Page 73 of Possession

“Yes, but they’ll have no reason to lock you up now. Don’t you see?” He walks towards me again, and I don’t bother evading him this time. Tentatively, he reaches for me as we stand toe-to-toe. “They can keep you safe, give you shelter.”

“And I’m supposed to trust them?” I reply. With him so close, it isn’t easy think logically (If my mind were clearer, I might question why I feel this way around him so… abruptly). I have to forcefully keep the memory of my cell at the forefront, to counteract the nearly irresistible desire to give in.

“You’re supposed to trust me,” he says, hand brushing my own and filling me with a rush of security and comfort.

With one touch, every worry is suddenly and inexplicably erased.

Henry leans in, mouth an inch from my ear. “Mary,” he says, and my lips part to gasp. I feel his breath and shiver in delight and anticipation. “I will keep you safe.”

Keep me safe. The words wash over me, cleansing, protecting.

I open my eyes and am flooded with the beauty of a protector, of a friend, of the person who saved me, who wants to take care of me.

Henry suddenly moves backwards, and I feel his absence like a knife in my chest, so stark that tears form in my eyes.

“Of course,” he continues, “I won’t force you to come with me. Maybe it was presumptuous to think that you would.”

“No, I want to go where you go!” I immediately say. Maybe I even plead? I must sound pathetic, but it hardly matters because Henry is smiling and reaching for me again.

“Then you will,” Henry tells me.

Chapter sixteen

Magic is strange; portals are even stranger. I wasn’t a fan of Aris teleporting us—it’s too disorienting, like having your feet kicked out from under you, or waking up in a different time. I’m guessing that stepping through a portal will feel the same way.

Inside the door that once led to a hall bathroom is a swirling mass of grayness. Different dreary hues mix just fast enough to produce a vortex, but slow enough that I can see the texture of the matter. It looks gooey and thick, like if I stuck my hand in it, I’d pull out a mass of watery pulp. Imagining the feel of it on my skin makes me nauseous.

I glance at Henry to ask if this is normal, but his back is to me as he picks up and shoulders a few bags.

Truth be told, it isn’t just the portal that’s bothering me, but also what’s on the other side. I don’t know what to expect beyond a brotherhood of men who hated me last month and kept me in a basement. For years. And I’m planning to walk into the middle of their lair.

Do I really want to go back? Do I have much of a choice?

I can’t go out on my own. I can’t protect myself against those like Silva or Cera. And not just them—I can’t protect myself against anyone. Regular people might recognize me and want to kill me for my ties to Aris—and, if they tried, there wouldn’t be much I could do about it.

I wouldn’t make it.

Besides, I don’t want to leave Henry. He’s proven several times over that he’s on my side, and I trust him. For whatever reason, he’s set on returning, so I’m going with him.

I glance at Ryan, a hulking, slumping mass of muscle. Hard as I try, I can’t understand him. Henry said that Aris is gone, but why would Ryan ever let that happen? Is it because Aris wanted it? If Henry and I leave, where will Ryan go—with us, or will he join Aris, wherever he might be?

“Everything is ready,” says Henry. “Mary?”

My eyes dart back to him, then in Ryan’s direction, asking a silent question.

“Don’t worry about him. He has his own plans.”

And what are those, exactly? I don’t ask. If they wanted me to know, they would have told me. But why do they keep leaving me out?

“Are you ready?” Henry asks while handing me my bags, and I nod.

Henry makes a gesture as if to say, after you, and I sigh, walking to the edge of the door. Looking behind me, I see Ryan’s eyes glued on my form and barely repress a shiver. If I never see him again, it will be far too soon.

Taking a long breath, I step through the doorway. The gray material offers resistance, like a root clinging to the earth, and I have to push my way through with enough force that I stumble out the other side. What I find is, surprisingly, a regular hallway. After the otherworldliness of the portal, I was thinking of encountering something more magical, like crystal floors and windows made of diamonds. Or maybe a unicorn.

Henry comes through behind me, perfectly at ease moving through the sludge, and shuts the door behind him.

“Where are we?” I ask.

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