For a long moment we glare at each other, hearts beating madly, tension sparking between us.
But then Baz lets out a resigned sigh and reaches for my hands, slow and soft this time, his touch as warm and gentle as his smile.
When he speaks again, there’s no more anger, no more resistance. Only a sweet, tender honesty that melts my heart into goo.
“Because I love you, Starla Milan,” he says simply. “It’s as simple and as complicated as that.”
Twenty
STEVIE
“You ready?” Baz takes my hand, brushing his thumb across my skin, and I nod. Linking my arm with Kirin’s on my other side, I pull them both a little closer, focusing on their warmth, their familiar scents, the feel of their protective presence. After everything we’ve just been through together, I don’t want to let either of them out of my sight.
Doc and Ani gather around us, each carrying one of the objects. Baz calls on his earth magick, the air turning a deep, sparkling purple as it sweeps us up and brings us to our destination.
We step out into the Petrified Forest of Iron and Bone, Baz’s spell leaving us inside the narrow passageway that leads to the sacred cave known as the Fool’s Grave. We walk the path in silence, each of us undoubtedly contemplating the craziness we’ve just survived… and the craziness yet to come.
Despite the close quarters, I keep my brothers at my sides, all my senses tuned in to our surroundings, scanning for a disturbance. Yes, we cloaked the sacred objects back at Breath and Blade, but how can we be certain the spell is strong enough? What if—in those first few moments after Baz’s return—the Magician picked up on the relics’ magickal signature?
For all we know he’s already waiting in the shadows, watching. Biding his time until he can make his next move.
A shiver rattles my bones, and Kirin and Baz instinctively move in closer, their protective energy wrapping around me like a blanket as we enter the cave. Every few minutes, Baz squeezes my arm and smiles at me, and my heart skips, a sweet reminder of his earlier words—a confession I haven’t even had time to process yet.
Because I love you, Starla Milan. It’s as simple and as complicated as that.
I smile back at him, hoping he knows how much it means to me. How muchhemeans to me.
Pushing through our exhaustion, we make our way into the inner cave to perform the Keepers of the Grave ritual, slicing our palms over the now-familiar altar and chanting the sacred spell. After we sign our names in the Book of Reckoning, Doc places the King of Swords Tarot card inside the book and recites the last spell of our opening rite:
Let our thoughts be true, our messages clear
Both words and intent are recorded here
Leave nothing unwritten, no secrets to bear
Among brothers in blood, all things are shared.
The Tarot card glows, the book ready to record our meeting for posterity, but it’s a long moment before any of us speaks again.
They’re leaving it to me, I realize. To share everything that happened inside the dream realm—all the things we didn’t have time to talk about back at the Towers of Breath and Blade.
Taking a deep breath, I do my best to fill them in on my experiences, starting with my visit from Lala—namely, the fact that she hid the objects in the realm, and what it means now that we’ve brought two of them out. I skip over the whole death-by-suicide thing, though. Hearing that particular prophecy would drive them insane with worry, and for what? That particular little fortune isnevergoing to happen.
“The High Priestess,” Doc says, his eyes full of wonder. “I always sensed a mystical connection to Lala, but I had no idea just how mystical it really was.”
“We should’ve known,” I say, thinking back to the first time I met her. “There’s no way a normal person could make tacos that good. Even a witchy normal person.”
This gets a small smile, a spark of warmth in the dim cave that bolsters me for the next part.
Slowly, taking strength from Kirin and Baz, I tell Doc and Ani about my terrifying run-ins with Dark Judgment, the visions of my past shames, and my theories on how he’s twisting our guilt and fear to his own ends.
Kirin and Baz fill in the gaps with their own experiences, though Baz is vague on the specifics, including the fact that the house where we found him was a projection of Janelle’s. His energy is so guarded—it’s no wonder his subconscious put up that force field in the realm.
I’m beyond worried about him. Of the three of us, he’s acting the least affected by our experience.
Which tells me he’s feeling the exact opposite, whether he’s ready to admit it or not.
Doc and Ani ask a few questions, but in the end, we all decide it’s best to just bury the objects and call it a night. The sun will be up soon, and Doc and Ani still want to check in on the prisoners at Time Out of Mind before trying to catch at least a few hours’ sleep.
