Chapter Twenty-Seven

When we entered Bastillen, there was once again a time pocket over it and a lot of the aftermath had been cleaned up.

There was still some rubble where I was standing, which was close to the place Callan had anchored the Portalorbs and therefore near where all the action had gone down, but they had done a lot of work these past couple days making it seem like a fight had never happened.

The town was quiet.

I didn’t see anyone as I made my way to Callan’s house, which was good, because I didn’t want to stop to chitchat. Didn’t want to explain why I was back here.

Resolve was a weight in my stomach, tangled with fear, but my footsteps didn’t falter as I entered Callan’s house and closed the door behind me.

I swept my gaze around. It still wasn’t a place that felt like him. Had I gone to his apartment I would be swimming in memories, seeing him everywhere in a space that he had made his. He hadn’t been here long enough to make this place his home.

But I was going to change that.

Ashe trotted behind me as I sat on the sofa and retrieved the Pfura Stone.

It was slightly warm and there was a touch of Pfura’s power, as though the guardian was right at the surface, waiting to come out again.

I placed the stone on the coffee table and noticed something that tightened my throat. The gloves Callan had been knitting me.

I picked them up, turning them over in my hand, squeezing the soft yarn gently. They were finished, and they were perfect. They’d been lying on top of blue tissue paper as though he was going to wrap them before giving them to me.

A tear slipped down my cheek. I put the gloves down and turned to Ashe.

“I need to tell you something.” She made a questioning sound. “This pendant Queen Rubiyana gave me is a Pfura Stone.” I gestured to the stone. “From Drisdari Forest. It grants wishes.”

Ashe made a startled sound, looking from the stone to me. I then told her about the guardian and that only my first wish was without consequence.

“The price won’t be the same as the punishment for going against card readings, but it will likely be bad. I’m thinking of using it to bring Callan back, and I need you to understand that because whatever price I am asked to pay could affect you.” I scratched behind her ears. “You’ve been by my side longer than anyone else ever will be and I’ve put you through so much.” There went those damn tears again. Ashe licked my face. “You’re my brave girl. And I’m sorry for what being bound to me has put you through. It’s selfish of me to want to use the Pfura Stone because I can’t see a way forward without Callan, but I can’t do it if you don’t agree.”

It would break me, but Ashe and I were bound, and I couldn’t make a decision like this purely off my own motivations.

I had spent the last couple days thinking about this constantly.

I tried to tell myself that Callan’s loss was one I could live with. That eventually I would outgrow the pain and it wouldn’t feel like my heart was being ripped out of my chest every time I thought about him.

But Callan deserved more than to have been blipped out of existence.

And look at why it had even happened…he had been saving me from the sharp end of Cindra’s weapon.

“He always saves me,” I said softly.

From a blade, from a car crash, from my own reluctance to let my guard down and let him get close to me. He’d helped save the world from the Majimorta, had cared about how I was handling the changed world even though everything had changed for him too.

He took the time to think about my comfort and Ashe’s.

I wanted Callan back, but it wasn’t only so I could continue to be the woman he loved on.

Callan’s life had been as disjointed and full of rough waters as mine. He’d been catapulted to the future, lived in secret underground and then above it, had his memories completely altered, lost his parents in brutal ways…and still turned out to be a sweet, caring man who could sass me as well as I could sass him.

There may be a Callan who grew up and lived a full life during the magic-era, but this Callan deserved the chance to recover from what he’d been through and forge ahead. Build a life for himself.

It wouldn’t be easy to do it while confined to Bastillen, and I was tempted to make two wishes so he could get off the unchanged lands, but I needed to be cautious when dealing with Pfura.

I wanted Callan to live for himself as much as I wanted him to live for me.

I fully acknowledged my selfishness and weakness. People lost their partners all the time and had to grapple with moving on without them. If I didn’t have the Pfura Stone, I’d have no choice but to do the same.

But I did have a choice.

“What do you think?” I asked Ashe. “It could be very bad what the guardian asks me to pay. For both of us. I don’t want to hurt you, Ashe.”

Ashe licked my face and nuzzled her head against my chest. She was giving her consent.

“Are you sure?”

She whuffed, nuzzled me again and sat back, looking at the stone, then at me.

“Okay. I love you for this. So much.”

