“You wouldn’t be—” Florian started, taken aback, but Kade was already gone. His footsteps echoed down the stairway, loud at first, then quickly becoming distant. He stared at the door a moment, uncertain what that had been about.
Kade was out for a while—longer than it would have taken to just explain the situation to August. Florian couldn’t begrudge him his space, though it made him feel even more worried as he canceled their flights, then tried to keep himself occupied as they waited for Kade to return.
“So what’s the wolf kingdom like?” Koji finally asked, his tone nervous with a forced casual tone. Florian let out a single humorless laugh.
“Cold and snowy,” he replied, then sighed, thinking the question over more carefully. “It feels very... cozy, to be honest. A little village in a snowy valley. It’s a small clan, smaller than the Winter Court even, and everyone is very close. Everyone basically knows everyone.”
“Sounds nice,” Koji answered. His soft smile took on a faraway look. “I can’t imagine. Even if we weren’t so sequestered up in the palace, I couldn’t imagine ever knowing every single person in the dragon kingdom. I didn’t realize the wolf kingdom was so much smaller.”
Florian was quiet for a long moment; he hadn’t been to the kraken kingdom, of course, but he suspected the dragon kingdom was the largest of the four societies that remained in the Veil. The Winter Court was larger than the wolf kingdom, but not by much, and the dragon kingdom had been exponentially more populated. He couldn’t imagine the kraken kingdom being any bigger, but maybe he would be pleasantly surprised… Maybe.
“It was nice,” Florian finally replied, remembering their time together in the wolf kingdom. It had been fraught in some ways, but in others, it had been very peaceful. He had been able to meet Kade’s family and see what he was like with the people he loved—that alone had made the journey worth it, he thought. “Kade’s family is... They’re interesting. They’re nice. It’s different from the Winter Court, but I liked it. It’s too bad we’re going back under such, well, difficult circumstances.”
Koji’s smile faded to a more somber look. “That is unfortunate.”
Steps started coming up the stairs to the apartment before Florian had to come up with a reply—he looked toward the door, but it was only August, who looked at them with a pained expression.
“Kade told me you’re leaving tomorrow,” he sighed. “I’m surprised he’s not back here.”
“I thought he might still be with you,” Florian said, now feeling worried, but August only shrugged.
“He said he was going for a walk,” he replied. “Just thought he’d be back by now. But I wouldn’t worry too much about him. Not like he can get much alone time here in the apartment.”
“That’s true,” Florian agreed faintly. He knew Kade processed things best alone, when he could think things through without needing to talk. Still, part of him longed to be with Kade, even if he wasn’t sure how exactly he would—or could—comfort the other man.
For a long moment, all three of them were silent. Then August sighed, scrubbing a hand through his hair.
“Well, c’mon,” he said. “Let’s get a load of laundry started so everyone has clean clothes to pack. And we’ll order whatever takeout Kade likes best for dinner.”
Florian managed a small smile at that and nodded. “Yeah, okay. That sounds good.”
Laundry, packing, then finally picking up dinner kept him occupied; by the time he and Koji returned to the apartment carrying bags of warm food from a local barbecue place, Kade had arrived too. He hugged Florian tightly before they sat down to eat, but otherwise was as quiet as usual, though he seemed much less focused.
They went to bed early, their belongings packed and ready to go first thing in the morning. Kade’s arms were tight around him as they lay in bed; but Florian barely slept, and he could tell Kade didn’t either.
Chapter Sixteen
“Ready?”
Florian, Kade, and Koji had just stepped through the curtain into the Veil, standing in the middle of the dark ocean outside the Winter Court, but it felt disingenuous to stop by the castle only to immediately leave again. So Florian held out both his hands, the other two grasped them, and before his vision could adjust to the dim twilight, he closed his eyes and focused on the wolf kingdom.
With a lurching sensation, it suddenly grew cold around them, and Florian found himself stumbling where they now stood in snow. Opening his eyes, he could see they were in the woods outside the village—further from it than he’d hoped. But the wolf kingdom wasn’t huge, so it wouldn’t be a terribly long walk.
“Let’s go,” Kade sighed, stepping ahead of them. Florian took a few steps after him, then glanced back at Koji. The dragon shifter was looking around with wide eyes, first at the surrounding forest, then down at the snow. He let out a small laugh, kicking the snow underfoot, before noticing Florian watching him.
“I’ve never seen snow before,” he laughed breathlessly, and Florian grinned back at him.
They followed Kade, not quite catching up with his long stride. Florian half-expected Kade’s brother Bowen to find them in the woods the way he had before; but neither the white wolf nor Bowen’s gangly form appeared. Soon they reached the edge of the woods, finally catching up to Kade as he stood and looked down at the village that was now visible in the valley below. He glanced up at Kade, but his face was carefully blank.
A low wolf howl sounded from down in the valley, making Florian look back down, startled. He couldn’t see any wolves, or any activity in the village—maybe that was a bad sign, he realized as his heart sank.
“Come on,” Kade sighed, giving no indication as to his thoughts, and he started to tramp down the snowy hillside. After a moment, Florian followed, with Koji close behind. They reached the trail leading into the village before Florian spotted anyone: a wolf he didn’t recognize, but which looked carefully at the three of them from a few yards down the path, before finally turning and loping away toward the biggest home far in the distance where Florian knew Kade’s family lived.
A few more people were out and about as they walked through the main pathway, who all seemed to look curiously at Koji for just a moment, before their eyes went back to Kade, following him until they were out of sight. What were they thinking when they looked at the three of them? Florian couldn’t read their faces well enough to tell if they were looking at Kade with pity or something else.
“Kade!”
From one of the homes ahead of them, Yuka was stumbling through the snow toward them. They hadn’t been gone more than maybe two months, Florian thought, but already the boy seemed taller than he had been when they left. He smiled as he approached, but it faltered as he looked up at Kade.
