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‘I think we should tell them to stay here with her. Until the end.’ I whispered into Amon’s mind. When he didn’t immediately answer, I turned to look at him, and saw his hesitation.
‘We need The Lens. Do you think he will allow us to take it across The Veil without his supervision? He seemed to take the Sorcerer General’s order to oversee the use of The Lens very seriously.’
I wasn’t sure. We could ask him.
‘Do we need The Lens right now? We have it secure. Could we not just focus on finding the flute and the key, until he’s ready to come back?’
"What if we need The Lens to find the flute and the key?” He countered. I shrugged.
‘Then we come back and get him.’ I smirked, ‘It’s just a shadow walk away, and I’m an expert now. Didn’t you notice I shadow walked to Italy and back today?’
A suggestive smile curled on his lips, and his eyes darkened.
‘When it comes to you, Raven. There is not much I do not notice.’ I shivered as his velvet aura slid across mine, making my skin erupt in goose bumps.
‘Stop that,’ I snipped, but his grin just widened.
‘Alright. The Obeah Man can stay here to say his goodbyes. I owe him that much, after all he has done today to secure The Lens for us.’
‘Thank you.’ I said, as Meredith came back into the living room. She entered from the second door that led to the kitchen, holding a piping hot cup. It was sure to be full of something from her impressive garden.
My chest tightened at the thought of leaving Conrad behind and carrying on across The Veil without him. Since he had come into my life, there hadn’t been a day that I hadn’t seen him. I didn’t realize how much I had come to rely on his support.
I told myself that it was only temporary, and we would be back together soon. I tried not to dwell on the fact that when we were together again, it would mean that Patricia had passed on. Conrad, much like myself, would be in a state of mourning. I thought of all he had done to help me and resolved that when the time came. I would be there for him too.
We said our goodbyes to Patricia, Mr. Abbey, and Meredith. Conrad asked if we could step outside with him before we left. We followed him out the front door of the Abbey house in the early evening light.
“Mi nuh feel right, ‘bout stayin here. We have work tuh do still.” Conrad said, closing the door to the house behind us.
“It’s not forever.” I told him. “Trust me. You are going to want to spend whatever time you have left with her.” Despite myself, my eyes welled up with tears. “You can’t get that time back.” I finished, my voice cracking. Conrad nodded, his own eyes shining, letting me know that he understood.
“If yuh need mi, or Di Lens, yuh come right back an get me? Yuh hear?”
“We will,” Amon interjected smoothly. I glared at him but he shrugged. He didn’t seem too apologetic. Conrad eyed the Dark Prince, but finally gave him a lopsided grin.
“Good,” he responded. To my surprise, Amon reached out and grabbed Conrad’s shoulder. I realized this was the first time I had ever seen Amon touch him, and I remembered how Sofia had refused to shake my hand earlier. It made the fact that Conrad did not flinch or shrink away from Amon’s touch even more significant.
“I am indebted to you, Conrad Brown.” Amon said.
Understanding the weighty nature of debts with daemons and magick folk, the statement startled me. His words hung around us like a prayer, and Conrad observed Amon with a seriousness that I had never seen on his face before.
“Den I ask dat yuh repay dat debt by taking good care of mi friend.” He gestured to me. “If yuh let her get hurt hell an’ powda house a go let loose pon yuh.”
I glanced back and forth between them, the eye contact was… intense.
Amon nodded. “I have no intention of allowing Raven to get hurt.”
Conrad dipped his head before giving the daemon his signature two finger salute. He turned to go back into the house.
“Make sure yuh nuh di one doin di hurting, neitha.” He called over his shoulder, before the door slammed shut.
28
We shadow walked back to the Court of Pride, and Amon dropped me off at my door, as was becoming our nightly ritual. It was relatively early to be going to bed, but I had lost track of how many hours straight we had been awake, after shadow walking from Toronto to Italy and back again. I collapsed into bed, before immediately drifting off to sleep. Thankfully, I had a nightmare free night.
Amon woke me up with a gentle knock on my door frame the following day. I peeked at him from under the covers, before stretching and sitting up in bed.
“Good morning,” he greeted me. I noticed he was holding another mug of coffee, which I assumed was for me. I reached out towards him, allowing my hands to make a ‘give me’ motion. He chuckled and slid off the door frame and came to sit on the edge of my bed, handing me the mug.
