by Krista Walsh
Ariana smirked. “You have a calm way of describing the end of days.”
Maggie grinned. “Twice in the last year I’ve braced for the worst. Twice we’ve managed to prevent it. The way I see it, either we succeed again, or we don’t. There’s no point worrying about it.”
“At least we know what’s coming,” said Jeff. “What about the people who see these things happening but have no idea what they mean? I doubt they’re nearly as calm as you are.”
Maggie squeezed his hand, but said nothing.
They reached the Haunt, and Jeff inhaled a sweet smell of cinnamon. It warmed him from the inside out, causing his thoughts to go fuzzy as fatigue overwhelmed him. The pain of grief eased, and he sank onto the bench and rested his head in his hands.
William approached and set a cup down on the table. “Mother? It’s ready.”
“There’s a good boy. Looks like we’ll have need of more as everyone else gets here. I must say your timing is perfect. Come on, Jeff, drink up.”
“What is it?” he asked, staring into the steaming red liquid. The scent of spices was intoxicating.
“A tonic for the spirit. It’ll give you a bit of energy. Here you go, my dear.” Maggie handed a second cup to Ariana.
The princess wrinkled her nose uncertainly, but at Maggie’s encouragement, she tilted the contents into her mouth. A series of expressions passed over her: pain at the heat, surprise, and finally a warm smile.
“That’s amazing,” she said.
Jeff didn’t feel ready for that sort of happiness, but William looked at him with so much expectation in his puppy-like eyes, that he didn’t want to let the young man down. Taking a small sip, he felt the rush of warmth slide down his throat and spread out in his belly. It continued on through each of his limbs, and what grief the scent hadn’t removed now disappeared. Even his leg felt better.
“Miracle juice?” he asked, taking another sip.
“Something like that,” said Maggie. “We’ve been working on some bean grounds Brady brought back from your world when he was there. I confess it took us a long time to figure out the right balance, but I’m happy with the result.”
Jeff stared into the depths of the drink. “This is hyped-up coffee?”
“Perfected coffee is how I like to think of it,” said Maggie.
“Did someone mention coffee? Wow, it smells good in here.”
Venn came into the room and tilted back her head as she inhaled. Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out a stack of glossy paper, handing them to Maggie.
“They don’t really belong to Cassie. They’re mine. Most of them. But I figure her image might do the same thing.”
Coldness leached back into Jeff’s heart as he saw what Venn had brought downstairs. With a shaking hand, he reached for them, and Maggie slid them over.
Photographs. Most of them taken within the last three months of Venn, Cassie, and Jeff in various combinations. One in particular clenched his heart, and he dropped the rest onto the table to look more closely.
It was him and Cassie, sitting on a bench in Old Port around sunset. He had his arm around her and was laughing at something she’d said. She had her head tilted back to catch the last warmth of the sun before it disappeared for the day.
Jeff had this picture framed on his desk.
“Cassie had her own copy,” Venn rushed to say, as if afraid Jeff would accuse her of stealing his. “I figured with you two moving in together, you wouldn’t need both.”
Jeff brushed his fingers over the photo, imagining the sensation of Cassie’s hair running between them.
“Why did you bring them?” he asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Venn. “What matters is if they’ll work for Maggie’s spell. Will they?”
Maggie sifted through the photos again, finding a black and white shot of Cassie sticking out her tongue. Jeff remembered the week Venn had discovered the magic of a camera and taken pictures of everything.
“We can definitely try.”
She took the photo over to her worktable, and then moved to the shelves to find the right book. Flagging William, she sent him to scour the other bookcase.
Ariana reached over and slid another photo closer to her, this one of the three of them, all making faces.
“Your world is full of a magic of its own, isn’t it?” she said. “How is it that your likeness is so clear on paper? Here, we only have portraits and tapestries.”
“Our world is just different,” said Jeff.
“You miss it.”
Jeff frowned and glanced sidelong at her. “You enjoy reading people, don’t you?”
