Chapter 28
Twenty-Eight
Silence breaks with sniffles and soft sobbing. Bleary-eyed and barely awake, Hiram gets out of bed and approaches Veda from behind. She’s clutching her phone in shaking hands.
“What’s wrong?”
Veda turns into his embrace. “That was Gabriel. Ruth . . .” She chokes. “She’s gone. Ariadne . . . There was a fire. It was goodbye.”
Hiram feels a pang at her loss. Ruth’s memory is complicated by everything that’s come to light, so he can only imagine how Veda must be feeling.
When she tries to pull away, he holds on.
He’s gotten better at fighting her instincts, at not reacting to her resistance, just holding and giving her shelter. Even when she’s the storm.
“Let me take care of you,” he murmurs.
“I need to go. Everly—”
“Is in Portland with Marlene at rehab.”
“I—”
“You need to take care of yourself. It’s . . .” He glances at the glowing clock. “It’s three in the morning. There’s nothing you can do now.”
The last flicker of her resistance melts away.
She doesn’t want food, but eats the apple he slices for her.
She isn’t thirsty, but drinks the water he places in her hands.
Veda showers and he gives her space to grieve.
When she emerges in a towel, Hiram waits outside while she changes, returning only when she opens the door.
Her damp hair is already frizzing, but she lets him sit her down in front of the mirror in his room.
After she moisturizes her hair, Hiram quietly brushes and fashions it into a single French braid to keep it from tangling.
He’s so focused, he doesn’t notice her watching.
“You’re not real,” she murmurs.
“Remember that next time I piss you off.”
Her smile is little more than a weak smirk. Nonetheless, it’s a feat. She accepts a clean shirt and shorts that don’t quite fit, then climbs into his bed. Beneath the covers, she initiates the tangling of legs and hands.
“You’re afraid,” Hiram whispers.
“Deathly.” Veda’s confession is barely a whisper. “Of things within my control and beyond.”
“I am, too.” Hiram lifts onto his elbow to look at her. “The only way out is through.”
“I know.” The corners of her lips dip into a frown. “I hate that I can’t stay upset around you. I wanted to wallow. I never got to forgive her, but now I feel this fragile sense of peace. How did you know I needed to sit with everything?”
“Because I know you. Just as you know me well enough to call out my shit from the beginning.”
Veda rolls onto her back, staring at the ceiling. “I’m trying to figure out how we got here so quickly.”
“The sequence of events doesn’t matter, we’re here now.” Hiram kisses her temple. “This is the last thing we should be thinking about. There’s too much happening.”
“You’re right.”
“And you hate it.”
Veda scowls at him. “You’re too smug about this.”
“Am I?” Hiram makes a small noise. “And here I thought everyone wanted to be seen and understood by at least one person?”
“Not everyone. Not me.” Veda’s voice lowers. “To be seen is to be known, to have your problems laid out and weighed. You set yourself up for judgment, acknowledge your imperfections, and expose them.”
“Because you’ll be vulnerable, right?” Hiram shifts closer. “Too late. You already are.”
“It’s horrible. I don’t recommend it.”
He smirks. “I’m sure you don’t. You’d rather suffer in silence. I know. I’m the same. But you yelled it out of me, so I think it’s only fair I pay it forward.”
Veda sighs. “Today is going to suck.”
“It is.”
Instead of sleeping, Veda melts into him, her hand resting on his chest until she is as steady as the pull of gravity. In the mooring silence, his heart anchors itself. Calm acceptance keeps him steady, equally as tethered to her.
He’s known since the first wave, but there hasn’t been time to dissect the feelings that have lurked longer than his practical heart cares to admit.
Hiram doesn’t shy away. He makes every choice that comes with loving her, and waits for Veda to accept him when she’s ready.
He isn’t sure when that will be, if they’ll have time or space to think beyond the imminent, but he’ll be ready when the time comes.
For now, he lives for these fragile moments, holding Veda until her breathing deepens.
He wants to stay like this forever but closes his eyes until it’s time to face the day.
Just after noon, Veda returns with a bouquet of Ruth’s favorite flowers. Instead of attending the Seer’s memorial, she holds her own, sitting on the dock and setting the flowers adrift.
