Zubir was trembling now. Elyse kept her attention pinned on him, but she could see Sera from the corner of her eye, a sympathetic look on her face.
“I need you by my side,” Elyse told him. “Maybe as a fighter, maybe in another way. I need the adaptability that someone like you provides.”
Zubir shot a panicked look at Sera.
“Like I said, she doesn’t know,” Elyse reiterated.
Sera nodded her head once in affirmation.
“That life was nothing but agony for me,” Zubir breathed out, a tremble in his voice that broke Elyse’s heart. “I am safe here, where no one can enslave me, or hunt me, or use me for their bidding.”
“I know,” Elyse said, letting empathy spill into her voice. “I was enslaved, too, in a sense. I hated my magic because of what it made me, or who I thought it made me. But I’m fighting back. I get to decide how I use my magic, and I want to use it for good.” She let her gaze slide to the painting of the wolf, then met Zubir’s gray eyes with a pointed stare. “Something tells me you want to do the same.”
Zubir blinked, and tears slid against dark lashes. He sent another worried glance toward Sera.
“You can trust her,” Elyse coaxed gently. She would never force Zubir to do anything, not after all he’d been through. But she knew firsthand how good it felt to unleash secrets that had been a burden for too long, and that Sera would guard those secrets at all costs.
“I c-can’t,” Zubir stammered. “I haven’t left this island in five years. I haven’t even tried to—”
He cut himself off before revealing anything else.
“All I can do is ask,” Elyse said, squeezing his hand. “I will not demand anything of you; plenty of others have already donethat. But is this the existence you want, my friend?” she asked, doing her best to keep judgment out of her voice. “You are gifted. Gods-blessed. You are letting your oppressors win, even all the way out here. You are letting them stop you from beingyou.”
“I think,” Zubir managed, his voice cracking, “you should leave.”
Elyse’s heart plummeted, sinking right through the floor and down to the ocean far beneath. She bit her lip and studied the pain on Zubir’s face. He closed his eyes and wiped a tear from his cheek, but he did not say anything else.
“Okay,” Elyse accepted over the lump in her throat. She’d pushed him too hard. She thought he’d be willing to listen to her, that hearing about those in need would be enough to spur him into action. That hearing of her own struggles would be enough to inspire.
Perhaps she wasn’t as inspiring as she thought.
Elyse stood, and Sera followed her toward the door. She caught one last glimpse of Zubir over her shoulder. He sat at the table, shoulders slumped and head bowed. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came.
They walked in silence to the gate, though Sera’s curiosity was palpable. Elyse knew she was wholly dying to learn Zubir’s secret, but she also knew Sera would never ask Elyse to break that trust. So without a word, Elyse slipped through the gate and made sure it was closed behind them.
She faced the forest ahead of her, dreading the seemingly endless path that snaked through the trees. In three hour’s time, they would be back on the dock and off to Sevhella. And they would have nothing to show for themselves.
27
Killian
Idon’t likethis one bit,” Mrs. Southwick announced. She stood in the main room of her house with her arms crossed and her lips pursed in a straight line.
Elyse and Sera had returned the day before, Zubir’s presence among them notably lacking. Elyse hadn’t said a word to the group about it. She’d only shook her head when they’d asked if he would be joining them. Her expression had spoken the frustration she wouldn’t voice—frustration not with the odd little hermit, but with herself for failing to recruit his help.
She still hadn’t told them why Zubir would be so helpful to them, though Manny had asked a dozen times. Killian was curious, of course, but he respected Elyse’s choice to protect her friend’s secret. It was time to move forward with their plans, though, even without Zubir.
Killian slung his travel sack over his shoulder and gave his mother a stern look. “I love you, and your dissonance is noted. But it doesn’t change anything.”
“It’s not so bad, Mrs. S,” Manny chimed in. He stood beside Sera, who sat atop a chest filled with books on demons. Next to her was another chest filled with weapons, and next to that was a third chest stuffed with potion ingredients. Each of them had packed another rucksack with whatever they might need for the next few weeks.
“I don’t like it,” Mrs. Southwick repeated, shaking her head.
“You’ll be back in Sevhella in five minutes, Mum,” Killian sighed.
“Yes, that’s the part that’s disconcerting,” she quipped back. “Across the continent and back in five minutes?” She muttered something under her breath that sounded like a prayer.
Killian bit his tongue and turned to assess the others. “Is this everything?” he asked, nodding toward their haul.
