Page 34 of Deadly Little Games

“How can you shift in this realm, and even to nearby pocket realms, but not have the power to reach your mother?”

I considered his words, and everything they meant. Realizing something, I set my tea aside and moved to stand. “That bastard told me he could have rescued me when I got stuck with Crispin!”

“You may wish to run off and shout at him, but I assure you it will do you no good.”

Gritting my teeth, I lowered back down to my seat. “What a jerk.”

One corner of his mouth ticked up. “I will not argue with you on that point.”

“Okay,” I settled back against my cushions, “so we have established that Sebastian is a monumental asshole who made a bargain to bind you to the Bogs so he could watch you die and steal the wild magic here. But why did you do it? What would have happened if you just let it go?”

“The boundary had been created. We would have lasted for a while. But it would have been like what you saw tonight. Goblin magic iswildmagic. In my realm, my people workwiththe land. But here… sometimes it works against us. My mother was exceedingly powerful, but eventually it wore her down.”

“She died because of it,” I finished for him.

Once again, he lowered his chin.

“And now you’ll die because of it.”

His expression darkened. “Perhaps. But my only other choice is to let my people die instead.”

Everything finally clicked into place. Exactly what was at stake, and why Mistral had joined the game. “You don’t just want the Realm Breaker to go home. You need it to save your life, and everyone else’s.”

Again, that slight nod.

“And I have a contract to either give it to a devil, or to give him my own mother.”

“A rather unfortunate conundrum.”

I studied his face, the firelight rimming the edge of his jaw in soft yellow. “Do you believe that a celestial destroyed the paths to the other realms?”

He was quiet for a moment, watching my face before he finally answered, “I believe it’s a possibility. The other option is that we came here and did not have enough magic to go back. Which is true, we are…lesshere. But what has stopped others from coming through? Why have no new goblins arrived to see why we did not return?”

My jaw fell open. It was so obvious, and I had never actually considered it. “But Crispin. He came here.”

“He can forge his own temporary paths, as you witnessed today.” He glanced back at the dark window. “Or perhaps it is now yesterday.”

I slumped further in my seat. Had that really been less than twenty-four hours ago? So much had happened, it felt like an entire week had passed in a single day. “Okay, one last question, then I seriously need to go to sleep.”

He quietly waited for me to continue.

“What happened earlier tonight? How were you able to use my magic to control the vines?”

He smiled softly. “Dear Eva, aren’t you aware? Celestial magic is the wildest magic of all.”

My breath sighed out of me. There was still so much I didn’t understand, but my thoughts were continuously dragged back to one single thing. “Whatever magic is growing inside of me, I can’t fight it. I have to let it come. If my mother is in a near realm, I am one of the only people who can find her. Either me, another celestial, or maybe someone like Crispin. I don’t know why I’ve reacted to you or the others so strongly, but I have to explore it.”

Again, that slight dip of his chin. “I will help you in whatever way I can. After tonight, I owe you everything. I owe you my life.”

His words struck me like a bolt to the chest, because I knew he meant them. He could only speak the truth to me. He really felt like he owed me everything.

Earlier, I had agreed to trust him. And deep down, I did. He had been added to the very short list of people I actually trusted. He had told me the truth of his situation, and he deserved the same in return.

I leaned forward in my seat. “Recently I received two separate mysterious notes. I have no idea who they’re from, but I’m going to meet with them tomorrow.”

13

I heldthe crumpled paper up in front of my face, comparing the address with the small diner across the street from me. The curtains were all drawn in the windows to block out the unusually sunny day, but I had watched several people coming and going, and a neonOpensign glowed on one side of the glass doors.

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