Page 71 of Obsession

“You speak familiarly. You know me as well,” notes Aris.

Jaegen doesn’t reply, waving his hand. A slice appears in the air before us, and Jaegen steps toward it. “Come,” he says.

I want to ask where it leads instead of blindly following his lead, but if I show any hesitation, Aris might dig in his heels. We can’t afford that. It won’t be long before the Following notices his absence.

Suppressing a sigh, I walk toward Jaegen and the cut in reality. I enter first, Aris close behind, and Jaegen taking the rear. Together, we step out of a shadowed forest and onto freshly cut, dry grass.

We’re under a night sky just like before, but the air is warmer here, the stars shining brighter, untouched by pollution. Fireflies dance, illuminating a forest a hundred feet off, thick with foliage that the light of the moon and stars cannot breach. The trees surround a cabin in a perfect circle, the symmetry unnatural, as if Jaegen just placed a home in the wilderness. Without any paths, roads, or even a mailbox, I suspect that’s exactly what he did.

“Where are we?” asks Aris. Unlike before, when asking me, his voice is firm, leaving no room to be ignored.

Ignoring him, Jaegen strides towards the cabin, holding the front door open for the two of us. Inside, it is clean but sparse and impersonal, like something out of a design catalog. The lights in the room are already on, as if we were expected.

“This is a safe place,” says Jaegen, nodding at the two of us. “Safe for Mary, and for you.”

Aris still doesn’t move, not until I walk toward Jaegen. Then, he follows a step behind. When we enter, Jaegen shuts the door behind us.

The ceiling is so tall that Jaegen can comfortably stand to his full height, looking down at us as we glance around. Basking in the break from the cold, I find the living room rather rustic, with an old-fashioned television, worn couch, and frayed rug. The room connects to a kitchen that appears to have all of the proper appliances, nothing of extraordinary quality. Beyond the exceptionally tall ceiling, it just feels like a normal house. After all of the castles and mansions, it’s refreshing.

Is it warded? I ask.

No one may enter without your permission, Mary.

And can we leave?

Jaegen’s response is slower with that one. Where would you go?

Though my body has largely recovered from the cold from Denmark, the words chill me anew.

Aris steps further into the room, distracting me as he looks up at Jaegen with challenge. Though he has forgotten himself, he is still himself; Aris is unintimidated. “Who are you?” demands Aris. “And why do I not like you?”

Jaegen surprises me by laughing—an actual, full-bellied, boisterous laugh. I glance at him in shock, not having known he was capable of such a sound, and am equally surprised by the easy grin overtaking his face. “I’m a friend of Mary’s,” Jaegen says again.

Aris lifts a brow, unimpressed. He wants more.

I don’t blame him; all we’ve done is recycle the same phrases.

“You and I have known one another for some time now,” Jaegen adds.

“And Mary? How do you know her?”

“We have a common interest.”

“And what is that?” Aris crosses his arms over his chest.

Inappropriately, I chuckle, knowing that he learned the gesture from me. Both of them turn to me, and I quickly cover my laugh with a surreptitious cough.

“How long will we be staying?” I ask, mainly to distract Aris from his questions, but also…

Jaegen catches my true meaning. “Until it’s safe to leave.”

Until there is a more permanent way to contain him, Jaegen adds in my head.

The humor slips from my face, and I turn away. That could be weeks. Months. Years I’d be playing babysitter.

A wave of heat rolls off of Jaegen’s body, and Aris and I tense as one. We succeeded, Jaegen reminds me. What he doesn’t say is: Careful. You are acting ungrateful. I feel his irritation in the air the same way humidity is felt: sticky, heavy.

I know, but… that takes time. Briefly, I thumb the corners of my amulet, wondering if Aris might get put into me again. Will I have to stay in the house?

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