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“Run, Nora!”
The aether flickered into view, colors smearing across the forest as magic showed itself, and I let out a sob of relief. Derrick’s tattoos were ablaze with green and gold, runes pumping strength and speed into his body as he rolled through the dirt. The wolf was an amber shade beneath its grey fur, and I immediately recognized him.
Of course, it would be Mark.
My palm itched and burned where the runestone fought against me, and the aether dimmed.
No, no, no! I couldn’t lose it, not now. Not yet.
Gripping my wrist, I shouted something unintelligible and fought to concentrate on the aether.
Mark snapped at Derrick, his canines gnashing inches from Derrick’s ear. The two rolled again. Claws dug across Derrick’s side, and he exhaled in pain.
I groped for a rune, any rune, but my mind was a horrible blank. My specialty was encouraging the mind, rejuvenation runes and clarity runes. None of which were great for combat.
Derrick grabbed a rock and smashed it against the wolf’s head. “Nora! Get out of here!”
Another figure burst from the trees, this one tall and slender. I recognized his boar-headed cane an instant before moonlight shone on Levi Cordova’s face. Torn as I was between the aether and the world, I almost redirected my focus. If Levi was here on behalf of the Leslies, Derrick would be outnumbered.
The historian lifted his cane and swung it into Mark’s side.
The wolf yelped but didn’t retreat. He snarled and lurched at Derrick’s neck, but Levi’s cane was there again, and Mark’s jaws clamped down on wooden shaft, splintering it in a single bite.
Levi met my gaze. “Now is the time, wizard.”
Blinking, I returned to the aether and sketched the first rune I could think of with one shaking hand. Magic rippled and danced, pulling toward where my finger drew the rune in the air with brilliant orange light. A straight line down, three slashes angled from the top, three slashes on the opposite side of the line, angled upward, but either by instinct or the shakiness of my hand, one of the lines went askew.
Agony spiked into my elbow as the runestone fought against me. My arm heated like it was metal in a forge. A heartbeat later I realized I could see my bones glowing through my skin and thought maybe I really was on fire. Pain radiated up my arm, deep into my shoulder and I gasped, staggering to my knees.
With a final stroke, I completed the rune for heightened awareness. Darkness pulsed at the edges of my vision, but I targeted Mark’s newest head injury. I focused on where the rock had gashed through his skin and released the rune.
It went soaring toward Mark, but I could not see it land. I was thrust out of the aether, and magic snapped out of view. The forest spun and it was everything I could do to keep from falling over, but I heard a telltale yip of pain and the struggle abruptly ceased. My eyelids were heavier with each dizzy blink, but I saw Derrick shove Mark’s wolf form off his body, saw him wince as Levi helped him to his feet.
The two exchanged a wary look.
“I have set out a series of living memories,” Levi said. “Most of the wolves are chasing false images of you.”
“Why?” Derrick asked.
A howl echoed from somewhere at our right.
“I can answer that when we’re safe,” Levi said.
Derrick seemed to agree because he moved toward me. I hadn’t realized I was on my knees. I couldn’t remember kneeling. He grasped my elbows and hauled me to my feet. Pain radiated through my arm in waves, spiking up my shoulder, toward my neck, and I cradled it against my chest. It was a struggle to keep my feet bumping along the uneven ground as we turned for the lake. My toe crashed into a rock, and I wobbled into Derrick.
With a grunt, he hooked one arm under my knees and hoisted me up. My head bobbed, too weighty for my neck to hold anymore and I rested it on Derrick’s shoulder, heedless of any injury he might be suffering. Levi kept pace beside us, his broken cane in one hand and for several dizzy seconds I wondered how he found us and why he was there.
And then I didn’t care because I’d been running for so long that nothing seemed to matter anymore.
We made a stumbling progression to the lakeshore and splashed into the water. And then we were plunging in, submerged. Cold water soaked my dress, snaked over my scalp, and I thought maybe the skin on my arm sent up a hiss of steam, but that might have been my imagination. Everything was a dazed swirl.
My already uncooperative body did not like the resistance of water, but Derrick held firm as we passed through the Middling with its eerie blue depths. Violin song hummed high and sweet, leading the way to Fairy, and I let it guide me, focused on moving forward. This time I could see many doors through the silty water, some shining golden as the sun, some verdant green: a million possibilities waiting to be explored.
I almost turned off, veering for a rainbow-colored portal that seemed to emanate laughter, but Derrick tugged once, pulling me back to the watery path. And then we slid out of the Middling, taking a jolting step into the saferoom. We made wet footprints across the floor as Derrick led me to the cot. I sat on it, too tired to care about my soaking clothes.
“Not that I’m not grateful,” Derrick said, all his focus turning to Levi, “But what the hell?”
“CEB interrogation tactics seem to have changed since I was a constable,” Levi said. He sat at the table and inspected the broken shaft of his cane with a frown.
