Connection - Part Nine
This episode is part of a larger story, Soft Touch. If you haven’t yet, you can go back and read it from the beginning right here.
I shakily sit up and lean against Aiden. Savoring the warmth of him, happy to be holding him. Thinking of nothing beyond that.
Then what he said finally sinks in, and my shoulders sink with a huge breath of relief.
I press clumsy, grateful kisses onto his jawline, then bury my face into his chest. He holds me tightly, stroking a hand through my hair. We take a second to just cling to each other before he kisses my temple and lets me go.
I watch with adoring eyes as he stumbles around to the other motionless bodies all over our living room. Returning small portions of energy to each of them, one by one.
Noah draws in a shuddering breath as his grey eyes flutter open. He drags himself over to Raj and Mel, then hurls himself into their arms, landing directly on top of them. The three of them collapse into a group snuggle of relief. Aiden brushes a hand over Ripley, who stirs, then snaps upright on the rug, his green curls standing up in wild disorder.
“Did we make it?” he stammers, dragging his sleeve over his eyes.
Ralph – who somehow managed to stay awake that whole time – nods at Ripley in confirmation. Aiden stops beside him, and he holds up a hand to accept the energy he’s being offered, his face breaking into a broad, admiring grin.
“Holy shit, A. That was – holy shit.” He lets Aiden pull him upright, still getting his breath back. “Nice work. Any other nasty surprises flying our way?”
“I don’t think so. Restoring a spell is one thing, but this time he’d have to redo it from scratch, and that would cost him a lot of power. Which he has a lot less of now. We’ve got all the magic from his last spell right here.” Aiden’s eyes light up with frosty blue as he spills a little energy into Ralph. “I’m giving you some of it right now.”
“I feel it.” Ralph takes his hand back, straightens out his blonde hair, then tries and fails to scowl at Aiden when he immediately messes it right back up again. “Shit, man. I’m glad Calla was down the coast with her dad during this. Would’ve hated for her to see me laid out on the floor for the full length of a battle.”
“Yeah, can we maybe try that fight again?” Noah asks, with a cringing glance at Raj and Mel. “Maybe this time I could make a sick entrance on a custom V-Rod, tear through the swarm, burn ‘em with fire from my wheels? Something like that?”
“You both helped, even from the floor,” Aiden answers firmly, then lifts his eyes to the rest of the team. “All of you did. Thank you. I’m really sorry we had to drag you into this.”
Ripley lets out an exhausted laugh, leaning back against the wall. “Come on, dude. If you and Jamie were in it, we were already in it, too.”
“I’m just glad you called,” Raj says sleepily.
Aiden gazes around at us with affectionate eyes. We’re collectively the perfect picture of deeply-felt fatigue, but there’s a broad grin on every face here.
Noah uses the couch to pull himself to his feet, then leans over it to look at Noelle. “She’s fine, right? Aiden?”
“Yeah, I just saved her and Gage for last.” Aiden points a stern finger at all of us. “No Sorcerer talk once I wake these two up, okay? Don’t forget, Noah.”
Noah stops rubbing his sleepy eyes and lifts them indignantly to Aiden. “Fuck you mean, don’t forget Noah, why are you singling me out?”
“Because I know you, and you forget things when you’re tired.”
“I won’t forget!”
“Okay, but wait a second, just to clarify,” Raj hastily cuts in, “Is it over? Are we safe?”
Aiden listens for a silent moment, then nods. Everyone slumps back in relief.
“We really fucking did it!” Ripley laughs, beaming with triumph.
A ragged cheer goes up from our ragged group. Aiden shakes his head at us, but he can’t help grinning, too.
“Man, that Sorcerer came for us and we threw him back,” Ralph snickers, as Aiden leans down to gently restore Tycho. She wakes up with a confused little start, then immediately starts wagging her tail when she hears Ralph laughing. “Feels good. Really does.”
“Yay, Aiden!” I manage faintly, drawing an exhausted huff of laughter from him.
