Hope and joy blossomed within me, though I kept it to myself. This revelation was dearer to me than anything else we’d discussed ... but it wasn’t relevant to the larger problem. There would be time to bask in this news later.
“His raids just got a lot more serious,” I said. “If there really is truth to the prophecy ... well, then. What he’s doing has the potential to develop into a lot more.”
Dorian said nothing, and I wondered what he was thinking. He’d agreed to stopping Pagiel before, as a favor to me. Now that Pagiel’s activities had become something more ... what then? Where did Dorian’s loyalties lie? He’d just professed all this devotion to me, swearing he’d do anything for me. But that was before he’d found out the cause he’d long supported was under way. I couldn’t read him, and that made me nervous. My walls went back up.
Jasmine used the silence to again interject, “Pagiel’s my nephew. Isn’t anyone else freaked out about that? We were practically dating.”
“Did you sleep together?” I asked bluntly.
She looked taken aback. “Well, no ... but you know, we like kissed ... and did other stuff... .”
I decided not to investigate the “other stuff.” I shrugged. “I think you’re okay then. Seems like it could be a lot worse.” Jasmine’s expression said she didn’t agree, but she let the matter go.
The situation escalated after that in a way I never could have imagined. The first order of business was to call in Ysabel and Edria again to verify Ansonia’s story. Dorian put on his tough face, but I think even he was amazed at the casual way Edria talked about having been one of Storm King’s mistresses years ago. She acted as though being at the center of a prophecy was no big deal and she thought Pagiel’s actions were a justified part of his legacy. Ysabel—my sister—stood by her mother’s side and defended her son too ... but I sensed a little uneasiness from her. I remembered Ansonia saying that Ysabel had only recently learned the truth. Despite Ysabel’s love for attention and status, I wondered if perhaps this new development was a bit more than she’d ever wanted.
Nonetheless, once the cat was out of the bag, Edria had no qualms about spreading the news in the gentry world. Like so much gossip, everyone seemed to know in a very short time. The kingdoms were abuzz. People were shocked to learn that not only had my son been superseded, but that the new heir was already fulfilling his destiny. Divisions that had been quiet in the wake of the blight began to form again, those vehemently against and for Pagiel.
So, it was no surprise when, a couple days later, Kiyo showed up at Dorian’s castle wanting to speak to us. There was some delay before Dorian agreed. Kiyo’s last visit had involved a spectacular attempt to kill me, and Dorian had consequently banished him with strict orders for the guards on what to do if Kiyo surfaced again. Dorian and I conferred and decided I was safe, though my feelings toward Kiyo hadn’t changed much, even after our Yew Land alliance.
“I assume you’re going to do something?” Kiyo said immediately, once we were in a private room.
“I’m going back to Tucson today,” I said. “He’s not going to be easy to find, though. From what Roland told me, by the time you hear about one of his raids, he’s already gone.”
“I’ll find him,” growled Kiyo. “I’ll find him and put an end to this.”
I felt my eyes widen. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Kiyo met my gaze levelly. “What do you think? We need to stop this before it gets worse. Unless you had other plans.” That was directed to Dorian, the subtext obvious.
Dorian had been very quiet on his opinions of everything. He’d supported my intentions of finding Pagiel but hadn’t elaborated on what was to be done after the fact.
“Pagiel doesn’t even realize what he’s doing,” I said. “There are other ways to stop this.”
“You just touched on the problem,” said Kiyo. “He’s doing something. You berated me over and over about going after your son, about how he was an innocent and had done nothing. Well, here we are. Pagiel’s pretty much a grown man, with a lot of power, and he’s doing exactly what the prophecy said he would do. You can’t claim there’s a chance to change fate now.”
“There’s always a chance,” I said stubbornly. “We aren’t destiny’s pawns. Pagiel can still change the future. He’s smart. He’s compassionate. And I believe he’ll do the right thing. He deserves a chance. I’m certainly not going to kill him outright without talking to him!”
