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“It’s the runes,” he pants, hands on hips, eyes wild. “Only the person who made them can break them.”
“Titania?” I ask.
“Maybe. Or a Keeper.” He pauses. “Or, if she’s using your stolen magic, then maybe if we get your powers back, you can break the seals.”
“It might not be possible.”
He renews his attempts by scraping his fangs across the runes. I crawl under every table and hunt for the other seals. To my surprise, I find all five of them. One is marred.
“Look!” I hold up the one with a crack splitting the runes in half. “This must be Styx’s. But it still tingles.”
His gaze swings between Styx and the disc. “He must know how to break them.”
We’re so close to figuring this out that my heart races excitedly. Then I realize, duh, we can’t ask Styx, and I deflate. “Look, it’s getting late. We should go and tell the others. Maybe... I don’t know... maybe it will trigger a memory.”
Fox nods, disappointment flexing his jaw as he returns the discs to the shadows beneath a table.
“Or perhaps it’s time for me to rifle through their minds,” he says.
“They won’t like that.”
“No. They won’t.”
I take his hand and pull him through the wards. Outside, he freezes and scours the darkness.
“Is someone here?”I send him.
He holds up a finger and narrows his eyes at the hedges rustling with the arctic breeze. After a few more heartbeats, he takes my hand. I hug the jar of manabeeze like a life raft. Weflickerthrough space, eventually landing in the center of his bedroom.
The disorienting travel sickness abates after a few deep breaths, and I put the jar onto his dresser. Joy fills me. I can activate the portal stone home now. Any Nothing who wants to leave can. My hand flies to Tinger’s pendant, and I squeeze the bulk beneath my cape. I didn’t get a chance to spend time with my new friends as I promised, but hopefully, this makes up for it.
Fox stabs his hair with his fingers and renews his pacing like a caged animal. “I looked everywhere, even below the tables. Why didn’t I see the seals?”
“Maybe it’s another mortal thing.”
“But I should have seen them.” He pounds his chest. “If I’d found them earlier, we could be done with this madness already.”
“Hey.” I gather his hands and hold them still between us. “We can try again later. You said the Baleful Hunt won’t be there until morning, right?”
“I don’t know.” A faraway look enters his eyes. “I’m sure I sensed someone there. Something feels off.”
“Let’s call this a win.” The warmth spreading in my heart agrees. Fox trusted me enough to bring me. I trusted him to go. Together, we achieved something remarkable. “I know Titaniastole my magic. We know Styx is there. And we know he broke a seal.”
Exhaustion drops his shoulders. “Yeah.”
“We should call it a night and start again tomorrow.”
His mood perks up with a glance at his bed. “You’re sleeping here.”
It’s not an order, not a request, but a fact stated.
The last time I slept in his bed, I woke feeling the most rested I’ve been in years. I keep waiting for the moment of regret, the guilt or remorse to weigh me down, reminding me not to trust them.
But it doesn’t come.
Chapter
Forty-Nine
