“He had to, Gray. We didn’t want to risk Forest getting hold of you. If he suspected you knew anything out of the ordinary, he’d have tortured you to death if you ever ended up in his hands again.”
I understood it from a practicality standpoint. It made sense, and I would’ve done the same thing. But it didn’t stop the hurt as it triggered that insecure and unworthy little girl that my father had always made sure I’d been.
“I hope Scarlett and Cotton are okay. Wherever they are.” I looked up at the sky, cloudless and pale blue, wondering where they had gone.
“They’re safe.”
I snapped my attention to Slate, narrowing my eyes. “You know where they are?”
“In Arcadia. With Valik.”
“You’ve known this whole time and haven’t said anything because…” I prompted, not bothering to hide the accusation in my tone.
“You’ve been actively avoiding me and refusing to hear me out, Gray. Plus, no one else here knows them, so I had no reason to inform Orion…” He trailed off at the mention of Orion’s name, his death slamming into us with the harsh reminder.
I inhaled a deep breath. “Right.”
“When you and Chrome opened the portal back in the King’s Palace, Valik was waiting on the other side and took them in, I assume. I’d already been here, but after Chrome turned Infernal and walked away, he spoke to me and informed me before disappearing.”
At least one thing had gone right that day.
Chapter Fourteen
Cotton
The next morning, I woke early from the most comfortable bed I’d ever slept on in my life. I’d always thought the beds at the King’s Palace were too much, but this bed felt like sleeping on a pillow within the proverbial clouds.
The sun seemed to rise earlier in Arcadia than back home. When you stood in a patch of Arcadia, its natural laws still applied. It was very bizarre to think about.
Scarlett had questioned why we couldn’t walk back home if we were on the same plane of existence. Valik had responded that we were over a thousand miles away, stuck in our little bubble of Arcadia. Having witnessed some of the Syphon Bond’s effects, I found it difficult to want to leave the safety of the castle and venture out on my own. But today, despite the unicorn debacle yesterday, I didn’t care. I needed to get back to the Mystics and begin my work with Nell.
I sat in the hedge maze within the castle gardens. A steaming cup of coffee warmed my hands as I hid inside the maze to have my own peace and quiet. It was wild to think that I needed to further hide away from the world, but something about being surrounded by tall,winding hedges brought me solace. I didn’t have to worry about the pressures of communication. It exhausted me. More so than it had in years. If I was going to be trapped in my own head, I’d rather be undisturbed.
Scarlett and Valik still slept. At least, I assumed they did. I planned to be halfway to the Mystics before they awoke and realized I’d left. Of course, I’d leave a note so Scarlett didn’t freak out too hard.
I knew she worried about me being here, which I appreciated. But I was a grown man. I was the Inquisitor at the Royal Domain. While not a Warrior, I was still considered one of the strongest fighters around, and my disability allowed me to read others like an open book. No one fooled me with manipulation.
Once I finished my coffee, I rose to my feet and wound my way through the hedge maze. Once I stowed away the coffee mug, grabbed my weapons, left a note, and strapped my gear on, I snuck out of the Celestial Castle.
Now that I knew my way to the Mystics’ land, I hurried my pace. I maintained my focus on the path ahead, not allowing myself to get distracted by the foreign beauty of this untouched land. It remained unclear to me how the Tempests hadn’t attached a Syphon Bond to this part of Arcadia yet. The creatures native to this world didn’t seem immune to the bond, so why did the land when it was poisoned everywhere else?
I kept my senses open for any nearby energy, or rather, a void of it. Things were quiet today. The permanent silence reminded me of life back home. At least in Arcadia, it hadn’t been a modern society run by technology when it fell. Something about seeing abandoned and rusted modern cars with corpses holding cell phones made it all a bit eerier. Or maybe it was because it had beenmyworld,mytime. I had experienced its downfall firsthand.
When I spotted the Mystics’ village down in the valley from the top of the hill, I knew I was close. Setting off at a near jog, I reached their landabout fifteen minutes later.
The tiny homes and merchant stalls greeted me again, and Mystics who passed me by smiled at me kindly as I strolled down their cobbled street. Finally, I reached the tall glass building where we met Talitha yesterday. I wasn’t sure what to do or if I should do anything at all. Somehow, Talitha had known to meet us upon our arrival. And I didn’t feel comfortable enough yet to walk through the Learning Sanctum to get to the Healer’s Hive, especially when my visit wasn’t planned.
I waited awkwardly for several minutes, hoping my little trip hadn’t been for nothing, but just when I’d resigned myself to turn around and head back, the door to the glass building swung open.
“Cotton?” Talitha said.
I exhaled a breath, then dipped my chin to the High Priestess in both greeting and respect.
“What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”
I nodded, feeling guilty for worrying her. Unsure how to communicate what my purpose of being there was, I pointed in the direction of the Healer’s Hive.
“Do you need to use the Learning Sanctum?”
