I shook my head. “He’s right… there is one place I know of where the cantrips might be coming from. It’s a long shot, but I can’t think of anywhere else.”
“Where?” Miles asked.
Cold slid through to my bones. I swallowed hard. “I think it’s time to pay a visit to my family’s old house.”
12
Within the hour, the vampires had sent their human assistants to haul the captured mages away, while Ryan and Cal dropped the cantrips off with Devon in the Death King’s castle. I, meanwhile, joined the spirit mages and headed back to Elysium. If I was really going to risk going back to the place where I’d grown up, I’d better get it over with before I lost my nerve altogether.
Miles offered to come with me. I was glad to have company, at least at first, but the second thoughts rushed in when we left the Spirit Agents’ base on foot. More than fear of the earth mages lurking beneath the city stalked my steps. I didn’t want him seeing the place where I’d grown up, even if it’d lain in ruins the last time I’d set eyes on it. But I was all out of better ideas.
“Whereabouts is your family’s home?” Miles asked.
“The middle of nowhere—literally,” I said. “Way north of Elysium. There’s also not many nodes nearby, so we’ll have to walk it from Elysium’s north side and hope we don’t run into anything nasty on the way.”
“Well, shit,” he said. “You can walk really fast, right? I saw you.”
“I can,” I admitted. “But it’ll take a regular person a lot longer, and I’m not sure we have all day.”
“I can astral project,” he said. “I can still use magic that way, but I can move faster.”
Maybe that’s the best option. “Just don’t vanish on me.”
“Of course I won’t,” he said. “I’ll catch you up.”
If Miles astral projected, it’d be a buffer of safety if we did run into the Family out there. Not that I was less of a walking target myself, but at least there was no danger of them hurting him. I didn’t like to think how Lex and Roth would react if they learned of my growing attachment to the leader of the Spirit Agents. In their eyes, it’d be just another weakness for them to use against me.
I used the nodes to travel to the northernmost point of the city and found Miles waiting on the other side, transparent and hovering above the ground.
“No trouble?” I said.
“Shelley is going to drag me back to my body if I stay out there too long,” he said. “Fair warning.”
“Better than both of us getting stuck.” I bloody well hoped we wouldn’t end up falling into one of the Family’s traps, but it was impossible to be certain what we’d run into. I wouldn’t have thought they’d go back to the house after their escape, given the state I’d left it in, but I was through waiting for them to come to me. Time to hunt them down myself instead.
We headed north. I walked at super speed while Miles floated alongside me, ghostlike and insubstantial enough for me to wonder if his abilities were in any way dampened while he was in that form. Part of me wanted to ask if he was sure what he was getting into, while another part of me was reluctant to rock the boat. Not until we reached the house, anyway.
When we passed by the Houses’ facility in the north of the city, I found my steps faltering. The grey stone construction looked grim and imposing, but I could only imagine what it looked like on the inside.
“I never found out how they escaped,” I murmured. “I imagine Adair used his mind-control when the guards got careless and tricked his way out, but nobody in the House of Fire will give me the details. Even their files say nothing.”
He shot me a sideways look. “Would it make you feel any better if you knew?”
“Probably not, no,” I admitted. “Your family…”
“Yeah, they’re still in there,” he said, his voice soft. “Best place for them, really. Lot of people who piss off the Houses don’t get that lucky.”
“Which House did it?”
“Doesn’t matter.” Despite his casual air, his tone was laced with a pain I recognised all too well.
“Guess not,” I said. “I was going to offer to give the person responsible a kick for you on the way back.”
His brows rose. “Already tried that. Didn’t really work out. Reckon I’d be in a cell of my own if I hadn’t been a minor at the time.”
“No wonder they aren’t your biggest fans.” He was lucky he’d walked away with his limbs still attached, but even the Houses had some old superstitions around spirit mages. With good reason. While he might play the fool on a not-infrequent basis, I couldn’t forget that he’d brought Harper back to the dead and fought off an army. Yet would that be enough to keep him alive if we ran into the Family?
“Are you sure you want to come?” I said, as we reached the next stretch of the city’s outskirts. “Last chance to back out.”
“Us outcast mages have to stick together,” he said.
His words caught me off guard, especially after what had happened between him and Shawn. I supposed he’d spent years giving his fellow spirit mages a fair shot, even if it backfired on him sometimes. This was also the guy who’d recaptured a bunch of vampire chickens after their escape had landed me in hot water with my ex-boss, for reasons I still hadn’t entirely worked out.
While it was undoubtedly dangerous that he might breach the boundary of mistrust surrounding my past, I had to admit it was kind of nice to have company while I walked up north. We didn’t exactly have an attacking force at the ready, but maybe it was