She didn’t take her eyes off the photo. “People are fascinating, don’t you think? In my position, I’m not only given the opportunity but the responsibility to read people. To evaluate how they think and how they might react. I’ll be a horrible ruler if I don’t develop those skills now.”
Her tone caught Jeff’s attention, and the shiver of epiphany trickled down his spine. “You’re not nearly as rebellious as you want Basten and your mother to think you are, are you?”
Ariana smiled, brown eyes twinkling as she looked up at him. “I wouldn’t go that far, Mr Powell. I enjoy a good adventure to break the monotony of my life.” The smile faded. “But I do take my position very seriously. No matter what they might think.”
Venn slid onto the bench across from them, listening in on their conversation, rifling through her photos.
Jeff watched her small fingers flip through the memories, but continued to direct his words to the princess. “So in all of your reading, what do you make of Jayden Feldall?”
Venn gasped as she looked up at him, and a curtain fell over Ariana’s expression, guarding her emotions.
“I make nothing of him,” she replied. “He is to me what those photos are for you. A memory.”
Jeff twisted his lips upwards into what he hoped was a smile, but it felt strange.
These photos are more than memories. They’re a reminder of everything I want. But he kept that thought to himself.
At least he knew now that, on some level, Jayden and Ariana were on the same page. Even if they would never know it.
“All right, I think I found something,” said Maggie, hitting pause on the conversation. “William, I need you to grab these ingredients.” She pointed to the page and her son skimmed the words quickly, dark hair falling into his eyes, before striding over to the worktable.
Maggie sat next to Venn, book open in front of her, photos between her and the book.
“I need you all to be very quiet,” she said. “This is a meditative spell. Sort of like astral projection. If I look like I’m about to fall off the bench, someone please catch me.”
She offered a smile as though she were joking, but Jeff braced himself for a quick dash.
William returned with a few vials and jars, laying them out in front of his mother. The two of them went through the steps to ground some seeds, petals, and oils, and then he poured the mixture into a small bowl, lit a twig from a candle on the table, and dropped it on top. A small burst of flame flashed towards them, and then a pale purple smoke drifted upwards.
“Be very still,” said Maggie.
Jeff went so far as to hold his breath, snaking his hand out to latch onto the nearest thing he could find, which happened to be Ariana’s fingers. Instead of jerking away, she held him tightly, until Jeff worried he would lose himself if he ever let go.
The smoke drew lazily towards Maggie’s face, and her eyes rolled back in her head. Behind her, William grabbed her shoulders to keep her from falling, her head lolling back against him.
Her hands twitched, and soft moans emanated from the back of her throat, but she didn’t appear to be in any distress. More like she was dreaming. Jeff crossed his fingers that she was dreaming of Cassie.
Sounds of panic broke out up the stairs, voices calling loudly and coming closer. Jeff tensed, gaze rapt on Maggie to make sure it didn’t di
sturb her from the spell.
“Someone help!” Jasmine called out. “Maggie!”
Maggie’s eyes flew open and Jeff swore. So close—they had been so close.
“What’s wrong, honey?” Maggie asked.
“The spell was interrupted,” Jeff snapped. “That’s what’s wrong.”
“It’s Brady,” said Jasmine as she burst into the room, cheeks stained with tears. Jeff noticed blood on her hands. “He had another seizure. He fell and hit his head. I can’t wake him up.”
Maggie dashed from her seat and up the stairs after Jasmine, William close on her heels. Jeff stared after them, torn between fear for his friend and hurt that his own problems had been left behind.
“Jeff,” said Venn, calling him out of his emotions.
With a snarl of frustration, fear won out and he chased after Jasmine, ignoring the faint throb in his leg, Venn and Ariana behind him. They raced up the stairs towards Jasmine’s office and Jeff’s breath caught at the scene in front of him.
Brady was on the floor, temple bleeding from where he’d struck it on the desk. His body shook and spasmed with the force of a second seizure, and Jayden had his full weight on him to keep the counsellor on his side. Jasmine brushed his hair back, calling his name.
