by Kristen Pham
By dawn, Dasan’s magic had completely faded, but she did achieve a measure of peace, ready to face all of the problems crowding her mind. She sat down on the steps of the Healers’ Guild, which was still locked against her, and fell asleep.
Chapter 27
Maybe unsurprisingly, Valerie dreamed her terrible dream about sinking into darkness again, but it had lost some of its poignancy. Someone nudged her gently awake and she sat up, shrugging off a blanket that had mysteriously appeared to cover her as she slept. Henry walked across The Horseshoe holding two steaming mugs.
“Hot chocolate. I finally found a little shop that makes it, and it’s the best I’ve ever had.”
She took a cup and blew on it before sipping. “Thanks. How’d you find me?”
“Oberon told me you were here on my way to my Guild this morning.” Henry made a face. “I guess he doesn’t know it was us who followed him the other day. And now I feel kinda bad about suspecting him. He was all worried about you. I think that blanket is his.”
“Really?” she wrapped it around her shoulders against the chilly morning air.
“Cyrus told me about last night.” Henry said, changing the subject. Valerie looked at him in shock, remembering the kiss. Henry almost spilled his drink as his mind touched hers and he saw what had happened. “He kissed you?”
“I thought you said—”
“He told me about Shade or Jack or whoever.”
She rubbed her eyes and touched her hair, which was a tangled mess. “It was a long night.”
“A long time coming, you mean,” Henry said with a smile.
He wasn’t just talking about her kiss with Cyrus. She hadn’t seen her brother this happy before. “So are you and Kanti official now?”
He nodded. “She said she was going to wait as long as it took—forever, even.”
“I guess you decided to shorten her sentence,” Valerie said.
“I’m the luckiest guy in the world,” Henry said, his expression reverent.
“The universe, even,” she teased.
“Want me to visit your friend with you?” Henry asked.
Valerie shook her head. “He might want to see me alone. He’s been through a lot.”
“Okay. Let me know what happens though.”
Henry left, walking toward the Empathy Collective with energy in his stride. It was one less worry to carry on her crowded heart.
This time when Valerie tested the doors of the Healers’ Guild, they opened easily. She made her way back to Shade’s ward and knocked quietly on the door. Nightingale answered, his gaze wary.
“I’m sorry. I know you needed your space to work last night, and I should have given it to you,” she said immediately, not wanting to be thrown back out again.
Nightingale nodded. “I am the authority in this Guild, and no one may undermine me.”
That seemed a little extreme to her. Valerie was glad that the Knights were more democratic. But it wasn’t the time to argue. “May I see Shade?”
“I assume you mean Jack. He’s in the corner,” Nightingale nodded toward a bed by a window. “His body will heal, but the wounds to his mind are beyond what I can repair. I will consult with Dasan later today on this matter.”
Without another word, Nightingale turned to attend to a patient, and Valerie made her way to Shade—Jack, she corrected herself.
“Hi, Jack. Do you remember me?”
Jack’s eyes ertr unfocused, but he nodded. “Valerie. I had to find you. But I can’t remember why.”
“It’s okay,” she said gently. “You found me because you knew I’d keep you safe. You’re going to get better here.”
“Am I sick?”
“Not for long, I promise. Do you remember what happened?”
His eyes went wild. “You can’t let him find me; he’ll kill me! My friends, they’re gone, as good as dead!”
Nightingale was by his side in an instant, and he pressed his hand against Jack’s pulse. There was a brief hum of magic, and Jack fell backward onto his pillows, unconscious.
“I don’t want to scatter his mind further. We must keep him calm. Your presence here clearly agitates him. You need to leave.”
She bit back her protests. “Can I come back to check on him?”
Nightingale considered her request. “Tomorrow, but no sooner. By then, Dasan will have seen the boy and there will be more news to tell you.”
