Chapter 3
Three
Zephyr
The silence between Nolan and I was uncomfortable, and I knew it was all my doing. I didn't know how to talk to him without remembering that day, didn't know how to push past this hurdle. But I knew I had to, for the sake of the Sanctuary.
"What do I need to do?" Nolan asked as we paused in front of the exit, and I focused on the task at hand.
"You just need to channel your magic into the spell as I work it. I'll handle the rest."
I snuck a glance at Nolan as he nodded. He looked just like he had when I'd first met him all those years ago, though he hadn't had those piercings then, and his hair had been glossy and black.
His green eyes were the same, and so was the strong magical aura he carried.
His strong magic was what had prompted me to ask him for help.
He was stronger than my captor had been, and I'd hoped that meant he could help me.
Unfortunately, my captor may have been weaker, but he'd been more devious than either of us expected, and he'd made sure we failed.
Shaking my head, I pushed away the old memories and regrets, focusing on the door in front of me. Using the chalk I carried, I wrote down the anchoring spell I'd memorized long ago, leaving two open nodes instead of one for channeling magic.
Once the design was complete, I pointed out the correct spot to Nolan as I placed my palm on the opposite side, and together we pushed our magic into the spell.
Nolan's magic was hot, blazing like a wildfire as it clashed against mine, while mine was sharper, like a blade of lightning. I softened my approach, trying to tangle my magic with his so they could work together.
"You're very powerful," Nolan said, his eyes focused on the spell, his brows furrowed in concentration.
I didn't reply, because he wasn't wrong. I was strong, maybe the strongest sorcerer alive. I'd worked hard to be strong so no one would ever be able to take advantage of me again.
The spell was completed after a few more minutes, and our magicks finally settled down and started to work together.
I dropped my palm, flexing my fingers as I studied the design one last time before pressing the tip of my index finger into the center.
The design glowed blue, then red, and sank into the door as it faded away.
We stood there in silence for a minute before Nolan shuffled, drawing my gaze to him.
"I have a suggestion," he said, voice hesitant, and I stopped the instinctive annoyance that rose up in me.
Hear him out, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Keoni's said in my mind, and I sighed, then gestured for him to continue.
"Have you thought about adding a back door? An emergency exit, so to speak?"
An emergency exit? I'd never thought of that, mostly because until a year ago, the Sanctuary had functioned perfectly.
Once, the main exit to the Sanctuary could lead to a few places with the twist of a dial, but I'd disabled that function when things started going wrong because maintaining multiple exits used up power I could've focused elsewhere.
There had never been a second door that led outside though, but I could see the benefit of that, especially after the night this exit had locked up on its own.
"A second exit could be helpful, but I'll have to find a good place to anchor it."
Nolan brightened, appearing much younger than his 2,000-plus years, and I had to bite back a smile. Maybe letting him in wouldn't be as impossible as I'd thought.
"You could anchor it to The Lair, if you're okay with that. There's a spare room at the back that is never used. It's practically a broom closet, so you could anchor to the door there."
My spell would make sure that only the residents of the Sanctuary would be able to reach here via the door, so there was no risk of a random bar patron walking in, but...
"What about the main doors? Don't you keep the bar locked up when it's not open?"
Nolan pursed his lips, as if the thought hadn't occurred to him.
"Yeah, but if this is an emergency exit, we'd all leave so I can unlock it. Plus, in The Lair, they'd be safe even if they didn't have enough time to grab their wheelchairs or whatever they needed to hide their supe side."
I thought about it for a moment and realized he was right. Escaping into The Lair would keep them from getting exposed, and I was sure Nolan already had some magic covering the place to make it safe.
"Okay, then. The broom closet it is. Though remember, as a resident, if you try to go into the closet, you'll end up here."
"I don't use that closet anyway, so it should be fine," Nolan said with a smile.
We spent the next hour setting up a second exit at the other end of the hall. I opened it beside the Dining Room since that was usually where people gathered when something went wrong.
