I got to my feet to find that we were back in the stone room, in the middle of the circle of white couches. The other Abcurses were there, and then Steve appeared; even though it was hard to tell on her face, I thought she looked happy.
“You like serving Cyrus?” I asked her, a part of me curious about the Neutral who presumed to introduce accountability among the gods.
She nodded her head vigorously. “Oh yes, he is a fine master. He teaches me things.”
I exchanged a glance with Siret. He wore the sort of curious expression that had adrenaline stirring through my body. That look was not good news. I knew Siret well enough to know that. Which was also how I knew that he wouldn’t be telling me what it was. Not today anyway.
When we had been standing there for a few clicks, I finally asked, “Where the hell is Cyrus? I need him to break this god’s oath thing.”
Yael, who had been pacing back and forth by the fireplace, chuckled at this. “The moment we fulfilled the promise you made, it was dispelled.”
“Oh, okay then.” That was good, right? So why the hell did it feel like there was still something between us? Something unfinished. “Why are we waiting for him to return then?” I was suddenly in a real rush to get out of there.
I drifted agitatedly around, pausing as a popping sound echoed around the stone. I spoke too soon. Cyrus prowled across the room, his striking appearance seeming to make the cave shrink in size. He stopped right before Steve. “I’m glad you’re back, you have your usual space in the back room.”
She bowed low, her hands held out in front of her. “Thank you, Sacred One. Thank you.”
She then hurried off and Cyrus turned his gaze to me. “Your promise was fulfilled, although I did tell you to bring her to our previous meeting spot. Thank you, anyway, I have been trying for a long time to free her.”
His eyes flashed and I wondered if this was the ‘favour’ he owed Rau. It was more like blackmail.
“I can open the doorway for you,” he said, acting suddenly magnanimous. “Steve will be getting reacquainted with her things.”
The six of us stepped closer, and even though I told myself I didn’t care, somehow I was still asking him, “Why didn’t you go and get her yourself? If you’ve wanted Steve back for so long, I’m sure you could have done something about it before now.”
His face held no expression. “I had to make sure Rau saw me, that he couldn’t suspect me of taking her back. I don’t want to have to kill him—Staviti wouldn’t like it.”
I’d like it.
Siret and Yael both snorted in laughter, covering it up by immediately coughing. We were back to the mind reading thing again. It was perfect.
Cyrus did something a little different than Steve in sending us back to Minatsol. He led us through another room, one which I hadn’t seen before, and then down a hallway. At the end of the hall was a door. It was weird, sitting there in the middle of a stone wall, this dark brown wooden door.
“This door can take you wherever you want to go,” Cyrus said, his hand on the ornate bronze handle. “Just whisper it as you walk through, and you will end up in your destination.”
Yael and Rome were the first to approach—Rome because he was closest, and Yael because he wanted to be the first in most situations. I saw them peer at the script which I was now noticing carved into the bronze handle. It looked a lot like the script that had been on the wall in the banishment cave.
“I didn’t realise any of these doorways still existed.” Rome might have sounded casual to anyone who didn't really know him, but to those who did … he seemed suspicious. It was there in the undercurrent of guarded strength in his voice.
Cyrus didn’t even bother to answer, he simply pulled the handle down and let the door swing open. On the other side was a blank darkness, not like a room without lights, but like a sky without stars. I could sense the endless depths of it.
“What happens if you step in and say nothing?” I asked.
Cyrus shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I’m always very sure of exactly where I want to go.”
I managed to hold in a snort, but he must have heard something anyway, because he narrowed his pale eyes on me.
“I would think that the door would take you wherever it wanted,” he told me slowly. “Apparently it is linked to multiple universes, not just ours.”
And he lost me at multiple universes. I narrowed my eyes on his face, trying to decide if he was just messing with me or not. He met my look, one corner of his mouth twitching, and then he glanced away.
Rome must have decided it was okay because he moved to go first and I was shuffled into third position behind Yael. Rome murmured Blesswood Academy loud enough for us all to hear, and then stepped into the darkness. Yael followed right after and then it was my turn. My feet shuffled forward so slowly, my instincts telling me that this was not a good or safe way to travel. That anything could be in those endless depths.
I had no choice though, and I refused to look weak in front of the guys. They were already trying to leave me out of their missions.
With a deep breath, I closed my eyes, and said in a rushed whisper, “Blesswood Academy.”
I stepped forward, or kind of tilted forward and fell into the doorway. My eyes were still squeezed tightly shut, so I saw nothing until strong arms seemed to pluck me out of nowhere.
“Open your eyes, Willa-toy.” I recognised Yael’s voice. “You’re okay.”
My breath rushed out on a heavy exhalation; I must have been holding it without even realising that I was. As my eyes opened, I was assaulted by a floor of sunlight. It was the middle of the sun-cycle. Somehow, it felt like it should have been the middle of the night. It also felt like it was ten life-cycles ago that I had last been in Blesswood.
“How many sun-cycles do you think have passed since we went into Topia?” I asked Yael, who was closest to me. He’d unwound his arms from me, but our bodies were still side by side.
He flicked his head around, taking in the landscape. I could tell we were on the grounds, somewhere near the sacred temple, the top of the Staviti statue peeking up over in the distance. “Probably about eighteen rotations, give or take.”
Siret emerged from the middle of a tree, gracefully landing on bended knee, before straightening and flashing me his grin. “That was fun.”
I shuddered. Our ideas of fun were worlds apart.
Coen and Aros were the last through, and as they straightened and joined us, I had to ask, “Is Cyrus going to hunt you all down now that you know about his secret cave. I mean, he is very protective of that secret.”
I wasn’t sure they knew how protective he really was, but no one looked concerned—although, with the Abcurses, that could have meant anything.
“We reached an understanding about that,” Rome finally said. “There’s nothing to worry about.”