“Add magic battles to my event management resume.” Melanie giggles when Aiden turns his indignant, warning eyes on her. “Post it to my website, have my staff share it around-”
“Mellie, I swear to god-”
“It would give me an edge on my competitors. Just in time for the autumn wedding season, too.”
“Oh, well, in that case,” Aiden sighs wearily, pressing his palms over his eyes.
“Hey, look!” I point across the living room, smiling at the nice surprise I just spotted there. “That’s a good sign, right?”
Luna just cautiously nosed her way around the couch, followed shortly by the orc. Officially out from wherever they’ve been hiding. The orc quickly springs up onto one of my plant shelves, watching Tycho with wary eyes. Luna stops to sniff Ripley’s face, then goes over to Tycho and delicately begins grooming her snout.
“Jamie?” comes a very faint voice from nowhere. “Are we good? I think I feel Aiden offering me some energy.”
“Hi – yes, sorry! You can take a form again.”
Kasey and Will shimmer lightly into being beside me, wide-eyed with disbelief.
“Did you see all that?” I laugh weakly, pointing at Aiden. “D’you see what he did?”
“It was amazing, Aiden!” Kasey eagerly clasps her hands together, then throws some violent air punches. “Doesn’t it make you want to fight a Sorcerer too, Will?”
“No, by God, and that it puts such thoughts in your head vexes me, love.” Will is smiling, despite what he’s saying. “Are you mortals unhurt?”
“It’s Will and Kasey,” I explain, realizing the others are watching me. “Will is asking if we’re okay.”
“Oh, sure, dude, we’re fine!” Noah assures him. “Check this out.”
He begins dancing around by the couch, all but twerking for a 19th century ghost. Will raises his eyebrows, his green eyes sparkling.
“Famous,” he approves, breaking into a wide grin. “And oddly reassuring.”
“Noah, can you be serious for five seconds?” Ralph catches Noah’s eyes with a menacing frown in his own. “Dark forces unknown just tried to storm Aiden and Jamie’s house.”
Noah grabs a fistful of the front of his jeans and pretends his hand is tugging him forward by it, thrusting his hips and hopping towards Ralph. “What about this strikes you as unserious?”
“Why does he look good even when he’s doing something as stupid as that?” Raj asks, watching him with adoring eyes.
“No one should be able to,” Melanie giggles. “And yet.”
Ralph gives Noah a withering look, his voice dropping to a growl. “We need to take a second and talk through our next moves, so cut that shit out and-”
Ralph stops, then lets out a sudden sputter of laughter as Ripley gets up and joins in the dance, following Noah like they’re in a very incorrect, two-man conga line.
“I give up,” Ralph sighs, sinking back against the couch as they go hopping past him. “I really do.”
Aiden shakes his head affectionately as he turns back to Gage and Noelle, the only ones without any energy restored to them.
“Alright, everyone stop thrusting around the living room. I’m gonna wake these two up.”
“We should move them before you do it,” Noah realizes, stopping on the other side of the couch. “They’re gonna wonder why they’re – like that.”
Noelle is laid out flat on top of Gage, whose long arms are still wrapped around her, holding her close to him. Her fingertips are spread on his chest, her head fallen to nestle under his chin. They’ve naturally fallen into the closest, most tangled-up position possible, one that would be impossible to explain.
Noah gently lifts Noelle, and Aiden pulls Gage out from beneath her. Raj and I hurry over to help. Together we get Gage into the armchair, and Noah puts his sister back where she’ll remember falling asleep, on the couch. At the last second we remember to take Gage’s worn old jacket off of him, so he won’t wonder why he fell asleep with it on.
“Poor Gage,” Noah sighs regretfully. “Knocked out by the world’s largest man.”
“Don’t make it sound like I punched him!” Aiden protests indignantly. He winces down at Gage, his blue eyes full of guilt. “Obviously I didn’t want to put him through that! You think I feel good about it? Knocking out some innocent, unsuspecting string bean with a sweet face?”
Noah lets out a ragged laugh. “He’d think it was so funny, if he heard you call him innocent.”
I rest a hand on Aiden’s back. “It’s okay. Let’s just get them back up.”
