Page 79 of Angel Lost

Hewie wrings his hands, but Zephyr lets out a snort of laughter, quickly stifled.

Hewie replies, “Camille said—”

I silence him with a finger.

“Can I tell you what I did first? Then you can judge me?”

They both nod and I sit back in the chair. Chano squeezes my shoulders. Solid. Dependable. Chano.

“I moved the ley lines a little, made a kind of pocket. You vanished for bit, but you were still here. The ley lines, they’re for this dimension. I don’t think it’s possible to cause a rip between worlds like that.”

Zephyr finally speaks. “You don’tthink?”

“I’m as confident as I can be.” I stare at the floor. “I have good control, too.”

This time it’s Hewie who laughs. A disbelieving huff.

“No, seriously. It just all happened at once. You two appeared as I was shoving Camille into a Camille-sized pocket, and you all got bundled inside. You were still here.”

They don’t say a word.

“My ley line work isn’t dangerous. I swear. But I’m sorry I let my temper get the better of me. I shouldn’t have done that, even to Camille.”

Hewie purses his lips. “Nah, she’s a bitch.”

My jaw drops. I genuinely didn’t think he would forgive me.

“Prove it,” Zephyr says. His tone is colder, his eyes narrowed. “Prove it’s not dangerous.”

Hewie hops from foot to foot, looking between us. “Th-th-that sounds…reasonable.”

I press my fingertips into my eyes.

“That isn’t fair,” Chano growls behind me, his hands tightening on my shoulders. “How’s she meant to prove a negative?”

I reach up to pat his hand. “No, it’s okay. I have an idea.”

Not only will they get to see and feel what I feel, but it’s for the greater good too. I might even get out of an afternoon working in the gardens.

The hada are more difficult to convince.

From the squeaking, I gather the biggest protest is they don’t believe it will work. That, and I’ve been labeled as the strawberry squasher. How was I meant to know they’re obsessed with the fruit?

Eventually their leader, chief, whatever she is, agrees to let me try. But I’m under no illusions. I still owe them a half day’s work.

We pick a hallway close to the kitchens, and I visualize a perimeter. My magic has to be subtle here, I have to bend the ley lines, but only slightly. Like Davina did around her sanctuary. Anyone determined to get to the kitchens will be able to, but those just wandering through will get turned around. And unlike Jess’s magic, it will last indefinitely.

Zephyr grips my shoulder, his eyes glazing over. Hewie grabs hold of his other hand. I trust Zephyr when he says he can see what I’m doing. That he can transmit it to Hewie.

It’s more difficult to meditate with someone touching me, more distracting. But after a few minutes I drop into that in-between space. Squinting, I see the energy lines, the shimmering rivers of energy flowing around us, defining the very essence of our reality. Gently, I massage them to where I need them to be. At the last moment, I add a protection spell. Anyone meaning the hada harm will be turned around, no matter whether they really mean to go to the kitchens. I check and double check every line,running the tips of my fingers over them, shivering at the static. Eventually, satisfied, I pull back, letting my eyes refocus on the corridor wall, on the figures around me.

“Hmph.” The tiny hada chief blows air in my face, clearly unimpressed. She waggles a finger at me, then toward the gardens, and I hold my hands up.

“I get it, debt still to be paid,” I mutter.

She buzzes once around my head, pats my hair, and flutters off. Only then do I dare look at Zephyr, at Hewie. Let them have felt it as surely as I felt it. Please. As surely as I know it. There is no way through our dimension by just moving the ley lines. They are this dimension.

“That was amaaaaaazing,” Hewie says breathily, his eyes alight. “All that raw power. How do you not get drunk on it?”

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