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I need his help, and I’m so close to going home. I just need to press him a little further.
“Please, Ignatius,” I beg, crossing the room to his side and grabbing his forearm. It’s hard and tense beneath my fingers, but somehow I think my conviction will seep through my skin and resonate with him. “You know it’ll take forever for me to master this magic, and I’ll keep practicing once we get there, but I need to know that they’re okay. I need to see them. I promise not to do anything stupid–I’m not going to run headfirst into a fight or anything. I just need to know what’s going on before I lose every bit of my mind.”
The silence that follows is heavy, pressing down on me and making it hard to breathe. At the same time, a dozen emotions race through my mind, followed by even more questions.
What if he says no?
What if I have to find another way to the monster realm?
What if all this wasted time makes us too late to help them?
Finally, after what feels like the longest moment of my life, Ignatius sighs again.
“Alright,” he concedes, rolling his eyes toward the ceiling. “We’ll go. I’m probably going to regret this, but if I tell you to run, you run. If I tell you to hide, you hide. Understand? Rafe will gut me like an animal if you die.”
My eyes pop open wide and I nod eagerly. Yes, sure. Whatever he says. As long as it gets me through the portal and closer to my mates, I’ll agree to it.
“Of course,” I say, just as Darius pops his head around the corner.
“Do you want me to make this food to go?” he asks Ignatius with a cocked brow. They’re so cute I can hardly stand it.
“No, no, we can eat first,” I offer. I know I’m ready to fly out the front door, but hours of practicing magic has me starving and my stomach growls in protest. Waiting a few extra minutes to eat won’t hurt anything. Besides, I need to refuel. Who knows when I’ll get to eat a full meal again, especially if the monster realm is at war.
Darius has made soup and sandwiches for all of us, but he doesn’t linger long before kissing Ignatius on the lips and heading for the front door.
“I’ll see you later, Nate,” he calls, and then he’s gone. And I can stuff my face without remorse.
Ignatius has seen me at my absolute worst. I doubt he’ll bat an eye if I’m dripping tomato soup all down my front.
“So, what’s the plan?” I ask before tearing a bite out of my BLT. “How do you want to do this?”
Ignatius chuckles once. “It was your idea. What do you think we should do?”
That’s not what I was expecting, but I don’t hate him asking for my input. In fact, for the first time, I feel like my opinion matters. For once, I get to call the shots, instead of being a backseat driver and doing whatever my mates tell me.
The feeling is intoxicating, and I can’t fight the smile winding its way across my face.
“Well,” I say, trying to gather my thoughts. I didn’t expect to be put on the spot like this, but I don’t want to disappoint him. It’s not like I haven’t been imagining running through the portal for the last two days, and I’ve entertained a few ideas. “We portal just outside the woods where Rafe’s is and see what’s going on. If the coast is clear, we can head for the mansion to check for them there.”
“And if there are Malevs around when we get there?” Ignatius asks, downing half his sandwich and waiting expectantly for my answer.
I shrug. “We run.”
“And if they catch us?”
“We fight.” My jaw hardens. “Are you trying to talk me out of it again?”
“No, I’m trying to make sure you’re ready for a very real possibility. We don’t know what we’re walking into, and it’s a very treacherous time in our realm. This is dangerous,” he says sternly, staring at me from across the table.
“I know.” I also know that I might not like what I find there. One or more of my mates could be injured, like in my dream.Or worse.
I try not to think about the worst case scenarios, and focus on the positives. Soon, I’ll be reunited with my mates. They might not be thrilled to see me, considering they sent me away to Earth so they could handle business, but I know they won’t be too angry. After a few words, they’ll be relieved to see me and everything will be fine.
And now, with my magic unlocked, I can even help. To what extent, I don’t know, but I don’t plan to sit on the sidelines while they’re worried about my safety. I’ll show them–all of them–just how useful I can be.
“I know it might not make sense to you,” I say after a long moment of silence, “but I know this is what I’m supposed to do. I have nothing here, less now that Cara doesn’t even remember seeing me. Not only do I want to make sure my mates are okay, but I want to see the monsters succeed because your realm is my home too.”
It’s awkward, saying all of it out loud, wearing my heart on my sleeve for Ignatius to see and judge, but it’s all true. Before Elio and Azarius found me on Earth, I was barely surviving. I wasn’t really living.
