47. Chapter 47 #2
“Fine.” Ora spoke with finality, breaking my thoughts.
“I told you all I didn’t want her out of my sight anyway.
” She turned to me before I could object.
“We can refract there—make it easier to get where we need to go—search for the keys, then refract back to Paige so we can figure out what our apparent great-great-times-seven-or-something granddaddy suggests on what to do with them.”
“Fyom stays here,” Addis chimed in. I gave her a disbelieving look as she continued, “He’s bound to me here.”
Before anyone could interject, Fyom spoke. “This is a good plan. This leaves me time with the journal to decipher it and figure out what Deric wrote. I’ll need Uriah here as well, in case we need to correspond with Paige.”
The thought of being separated from Fyom was an odd feeling. He had become such a strong rock and force I steadily depended on. He had turned into the family I needed and nestled deep into a piece of my heart. Ora and I reluctantly nodded in agreement.
***
It took us all just a few short minutes to grab our packs and find a map of the continent of Wieldera that highlighted all of the realms on a single page. Ariadne pointed to the bordering edge where Dokvalon and Gria met in the northwest corner, resting at the base of the Shadowcraig Mountains.
We walked back, with Ariadne in chains, to the clearing where we’d originally refracted from Loamil. Addis was in tow to ensure Fyom stayed bound to his oath and didn’t make the jump with us.
As Ora and Sury said their goodbyes to Fyom and Uriah, I turned to Peiro.
“Hey,” I said softly as I stood in front of him.
My palm cupped the lower part of his jaw in hopes of bringing him comfort, but he jerked away from my touch.
“What’s going on?” The movement of his dejection crashed hard in my chest.
Peiro bit his bottom lip before finally bringing his sinister silver eyes to mine. “Everything’s fine,” he gritted. I raised my eyebrow, clearly not believing him. His face softened a bit as he gingerly wrapped his pointer finger around mine. “Just visiting a past I wanted to leave behind.”
My shoulders slumped. “This will all be over soon. We’ll find these keys and do I-don’t-know-what with them, but it’s one less chance for anyone to control you.
” I smiled, attempting to coax one from him, and rose to the tips of my toes to plant a kiss to his lips.
Instead of the soft return, I was met with skin that felt like cold stone.
When I pulled away and tried to speak, we overheard Ariadne in the background ordering someone to help shift her chains. Peiro mumbled “I’ll deal with it” before stepping around me completely.
I turned, ready to question him, but was caught by Fyom’s hug. He smelled of pine, something I’d never noticed before. Home settled into my mind as I sank deeper into his hug, tears swelling in my eyes. My ear rested close enough to hear the heartbeat in his chest, a soothing melody.
“Why did you do it?” I whispered into his tunic. The thought of him turning into a Follower broke pieces of my heart.
Fyom’s deep chuckle vibrated through his chest and into the side of my head, moving stray hairs on my head and tickling my face.
“Can I tell you a secret?” He pulled back enough to grant us space but still I remained linked between his arms. He brought forth his hand for me to see.
Where I should have seen a cut, I saw a smooth palm instead.
“But how?”
“You saw me cut my hand, but since I never gave up practicing my Healing, I closed the wound before I took Addis’s hand. She will be pissed knowing I found a loophole.”
“What is going to happen when she finds out?” Worry coiled around the possibilities of how she could retaliate.
“Trust me, she cannot hurt me more than she already has.” My lip quivered.
“But let me worry about that. You and your sister find those keys. Let me and Uriah figure out the pages. One step at a time.” He planted a small kiss to the top of my head, the act so similar to that of a father.
I squeezed him tighter, my arms barely reaching fully around him.
Uriah pulled me into a tight hug next and rubbed his knuckles across my scalp, fraying my already loosely bound hair.
I laughed and pushed him away, but not before I heard a distant growl from Peiro a few feet back.
“Take care of yourself, okay? Pa’s a crazy bastard himself, but I’ll make sure he stays out of trouble before you return.
” He winked and sauntered back to where Fyom stood.
We stood in a line again, my hand clasped with Ora’s as Sury grabbed her free one. Peiro stiffly stood at my side as he held on to Ariadne’s chains, pulling her in close. I noticed his knuckles were white and his hand visibly shook.
“Hey.” I turned to face him but was stopped as soon as Ariadne spoke up.
“Can we get this show on the road, please?” she whined.
“Let’s get this over with,” Peiro grumbled under his breath.
Ora leaned forward. “Have somewhere to be, Priestess? Some pressing appointment?”
I looked up to Peiro once more. His eyes were locked on something in the distance before he seemingly blinked back to the present and took my hand in a vice grip, the pressure giving me a surprising shock.
“Ready?” Ora called to everyone.
“Good luck.” Fyom smiled and waved as Ora’s magic and mine rose to and clashed together, pulling us to the keys.