Aiden gently rests a hand on Noelle’s arm, gives her back some energy, then turns to the armchair and does the same to Gage.
Noelle’s eyelids twitch, her dark lashes fluttering. She rolls onto her side, breathes out a soft, drowsy exhale as she slowly wakes up.
Gage stirs in the armchair. His head is still hanging, but his chest begins to rise and fall with a few deeper breaths. He drags a hand over his eyes, which start to drowsily blink open – then suddenly snaps upright, staring around the room with wild fear written all over his face.
He freezes when his gaze falls on Noelle, who just sat up on her elbow on the couch. She drowsily knuckles her eye, looks at him in sleepy confusion, and smiles.
Gage lets out a sharp, shuddering exhale.
He’s on his feet in an instant. He rushes to the couch and sweeps her up into a tight hug. Noelle goes perfectly still, her eyes growing wide with surprise. But even startled as she is, she gently hugs him back.
“Noelle,” he gasps, overcome with relief. “Holy sh-shit… are y-you alright?”
“What?” She draws back to stare up at him with baffled, affectionate eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine. Why, what do you mean?”
Gage opens his mouth to answer, then startles himself by coming up empty.
“I – I don’t know,” he says, bewildered, realizing it out loud. He gives his head a slow shake, looking at Noelle with very wide, anxious eyes. “I thought you were in trouble, or – hurt, or something… you – you sure you’re okay, Bug?”
“Yeah, I just came over because I needed a break from – from the hotel,” she explains, pushing her tousled hair out of her face. “I wanted to lay down for a second, but I must have fallen asleep…”
She trails off, noticing that Gage is still holding her. He seems to realize at the same time. He hurriedly lets her go, then rests his elbows on his knees and drags a hand down his face, taking a deep breath.
“Sorry, I don’t…” He stops, looks helplessly at Noah. “What happened here?”
“Dark sorcerer,” Noah answers tiredly, then gives a bewildered jolt when Aiden kicks him.
“Is that something we smoked?” Gage asks unsteadily.
“No, I think we were just taking a group nap, like after we went surfing.” Noelle tilts her head to the side, watching Gage’s face closely in the soft orange light of the living room. “Maybe you had a nightmare?”
“Yeah,” he answers, pushing a trembling hand through his hair. “Guess that must be it.”
Noelle stays silent for a moment. She just stares at Gage, taken aback.
No one here has ever seen him so badly shaken, so far away from his usual ever-present calm. Even Noelle must be included in that number. She’s looking at him with rounded grey eyes, her dark eyebrows drawn down in concern.
She hesitates, then rests a hand on his back. “Are you okay?”
“Mhm.” He lifts his head from his hands, finally managing to take a deep breath. “Just – thought something happened to you.”
Noelle stares at him for another moment, her eyes warm with sudden tenderness. She turns to me, leaving her hand on his back, her voice growing much quieter.
“Maybe – do you have some tea or coffee for him, Jamie?”
“Sure, of course! One second, Gage.”
I bracingly grasp his arm as I go past, and Gage waves a hand at me, breathing easier.
“Really, I’m fine.” He blushes a little, calm enough now to be abashed. “God, here I am making this whole big deal about a nightmare. It’s like I’m five.”
“No, it’s – it’s okay,” Noelle answers softly, searching his face with her eyes.
By the time I return from the kitchen Gage seems okay, if a little pale. Plans are being made around him, and he’s listening.
“Just come crash at my house, Ripley,” Ralph is saying. “Between the two of us I think we’ve got enough energy to order a pizza.”
Ripley gives him an exhausted thumbs-up, and Noah turns to Noelle.
“Why don’t you come to our house for tonight, Noey?” he offers, around a deep yawn. “If you want a break from the creaky hotel.”
“You’re definitely welcome,” Mel adds.
Noelle was still looking at Gage. She turns to Noah after a few seconds have passed, belatedly realizing that he said something.
“What? Oh. That’s sweet, but isn’t Gage already in your guest room? I can just go stay at mom’s house, anyways.”
