"What happened with Jack?"
"Authorities put him under house arrest until they can arrange a trial for him in Kestler. Depending on how things play out, we may be summoned to testify in court against him."
Alim wrinkled his nose. "What a hassle."
"I couldn't agree more. I'd rather put the whole matter behind me, since it's not as though Jack has any reason to hurt us at this point." He glanced toward Alim. "I was canned, too."
Alim nudged the nearest box with his toe. "I gathered."
He expected an awkward, romantically-charged silence to stretch between them, but Liam—being the uncouth beast of a man that he was—barreled on through that to the next topic of conversation. "Sylvestra is gone."
Alim's gut clenched. The intensity of his anxiety at those words rivaled the claustrophobia he had experienced in that expansive demon cavern. "What do you mean?"
"She resigned. I wasn't there, but I heard from Professor Unteng she left a… colorful resignation letter. Her office has already been cleared out, and she's vacated campus grounds."
Alim shook his head. She was not the sort of woman to do anything by half measures, certainly. "Do you know where she's gone?"
"No." Liam stepped away from the window, approaching Alim until he was a half-arm's length away. "I was hoping you might."
Alim considered. He didn't know if Sylvestra had family she might return to. She was a sociable and well-liked person, so surely she had friends outside of the university that she might go to, as well, but Alim didn't know any of them.
"She went back to Freydir," he decided aloud, but Liam frowned.
"You're sure?"
"She said she liked to vacation there."
"I'm sure there are many places she likes to vacation."
"Yes, but she told us about this one, and she had to have gone somewhere that I could find her, because she promised me a date."
Liam flinched. He had wrestled a weapon out of Jack's hand knowing full-well that Jack was willing to kill any of them, steely-faced the entire time, but this made him flinch. "Oh, I… I see." Clearing his throat, he averted his eyes. "Do you intend to follow her, then?"
"Do you?"
"She made me no promises."
"My goodness." Alim reach out with both hands, running them along the breadth of Liam's shoulders. "You aren't jealous of me, are you?" The corner of Liam's mouth twitched. "Jealous of her, then?"
"A bit of both." Liam rested his hands on Alim's hips, seeming hesitant to try anything more forward. "You're both admirable scholars. Driven, passionate, beautiful. Sometimes funny."
"Sometimes?"
Liam flashed a grin, but it was gone just as quick. "She seems to like you a fair bit more, though. I don't know if my confession is enough to make up for what I've done to her. I don't know if anything ever will be."
"Well, you could always ask her. Can't hurt anything at this point, surely." Liam didn't say anything, his lips sealed in tense and silent thought. "Fine—I will vouch for you. If even I can forgive you, perhaps Sylvestra will be more inclined to, as well."
Liam didn't smile, but Alim felt the tension ease out of his shoulders. "Very well. I'll go with you, then." He glanced around his office, and Alim looked too. Glass shelves lining the walls still held plaques and awards and framed articles praising Liam's scholastic works. When Alim returned his gaze to Liam, he was glancing back now at his desk. It had already been cleared of any clutter, or maybe Liam was exceptionally tidy and there had never been clutter, which seemed just as likely.
"Before we go, I am feeling rather spiteful about this whole situation with the university. I think I'd like to engage in some petty desecration before we depart."
"I recommend it. I dumped tea on the floor of my office. Very satisfying."
Liam's fingers pressed more firmly into Alim's hips. "Hmm, not bad. But I don't have any tea lying about." He glanced again toward the desk.
"Do you remember Eramus Tavor? I heard when he left he took a shit on his desk. Poor custodial staff was probably responsible for cleaning it up, but I think he got his message across to the upper faculty well enough."
Liam groaned and tightened his grip on Alim's hips again, pulling him closer. "Alim, I was thinking of something a little less repugnant—at least on our end."
"Our—oh." Alim got the clue as Liam backed them both toward the desk, until he was pressed between it and Alim. "Well, now my tea thing pales in comparison."
"Do you want to?" Alim looked into Liam's eyes, glinting with hope and uncertainty. He had been as much an academic as Alim, and now they—and Sylvestra—had no resources, no incomes, only what scraps they could recover from their careers. And each other, Alim supposed.
Alim answered with a kiss, and Liam gathered him in a tight embrace and pulled them both down upon the desk.
*~*~*
"You're certain this is the place?"
"I'm certain this is the neighborhood that vendor pointed us toward, if that's what you mean." Alim glanced around at the tidy houses lining a narrow road atop a short cliff overlooking the beach. Even the vacation homes had names posted in front of them, and he swiveled his head in search of one reading Geruz. Liam marched behind, pouting.
A gust of sea breeze ruffled his dark blond curls, and he sneered. "Had to be the ocean, didn't it?"
