“No. I only kissed—she kissed me! I meant to come to you first.”

  “Then you’re serious?” asked Will.

  Emory nodded. “I’ve only waited this long because I was afraid you’d reject me. I tried to explain that to her, but she wouldn’t listen.”

  Will closed his eyes and swallowed. When he opened them again, he fixed Emory with a solid stare. “Everyone dies, Emory, especially people near me. Do you know what I mean?”

  “Yes?” replied the younger man, but his head was shaking negatively at the same time.

  “No. I’m not trying to threaten you. I’m being sincere.”

  “Yes?” Emory clearly didn’t know what to say, and he was doing his best not to set Will off.

  Will sighed. “I can’t even guess at how many times I nearly died just in the past day or two. Sammy has lost too many people, but I’m not taking her into danger no matter how much I empathize with her. So I’m leaving her behind, with you, the very last person I want being alone with her. Can you swear to me that you’ll put her best interests ahead of your own?”

  The young noble suddenly understood. “Yes, of course.”

  “I don’t know what’s going to happen,” continued Will. “It feels like I could die at any given moment. I’m not giving my cousin to you. I just want your promise to behave honorably, especially if something bad happens to me.”

  “Of course.”

  “Or Selene,” Will added. “She’s just a commoner if we both die. Do you understand now?”

  Emory dipped his head then met Will’s gaze. “That’s never mattered to me.”

  “And if she rejects you?”

  “Then I’ll do my best to see to her safety, Your Grace. I care a great deal about Samantha, whether she’s my future wife or just a friend.”

  Will nodded. “Assuming I don’t die soon, I might be willing to give you my blessing—someday.” Emory’s face brightened, and he started to step forward enthusiastically. Will held him back with one hand. “No thanks.” He took a step back and then added, “Stay a moment, though. I don’t want to open the door yet and I need to check one more time.”

  He sat down and cast his mind out again, but it was no use. He couldn’t find his mother, which meant she was either shielded—or dead.

  Chapter 16

  Will wanted to leave immediately. He wanted to jump on a travel disk and leave everyone behind. The sense of urgency was almost enough to drive him insane. But rushing out the door wouldn’t get him there faster.

  He needed to think.

  After releasing Emory, he begged for quiet and only let Tiny and Janice inside. Most of the others accepted that, but Sammy wasn’t happy. Since they weren’t really talking, Janice eventually left, mainly to calm Will’s cousin down.

  That left Will and Tiny alone. The big man opened his mouth. “So, now that it’s—”

  Will held up a finger. “Shhh. I’m still thinking.”

  “Oh. I thought you were just stalling for time, like you usually do.”

  He gave Tiny an angry glare. “That’s not true.”

  Tiny looked off to one side. “Maybe, although it’s generally what I’ve seen from you. You run everyone off and then do something stupid.”

  Will opened his mouth to argue, then closed it. He didn’t agree, but he didn’t have a good argument either. Finally, he responded, “Just let me think, all right?”

  “Fine.”

  He ran through his options one more time. Direct travel, even using the elemental travel disk, would take days. Traveling by hopping back and forth between the regular world and the fae realm would be much faster, but it required extensive knowledge of the congruence points between the two planes. Will had memorized a route that would get him from Rimberlin to his mother’s house that was relatively safe, but it would take several hours.

  Tailtiu, being fae, had an instinctive sort of omniscience when it came to the congruence points. She could get them there much faster, depending on how dangerous a route they were capable of surviving, or willing to tolerate. Unfortunately, she wasn’t with them. She had returned to her plane after Will’s battle with Lognion. He could call her back, but then he would have to wait for her to travel to them.

  Ordinarily, he would have chosen already. Call Tailtiu or start traveling on his own—either was preferable to standing around thinking about it. But his desperation and inspiration were close relatives, and being exorcised while in astral form had given him an idea. He was fairly sure he knew how the old wizards of the Wayfarer’s Society had teleported without beacons, but he still had two problems.

  The first problem was that he couldn’t reach his mother in the astral plane, but he’d already come up with a passable solution for that—his Uncle Johnathan. It would have been best if his uncle had been home, but even if the man was in Branscombe, that wasn’t too bad. Will knew a simple and short path through Faerie that took less than an hour on foot. With a travel disk spell, he could probably get from Branscombe to his mother’s house in ten or fifteen minutes.

  It was the second problem that bothered him. Could he teleport someone else with him? He glanced at his large friend once more. Tiny looked back, crossing his eyes and sticking out his tongue. “This is what you look like when you pretend to think,” said Tiny.

  Will snorted in spite of himself. “I think I know a way to get there, but I’m not sure if I can take you with me.”

  “You don’t have a choice.”

  “It might be dangerous for you,” cautioned Will.

  “I’ll tell Selene if you run off without me,” warned the knight.

  “You swore your oath to me, remember?”

  “She’s the queen. I’m pretty sure she outranks you.”

  “She isn’t queen yet. Besides, you swore to me.”

  Tiny took a deep breath. “Maybe we should ask a third party to mediate, then. Should I call Jan back?”