“It’s all right, Brady. You’ll be okay. Maggie’s here now. Just hold on and come back to me. Please.”
Her voice cracked on the final word, and Jeff wanted to go and say the same reassuring things to her.
Everything was falling apart.
Maggie pulled a vial out of her skirts and forced the liquid into Brady’s mouth. A few seconds later, the spasms passed and he lay like a rag doll on the floor. For a moment, Jeff prepared for the worst, but then the counsellor’s chest rose and everyone in the room heaved a sigh of relief.
“That’s it,” Jasmine murmured, stroking his cheek. “You’re all right now.”
The counsellor’s ginger eyelashes fluttered, tried to open, and his lips moved in silent words.
“Hush, my love. Don’t say anything just yet. Catch your breath first, all right?” She smiled softly. “Let us catch ours.”
But he tried harder, inhaling sharply to force more sound from his throat. With a crook of his finger, he urged Jeff closer.
“Jeff, he needs to rest,” said Maggie. But it seemed clear to Jeff that Brady wouldn’t rest until he’d delivered his message.
He dropped to the floor and placed his ear as close as he could to Brady’s mouth. His friend’s breath brushed his cheek, and through the exhale he heard a word that stopped his heart. And then Brady went limp as sleep overpowered him.
“Jeff? What is it? What did he say?” The questions came from multiple sources around the room, and Jeff fell back onto the floor, pushing himself against the wall, pressing the heels of his palms into his temples.
The counsellor’s one word had been “Cassie.”
Chapter Nineteen
Jeff had his patience tested over the next few hours while they waited for Brady to revive. He refused to leave the counsellor’s room, vowing to be there when he woke up to hear his words first.
“Do you want me to go try again, Jeff?” asked Maggie. “We might have been getting somewhere.”
“Do it. Please,” said Jeff. “Either you or Brady, whoever gets there first. I need to know.”
Jasmine stretched out on the bed next to her husband, her fingers entwined with his. The voice in the back of Jeff’s head told him he was being insensitive, that he should give Jasmine this time alone with him because Brady’s symptoms were obviously getting worse. Who knew how much time he had left. But his emotional mind pushed that voice aside. If Jasmine got to spend her time with Brady, Jeff deserved the same with Cassie. He had to salvage some part of the hell they faced.
So they sat in silence, the three of them, waiting for something to change.
Jasmine yawned, and Jeff noticed her skin had a grey tint, still coated with a sheen of sweat.
He wanted to ask if she was feeling all right, but knew she wouldn’t appreciate the suggestion that she appeared weak.
“Am I losing him, Jeff?” she murmured, breaking the quiet as Brady’s face scrunched up and his hand twitched.
“We’re all losing, Jax,” he said.
Her eyes widened, and she propped herself up on her elbow. “You don’t believe that.”
“Don’t I?” Jeff asked. He tried to keep the rancour and bitterness out of his voice, knowing that none of his anger could be directed towards her. Some of this was his fault, and some of it was out of any of their control. None of it lay on her. “Three times I’ve come to this world, and each time the problems get worse. At least Raul was a tangible threat. Something we could aim for and stop. But what about these rifts? One could open in this room in the next ten seconds and there would be nothing we could do to stop it.”
He sighed and brushed his hands over his eyes. “I know that’s not true. I know I could help solve the problem right now by going home. I’m being selfish. But I can’t—” he stopped, swallowed, continued, “just like you couldn’t leave Brady behind.”
Jasmine stared down at her husband. “No one’s blaming you, Jeff.”
Jeff snorted. “Basten—”
“Basten’s an asshole,” she interrupted. “He’s focused on the security of the country, and that’s valid, but he forgets the human element. No one expects you to leave without her, and if Brady saw something that could help, or if Maggie’s spell works, no one will be happier for you than me. But you can’t give up hope that we’ll win this. That’s not the Jeff I’ve come to know.”
“I don’t even think I know who I am anymore. I’m definitely not the guy who woke up here last January.”
