Revealed in Fire by K.F. Breene

Thirteen

“Home.”Romulus heaved a sigh of relief as we dragged our weary butts along the path and into gorgeous lands filled with real flowers, lush, green, natural trees, soft, springy grass, and dusky stone slabs. A sweet perfume filled the air, but it wasn’t magically generated like the perfumed air in most of the Realm. The scent was from the actual plant life around us.

“I just do not get it,” I murmured, veering off to the side and bending to touch a bush with waxy, deep green leaves. Romulus could probably tell me the exact shade of green, not that it would matter. I couldn’t be bothered to remember it.

I peeled a little of the magical construction away from the ground and found the exact same fertile earth. It was like someone had taken the real scenic elements and painted over them with magic.

Darius knelt down beside me, and Penny and Emery stepped off the path, Penny’s eyes on the ground, probably looking for rocks. She’d found a whole bunch so far, and Emery was now making her choose a select few from her bounty. The decisions were not quickly made.

“These paths need more benches along them,” Callie said, stopping on the path and not bothering to get out of anyone’s way. She looked ahead with longing. She was clearly happy to be done with the journey, or at least to have halted for a little while.

The fae pushed on, speeding up now that they were within sight of home, a natural preserve that reminded me of a greener version of Seattle, but without the clouds and rain. And cold.

The shifters followed, a couple of them in human form to carry packs, and the rest in animal form. We’d run into a few more kidnapping parties, a couple of them more robust than the first. Romulus had tried to talk the first two around, but by the time the third showed up, he just offered them a warning, very polite and lovely, and then gave the directive to kill them all.

That guy did not fuck around. I was on the right team. There was no question.

“How are these multiple worlds working?” I rubbed my head as I looked beneath the layer of magic around us, seeing down to the bones. I’d gotten good at doing that without affecting the magic too much. If I accidentally delved a little too deep, then the image would sag, sure, but that hardly ever happened anymore, and it wasn’t noticeable unless you were looking. Kinda. “These are all earth-type settings. This one is lush and fertile. There was the desert, those huge tracks of dirt that were probably fields at one time, and the hills with the scraggly bushes made into weird shapes. Like…is this an alternate universe? Or a parallel universe and the gateways are where the two universes kiss, or what? It’s bending my brain.”

“You read too much fiction,” Penny said.

“And you think rocks have personalities. You’re the last person I’ll be listening to. Because there is no way this world could fit into nooks and crannies in the Brink.”

“Not even with magic?” Emery asked.

“I mean…” I threw up my hands and stood. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“What I’d like to know is why they cover every inch with magic,” Penny said, then gasped in delight and bent behind a bush. She came back with a beaming smile and an ugly gray rock.

“They don’t. A lot of these trees and plants are actually real. But the ground is covered in magic. I think that is necessary to keep the integrity of the whole thing intact. Like…if you build a house without a foundation, it’s weak. But anchor it to a solid foundation, and the whole thing will be stronger.”

“It’s something you can take away from here,” Darius murmured, studying a pine tree.

“I’ll be taking a lot away from here.” I started after the others. “Including any gold nuggets I find lying around.”

“Why would this place have gold nuggets just lying around on the ground?” Penny asked as she followed.

“Who knows? Stranger things have happened.”

We made our way through a flowered wooden archway, to a flowered square packed with people welcoming the returning fae. The shifters stood removed in a cluster, most having changed to human and a couple, like Cole and Sour Face, staying in their animal forms. Which seemed a bit rude.

“Right.” I stopped before the crowd, the others stopping with me. We didn’t have anyone to greet, and I wasn’t in the mood to start a fight with the shifters, which might happen if I ventured too close. They were a very touchy bunch. “Now what? I assume we just wait around for Romulus and Charity to sort out their family drama with the First?”

“That would be the gist of it.” Emery nodded and glanced right. In the distance, behind a wall of trees, I could just make out some construction going on.

A woman stepped through the crowd, wearing a weird, long robe-like thing decorated with sequins and beads and stitching. Her wheat-colored hair was pulled up into a bun, and she didn’t smile as she approached. Given her smooth face and her stiff walk, she was more of an errand girl than anyone with experience or clout. Her arrogance wasn’t on par with someone like Romulus, and she wasn’t old enough for something like a council position, if these people had them.

“Welcome,” she said.

“Don’t bullshit a bullshitter,” I replied, because she wasn’t even trying to make that greeting hospitable.

Her deadpan stare said that she wanted a punch in the mouth. I refrained, of course. We were outnumbered.

“Follow me.” She led the way, heading in the direction Emery had glanced. Quaint bungalows overlooked a fragrant garden boasting benches and a fountain. It felt a little like overkill. Half of the area was still under construction, as I’d noticed, but the other half seemed fine and dandy for a little R&R.

