“Says who? You did two other lands. It’s my turn. I’ll do the next two.”
“You won’t survive this one to make it to the next!”
“And you will?”
I shrugged. “If I don’t, then you can take the rest of the stone to the next place, sure.”
This was clearly the wrong thing to say. Ollie’s nostrils flared and he grabbed my shoulders to shake his brand of sense into me. “I gave up my whole life to make sure you lived! Stop throwing yourself away! You’re not garbage!” he shouted, voicing my biggest insecurity. My raw emotion must’ve been plain on my face, because Ollie crushed me to him in a tight hug I could barely breathe through. “You’re not garbage. You’re just not. I’m taking the stone down. It’s my responsibility.”
“Where’d you get that logic?” I asked through wet lashes as we held onto each other.
“Because you’re my responsibility. I love you, kid. Stop throwing yourself into the dumpster. You’re worth more than this!” He shook me at every fourth word, and I felt his anger at our lot in life. “You listen to me, October Grace. You’re going to live to be an old woman. You’ll get married and go on vacations and have a life better than even I could dream for you. You won’t go out and die where I can’t find you. You think you need me?” He shook his head. “I need you. I need you to be safe.”
We stood in the archway, clinging to each other like the children we were never allowed to be. So much was shifting and rocking our fragile boat. When Allie had left us, we clung that much harder. Now I was telling Ollie I would go somewhere dangerous without him. I’d hidden a good many freak-outs when he’d left for New York, and that was just a plane ride away. I don’t know why I expected I’d be able to up and go to another world without pushback. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I didn’t mean to scare you. We go together or not at all.”
Ollie heaved a gust of relief that almost weakened his knees to the point of collapse, but I held him tight. “Together. Let’s get this country done with and move on to the next. Let’s finish it, so you can rest.”
“Do it to it,” I agreed, making Ollie snort and breaking the intensity of the mood.
“And you!” Ollie ramped up his volume again, pointing in Mariang’s shocked face. “I don’t want to hear anything about you going out looking for cannibals. Using yourself as bait. You’re my sister, too, and you’re not going to risk your life for this. We’re a team, understood? We’ll find Von together.”
Mariang didn’t need the invitation, but Ollie waved her into our hug all the same. He kissed the top of her head and I watched her beam grow for him. It’s amazing what a difference a good brother can make. Mariang had a mansion and a good father with a boyfriend who… Well, a boyfriend. I’d had none of those things, but I had Ollie, and most days that was enough to get me through.
Three.
The Search Party
It was nearing two in the morning when Ezra called down to Kabayo in the basement. “Gentlemen, come on up. Prince Langgam’s here, and he wants a rundown from everyone.”
Lang had given me a stiff hug as if he had seen the gesture on TV, but wasn’t quite sure of its practical mechanics. When our hug ended, he kept his hand on my shoulder. “I haven’t seen you in too many weeks,” he commented. “It’s a shame it’s something like this that breaks me out of my kingdom, but it’s been a bit chaotic in my nation since Father was taken prisoner. I haven’t yet built you the porch swing I promised upon our fake nuptials.”
I recalled our little joke that had made him break from his angry and business-like demeanor. “I was going to say. It’s just as I suspected from you. All talk. I bet you’re just laying around the castle all day long doing big, fat nothing and eating giant peeled grapes.”
“I hope you always picture me doing that. Perhaps one day it’ll be real.” He looked me over, as if searching for a defect of some kind. “I see you’re doing better than when I saw you last.”
“That’s the thing about not being locked in your dad’s dungeon.”
“I can’t believe Ekeks snatched up Von. They’re either getting desperate or they don’t fear Ezra anymore. I can’t decide which is worse.”
“I’m worried how much time is going by. I mean, who knows what they could be doing to Von while we get our acts together in here.”
I knew. I knew exactly what they could be doing.