“No, I can take the couch,” Gage hastily jumps in. “Prefer it, even.”
“Well… I have been wanting some more time with Nikita,” Noelle says thoughtfully, earning an instant smile from all members of Nikita’s household. “Okay, yeah. Let me just text Logan and tell him what’s going on. He’s probably worried about me. I took off kind of suddenly…”
She pauses, having slipped her phone out of her pocket to discover only one notification. Looks like a text from one of her friends in France. Nothing from Logan.
Noelle gazes down at her phone, surprised and hurt. It barely shows on her face long enough to be noticeable, though. I think I’m the only one who caught it.
She quickly stuffs her phone back into her pocket, then glances up as I go past to hand Gage the mug of tea I made him. A sip from it brings some color back to his cheeks, making it all the more noticeable how pale he was before.
“Are you sure you don’t want a bed?” Noelle asks gently. “You look like you could use some good sleep.”
“Really, I’m fine.” Gage meets her eyes and smiles with his own, finally speaking with his usual calm again. He’s starting to look more abashed than anything. He runs an embarrassed hand through his hair as he goes on. “Don’t know how I let myself get so shaken up by a nightmare. The power of dreams, huh? Suppose good or bad they give a man a lot to think about.”
Noelle smiles affectionately, then pauses as her gaze falls to Gage’s fingers. They still have a slight tremble to them, and he’s holding the mug very tightly.
“I…” Noelle turns to Noah, a tone of finality coming into her voice. “I think I will come stay with you tonight.”
Gage closes his eyes in relief, his tensed-up jaw visibly relaxing. Something tells me he’d rather not let Noelle out of his sight for a while.
Noah brightens instantly, too. “Cool, yeah! Sounds great."
I turned towards the kitchen, waving a hand at Noah as he starts to get up from the armchair. “Take a second to wake up before you drive anywhere. I’ll go make some coffee.”
Raj lets out an appreciative sigh at the thought of that, and Aiden comes around the couch to follow me into the kitchen. Noelle stretches her arms over her head, looking around with bright grey eyes. They blink in surprise when she sees the time on Noah’s phone, which he left on the coffee table.
“Wow, it hasn’t even been that long since I came over here,” she tells Gage. “Weird, I already feel so much better.”
“Yeah?” Gage smiles warmly at her. “I can tell. You look like it.”
She does, and that seems to reassure him more than anything else so far. He relaxes back against the couch, restored enough to make Noelle laugh before I even slip out of the room.
The kitchen is a welcome sight. The saucepan – which was mostly hiding under the sink during all this – ventures out with obvious relief, hopping around to make sure everything is in order. There’s the smashed popcorn bowl still on the ground, which I look at sadly.
“It’s too bad. I actually really did like that bowl.”
Aiden drowsily waves a hand at it, a sparkle of frosty blue flashing across his eyes. I take a startled step back as the pieces of the bowl draw themselves together, melting into liquid glass.
“No way!” I sputter in amazement, then let out a laugh when the pieces solidify into a new shape. “Oh, a – vase?”
“Shit.” Aiden looks down at his hands, his brow furrowed in confusion. “Swore I asked for a bowl. Sorry, I’m so tired. Hang on, let me try again-”
“No!” I laugh, hastily scooping the vase up off of the floor. “Don’t spend more energy, you dummy! Besides, it’s the color of the glass that I liked, so this still works.” I lean up and kiss his stubbled jaw. “I’ll make a nice bouquet for it. Once we’re not all dying.”
“Sounds good,” he laughs sleepily, folding his arms on the counter, watching me get a pot of coffee going.
I’m so tired that I don’t even remember leaning against him. After a few minutes I just suddenly realize that I’m resting in his arms, breathing slowly against his chest. Silence has fallen over the kitchen, aside from the quiet gurgle of the coffee maker.
“Aw, man,” I mumble, in a voice hoarse from shouting. “You won a whole magic fight, and we’re all… too tired to celebrate…” I trail off, some thought nagging at me, then groan out loud once I grasp what it is. “Oh, no! So much for your restoring birthday of relaxation! There’s all that energy spent!”
