A pang of homesickness brought a tear to my eye. I’d woken up in a pitch-black cave, but there’d been padding under me, and a single red LED which died seconds after I woke. That cave had answers, but to get to it, I’d have to face Gandalf again.
“Thou shalt not pass,” I said to my empty room.
Gandalf’s famous line fromThe Lord of the Rings. It was too fitting. A chill ran down my spine. Birds chirping in my memory was my only warning before a vivid echo from scenario one stirred.
Gandalf, flanked by his twin boys, walked at my side, his staff thunking on the dirt path with each step. It wasn’t the cool wizard’s staff from the movies, more like a really tall stick with some nonsense doodles carved along it; basically, what I’d get if I ordered a wizard staff from Temu, but it only made the old Gandalf look-alike more endearing.
The forest came to an abrupt end at a cave mouth. I’d stumbled out of here three days ago and had yet to go back in. Fear made my hands tremble, and I clasped them together.
“The cave is not what it was,” Gandalf said. “It’s only the echo of fear now, and you are brighter than its shadows. You proved that the moment you crawled out. Let’s walk back in, not as who you were, but as who you’ve become.”
Just like in the movies, Gandalf made a ball of cold white light out of magic.
“Fear fades when we stand together.” He held out his hand. “Let’s be near, and I will carry the silence for you.”
I’d taken his hand once, but now that memory tangled with another, his twin boys holding me down. If I hadn’t teleported, they would have raped me.
Facing him meant facing all of it again. I couldn’t do that alone.
I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them with my face practically in my pile of gold. No metallic scent stung my nose. A hint of acid and a slight zing of power made me itch. The little textured circles glowed with magic tinted the same color. There were no heads on one side or dates. A tiny rune was etched into the bottom of each one, but that was it.
My dorm room door banged open.
I started shoving gold back into the bag.
A woman giggled and raced up the stairs with Erick hot on her heels. She turned in a delighted circle, and her simple green dresstwirled around her wide hips. Erick wrapped his arms around her waist and lowered her onto the couch.
I got the last coin into the bag and gently hid it in the bottom drawer of my desk before closing it with a thud and clearing my throat.
The woman screeched and tried to jump, but Erick and his oddly strong arms had her pinned. He turned his head, probably well aware I was here before he even opened the door.
“It could be the three of us, you know?” His long coral hair fell across his face. “Ivy doesn’t mind sharing, do you, pet?”
The woman, Ivy, peeked at me and shrugged.
I narrowed my eyes. “I thought I was your sister?”
Erick tucked his hair behind his ear. “You’re whatever I need you to be.” He grinned. “I promise our new friendship will benefit you greatly.” His eyes glowed. “And if you decide you want an Adler Michelson growing in your belly, I wouldn’t object.”
I soured, lemon pucker and all. “Do not want.”
Erick chuckled. “Do not want, yet.”
He turned back to Ivy and buried his face in her ample cleavage.
If Brody waited for me in the hall, he could just kill me this time.
Fortunately for me, Brody wasn’t at my door, and my subconscious took me to the gym, the place I went to my very first night here to avoid everyone.
I stepped into the dark room and immediately remembered I couldn’t activate the cauldrons. This time, the lack of light fit my mood. I stepped inside and dropped to the floor, leaning against the door. My stomach growled, and I barked out a bitter laugh. I’d gonethrough so much to get money I didn’t know how to use. But I had it.Fuck me.I’d asked for help, drawn attention to myself, and benefited. Either Miss Q was having a field day, or this is what it was to have friends.
The door opened, nailing me in the back and pushing me forward. I yelped and scooted more to get out of the way. A body slipped inside, and plum-purple fog filled the gym with light.
I squinted.
“Why are you sitting against the door?” Ezra’s low, rough voice was unmistakable.
My heart raced in my chest. When we were coming back from The Green, he’d appeared with six enforcers at his back. I’d instantly assumed I was in trouble, and he was coming to haul my ass to a cell, so I couldn’t run.
