“Which is ours?” Carter asked.
“I believe the latter,” Milo said. “I’m certain that the choices you all make will play a role in the outcome of Caleb and Tara’s future.”
“Leave it to branchless to require additional rescue,” Kenzo said, thoughts calming. “So, that’s your big speech, Frost? You saved Caleb once upon a time, and now we all have to play a part in saving him. Fine by me.”
“Yeah,” Gael added, raising a spiked hand. “I would’ve been down for a rescue even if we weren’t bound by fate or whatever.”
“A fated rescue,” Jamius said with a nod.
“Think we can add that to our intern resumes?” Melanie asked, completely oblivious to the stakes at play.
“Rude.” Yaritza nudged her, then turned to whisper. “But we should ask Enchanter Ortiz just in case.”
“It’s more than that,” I said. “The fallout of rescuing Caleb from the vision… It lured the chimera to Chicago.”
That confused my students. They didn’t know anything about the chimera. The specifics of the devil attacking Chicago had never been publicly released.
“The demon that possessed Jamie Novak,” I clarified. “It came to the city because of my actions.”
That shocked them all. Some thought back to Jamie’s antagonistic nature, the way he—or the devil—assaulted Tara during the Spring Showcase, the demons that stalked witches and warlocks alike on the streets of Chicago.
“There’s more,” I continued.
“Dorian, you don’t have to explain everything.” Milo pressed his hand against my shoulder.
“I do, I owe them the truth,” I said softly, turning my gaze onto them. “I owe you all answers.”
I went on to explain how the chimera sought to possess me and how he only found me after my actions during Theodore’s attack alerted the demon to my presence. It hurt, explainingeven vaguely the role Finn played in shielding my magic from the chimera. Explaining how I lost Finn years earlier.
It wasn’t just the arrival of the chimera I had to confess, I divulged how a piece of my magic broke free and acted of its own accord. How it stalked students and tried to kill some of them.
“Wait…it attacked us?” Gael asked, mind spiraling with the same fear he had the night he almost died at Peter Graham’s hands. Only now, he knew it wasn’t Peter at all, but in fact, a demon possessing the warlock.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I never intended to interfere with your lives in such a way. I only wanted to help.”
“I mean, you kind of did.” Gael shrugged as his familiar nodded.
“Always knew you were playing favorites,” Layla said, examining her clawed hand with an expression of disinterest. “Though, I suppose the whole saving his life part makes it somewhat valid.”
“You guys have been looking out for us since we started Gemini?” Gael smiled at me and his mentor, his idol, more awed by Milo’s role in matters than myself.
“Did you know how things would unfold?” Carter asked, mind flashing to my bloody body, the life he had to stitch together.
“No.” The word barely escaped my lips, still haunted by the trauma my actions put Carter through.
“None of this matters,” Kenzo stepped in, no longer caring to process. “Are we really surprised the world’s most annoying telepath is also overbearing?”
“And super protective,” Gael added.
“In a mother hen way.” Gael and King Clucks cluckled in unison.
“All I care about is that you did your part to save Caleb,” Kenzo said. “Now, it’s up to us to save him this time around.”
“Potentially,” Milo elaborated. “The possibility is higher with everyone playing their role.”
“And what exactly are our roles?” Layla asked, hands on her hips.
“To be determined.” Milo winked, wasting his efforts because Layla found his charm as nauseating as Gael’s voice.
