Chapter 27 #2
I debate telling him, but it’s not really worth the fight right now. People have opinions, and there will be time to work on changing them after we save Cielo’s brothers. “It’s not important.”
Quilliyn looks like he doesn’t believe me, but he lets it go. Turning his attention back to Cielo, he asks, “Is the key somewhere safe?”
Cielo nods and answers in Eretharian.
Quilliyn gives him a slightly alarmed look, but it fades, and his shoulders and ears sag. “Alright. I will send you a text and we can arrange everything.”
Cielo nods and looks very pleased with himself. He turns to me and dips his head in for a kiss. I have a petty moment where I hope that Zane is watching and is grossly uncomfortable, but I don’t let it linger.
I’m too happy for that.
We break apart, and I take his hand, pulling him out of the room, and we head down the hall. I want to ask what the arrangements are, but I’d rather not take the risk of doing it here.
Instead, we head toward the doors and are nearly out when I hear someone calling Cielo’s name.
We both freeze, but he turns with a smile as I turn with a scowl. Zane’s jogging over, his curls flying free, juice bar hat in his hand. He gives me a look, then smiles at Cielo.
“Hey, man. Sorry to stop you. I just ah…I wanted to check on the possum.”
“Niaus,” Cielo says happily.
Zane nods. “She’s doing okay?”
“Gooood. Heelllthy,” Cielo tells him.
Zane glances at me again, then says, “Maybe I can come over and see her?”
“No,” I say, just as Cielo says, “Yes!”
He shoots me a concerned look and then in my head, asks, “I do not understand. Zane is a friend. He rescued Niaus with me.”
I know this. I do. But something’s rubbing me the wrong way. Maybe it’s the lack of brain fog, or the fact that I got a great night’s sleep, but something isn’t sitting right, and I don’t know why. Everest seems to think he’s a good guy, and Quilliyn says he’s someone worth having patience for.
So why can’t I let this go?
I feel like I’m gaslighting myself.
I have no real argument—none based on anything other than a feeling anyway—so I sigh and turn my attention back to Zane. “Fine. Come over. I’ll make pasta.”
“You don’t have to cook for me,” Zane starts, but I cut him off.
“My mother will have my head if I don’t. Anyway, my brother and my cousin and her wife will probably be over, too.”
Zane’s brow furrows. “Luca?” He says his name, but also uses the name sign Luca gives to people he doesn’t know well.
I forgot they’d met. And that Zane knows some ASL. “Yeah. Maybe next week—”
“Tonight?” Zane asks.
Cielo gives a soft trill and shakes his head. “Busssssy.” It sounds like bussy, and I almost burst into laughter. Even Zane blushes.
“We’re busy the rest of this week,” I clarify. Not with my bussy, probably, which is a shame. “How about Sunday?”
Zane looks like he wants to argue, but eventually he nods. “Sounds good. See you.” He offers Cielo a fist to bump, and Cielo does. It’s awkward and adorable, and I love him even more for that.
Shit, I really do love him.
I need to tell him. It’s not something I can hide anymore. We’ve been through too much together.
When Zane walks away, I take Cielo’s hand again and tug him outside. Neither one of us speaks until we’re in the car, but instead of pulling out onto the road, I turn toward him.
“Q said he can help. When is all of this happening?” I ask.
“Toneet,” Cielo tells me. “Sorrrry.”
“No.” It’s inconvenient, but the sooner the better. No one saw us using the portal last time, but I know the risk grows every time he opens one and sets foot in the place from which he’s been banished. “Can I come with you?”
Cielo reaches for me, cupping my cheek, and he nods. “Yes. My Dante. My home.”
I don’t know if he’s calling me his home or Erethar, but in this moment, I’m too afraid to ask. I’ll take either, though. The way he says my name constantly reminds me that I belong to him.
And wherever he is, that’s where my heart is.
That’s all that matters.
As Cielo and I make our way toward the portal, I feel a little bit like a rogue.
Like the guys in the romance novels Cielo’s been reading, minus the roguish clothing and swords, of course.
And Cielo isn’t a damsel in distress, either, but it could be a fun little scenario for us to play with once everything stops being total and utter chaos.
Ceilo’s tail is wrapped around my waist as we walk down the cracked cement path that leads to the abandoned subway station. It’s rarely used, blocked off by fencing and barbed wire. But it doesn’t keep Cielo out. He stops in front of it and then points to his chest.
I vaguely remember going here the night I was sick, but it’s in bursts and flashes that come and go. It’s like I’m experiencing this for the first time.
“Up.”
