36. Wilder
Wilder
The small cave Oz just found is maybe ten feet deep and ten feet tall, and every inch of the red stone walls are covered in the same flowery markings we found in Sipan’s “lair.”
“Shit, we can’t read these,” Oz murmurs as he runs his big fingers over the wall. “Not without Kohdiy, I guess.” He turns to me. “Do you suppose that might mean Kohdiy’s the new Keeper? But why now? And also, that’s very disconcerting. I can’t imagine he’d want that job.”
I shake my head. “Ain’t that part of the problem? Nobody here really wants the job, and everyone HQ sends sucks at it?”
“Yeah,” Oz muses, staring around. He walks to the back of the cave, running his hands over everything he can reach.
I follow him with the light, but there’s nothing obvious until we reach the singular large rock at the back of the cave.
It’s as tall and flat as everything else, but when Oz touches it, the symbols on the wall glow a bright green.
“Get back!” I bark as the symbols appear to move and morph and expand.
Oz leaps backward into my arms, and I pull him behind me. The symbols melt into one another as green streaks swirl outward from the center of the stone. I back Oz and me against the far wall, ready to shove him out of the entrance if this is something dangerous.
Minutes later, though, all the symbols have joined to form a glowing green surface.
Oz peeks out from behind me, emitting a little gasp. “What does that remind you of, Wild?”
“Portal. Or the protective ward.”
“Let’s go in.” Oz pushes past me and heads for the portal.
I grab his elbow and halt him. “You can’t just go through there not knowing where this leads, Oz. That’s foolish.”
He turns and gives me a sassy look, pulling his arm carefully from my grip. “Willa told us Sipan had created a secret network of portals, remember? They work two ways, so we can always come back if we need to.”
I don’t know enough about the portal tech to argue with him, but I run a hand over my mouth as I consider what he’s saying.
“C’mon, Wild,” he says, waving me toward the portal. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
I shoot him an exasperated look. “You get taken straight to a jail cell at Hearth HQ for violating their portal protocol. This isn’t supposed to even exist, remember?
Sipan was breaking all the headquarters’ rules when he created this, assuming he’s the one who created it, and this isn’t some rogue portal. ”
Oz chuckles as he walks to the portal and stops, glancing over his shoulder at me. “I didn’t peg you for such a cautious male, Wilder Lane. You always this way?”
Joining him, I place my left hand on his waist, gripping him so we can walk through together. “Just when there’s something I care enough about to protect it.”
He rubs his ass against me, cooing as his cheek brushes mine. “I’ve got a good feeling about this, baby, so let's go, okay?” Taking my hand, he steps forward and pulls me through the glittering green surface.
It’s a relief to find the interior of the portal looks like every other portal I’ve walked through—a long green tubelike hallway with a flat portal at the opposite end.
Oz walks easily down the length of it, seeming unbothered by the fact that we just walked into an illegal portal on the property I’m signing for sometime next week, assuming the deal doesn’t go totally sideways when I next talk to Emmer.
At the far end, Oz halts and looks up at me. “Step through together? If it doesn’t look good we’ll just…I dunno, run back this way?”
“Deal,” I mutter, staring at the portal and wishing there was a way to see through.
Oz grabs my hand and drags me before I can think too much more about it. We step through, and I hold my breath until we fully emerge.
Willa, Lemon, Bluebell and a male who looks a lot like Bluebell all jump up from the seating area inside Sipan’s lair.
“The fuck?!” Willa shouts. “You discovered one of the portals!”
Oz bursts out laughing and doubles over with his head between his legs. “Gods, girls, we really thought we might be stepping into a mess.”
Willa snorts and looks at him. “And you willingly dragged my grumpy big brother into it?”
“Could barely hold him back,” Oz says easily.
“Where’d it lead from?” She stares at the green portal.
“New place,” Wilder says. “A cave down by the river.”
She turns with a bright smile. “You were looking for the key? Did you find it?”
Oz shakes his head. “I was feeling good when I found the cave, but it was just covered in these same spells, and when we touched the wall, the portal opened.”
“No key, damn.” Willa’s disappointment is obvious in her tone and the way she clasps her hands at her waist.
I shake my head, sliding a hand up Oz’s back to rest between his wings. “Lots of river and a small cave covered in the same writing as in here. Maybe Kohdiy can decipher it, but Oz and I sure couldn’t.”
The unknown male places his hands on his hips. “Or maybe I could. I’m a quick study.”
I stare between them. Willa chuckles and points at him. “Wild, this is Bluebell’s younger brother Jace. He’s a green witch and quite the academic.” She jerks her head toward the portal, which is still glowing behind us. “Jace, you wanna go through and take a look?”
