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“It goes much bigger,” he said, “but you get the idea.”
I nodded, my eyes wide. That was actually pretty cool. “Monique, do you have the same sort of thing?”
She walked over to the fireplace and warmed her hands on the fire Michael. “No, but I can magic one up. I don’t have a lot of things to take with me, but enough to warrant a bag.”
“So, you make your magic suitcase and pack.” I glanced at Michael. “You pack yours, then... what? We quietly just walk out of here at eleven-ish?”
Monique bit her lip. “Yeah, I suppose so.”
Kyle walked over to Monique and put his arm around her. She clung to him and buried her face in his shoulder. I glanced around at my new family—Michael included. For better or worse, it was going to be the four of us. The sooner I accepted that, the sooner Kyle would, too.
I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at the two magical beings across from me. “Do you two have another way to get out of here? Other than just walking out the same curtain door we came in?”
Monique glanced up at Michael. “I don’t. Do you?”
He shook his head. “No. My father made sure there was only one way in and one way out of here. For our safety.”
I snorted. “Safety. Yeah, right.”
Monique and Michael stared at me with equally dumbfounded expressions. Did I really have to spell it out to them?
When they didn’t say anything more, I realized I did. “You know that veil was likely designed to keep you guys in, right? It’s a jail. A prison.”
Monique frowned, but Michael nodded slowly. “I think you might be right. There’ve been times in the past when they’ve shut the veil completely. Said it was too dangerous to be out there in the world.”
Monique turned to him. “Your dad wouldn’t do that now... would he?”
“Fucking better not,” I muttered.
Michael grimaced. “Well, I arrived back just this afternoon, so it’s open now. But whether it will still be tonight... I don’t know.”
Kyle groaned, running both hands through his hair. “Then why are we waiting! We should leave now.”
“No.” Monique put her hand on Kyle’s chest when he tried to get past her. “It’s not safe in the daylight. Please, just wait.”
“But we went outside this morning,” Kyle said. “We can just walk out again, and this time, we’ll keep going.”
I nodded along with what he said. It made sense.
But the look on Monique and Michael’s faces gave me pause. They were obviously very much against this idea, and this was their world. Should I trust them? Or my own instincts that told me to get away, now?
“We could always test it,” Monique suggested. “Maybe two of us could go, and if we make it through, send word back to the others.”
She sounded uncertain, and I didn’t like that idea one bit.
Michael pursed his lips before meeting my eyes and shaking his head slightly. I realized that he and I were more alike than I wanted to admit.
I shook my head. “No, we go as a group. Splitting up is a bad idea.”
Everything in me told me to cling tight to the people in this room, Monique and Kyle especially.
If there was a powerful warlock out there wanting our blood and willing to nail us to a wall to make sure he got it, we weren’t splitting up.
“So, let’s go now.” Kyle walked around Monique to the door. “Michael can walk with you, Monique. Xander and I will follow behind. And we’ll just say we have to go for another run if anyone asks what we’re doing.”
Michael shook his head, and Monique looked at me. The way forward here wasn’t clear, and I hated that everyone seemed to be looking to me for decisions. Especially in this instance, when I wasn’t sure of the right one to make.
“Maybe Kyle’s right,” I said. “How long do you need to pack your bag, Monique?”