With Nolan's help, the whole process was not only faster, but less draining as well. I'd always done everything on my own, sure it was the only way I could do it well. But this was proof that I was wrong.
Sometimes, it was okay to accept help, no matter what my early experience had taught me.
After all, most of the people in the Sanctuary were here because they'd accepted my help. They'd said yes when I'd offered them a home, and they'd become my family.
Maybe asking for help wasn't as hard as I'd made it out to be.
Keoni
After my nap, I tracked down Nolan, who was floating on cloud nine after successfully helping Zephyr strengthen the anchor to the human world. The Sanctuary now also boasted an emergency exit that opened into The Lair, and Nolan seemed delighted that he'd managed to convince Zephyr to build it.
I asked Nolan a bunch of questions as Zamir hung off his arm, a cat cradled in his other arm, and concluded that the Sanctuary wouldn't fall into utter destruction if Zephyr wasn't around for a few hours. That was all I'd needed, so after thanking him, I went in search of my next target.
I found Touya by the farms, a clipboard in his hand as his eyes scanned the rows upon rows of plants.
Touya worked as Zephyr's assistant, and his work had only multiplied since the problems started cropping up.
With Zephyr so focused on maintaining the Sanctuary and keeping it from collapsing, all the day-to-day stuff fell to Touya.
I'd never heard him complain, though. Instead, he seemed to relish all the responsibilities.
"Hey, Touya. Could I have a moment?" I asked as I drew closer, and he glanced up, a smile lighting up his face.
Touya was one of the few people I could be eye-to-eye with.
I was small for a centaur, barely reaching 5'5", and Touya was only an inch or two taller than me.
He was Japanese, with chestnut brown eyes and silky brown hair.
He also had a hint of magic in him that let him see the supe forms of people, though he'd long since learned to control his power and keep it turned off at home.
"Of course. What's up?"
"You maintain Zephyr's schedule, right?" I asked, trying not to be too obvious about it.
I hadn't told anyone about the mate thing yet, because I wasn't sure where Zephyr stood.
I wouldn't mind if he wanted to wait until the Sanctuary was back to normal before doing anything about it, but I figured that would be harder to do if everyone knew. My friends could be a nosy bunch.
While Touya himself wasn't a gossip, anything he knew, his mate Silas would too. And Silas would not keep it to himself.
"I do, yes. Did you want to know what he's doing tomorrow?"
"Not exactly. I was wondering if you might be able to clear his schedule for tomorrow? At least for a few hours?"
Touya blinked, his brows furrowing in thought. "Hmm... the anchors took a lot less time to set up with Nolan's help. I could move some things around. May I ask why?"
"I was thinking of dragging him out to the human realm," I said, and Touya grinned.
"That's a good idea, actually. He needs a break. Though will everything here be okay, with him gone?"
"Nolan seems to think so. He said now that their magicks are familiar—whatever that means—he can chip in if something happens."
"Oh, that's good. Okay, I'll clear his schedule. He needs to do some maintenance in the Mountains tomorrow, but everything else can be moved. He'll be free by ten."
"Thank you!" I exclaimed, then leaned forward to give him a quick hug. Touya patted my back, then pulled away. "I'll leave you to your work, then. See you at dinner."
As I trotted off, I started making plans for tomorrow. I'd need to use the stupid wheelchair to hide my lower half, but I'd practiced using it before, so at least Zephyr wouldn't have to push me.
We could visit Khush and Dustin. Maybe go to a café? I wanted to watch a movie in a theatre too. I remembered Dustin took Khush to one where they had accessible seating. I'd have to ask him which one that was.
I didn't want to add a lot of activities to the list though.
I wanted Zephyr to relax. Maybe we could find a park to have a picnic in.
While there was more than enough greenery in the Sanctuary, right now this place was the biggest source of Zephyr's stress, so I wanted to take him away from it for a while.
Hopefully, I could get him to have some fun and forget about his troubles for a while.