A huff of deep, soft laughter answers that.
“Jamie, I don’t know if I would have had enough energy to win that without the restoring birthday of relaxation. Believe me, it served its purpose and then some.”
I rub my eyes, letting out an incredulous laugh. “I like how I can prepare you for a big fight by snuggling you and fooling around with you nonstop the night before.”
“Anyone who goes into battle wants someone like that,” Aiden laughs softly, then kisses my neck. “You do your part admirably, Linden.”
I glow with quiet happiness in his arms, heavy beneath all this love. He smiles with his lips against me, hearing it in my note.
“Whoa,” he breathes softly, his fingers tightening their hold on me. “Where’d that just come from? Sounds so nice…”
“Forget it,” I stammer, overcome by the fire blazing in my chest.
“Okay…”
He seems content just to listen to it, and lapses into silence. It’s only when I’ve recovered somewhat that he does, too.
“Poor Gage,” he murmurs suddenly, his deep voice all full of guilt. “Only reason I could pull that off at the end was because of the mix of his and Noelle’s energy. It’s hard to explain, but it was a super good combination, powerful. And what does Gage get in thanks? No idea that we won directly due to his help, confused into thinking a nightmare scared him that badly… Right in front of Noelle, too. I know I had no other choice, but still. I feel bad.”
“I know, Sugar Maple. Although… I wonder…”
I don’t know. I mean, I do feel sorry for Gage. He went through a bewildering ordeal, then got left with the feelings and not the memories. He actually recovered remarkably fast, considering, but he was deeply shaken. Even barely knowing him, even without Noelle’s reaction, I know that must be a rare occurrence. At all times, the man is a fountain of amiable, relaxed, unfailing calm.
He was not tonight. Not after seeing Noelle laying there pale and unmoving. Something frightening and confusing happened to him, too, but I don’t think he gave a damn about that. It was insignificant to him beside the prospect of Noelle being in trouble. That much was undeniably obvious.
If the Hollins brothers do have something in common, it’s that they each have something about themselves they’re trying to keep hidden from Noelle. We’ve been waiting hopefully for Logan to slip up in front of her and reveal the truth about himself.
But it was actually Gage who slipped up in front of Noelle first. A flash of his true feelings escaped, and she noticed. Maybe she’s not sure what to make of it, but she noticed.
Poor Gage, who could blame him? Under those circumstances? He was so upset that he hardly knew what he was doing. It’s our fault, not his, which is why I feel just as bad as Aiden. But…
“I wonder if it’s a good thing,” I murmur, my eyes too heavy to keep open. “That it happened.”
“A good thing?”
“Yeah, maybe even a Guardian thing. One of those ones you do by accident.”
Aiden huffs out a bewildered laugh. “I’d love to hear the logic behind that.”
“Another time.” I rest my cheek against his chest again. “When I have more energy. And once we’ve seen if I’m right.”
Aiden nuzzles his nose into my hair. “Whatever you say.”
“Wow, giving up that easily?”
“Trust you,” he says tiredly. “Love you.”
He opens his eyes after a moment, sees the expression in my adoring eyes, and blushes a little.
“You know what they say,” he adds, more casually. “Lift hard, love hard.”
This is so much not something I’ve ever heard anyone say that I genuinely don’t even know what he means at first. I stare up at him, baffled, then let out a gasp of incredulous laughter.
“Oh, wow.” I widen my eyes at him in amazement. “Oh, you dumb jock. Oh, Jesus Christ. I can’t believe I’m in love with you.”
“Perfectly normal thing to say,” Aiden answers solemnly.
“Nope! No, it absolutely isn’t. You are never allowed to complain about me calling you a gym bro ever again, Callahan, not when you say things like that!”
“Noted,” he laughs, opening up the kitchen cabinets.
I glance over my shoulder at him as we gather up coffee supplies, the kettle, and a bunch of mugs. Grateful for our quiet, easy harmony.
I have to fight down a laugh when we step back into the living room together. Despite all the talk of leaving, everyone has comfortably settled in.
