Chapter 11
I ’d never been this far into the rims, into the gray where my lungs felt too tight and my skin itched.
Orix had commandeered a minibus from Outpost Two, large enough to transport us all.
If not for Willowman’s dire condition, this might have been a fun field trip into an area filled with pockets of mundane land.
Before leaving, Orix had agonized over whether to bring Taz or not, but in the end, he’d opted to leave the feline in Yarrow’s care. It seemed that Taz was officially becoming the academy mascot.
The vehicle we’d commandeered might have been spacious for humans, but it was a crush for goyles.
The goyles’ larger size made it impossible for them to share a bench, let alone drive this thing. Levi and I took it in turns at the wheel.
He was in the driver’s seat now while I sat at the back, close to Willowman stretched out on the long back bench.
We’d strapped him down as best we could to prevent him rolling off.
Derek had taken the spot on the floor below the seat, the only space large enough to accommodate his frame.
Shar sat opposite me, her legs stretched out across her double seat, and I was hit by déjà vu from our first meeting.
She met my gaze and smiled. Yeah, she remembered too.
“I can’t believe how far we’ve come from that first bus ride,” Touron said from the seat beside mine. “I knew as soon as we met that we’d be friends.”
Shar snorted. “Of course you did.”
“I did, even with you giving us the cold shoulder.”
Shar sighed. “I was a little harsh, wasn’t I?”
“But you softened up to my charm.” Touron made a kissy face, and Shar rolled her eyes.
“It looks so bleak,” Ginia said from her window seat.
The sun was rising, its fragile rays casting fingers across a barren landscape either side of the winding road.
“Our eyes see color differently,” Palia said from the spot behind her. “But they don’t work as well when there is no magic. We’re basically seeing what a human would see.”
“That sucks,” Touron said. “For them.”
The minibus went over a bump, and Willowman moaned softly. I slipped off my seat, and Derek tucked in his legs to allow me to crouch beside the witch. He’d been unconscious for hours but cracked an eyelid now, looking up at me blearily. “Cameron?”
“Yes, it’s me. How are you?—”
“There are so many stars.” He looked through me. “It’s so beautiful.” His eyes slipped closed.
“He’s still not fully with us,” Curi said.
“What if we were too late? What if they broke him?” Ginia said.
“We can’t think like that,” Shar replied. “This Calista person will help. She has to.”
I needed to believe that. I stroked Willowman’s dark hair back off his clammy forehead. “You’re gonna be fine. I know it.” I moved to the front of the van, squeezing past Curi’s and Orix’s legs to get to Levi. “How much farther to this Mistlegate place?”
“Not long. Another ten miles,” Levi said. “We’ll see it soon.”
“And it’s half mundane, half magical?” Palia asked.
“That’s what Willowman told me,” Orix said.
“Well, we need to get into the magical region soon,” Curi said. “My skin hurts.”
“Mine too,” Touron said.
“I feel tingling,” Derek said. “But no pain.”
Levi hadn’t been very communicative since leaving the academy. I climbed into the passenger seat.
“You okay?”
“Not really.”
“What’s wrong?”
His jaw tightened in that way I recognized when he was deliberating his words. “I’m not sure my father was telling the truth. I think he knew about the deep dive.”
“Why didn’t you confront him?”
“If he is lying to me, if he’s…hiding things, then I don’t want him to know that I’m on to him. I need to play the trusting son.”
“But you don’t trust him now?”
“I haven’t spent much time with him. Not face-to-face. Not until recently, and now that I have…Cameron, I have warning bells going off inside me.”
Finally. He was seeing his sire for what he was: the person who’d orchestrated his brother’s and sister-in-law’s deaths and abandoned his nephew.
It was time that Levi knew the truth. “He didn’t look for Serath, you know?
He sent him away. Put him in an orphanage and made sure that his records went missing.
Farnell found Serath by accident. He took him in. ”
A muscle in Levi’s jaw jumped. “A few days ago, I wouldn’t have believed you, but now…”
“There’s more. Serath believed that your father had something to do with his parents’ deaths.”
He threw a sharp glance my way before focusing on the road again. “I may not trust what my father said back in Carter’s office, but I can’t allow myself to believe he could be a murderer. Not his own brother.”
But the tension around his eyes told me differently, which was good because I hadn’t believed a word that came out of Ulrickson’s mouth.
“We’re here,” Levi said. “That must be it.”
Curi hung over the back of my seat, his cheek close to my head. “Mistlegate population 550/450. Clever.”
