ANGUS’S SKIN was tight and new, and his stomach was too choppy, like an ocean that shouldn’t be crossed. He regretted eating both breakfast and the flatbread he’d eaten after the cutting to ground himself.
He ran his finger over his sleeve and felt the ridges of scar tissue. Each mark was a different color—some green, some brown, some orange, and Wek’s bright blue. The patterns were bold on his skin.
“Are you sure you feel all right?” Saka brushed his fingers but didn’t grab hold.
“Yes.” Mostly. He glanced at Saka. The pale mark on his chest was clearly visible.
Angus had wiped most of the blood away, and his shirt was unstained. Yet as they approached the house Saka was living in, Terrance stood. His gaze flicked between them and locked onto Angus’s sigil on Saka. Then his gaze shifted to Angus. His shirt hid them all, But Terrance knew. Angus was sure of it. Terrance nodded, his face grim. It would only get grimmer when they went back across.
“That’s it? We’re going?” Terrance asked.
Angus tried to smile, but he failed. He didn’t want to go. Once he stepped through the doorway, he’d be handing his life over to chance.
Saka grasped his hand. “You could stay another night.”
Angus shook his head. He could, but then he’d never leave. “You told me in the desert that it was best to keep moving in case one day of rest becomes two and two becomes giving up and death.”
“That is true.” But Saka didn’t let go, and Angus didn’t release him either.
“The last time I was here, all I wanted to do is leave. Now I want to stay and pretend the other side doesn’t exist.” Terrance put a hand on Saka’s shoulder. “I’ll bring him back. I swear.”
“I hope that is a promise you can keep.” Saka released Angus’s hand. “You had best go. The mages and I will continue to close up all doorways in preparation.”
If they weren’t successful, then when Terrance opened the void, they would end up in the wrong place and he’d have no help when he needed it most. Could he do it without the mages? Maybe, but he didn’t want to try. Nerves fluttered in his belly like winged hunters after prey. “You’ll be ready?”
“Five days.” They had agreed that should be long enough. If it stretched to ten, the mages were to assume Angus was dead. Much longer than that and the ice would be set, and no amount of rebalancing would fix it. The humans would have to wait for nature to take its course. Demonside would be nothing but a barren desert.
The leaves were falling in the jungle, and the trees were withering. Death was on the air.
Together they walked to the doorway, and Angus walked around it and committed as much detail as possible to memory. He made Terrance walk with him. “You need to be able to visualize this place. You might need to direct the void opening. Note the cracks and chips, the discoloration of the stones, everything that makes this place unique.”
“Me? Why won’t you be able to do it?”
“Hopefully I will be able to, but if I can’t and you need to flee, you should come here.” That made Terrance pay greater attention. He scuffed a toe over a crack, ran his hand over the pillar to feel the bumps and grooves.
“I think I have enough detail to find it in a jumble of pillars and doorways.” He looked less certain than he had before, and worry pinched his eyebrows together.
Angus’s throat closed. He was coming back. He had to believe that. This would not be the last time he was in Demonside. He hugged Saka. “Thank you.”
He would not say goodbye.
Saka squeezed him hard and let him go. Angus took two steps toward the open void, but Saka grabbed his hand and pulled him close again.
Angus knew the words forming on the demon’s lips. He didn’t need to hear them. “Don’t—”
“I love you.”
The words struck deep in Angus’s heart. He’d wanted to hear them for so long, but not like that. “You didn’t need to say it.”
“You have been wanting to hear it. I owe you that much.” Saka rested his forehead against Angus’s. “I have known for a long time.”
“I know. I knew.” He sucked in a breath that cracked his ribs. “I love you.”
Saka stepped back. He looked like someone had thrust the machete through his stomach and were casually twisting the blade. “Go. Before I change my mind and keep you here forever.”
“That has never been a threat.” He handed Saka the staff he’d been using. He’d have to get used to not having one. “Keep it safe until I need it.”
Saka smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
Terrance took Angus’s hand. “Come.”
Angus didn’t fight. He let himself be led away. Just before they stepped through, Terrance spoke. “If you two had crumbled, we’d all be doomed. I don’t want to see you hurting.”
Angus bit his lip, which was still tender from the morning’s cutting. Biting it had only added to the pain, but it was something he could control. He’d have to let go of that too. In Vinland he’d have no control.
The nervousness he’d been able to keep locked down bubbled closer to the surface. He glanced back just before he stepped through. Saka was holding the staff, his gaze on the ground, his shoulders slumped.
He wasn’t a mage in that moment, and he didn’t know the answers.
It was only Terrance’s grip on his hand that kept him moving. He was wounding the two people he loved more than anything.
The air in Uxmal was sharp and cold. It tugged at his thin shirt, and he shivered. The changes were happening much faster now. Had Vinland deployed more clean sweeps elsewhere in the world?
Terrance signed himself in at the doorway, and Angus did the same. The guards watched as though it were any other day. No one could know the truth or the plan would be undone.
Did Cadmael know everything or had Iktan kept his silence on mage business?
Terrance grasped Angus’s hand, and Angus held on. They didn’t have much time.
“We should see Cadmael. He won’t agree to this,” Terrance said as though Cadmael’s disagreement was enough to stop Angus.
He would agree. Everyone was desperate. “No, I’ll go later. I want to speak to you alone first.”
Terrance’s eyes widened. “I do not accept you breaking up with me before you do this.”
Angus shook his head, a faint smile on his lips. If only that were all it was…. “I didn’t break up with Saka, and I’m not breaking up with you either.”
“Then what?”
“In private.”
“Then it’s nothing good.” Terrance pressed his lips together.
“Don’t be jealous… please.” They walked toward Angus’s room, hand in hand.
“I’m not.”
“Don’t lie either.” They didn’t have time to unravel the truth.
“Just a little. You marked him.”
“He asked.” And Angus hadn’t been able to refuse. Maybe the extra connection would be a good thing.
“And if I asked?”
“I would.” They went in, and Angus shut the door. He should’ve managed to come up with the right words, yet there were none. He could think about it until the world froze over, but the thoughts would never be complete. He shivered.
Terrance rubbed his hands up Angus’s arms. “You should….” A frown formed, and his touch went from warming to curious. He pushed back the cuff of the shirt, and Angus didn’t stop him. The scars would’ve been revealed at some point anyway.
“What is…?” Terrance pushed the sleeve up to Angus’s elbows on both sides. His eyes widened. “Did they carve their marks on you?”
Angus nodded.
“All of them?”
“Yes.”
The lines on Terrance’s forehead deepened as he traced one of the raised scars that adorned Angus’s forearm. “Did you sleep with them all?”
“No!” He pulled down his sleeves, though he would have if he thought it would help. How would Terrance judge him then? He let go of the annoyance in the next breath. Terrance didn’t know the plan and wasn’t a mage. He’d been waiting to learn what was going on, and he was afraid. “The marks help me hold magic and direct it.”
“Saka didn’t mark me… do you even want to?” Terrance didn’t look at him.
Angus had thought about it. He’d expected Saka to, but understood why he hadn’t. “I do, but after this.” He put his arms around Terrance. “You don’t mean less to me just because I haven’t made you bleed.”
Terrance hugged him hard. “I know… but why not before? What if there is no after, and I have nothing.” Terrance pressed his face to Angus’s neck.
Angus’s resolve started to melt. He’d been keeping it together, but he was starting to break. He swallowed hard, but his voice still shook. “Your skin needs to be clear or the warlocks might not believe you.”
Terrance looked at Angus, and a frown formed. “What warlocks?”
Angus held his gaze. “You’re going to betray me to the Vinnish spies.”