39. Wilder
Wilder
I can’t get Oz off my mind as I follow Emmer Sandoval up the street. Monsters pass by in pairs and throuples, waving at us and greeting him. We don’t pass anyone I recognize, but I’m only looking for Oz, anyhow.
As snow begins to fall from the sky, Emmer slows to walk next to me. “Have you gone through the welcome book yet?”
I shake my head. “I’ve got one and looked through, but I haven’t completed the scavenger hunt.”
“You’re missing out,” he says as we mount the steps through the mansion gates. “Do it with Oz, once you find him. He’ll be a great tour guide.”
“Do you even know him? I thought he’d only lived here six or eight months, and you moved long ago, right?”
“We’ve never met,” he says, “but the Gulch keeps up with Father and me, and so we know him, in a way.”
“Could you be more cryptic?” I grumble, looking up at the sky as if I might find Oz hovering above us.
Emmer says nothing else as we go into the mansion, up the stairs and down the clock hole into Sipan’s lair. Artur Sandoval sits in one of the big leather chairs with Willa standing next to it.
“Ah, I’m thankful Emmer was able to convince you to come, and sorry for Saint’s mistreatment of your mate.”
Growling, I cross the room and drop to both knees in front of him. “If you’d gotten rid of that asshole like I requested, tonight wouldn’t have happened.”
“You’re right about that,” Artur says, his smile falling. “I couldn’t be sorrier for that. We tried to keep him out of your way, but unfortunately that didn’t work out so well tonight. If I see your mate, I will apologize personally for what he experienced.”
He waves at Willa. “That’s not why we asked you to come here, however. You asked about a key, and it is hidden here, in this very room. We believe it’s time to pass the key along to you and your sister, and your mate too, of course.”
I’m about to remind Artur that this hardly feels important right now when Oz is out there somewhere hurting.
“I promised him something he can use to get back in his mate’s good graces, Father,” Emmer says with a little smile. “Perhaps we should move this along a little faster.”
Artur chuckles and rises with the help of my sister, who holds his elbow steady. He pats her thankfully on the hand. “Ah, to be young and in love, mmm? I remember when I met my mate…”
“Wouldn’t know,” Willa says with a soft smile. “Wilder’s the lucky first Lane to fall in love.”
“Mmm?” Artur looks between us. “Alright then.” He waves us toward the other side of the sitting area where the ophiotaurii chair rests. “Emmer, if you will?”
Emmer nods and drops to a knee, fishing around beneath the coils of the chair. He fingers the coil where Kohdiy’s rattle rested. The chair lets out a big snap, and a piece of the rattle rest pulls loose. The big minotaur withdraws it and lifts it.
“I’ll be damned,” Willa says with a soft, surprised noise. “A fucking key, a literal key.”
“Literal key,” Artur says as he opens his hand for Emmer to place it within.
“The gulch is ready for this key to come into use again.” He gestures at the journals.
“The reason it lived beneath this particular chair is that, once upon a time, the ophiotaurii were valued members of Pine Gulch society. Then they lost their queen, and their clan fell into a disorganized, warlike state. It’s not the way they’re meant to be, though.
” He looks around and grabs a journal then hands it to Willa.
“This book has much of this clan’s history. You’ll need it.”
I glance at Willa to find her looking relatively unsurprised at this news. I’ll have questions about that later.
“And what are we supposed to do about that?” I ask as I take the key from Artur and examine it. It’s gorgeous, all burnished golden metal and ornately beautiful, scrolled just like the symbols on the portal doors.
“Help them find their queen,” Artur says simply. “A task for a Keeper, to be sure. The ophiotaurii live as one with the land, and the way they are now is a shadow of what they are meant to be. Once fierce protectors, they are now lost and nearly disbanded.
“Nobody in my family ever tested positive for Keeping skills… We couldn’t take over Sipan’s work if we tried, and the gods know I tried.” He smiles at us. “It’s your turn.”
Spinning slowly on his heel, he heads for where Oz and I walked through the portal from the Sandoval ranch. “C’mon, slowpokes,” he says. “Let’s get this key into its door, shall we?”
Willa and I exchange a wary look, but at this point, what do we have to lose?
Emmer shoots me a big smile. “This is the part where you’re gonna get to impress your mate, cowboy.”
Cowboy.
Oz’s nickname for me.
Gritting my teeth, I nod. “Good. Let’s do this.”
“It just goes in the back of the door to the lair,” Artur explains as he hobbles toward the entrance. “Shouldn’t take us long to find.”
Good. Because after that I’m finding my mate and I’m doing everything in my power to show him how much I love him.