No one wants to go home just yet. We have our win, but it was hard, and scary. The team wants to be together.
The couch and the armchairs are full. Most of the rug, too. Noah has turned on my Xbox and is already engaged in a heated debate with Ripley about whether to load up Guilty Gear or Tekken, a discussion Will is listening to with great interest. Ralph is on the phone ordering the pizza, which I guess is coming here instead. Melanie has fallen back asleep in Raj’s arms.
Noelle is sitting with Gage by the windows, having a quiet conversation with him. They’re the only ones who don’t immediately descend on the coffee, so I make a cup for Noelle and bring it over for her.
Gage notices me coming, but his distracted gaze tracks me vaguely, only for a brief second. He’s intent on filling his eyes up with Noelle, the sight of her unhurt and smiling at him. He looks a little more comforted and reassured with every word she speaks.
I join them in the middle of their conversation.
“-matters right now, but since you asked…” Noelle’s smile falls, a faint crease appearing between her brows. A sigh of frustration escapes her. “I’m not getting nearly as much work done on it as I hoped. Don’t know why I’m so stuck on this stupid proposal… I keep looking at the drawings I’ve done for it and feeling like there’s nothing that makes them special.”
“Sure you don’t want to go with your original idea?” Gage asks tentatively. “You sounded excited about that one in your letters.”
“Maybe.” Noelle accepts the coffee and gives me an appreciative nod, all without noticing she’s doing it. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
She nibbles her lip, lost in her scattered thoughts for a moment. Gage waits patiently, twisting the stud in his ear until Noelle suddenly draws herself back into the present. A fond smile turns up her lips as she looks at him.
“That’s my favorite sweatshirt you have, Gage.” She nods at his light blue sweatshirt, threadbare from frequent use, stamped with a faded Lost Coast Brewery logo. “I really like that color on you. It reminds me of one of my paints.”
Gage blinks fast, caught by surprise. “Oh – yeah?”
“Mhm. Thrush Egg Blue.”
“Oh.”
Noelle’s eyes twinkle with warm affection. “I always think of this sweatshirt when I use that one.”
Gage doesn’t know what to answer. He sits there silently for a second, glancing away and blushing, then abruptly gets to his feet.
“Think I’m gonna have a cigarette. There someplace around here I should go for that, Jamie?”
“Yeah, definitely.” I push the windows back open, then beckon to him. “I’ll show you.”
I take him out into the garden, where he leans back against the wall and quickly rolls himself a cigarette. It’s only once he’s lit it and had a few distracted puffs on it that he notices our surroundings.
“Wow,” he says, blinking hard. “This is – damn. It’s so nice out here.”
I beam with silent pride beside him, turning my face out to my beloved garden. The wind has died down, leaving gentle heaps of honey-gold leaves scattered around. A veil of fine mist hangs in the air, the kind that makes it hard to tell whether or not there’s rain falling. It makes everything fuzzy in the soft moonlight.
It’s cold enough that our breaths turn to fog. There’s a damp, chilly bite to the air that makes me think a long spell of rain is coming.
Gage seems to appreciate the cold. He lifts his face to the sky, inhaling deeply, closing his eyes.
“I’m so sorry, Gage,” I blurt out, before I can stop myself.
He drops his gaze to me in confusion. “No, are you?”
“Yes.”
“You’re often apologizing for reasons lost on me, Jamie Keane. What are you sorry for this time?”
“Just – that you – had such a strange experience your first time at our house.”
“Oh. Well, I like your house, and especially your garden. I’m just, uh-” He rubs his eyes, giving me a baffled shrug. “I must have been way more tired than I realized, ‘cause I don’t even remember deciding to take a nap in your armchair.”
“Yeah,” I answer anxiously, then trail off, hesitating.
Oh, god. I’m struggling for a way to explain but not explain, lie but not actually lie. It’s a tall order even when I’m not this spent. I know I’m about to burst into a rush of pure gibberish before it even starts.
