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At least he didn’t say I was fucked. I could cling to hope a while longer.
Seretis steadied more as we left the trail and moved out into the open, no doubt already drawing the potency he so desperately needed. Bryce sat in the center of the nexus with a huge grin on his face, but his delight faded at the sight of the bloody dog.
“Shit,” he breathed. “It’ll kill Pellini if Sammy dies.”
Seretis placed the dog on the slab then rested a hand briefly on Bryce’s shoulder. “Give me but a moment, ghastuk,” he said with a rich warmth in his voice. He placed both hands flat on the concrete, and though I couldn’t see the power he drew into himself to “recharge,” I had no trouble seeing the results. In less than a minute his color returned to normal, the abrasion on his face diminished then vanished, and his gaze sharpened.
He lifted his hands from the slab with obvious reluctance then placed them on Sammy. For a moment nothing happened, but then the wounds started to close like a cool and creepy special effect. Sammy’s tail thumped as the nasty gashes thinned. By the time the injuries resolved to unblemished skin, he wagged his tail with enough exuberance to send up clouds of dust and dog hair. Pellini would shit a brick when he saw the hairless stripes, but I had a feeling Seretis didn’t have enough mojo at the moment to re-fur the bare skin.
The goofy dog wiggled and climbed to his feet, shooooook as if shedding a lake full of water, then happily proceeded to lick and slobber all over the demonic lord’s face. Seretis laughed and scratched Sammy behind his ears as he accepted the effusive affection, but after a moment he looked into the dog’s eyes, expression serious. Bemused, I watched the dog go still and attentive as the two locked gazes. Perhaps Seretis was warning Sammy about tangling with anything that came out of the valve. Maybe he was instructing the dog to be on guard and let him know if anything strange happened—like giving a kid a Very Important Duty to make them feel special while keeping them out of more trouble.
Finally Seretis smiled and stood. The dog gamboled around him in delighted excitement then raced off, perhaps to begin whatever task the Nice Man had given him. Seretis gave Bryce a hand up, and the two embraced like friends who’d known each other their entire lives.
“Kara asked me to try to contact you,” Bryce said, “but I have no idea what happened after that.”
“After our initial contact, I departed through Rhyzkahl’s grove to return to my realm,” Seretis said then grimaced. “Normally a simple transit, one I have made countless times. Yet today the flows warped, and I became disoriented in the interspace. I could find no familiar markers, however I sensed you clearly and followed that flow.”
Bryce whistled low. “Damn good thing I tried to reach you when I did.”
“Indeed, it was, ghastuk,” Seretis said. “With you as a beacon I reached a node and realized I was entrapped in the valve system.” He paused as Sammy ran up. The dog proudly dropped what looked like the hindquarters of a long-dead rabbit at his feet then looked up eagerly. Seretis scratched the lab’s ears and fell silent for a few seconds, no doubt clarifying his previous instructions. Sammy barked once and dashed off again. Amusement flashed in the lord’s eyes but he sobered as he resumed his tale.
“With me in the node was a panicked graa,” Seretis said. “Its attempts to free itself had shattered any usable flows, and I had no option but to clear the entanglements and push it onward or remain ensnared myself. I drove it before me, ever following your call. I passed through your valve at the moment the graa clawed Sammy.” Distaste twisted his mouth. “Fekk. One of Jesral’s.”
“Jesral sent the graa through on purpose?” I asked with a frown.
“That is my suspicion,” he said, expression dark. “I do not know how long Fekk was entrapped, but a cross-current in the node led me to believe she was destined for another valve.”
“Wonderful,” I said sourly. “Only a matter of time before we have selfies with demons going viral online.” I took a deeper breath and gave him a crooked smile. “Anyway, I’m glad you made it through in one piece. Was grove travel this messed up after the cataclysm?”
Old grief shadowed his eyes. “The groves retreated into the soil at the very start of the cataclysm,” he said. “Most returned after fifty years, though were unusable for close to a hundred. Szerain’s remained qui
escent for a full century and a half.”
“Oh. Right.” Now I remembered hearing that from the reyza Safar at Szerain’s palace. Felt like a lifetime ago. “Well, I’m going to take the fact that the groves haven’t retreated as a good sign,” I said brightly. “Maybe the demon realm isn’t going to hell in a handbasket anytime soon.”
Seretis chuckled. “You speak with good sense. I will maintain this conviction.”
I bit my lip, shifted. “I didn’t expect a house call,” I said, “but now that you’re here, what can you tell me about my condition? Is there any way it can be reversed?” A fountain of hope rose, and I made no effort to hold it back. Intervention by a demonic lord might very well be my best and last chance for a remedy.
Seretis lifted a hand toward my head then paused, waiting for my permission to fully connect telepathically. As soon as I gave him my nod he rested his hand against the side of my head while I did my best to remain still, both physically and mentally.
It was several minutes before he lowered his hand. “I do not have an answer, Kara Gillian.”
The wave of hope crashed onto the rocks of Fuck You Beach, and it was several seconds before I could speak. “Hey, it was worth a shot, right?” I said, voice quavering only a little. “And you were here to save Sammy, so it’s all good.”
“A solution may well exist,” he said. “I am not the qaztahl most versed in such matters.” But a frown lingered on his face. “I sensed an echo of Kadir.”
“Oh.” I wrinkled my nose. “I used his technique to symmetrize the valve at the pond and the nature center. Probably left some Kadiriness behind, like bad cologne.”
His frown deepened more, and his gaze went to where Pellini had created his ring of sigils. “It is more than bad cologne.”
It took me a second to make the connection. “The simulator,” I growled. “That son of a bitch used it to put his slime on me.” Idris had been right. Damn it. Despite everything, a laugh escaped me, harsh and humorless. “Well isn’t that fucking great. I lose everything arcane except that.”
Seretis shook his head. “The resonance of Kadir is not arcane,” he told me. “It is of the essence. Integral. Yet apart from Kadir’s imprint, a seed of the arcane remains within you.”
I stared at him. “What does that mean?” I finally asked, afraid to draw my own conclusions.
“It means that the one who stripped you did not take it all, either by choice or because he was unable. But I know not if it has meaning with regard to potential restoration.”
