Chapter Twenty-Three
The other fourBredhrenwere unusually subdued as they walked together on the Fairegrounds, but that might have been because they had been up until sunrise, before they gave up on the search and returned to the house to rest. Col had still been awake when they came in, each to his own room. He could tell, even then, by their relative silence that the hiker had not been found, nor clues to his fate.
He knew that failure weighed on them, as it did doubly on him.
He couldn’t help but wonder if they would have had more success if they hadn’t been distracted with his…with his loss of self control and military discipline. Even Barric studiously avoided eye contact with him, as if Col bore some contagion that might infect the others.
Or maybe they were already acting as if he were cast out of theWar-Pack, as he rightfully deserved to be. Either Barric or Merek would easily step up to the role of Second. Barric had been challenging Col’s and Tybalt’s roles within the group from the moment they awoke.
Last night had already been the second time theWar-Packhad gone off without him. He knew of the concept of three chances, from one of the games that Miller enjoyed watching. And if the player failed a third time, they could not proceed. And sometimes, that player’s failure resulted in the entire team’s loss.
This was Col’s last chance. He could not let a female be the cause of his third failure to be a valued member of theWar-Pack. There would be no reason for him to exist if he were.
He could almost hear his father’s mockery, at the son that he drove hard to become aWaryeorof renown, aWar-Packmember of distinction.Last night, all the brutal beatings the young Col had endured, in training to become aWaryeor,in struggling to win his father’s respect, came to naught, as he was sent back like an adolescent wolf-pup incapable of controlling his urges.
Similarly, there was no way the object of his thoughts, the cause of his current dilemma, could be aDestine. HisDestine, if he ever had one, belonged to his past. She, like his father, had long ago ceased to exist. To pretend otherwise was allowing fantasy to take over, when he should be single-mindedly focused on his mission.
With that, he resolved to return his thoughts where they solidly belonged. He would distance himself from Katie Cooper. He would rededicate himself to his duty.
He was ready to proceed with hisBredhren, and Simon, and Miller, and reforge their bonds over their midday repast on the Fairegrounds.
As a goodWaryeorshould.
* * *
Of course Cadmus would never admit it out loud, but Micah had been right. Getting in through the staff entrance at the Faire was infinitely preferable to fighting the teeming masses of mundane, ordinary people clustered at the entrance waiting for admission. Jordy had proudly informed him that at the height of its busiest season, the Faire hosted over fifteen thousand attendees a day. He couldn’t understand how people would be drawn to this type of venue. How people could find this attraction….attractive. It was proof to him that Micah had questionable taste. Yet it was that taste that seemed to find favor with His Terrible Majesty.
Which is why he had to grin and bear it for the time being, so he could find his way back to His Terrible Majesty’s good graces.
At least nobody paid him any especial attention. He supposed that was the value of wearing these nondescript clothes that he couldn’t wait to burn before he left.
Jordy walked him through the security checkpoint at the staff entrance, and he noted her chest puffed up with pride at the pitiful display of the authority she wielded here, at the Faire.
She smugly let him know that she had the privilege—which only a few staff members had— to let in whomever she wanted without question, as she often dealt with the vendors or performers who hadn’t yet been issued access, or for whatever reason did not have their credentials. Jordy wielded a great deal of responsibility, and was able to exert that authority over people twice her age, especially when she thought they had half her intellect.
Which seemed to be nearly everyone at the Faire.
Cadmus knew she was trying to impress him, but kept his amusement secret. After all, he needed to win her back. Although it seemed to be an easier task, as now that Micah was gone, Cadmus shifted back to becoming the focal point of her craving for approval.
Unfortunately, the flip side of her showing off how all the staff personnel they came across seemed to know and listen to her, was that some treated her as if she was on duty merely by the fact that she was present.
One person wearing a multi-pocketed vest with the name Gabe stitched on it was especially insistent.
“I’m sorry, I have to go deal with this,” Jordy said. Gabe barely flicked a glance at Cadmus.
“Go, then,” Cadmus said. “But first, return the object.”
“Oh, right.” Jordy reluctantly handed the pendulum back to Cadmus, blocking it with her body discreetly so Gabe would not see how it was acting in defiance of the laws of gravity.
It was going haywire, but Cadmus shoved it into the pocket of his…cargo pants. He shuddered again at the feel of the fabric, made out of some material that did not wholly come from a seed, silkworm, or womb.
“Call me if you need me,” Jordy said, but Gabe was already spiriting her away.
“Sure I will,” Cadmus muttered. It felt so liberating, to at last let his sarcasm out into the open air.
Although the sarcasm quickly gave way to worry, as the enormity of his task descended on him. Even where he stood, on the outskirts of the Faire near where much of the behind-the-scenes actions took place, he was starting to get overwhelmed with the size of the crowds.
By the Infernal Gods, there were just so many of them! It was not unlike seeing an infestation of insects. And the pendulum kept acting erratically in his pocket, vibrating so violently that he feared it was malfunctioning. Perhaps its usefulness had come to an end, and it was now overloaded with the thousands of creatures that possibly included the very one it sought. Perhaps the traces of blood were not enough for how long it was active. Perhaps he should have given it yet another chance to soak up moonlight overnight.
