Page 102 of In Your Light

Cern gave a nod. “Then get it done.” He turned to the crowd. “Ciaran, come, please. And bring your human.”

Sawyer frowned at Cern. “Okay, wow,” he said as he and Ciaran came over. “That was rude. I said I was sorry to you, twice. How long are you gonna hold it against me?”

“For a very long time,” Cern answered. “All things going well.”

“Cern,” Ciaran said, bowing his head. “What can I do for you?”

“You’re going with Hadeom and Fyn.”

Ciaran blinked in surprise but gave a nod. “Of course.”

“No mining company is touching my mountain,” Cern said.

“Good,” Sawyer said. “I mean, I know you’ve been busy finding Salem’s mother, which is great, by the way, but the mountain folk are scared shitless⁠—”

“Sawyer,” Ciaran hissed.

Cern threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, how I do like you, Douglas Sawyer.”

Sawyer grimaced. “Sorry. Again.”

“Now tell me, boy,” Cern said to him. “What do you pray for?”

Sawyer blinked. “I don’t pray.”

Cern raised one unimpressed eyebrow. “You pray. You sit on that very dock behind us and you pray.”

“No, I wish. I send wishes out to the universe.”

Cern sighed and turned to Hadeom. “See what I have to deal with? Take him—before the universe changes its mind.”

Fyn was confused, Ciaran was alarmed, and Sawyer was annoyed.

He narrowed his gaze at Cern. “What’s that supposed to mean⁠—”

But then the air sucked in, and Fyn’s ears popped but not before he heard Cern laugh as he turned to the crowd. “We have a party to plan!”

FYN

Fyn’s body pulled apart and imploded. The pain was excruciating. His true form pushed outward, and he roared with the force of it. He sucked back a breath to find himself in a strange room.

Hadeom was beside him, quickly sliding his hand to Fyn’s jaw. “Sorry,” he whispered. “I know it hurts.”

Ciaran shimmered. His limbs were tentacles before they morphed into human form, and he groaned out a hiss before shaking it off. “What the fuck?”

Sawyer dropped to his knees with a pained groan.

Ciaran went to him and placed his hand on his shoulder. “Sawyer!”

“I feel sick,” Sawyer mumbled, his hand pressed to his abdomen. “What the fuck was that?” He looked up at Hadeom and Fyn, then around the room. “Where the fuck are we?” He looked at the huge glass wall. “Is that... Hobart?”

“Yes,” Hadeom said. “This is where I lived.”

Fyn looked around. The room was massive and filled with furniture the likes of nothing he’d ever seen before. But outside, there was a city on the other side of the glass.

Fyn rushed over to see more. “A city! Buildings and cars! Look at the boats and the people! There are so many people. They look so tiny!” Then Fyn’s head and feet felt like they weren’t connected. “Oh, why are we so high up?” He had to take a step back and hold onto the couch. “I don’t like it.”

“It’s the penthouse,” Hadeom said, coming to stand beside him. His smile was gentle. “I will show you the world, whenever you want.”