"We won't be touching the water, I'm sure," Alim said, but he didn't doubt the scent of sea salt and fish likely agitated Liam. He paused long enough for Liam to catch up to him and linked their arms together. "There, there."
"Don't be an ass," Liam muttered, but he leaned over to kiss Alim on the cheek. "Come on, no time to lose. If she's not here, we'll be spending the whole day combing neighborhoods for her." Still sore from their grand adventure a few days before, Alim did not care for that notion.
They turned from one street down to a connecting one that curved closer to the edge of the cliff. As they walked, Liam tried to fill the silence. "Can you feel anything? On the bracelet?"
Alim still wore it, though he and Farrah had decided before his departure for Freydir that their attempts to communicate with each other were a bust. Unfortunate, given that he was not sure how often he would see her now, but he had promised her he would write once he resettled his life. He had not yet mentioned to her the curious new romance he had formed with his former nemeses, since he knew she already thought the three of them out of their minds for absconding together from Pinnacle as they had. Better to bring that up from a safe distance, if only to spare himself her face-to-face shock and outrage.
But even with his and Farrah's project at an end, he kept the bracelet as a token of his fleeting friendship with Scout, though he hadn't felt his connection to Scout since returning to Pinnacle. Now, closer to the ocean and the demons' caverns, it might have been possible. Alim tried to focus on it, thinking he felt a faint tingle of recognition, but he couldn't be sure.
"No, I don't think there's any reaction. I don't even have a sense of what the radius is on this thing. Less than a mile, maybe?"
"We'll have to test that sometime."
Alim hummed in agreement, but he was too focused on reading the posts outside of each little cottage to continue the conversation. Soon, they reach a two-storied house with painted white walls, and outside of a little garden of daffodils stood a signpost. Nailed to it was a slip of parchment that simply read, Geruz. Alim huffed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, his gut tightened. He'd said that she wanted Alim to find her, but now he doubted. She had left without a word, after all, so maybe she'd changed her mind about that date.
When he started to stall, Liam dragged him onward to the front door. Swallowing to wet his abruptly parched throat, Alim lifted a fist and knocked on the door.
They waited. There were sounds of waves shifting the beach sand, a chattery flock of seagulls, an irritated sea lion in the distance—but otherwise, silence.
Alim raised his hand to knock again, but Liam reach over in the same mome
nt and grabbed the door's handle, shoving it open. "Liam!"
"It's unlocked."
"You can't just barge into people's houses like that!"
"It's unlocked." Liam pulled him onward before the argument could continue, leading him into a well-lit foyer that smelled of clean linens. It was prim and tidy, as though ready to show to potential renters rather than actively housing any. Only a vase of freshly cut daffodils on a small table nearby indicated that a human being had passed through recently.
Alim glanced around for any sign of Sylvestra, but the only room he could see from his current vantage was a connecting parlor, which was empty. "Perhaps she's in the kitchen or—"
"Sylvestra!" Alim winced at Liam's booming shout and rammed his elbow into Liam's side.
"Would you stop it? You're embarrassing me."
"Up here, boys."
Together, they approached the stairs and followed them up to the second floor. The creaking of the stairs under their weight had a rustic, even romantic musicality to them, but each step punctuated Alim's nervousness at speaking to Sylvestra again.
Cresting the stairwell, Alim's first sight were the open doors to a bedroom that faced the ocean. Through it was another door leading to a balcony, left wide open. Before stepping into and through the bedroom, Liam released Alim's arm, gesturing for him to enter first.
He found her lounging on a wicker chair on the porch, a small tower of books on the table next to her with a glass of iced tea. She held a journal in one hand and a pen in the other, though she appeared to be reviewing the contents rather than adding notes. The demon's mantle, shining almost sinisterly in the midmorning light, was wrapped around her like a silk robe. Alim stood at the doorway, Liam coming in just behind him, but she didn't look up at either of them.
"I must say, this magic nonsense is beyond me. This theorem so dense—I feel like a sophomore again." She closed the journal and added it to the stack before glancing up at Alim. "Fine timing—I'm overdue for a break. So, how are things at Pinnacle?"
Alim shook his head. "Oh, you know. I was fired."
"I'm sorry, dear. I suppose expecting the worse doesn't make it much more palatable." A slight wrinkle formed between her brows. "And… Jack?"
"Tried to kill me again, funny enough." Feeling bolder—safer—Alim stepped up to her. Close enough to touch, but he did not reach out for her. "Liam burst into the scene just in time, all strapping muscles that he is, and restrained him. Jack's law enforcement's problem now."