“Step on the gas, Levi,” Orix said. “I need to breathe.”
We accelerated over the town line and into Mistlegate proper.
Crossing the halfway point of the town was surreal. Going from a winter scape to summer in a roll of a tire was enough to make my head spin. But the itch under my skin abated, and the band around my chest eased, allowing me to take a full, satisfying breath.
“Fuck, that’s better,” Curi growled.
“No more tingles,” Derek said.
“I don’t think I like being mundane,” Palia said.
“Me either,” Ginia replied.
“Which way?” Levi asked Orix.
“I’m not sure. Park and I’ll go get directions.”
Levi brought the van to a halt against the curb, and Orix climbed out and stretched. The others followed, eager to be out of the tin can. Derek looked torn, glancing from Willowman to the freedom of the street.
I smiled down at him. “Go stretch your legs. I’ll keep an eye on him.”
“You sure, my Cameron?”
“Positive.”
Derek carefully unfolded his body and ducked out of the bus, stretching and expanding to his full height.
He’d somehow made himself smaller to fit in the bus.
That couldn’t have been comfortable. Maybe I should have asked him to stay behind, but…
but Derek was his own person, and I needed to allow him to make his own decisions.
I crouched beside Willowman again. “We’re here, Willowman. We’re going to get you to Calista, just hang in there.”
If he heard me, he gave no sign of it.
Across the street, Orix was in conversation with a small man. The others stood on the pavement on this side of the road. Orix broke away from the man and jogged back to the van.
“There’s a port across the road,” he called out. “We take that, and it will drop us opposite her store.”
I scooped up Willowman, Levi locked up the van, and we headed across the street to an ornate lamppost that had a peacock statue on top of it.
“What do we do?” Ginia asked.
“Just touch it,” Orix said. He reached out and did just that and vanished.
“Cool,” Ginia went next, and Palia followed.
“Go on,” Levi said. “You go next.”
I pressed my back to the lamppost, Willowman held tightly in my arms, and the world tipped, righting itself quickly to leave me standing on a pavement opposite a row of pretty storefronts.
“I think it’s that one,” Orix said, hands on hips.
Shar and Derek appeared, then Levi, Curi, and Touron followed a moment later.
“Couldn’t we all have ported together?” Ginia asked.
“Best not to,” Palia said. “Small numbers mean less chance of a mix-up.”
“What do you mean?” Levi asked.
“Body parts being switched for one,” Palia said.
All the males looked down at their crotches.
Ginia stifled a giggle.
“Thank fuck I went through solo,” Shar said as we crossed the street toward what seemed to be a bookstore.
The bell above the door tinkled as Orix pushed it open for me.
I carried Willowman to the counter. “Hello? Calista?”
A man stepped out of the back room, ducking slightly to get through the door. The gray hair at his temple spoke of age, but I’d have put him in his mid to late thirties at a guess; however, if he was supernatural, that number could be way off.
“Can I help—” His eyes widened at the sight of Willowman in my arms then narrowed when they fell on Derek standing a step behind me. “What happened?”
“We need Calista,” Orix said. “Where is she?”
“She popped out to get milk. She’ll be back in a moment.” His gaze went back to Derek, and I could almost see the questions forming in his mind.
I hoisted Willowman up. “You have a back room? A bed? Somewhere we can lay him down?”
The man looked thrown but recovered quickly. “Are you friends of Calista?”
“No,” Orix said. “But he is.” He pointed to Willowman. “Now please, do you have somewhere we can put him down?”
The man pressed his lips together for a beat, and I thought he might argue, but then he nodded. “Yes, there is, but it’s not a large space. You won’t all be able to fit.” He looked to Derek once again.
“I’ll stay here,” Derek said.
“We all will,” Orix said. “Levi can go with Cameron.”
Levi stepped forward. “I can take him, Cam.”
“No, it’s fine. I got him.”
The man’s gaze settled on me again before flicking across to Levi. “Follow me.” He led us across the shop floor to another door which opened onto a narrow staircase which he struggled to squeeze up himself. It opened onto a cozy lounge filled with color and soft patchwork designs.
“You can put him on the sofa,” the man said.
I carefully laid Willowman down.
“Now I’m assuming she knows you because if not…Well, Calista doesn’t like her private space being invaded.”
“Honestly, I don’t care about upsetting anyone right now. My friend is hurt, and the last person he asked for before losing consciousness was her.”