“What have y’all found here?” Oz asks, joining them. On the table between the four are piles of Sipan’s journals and random sheets of paper.
“It’s fascinating,” Jace exclaims, dropping into the seat and pointing at a few of the journals.
“In depth details on how the pumpkin maze water collection system works. It’s tied into the river the underground boats travel on, unsurprisingly, but it’s a pretty complicated system that runs all over Pine Gulch.
It’s kind of amazing that he was able to build this all those years ago.
Then, of course,” he pushes a journal carefully toward Oz, “there’s a whole collection of journals just on his green magic work.
He had so many plans, so many things he didn’t get to do before he passed.
” He looks around the cavernous room. “And it seems like PG has been waiting for someone to show up and take on that work.”
“It appears to me you’re well on your way.”
We wheel around as a group at the new voice. At the edge of the seating area, behind the ophiotaurii chair, stands a huge holograph of a minotaur with giant wide horns. It could only be Sipan—the stark white fur and pink-red eyes are highly uncommon among minotaurs.
“I’m a recorded hologram,” he continues on with a big smile, “so I can only answer certain questions. But, of course, if you’re here, then you’re close to finding everything I left for my sweet girl, PG.”
Above us, the thick wooden beams holding up the ceiling creak and crackle, the sound like greeting an old friend.
Willa rounds the table to stand right in front of the ophiotaurii chair. “Why haven’t we seen you before now, and were we correct that all your journals and that poem lead to a key to the city?”
“Whoa, one question at a time,” he says with a teasing laugh, red eyes springing wide. “Goodness girl, you are exuberant.” He winks. “I like that, though.”
“How did he do this,” Oz murmurs beside me. “The programming needed for something like this…”
“There’s a whole journal about it,” Jace whispers. “I just hadn’t gotten past the first page or two. This is extraordinary.”
Sipan’s hologram continues on as he tucks both big thumbs in the pockets of a dapper brown vest. A watch chain dangles from one of the pockets.
“Let’s tackle that first question, shall we?
Naturally, I programmed my hologram to appear once someone was smart enough to find the first portal.
I’ll be available from here on out to answer the questions I was able to foresee. ”
Willa nods. “And my second question?”
He pauses, matching her expression. “I was blessed with a unique combination of intellect and imagination, and though minotaurs are long-lived, I knew I’d never have time during my life to do everything I wanted to do.
It was my biggest regret. But I knew I couldn’t leave PG to any old monster or monstress who might come after me.
And I also knew not every monster would be suited to running things the way I did.
I felt the way I ran things was very cohesive with the Gulch’s own wishes.
She’s sassy and inventive, if you hadn’t noticed. ”
“Oh, we’ve noticed,” Lemon mutters. “Was the Gulch Gossip around when you were here?”
Sipan cocks his head to the side. “I’m afraid I don’t have the programming to answer that question.
” Looking away from Lemon, he returns his focus to Willa.
“It’s the rare monster who could partner with the Gulch the way I have, the way she wants.
And so I turned my office into a memory capsule of sorts.
The portal you gentlemen stepped through,” he waves at the still glowing portal surface, “is one of a dozen that lead all over the haven.”
Willa starts thumping her foot as she crosses her arms. “And suppose PG wanted something other than what you gave her? Suppose she didn’t want another you?”
The hologram chuckles. “Ah, you weren’t here in the early days, young lady. You didn’t know us then, and that’s okay. But believe me when I say PG and I were soulmates of a sort, and she’d like a partnership like that again. If she set you on this path, then the time has come.”
“So, what about the key to the city?” Jace waves a journal at the hologram. “It’s never specifically called out as such in your journals, but it seems like there’s a key to unlocking all the parts of Pine Gulch that are currently hidden. How do we unlock it?”
“Unlock the door and find the key,” Sipan says with a shrug. “Do what I would do?”
Then, with a zap, he disappears.
Bluebell scoffs. “That was as clear as fucking mud. Did he really just say ‘Do what I would do’ and disappear?’” She looks at Oz.
“Does it seem like this dude gets off on withholding information, perhaps? Ugh, I’m going home.
Oh! Oh!” She stares around around group.
“We all thought he died in a potions accident. We should ask about it. Maybe that’s a clue, too? ”
“So stay, Bloob,” Willa whines playfully. “We can figure it all out.”
“She’s hangry,” Lemon says, clapping her hands to Bluebell’s shoulders. “I’ll take her for a burger. We’ll be back later unless she’s enticed by her delicious mate. Then she’ll Irish-goodbye me, and we will not be back later.”
Willa sighs and looks at me. “Is nobody fully committed to this thing?”
Jace raises a hand. “Me! I am!”
Oz looks at me, waggling both dark brows.
“Us too,” I say with a sigh. “Count us in.”