I take them into the kitchen and out through the back door and put them in the trash. As I come back in, I can hear laughter from the living room. Sunday is telling everyone a story about something that happened at school last week. I only hear bits of it, and by the time I get back to the living room, I missed the whole thing.
I take my seat again as Aziza starts to ask Adam about the best way to cook a roast. I look at her, trying to figure out if she is just appeasing him. Since when does she cook? But she’s listening intently to him talking her through it. Maybe she’s thinking of expanding her skill set. It might be a nice change to have a meal that’s not fast food or a microwave meal for once.
“Rye?” Mel says quietly. “Do you think it’s time for us to go?”
I glance across at her and she nods her head towards Sailor, who has fallen asleep with her head on Mel’s shoulder. As much as I don’t want to leave her, Mel’s right. We should go. Sailor must be exhausted because her sleep last night was so broken and then after that there was the demon fight too. The thought of leaving her here alone tugs at my heart, but I know Adam will take good care of her, and nothing demonic will get through Nexus’s protection spells.
“Adam? I think we wore Sailor out. We should go,” I say.
We start to get up. Mel carefully moves herself out from beneath Sailor’s head, but Sailor wakes up anyway. She gives a big yawn and then laughs.
“Sorry. I’m the worst hostess in the world,” she says.
“Not true,” Jinx says. “Remind me later to tell you about the time I was seeing a girl called Mandy. She was a terrible hostess if ever I saw one.”
Sailor nods sleepily and gets to her feet. She hugs everyone, saving me for last.
“Thank you for being there. I’ll call you in the morning,” she says.
Adam walks us down the hallway. Before we reach the door it opens and I tense up, my hand going to my knife. Aziza stops me, grabbing my wrist, and I see that it’s only Raven coming in. She smiles in surprise when she sees us all in the hallway.
“I guess I missed the party. How’s Sailor?” she says, moving to kiss Adam on the cheek.
“She’s fine,” he says. “Just tired.”
“I’ll pop in and see her before she goes up,” Raven says.
We file out of the house, saying our goodbyes. Adam thanks us for looking out for Sailor and we all assure him it wasn’t a problem. We head back to the cabin, choosing to walk instead of portaling, and I’m glad for the fresh air. It gives me a chance to think.
Sailor wants to fight for us. The knowledge gives me a warm glow in my stomach and I can hardly keep the smile off my face, although deep down, I’m still worried about her. What if the Boundless make another attempt on the next Soul Gem and she isn’t strong enough to fight the attack next time?
I shake my head. I won’t even let myself think about that, because I won’t let it happen. I’ll find a way to stop it from coming to that.
***
I’m sitting in the cabin drinking my first cup of coffee the next morning when Nexus comes in. She’s carrying a glass bottle filled with an electric blue liquid.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“That,” she says, “is the potion that will allow the team to breathe on the staircase when you go to retrieve the second Soul Gem. I’ve tested it out and it works.”
“Brilliant. Thanks, Nexus,” I say, holding my hand out for the bottle.
She puts it in my hand.
“One mouthful each will be enough, and the effects will last for around three hours.”
“Thanks,” I say again.
I push the bottle into my pocket and go back to my coffee. Nexus raises an eyebrow at me.
“What?” I say.
“You don’t seem like you’re exactly in a rush to get going,” she says.
“I’m not,” I tell her. “We can’t get the gem without Sailor, and it’s too soon to drag her down that staircase into God knows what. She just got out of hospital.”
“I know it’s hard, Rye, but she’s stronger than you give her credit for. And she only ended up in the hospital in the first place because someone was getting too close to the Soul Gem. If they get any closer, she might never recover. This is the only way to make sure the Boundless don’t get their hands on the gem.”
I nod my head reluctantly. I know Nexus is right, and I know if Sailor were here, she’d have been out the door on her way to the alley while I sat here arguing with Nexus about it.
“Fine. We’ll do it. Assuming I can convince Adam to let Sailor out of his sight,” I say.
Nexus smiles at me.
“You can be very persuasive when you want to be, Rye. Why don’t you put some of that charm of yours to good use for once?” she says.
I roll my eyes, but again I nod my head. I’ll have to persuade Adam to let her out, or I’ll have to drag her out against his will and hope that one day he forgives me, because if we don’t get the gem soon, then Sailor isn’t going to survive this, whether Adam keeps her locked up in the house underneath his watchful eye or not.
“I’ll find a way,” I say, resigning myself to the fact that we’re going to do this today.
I finish the rest of my coffee and head into the games room. Mel and Jinx are sitting playing a game on the Xbox.
“Guys, Nexus brought us a potion that will allow us to breathe on the staircase. I’m going to Sailor’s place to collect her and then we’re going
