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The pain in my chest sharpened.No.I couldn’t bring my beast to endure this horror. We were about to be slaughtered, and none of us could do anything to stop it. I knew it like a truth seeded deep in my bones. This horrifying creature had immobilized us with its stare, and there was no escaping the presence of death that surrounded it. I wouldn’t condemn Felicks to the same fate. I shook my head once, unable to muster words.
“Trust me. It’s the only way.” Fingers trembling, he tapped the key dangling between his collarbones before pointing to mine. “Do it.”
Between us, Calem and Ozias were speechless. Tears bisected their cheeks as they stared at the looming monster. Calem held his stomach tightly and rocked on his heels. Lips parted and face stricken, Ozias had grasped either side of his head. Every fiber of my being rioted at the idea of summoning Felicks, but Gaige seemed so sure. I knew he’d never condemn my beast to death. He’d never condemn any beast to death. I had to believe in him. I had to trust that this was the only way to save us.
Wrapping my fingers around Felicks’s key, I centered myself with a shaky, long breath. Heat immediately bloomed from the metal, and with the flux of his power, the cold abated. Wondrous, effervescent light glowed around us as the beast realm door swung open, and Felicks appeared. Hackles standing on end, he positioned himself before me and growled at the impending monster.
The creature shifted its focus to my Poi, and the desperation and fear that filled the air faltered.
A low, threatening growl simmered from the back of Felicks’sthroat. The monster cocked its head in response and let out a questioning hoot. Despite his diminutive stature, Felicks squared up to the monster without a trace of hesitation, lips peeled back in a snarl. He took several definitive steps forward.
The monster responded by ducking its head several times before kneeling to the ground in a strange bow. All three eyes remained locked on Felicks. Felicks yipped, and the orb atop his head clouded as a new future brewed. Seconds ticked by, each one somehow longer than the last. My breath hitched as I waited for him to share the visions of our impending deaths.
But they never came.
Instead, Felicks showed me a series of images where we all survived—and Gaige standing before the Kitska monster with a shadow lure cupped between his hands.
My gaze cut to Gaige as the scent of mothballs disappeared from the air. His body practically deflated in a sudden show of relief, and he slowly approached the monster. Felicks went with him, sticking close to his ankles with a focus he normally reserved for tracking his next meal, but the hackles along his neck had gone down.
“It’s all right,” Gaige murmured, as he bowed deeply before the beast. The creature looked up, first glancing at Felicks before extending its neck to inspect Gaige more closely. When it pulled back, Gaige righted himself and gestured to my Poi. “This is Felicks. Would you like to join us?”
And then the monster did perhaps the most peculiar thing I’d ever seen. Crouching on all fours, it raised its rear to the air and wagged its fox-like tail with exuberance. A trill of excited birdcalls escaped its beak as it targeted Felicks with what I could only assume was a playful stare. With that, the last trickling of fear in my gut died. Standing, I brushed my hands along my clothes and eyed the curious creature. Calem and Ozias blinked as their trembling subsided, theirconfused glances hopping from person to beast until they too halted on the now amicable Kitska monster.
Gaige chuckled and cupped his hands before him, summoning a small orb of shadows. It hung above his palm for a moment before dripping between his fingers to crawl through the air in the direction of the beast. “This is my scent. I can’t send you to the beast realm anymore, but you can stay with me.”
Sniffing at the wispy tendrils, the beast bobbed its head toward Felicks and hooted.
“He belongs to Kost,” Gaige said, pointing to me. “But he summons Felicks daily. You’ll be able to see him regularly.”
Bounding in a sudden show of excitement, the monster circled the pair. As Gaige let his shadows disperse, a pleased grin toying with his lips, Felicks leapt after the monster. They darted back and forth across the clearing, my beast yipping like a young kit and the creature letting out a strange amalgamation of a high-pitched bird squawk and a bark.
“Thank the gods for Felicks.” Gaige turned to us as he tugged on his gloves, ensuring they were still in place. “Without him, we would have died.”
“I felt like I did,” Ozias mumbled as he rubbed his hands along his biceps. “What was that?” There was still an air of disbelief to his words. I could hardly blame him.
Gaige grimaced. “Foxels are harbingers of death. They typically only leave their dens to hunt small game, which they do by immobilizing their prey with gripping fear. If you avoid eye contact, you have a chance to flee. Otherwise”—he nodded to where we’d frozen before the beast—“well…you experienced that firsthand.”
“Is it even safe to keep him around?” Calem asked.
Gaige frowned. “Yes.”
Ozias shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the next. “Are you sure?”
“If Gaige says it’s safe, then it’s safe.” I blew out a tight breath. My visions had been so visceral, so raw, and yet Gaige had been the one to come up with a solution. He’d been smart enough to avoid the Foxel’s gaze and save us all. The least we could do was trust him.
The gratitude on Gaige’s face was palpable. So much so that I had to look away.
Calem tracked the rambunctious beasts zooming through the grass. “What are they doing? I’ve never seen Felicks act this way, not even when Effie tries to play with him.”
“Poi and Foxels have a special bond.” Gaige’s smile returned. “In fact, the only way to charm…tame”—he corrected himself, and his expression tightened—“a non-Kitska Foxel is with the help of a Poi. Foxels won’t harm them under any circumstances, and they often form lifelong friendships with one lucky Poi in particular. In this case, Felicks.”
My brows inched toward my hairline. “Lifelong?”
“Yes. While I’m confident I can keep him in line, I believe I’ll always be second to Felicks in the eyes of…Rook?” He waved at the pair, failing to snare the attention of either creature. “How does Rook sound? Do you like that?”
Rook’s only acknowledgment was a joyous squeal, but that was enough for Gaige. His grin deepened in earnest, and he made his way back to the fire. He moved aside the percolator, now thoroughly brewed, and stacked tinder carefully atop the still-warm coals. They caught quickly, but the heat couldn’t chase away the chill creeping down my spine. I believed that Gaige had made the right decision and that we were no longer in danger, but there was still the matter of how Rook found us.
“You said Foxels rarely leave their dens,” I began, treadinglightly both with my words and my gait as I rounded the hungry flames. Ozias and Calem said nothing, but while the stench of death and aura of fear had dispersed, the coiled tension racking their shoulders remained. “Why did Rook attack, then?”
