep like a bunch of weirdos?” I asked.
“We also talked and made plans to spend more time together,” Gran said.
Chance nodded. “I blocked out some dates so that we have the space and privacy to use the B&B for training. We’ve gotten lucky so far, but…” He trailed off.
Yeah, having a giant slumber party with all of your closest mystic friends, and a few ghosts to boot, wouldn’t have worked if he’d had guests last night.
“We also decided that we’d go to the boardwalk this weekend,” Jetty added.
Ego fist-pumped the air. “I can’t wait. Sky, did you know Chance sees—” He cut himself off, glancing over at Scotty.
Stevie rolled his eyes. “Ignore my brother. You can say it, Ego. He sees dead people. Spirits. Apparitions. Take your pick.”
“Yeah.” Ego turned back to me. “So he said we could stop and talk to some. He can’t reveal them to me or anything without, you know, everyone being able to see them, but it should be cool.”
“And it’s the last weekend for rides, so it should be fun,” King added.
Turning in his arms to face him, I said, “I’m pretty sure we have a date on the Ferris Wheel.”
His face flushed with pleasure as he leaned in to press a kiss to my lips. Our boardwalk adventure couldn’t come soon enough. I had something to say to this man.