"The board is likely still trying to figure out if they want to stand by Jack and underplay his actions or abandon him entirely now that his crimes are public." Liam come closer, too, standing next to Alim. He watched Sylvestra with a sort of wariness, looking ready to turn and leave at a word.
She looked him in the eye, but the tension in her brow faded. "As I was leaving, I heard rumor that you confessed about the demon research you plagiarized. That's why you went without us when you returned to Pinnacle?"
Liam bowed his head. "Yes. I knew it would end my career, and I didn't want either of you to try to stop me."
Sylvestra grinned. "Oh, darling, I would not have dreamed of doing that." She reached out to take his hand. "Thank you. Don't think this makes us even, though."
"By no means. But I respect you too much to let my own injustices stand—and perhaps I am trying to respect myself, more, as well."
Sylvestra rolled her eyes and stood. "Liam, you are absurd in your dramatics." She turned back to Alim, taking his hand, as well. "I am glad you came after me. I wasn't sure what would happen once I flounced, but I figured you would catch up to me when the time was right. Assuming you wanted to."
Running his thumb along her knuckles, he said, "I did want to."
"Yes, love, I can see that."
"Right. Of course." Alim cleared his throat, glancing toward Liam. "So, ah… what now?"
Sylvestra released their hands and gestured to her stack of books. "I'm glad you asked. If I'm to make use of this demonweave, I'll need to begin practicing magic, as you know. Liam, your background in Biomagics might help in that regard, and naturally I'm going to continue researching demonweave, which you were passionate about, Alim. We now have an opportunity to pursue actual knowledge in the field, rather than just what will profit the university or clothiers."
"Yes," Liam said, "but we are now without resources, as well."
"Well, where's the fun if there's no challenge?" She shook her head. "But that's work. Alim, I believe you promised me a nice meal." Alim grinned, awash with relief. Having lost his career at Pinnacle—absolutely and for good—there was a delightfully ironic satisfaction in knowing he could at least count on who he had previously known as his two worst enemies. And all this talk of research insinuated returning to the demon city someday. "Liam, might you like to join us?"
Liam's shoulders eased. "Gladly."
Sylvestra adjusted the mantle, alighting a wave of sparkles across the fabric. "Give me a moment to get dressed and we can leave right away. I can't wait to hear more in detail about Jack trying to kill you again." Alim grunted indignantly, and she leaned close to plant a teasing kiss on his cheek.
As she stepped into the bedroom to change, Alim looked over the vista her guesthouse had to offer. A flat beach stretched out from the base of the cliff, and gentle white waves swept over it. Hardly a wonder Sylvestra liked to vacation here, but all Alim could think of as he looked at the ocean were Scout and the Authority.
Liam was correct that being without resources would hurt any research they wanted to pursue now, but Sylvestra was also right. They were without the university's leashes or pressures or politics, and whatever Sylvestra might master with magic could make up for what they lacked in immediate funding.
"Thinking of the demons?" Liam asked. He slipped an arm around Alim's waist pulling him to press against his side.
"Yes. And you. And Sylvestra."
"It will certainly be exciting, this… whatever it is we're doing."
Alim shook his head. "I'm too old for excitement. I hope neither of you are terribly high maintenance. Although I suspect Sylvestra will give me more difficulties as my research lead than a partner."
Liam chuckled. "We are all ambitious. I think this ordeal has taught us that more than anything else." He pulled Alim away from the balcony, leading him back into Sylvestra's room, where she was changing into a green sundress unlike anything he had seen her wear at the university. "We have a moment to rest and collect ourselves from this miserable demonweave project. I suggest we take it."
Alim agreed, and allowed Liam to pull him down to curl up on Sylvestra's bed as they watched her fuss with her hair in preparation for their outing. Although a part of Alim was as eager as Sylvestra to get to work on this new research, Liam's insistence on rest was welcome too. Alim would soon have the opportunity he had wanted for so long to start anew as a scholar, but it would take more work and fewer shortcuts than he was used to.
Leaning into Liam's embrace, he closed his eyes, trying to regenerate his energy for this grand new endeavor that lay before him.
Fin
About the Author
Jasmine Gower is an author from Portland, Oregon, where she enjoys the city’s vibrant culture, lively LGBTQIA+ community, and the ideal writing weather. She is a graduate of Portland State University, where she earned a degree in English, with an emphasis on the study of queer theory. Jasmine was drawn toward writing amidst a childhood of fantasy novels and 90’s video games and has a passion for exploring themes of gender and sexuality through the conventions of speculative fiction, playing with complex lore- and worldbuilidng, and just dragons in general.
More on Jasmine’s writing can be found at:
Website: jasminegower.com
Tumblr: jasgower.tumblr.com
or reading books on Archive.
A Study of Fiber and Demons Page 14