Valerie nodded and left. It was time to contact Gideon and Juniper to bring the Knights home, since the guide they were expecting was unconscious in a hospital. Her last hope that somehow they would find Jet before Reaper contacted her for the trade vanished. Saving Jet’s life—and possibly Darling’s—depended entirely on her now.
Valerie decided to return home for a shower, before contacting Juniper and Gideon with her news. She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn’t sense Sanguina’s presence until it was too late.
“Wait,” Sanguina said, holding out her hand to stop her in her tracks.
Valerie recoiled from her touch. “Get away from me. I have nothing to say to you.”
“You owe me nothing, I know. But I owe you a debt I can never repay. Do you understand that?”
“I don’t want anything from you.” Valerie tried to push past Sanguina, but the ex-vampyre held her ground.
“You can’t listen to Zunya about meeting with Reaper alone. You’re headed straight into a trap.”
“What do you mean?” Valerie asked warily.
“Whatever Zunya’s promised you, it isn’t worth it. Reaper will take what he wants, and he’s too powerful for any one person to stop him.”
Valerie shook her head. “I don’t expect you to understand, but I don’t have a choice. I know that he could take my life, but if there’s even a chance of saving Jet and Darling, I have to take it. Can you honestly tell me that he won’t kill Jet if I refuse to meet him?”
Sanguina didn’t need to answer. She lowered her eyes. “Why do you sacrifice your life so easily? It, too, has value. Do you think a warrior like Jet would thank you for ending it for his sake?”
“Stop trying to confuse me. I’m doing the right thing.”
“Take someone with you.”
“Reaper would kill us both on sight. I’ll risk my own life, but not someone else’s,” Valerie said.
“Even me?”
“Even you.”
“It’s unlikely he’ll kill me on sight, since he thinks I’m still loyal to him. And if he does, it’s no big loss—to either of us,” Sanguina reasoned.
Valerie searched Sanguina’s face, perplexed. “What changed you? You hated me. Now you’d die for me?”
“You changed me. Back into a human. And there’s something else. When I saw that you carried Pathos, I knew who you were. But that’s not my story to tell you.”
“Then whose is it?”
“Your father’s.”
Valerie’s mind reeled. “You know him? You said you owed me—take me to him and we’re even!”
Sanguina sighed. “He doesn’t want you to know. He thinks you’ll hate him.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “I won’t. I swear.”
“I can’t bring you to him—I made him a promise that I can’t break. But I will tell him what you said. It may take me some time—he isn’t easy to find when he doesn’t want to be.”
“Why doesn’t he want to be found?”
“He says he’s broken, and he wants to put the pieces back together before he meets you and Henry.”
“I’ll find him without you,” Valerie said bitterly, pushing past Sanguina roughly.
“Promise me you won’t go to Reaper alone!” Sanguina called after her. Valerie didn’t reply.
Chapter 28
Midnight and Henry were both gone when Valerie came home. She quickly checked her mirror to see if Juniper was there, but she saw only her reflection. She remembered that she could leave him a message for the next time he checked it. Quickly she explained
about Shade/Jack’s return.
After leaving the message, Valerie was at loose ends. She wished she could knock on Cyrus’s door for some advice or lighthearted distraction, but thinking about seeing him again made her stomach hurt. Instead, she decided to visit Kanti, bursting into the room without knocking like she always did. Kanti was singing in the shower. She had never heard Kanti so much as hum, and it made her smile, in spite of everything. At least there was one piece of happiness amidst all the pain.
Valerie heard a knock on the door and opened it without thinking that this was no longer her room, or her place to answer the door.
“Valerie, darling, wonderful to see you!” Pauline, Kanti’s mother, was a vision in lavender. Valerie blinked, realizing that a strikingly handsome older man, who must be Kanti’s father, was by her side. Behind them were three stunningly beautiful girls who were a few years older than Kanti.
“What are you doing here?” Kanti’s voice sounded emotionless. She stood in her black bathrobe, her hair dripping.
“That’s no way to greet your family, Kanti,” her father said sternly. “A young lady is always a gracious hostess.”