She whuffed again as I picked up the stone and lightly ran my finger across its surface.

These words had been churning in my head over and over for two days. Now, it was time to say them.

“I wish that Callan Rieve, who was Erased from this place two days ago, existed once again.”

Yessssss…

Fear clenched me.

What if I had phrased it wrong? Was the guardian the kind to read between the lines and be wily about how it granted the wishes? That was why I’d mentioned the time frame, in case I ended up with magic-era Callan or something.

The stone grew warm in my hand, pulsing like a fluttering heartbeat.

My breath caught as Pfura’s uncomfortable power pressed against me.

Seconds passed. The stone’s power slowly eased, as did the warm feeling.

I put it down, my hands shaking.

I had said the words, I had made the wish. I would have to pay the price. But had the wish been granted? I stood up. Where was—

“Penn?” A gasp tore from my throat as I turned to see Callan coming down the hallway from the bedroom, looking bewildered.

Seeing him again felt as though my heart had reformed after being ground to dust. Hearing his voice say my name brought joy that felt like a galaxy had exploded inside me, like there were a million burning stars under my skin.

That deep, yawning ache I’d held for the past two days slid off me like it had never existed. My memories of Callan had burned, my sleepless nights had still danced nightmares before my eyes because all I could feel was the pain of his loss like hands had gouged into my flesh and taken away parts of me I would never get back.

But he was back. He was back.

He wore the clothes I’d last seen him in, jeans and a short-sleeved button-down over a T-shirt. He was frowning as he looked around.

“Um, how…did I get here? What happened during the fight? Did we win? Was I knocked out or something?”

I ran to him and flung myself into his arms. He caught me with a startled laugh and wrapped his arms around me. “Okay, I guess that means we won?”

I kissed him.

I couldn’t stop the tears and he made a sound of surprise as he felt them against his cheeks, but he didn’t pull away to question why I was crying.

I felt weak for different reasons now. His scent, the hard lines of his body, the taste of his full lips, the way our tongues caressed as we tried to kiss as deeply as possible.

It was so familiar I ached.

He was my Callan, the only arms I wanted around me, the only lips I wanted on mine. And he was back. I’d gotten him back.

We broke apart and I stared at him, smiling though tears were still falling. Callan was smiling as well but looked concerned as he thumbed my tears away.

“Babe? Is everything okay? I’d really like to know what’s going on, because the last thing I remember…” He cut himself off, his eyes going distant as he sunk back into his memories. I saw when things fell into place. His eyes sought mine.

“Cindra was going to kill you and I ran out to stop her. I couldn’t watch her kill you.”

Callan looked around at the house, at Ashe, then back to me. “I was off the lands,” he said. His frown deepened. “I got her off you, then you called me and I tried to get to you and then…”

“You were Erased,” I finished, my voice low.

He looked stunned. “What? No… If I was Erased then I wouldn’t be here.”

I ran my fingers through his hair and down his neck. Brought his confused face down for another lingering kiss.

“I wished you back,” I said against his lips. I raised my head and told him about how I’d come into possession of the Pfura Stone.

“Incredible,” he said, a look of awe coming over his face. “You have a wish-granting stone? That’s how you got out of the forest? And it brought me back from Erasure? That’s…” He blew out a breath. “Penn, I didn’t mean to cause you pain. I had no intention of stepping outside the town limits, but—”

“It’s okay,” I said quickly. I could feel the presence of Pfura rising. It was going to appear and collect its price. “All that matters is that you’re back.” I smiled, letting him see how much I cared for him, needed him. “I didn’t want to live in a world where you didn’t exist.”

No matter what price I had to pay, I would never regret bringing Callan back.

Callan’s smile was so beautiful, so genuine, so full of joy that it broke my heart to have to tell him the full truth about the Pfura Stone.

Ashe trotted over and lightly romped with Callan, who gave her a vigorous rub, fluffing up the fur around her face. “Good to see you too,” he said, laughing after she gave his face a lick. She then butted her head against me gently.

“I know, I know,” I said to her.

Callan looked between us. “What?”

Just then, a stream of red, cloudy magic flew up from the Pfura Stone, which was on the coffee table.

“What the hell!” Callan whipped his head around as though looking for a weapon, but I put my hand on his arm.

“It’s okay. It’s the guardian that lives in the stone. It grants the wishes.”

