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I notice he doesn’t hesitate over Klotho’s name. He’s clearly heard it before, and not just in the mythological Greek way.
“In the woods near Bevington, but we sealed the portal.”
His bright blue eyes, undimmed by time and his circumstances, drill into mine. “How?”
“Gabe’s uncle is a demon lord.” Gabe makes a soft choking noise from where he’s circled around behind Lords and is fussing about in the galley—moving things around and staring fixedly at Lords’s back—none of which has produced any breakfast thus far and my stomach is protesting the lack. “He drew Klotho into the portal and held her there. I closed the portal.”
“You,” Lords says flatly. “Not to be rude, but you got less magic than this teacup. You didn’t do shit.” His eyes narrow further. “Unless you’re a null. Are you a null?”
“No. I burned out my magic.”
“Closing the portal?”
“No.” I don’t elaborate. “I’m not under any illusion that closing the portal killed Klotho. Whoever summoned her can open another portal. They just need a fresh sacrifice. I think they found one in this Time. I think the older version of me was killed for the same reason. I need to ask, did you kill Jade Kalveri?”
He rubs his hand over his mouth. “C’mon out, baby. I think it’s safe.”
I tip my head; that’s not quite the response I expected.
The air at his back shimmers.
A hot-pink-haired witch, her face still bearing more piercings than mine, steps into sight and lays her hand on Lords’s shoulder.
I leap to my feet and lunge at her. “Rachel!”
She wraps her arms around me, hugging me so tightly my ribs creak. “Teddy! Goddess, it’s been so long.”
Not for me, but I don’t say anything until she pulls back and runs her hand, encased in a soft half-glove, over my bristly head. “You always were a fierce bitch.”
“And you?” I tap the sword she’s wearing down her back. She’s even more heavily armored than Lords, with daggers strapped to her calves over black fatigues and a bandolier of small blades that I think are throwing knives across her chest.
She smiles, showing incisors banded with silver. “Not all of us had good choices to make. I can’t believe you faced Klotho on your own. You’re what, a freshman?”
I nod.
“You did good, kid.” She laughs merrily and rubs my head again like it’s a talisman. “I bet no one’s even bothered to say that. He’s not one for compliments. Not in any time.”
She nods at the man still sitting at our table, who is watching us with a tolerant smile.
“I wasn’t alone,” I tell her. “I pulled on Air and Fire, too.”
“Are you mingling magics already?” She raises an eyebrow. “I can’t remember when you three started doing that, but I didn’t think it was freshman year.”
“Not my Fire,” Darwin says, from where he’s still sitting at the table. “Teddy and I aren’t together in her Time. I’m assuming it was Charlie’s Fire.”
“Yeah,” I say and then move the conversation on quickly since this is obviously a raw spot for Darwin. “Have you two been hunting Klotho?”
“Yes.” Rachel draws me back to the table, pulls a chair next to Lords, and sits down facing me. “What do you know about Evanda Hale?” she asks.
“In my time?” At her nod, I say. “They’re just a cover for whoever actually summoned Klotho.”
Lords grunts. “Don’t assume anyone’s innocent. They all have agendas.”
Rachel elbows him, which he takes with a good-natured grimace before capturing her hand and drawing it down to rest on his thigh.
“I agree with you, Teddy,” Rachel says. “But Ezra Hale is sympathetic enough to their goals that he’s not doing anything to stop them, either. Sometimes I think that might be worse. Anyway, I found a broken rune at one of their ritual sites.Vitrim. That’s what we’ve started calling them, Evan and me.”
“I don’t recognize that rune,” I say.
