Mitra grinned again. “There are so many things you have yet to uncover.”
She held out her arm.
Power built. He looked around but nothing happened. She kept looking at him. Asignificantlook.
“I must see to my hellhounds now. Much like you should see to your ravens. Of course, there are other tools I have at my fingertips.”
Before Sawyer could think to complain at her continued vagueness there was a popping sound and a giant flaming bird appeared on her outstretched arm.
“Holy fucking shit,” Sawyer gasped.
“Language, baby brother.”
“Is that a phoenix?”
She grinned. “You don’t think our realm is open to just anyone, do you? There is only one way to pass between realms for us. We must have a guide, who only serves us. No one else can use them. Without my guide, I would be trapped in a realm, unable to return to our home. I would be forced to expend all of my energy and power to maintain a form that would keep me from damaging the realm where I was trapped. That would be… catastrophic.”
Sawyer stared at the phoenix and back to his sister. Had she really just given him so much information? “That would be bad.”
“Yes,” she said.
“But luckily, you have your guide, so you can travel freely.” He tried to fill in the blanks between what she told him and what she didn’t.
“Precisely.”
“Do our other sisters have guides as well?”
“Of course.”
“Can Palinourous move freely between realms?”
“Not at present, no.”
Sawyer realized he couldn’t push much further from the look on her face. They weren’t supposed to tell him anything; he must have gotten a similar promise from them as he did from Cecil. But he’d never been able to tell his sisters what to do, just like he’d never been able to boss Nick around. No, they took their role as older siblings very seriously. And they weren’t going to let him fuck this up, even if they did have to step as close to the line of breaking the promise as they could.
“It was good to see you, sister.”
“And you, brother. Be safe.”
Another popping sound and both his sister and her guide vanished.
He had no clue how long he stood there, his mind racing. A simple caw pulled his focus. He looked up, and a gleaming black raven rested above his head on a thick branch. Sawyer held out his arm and waited.
The raven danced back and forth for a moment, testing him. Questioning his motives. But it flew down and landed on his arm.
“My sister has her hellhounds. They do good work for her. They are her champions. I have my ravens. Are you my champions? No. I don’t think that’s the right word for you. I don’t know what it is though.”
The raven danced along his arm, much like it had the branch above them. It leaned in and bumped its head against Sawyer’s cheek.
“I don’t know the answer yet, but I’ll figure it out soon. I promise.”
The raven cawed again before flying away.
“An animal to call and a guide. I have one. Where is the other?”
Sawyer hurried back to the yard, his mind moving at a thousand thoughts per second. Henry stood by the back door with his other mates. They’d all gathered anxiously, watching and waiting.
“Everything’s fine. Henry, I need your help.”
