Page 14 of Fractured Sky
Sol watched as the spark grew bigger and bigger until it turned into something similar to a door.There was nothing separating him from what was happening on the other side, though, and from where he was, he could see a bunch of people staring back at him.
“Who are they?”he asked.
Graham shook his head.“Good news for you, bad news for me.”He turned to Sol.“I need to leave.”
“You’re not going back to Carlyle and Simon.”
“I’m not, but I also can’t stay.They’re going to kill me.”
Graham stumbled back as the first person crossed through the door.He was quickly followed by others, but that wasn’t what Sol was focused on.When Graham almost fell on his face, Sol grabbed his arm and kept him where he was.
“I’ll protect you,” he promised.
“I don’t think even you can do anything about this.”Graham sounded resigned, but Sol wasn’t.
He had no idea who these people were, but it sounded like they might be enemies of Carlyle.That was a good thing as long as he managed to keep Graham safe.
Another man came through the door.Sol had dismissed the others, but he couldn’t in this case.He couldn’t look away.
The man was tall but shorter than Sol.His long brown hair was messy as if he’d run his fingers through it, and it framed a face that should’ve been smiling instead of looking around, clearly worried.There was a smattering of freckles on the man’s nose, and Sol found himself wanting to count every single one of them.
That wasn’t like him.For a moment, he wondered if these people had cast a spell on him.What if they wanted to make it easier to take him away?Maybe this was their way of doing that.
“Sol,” one of the first men who’d crossed the portal said.“My name is Jarvis.I’m a mage.”
Sol had a hard time looking away from the man with the freckles, but he forced himself to.“How do you know my name?”
“Pippa told us.”Jarvis gestured at the portal.
It seemed that all the people who were going to come through had, but there were more people standing on the other side in what looked like a courtyard.For a moment, Sol didn’t recognize anyone.Then, his best friend waved, and Sol couldn’t look away.
“Did you hurt her?”he asked Jarvis.
“We didn’t.When we arrived at the apartment you shared with her, you and Carlyle werealready gone.We couldn’t leave her there because we were afraid Carlyle would come back if he didn’t get what he wanted from you, and she agreed to come to the castle.She’s been living there since then.”
“You need to go with them,” Graham said, getting everyone’s attention.“They’re the good guys.”
“What ishedoing here?”one of the men asked.
He looked like he wanted to grab Graham and give him a good shake.He was taller than Sol, with broad shoulders and dark hair and eyes that promised that whatever he’d do to Graham wouldn’t be good.Sol would still protect Graham, but he wasn’t sure he’d win.He felt shakier than ever, and his vision was starting to swim.
“He helped me escape,” he explained.“So if you’re here to take me away, he’s coming with me.”
“Like hell he will,” the tall guy said with a growl.
“He can come,” Jarvis quickly said, glaring at the tall guy.“Tyne won’t hurt him.”
Tyne looked like he disagreed, but he didn’t say anything.He turned and stomped his way back to the portal, quickly disappearing through it.What he thought of Jarvis’s decision was clear, but Sol didn’t care.He wasn’t abandoning the one man who had helped him when he’d been a prisoner.
“Ignore Tyne,” Jarvis said.
Graham snorted loudly.“I don’t think that’s possible.”
Jarvis arched a brow, causing Graham to snap his mouth shut.Sol disliked whatever was happening, but now wasn’t the time to ask for details.He needed to decide whether or not he would follow Jarvis and all of these people through the portal.Could he trust them?Even if he didn’t, did he have a choice?
* * * *
DALLIN WANTED TO RUNto Sol, but he knew better.Sol didn’t know him.They’d never met, had never talked, and had never been close.What happened between Dallin and Kent didn’t matter in this situation.Kentdidn’t matter.He was the past, and Sol was the present, and Dallin was doing his best not to freak him out.
