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“Got it,” Cat interjects before Zara says something else. “Mother-in-law problems. What can we do then?”
“Keep researching and hope we’re able to turn something up. Did you find out anything from your family about the visibility of Solarem now that the veil between the worlds is down?”
“So, since there’s this whole focus on the zombies, the mortals haven’t really been paying attention to the fact that Solarem is out there. Maybe we can find a way to fix both the zombies and the veil?” Cat suggests hopefully.
“I heard my dad say they’re talking about trying to fire missiles at the floating island.” Zara’s tone is unreasonably calm for what she’s telling me.
I nearly jump out of bed. “Seriously? And you’re only mentioning this now?”
“Stay, drama queen. Helene told Kai, and they’re handling it. Not every problem is on your shoulders to solve.”
“Dave!” I call, ignoring Zara. Like the good boy he is, Dave appears immediately, sitting at my bedside and waiting for a command. He’s been patrolling the Underworld, looking for anything that might be amiss now that his master is home with me. “Get Essos.”
The dog gives a woof of acknowledgement before he blinks out of the room. It’s a tense three minutes before Essos appears.
He bursts into the room like he’s expecting it to be on fire. “What’s wrong?”
“Missiles?” I ask, my voice sounding as distressed as I feel.
“You’ve heard.” He relaxes a little, and I grab the nearest thing I can, a pillow, and hurl it at him.
“Secrets, Essos! We had this conversation not even two hours ago.”
“Yes,Daphne, and in that time, I’ve been told that the world powers are trying to decidewhoamong them is going to launch the missiles. I only just found out how we plan to address it on our end. There is no secret conspiracy by me to keep it from you, because I didn’t know about it. While you were unconscious, I stayed by your side. I will own up to my mistakes, but this is not one of them.”
Chagrined, I relax. “I’m sorry for making that assumption.”
Essos leans against the door and gives me a half-smile. “It was reasonable. I haven’t exactly been the most forthcoming.”
“But now Ihaveto go back to the mortal realm. My adoptive father—he’s in Congress. Maybe I can appeal to him, and we can sort something out.”
“Oh, I like that idea,” Essos says dryly.
“Really?” I perk up, not expecting him to be so open to the idea.
“No, not really. My love, we just talked about how you need to stay in bed.”
“I have to stay in bed for the rest of the day. And I’m not supposed to transport a ton all at once. That’s what I heard Sybil say. That just means we need to stay at my parents’ house for longer than an hour.”
“You are absolutely insufferable, woman, do you know that?” Essos drops his head back against the door, his eyes closing. I know him well enough to know he’s plotting it in his mind right now. What it could mean if we did this. “I doubt–”
“That they’re going to take the word of some junior congressman about this? Yeah, I know, but maybe it can buy us some time. I have no idea what will happen if they try to bomb Solarem, do you?”
His eyes fly open and meet mine with grim determination. I doubt their weapons could reach us, but we have no way of knowing for certain. The gods and goddesses who live in Solarem may survive an attack, but our population consists of much more than that. We have nymphs and dryads and harpies. We have gryphons and creatures and a community. The more I think about what we stand to lose, the more my panic spirals outward. The plants in our room start to wither and die while the flames in the fireplace wink out.
“Daphne.” Cat says my name with warning in it.
“Yes, yes, I know. I just... I can’t control it. So many could die, and that’s not even counting what kind of repercussions or blowback there could be on the mortal world. It would be a tragedy.”
“We’re not going to let it happen,” Essos promises.
“Xavier and I will go with you to see your parents,” Cat says. “That way, Xavier can be the liaison to the mortal realm. Your parents know me. I think it will help convince them. But we’ll do it next week. Essos is right: you need to stay on bedrest and protect your child.”
I’m still hyperventilating, but Cat takes one of my hands and Essos takes the other, placing it on his chest so I can feel his heartbeat.
“Breathe with me, my love. One, two, three, in. Hold it. Hold it. Okay, now out, three, two, one.” We repeat this a few times, Essos coaching me through breathing until the lightheadedness passes and I’m feeling better.
That night, however, I don’t sleep.
