Page 14 of Trick Of Light

“On a hunting trip through hell?”

“Yes! Why are you arguing with me about this?”

“Because you’re being short-sighted.”

“How so?”

“You actually think that hunting while trying to protect Joe and Dylan is smart?”

Malic turned his back on him, clearly frustrated. “We could protect them and—”

“You want revenge,” Marcus told him, turning Malic to face him. “So do I. Moira kept me from Joe and all of you, my family, for so long. I want to see her suffer too, but not at the cost of losing what I have.”

“Dylan could have died,” he rasped.

“I know,” Marcus soothed, pulling him into a hug.

“Listen to me,” Jael ordered. “The fact of the matter is that Ryan must make the trip to Anahel’s realm, as Julian will be safe there. Leith has to go as well, as the same is true for Simon. Both Ryan and Leith have been building power for over a year, and I didn’t understand why, but now I do. Even though we thought the threat had passed, our power, tied to senses we have no conscious connection to, knew better.”

No one said a word.

Jael looked at Ryan. “The part of you that is a warder and not human knew Julian was sick, knew you had to care for him and be prepared to live on another plane to keep him with you.” His eyes met Leith’s. “Your power grew as well, as you share the same fate, for Simon too will be well on another plane.” He took a deep breath. “But, Malic, you’re not building power, as you’re meant to stay here and protect the city, same as Marcus. Both of you, sensing the safety of your hearths, stayed as you are.”

We all looked at Marcus.

“Has anything happened to you or Joe?”

“I don’t know,” he answered solemnly, turning to Joe as his hearth moved up beside him. “Joe’s fine, his family is as well. But seeing all of you suffer…perhaps that’s my piece of the curse.”

“I think you did yours already,” Raphael told him. “I think that was the actual beginning of all this. You were gone close to a year, Marcus. That was the first working of the curse, the separation from your hearth.”

“That makes perfect sense,” Deidre agreed. “That suffering is what Moira truly delights in. When she killed my warder, she watched her hearth suffer until he too died of a broken heart.”

Marcus said, “Perhaps with some of you gone hunting, others living in heaven, and me here with Malic and Jael, maybe that will be my curse to suffer if we’re attacked.”

I looked at Joe standing close to Marcus and wondered. “If warders build power, do hearths as well?”

“Yes.” Jael nodded. “The longer they’re together, the stronger the bond, the stronger the hearth.”

Raphael and I were closing in on a year together, Leith and Simon two, Julian and Ryan had just made a year and a half, and Malic and Dylan were right around the same. But Marcus and Joe had been together seven years. They knew each other backward and forward, inside and out, they finished each other’s sentences, talked in code, had entire conversations in murmurs and grunts, shrugs, and touches. It would be hard for a witch to find a vulnerable place to strike. So maybe Raphael was right. Maybe the horror of Marcus being away had been the beginning of the curse and we had all missed it.

“The only reason I made it home,” Marcus said, “was because of Raph. He found me because he can fly, and maybe Moira doesn’t know that.”

But that made no sense. She was a witch, and more importantly, Raphael had killed her mate. How would she not know everything about a kyrie? What made Raphael different, beyond his being loved?

“We have a plan,” Jael announced and looked at Deidre as she walked back into the room. “Is it all arranged?”

She nodded. “Help is on the way.”

There was some comfort in that.

THREE

It was odd. We looked like something out of Lord of the Rings with our packs and weapons. The only thing missing was a pony to carry the camping gear and food. And of course, instead of being outside Rivendell, we were all standing in Jael’s darkened ballroom, staring at the walls. I couldn’t imagine having such a room, but our sentinel liked to entertain, and as some of the richest, most influential people in San Francisco were friends of his and vied for invitations to his parties, it made sense he’d have a ballroom in his home. For us, since we needed a lot of space to create a portal large enough for us all to go through at once, so as not to risk becoming separated, the space was certainly welcome.

There were the six of us going—me, Raphael, Leith, Simon, Julian, and Ryan—as well as five warders from Deidre’s clutch in Edinburgh. Others had come from across the US to help Marcus and Malic guard San Francisco while we were gone, doing it in a rotation, and that was appreciated. Collin—I couldn’t remember his last name, but he was from Deidre’s clutch—had taken quite a fancy to Julian the first time he was in town, and Ryan had not appreciated that in the least. This time, seeing the threat to Ryan’s hearth, Collin had been extremely supportive of my friend and promised he would protect the city and never leave it unguarded. They had hugged it out at that point. Nice when camaraderie trumped all else.

We had said our goodbyes to Malic and Marcus the night before because if they were there when we left, it would have been too hard to walk away. Leaping through a portal to another realm where I had no idea how fast or slow hours, days, or months moved, everyone we knew could be gone by the time we returned. When I’d explained that to Cielo, he was scared, but he understood. He’d been living with my secret a long time. He’d hugged me really tight, promised to water my plants and collect my mail, and most importantly, take care of our business. He had my power of attorney.