Like where in my graphic novels did he pick up on that saying and decipher its meaning?
Asshole.
I open my eyes and sit up with a sigh.
All signs of worry are immediately gone from Imani’s expression as her vibrant green eyes narrow. “You leveled the entirebuilding. And we didn’t even get a barrier up first!”
“I didn’t do that,” I say, looking around like I’m seeing it for the first time and had no part in it. “Well… I think it’s lunchtime. I’m going to be on my way.”
“You’re not going anywhere!” she insists.
“Food?” Torin asks in English. He sure seems to know the terms he wants to know.
Imani isn’t distracted and is maybe even a little invigorated by our bullshitting. “Explain what the hell happened. You just like… disappeared,” she says. “And whatever you did, you closed the Door.”
“Door?” The word perks me up because it’s the very last thing I thought she’d say.
“There was an influx of magic that told us a Door had been opened between here and another realm… but there was something… wrong about it,” she explains. “Something we couldn’t decipher without seeing the Door ourselves.”
“When’s the last time a Door to another realm has been opened?” I ask. Doors between realms are seldom opened. Honestly, it’s rare for anyone to have the power to do so. So while weknowpeople can hop from realm to realm, we haven’t come across anyone who has. That doesn’t mean gods and other high-powered magical beings haven’t; it means that we don’t know about them.
She points at Torin. “Besides him? Three hundred years ago.”
I tell Torin what she said, even though he’s probably already figured everything out, and he explains to me what happened inside the building since he knows I wasn’t able to see it. I listen intently before telling Imani and the other members of the Magical Interference Unit who have gathered around us.The rest are trying to keep onlookers back since we’re uncertain whether the area is safe.
“So this man who was inside the building… do you know what happened to him?” Imani asks. “My guess is he’s the one who opened the Door.”
“She wants to know what happened to him,” I tell Torin in his tongue.
He shrugs. “Your guess is as good as mine. The world inside that building was fractured. If it was a Door that was opening, either it wasn’t fully complete or something was wrong with it. I… truly don’t know what it was, though I do know that you destroying the building seemed to get rid of the man. But you still seem to have the magic inside you.”
“I don’t want it,” I say as I reach out to Vinny and touch his arm. His magic doesn’t immediately cancel the other one out, and I hesitate. It’s like I still havethatmagicandVinny’s.
Imani seems to notice my expression.
“What’s wrong?”
I grab Vinny’s arm, wrapping my fingers around his wrist, and suddenly the foreign magic leaves. I can’t quite tell whether it left because of Vinny’s magic or for some other reason. “N-Nothing. Just took me a second to borrow Vinny’s magic. Odd. Well, I’ve brought you the god back. I destroyed this building for you. My job is done.”
Imani doesn’t look impressed. “You’re still in charge of the god and you weren’t supposed to destroy the building.”
“Was that in the fine print?”
“Yes.”
“I never read that shit.”
“Nah, you only read porn,” Vinny says with a grin.
I sigh and turn to head off, but Imani blocks me.
“If you think of anything else, let us know. And keep an eye on him.”
“Got two eyes on him,” I assure her. She just doesn’t know that it’s Kit’s eyes. With my connection to Kit, she knows where I want to look most of the time. The problem is when she gets bored of where I want to look… or takes a nap.
It’s quite apparent the Magical Interference Unit doesn’t know what to do with the strange god of war and love, and somehow, he’s become my problem. I fear they believe that I’m still powerful enough to deal with him on my own. Maybe I used to be that strong, but not anymore. Not now that my whole world falls apart when Kit merely looks away during a fight.
I walk up to the god and assess his bleeding, which is probably pretty concerning when you’re a god.
