Parxon nods after he examines it. “That is good. She should mark you several more times. Because that will only improve your chances of her venom overcoming aspects of the virus.” He pops another grape into his mouth.
“Aspects?” Garrett and I ask.
We could take this duet on the road.
Parxon nods. “We will need to test. It’s possible her venom might neutralize it in some ways. According to the old stories accumulated throughout the ages. But she is half human. And your version of the virus is far older and different in many ways. Mutated over the eons.”
“You’re kidding, right?” Garrett asks.
“No.” Parxon eats another grape. “As I told her, it might not mean you can tolerate direct sunlight, but, for example, perhaps you no longer explode. It might only mean a bad sunburn.”
Stunned, I stare at him. “Seriously?” Amber smiles and sips her drink, so I focus on her. “What did you see?”
She shrugs, the playful smile still curling her lips. “Just you and her walking in sunlight. Carrying a baby.”
Garrett must be thinking along the same wavelength I am. “Holy shit!” we gasp in unison.
“Or maybe not,” Parxon said. “It could possibly manifest in a number of ways. As I said, we must test. Most importantly is for her to rest so we can return you all to your world tonight.”
“What about you?” I ask. “Come with us—I can support you and Zeuzehn both. You can walk away, right now, and I can set you up, anywhere in the world. Eilidh needs you.”
“I can’t disappear yet,” he says. “I have too many loose ends to tie up first. I’m the last heir of one of the last old families. If anyone figures out the old myths are true, and I can still cross, it could be devastating for both worlds. There’s a reason this was kept a closely guarded secret by the old families, and why it was forbidden and punishable by death to engage in the old magicks after the sorting was completed. They will destroy Zeuzehn and bury the evidence if we do not properly prepare. I cannot let that happen to him.”
“Then how do you set it up?” I ask. “Thisiskind of my specialty. I’ve built and rebuilt hundreds of lives. Maybe I can be of some help.”
“I need to move some things across to your world from this realm first. Knowledge that should not be destroyed, but I cannot risk leaving it here, because if we ever need it again…” I understand what he means.
“If we need the ability to stop anyone who figures out how to cross?”
He nods. “Exactly. Once I’ve taken care of that, then I can place Serxon’s body and make it look like mine. No one knows we never cremated him.” He grimly smiles. “We disinterred old bones and placed them, along with cattle meat, in the coffin on the pyre. As my mate, Zeuzehn helped me perpetuate the ruse. We were the only two allowed to bathe and tend and prepare Serxon’s body, per our old customs. We sealed Serxon’s body in a freezer in my lab in hopes of one day using it to stand in for my body, when I was finally able to cross. I’ll stage it on our land, and there will be no investigation because there will be no birthright claims.”
“I’ll buy you a house in our world,” I tell him. “Near the stones, so you can move things there, for now. I’m beyond wealthy in our world. I will completely support you. Whatever you need.” In my head, I’m already calculating how much I’ll need to spend to buy all the properties surrounding the stone ring.
It’s pocket change, really.
Especially when it means Eilidh’s happiness.
Finally, it looks like we will get our chance to settle down and enjoy our new life together, without dark mysteries lingering over our heads.
Parxon nods. “Thank you. I am very grateful.”
“Is there anything we can take with us now?” I ask.
“Yes. I have several boxes of notes, journals, and old books and scrolls that need to be moved off-world.”
Garrett scratches the back of his head. “And nobody else can cross, except you?”
“Other than Zeuzehn and Eilidh, and now possibly Dexter? Not that I’m aware of. To my knowledge, there are only two other intact stone rings in this world. I’m not sure if they are still viable here, or in your world, or if there are even crossing rings left which correspond to them. Stone rings only work with the particular crossing rings created at the same time to be used with them. The runes on the crossing rings are particular to that stone ring. Now that I have my crossing ring back, I hold the last two crossing rings for this stone ring. And Serxon’s is damaged and unreliable.”
“The crossing rings are like an airport code,” Amber says, sounding awed. “They were tuned.”
Parxon nods. “Exactly.” He smiles. “Of all the things our world has created and accomplished, our fear of high-altitude flying and the refusal to fully embrace it has baffled me the greatest.”
“Can a crossing ring be re-tuned to a different stone ring?” Garrett asks.
“Definitely not by anyone alive. That was knowledge and old magick that died with the creators. Knowledge perhaps best lost to time, now that I see the dark side of their deeds. Our population truly deserves to die out. Who knew the sorted were the lucky ones?”
“Can we trust Zeuzehn?” Garrett asks.
