With a sinking heart, I saw the portal with its hungry mouth. And my brother. And then—
“Me,” I said in a hollow voice.
“You.”
A blue myst wafted past me, indifferent to the fact that a girl stood like a statue in the middle of the small clearing.
Eventually, I lifted my gaze to study the Mystwalker of Threall. “Why would I believe that you suddenly wanted to help me? Not half an hour ago, you hurled a fireball at me and the kid.”
Mouth pursed, she considered her answer. “Upon our first meeting, my wind blew you into the embrace of our mage’s citadel.”
Hard to forget that terror.
She plucked a shred of green from the folds of her blue skirt.
“It was not by happenstance. I have been forced to do so with each mystwalker who materialized in my realm since the day I said my final good-bye to those I loved in Merenwyn.” The Mystwalker of Threall examined the filament of moss on her palm, then blew. Its flight was shallow and short. “Our mage tested their souls with the same callous indifference the King of the Court sampled sweet cakes. The stumps of those deemed not worthy of our mage’s taste befoul the very ground I must walk on.”
Mad-one lifted her gaze to mine. “I have observed his fade—limb by dying limb—and privately rejoiced. He is not the only person who dreams of walking the Arcardian fields with the sun warm on her face. I want this to end.”
Her eyes were bleak and pained.
“I need this to end.”
It had been all so much, you know? Finding myself bound. Discovering that my best-before date had been moved way up. Grieving for a life that wasn’t going to happen, and then having an easy solution dangled in front of my desperate eyes.
If I took everything at face value, didn’t look beyond the moment, then the decision was a lot easier. With one “aye,” my job as wizard’s grunt would be over and I’d get out of a no-win situation pretty much scot-free. I’d be able to go back home. Click my heels and find myself standing in the Alpha’s bathroom, listening to the pack reorganize the house.
Arms free.
All I had to do was trust that everybody was going to do their jobs, and then nip back to do a bit of soul- tearing after the deed was done.
But there was the thing that could not be ignored: one root, two trees.
Come what may, twins forever.
And with that, a wash of rare clarity cleansed my mental eye. I saw the future like it was a long scroll that someone had just unrolled on the table. Oh Fae Stars, I could see it right to the end of its curling edge. There it lay with little flags pinned to it—one for the betrayal, two for the lies, three for the loss.
There were no words for the desolation that salted my despair.
Send Lexi into that world in my place. No free will at all. Look how well I’d tolerated it—after ten minutes my soul was screaming. But even as I tried to imagine the horror my brother would experience standing in my place, a craven part of me started wheedling. It would only be for two days, and then—
I wasn’t a kid anymore, cowering in the cupboard, watching my brother being hauled off to another world. I could make a choice. I could take my bat and walk to the plate.
My mouth opened, and I heard myself say, “I have two terms before I agree.”
“State them.”
“You’ll have two days in Merenwyn. Not a minute more. You will accept your final fade with good grace. Before the sun rises on the third day, I will personally remove your cyreath from Lexi’s without any interference from you. You will leave not a trace of yourself inside him.”
“And I have to be there,” I said. “Standing right beside my brother when he opens that book in Merenwyn.”
His hiss of exasperation fed the roiling acid in my stomach. “Why?”
“Because Lexi’s going to fight you, all the way, which will exhaust him. And because you’re going to have to hurt him—”
“I have told you—I mean no harm to your brother!”
“But you will do it because he’s just some half-bred wolf who’s gotten in your way. We don’t have much value to you.” I felt my lips curve into a bleak smile. “But we’re fighters, each and every one of us. Lexi will give you a brawl. And by the time you leave, both of you will be half mad with frustration.”
My gaze flicked downward to where the Old Mage’s cyreath glowed in my arms
“You know what I think, Mr. Mage? You’re the type of guy who doesn’t give much thought to the messes he leaves behind—if you could leave that Book of Spells without pissing off your Maker, you would,” I said. “And now you’re feeling hard done by, so I’m pretty sure you don’t give a shit about what happens after you’ve destroyed the Book of Spells.”
The air grew still—not a breath of motion.
“But I do,” I told him.
Silence from the old man.
“My twin won’t be left standing there alone with a WTF look on his face when the Black Mage goes postal because his recipe book has been destroyed. So here’s the final clause in the deal—you will pledge to me in front of your Maker that you will wait for me to join Lexi in Merenwyn before you attempt to destroy the book.”
“You are a stubborn creature,” he said with more than a hint of loathing.
Threall’s wind found me again. It plucked at a tendril of my hair, and mercilessly tickled the sensitive inner whorls of my ears.
“You will add that to your vow, old man. Make sure there’s no loophole in your wording, no omission of fact, no convenient misinterpretation of intent.”
“It will be difficult to reconnoiter in Merenwyn.”
“Pick a time and place,” I said in a hard voice. “And let’s be real clear. I know time passes differently in —”
“In my realm,” he sniped. “Very well. I give you my solemn word, as Mage of the Highest Court, that you will be beside your brother as we destroy the Book of Spells. I vow to wait for you at Daniel’s Rock before we proceed to the castle.”
“I don’t know where that is.”
“You will,” he said cryptically. “After you have sent your brother through the gates, wait one full day, then cross as the sun sets. We will meet at Daniel’s Rock.” His gazed raked over me. “My world is hard on one such as you. The weak and the soft die. Are you sure you wish to proceed with this childish desire to save your brother’s life? He has chosen his path. The history he leaves in his wake is of his making.”
“Don’t talk to me about choices, mage. Vow that you will wait. Pledge that to me, word for word.”
Anger twisted his face.
I listened carefully as he gave his oath to his Maker, and then I swiveled to face Mad-one. “What do you want from this?
She looked surprised, then she inclined her head. “If only for one day, I want to know that I am living in my true body and that which I touch is truly there beneath my fingers.”
“I’m not sure I can show you how to find your way back to Merenwyn. I’m not even sure I can return home.”
Her gaze was steady and piercing. “And yet I believe you can.”