Jasmine chuckled. “No, you’re not. Not even close. That man was so sure of his own perceptions, unable to accept what he couldn’t understand. He never believed he was capable of what we required of him. I confess I didn’t like that man all that much, even though he did have great entertainment value.”
Jeff felt no resentment towards her for the opinion. She was right.
“The man sitting here with me is so much stronger, more open-minded, and one of the bravest men I know,” she went on. Jeff felt his throat close. “I believe in you, Jeff, and everything you can accomplish. Even if you don’t right now.” She smiled. “Besides, you have to get home and start ruining your next world, right? Can’t let all of that imagination go to waste.”
Bending his head so she couldn’t see, he wiped at his eyes and laughed, “I don’t think I’ve heard you get so sentimental before.”
Her smile grew. “What can I say? I’m not the same woman you met when you first came here either.”
Brady stirred, and both Jeff’s and Jasmine’s attention shifted.
“Brady, love? Can you hear me?”
His grey eyes opened, large in his pale face, and he smiled up at his wife, raising a hand to brush his fingers along her cheekbone. She tilted her face into his hand and bent down to kiss him.
“You had us worried,” she said.
“That was a long ride.” His words came out raspy and dry.
Jeff poured a cup of wine from the pitcher on the table and brought it over, helping Brady sit up so he could drink.
“What do you mean?” Jasmine asked. “Ride where?”
“Talfyr,” Brady explained between sips. He cleared his throat, and when he spoke again, he sounded stronger. “I think it was something he wanted me to see, because I’ve never had such a clear connection before. Usually it’s grainy, just flashes of pictures because he doesn’t care what goes on down here. Unless it’s food, it’s irrelevant. But this time he focused.”
Jeff set down the empty wineglass and sat on the bed next to him. “On what?”
Brady’s brow furrowed, and he closed his eyes again. “I saw a forest first. Nothing but trees. I felt the pull of other voices, other dragons. Talfyr’s not happy they’re awake.”
“They?
” asked Jasmine.
Jeff wanted to shush her for distracting him from the important point, but his own curiosity kept him silent.
“At least three of them now,” said Brady, and Jeff felt his blood run cold.
“Gods-be-damned,” Jasmine whispered.
Jeff pictured the devastation Talfyr had caused a year ago, riled up because of Raul’s magic, angry at being awoken. So much loss and death under his fiery breath, and no way to stop him. Now there were three more.
“We’re safe here,” Brady assured his wife, taking her hand. “Talfyr is older than they are, and he’s claimed Andvell as his territory. It was so strange, but I felt his dominance. The others can’t hunt here, and they won’t challenge him. But that doesn’t mean anywhere else is safe. For now.”
“Maggie says it’s the rifts,” said Jeff. “Just like when Talfyr was woken up, it’s happening again. The tears in the veil are waking the dragons. Does that mean when we close them again, the dragons will go back to sleep?”
Brady grimaced. “We can only hope. Otherwise, it will be the days of the Dragonkin all over again.” Jeff looked at him, clueless, and the counsellor waved his hand in dismissal. “A piece of history I’ll explain some other time. There are more important things to discuss right now.” He closed his eyes again to continue his journey. “After the forest disappeared, we flew over a village. It’s one I’ve seen before, but it didn’t smell right. Like death, and magic. I’m pretty sure that’s where Raul’s followers are holed up. No matter that Raul is dead, Talfyr’s loathing for him is still incredibly strong. I can feel the hate and anger in my blood like fire. He wants to eradicate everything associated with him. That’s why he focused on them. He wants me to see.”
“Why didn’t he just breathe fire on them then?” Jeff asked. “He could do in ten seconds what it will take us days to accomplish.”
“Because he saw something that made him pause.” Brady opened his eyes again and met Jeff’s gaze. “He’s far more intelligent than we’ve ever given him credit for. And I don’t mean smart. He has curiosity. He recognised someone in the crowd, knew she has a connection with me. I think that’s what held him back.”