I’d thought about that. I had hopes that Billie could help me with some type of magic so I didn’t get sick.
Yosef dropped his hands from his face, eyes cool again. “There are options. Magic that she could use since Lila has a powerful friend.”
Xander shoved his chair back. “Fucking, no.”
I cringed. I knew he wouldn’t take this easily. “Xander.”
He stood up, spearing me with his eyes. “Fucking, no.”
Zelda came into the room, dabbing a napkin at her eyes. Had she been crying? Not because of my news, I hoped. “Language, young sir.”
Xander ignored her and stood in front of me. He lifted my chin gently, his silver eyes blazing, face tight. “We can send a messenger to your people and explain everything about the spy. Let them know that you will be safe and with us until our war ends, and then they can visit as much as they want when the war is over. If you want a dessert business, we can start one for you here. There is no way you are leaving us. We each claimed you. You can’t just walk out on that. I won’t let you.”
“We can’t send someone to be trapped in the human realm in my place. That’s wrong,” I replied, vision clouding with tears.
Yosef stood up as well. “Xander, let her go. She has to do this. It’s not up to you,” his voice was deeper and demanding, almost echoing through the room.
He was using his alpha voice on Xander. That would not go over well.
Xander dropped his hand from my chin and looked over to Yosef with a rage-fueled face, brows furrowed together and mouth in a snarl, exposing fang. I held my breath, fearful he would attack his captain and friend. He pointed to Yosef. “You said you wouldn’t do that to me. That was the deal.”
Yosef tilted his head back, cocking a challenging brow. “And you need to stop acting like a spoiled child who didn’t get his way.”
I was pretty sure that wasn’t the thing Xander needed to hear. He was practically radiating steam. The rage was suffocating and sad.
He picked up his dinner plate and threw it against the nearest wall.
Zelda jumped, Bernard running to her side. “Young sir!”
Xander ignored her and stormed out of the house.
Hot tears finally ran down my cheeks, and I dropped my face in my hands. “Well, that went well.”
Yosef moved out of his chair and crouched in front of me, resting his hands on my knees. “He will come around. As we all will. And I am hopeful we will win this war soon. You helped us tremendously.”
Melina, eyes wide and uncomfortable, spoke again. “I agree. And I’ll provide you with any potions I can think of to help you. I, too, believe we will see you again.” She finally smiled, but her eyes still looked sad. “But, I have to ask, would you not consider coming back here, after all is done, for good?”
Luca straightened up, and I could practically see his ears perk forward, awaiting my answer. Even Yosef’s grip on my thighs tightened a bit with anticipation. This wasn’t a surprising question. I’d thought plenty about it. My world back home consisted of work, my witch community activities, and the sisterhood I had with Billie. This realm wasn’t as bright and comfortable as home.
We had crime back in Baltimore, but there was crime here. They didn’t have internet, but in the long run, that was probably good for my mental health. And, although I wouldn’t have a witch community here, I could search for a dragon community. But what about Billie? I mean, she had her guys, but she still needed her awesome gal pal. Then again, if the portals were open, it would be easy for us to see each other. Although, there was the massive time difference.
All these ifs. The fact remained that right now, the situation wasn’t as open.
Sensing my inner turmoil, Yosef patted my thigh and stood up. “No pressure. It’s a delicate situation. Let’s enjoy the time we have with you.”
I gave him thankful eyes, but he avoided my face.
* * *
The next day I stood in front of the guarded portal, currently closed, until right when I was ready to step through. I thought the area would be behind some vaulted doors in a basement, but instead, it was in a wide-open field of unusually tall orange flowers. It was actually beautiful around us. The brightest part of this whole part of the realm that I’d seen since being there. The only thing giving away that it was a portal space was a massive golden arch standing in the flowers. It was several stories tall and could have probably fit several cars through it at once.
Everyone was there, well, not everyone. Xander was still missing. He hadn’t come back last night, and I didn’t see him that morning either. I couldn’t accept that we would leave each other on such a bad note. It left a sour taste in my mouth and weighed my heart down even further. However, I didn’t want the court to change their mind. They’d given me a time and a window. It was now or never.
I sucked in a deep breath and looked around, already feeling the waterworks threatening to return. “This feels so surreal. You all have made my time here less scary. Except for the kidnapping, it was almost a vacation. I’m going to miss you all so much. I feel like Dorothy, landing in OZ and returning home.” I looked to the guards. “Sure I don’t need to click my heels?”
They gave me confused eyes. Of course, they wouldn’t get theWizard of Ozreference. It was a human thing. I chuckled sadly to myself. Xander probably would have gotten it since he had lived in the human realm for some time.
I began to hug everyone, giving my goodbyes, definitely feeling like Dorothy. I was sucked up in a tornado. Melina had magic potions, so she was Glenda, the Good witch. I wouldn’t insult the tiny Zelda by calling her a munchkin, but similarities were there. The royal court was kind of like the wizard, telling me to kill the witch to get home. And Nigel did have green hair.