“Even in a hovel like this,” the sister with auburn hair said with disdain.
“Thanks, Isabella. Missed you all so much,” Kanti said sarcastically.
“Oooo I missed you, too!” another sister, this one with chestnut hair, said, oblivious to the tension. She gave Kanti a big hug.
Kanti gave an exasperated sigh but hugged her back. “Valerie, this is Amaryllis. And my other sister is Peach.”
Peach waved shyly.
“I’m George,” Kanti’s father said, shaking her hand aggressively.
“Valerie’s the friend I told you about. The powerful one,” Pauline said with a significant look at her husband. Kanti’s mother’s power was to sense how much magic other Conjurors possessed, and she had been impressed when she first met Valerie in Elsinore.
“Indeed? Then it is a pleasure to meet you, young lady. I do hope you’ll be a good influence on our Kanti here,” George replied.
“It’s nice to meet all of you,” Valerie said.
“Again, what are you doing here?” Kanti asked, crossing her arms protectively in front of herself.
“We wanted to see where you’ve been hiding yourself, dear,” Pauline said.
“Why now? You’ve never come before.”
“You belong at home. We’ve come to bring you back,” George said.
“That isn’t happening,” Kanti insisted.
“We shall SEE,” Ani said, stepping from a shadowy part of the hallway. Valerie tried to slam the door against her, but she put her hand out. “WHAT could be the problem?”
“You tried to kill me!” Kanti said. She turned to her mother. “How could you let her near me?”
Pauline shifted uncomfortably. “Now, dear, she’s your aunt. Of course she’d never hurt you.”
“Your little friend Henry lied,” Isabella said. “Duh.”
Kanti’s face darkened, and Pauline jumped in. “I’m sure he was mistaken. I’m sure he was trying to impress—er—protect you. Very noble, of course. But Ani assures me…”
“Get out,” Kanti said, humming with magic. Valerie had never sensed so much power from her before.
“That’s no tone to take with your parents,” George said, but he took a step backward.
“NOW!” Kanti said, and Valerie watched in astonishment as the creepers that were part of the wallpaper in the hallway began to peel off, coming to life as real, winding vines. They wrapped themselves around the feet and wrists of her family.
“Enough! We’ll leave for now and talk about this with you when you’re more reasonable,” George said. “We’re staying at The Palace Hotel.”
The vines continued to wind around her family’s limbs. Kanti wasn’t listening to her father’s words. Her face was stormy. Amaryllis whimpered as a vine tightened around her wrist. “Ow! Kanti!”
Her sister’s words snapped Kanti out of her trance, and the vines slackened. “Sorry,” she said to her sister, absently rubbing Amaryllis’s wrist.
“It’s okay. Make it up to me by taking me to a fabulous party tonight!” she said, the incident already forgotten.
“Come,” George said, leading the rest of his family away. He shot his youngest daughter a last, stunned glance before he turned the corner. Kanti slammed the door shut after them.
“They’re your family, your blood. You can’t avoid them forever,” Valerie said.
“Don’t defend them. I was an embarrassment to all of them until I was cursed with this beauty and magic.”
“It’s not a curse,” Valerie replied. “It’s who you truly are. All your years before were to teach you to value yourself for more than power and beauty. Now you have both. Think how much good you could do in the world.”
Kanti’s shoulders slumped. “You’re right. I know I’m being a brat about this. But I can’t forgive them yet for all those years when I might as well have been a piece of furniture for how much attention they gave me. It’s time for them to get a little taste of how that feels.”
“Having a family is a gift. Don’t waste it,” Valerie said, but then let the subject drop.
“I hate to say it, but I think Val’s right,” Henry said to Kanti that night while they had dinner in the Imaginary Friends’ dorm cafeteria. They held hands under the table, eating with their free hands. It would be obnoxious if it wasn’t so adorable. “You’ve got to forgive them some time.”
