CHAPTER FOUR
Gwen booted up her game, intending to play a few levels before she decided if it was pointless waiting for Robin to return, or if she should go find Larry’s and see if Karma’s invitation had been in earnest.
She could go have a few drinks at a walking-distance bar in a good neighborhood without dishonoring her ancestors (no matter what her mother thought). She might even meet someone cute and get a midnight countdown kiss.
But thinking about kisses only made her remember Robin talking earnestly about Henrik and the connection that Trey had forged with his key. Could she actually have something like that? A knight she completed entirely, as a conduit to his magic and to his heart? She wanted that so much more than a drunken New Year’s peck that it made her chest tight.
A partner.
True love.
It was more unbelievable than magic and foul-mouthed fables, and it woke hope and yearning inside of her.
She’d never thought of herself as desperate for a magical happy ever after, but now that it had been offered to her, andshe’d been dumb enough to deny it, she could think of nothing she wanted more.
She was wishing so hard for a sudden portal that she didn’t believe her eyes at first when it opened just to the side of the screen and Robin flew through. The rip in space snapped and glowed, and then quickly flickered closed behind them.
“Tinker Bell!”
Robin didn’t have even shreds of humor left. They blazed with fiery purpose. “It’s now. I don’t have all the answers, but I have all that I’m going to have for now, and it’s begun and if you want me to beg, I will, but you’re our only hope at this point. Please, will you come?”
They knelt on the surface of her desk, hands out with palms up. They looked even smaller than they had the last time. Gwen recalled what they’d said about their size and use of magic, and realized in chagrin that they had probably used up a lot of valuable energy in fetching her when she could have gone earlier at less cost.
Robin was facing a final battle that might end the world…and had chosen to use some of their precious resources to gether.
Gwen got to her feet.
“Let me be clear,” she said. “You want me to go through a portal with you that I might not be able to come back from, to fight an enemy that wants to end our world, with the vague probability that Henrik will be my true love, if we ever even find him, and I’m supposed to just leave my whole life for an equal chance that this will kill me.”
Robin flew close to her face and put a hand at each cheekbone in an otherworldly intimate gesture. “That’s exactly what I’m asking.” Gwen felt a little shiver of anticipation and magic.
This was her chance.
And it was herchoice.
Maybe she was a Chosen One. Maybe this was destiny. Maybe she really could be the hero of her story.
But she had tochooseit.
Sight unseen, with nothing but faith to prod her forward, it was the most terrifying decision Gwen had ever faced.
“We don’t have to talk about the Swedish fish, or trapping you under my trash can, do we? I’m sure you have a reputation to maintain.” Gwen knew that was the least of her concerns.
“They will never be mentioned again,” Robin promised.
“I’m bringing my sword,” she said as bravely as she could manage.
Robin, so close to her face that they were out of focus, smiled in relief and knocked their forehead against hers. “I hoped that you would.”
Then the fable turned and opened a portal large enough for both of them, looking out into a dim-lit warehouse where a battle was already badly engaged. Was that a green dragon fighting an army of shadows? A dog was barking, someone wassinging, and a shelf was collapsing with a crash of breaking glass. It was now, or never, and Gwen thought belatedly that she should have packed at least an overnight bag. She scrambled up onto her desk to yank her sword off of its hanger and then dove after Robin through a sparkling ring of space and time that led to destiny.
PAPER HEARTS
1
TREY
As far as Trey could tell, the human world had overburdened their calendar with holidays. Every few weeks, there was a new celebration that required honoring.