Ruiz leaned on the wall, leaving brown dirt smears on everything he touched. He had a flat nose that was prone to sniffing repeatedly and a small mouth that smiled indulgently at me. “We’ll find your Puller, Lady October.” He called past Ezra toward the basement. “Get up here, King Kabayo. Claim your victor’s kiss straight from my grateful lips. The kingdom’s in flux, but it’s never been freer than it is now. I want to properly thank the warrior who locked Geon up.”
Klark bumped his hip to mine, and I tried not to be bothered by the dirt. “Aranya’s an absolute pain, but luckily he’s easy to distract. We’ve got him focusing on a segment of land that couldn’t matter less to the kingdom. Meanwhile your husband here’s been rebuilding and putting the people in jail who should’ve been there a long time ago. Our buhay crops are finally starting to grow to nearly a foot tall, thanks to you.”
“That’s awesome. Super happy for you guys.” I said the words, but I couldn’t smile. Von was in pain. He was probably scared, and there was nothing I could do to help him. “Kabayo! Let’s move!” I marched past the others and let myself downstairs to where I’d seen Kabayo disappear with Danny.
I expected to see a half-horse, half-man, but not seeing one was a shock. The lights were on in the concrete basement, shedding enough illumination to every corner so that there was no place to hide. “Kabayo? Danny?” I walked around, flummoxed. “Ezra? They’re not down here. Check upstairs?”
“I’ll go,” Mason offered, jogging up to the second floor.
I could’ve sworn they’d come down here. I saw them go down and certainly would’ve noticed Kabayo coming back up. I looked around, seeing something that caught my eye in the corner. The mid-sized black safe was opened. Why would Ezra leave the safe with the sagrado stone hanging open? Out of sheer curiosity I went over and peered inside, finding nothing but a note sitting in the dark interior. My eyebrows pulled together when I read my name at the top. I shivered with the odd feeling that something bad was about to happen.
I gave the letter a skim, dropped it to the ground and screamed. “Ezra!”
Four.
Girl Time Confessions
“I’m not going to sleep,” I protested when Mason finally corralled me into Mariang’s room.
Mariang shut the door, her fingers slipping on the lock. “I’m not feeling well,” Mariang informed us. Upon closer inspection, the girl looked gaunt, a gray pallor coming over her after reading the note. “Danny’s really gone?”
Neither of us could confirm the news again. We’d been over it a jillion times already. Danny had left me a note saying that Bev wanted to take the sagrado stone, so Ollie and I didn’t have to. He’d talked Kabayo into porting them down to Lumipad, and they’d be back once it was delivered. It was the weirdest way Bev had ever not listened to me.
Ollie was in a state about it, ranting and losing his temper all over the place. Ezra and I had finally sent him to bed. It was nearing on four in the morning, and we were all tired. Lang sent some of his bug minions throughout the area surrounding my home, hoping to catch wind of Von’s location.
Ezra put his foot down about Ollie or me leaving the mansion, and had even gone so far as to make Mason put a protective charm around the house so that no one could leave. He was afraid Mariang might come near a ripe soul and accidentally reap it without Danny there to rip it from her. After much fruitless arguing, Ezra sent us to bed, assigning Mason to pull for both Mariang and I through the night.
Mariang was confused over the simplest things. She chose two pajama bottoms instead of a bottom and a top, and brushed her teeth three times bef
ore she realized she’d forgotten to use toothpaste. I had to lead her to the bed, but she grew more nervous the closer she got to it. “I’ve never slept in a bed with another man,” she admitted. “How could Danny do that? We tell each other everything!”
I held her hand and sat her on the edge of the bed. “You’re not sleeping in a bed with Mason. You’re sleeping with me. Mason? Would you mind being a wolf? She’s freaking out about this.”
Mason nodded. “Sure. Can I talk to you for a second first?”
I followed Mason out of the room after he pulled a fair bit of stress off of Mariang. We stood in the hallway, a mixture of worked up and exhausted. “What’s up?”
“That Danny, of all people, went off book on this worries me. If you’re planning anything crazy you haven’t told me about, now’s the time to come clean. I mean it. No more surprises. We’re down two Reapers, so we can’t screw up. If Ezra’s on his game, he’ll be bringing in another one for Mariang by morning.”