“I say forget ’em,” Cyrus said, dropping his tray at their table and sitting down. “Sometimes parents suck.”
When Valerie met his eyes, Cyrus turned tomato-red. He stared down at his food and started shoveling it into his mouth.
“Sometimes everyone sucks,” Henry said. “Doesn’t mean they can’t be redeemed. Your parents are trying.”
Kanti sighed, a little dramatically. “Fine, I’ll meet them. But you’re going with me,” she said to Henry in a tone of voice that sounded like a queen issuing a command.
Henry didn’t seem to mind. “Of course. And we should bring Val, too, since they already like her.”
“Good idea. Maybe the fact that she’s your sister will carry some weight in terms of them accepting that we’re together. What about you, Cy? We could use some comic relief.”
“Well too bad. This clown isn’t performing today,” Cyrus said darkly.
“Wow, your death stare has gotten much better,” Kanti teased, but Cyrus didn’t crack his usual grin.
“I’m busy. I’ll meet your horrible family some other time, okay?”
“Sheesh, fine,” Kanti said. She turned to Valerie and mouthed “what’s with him?” Valerie turned her gaze back to her plate.
“Is there something I should know?” Kanti asked loudly. Henry squirmed in his chair. “Henry?”
Valerie could swear a little buzz of magic emanated from Kanti, but she didn’t think her friend knew she was using it.
“Cyrus and Valerie kissed when they were under Dasan’s magic,” Henry blurted out.
Valerie wanted to sink through the floor.
“You’ve been holding out on me,” Kanti said accusingly to Valerie. Valerie couldn’t meet her gaze. “Hey, you guys are really upset about this.”
“You think?” Cyrus said, and stalked away.
Valerie followed him. She caught up with him in the hall outside of his room.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
He turned and examined her face. “What for?”
“I hurt you.”
“Yeah. Last night was one of the worst nights of your life. But it was one of the best of mine. Do you know how much that sucks?”
She stepped closer. “That wasn’t even close to one of the worst nights of my life.”
“So you’re not sorry that it happened?” Cyrus asked hopefully. Valerie looked away. “See, that’s what hurts. Not just last night. Every time you mention Thai, you’re rejectin
g me over and over again. I thought when you came to the Globe, things would be different. But you never saw us as anything other than friends.”
“Best friends.”
He shook his head. “I want more than that.”
“So is it all or nothing then?” Valerie asked, suddenly lightheaded at the thought of Cyrus fading to a nonexistent role in her life.
“I’m not saying that. I’ve been avoiding this for so long. Maybe Kanti’s right, and it’s good that it’s all out in the open now. I need time to figure out how this can work.”
“Are you going to leave me?” Valerie hated how small and pathetic her voice sounded. It was incredibly selfish to expect him to stay by her side when every time she was happy with Thai it would cause him misery.
“Never, don’t think that,” Cyrus said, taking a step closer to her. “Things can’t be the same, but it doesn’t mean I’m gonna stop loving you or stop wanting to be a part of your life.”
She took a raggedy breath. “Thank you.”
“Oh just come here,” he said, and pulled her into a hug. She felt so fragile, like a strong wind could blow her into a million pieces. The only thing holding her together was the knowledge that Cyrus hadn’t abandoned her yet, even all those years when he wasn’t allowed to be her imaginary friend. He had still watched over her. She had to trust that he wouldn’t leave her now.
Chapter 29
Kanti had agreed to dinner with her family on the condition that they didn’t bring Ani, so thankfully, Valerie was able to relax a little and enjoy the food at the hotel restaurant.
When they walked in, she saw that it must be a popular gathering place for the Grand Masters in Arden, because she saw Chern and Kellen in a booth in the corner, as well as Skye and a few other faces she recognized from her trips to the Capitol.
“Everything’s free here?” Amaryllis asked Kanti, her eyes huge.
“We don’t have money in Arden,” Kanti explained to her sister. “Everyone contributes what they’re good at.”
