My friend’s heavy footsteps became light as she transformed back into her sorceress form. “I didn’t pick up anything for miles— not so much as a scent.”
“So we’re still safe,” I stated.
“For now,” Kallie agreed as we started back toward our camp. “But we’re going to have to get moving soon, Charlie.”
“Why?” I asked. “If the Warden was able to find us, he would have by now.”
“That’s only because we have strong wards keeping him from tracking us,” Kallie said. “But we can’t survive out here without resources. Eventually, someone is going to notice us. We can’t keep going into town.”
Our first night here, we’d portaled to the nearest town to steal food. Ava was feeling reckless and wanted to shoplift, and Marcus was too chicken to stay in the woods by himself. Kallie and I were both strong illusionists, and our illusions were enough to give us shelter and clothing, but illusion food had no substance, and we’d starve without real food.
My illusions were getting better. The clothes I created were solid, and they’d stay that way forever, unlike Kallie’s illusions that vanished when she got too far away from them. I’d even learned how to apply color to my illusions, which was significant progress. But any food I tried to create had no nutrition. It really fucking sucked, because I was all too familiar with the ache of hunger, and it seemed like the one thing I couldn’t provide my family with at will.
My days of thieving and conning had come in handy, because at least if I couldn’t conjure real food, I could steal it.
And maybe that was the problem. I’d grown up fighting for scraps, and my relationship with food was far from the best. I never once believed that food could be permanent, and so it was impossible to create it.
I knew how to get resources one way or another, but unlike before, I was no longer starving. I could take whatever I wanted, and not a damn soul on this earth was going to prevent me from doing that.
I’d never had so much fun stealing things than when I did it with my friends. I used to be scared that I’d get caught, but now, I was unstoppable. Ava didn’t care one way or another if we stoleshit or not, and I had to admit, her encouraging me to misbehave only made me want to commit more crimes. The Institute hadn’t changed that part of me at all. If anything, it’d only made me a better thief, and my wife was more than willing to be my partner in crime.
Up ahead, I heard a door shut, then the sound of my wife’s wheelchair on a ramp as she came out of the cabin. Our camp was nestled in a tiny clearing, just big enough for a cottage, a campfire, and a picnic table. Kallie had created a nice little cabin with her illusion magic that we’d been staying in, and it was spacious and comfortable. We had a roof over our heads, and really, that was all I could ask for.
“How’s the temperature?” Ava asked in the distance. She must be approaching the campfire, where Marcus was brewing our potion.
“It could be hotter,” Marcus replied. “I need the potion at a rolling boil.”
“Here, let me help,” Ava offered.
I heard the crackle of a fire, then the snap of bubbles.
“Perfect,” Marcus said, though his voice sounded strained.
“Are you hungry?” Ava asked, sounding concerned. “We have a few extra rations.”
“No,” Marcus answered, almost too quickly. “Save it for the others. Charlie and Kallie will be hungry when they get back.”
“You haven’t eaten all day,” Ava pressed. “There’s enough for?—”
“IsaidI’m not hungry!” Marcus snapped.
“All right,” Ava huffed, and I knew she had to be rolling her eyes. I heard the rustle of a bag, then a gasp.
A twinge of agony rippled up my back, and I knew instantly it had come through our bond. The pain ebbed slightly, but Ava had failed to hide it from me. She was powering through andusing her healing magic to help with the pain of dealing with her spinal injury, but it wasn’t always enough.
Kallie grabbed my arm, and I stopped in my tracks. She pulled me behind a big tree and lowered her voice. “Charlie, they’re getting worse. We need to make a decision.”
“You’re talking about leaving,” I stated flatly.
“We have to dosomething,” Kallie pressed.
It felt like an impossible ask. I’d never felt safer than I did in this forest, shielded from the world by these trees and encompassed by my element. Here, my wife had a warm bed to sleep in every night, and my Familiar could roam free. The last thing I wanted to do was leave. No one would bother us here. Everything would stay perfect.
“Charlie,” Kallie prodded when I didn’t say anything. “We can’t keep hanging around. Marcus is on the edge of losing it because he doesn’t have his antidepressants. If he’s not brewing that potion, he’s in bed, and it’s only getting worse. Ava’s off her bipolar meds, not to mention she’s out of painkillers. That’s dangerous for both of them, because Ava quitting her lithium and Marcus stopping his SSRI’s abruptly could really hurt them. Ava’s healing magic is only enough to prevent the worst side effects, but if she doesn’t get back on something soon, she’ll start having withdrawals or she’ll go completely manic, not to mention Marcus is already showing signs of a depression relapse. None of us want him to get suicidal again. We need to go find some medication for both of them. And if you and Ava want to keep getting it on like you do, you’re going to need a new dose of birth control.”
I groaned. “Okay, fuck. I don’t need a lecture on safe sex.”
“Youdoneed it if it’s going to get you to move,” Kallie insisted. “I know you were on birth control at the Institute, and that it was specially brewed using magic. I know where we can get our hands on more.”