I glance up and then back down. “Wait. Do you want me to climb up there, or are you going to carry me?”
“Up…liiiike Niaus.”
My eyes widen, and I let out a small laugh. “Alright. On your back?”
He nods, and I do as he says, his tail wrapping around my waist like a seatbelt, and then he’s scaling it, like a lizard up a wall. It’s impressive, really. I knew they were fast, but I had no idea they could climb like this.
When he reaches the barbed wire, he says, “Hoooold on.”
And then he launches himself up and over, falling the rest of the way down. I close my eyes just as we land with a thud, his body taking most of the impact, but it still makes my teeth rattle.
“Shit,” I finally say. “Holy crap. That was…really awesome. And kind of scary.”
Cielo unwraps me, and I step onto unsteady feet. “Youu okay?”
I nod and run a hand through my hair, my fingers getting snagged on the braid. “Yeah, just wasn’t expecting that.”
Cielo pulls me into him and then ushers me forward, into the shadows where we won’t be seen.
I know he wants to be quick about this, and I’m holding him up, so I close my mouth and watch as he strides toward the stairwell.
It’s there that he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the portal key.
It looks like a piece of obsidian, but there’s something glowing within, almost like a heartbeat.
I don’t have time to examine it before he slots it into the wall and twists it.
A second later, there’s a flash of light and a low vibrating buzz. Cielo peers over at me, and I nod, holding out my hand. His fingers twine around mine, and we step through together.
It’s jarring, my mind whirling, my stomach roiling, but I manage the vertigo well. Probably all those years of dealing with nerve pain. I’m able to gain stability quickly.
Or at least I fake it until I make it.
“You okay?” Cielo asks.
I nod on a swallow, my eyes taking everything in once more. I vaguely remember this place, but I was in too much pain last time to take any of it in. Most of what I know is from the visions Cielo sent me through the bond.
“Let’s hurry and find your brothers.”
Cielo nods back, still holding onto me and leading me forward. My eyes move to the three moons, the fourth just a sliver in the dark night sky. As we walk, I see twinkling blue plants dotting the edge of the pathway, and through our bond, Cielo tells me they’re morvyn.
“Like a mushroom? Can you eat them?” I ask, and he nods his head, pulling me toward the looming trees, their purple trunks and pink leaves ominous in the darkness.
But Cielo seems to know where he’s going.
I close my mouth, opting for silence as we hurry through the forest. I don’t want anyone to know where we are. I don’t want either of us to have to endure any more pain. We have suffered enough.
Cielo peers down at me, and my movements falter.
“What?” I whisper. “Do you hear something?”
He shakes his head and then says softly, “You slow.”
My mouth drops open, and I let out a quiet laugh. “My legs are half the size of yours.”
He trills and then reaches for me, pulling me into his arms. My legs wrap around his narrow waist, my arms curled around his strong shoulders, and then we’re moving much quicker. His movements are fluid and almost silent.
And then we’re bursting through a copse of trees and into a large field. In the distance, I see the small thatched huts from before and a small fire burning, but other than that, it is devoid of life.
“Where are your brothers?” I whisper.
He shakes his head, hunching down, carrying me through the tall grass to where the huts abut the boundary. It’s only then that he stops moving and stands up, a trill leaving his mouth.
Nothing echoes back.
Dread pulses deep within me, and I whisper softly, “Should we leave? Maybe they’re not here.”
“Not yet.” Then he’s moving again, skirting along the back of the huts, my eyes taking in everything I can. The low crooked roofs, each sagging under its weight. It smells like soil and smoke and—I inhale—something very much like Cielo.
He turns between two huts and through a door, the inside dim and damp. He twists around, his eyes fluttering.
“What is this place?” I ask, my eyes adjusting to the darkness. I can make out two beds on the ground, crooked shelves, and two rustic-looking pans.
“Home,” he breathes, walking toward the shelf and touching something on it. A flicker, a glow, and then the hut is illuminated in a dark blue light.
I blink at the stone he’s holding and reach out to touch it, but he pulls it away and sets it back on the shelf.
“Nooot safe,” he says, his hands tightening on me.
“Is this where you grew up?” I ask, and he nods, moving toward one of the beds on the ground, his foot touching it gingerly. His ears fold down slightly, and he sighs. “I’m sorry you had to leave,” I whisper.
“Ees okay,” he says, his voice filled with sadness and longing. “I haaave you.”
His eyes are bright when they find mine, and I can’t help but lean in and kiss him. It’s filled with love and need, our bodies twined tightly around each other’s as our tongues tangle.
A trill has us ripping apart, our eyes darting to the hut opening.