“Last time I was here, I went swimming in that water. My master was the one to suggest it.”
There was a bitterness Deborah didn’t often show when it came to her past. She’d always been matter of fact about what had happened to her. When she shared at all.
She sneered, the mockery on her face aimed inward where it would slice the deepest. “I was such an idiot. He must have got a kick out of my ignorance.”
“It is unlikely you would have been targeted with your master standing by,” Connor offered.
An ugly sound came from Deborah’s throat as she turned toward the bridge. “That’s what makes it worse.”
Connor and I watched as she stomped over its planks and to the other side. Caroline followed.
Moving slowly in the same direction, I tipped my head at the water in a change of subject. “Our scaled friend had quite the reaction to the sight of you.”
She’d beat such a hasty retreat that she would have left skid marks if she’d been on land.
“My reputation continues to precede me.”
I gave Connor a startled look. “I sense a story there.”
The grin he gave me as we walked over the bridge was lighthearted. “Maybe just a small one.”
“You’ll have to tell it to me some time.”
I was genuinely interested. For more reasons than just because I wanted to know what I had to do to get the same reaction. More and more, I was coming to understand that fear was a powerful tool that could smooth away a lot of nuisances.
In this case, I was more curious to hear about Connor and his experiences. He didn’t talk much about the time he’d spent trapped in a stag’s body. It might be good for him if he did.
We wound our way through the mini islands, enjoying the different climates and seasons that marked each one. From a desert to a tropical forest. Winter to summer and everything inbetween. Each one its own tiny world. Vast but small at the same time.
Every layer we peeled back offered something new and fascinating.
I would have enjoyed the experience if lives weren’t at stake. Maybe I could come back when I wasn’t so distracted. Perhaps Liam could come with me. This wasn’t a bad place for a romantic getaway.
“Here we are,” Nathan declared as we crossed one last bridge.
The island we stepped onto was nestled into the trunk of a massive tree. One that could have fit several houses inside. Gambling tables had been set up throughout the space. I recognized some of the games. Craps and roulette. Others were foreign to me. They didn’t rely on cards or dice, but some other method that eluded me. Those tables saw the most patrons, people leaning over and shouting as they placed their bet
“See something interesting?” Nathan probed, noticing my distraction. “I can teach you later if you like.”
I did. Just not what he thought.
Rather than the gamblers, it was the archway behind them that lit up my other sight like the fourth of July. Even with how hard I was shielding. Magic flowed from it. Pure and raw. On a level that eclipsed everything else I’d seen in the Playground.
Nathan must have realized his mistake as he followed the direction of my gaze. “I’m saying this just in case. Stay away from there. It’s the entrance to a barrow. Trust me when I say you can’t handle what you might find in there.”
“It’s not like I haven’t been in barrows before,” I pointed out, trying to distract Nathan from noticing Caroline’s reaction to the “b” word. She’d come to point like a hunting dog who’d just spotted her target.
“Not like this. Our barrow is relatively shallow compared to this one. The only place it connects to is this world.”
“You’re saying this barrow reaches other realms?”
Realms were exactly what they sounded like. Self-contained worlds whose size varied. Some were relatively small while others were as vast as the one we lived in.
I knew of two.
Noctessa and the Summer Lands.
There were others, but I didn’t know their names.