Seconds later, Pfura’s undulating form and piercing golden eyes were staring at me.

The smoky entity twirled its body around, making a circle around the coffee table before drifting closer. Callan made a strangled sound.

The air around us felt heavy.

Pfura’s power was like a dragging weight pushing against us.

A second wish, a second request, what you have asked for, I beget. Its voice was a syrupy sound in my head.

Ashe snarled. Callan was tense. I was standing slightly in front of him, half my body resting against his.

I have come to collect, Pfura said. You did not forget? Forget? Forget?

“I didn’t forget.” My voice was strained.

Now that it had actually come down to paying up, my nerves were wrecked.

Is this what they meant when they said love made people do unhinged things? I guess I was at the top of the leader board then.

Callan linked his fingers with mine. “Penn, what does it mean by collect?”

I turned to him as Pfura chuckled. “Only the first wish is free. Any other wish carries a price. One that I will never know beforehand. I have to pay or I become consumed by the Pfura Stone forever.”

Callan’s mouth fell open. He looked over my head at Pfura, then back to me. “Wait, what…what kind of price? What will you…”

I shall name it, and you will decide if you will abide, or if you will come inside, inside, inside…

I turned around. I wished I’d had more time to spend with Callan, but I knew we wouldn’t have gotten much time after I made the wish.

“What’s the price,” I said. Ashe had quieted and was sitting close to me.

What shall I ask, what shall I get? It spun around, wrapping around all three of us.

Ashe tried to snap at it but her teeth went right through its incorporeal form. Callan bristled, same as I did, at the feel of the guardian touching us. It was like a rake of fire across our skin.

I know, for I have given thought, and thought, it said. Much I hear, as you’ve kept me near. Much have I seen within the darkness of your mind. Much you’ve endured, and why, why, why? Because you love so. It chuckled. But what if it was not thus? Yesssss…I think I would like to taste your love.

I frowned. “I…don’t understand.” My throat was dry.

My priceeee, it hissed, is your love. I was shocked into silence. Callan felt as still as a statue.

I will take the emotion, no longer yours to hold. It will leave you, and I will swallow it whole. You will not love, not one soul. It will be gone.

“You want my ability to love?” I felt like an anvil had fallen on my head. I had not been prepared for something like this.

I had loved Callan enough to risk using the Pfura Stone to bring him back.

And now the guardian wanted to take away my love. Make it so I wouldn’t care for Callan, Ashe, and my friends anymore.

I opened my mouth, closed it. I had to accept because I didn’t want the alternative of being sucked into the stone, but…but…

“No.” Callan’s voice was ragged. He jerked me around to face him. “No,” he said again, fiercely. “You can’t do that to her. Can it be something else? Can I pay the price?”

Do not trifle with me! Its voice was amplified, like a clap of thunder resounding in our heads. Callan and I flinched. I do not negotiate, it said, the tones of its voice warm with anger. I have named it, and she will pay. Or she is mine. Give an answer and give it now.

“Callan…” My voice cracked.

Callan and I had just expressed that we loved each other, and now I would have that feeling taken away.

The love that had made me smile goofily when I saw the gloves he was knitting me. The love that had caused me to hurt so much for him when we found out he’d have to remain in Bastillen. The love that had created grief so intense it had shattered my soul when he was Erased.

The love I had for Gideon and Toji. For Ashe. The love I cherished for Ma, Da, and Kinari.

Callan crushed me in his arms. “No,” he whispered. “It can’t take your love. It can’t.”

I pulled away and stared at him, tears in my eyes. “No matter what, remember that I love you, Callan. Please remember.” I was scared. How would this change me?

“I love you too.” He looked heartbroken. He crushed his lips to mine frantically, as though I was now the one on the verge of being Erased.

Well, a part of me was.

Answer, answer, answer, answer! The guardian’s voice was intense again.

I broke apart from Callan and turned in his arms. He kept his arms wrapped around me. Ashe whined worriedly and licked my cheek.

I didn’t know who I would be on the other side of this, but I had no choice but to find out.

Do you agree to the price? Is your love now mine?

I took a deep breath. Callan’s arms tightened around my waist.

“Yes,” I whispered.

The love doesn’t end here… Join the Entangled Insiders for free books, giveaways, exclusive access to upcoming titles, and so much more!