“In the hospital before I smacked you. I heard it crack,” Vero says.
“Why did you smack Riley?” Torin growls, his fingers twitching to smack Vero.
“No, it’s okay. He actually helped me,” I say before telling Torin what happened.
He looks thoughtful. “That sounds like the mansion we were in that day I learned you were blind. You know, the first time we came across Conquest. It was like a blend of two worlds inside that building. I wonder if that’s where the god lives. Or if it has some significance in your mind.”
“I really don’t know,” I say, not having realized that since I wasn’t able to see at the time. “I have a… very… uh… wild question for you.”
Torin hesitates. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”
“Well, according to the book that you found on my former body, another person had been afflicted with this curse… a woman. That tells me that it had to have been Famine since the rest of the horsemen are male. The god isn’t allowing her to speak of what happened, but… what if I find Conquest and ask him? He seemed a bit more… willing to engage with me.”
Torin looks absolutely flabbergasted that I would ask such a ridiculous thing. “I’m sorry… you want to findConquest?”
“He… obviously had a soft spot for me,” I say as I try not to grimace at the looks Vero and Torin are giving me. The two have found some common ground, it seems. “Torin… I feel like I’m a mess with the horse in this hourglass. It’s better. It’s so much better, but it’s far from perfect. I’m weaker than before all of this started. Most of my life, my magic was so powerful, and now I feel like I’m constantly wondering whether I’ll hurt myself if I use magic. How the hell will I ever be able to stop any of the horsemen like this? I need to find a way to break the hourglass.”
“We barely made it out of there last time. I have no idea how you think we’ll be able to find Conquest, and just because he didn’t want to kill you doesn’t mean he’d be willing to help you.”
“If his horse is like mine… I have a feeling he’d be willing to help,” I say.
Torin looks conflicted but ultimately shakes his head. “I don’t think we’re capable yet. Just… give me a little more time. I’ll become stronger and we’ll figure something out.”
“Okay,” I say, knowing that I can’t do this unless he’s on my side.
I join in the efforts to clean up, but there isn’t much left to do before we end up back at Story and Lark’s house. I tell Torin, “I tried taking Mickey back to your place to rest, but he didn’t want to go without us.”
“Our place, not mine,” he says. “And yeah, let’s go back for the day. If they need us here, they can send someone to us.”
Once we pick up Mickey, we head through the Door into my world where I shoot a text to Imani, asking if she knows of anyone who could help me get in contact with Conquest. She says she’s uncertain but will get back with me when she does, so we go through the Door into Torin’s realm to wait for her reply.
Chapter Twenty
Torin
The moment Mickey is tucked in his bed with a controller in his hands, he pats the bed wildly. “Riley, a game. Just one game.”
Riley, who is surrounded by the white orbs of souls who are thrilled to have him back, doesn’t look like he’s overly interested in a game, but he’s a sucker and seems to feel bad for Mickey. Vero just looks at the whole exchange in disgust. Why he had to follow us in here, I don’t know. He acts disgusted by everything we do, yet he follows us into Mickey’s room?
“Are you compensating for something with this grand and desolate place?” Vero asks, looking around.
I cock my head, prepared for this fight. “You wanting to check out my dick or something?”
“Stop measuring dicks and come join me,” Riley says as he pats the bed where he’s now sitting next to Mickey.
“Ha. Fleeing the instant that man calls to you. How hilarious.” Vero sneers. “What a weak man.”
“Vero, come join us. I have four controllers. We’ll all play,” Mickey says, gesturing at the chair next to his bed. “Unless youthink you’re just going to lose, then you can continue to sulk over there.”
Vero struts right over to the chair, snatches up the controller, and sits down like he hadn’t just reprimanded me for sitting down mere seconds ago. I laugh and Vero’s eyes lock onto mine as we have a stare-off that is only broken by Mickey shoving his head between ours. I sigh and stare at the odd device with all of its buttons and colors. I twist it around while I try to decide how to hold the strange thing, and when I look at the others, I discover that I’ve chosen to hold mine upside down. Riley quickly fixes it for me because he is handsome and strong.
“We’re going to playMario Kart,” Mickey says. “That’ll be simple enough.”
Riley shows me which buttons are required for what, but most of it goes in one ear and out the other. Meanwhile, Vero, the “I’m too good for these ridiculous things” god, has already chosen his character.
“Have you playedMario Kartbefore?” Mickey asks him.
Vero scoffs. “Why would I ever play such a childish game? What is the point of this besides an excuse not to do more important things like crushing the skulls of those who have offended me?”