The man nodded. “Very well, please make yourselves comfortable. I’ll send Calista up as soon as she’s back.”
He hurried back downstairs.
“What is he, do you think?” Levi asked me.
“No clue. But he’s a big guy.”
“I didn’t get a supernatural vibe off him.”
“A large human, then?”
“Likely. Maybe he and Calista are a thing.”
“Could be.” And we were making small talk. “I don’t want things to be awkward between us, Levi.”
He sighed, gaze softening. “It won’t be…It isn’t. We’re good.”
But something had changed. The connection we’d always fostered was tainted. My fault for pushing him away, but…it was for the best. Maybe now we could build a fresh friendship, one that wasn’t overshadowed by attraction.
The door opened, and a woman came flying into the room, wild-eyed and urgent. “Fuck, Willowman.” She shoved past me and fell to her knees beside the couch. “Hey, you…” She stroked his cheek. “What have they done to you, eh?”
“The alchemists attempted a deep dive,” Levi said. “We’re not sure how much damage?—”
“I heard. I’ve got this. You can go.”
“What?”
She looked up at me, fire in her eyes. “I said, you can go.”
My neck heated. “I am not leaving him.”
She stood slowly, her small frame vibrating with indignation. “And you’re not staying either, so I guess we’re at an impasse.”
“Whoa, whoa,” Levi said. “Look, Calista, Willowman means a lot to Cameron. He’s her friend, our friend. We just want to make sure he’s okay.”
Her eyes narrowed in my direction, nostrils flaring slightly. “Was it your blood he brought to me?”
“Yes.”
Her stance relaxed a little. “He obviously cares about you. Wouldn’t have made the journey otherwise.” She sighed. “Look, this isn’t something that can be fixed in a few hours. It could take days, and I work best when I’m left alone.”
“You want us to leave him here?”
“Yes.” She stared at me levelly. “I want you to leave him, and I want you to tell your council that he’s dead.”
“What?” Levi asked.
“You heard me. You tell them that he died along the way. Tell them that you buried him on the road, tell them whatever the fuck you want because there is no way I’m allowing my friend back into servitude for those motherfuckers.”
“Servitude? What are you talking about?”
She gave a small, incredulous exhale. “You think he works at the academy for free by choice? Because he loves being an errand boy to your kind? No. He did it to be with the man he loved. He took an oath so that he could stay with him, and when that man lost his mind, they made them both stay. They refused to dissolve the contract. But he’s done.
I won’t allow him to throw his life away any longer. ”
Wait…Varsa? “Varsa was his lover?”
“Yes, and from what I’ve heard, the goyle is lost in his own head now.”
“Varsa is dead.”
She stared blankly at me. “What?”
“He died last night. Willowman only just found out before they…they did this.”
She looked down at Willowman. “And it all makes sense. Varsa’s death dissolves the contract. They knew he was free. That he could leave and take all their secrets with him. Those bastards.” She lifted her chin, eyes glittering with anger.
“No,” Levi said. “If that was true, they’d never have let us leave with him.”
“Unless…” I looked up at Levi. “Unless they believed he wouldn’t recover?”
Calista’s mouth twisted in a bitter smile. “But they don’t know me. They don’t know what I’m capable of. Leave now. They have no claim on him any longer, but if they ask, tell them he died. Trust me, it’s for the best.”
The last thing I wanted to do was leave Willowman, but if what she was saying was true, and there was no reason for me to believe she was lying, then he was safest here with her.
Varsa’s funeral was tomorrow, and there was no way he’d be recovered enough to attend anyway.
This was for the best, but my heart ached anyway.
“Please tell him…Tell him I’m sorry. Tell him I’ll miss him and that…just, thank you for being there.” I blinked back tears, and Calista’s expression softened.
“I’ll tell him. Now please, you should all leave.”
The man with the graying temples popped his head round the door. “Is everything all right?”
“It’s fine, Ivor. They were just leaving.”
Ivor’s brows went up. “So soon?”
“Yes,” Calista bit out.
Ivor smiled, and his kind eyes warmed. “Well, safe journey. Maybe we’ll meet again soon.”
I followed Levi down the stairs, my heart heavy with the knowledge that Willowman had effectively been a prisoner for such a long time. And now that he was free to leave, they’d decided to use him as a scapegoat. To placate the Arcadian committee that all the moles had been found and dealt with.
Calista was right. It was best if they believed him to be dead, even if that meant we would probably never see him again.