The sun begins its descent, slowly sliding down to kiss the horizon, but Veda doesn’t move.
Antaris joins her for a spell, offering silent comfort.
Then Hiram does, too. The dock slowly gets more crowded as Gabriel comes with August. Khadijah and Peter stop by on their way home from Ruth’s memorial, Khadijah carrying a familiar floppy hat.
The couple sits on either side of Veda, talking.
Only when they succeed in making her laugh does Hiram leave to finish dinner.
Everyone stays for an unusually quiet meal, but afterward, while Veda watches cartoons with the boys and Khadijah, Hiram walks outside. When Gabriel spots him, he ends what appears to be an intense call in a hurry and gives him a look that reminds him of August.
“I need another favor,” Gabriel says.
“I specifically said to not need me anymore.” Hiram then asks, “What is it?”
“Francisco is on a leave of absence, so I’m currently without a partner and technically on desk duty, which I hate because everyone is here for this manhunt and fucking things up. Anyway, I went canvassing alone by the Dalneau Bridge—”
“Terrible idea.”
“I know.” Gabriel rolls his eyes. “But I think I found what Everett meant when he said we’d find the rest of the truth there.
I know they searched the area with a fine-tooth comb and found nothing, but I went out a few days ago while August was with his mom.
At some point after a few hours, I realized I was walking in circles and touched a tree that turned to ash.
Then, with every step I took toward a certain point, everything died.
Eventually, I couldn’t walk forward anymore. ”
“Omnipotent magic and concealment.”
Gabriel nods. “I tried every revealing spell I could think of, but nothing worked. Now that this case is top priority, I’m supposed to alert my commander if I find anything, but I don’t want a hundred people trampling over the scene and destroying evidence.
Without Francisco, I don’t trust anyone there, but I still want to go back.
Since I need backup, and the kids are watching the movie right now . . .”
“I’m an attorney.”
“I’ve seen you fight. Illegal amulet notwithstanding, I’d trust you to have my back just like I trust Francisco.”
“How is he, by the way?”
“Mostly recovered. He’s off mainly because he’s gone to Portland with Marlene for rehabilitation. He has a lot of family in the area who are banding together to help. I’m glad they weren’t here . . .”
Hiram is, too.
“How about you?” Gabriel waggles his brows. “Is Veda a permanent houseguest?”
Ignoring him is easy. “I have hiking boots in the trunk. Let me tell Antaris I’ll be back, and then we can go.”
“Wait, you didn’t answer my question!”
Hiram closes the door in his face.
Fifteen minutes later, Hiram parks on the side of the road before the Dalneau Bridge and lets Gabriel lead the way into the forest on foot.
Their destination is deeper off the road.
He sees the pile of ashes first, then catches fragments of the barrier refracting the sunlight.
Gabriel is watching him expectantly, which makes him realize his second purpose of being here. “You want me to try and tear it down.”
“I thought you knew that.”
Hiram laughs. “What was the strongest spell you used?”
“A shattering spell approved for investigators. Concutere.” That spell is strong enough to take down a building if it lands in the right place.
“My amulet is designed to serve my best interests, but sometimes it won’t absorb consequences from certain spells. I can enhance that spell, if you’d like.”
Gabriel thinks about it. “A bit of an archaic way to cast, but worth a try.”
Working together is useful when Mages aren’t strong enough to withstand the consequences of some spells. The amulet will shield him from most of the blowback, but not all.
Gabriel raises his hand. “Concutere.” Without direction or focus, an orange orb appears in the palm of his hand and hovers.
Hiram opens his hands around the orb, the heat of its magic warming his palms. “Potentia.”
The orb grows hotter, turning from orange to ice blue.
Hiram steps back, letting Gabriel guide it.
Silently, it races toward the barrier with conscious precision, which shatters like glass, the fragments scattering across the forest floor.
It sounds like someone screaming, high-pitched and terrifying.
But it vanishes immediately, revealing what’s been hidden all along.
It’s closer to a shack than a cottage, though it’s well maintained. Gabriel is instantly on high alert. He’s the first to the wooden door. A talisman chimes in warning, but Gabriel puts it to sleep with a spell Hiram doesn’t hear. Gabriel steps inside and quickly returns, looking shocked.
“You need to see this.”