I shrug. “Not sure.”
“You’re risking the future you came from warning me.”
“It’s not a future worth going back to without you in it.”
“Dessin!” Uncle Niles calls from a few yards away. “They’re boarding the ships!”
My dad looks back at me and doesn’t move.
“Go,” I urge.
A web of complex emotions flickers behind his dark eyes.
“Go. You need to get back to the Red Oaks and drink that tea!”
“I don’t want to leave you.”
“There’s not another ship you can catch.” I smile, stepping away. “If everything goes well, you’ll meet my brother and me as babies in a year.”
He nods, pained at the thought of me walking away.
“I love you, Dad,” I say.
“I love you too, kid. I can’t wait to be your dad.”
70. The Meat Carnival
Niklaus
Sapphire has been a grumpy, stubborn, mischievous little asshole since the day she was born.
Smiles were a rare sighting.
I can confidently say, she has never radiated so much childlike joy. At least not that I have ever seen from her.
We travel to a broad range of time in Vexamen—attempting to arrive at a moment as close to the time we abandoned my dad as possible. And Sapphire is the definition of optimism. I smile, nodding and observing her babbling on about how once we rescue my dad, we’ll return home and get to see her dad wake up.
“Bad man no let Miss Sapphire go home.”
We hide behind a boulder as a tropical storm rolls in, blasting the brittle, black trees, and kicking up dust. Dellilian sits behind us, viewing the storm uneasily.
“Not Mister Niklaus neither,” she adds.
I look down at the timid creature with a fondness Sapphire might not expect from me. This animal comforted me in my cage on the most agonizing nights of my life. Some days, she was the reason I didn’t try and off myself.
“Vrath won’t let us go home?” I ask.
I haven’t thought about him in ages.
Dellilian bows her head.
“He’s not going to stop us. Did you see what Miss Sapphire did to the Bloods?” I smirk, massaging Spitfire’s freckled shoulder.
But Dellilian is grim and pouting.
“Dellilian sent by lady that has prophecy too,” she explains.
I tilt my head. No, I guess we haven’t figured out who sent Dellilian yet, have we?