“Another Puller? How the crap are we supposed to know if we can trust anyone new?”
“I have no idea. But I’m pulling double duty, so be on my team, here. No surprises.”
I held up my hands. “Dude, I’ve got nothing. I wish I had a plan. I’d give my left set of toes for a solid plan.”
Mason scrutinized my face for traces of a lie. “Okay. If you want to strategize, do it with me.”
“My plan is to try and get a little sleep so I can stop hating myself for not having a plan to save Von.”
Mason let me back into the room, locking us inside with one nervous Mariang. She bit at her fingernails and couldn’t look at Mason or the bed. He bowed his head to her and disappeared into the bathroom, coming out a minute later as my favorite wolf. I pulled the covers back and helped Mariang lie down, tucking her pink comforter under her chin. I nearly laughed at her wide eyes when Mason jumped up onto the bed, circling three times before he settled in the center.
I climbed in, petting him and making sure he had a space under the covers. I ran my hand over his gray fur, and sighed contentedly when his loyal muzzle tucked itself under my chin. “How long have you known Danny?” I asked, searching for girl talk.
“Most of my life. Our parents were friends in high school, and kept in touch over the years. He’s been my Reaper for seven years.”
“That’s a long time. Has he always been so surly?” I kidded.
“He’s not surly. Well, he’s a little surly, but it’s mostly because he’s always hungry, always on duty. When it’s just us, he’s different.”
“I may need to install a hidden camera to get some proof.”
“Those days you gave us to just be together? They were incredible. I hadn’t seen him that relaxed in ages. If he doesn’t come back, I’ll hold those tight in my heart.” Her eyes squinched shut, another tear leaking out the corner.
“Hey, don’t talk like that. He knows what he’s doing,” I lied. “Has Danny let you down before? Has he ever not come through?”
“No, but this is different. He’s never gone off without me like this, not when he knew it’d be dangerous and would separate us.”
I lifted her hand and twined her fingers through my gloved ones, resting them atop Mason’s spine so he could pull from Mariang while she vented. Mason leaned up to give me a kiss in gratitude for helping Mariang warm up to the idea of being pulled from by another Duwende. We petted his fur, sharing quietly as if there wasn’t a man in the room. “Danny loves you. He’ll be back. Then we can get Von.”
“I can see how powerful that kiss must’ve been. That you saw a vision on your first kiss? We’ll get him back, October.” I kept my mouth shut, so Mariang continued, lowering her voice. “What was your vision about?”
I looked at the door to make sure it was shut. “It was about Von.”
“Well, I gathered that much. Danny and I only ever have visions about each other, unless it’s prophetic or something.”
“Whoa, you have prophetic dreams?”
“How do you think Dad really found your mum? I had a vision of the two of them getting engaged. It happened exactly as I dreamt it. It’s why we moved here. You know we’re from London originally.”
That was worth a jaw-drop. “Are you serious? Is that going to happen to me if I keep kissing Von?” Then a more daunting question popped into my brain. “Have you seen anything else about my family?”
“Our family, and no. Nothing all that specific.” She looked down and to the side, the lie obvious.
“I can tell you’re being evasive. Spill it, sister.”
Mariang shrugged. “It’s nothing I even understand. I saw you crying. You looked different.”
“Different how?”
“Your hair was all done up pretty, and you were in a nice dress. It was black with gold stars scattered all over it. It looked like a special occasion or something. You were crying, but I don’t know why.” She looked at my hand. “You had… It was fuzzy. Hard to tell.”
“Huh. Well I’ll be on the lookout for tissues if I ever wear a dress. Weird. How often do you see non-prophetic visions when you and Danny kiss?”
“Every time since they started. Why do you think we don’t kiss in public? It’s hard to pull out of it on a dime.”
“I can understand that. Totally bonkers, though.”
“What was your vision about with Von?” she asked with the first hint of a smile in her eyes.
