“I had that under control,” muttered Harper.
“Maybe—if you consider being wrestled into submission under control,” said Willow. “It looked like the two of you were about to—”
“Conjuration bindings,” snapped Harper. “They might not hold him for long, but maybe we can—”
“What’s going on here?” boomed a new voice.
Lee staggered to his feet, head still throbbing. Takero Fujino, flanked by Toma and another elderly man he didn’t recognize had entered the temple. It was the new man who’d spoken, and his gaze scanned the room, eyes discerning the nature of the spectacle.
“This doesn’t concern any of you,” said Harper. “I’m a member of the Order of Chaldea. This man is—”
Takero interrupted her, speaking quickly and angrily in Japanese. Lee wasn’t sure whether he understood what Harper had said or even needed to, given how confident and swift his response was.
“Uh, hi, Instructor Harper,” said Toma. “My father says Lee is our guest and he’ll attack you if you try to force him to go anywhere with you.”
“I would act similarly in that event,” said the elderly man.
“Who are you?” snapped Harper.
A slow smile came across the man’s face. “I am Xepher.”
CHAPTER 20
An odd procession left the temple and moved through the festival. Lee pushed Tess in the wheelchair, watching Harper and Willow with a justifiable amount of suspicion out of the corner of his eye.
Takero had extended his invitation of hospitality to the both of them, suggesting they all return to the Fujino estate and resolve the conflict with words rather than violence. Lee had wanted to object, hating the idea of giving Harper any sort of opening. A warning glance from Toma had been enough to keep him quiet.
“This reminds me of the old Harper,” whispered Tess. “The one who used to bully you at Primhaven.”
“I’m not sure bully is the right word,” muttered Lee.
“Remember when she stole your kris dagger?”
“She confiscated that; it wasn’t like—”
“Or how she threw a fireball at your fake spell shield in front of your whole class?”
“Yes,” he said, wincing. “I remember.”
He kept his distance from Harper and Willow as they arrived back at Toma’s house and entered the main manor. Takero led them into the dining room, where they sat on the floor around the table. Toma’s mother hurried to bring out tea, beer, and sake. The silence held until everyone had a drink in front of them.
“Well,” said Xepher, grinning as though they were all friendly with one another. “As Takero’s English is a bit non-existent, I don’t mind taking the lead in settling this dispute. Ms. Black, feel free to state your case.”
Harper had only taken tea for her drink, and she tapped a finger impatiently against the rim of her mug. “This man, Eldon Brock, is an informant in service to the Order of Chaldea. He’s gone rogue over the past few weeks, and I was sent to bring him to report to my superior.”
“I see,” said Xepher, with a frown. “I suppose young Eldon has murdered someone, then?”
Harper furrowed her brow. “No, not as far as I know.”
“Then he’s at the very least attacked members of your Order without reason?”
Harper narrowed her eyes. “No, he hasn’t done that, either.”
“Has he stolen something of great value from your organization, in that case?”
Lee held his breath, wondering if Harper would take the chance to fudge the truth and accuse him of taking Savoire Solaire without permission.
She exhaled before speaking her answer. “No, he hasn’t stolen anything. I see your point, but—”
Takero cut her off, almost shouting in his own language and punctuating his final word by slamming his fist down on the table and shaking everyone’s glass.
“My father says Lee is our guest, and you haven’t proven your case,” said Toma. “Sorry, Instructor Harper.”
“Well, I’m glad that’s settled.” Lee shot a petulant grin at Harper and Willow. “Don’t let the door hit your ample posteriors on the way out.”
“Hold.” Xepher lifted a hand. “I would take a moment of your time, Ms. Black, if you’d speak with me.”
“I’m here, and I’m listening,” said Harper.
Xepher shifted his legs, letting out a small, tired sigh as he crossed them on the ground. “I have been alive for quite some time. Few conflicts I’ve seen have the same potential for death and destruction as the one we currently find ourselves on the brink of.
“Ask your superiors to seek for peace. There is more danger in the state of the world today than you or they or anyone can clearly see. Both sides must seek for peace. That is all.”
He took a sip of his sake. Harper was frowning, but her expression wasn’t otherwise one of dismissal, but of sympathy.
“I’ll tell them,” she said. “Though I suspect it will do little good.”
“Thank you,” said Xepher.
Harper gestured to Willow, and without another word, the women departed. Neither spared the room a backward glance and despite himself, Lee watched their backs until they’d disappeared into the hallway and out of sight. He tried not let the thought of when he might see Harper again—or more specifically, under what circumstances—dominate his attention.
Takero stood up from the table and said something in Japanese that made Xepher chuckle.
“Very late, indeed,” he said. “I find my tired bones rather in agreement with that sentiment.”
“Xepher,” said Lee. “If it’s not too much trouble, can I speak with you before you turn in?”
A crafty smile danced across the old man’s face. “I was wondering when you’d ask.”
