What he said sank in, throwing water over me. “Then you can make a portal?” The world stopped. If he could open a portal, I might be able to get to my mom.
I could bring her back.
“With help and the necessary elements.”
I gazed up at him. Mom’s words echoed.
When you meet a sage, you sit beside them and you listen.
My unschooled education had taught me the one essential thing: Knowledge isn’t something you acquire, it’s an adventureof self-exploration. If I could get over myself, I could learn from him.
“Then let’s get out of here.” I clambered up, using the wall to steady me. I glanced up the flight of stairs and wondered if Harold was back in his office. I reached the landing and started up the next flight, happy that the nausea had passed.
“Where are you going?” Ranth called up.
“Upstairs, obviously.”
“I mean after that.”
“To find Harold.”
“Not a good idea. At least, not right now.”
“Why the foxgloves, not?”
“Because the Eharnin who did this is more powerful than either of us.”
I stopped and leaned over the banister. “The what?”
“Eharnin. A wizard who has a pact with a demon. Usually it’s a group, but occasionally a single wizard will get enough power and knowledge. I assume that is what Harold is.”
“It’s clear you have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. There’s only a glimmer of a chance that a wizard could call a demon, but I can assure you there are no wizards in San Francisco strong enough to make pacts with them.”
But that was only true if Harold was human—and that was still to be proven. If he could create portals, it did make him closer to demon than human—or a type of unknown wizard like Ranth.
“There is more to the world than San Francisco,” Ranth replied.
He was right, but that didn’t give me a better answer. Either Harold was what Ranth said he was—or something else. Harold had done what we’d asked him to—so Rose had been right about him. I swung off the last landing and onto the last set of stairs. Something was taped to the door at the top.
You owe me one Essifer fore-bone.
Deliver by next Friday.
Harold.
“What’s an Essifer fore-bone?” I asked, pulling off the paper. Sandals slapped up the stairs behind me. I turned to look at Ranth, and he ripped the note out of my hand.
“Hopefully, something you don’t ever need to know about.”
I snatched the note back. “I’ll make that decision.”
He crossed his arms and studied me. “Essifer can extend a protrusion from their abdomen that can spear their prey. It’s expandable and weaponizes the beast if the jaw attack isn’t enough to kill, which it should be. The only way you could get one would be to kill an Essifer, and that’s not happening.”
“Didn’t you say they were hunting you? It should be easy to get one.”
“That’s exactly the thing. Now, thanks to your friend Harold, I can die and so can you. We’re not getting anywhere near an Essifer.”
“You’re suggesting I shouldn’t keep my end of the bargain?”
