“One step forward.” She cranes her neck to smile at me, but it’s tight around the edges. “This is progress, Ciprian.”
Before I can decide how to respond, something sharp tugs behind my navel then squeezes me like a damn lemon. It’s for the best that I didn’t get a chance to open my mouth because as we stumble out of the spell, my stomach threatens to hit the eject button.
Luca isn’t as lucky. He makes it to a trash can and hurls, then drops to his ass and cradles his head between his knees.
I look away and press my hand to my rolling stomach. If he throws up again, I won’t be able to hold back. “I hate object-tethered travel,” I groan. “A warning would’ve been nice.”
“We were seconds away from being discovered,” Riven snaps, bracing his hand on the back of a sleek, modern couch as he fights his own nausea. “And I had no way of knowing you knew what it was.”
“I used to fuck—” I clear my throat. “I mean, I used to be friends with a witch in school. She loved to spell random shit in my dorm so I would get yanked around with no warning.”
“Smooth.” Celine rolls her eyes and massages her forehead. “I don’t care who you’ve slept with before me, Ciprian. It’s not like you’re the only ones I’ve been with.”
Luca wraps his arms around the trash can. “No more,” he begs. “My basilisk is doing backflips. It wants all these poor fucks dead. Please say they were bad in bed so we can move on.”
“Childish,” Riven mutters.
“They weren’t bad in bed,” Celine says, a faint grin curling her lips. “But you’re better.”
“Object-tethered transportation is expensive.” Alistair narrows his eyes at Riven. “Did you force the young witch to create an escape hatch for you?”
“Of the many things you and I will never discuss, Hyacinth Belladonna is at the top of the list.”
Celine’s head snaps up. “Did she make it out okay? The veydra who led me to the two-toed monster wore her face. I didn’t think to verify her identity until it was almost too late.”
“You can’t forget again,” Riven says. “This realm is crawling with my kind. S’lach must have approached the entire guild to orchestrate this. They wouldn’t risk interference from the mainland for anything less than a fortune.”
Celine purses her lips. “Unfortunately, I was a little distracted while fighting for my fucking life. I won’t make the same mistake again.”
Riven’s face flickers, lines running across the bridge of his nose. “Hyacinth will be fine. We’ve prepared for similar scenarios and put many safeguards in place.”
I glance around, curious about where he brought us.
A shiny black wall runs the length of the living room, which is long, angular, and bare. There’s not a single soft thing in sight. Even the couch looks like it would be hell on the tailbone. Mom would love it.
I feel a pang at the thought of her. She’ll be worried by now, unless Sheena didn’t tell her, and so soon after Dad’s death... Shit, they’ll all be freaking out.
Alistair’s eyes search my face, and I step closer to the wall to avoid him. I don’t want him reading me. I’ll tolerate him for Celine and Luca’s sakes, but he isn’t safe for me. Letting him close isn’t an option.
The wall is oddly deep. Like it could devour me, destroying not only my body but all memory of me too.Fucking stupid,Ciprian. It’s only a wall.To prove to myself I’m being a paranoid weirdo, I press my palm to the gleaming ebony stone.
It flickers, then the black vanishes like I imagined it. I gasp and back away slowly. I’m no longer staring at a stone wall but through glass instead. And the view! Right off a cliff’s edge and overlooking an endless wasteland. We’re far above the ice-capped forest. Gods, I think I can see the entire monster realm from here.
“How the hell?” I face Riven.
“Years of effort,” he says drily. “And lots of magical assistance.”
“We’re inside the mountain?” Celine joins me beside the wall.
“Yes.”
“Can anyone see in?” She won’t look at Riven, but her brown eyes are wide.
He shakes his head. “Magical camouflage,” he says. “If they looked, they’d only see the rock face.”
“Creepy,” Luca mutters from the floor, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Yeah, well, some of us don’t have parents with the courage to do what yours did,” Riven says bitterly. “I’ll give you a tour.”