They walked together outside, across the Fujino estate’s lawn. The night was warm, with a beautiful array of stars speckled across the sky. Xepher’s pace was quite labored, and Lee kept his own as slow as he could, to match.
“A mutual friend of ours said you might be able to help me,” said Lee.
“Jack Masterson,” said Xepher. He grinned when he saw the look on Lee’s face. “Merely a guess. There’s another reason I suspected he’d seek me out, though that is between him and me.”
“He told me that you were a powerful wizard in your day. I have a friend who has been possessed by an entity, a demoness known as the Unavowed Queen.”
“Hmmm…” Xepher ran a hand over the stubble on his chin. “This happened perhaps a little over a month ago.”
“It did. How did you—”
“The demons that manifest in this world are not native to it. They come from the Other Realms, a collection of metaphysical planes beyond our own. I felt a disturbance through the Other Realms around that same time, though I knew not the cause. I still lack the certainty to assume it may just be a coincidence, but a rather convenient one.”
“Can you help me?” asked Lee. “There must be a way to force the Unavowed Queen to give her up as a vessel.”
“I believe I can help, though there will be danger involved,” said Xepher. “I will need to speak with Jack directly, as this may concern him too.”
“Right. I have a water nymph friend who can bring us to Lestaron Island without delay.”
Xepher snorted in amusement. “Well then, if there’s nothing else…”
Lee looked back toward the Fujino estate’s guest house. “There is one other thing. Do you know anything about bonds between mystics and ghosts?”
“Bonds between… mystics and ghosts?” Xepher blinked, staring at Lee as though he’d only just then noticed him.
“It’s basically an open secret at this point, but I’m a mystic. I’ve formed a pact with a ghost who is very dear to me, and she’s starting to… I don’t know. Lose her form. If there’s anything you know that could help her…”
“You’re a mystic?” asked Xepher. “You can actually see ghosts, and verify their existence?”
“I’m afraid I lack the knowledge to offer any immediate advice,” said Xepher. “If you were willing to allow me some time to study you and your, um, ghost friend, perhaps I could discover something…?”
“I’ll think about it.”
“With due seriousness, I hope. There’s no telling what such research might unearth!”
Lee clapped a hand on Xepher’s shoulder and forced himself to smile. “I’ll let you know when it’s time for us to leave. We’ll be going through the water, so if you have anything that needs to stay dry, put it in my bag.”
CHAPTER 21
Lee called Ryoko as soon as he had finished his conversation with Xepher. She politely informed him she was busy with other matters, and the soonest she could ferry him back would be later that afternoon, meaning the middle of the night for them, given the difference in time zone.
Toma’s mother insisted on preparing Lee a room in the guest house. He thanked her and attempted a bow before heading inside with Tess. He was a lot more tired than he’d realized, due in no small part to the fact that he hadn’t had a full night’s sleep in over a day.
“Hey,” he said. Tess had already settled down on the futon, and she brushed a few strands of hair out of her face as she sat up to greet him.
“Lee,” she whispered. “Was Xepher helpful?”
“Sort of. He had some thoughts on how we can help Eliza, but it doesn’t sound like he knows anything about our situation. How’s the leg?”
He expected her to smile and tell him that it was fine, which only made the way she winced uncomfortably stab at his heart all the more.
“Um, it’s legs now,” she said, with a sigh. “As in, plural.”
Lee pulled back the futon’s blanket, revealing her lower body. Her right leg was now missing up to the knee, and the same loss of form now extended to her left foot from toes to ankle. He tried to keep his despair from showing as he took her hand into his and kissed it.
“I’m going to figure this out, Tess,” he said. “I swear I will.”
“I know,” she said, matching his forced smile with one of her own. “I trust you, Lee. It’s really not that big of a deal. Just a bit of… fading.”
“Just a bit of fading.”
“I suppose you were right about bringing the wheelchair along,” she added.
“Pretty comfy, right?”
“I feel like royalty having you push me around everywhere.”
He pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead. He felt her arms tighten around his chest and fiercely squeezed her back.
“Let’s get some rest,” he said. “I get the feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day.”
***
No more than an hour or two passed before the sound of footsteps pulled Lee awake. He wondered if it was Toma or Kei until he caught a glimpse of the intruder’s silhouette in the moonlight. Far too feminine to be one of the Fujino brothers.
“Harper,” he said. “What do you want?”
He sat up on the futon but didn’t rise to his feet. Harper was scanning the room, and after a moment, she folded her arms and turned to face him.
“Savoire Solaire,” she said. “It should be returned to its proper owner.”
“As thoughtful as it would be for you to bring Joan of Arc a shard of her original sword back, the saber isn’t here. I’d be happy to send it through the mail if you leave me an address.”
He felt no real need to mention that he’d accidentally stripped the weapon of its magic, and even less to point out that one of its abilities was now fused into his hand.
“I don’t believe you,” said Harper.