Nothing Kiyo did should have shocked me anymore, but I was amazed at how lightly he referred to his efforts to hunt down Isaac. No remorse, no apology. No “Hey, Eugenie, I guess I was wrong. Sorry about the grief I subjected you to for the better part of a year.”
Instead, Kiyo’s focus was solely on Pagiel now. “You talked to him before we went to the Yew Land. That didn’t stop the raids. I really doubt anything you can say or do will change things now.”
“I have to try,” I said.
Kiyo shrugged. “And I’m going to stop you.”
Dorian stiffened at the subtle threat. “And suddenly, I regret offering you hospitality.”
Kiyo rose. “Don’t worry. I’ll show myself out. I’ve heard all I needed to.”
He stormed out, eyes flashing with anger. I kind of agreed with Dorian and wished I wasn’t under the bonds of hospitality either. “I could send guards after him, once he clears the entrance,” Dorian remarked.
I shook my head. “Don’t bother. He’ll turn into a fox and slip away before they can do anything. All we can do now is make sure we find Pagiel first.”
“Of course.”
I eyed him uncertainly, hesitant to speak my mind. “Dorian ... when I find him, are we going to have the same goals?”
He arched an eyebrow. “I think we can both agree we don’t want that kitsune to kill Pagiel.”
“Yeah, but what about after that? Are you going to help me talk sense into Pagiel or give him an army?”
Dorian’s expression was still damnably unreadable. He took a long time to answer, which didn’t reassure me. “I told you before, I stand with you and support you. I should think the events of the other night would have convinced you.”
I almost smiled. “The events? Mostly that convinced me we can still have good sex.”
He shrugged. “That was never in dispute. But I wasn’t the only one who made pledges, Eugenie. You said you trusted me. Do you trust me now?”
Now I was the one groping for an answer. “I want to.”
“Then do.”
He started to reach for me, then pulled back. I didn’t know if I was disappointed or relieved. “What do you need before you leave?” he asked, back to all business.
I need you to touch me, I thought, deciding I regretted his reticence after all. I need you to hold me and make me feel like you really do love me more than any prophecy.
Instead, I matched his serious air. “Nothing on the other side. But once we get back ... well. Then I’ll need your help to talk Pagiel down.”
Jasmine came to Tucson with me. Her reaction surprised me. I’d expected her to go wildly in one direction, either to adamantly support him or else hate him for the familial confusion in their romance. But she adopted neither attitude. She was serious and focused, united with me on talking sense to him.
The hardest part about being in Tucson was the waiting. I split my time between Roland’s house and my own—the latter delighting Tim and Lara. Jasmine, Roland, and I scoured the news obsessively, waiting for any sign of Pagiel’s band of merry men. The whole time I wondered if it would be futile, if we’d hurry to wherever he was and be left with only a trail of dust. While he had been recently spotted in Arizona, his range also meant he could very well appear in another state. If he showed up in Texas or something, we’d never reach it in time.
While the grocery store and farmers market thefts didn’t go unnoticed, most of the media attention was on the haboobs. They were big and sensational—and not common here in such great numbers.
They were great distractions from the paranormal nature of the robberies and gave rise to all sorts of theories. Thankfully, it was a human trait to find “reasonable” explanations for weird events before jumping to crazy ones. Well, kind of. There were those who thought the dramatic sandstorms were a sign of the coming Apocalypse. Others blamed climate change and warned of worse to come. No one had suggested a supernatural invasion.
I thought a lot about Dorian in my free time as well. I missed him more than I expected and was torn over whether I could trust him. I wanted to. Badly. He seemed so sincere in his change ... but I’d believed him before, only to be deceived. I’d loved him once and wanted to again, but how could you love someone without trust?
“Eugenie!”
Jasmine’s cry rang through my small house, making me jump. I had been sitting in my bedroom one afternoon, trying to soothe my troubled thoughts by putting together a narwhal jigsaw puzzle. Footsteps came tearing down the hall, and Jasmine appeared in my doorway.