“Well, you definitely walked in at – at a moment, which we actually appreciated, because it was very helpful of you, but I’m sorry it happened, and we’re all sorry, but thank you. I mean, everything is all good! And our house is usually much more normal, most of the time, or at least sometimes, and you’re always welcome here, so don’t let this put you off. I’d understand if it did, but it’s all fine, I promise. Do you know what I’m saying?”
“I’m – not sure,” Gage answers, staring at me in bewilderment. “You said a whole lot. I actually might be more confused now than I was before.”
I let out a tired laugh, then a helpless groan. “It’s my fault, I’m sorry. I’m bad at explaining, especially right now.”
“Seriously, did we smoke some really strong weed? Is that what happened?”
“No, I just meant I’m really tired, and my thoughts are kind of scrambled – but we certainly can smoke something really strong.” I gesture at the house over my shoulder. “Ralph has like half the strains from the Cannabis Cup available.”
Gage breathes out a laugh, shaking his head. “I’ll take that under advisement. But don’t you mind, I’m all good. Don’t know why you’re apologizing to me for my own nightmares. Seems like an odd thing to do, but then again I don’t know too many florists.”
“What-?” I let out a startled laugh. “No, it’s not a florist thing!”
“No? Can’t be a science teacher thing. I’ve met other science teachers, and they don’t do that.”
“I’m just – sorry you had such a bad scare,” I finish, wincing apologetically. “That’s what I was trying to say. I know how much you care about Noelle, so…”
I trail off, because Gage just darted a fleeting, searching glance at me. He quickly turns his face away again, lifting his cigarette to his mouth.
“Well, who – who wouldn’t?” he says, trying to laugh. He gives me a sidelong smile, puffing on his cigarette. “I mean. You’ve met her, right?”
I nod at him, slowly twisting the heist ring around my finger, then add anxiously – “You are okay, though, aren’t you?”
“Oh, yeah. I know everything is fine, it just took my body a minute to get the message.” He tilts his head to the side, puzzled. “Which is strange, because normally my body is very receptive to all kinds of messages.”
I let out a choke of laughter, then break into a wide grin. Gage’s voice is restored to its usual steady, contemplative tone, which makes him sound like some young leading light in his field, having an intellectual discussion with other philosophers. But then he says things like that.
He seems recovered, back to himself. The flutters of guilt and worry in my chest finally begin to ease up. I relax back against the wall beside him, grateful and reassured.
“So, Lost Coast Brewery?” I ask, with a nod at his sweatshirt. “Were you in California?”
“Yeah, came over to the States after my dad-imposed exile,” he says breezily, pushing his windblown hair out of his eyes. “Wanted to get away, find something new. Spent a couple years in New Orleans, then a few in California.” He tugs on his sweatshirt, a little smile quirking up his lips. “Truth is that a cute Cali boy forgot this at my place, and I’m not one for turning down what’s free.”
I smile at Gage with growing fondness. “So what brought you back to France?”
He breathes out a slow stream of smoke from his nose, gazing out at the mist-veiled garden. “Just kept missing… home.”
“When did you go back?”
Gage thinks about it, trying to remember. “Around the start of last spring.”
Last spring… isn’t that when Noelle said they got back in touch? Which means they reconnected as soon as Gage moved back to France. Now that I think about it, who found who, and how? After all that time had gone by? I just realized that I don’t know.
Aiden leans out of the house, calling out to us in his slow, deep voice.
“I come with an urgent message of the pizza is almost here.”
“Oh, yes,” Gage sighs happily, stubbing out his cigarette. “You coming, Jamie Keane?”
“Yep! In a minute.”
Gage slips inside, weaving around Ralph, who just followed Aiden out into the garden. Both of them come over to join me, Tycho ranging around their heels.
“Look, I’m glad we pulled through,” Ralph says quietly, glancing between me and Aiden, “But what happens now? Clearly Nyx knows where to find you. Are you safe here?”
“I don’t think he knows about our house, specifically.” Aiden glances out at the moonlit trees beyond the garden walls, his blue eyes reflecting back the starlight. “He probably tracked me by my energy, which means it doesn’t matter where we go.”
