With another groan, I pushed myself back up to a sitting position. How did I know that voice? And what could possibly be so urgent that she was threatening to break down my door?
I preferred to know the answer to that questionbeforeshe—and whoever was with her—caused any property damage and lost me my security deposit. So even though it took every ounce of energy I had in me, I climbed to my feet and shuffled back out into the main room of the apartment.
She pounded on the door again. “You’ve got ten seconds, Goldie. If you don’t—”
“I heard you the first time!” I yelled back, my voice hoarse. I stepped closer to the door, leaning up on my toes to peer through the peephole. It was probably a stupid idea to open my door to someone who was threatening to bust it down, but after all the beasts and sorcerers of Therador I couldn’t bring myself to be afraid of whoever stood on the other side. Mostly, I was pissed at them for pulling this stuntnow, when I had much bigger problems to deal with.
A young man and woman—both in their twenties, I guessed—stood just outside my door. The warped, cloudy glass of the peephole made it impossible to make them out clearly, but I was pretty sure I’d never seen either of them before.
Curiosity winning out, I pulled open the door.
Even face to face, they were completely unfamiliar to me. The girl was absolutely striking. She was several inches taller than me, with light brown skin and stylish dark hair that was shaved on one side and chin-length on the other—with electric blue streaks, no less—accentuating her heart-shaped face and dark eyes. She was dressed in black jeans and a black tank top and had about a dozen rings on her fingers—except for the last two fingers on her left hand, which were missing just below the first knuckle.
The guy was a giant. He could have rivaled Octavian for height—but that’s where the similarities between the two men ended. He had the sort of build thatcouldhave been muscular—but he was rocking more of a dad-bod instead. His short, light brown hair was a mess, but in a floppy, almost endearing way. In fact, he had an endearing energy about him, from his graphic T-shirt to his slightly round cheeks. He was a pasty shade of white that suggested he didn’t spend much time outside.
“Hm,” the girl said, crossing her arms and looking me up and down. “You’re not as short as I expected.”
“Uh…thanks?” I said, still trying to place her voice.
And then all at once it hit me like a slap to the face.
I looked from her to the guy, then back to her again. “Wait. You’re…”
“That’s right.” She grinned. “The Mesmerizer, in the flesh. Who did youthinkwas banging on your door?”
“I didn’t…” I wasn’t even sure how to finish that thought. Here they were—Esmer and Isaac, my two best friends, right before my eyes. They were somehow both exactly like I thought they’d be and nothing like it at all.
Exhausted as I was, I was having an impossible time processing this.
“Not to be harsh, but you look like shit,” Esmer said. “But glad to see you’re alive, at least.” Her eyes kept traveling down to my torn dress. I didn’t blame her for staring—I knew I looked like I’d been run over by a train on my way home from a costume party.
“I was ready to bust your door down from the start,” Esmer went on. “I was sure you were in trouble. But Isaac made me knock first.”
“You don’t just bust into someone’s home before assessing the situation,” Isaac said, and he had that same nerdy teddy bear energy in person that he’d had over our voice chats. “That’s how you end up in jail. Or dead.”
Esmer rolled her eyes in exaggerated exasperation. “See what I’m dealing with here?”
“Why are you guys even here in the first place?” I asked. There was no way they could have known I’d be returning from Therador this very moment. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but…” I looked back to Isaac, who was studying me with concern, just like Esmer.
“What did you expect us to do?” Esmer said. “You dropped a bombshell on us and promised you’d say something before doing anything rash. And then you went silent. For days.” There was something hard in her voice now, and for the first time, I saw the cracks in her tough façade—there was fear in her eyes. Fear, and something else I couldn’t quite pinpoint.
“I…” I didn’t have any excuse. Iknewthey’d be worried about me. I just had no idea they’d go through all the trouble of showing up at my door. “How did you even find me?”
“It wasn’t that hard.” Isaac said. “We knew you lived close to the Crestwood brothers. And that Marigold is your real first name. I had some friends help track down your address.” He looked a little embarrassed at that last bit, refusing to meet my eyes. “We went up to the Crestwood estate first. It looks like a bomb went off there.”
“Another reason I was ready to just break down your door,” Esmer said.
“We had to make sure you were okay.” Isaac’s gaze met mine again. “Areyou okay?”
“I mean, I’m in one piece.” I tried to laugh, but the sound was hoarse and hollow. I wasn’t surprised to hear about the state of the Crestwood estate given what had happened when I’d opened the original portal to Therador, but Iwasa little surprised that these guys had come all this way. They were legitimately worried about me. The fact that they’d gone through all this trouble just to make sure I was okay… It touched me deeply, and tears stung my eyes.
“You guys should come in,” I said. “We have a lot to talk about.”
I led them into my living room, where I watched them take in all the little details of my apartment with rapt attention. I didn’t fault them for being curious—I would have been the same way had our situations been reversed. It was soweird, finally being in the same space as the two people who’d meant so much to me these last few years—people who knew me better than anyone else in some ways, and yet not at all in others. We were intimately connected—and yet strangers.
Isaac glanced toward the kitchen. “Do you need me to get you something? Like an energy drink or water or something?”
“Yeah, you look like you’re about to pass out,” Esmer said, pointing to the couch. “Sit down before you fall over.” To Isaac, she said, “Get her some coffee.”