“Eugenie,” she gasped. “On TV ... a haboob.”
I ran to the living room nearly as fast as her. I was just in time to see footage of the haboob, as it rolled over a small city south of Phoenix. Even as someone who had done insane things with the weather, I was a little taken aback. The sandstorm was huge, stretching high in the air and spanning nearly forty miles. The cloud rolled into the city, engulfing it. The storms caused little direct damage but could be lethal for drivers suddenly deprived of visibility. The storm was also an excellent cover for a raid.
“This is live,” I said. “He’s got to be there right now.”
“It’s over an hour away,” she said with dismay. “He’ll be gone before we get there.”
My mind raced. “Yeah, but gone where?”
Fishing through my kitchen drawers, I dug out an old map of Arizona that Roland and I had marked up with gates a long time ago. I had most of them memorized but wanted to double-check. I put my finger on the city Pagiel was in and then looked for the closest gates.
“The nearest is in Phoenix proper,” I said. “Whether they’re on horseback or foot, they probably aren’t going to risk going through the city. There’s another north of Phoenix that goes to the Willow Land, but they’d have to ride around the city. This one, though ...” I tapped my finger on a spot closer to Tucson but off the main roads. “It’s remote and easier for them to get to.”
“You think they’ll jump back to the Otherworld?” she asked.
“I’m positive. They won’t risk being caught by humans, and we know they give away their goods to the gentry.”
“Pagiel’s probably strong enough to jump without a gate,” Jasmine reminded me.
“His followers aren’t,” I said with certainty. “He’ll go to the gate. And we’ll be waiting for him. We can beat him if we leave now.” This was a chance we weren’t going to get again. Any number of places would have too many gates to choose from or else be too far away.
Jasmine followed me as I grabbed my car keys and headed for the door. “Where’s the gate open up?”
“The Thorn Land, actually.”
“Ballsy,” she said.
I laughed. “I suppose so. But I think it’s a pretty remote part of the kingdom. Easy for him to hide out and also close to an Oak Land border.”
I wanted to double the speed limit but knew a ticket would slow me down. Still, we made good time on the interstate. It was once we had to turn off and head into the desert that we slowed. I watched the clock anxiously, constantly running calculations on how long it would take his posse to get there. The odds seemed in our favor, but I’d learned not to assume anything when it came to the Otherworld.
We reached the gate, and I parked the car a little ways from it. Pagiel wouldn’t know it was mine, but I didn’t want him getting spooked if he thought humans were in the area. It was late afternoon, in the middle of desert country, and the heat was in full effect. Jasmine and I had had the sense to bring water bottles, but they didn’t stop the sweat from rolling off of us as the sand radiated back the sun’s merciless rays. We found a spot near some saguaro cactuses. They didn’t offer much shade, but they gave us a sheltered view of the gate. Again, I didn’t want our presence to be obvious to Pagiel.
The afternoon wore on, and I began to doubt myself. Maybe I’d guessed wrong on the gate, especially if Pagiel decided not to risk crossing into one of my kingdoms. Or maybe he’d somehow made better time than I expected and was already gone. Our water was running low, though both Jasmine and I could pull water out of surrounding plants if necessary. I felt bad about that sometimes, but it occasionally had to be done for survival.
“There,” said Jasmine, straightening up. I followed where she was pointing and saw sand being kicked up as a group of horses and riders came into view.
“Unbelievable,” I said. “They rode horses from Phoenix. He really is a modern-day Robin Hood.”
Pagiel was in the lead, easily visible with the way the sun lit up his red hair. There were about a dozen riders with him, which made my heart sink. His initial raids had only contained a handful. A dozen was hardly an army, but it still signified an increase in support. After seeing the passionate reactions back in the Otherworld, I had a feeling he could have recruited more if he wanted. It was a small mercy that the majority of gentry had trouble crossing over to this world.
I waited until he was closer but not close enough to cross through the gate. I jumped up and strode forward, Jasmine right beside me.
