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The smile on Present’s face was a little too wide as she snapped those damn fingers, and the world around us melted into the tavern where we’d first met. In fact, as I glimpsed myself across the room, I realized this was, in fact, two nights ago.
“Look at the way you’re staring at me, Frostbite. Not an ounce of shame on that face.”
“Focus,” Present demanded, blurring the rest of the room with a wave of her hand until only Atlas and Torryn could be distinguished.
The king’s message dropped from the ceiling, just as it had before. Atlas picked up the letter and read it before setting it back on the table.
“Aw, come on. Can’t someone else do this?”
“He says you can do it the old-fashioned way. Go on foot if you want.”
Atlas’ eyes narrowed. “The old-fashioned way is gone. A foot is hardly a replacement for a paw. We both know I’ll never run as a wolf again.”
That sentence struck me harder hearing it again after the admissions he’d made last night.
“And I’ll never fly again,” Torryn said. “But there is joy in being a witch, Atty. You just have to find it.”
“Magic is a damnation,” he huffed. “I mean, it’s not, but… you know what I mean.”
Torryn pulled several long draws from his mug before resting his hands on the table to stand. Atlas protested.
“You can’t leave yet, Tor. You just got here.”
“I’ve got plans,” he said, looking toward the door.
“ You promised me last time you’d stay longer. I need you as a buffer for all these women.”
By his tone, he’d meant it to be a joke, but it absolutely wasn’t.
“Just let him go, you prick,” Atlas whispered from beside me, clearly annoyed with himself.
Torryn slumped back into his seat, gesturing for another round. “Okay, Atty. I’ll stay.”
“And as you both know, he did.” Present said, all movement slamming to a halt before she snapped her fingers.
Again, the room changed, shifting into pure white walls, a long meeting table down the middle of an opulent room. I managed a glance at Atlas to see if he knew what we’d see next, but his confusion matched my own until the door slammed open.
I couldn’t help my gasp as the Dark King, wings and all, came striding into the room with his new queen trailing behind him. Maybe he’d been vindicated, and maybe he’d saved our power, but he was still intimidating, and every warning from my entire childhood had been about him.
I collided with the wall before I realized I was moving.
“Handsome, isn’t he?” Present whispered in my ear.
I shook my head, looking anywhere but at the man with dark hair and silvery eyes, power pulsing from him, even now. Raven took a seat to his right, and Kirsi and Nym walked in shortly after, taking the king’s left but leaving a seat in the middle.
“Are you guys having a family meeting without me?” Atlas asked.
“They cannot hear you,” Present said.
“I know how it works, Ghosty,” he barked in retort.
She huffed. “I am not a ghost.”
“Look like a ghost, smell like a ghost, do weird ghost shit… you’re a ghost.”
Present glared but said nothing more.
No one in the room spoke until Torryn entered, shutting the door quietly behind him before taking the open seat directly to the Dark King’s left.
