Page 66 of Expose Me

I was perversely comforted to see that he might be as affected by our looming separation as I, but I knew hearing him voice it would only make it harder for me. For him too. It was better this way.

I took his hand, softening my tone like my heart had softened towards him without permission. “We’re so close. Let’s finish this.”

After a long moment, he pressed his lips together and nodded.

Not wasting any time, I looked around the corner and up and down the street, getting my bearings. We were in the heart of the city—in Spirit and Sapphire territory—the streets bustling with busy people going about their business. We were only a few blocks away from where the portal had opened.

This area would be No Man’s Land soon—just like all areas around a portal. It was one of the rare things all Houses agreed on. The damn border of our territory would have to be readjusted again. I wondered whom they’d put in charge of that and almost rethought my determination to get my name cleared and my job back. Hopefully they made Marina do it since she wanted more power so badly.

“There are many Vuulectians in the area,” Zey murmured, shifting to his female form as I summoned a hat and tucked my hair under it.

“How many?”

“Dozens. More.”

“Are they coming our way?” I was so sick of these bastards. They were multiplying faster than rabbits in breeding season.

“No. I don’t believe they’re searching for me or the Onuei. They don’t expect either to be in this area. Still, we should move quickly.”

“Yeah, yeah, what else is new?” I grumbled and took the lead up the street.

Keeping our pace swift but unhurried, I stayed out of people’s way and took alleyways where possible. We ducked into a deep stone doorway a few hundred feet away and across the road from the portal. Now that it was common knowledge a new portal had opened, the crumbling ruins of the church it had appeared in had been demolished.

The Portal Guard were crawling all over the area, as well as multiple Vuulectians. They were in their original, faceless forms, no longer trying to hide in plain sight.

“You just need to get to your side of the portal and the Onuei will find your next leader, right?” I asked. We hadn’t actually discussed this final step of the plan. I guessed we hadn’t wanted to get ahead of ourselves.

“There is a process to releasing them from the inanimate objects, but it is fast,” Zey explained.

“Can we release them here? Just, like, shoo them through the portal somehow?” Wishful thinking? Probably.

“I don’t know. It’s never been done before. But even if I was certain they would go through the portal and not scatter again, there’s no way to know if the magical barrier on the other side has been lifted. We can’t just release them right into the hands of the Lineg Legion.” A muscle in his jaw ticked as he ground his teeth at the mention of those troublemakers.

“Yeah, fuck those guys. OK, so if I can manage to create some kind of distraction and you approach from the other side, maybe ...” All I had to do was walk up to all those portal guards and announce myself. I was positive all attention would be on me. Then Zey could sneak through the portal, release the Onuei, and leave me forever. Wham, bam, thank you ma’am.

“As soon as you’re identified, the Vuulectians will start to seek for me, and they will locate me immediately. I’d never make it through.”

I hummed, grudgingly agreeing. “What’s the alternative? Because I’m out of ideas.”

“We need help.”

“In case you haven’t been paying attention, everyone thinks we’re the bad guys here. We’re on our own.”

“You’ve had to do a lot by yourself, Sky, I know that now.”

It was a random thing to mention at such a time, and I looked at him, confused. He was watching me with a kind expression.

“But life is not so black-and-white. And you don’t have to do everything alone all the time. The Lineg have convinced your people that we are the ones trying to do harm, but surely there are others who can be convinced, reasoned with? If I could just get a message out to my people ...”

I had no idea how he could have any kind of faith in people—of his world or mine—after all the bullshit we’d had to deal with, but he did give me an idea. I wasn’t so sure anyone powerful enough to help us could be reasoned with, but we might have a chance at negotiating.

Pulling him in by the neck, I planted a kiss on his soft lips and gave him a small smile.

“You’re a cinnamon roll deep down and your gooey center would be eaten alive here.” He frowned, looking confused and kind of horrified. “Now come on, let’s go sell our souls to another devil.”

“Are you alright, Sky?” He sounded genuinely concerned as he took my hand, but he still followed me without question. “You are referring to me as a baked sweet treat. Are we going back to Celestia? For what purpose?”

I laughed, the feeling bittersweet. I was going to miss his weirdo cluelessness about colloquialisms.

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