“It’s not meant to be,” he replied.“It’s meant to be final.I should have acted sooner.But I was passive and let this go on for way too long.”
Rezer exhaled slowly, the breath more for show than relief.He didn’t have the luxury of relief.Not with the realization that he should have acted sooner, and not with the Chamber’s voice still riding the back of his skull like it owned the space.
Lisa stared at him for a beat, then lifted her chin.“So what’s the plan, General Doom?I mean, besides dismantling an entire realm, that can’t happen until my kids and friends are safe, fyi.But, in the meantime, what are we doing?”
His first instinct was to argue.His second was to lock the door, wrap her in every ounce of magic he possessed, and bury her so deep the Chamber couldn’t find her if it tore the realm apart.Neither instinct was useful.
“I won’t do anything that would cause your loved ones injury,” he said, voice low, and watched something in her shoulders loosen at the admission.“I’m not reckless.I tend to be calculated, in case you’ve not noticed.And we need to be calculating.This isn’t a walk in the park.The forest is ...not itself.And the Chamber, whatever is inside it, likes games.”
Lisa’s mouth tightened.“So do I.But mine usually involve Monopoly and wine.”
A humorless huff escaped him.“I’ll get you as many bottles of the best wine money can buy when all of this is said and done.”
He turned, pacing once, twice, forcing his mind into order.He’d been reacting all day, pushing, resisting, surviving.He needed something sharper than stubbornness now.He needed the thing the Chamber had been starving him of: his memories.
“I was getting pieces out there,” he said, nodding toward the mirror as if the forest sat directly behind it instead of across realms.“Not the dreams.Not the vague, creepy door nonsense.Actual fragments.The kind that comes with weight.With ...sensation.Like my magic recognized places my mind refused to.”
Lisa’s brow furrowed.“You mean the anchor.”
His gaze snapped to hers.“You heard me call it that.”
“I listen when you talk,” she said dryly.“It’s a skill I’ve developed from raising children and dealing with customers who swear rose quartz will fix their marriage.”
Something tightened in his chest, warm and sharp.Gods, she was steady.Even now.
“Yes,” he said.“The anchor.”
He moved closer again, not touching, but close enough that he knew she felt the seriousness radiating off him.
“That spot in the forest,” he continued.“Where the pull was strongest.Where the Chamber stopped being coy and started being ...direct.That’s where it let the most slip.I think it’s tied to why it knows me.Why it keeps trying to jog my memory but not give me the whole truth.”His jaw flexed.“If I go back there on purpose—if I push into it instead of stumbling through it—I might get the story in order.”
Lisa’s eyes narrowed.“Or it might use you.”
“It’s already trying,” he said flatly.“The difference is this time I walk in knowing it’s reaching for me.”
“And you think that’s safer?”she asked.
“No.”His mouth curved, sharp and unapologetic.“But again, I’m not reckless.I’m a tad more prepared now than I was when it first started invading my mind.”
She studied him, taking him in the way she always did—like she was reading between his ribs instead of his words.Then she nodded once, determination flashing across her clenched jaw.“Okay.Let’s go.”
Rezer stilled.“Lisa?—”
“Nope,” she cut in immediately, echoing her earlier tone.“Don’t give me that look.Youdon’t do reckless and that’s good, because I obviously don’t want any harm to come to anyone.But I’m a mom.Oakley is my son.Elora is my daughter.Cassie is her family.Syndra is ...basically the world’s most glamorous pain in my ass, but she’s still mine, too.”Her voice lowered.“And you’re standing here telling me there’s something in your world that has the audacity to call me collateral.”
He watched the heat spark in her eyes.
“I don’t do collateral,” she finished.“So you be not reckless and I’ll be the one bringing up the rear ready to go momma bear on some magical Chamber ass.”
The words landed in him like a vow.For a heartbeat, he almost—almost—wanted to kiss her again just to ground himself in the reality of her stubborn courage.
Instead, he nodded.“Fair enough.But, we do it smart.”
Lisa crossed her arms.“Define smart.”
He glanced at the mirror.It sat still now, reflective surface calm, pretending it hadn’t fought him like a living thing ten minutes ago.He didn’t trust it for a second, or trust he was able to control it.
“Smart means I don’t just drag you through,” he said.“The mirror doesn’t like being used today.The Chamber’s influence has it ...temperamental.”He lifted his hand, palm open, showing her the faint scorch-mark along the edge of his skin where the resistance had burned him.“It tried to keep me from reaching you.It will try to keep me from taking you back.”