“Oh good, a bench. Finally.” Callie hurried to sit down. Dizzy followed, tromping through the flowers. I smirked.

“These are nicer than the last ones,” Penny said as the woman stopped in front of the finished section.

“Yes,” the woman replied, turning away from them. And us. “It was thought…by some that the guest quarters should be a little roomier.”

“Why have guest quarters if you don’t actually want guests?” I asked, honestly confused. I mean, I had a spare room back home—three now—but they’d come with the house (or the unasked-for remodel).

“If you should need to order food, the order form is in there.” She lazily gestured to the side instead of turning. “If you need anything else, I believe the Third is your point of contact.”

“Dang it,” I murmured as she left. “If Charity held a grudge for that one time I killed her mark and then beat her up, this would be the perfect time for her to get even.”

“She’s not the type to hold a grudge,” Penny replied as the shifters approached, Charity and a strange dude in the lead.

“I would hold a grudge,” I said.

“That’s because you’re an asshole.”

“Touché.”

Charity’s gaze took in the construction and then the completed bungalows.

“After all that,” she said to the man, and I noticed Kairi was following close behind them, “you still put them way out here?”

“It was decided that this would be a good location for guests wanting a little privacy,” the man said.

Charity huffed, marching straight past Penny and up the couple of steps into the closest bungalow. Both Kairi and the warrior fae dude followed. I could hear their quick-fire exchange of words but not what they were actually saying. A moment later, Charity came back out, her face screwed up with anger.

“I will take this up with Grandmama,” she said, stopping in front of everyone. “Roger, forgive us. It seems we don’t have the capacity to house you as you housed us. Rest assured, I will take it up with the governing body immediately.”

“Don’t trouble yourself,” Roger replied, holding a folded-up garment, his backpack, and standing nude. He’d stayed in animal form in the rear for most of the journey, ready to be the first line of defense turned offense. The last two of the three groups foolish enough to approach us had been dispatched by him before everyone else caught on. “We’ll be fine here.”

“I just hope the beds are actually off the ground this time,” the surfer guy—Andy, I thought his name was—said miserably.

Charity nodded, gave Devon a poignant look, and then stalked away. Devon glanced at Roger.

“Go,” he urged.

Devon nodded and jogged after Charity. He’d be staying with her.

“Okay.” I looked at Roger. “Any rhyme or reason to where we stay?”

“We’ll be protected here,” Emery responded. “The elves won’t risk approaching these lands with the intent to do violence. They know Romulus plans to visit them, and bring us with him, so they’ll start planning for that.”

“Awesome. We’re giving them a head start and home advantage, all on a couple of Seers’say-so.” Even though I’d tried to ignore talk of what the Seers had said, I’d picked up on that much.

“Yup,” Roger murmured, which was surprising, given he didn’t usually voice things like that. But like everyone else, he didn’t seem inclined to do anything about it. Maybe he just didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t say I did either. So instead, I turned toward the first bungalow.

The one I chose had two bedrooms, a smallish kitchen without an oven, a menu that I would absolutely be ordering from—though, without a phone, I wasn’t sure how—and a table in the living room. I fell onto the couch, which was plush and comfortable.

“Better than a hotel room,” I said, wishing there was something to prop my feet up on. The coffee table would have to do. “Nearly as big as my first house. You know the one, Darius, before you came in and expanded it so much that people now feel comfortable camping out in my living room.”

Darius checked out the kitchen then disappeared through another door that presumably led to the bathroom. “Rudimentary,” he said.

Penny and Emery poked their heads in. “I guess we’ll be sharing,” Emery said. “There’s just one place with a solo living space, and the older dual-mages have claimed it. There isn’t enough room for everyone to have their own spot.”

“It’s not much smaller than that cottage in Ireland, remember?” I put my hands behind my head.

Penny stood in front of me for a moment and stared.

“What?” I asked.

“You don’t care that they were rude to you?”

“Who was? The welcome chick?” Penny continued to stare. I took that as a yes and shrugged. “A lot of people are rude to me. In fact, most people are rude to me. Have you met Moss? That guy still hasn’t warmed up. I’d be wary if she were too nice.”

“And this…” Penny held out her hands. “This is cool?”

I frowned at her. “What’s with you? You hangry?” I let a smile slowly drift up my cheeks. “Oh, I get it. You’re worried that, with a place this small, you won’t be able to help yourself from barging into my room at suspiciously inopportune moments.”

She rolled her eyes and headed to one of the bedrooms.

“I’m on to you, dirty girl. I’ve got your number,” I called after her.

“These are much nicer than the last…bungalows that were here,” Emery said, taking a chair from the table and placing it by the square window. He settled in and looked out.

“What happened to those?” I asked.

“Charity blew them up. I’d tell you the story of why, but I don’t want to ruin the surprise. We’ll just say the welcome chick was nothing compared to the others around here, and your patience is a lot shallower than the shifters’.”