“Great,” Ralph sighs, rubbing his temples as the ghosts come through the wall to join us.
“He just spent a lot of magic, though, and he can’t regenerate it like I can,” Aiden points out. “He has to get it from somewhere. That’s why he had Violet stealing pieces of power for him.”
I hold up my hand to pause the conversation. “Hang on, Kasey says… Daisy sensed the shift of power in the forest and knew something was brewing, that’s why she summoned the ghosts to warn us. She said she has more to tell us, too, whenever Kasey or Will can come back.”
“You can’t go back there right now,” Aiden answers tiredly, slipping the glasses onto his face and taking an appraising look at the ghosts. “Yeah, neither of you are bright enough to leave town at the moment. I’m looking right through you. Wait until I’m back to full power.”
Will nods in agreement. “Later, then.”
“Soon,” Ralph says firmly, once I repeat that. “You might want to ask Daisy if she can tell how much power Nyx has left after tonight. Because you know, after you put a big defeat on the enemy, and they fall back…” He looks to Aiden. “You might want to consider advancing.”
We all look at Aiden, who takes some time to consider that.
“I don’t know yet,” he murmurs, after a long moment. He pushes a hand through his tumbled chestnut hair, closing his eyes. “I want to sleep before I think about it. But my instinct is that we should handle all the other illusions first. Save Nyx for last.”
Ralph nods, once. “Alright.”
“Alright?” Aiden’s eyes flutter open. He blinks hard at Ralph, thrown off. “Wow, that’s it? You’re really not gonna insist on doing your plan?”
“By now I know better than to ignore your instincts.” Ralph slaps Aiden’s arm, turning back towards the house. “Besides, this is magical warfare. That’s your wheelhouse, not mine. I doubt that all the traditional principles apply. If anything I’m still learning the rules-”
He cuts himself off sharply as Gage leans out of the house, then lifts his eyebrows when he sees the rusty-red cat dangling from Gage’s arms.
“Hey, if you guys want some pizza, you better hurry, because Noah-” Gage breaks off in mild surprise, puzzled by the gasp that Aiden and I just let out. “Everything okay?”
“We just – haven’t picked up that cat before,” I explain, staring with delight at the orc’s contented face. “We weren’t sure how he would feel about it. He’s new around here.”
“Guess he likes it,” Aiden laughs. “Here, let me try?”
Gage obligingly hands over the orc, who settles into Aiden’s arms just as comfortably, then begins purring so hard that he startles everyone. It’s a ridiculously loud sound, to the point we all let out a laugh.
I don’t know why, but seeing him snuggled up peacefully against Aiden’s chest really drives home the realization that the Sorcerer has been thrown back. I join the others in grinning down at his blissful face.
“He’s drooling,” Ralph snickers.
“So am I.” Gage starts back towards the house, being careful not to step on my flowers. “Let’s get some pizza, right? Before Raj loses his grip and Noah gets free and smashes his face into the pizza like he was threatening to do.”
“What-?” Aiden sighs deeply. “For what reason?”
Gage shrugs his shoulders. “Think he’s just excited.”
We all set off immediately towards the house, fully aware that Noah’s threats are real. Aiden draws me to the back of the group, keeping the orc tucked in one arm.
“Are you okay?” he murmurs, smoothing a hand over my hair. “After – all that?”
“Mhm, I am.” I give him a sleepy smile, so he can see that I mean it. “Excited to eat and then crash into bed.”
A flash of relief reveals itself in his blue eyes. “I was worried maybe you would have trouble getting to sleep in the house, after what happened.”
“No,” I answer honestly. “Not with you here.”
He blinks a few times, then quickly glances away. Not quite before I catch the expression on his face, though.
Smiling to myself, I follow him back into the golden light of the kitchen. I pause in the doorway to gaze out at the night sky, the second night since the attack started. A whole day and night came and went with us fending off those things, but – we did it. And Aiden’s instincts are telling him that we’re safe now.
With a surprisingly steady hand, I close the door against the cold, and turn to follow my Heliomancer into the warmth.
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