That kind of stuff was private, but the girl had been so wrecked, I didn’t want her to feel snubbed. She needed a good distraction. “Um, well we were kissing in the kitchen in real life, and then it all got blurry and we were kissing…” I turned on my back and looked up at the ceiling, not used to talking about this kind of stuff. “Promise not to tell Von?”
Mariang leaned up on her elbow to look down at me, petting our wolf with eager eyes. “Cross my heart.”
“He, um…” I blew a raspberry out of my mouth. “I’m not good at this! It’s really embarrassing. I swear I don’t waste my time thinking about this kind of stuff.”
“Spit it out, now. Let’s have it.” Mariang was smiling now, and I knew I couldn’t close myself off when she was so clearly happy for the first time that evening.
“I looked down, and we were in… I mean, he was wearing a tux, and I was in um, a sort of a…” The ending came out of me in a rush. “I was sort of in a wedding dress or something.”
Mariang squealed with delight and reached across our pup to squeeze my arm. “Oh, I hope that one’s prophetic. Von’s like a brother to me. You’re so good for him. He’s changed and grown so much since he started reaping for you. He’s himself again, not lost and trying to waste himself. He used to be the hero to his brothers. Still is to most of them. He just needed to see that the good things about him were still in there.”
“That’s not the worst of it,” I admitted, wanting to clear my conscience at this point more than indulge in girlish gossip. “The vision shifted, and I think we were on our honeymoon. It was… It was pretty detailed.”
“You had sex in your vision?”
I nodded, my cheeks pink as I stared up at the ceiling, refusing to look at her. “I didn’t mean to. Do you think he had the same vision?”
“I can guarantee it. Von wouldn’t have panicked and run out like that if he’d seen nothing. So if he had a vision, it would always line up with yours. You would never have two different visions.”
I covered my face with my hands. “It was one crazy first kiss.”
“I’ll say. Danny and I didn’t start having visions until a few weeks after our first kiss.” When she saw I was clearly distressed about the whole thing, she squeezed my arm again. “It’s okay, sister. We’ll get him back.”
I nodded, staring up at the unmarked white ceiling as I blew out a breath that contained much of my anxiety. “I’m going to try and get some sleep. I can’t feel this anymore.” I waved my hand over my body.
“Goodnight, sister.”
; “Goodnight, sister,” I echoed, turning on my side and wrapping my arm and leg over Mason to use his furry form like a body pillow. Mariang snuggled up to him, too, and finally fell asleep before the sun rose.
Five.
The Colorful Blur of Von
My dream was a blur of colors that took no shape at first. I was in some sort of a Crayola windstorm where the different abstract shades kept whipping around me, leafing through my hair and tugging at my clothes. I was dressed in the same peach t-shirt and light green pajama pants I’d worn to bed, my arms still bandaged to ward off my scratching. I’d taken my gloves off before I went to sleep, but I wished for them now, along with a coat and some shoes and socks.
I moved through the cold wind, thinking there must be something more peaceful on the other side of it. Finally, off in the distance, something took shape. A person was huddled in the same windstorm, only it looked less harrowing where he stood. I made my way toward him, if for no other reason than a little camaraderie to pass the time with. As I neared, the man’s features became clearer, taking my breath away and pushing my speed up to its peak. “Von?” I cried. “Von!”
Von looked up in confusion, his mouth agape. Then he ran to me at full speed, his eyes focused on the prize.
I was his prize, and he swept me up in his arms as if I was the only thing that belonged in his embrace. My legs wrapped around his waist as we collided in a sea of windswept affection. I kissed his cheeks, but he wasn’t interested in playing around. He pressed his lips to mine, and then sucked on the crest of my lower lip. Von pulled back with a heavy moan and sewed succulent kisses into my neck, lighting my body on fire as the storm wrapped us in its cold cocoon. We didn’t hallucinate in here. In our dream, we could kiss like normal people. Even without the surreal sensations, I knew that Von was a fantastic kisser, and that we were good together. “Is this real?” he breathed between kisses. “Are you really here? Am I dreaming?”
Treat (Terraway Book 5) Page 2