Page 113 of The Eternal Mirror
I try to explain. “I think Josh must have been hit by the backlash from Khronus’s magic. And now...”
Now Josh is something else. But I don’t want to say that. Zayne already looks freaked out. Josh is not dead. I’m going to count that as a win. Anything else, we can deal with. I press my fingers to my lips, then to Josh’s forehead. “You hold on,” I whisper. “You little idiot. You hold on.”
A soft rustle. I turn.
Grimlet is in the doorway. Eyes wide, ears flat, wings pinned against his body, the tips trembling. He stares at Josh, then looks at me, his tail drooping low.
“Grim,” I say, barely a whisper. “You’ve been looking for him?”
He nods slowly. “He was sleeping, then he was gone.” He looks like he might cry. I almost do, too. He flaps his wings and lifts off, landing gently on the bed beside Josh. He strokes Josh’s hand and looks at me.
“Josh will be fine?”
“Yes. He’ll be better than fine. He’ll be fabulous.”
He nods and settles down.
I glance around the tent. Broken bodies. Smoke in the air. Josh on the edge of something I don’t understand. And Khronus is no doubt organizing his next little excursion.
I know what we have to do.
“We can’t stay here,” I say. “We need to leave. Soon. Go somewhere safe. Somewhere...away from this.”
No one argues.
Because everyone feels it.
What happened last night is only the beginning. And unless we can pull a miracle out of the bag, Khronus will attack again. And keep attacking.
Where should we go? I don’t know this world, but maybe someone else knows a safe place where we can rest and heal. Then I have an idea.
There is one place that Khronus will likely never think to look.
A faint tingle of excitement runs through me.
I’m going home.
Or at least, what would have been my home if none of this had ever happened.
“It’s time to go home,” I whisper, the words tasting like ash and something dangerously close to hope.
Home. A word I never thought I’d use again.
But maybe that’s where the ending begins.
Chapter 42
Heading Home?
The rest of them take a little convincing. Well, Zayne does anyway.
“You want to take us to Hell?” Zayne yells. “Are you fucking out of your mind?”
There’s a good chance the answer to that is a resounding—yes.
I’ve left Josh to sleep or whatever he's doing. Grimlet stayed with him and promised to send for us if there’s any change. But the rest of us have moved on to the dining tent. I haven’t had much of an appetite recently, but I’ve decided I need to eat—I need to get my strength back. I need my magic.
I take a bite of my sandwich, chew, and swallow. I glance at Khaosti; he hasn’t said anything about my suggestion, but then he did promise to follow me anywhere.