“Pagiel!” I yelled.
He flinched in the saddle, and instantly, I felt the wind pick up. It stilled when he saw us, though the wary expression on his face clearly showed he didn’t quite trust us as friends. His riders regarded us with equal caution, and I saw the flash of a few copper blades.
“Your Majesty? Jasmine?” Pagiel glanced between us. “What are you doing here?”
“You already know,” I said, trying to present an air of peace and calm. “We need to talk about these raids you’re on. Pagiel, you know they’re not right.”
“Humans have plenty!” exclaimed one of his followers. “We’re entitled to reap our share.”
Pagiel silenced him with a look, and the guy cringed. Somehow, the boy sidekick I’d befriended had become more of a formidable leader than I’d suspected.
“The people in my kingdom are hungry,” said Pagiel. “They are in yours too. Can you honestly say you don’t want to help them?”
“No one’s starving anymore,” I argued. “We’re on rations, yeah, but at least we’re surviving honorably.”
Pagiel shook his head. “We talked about this before. Honor doesn’t enter into it—only survival. Besides, isn’t this what I’m supposed to be doing?”
I winced at the bitterness in his voice. So. He knew. Somehow, I wasn’t surprised. If he’d been back and forth between the worlds in the last few days, word would have gotten to him about his heritage.
“You aren’t ‘supposed’ to be doing anything,” I said gently. “You make your own choices.”
“That’s not what I hear,” he said. “I heard what everyone said when I was back there. They’ve all got plans for me. Even my grandmother does. Why else wouldn’t she have told me?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. There was a raw pain on his face that broke my heart. Maybe he’d technically reached manhood by gentry standards, but he was still a boy in many ways. He’d been thrust into a world he wasn’t ready for, had his life irrevocably changed. I knew the feeling, and I ached for him. “Let me help you. Come back with me so we can talk.”
That set off alarms for him. The wind rose again, whipping my hair around. “‘Talk’? I’m not stupid. I know what that means. You’ll put me in iron and lock me away.”
“Stop that,” I snapped. With barely a thought, I killed his wind magic. He might be strong, but Auntie Eugenie was stronger. He cringed a bit, feeling my magic dwarf his. “I’ll win if we fight, and I don’t want it to come to that. We’re fami
ly, Pagiel. And in a lot of ways ... it feels right, you know? You’ve stood by me since we met. I want to do the same for you. I swear to you, I won’t hurt you. Neither will Dorian. We’ll work this out together.”
Indecision warred on Pagiel’s face. He didn’t know who to trust, and I didn’t blame him. I’d been in that position. In a chaotic world, he’d carved out this outlaw niche for himself, one that at least gave him control of something.
“Pagiel, please,” I said. Panic was building in me. I was afraid it was going to come down to a fight, and I really didn’t want that. “I know what you’re going through. I’ve been fighting the destiny that was allegedly laid out for me too. You are your own master, not some prophecy made before you were born.”
Pagiel still didn’t respond. It was Jasmine who cracked him. “Pagiel, please,” she said, echoing me. “Please come with us.”
His gaze flicked to her, and I saw a new pain cross his features. Like her, he’d come to realize the family connection that had killed their romance. Nonetheless, I knew that as he studied her, he still cared about her and probably always would.
“All right,” he said at last. He turned his attention back to me. “I trust you, Eugenie.”
It was the first time he’d called me by my given name, and I smiled. It was fitting, since we were related. A few of his followers grumbled about this decision, but again, a command from him silenced them. I also noted that a few of them actually looked relieved. I wondered if maybe what had started off as a fun, madcap adventure had become too much for some.
Pagiel glanced back to where a couple of horses simply carried packs and supplies. “Distribute those goods among everyone so that my aunts can ride,” he ordered.
His riders jumped to obey. I hoped desperately we could work out all of this because he had so much potential. He was powerful in presence and personality. If he was put on the right path, he could become the kind of leader who did great things in the Otherworld. He could inherit a kingdom someday.
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