“Right back at you,” said Lee. “I’m not stupid, Harper. You didn’t sneak in here to steal a sword. What do you want?”
She let his question hang on the air for a while, long enough for the tension to make Lee aware of every noise within the silent room. His breathing, her breathing, the whistling breeze outside the window.
“I want you to leave, Eldon,” she finally said. “Take whatever money and resources you have available to you and get away from the House of Shadows. Start a life somewhere outside of this conflict.”
Lee slowly stood up from the futon. An odd sort of anger had taken hold in his chest. She wasn’t his master anymore. She didn’t have any right to demand anything from him, let alone a complete abdication of his current life. But he understood so completely where she was coming from. He knew the exact mixture of concern and selfishness at the heart of her request.
“What if I asked you to do exactly the same?” He stepped closer to her. “Leave the Order, Harper. Go find somewhere to live where you don’t have to worry about fighting people that you… once cared about.”
“I can’t,” she whispered.
“There’s your answer.”
He tried to turn away and look at the window, as much to keep Harper from seeing his face as to avoid having to look into hers. She gripped his forearm and pulled him to face her. A pointless gesture, and yet, her fingers were hot as the sun against his skin.
“Please,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry, Harper,” he said. “For everything I’ve done, and for everything I will do.”
He pulled her tight to him and kissed her, past the point of caring about her reaction. He felt Harper’s lips against his, and then her tongue responding as their mouths opened, total freefall.
“No!” She pulled back and pushed him away, exhaling through her nose as though she’d just taken a blow. Lee gave her space, though it was the opposite of what he felt like they both needed.
“I don’t want to fight you,” he said.
“I know.” She shook her head, pulling her arms and dropping them as though to demonstrate the futility of it all. “I’m sick of fighting, Eldon. But it’s all I know how to do.”
“Harper…”
She left, not looking back as she slipped out of the room with near-silent steps. Lee heard Harper’s last words echoing in his head and felt like punching his pillow.
Fighting was all she knew how to do. What the fuck did he know how to do, other than make friends into enemies and put the people he loved at risk?
“Lee,” whispered Tess. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he lied.
“You still love her, don’t you?”
“I’m not sure that’s the right word for it,” he said. “I’m not sure there is one.”
He pulled her into his mystic stream and slipped back into the warm confines of the futon. She was soft against him, so comforting, though even in the blissful embrace of her arms, it felt like his world was still out of control.
“When everything has… played out, you should take her advice,” said Tess. “Try to live a peaceful life.”
“Tess… What do you mean by that? When everything has played out. What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know what it means.”
“Tess!” He clenched his eyes shut as tight as they’d go. “Please don’t say things like that.”
“Sorry,” she said. “I just wanted you to hear it from me, in case you ever wondered what I would think or how I would have felt.”
Sleep evaded Lee for the rest of the night.
CHAPTER 22
Early the next morning, hours before sunrise, Lee met Xepher outside and prepared to depart. A very tired-looking Toma saw them off, along with Kei.
“I’ll be staying with my family for the time being,” said Kei. “I’ve been away for far too long.”
“I expected as much,” he said.
“Keep in touch, Lee,” said Toma. “Now more than ever, given how cracked the world is getting.”
“For sure.”
Ryoko met them at the beach. The stubborn sand made pushing the wheelchair out into the water into a chore, and midway across, Tess sighed and pushed herself up.
<
br /> “Lee, I can still move around on my own,” she insisted. “I just need to be outside of your mystic stream.”
She looked at him expectantly, and he released the effect of his ability after a moment. Tess’s ethereal blue ghost form looked more or less unchanged, aside from the missing sections of her leg where the limbs seemed to have dissolved into tufts of ambient essence.
“I know you can,” he said. “I just… like having you in my mystic stream. Being able to touch you and see all of you.”
She smiled apologetically at him and he felt like a bit of a jerk for making it into an issue.
“I simply mean we should pass on using the wheelchair when it’s not convenient,” she said. “My comfort comes second to the two of us actually being able to get around.”
“Fair enough.”
Ryoko waved as they drew in closer. Lee was surprised when Xepher smiled and favored her with a bow.
“Ryoko-chan,” he said. “It’s good to see you again.”
“You too, Xepher. Have you been well?”
“Quite well.” Xepher took a deep breath. “Here’s to hoping the ocean isn’t as cold as it looks.”
It was, if not colder. Lee was gasping as he came out the other side of the portal onto the shore of Lestaron Island. Xepher made even louder noises, his skin taking on an unhealthy pallor as he shivered, teeth chattering.
“Oh no!” said Ryoko. “I usually bring towels but it slipped my mind this time. I’m so sorry! We’ll head right up to the mansion if you’ll follow me.”
The time difference caught Lee off guard. They’d left Toyotomi in the early hours of the morning, beyond the black of night but still well before dawn. Back on the island, the sun had just begun setting, and it felt backward to him as if time was rewinding instead of progressing.
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