  Will ground his teeth. “Hear me out. I can use a teleportation spell, but I don’t know what will happen if I try to bring another person with me.”

  Tiny blanched. He had an extreme distaste for travel between planes, and teleportation sounded even worse. He swallowed, then answered, “Can you test it?”

  “We could try it here,” said Will. “Just across the room, but if it doesn’t work, I don’t know what might happen.”

  “Let’s hurry up and do it then,” said Tiny nervously. Sweat beads were already beginning to form on his temples.

  Will felt something against his leg and realized Evie was still in the room. For some reason, he’d assumed she had hidden as she usually did when others were around. Then he smiled. Bending down, he picked up the cat. She wasn’t used to being handled, and her claws dug into his shoulder, but she didn’t panic and try to get away.

  Tiny looked shocked. “If it’s dangerous for me then it’s dangerous for the cat. She doesn’t even know what—!” He blinked when Will vanished and reappeared on the opposite side of the room. “That was wrong, Will.”

  “But it would be better to test it on you?” Will raised one brow.

  The big man growled. “I can volunteer, the cat can’t.”

  Will wasn’t having it. “Before this turns into another ‘don’t eat the puppy’ conversation, remember that you’re going to be a father. What’s more important? Making sure you can raise your child, or taking a small risk with a cat?” Evie meowed at that moment, as though underscoring his point. He put her down on the desk and scratched between her ears for a few seconds. “Thank you,” he said softly.

  Tiny was still agitated, but all he could say was, “That’s not fair.”

  “Be grateful I’m taking you at all,” said Will. “If it weren’t for my own promises, I’d leave you behind. If something happens to you, I’ll feel guilty the rest of my life.” Summoning his notes, he began remaking the teleportation spell construct. He was fairly confident he had it memorized now, but he hadn’t practiced enough to take chances.

  While he did that, Tiny went out and quietly told Janice their plan, rather than announcing it. It wasn’t a nice thing to put on her shoulders, but she was the only one who wouldn’t object. Tiny was still whispering into her ear when Will stepped out into the hall. “I’m ready.”

  Sammy was the first to ask, “What’s the plan?”

  “I’m going to use a spell to get to Branscombe, and from there we can get to Barrowden in less than a quarter of an hour. I can only take one person with me, and that will be Sir John.”

  Tiny gave him a sour look, since Will had just wasted his effort at helping to avoid a discussion. Sammy frowned, but surprisingly seemed to accept the news. “You can only take one person?” Will wasn’t really sure of that, but he nodded anyway, then Sammy asked, “Who is Sir John?”

  Janice snickered. “This is John.” She patted Tiny’s shoulder to illustrate her point.

  Sammy seemed even more confused. “Shouldn’t he be Sir Tiny? His name is Tiny, isn’t it? I thought John was his middle name or some such.”

  Tiny spoke up. “I actually prefer Tiny, but it’s a nickname.”

  “Sir Tiny it is then,” pronounced Will. “We need to go.”

  Tiny and Janice embraced while Will found himself suddenly enveloped in strawberry curls as his cousin attempted to crush the life out of him. She was surprisingly strong despite her slight build. A moment later, everyone separated and Tiny look askance at him. “How do we do this? Hold hands, or should you pick me up like the cat?”

  Will knew he’d never be able to lift the big warrior, and that went double considering that Tiny was wearing at least sixty or seventy pounds of armor. “I think maybe a hug would be enou—urk!” The world spun as Tiny caught him and lifted him into the air in his arms. After a moment of readjustment, Will found himself cradled somewhat like a baby, or perhaps a princess. “I don’t think this was necessary,” he remarked dryly.

  The hall was full of amused expressions, but Tiny ignored them. “You can cast the spell like this, correct? Your arms are free.”

  “Technically it doesn’t matter if my arms are—never mind.” There was no point in dragging things out. Will closed his eyes and tried to concentrate.

  “Does he have to sleep?” asked Blake.

  “Maybe you should sing a lullaby,” suggested Janice.

  Will opened his eyes. “Everyone out!” They were in the hall, so he amended his order. “Let’s use the study.” He expected Tiny to put him down, but instead Emory opened the door and let them in. Tiny carried him across the threshold, and the door closed behind them. Will looked up at his friend. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

  The big man grinned.

  “Put me down.”

  “Not a chance.”

  “Keep this up and I’ll have a saddle made for you instead. You’ll have to live in the stables with Thunderturnip.”

  “You’re wasting time.”

  That was the truth. Will was scared. He was scared of failing, or succeeding and somehow killing Tiny. He was scared of succeeding and finding something terrible at the other end. Everyone complained that he acted too often without thinking things through, but the opposite end of it was that if he thought too much, fear and uncertainty made it difficult to do anything. Closing his eyes, he sent his mind out, first seeking his mother, but once that failed, he shifted his focus to his Uncle Johnathan.

  The darkness became light as he found himself on the road leading from Branscombe toward the mountain pass to Barrowden. The afternoon sunshine was brilliant as it poured down over a man riding a large horse and leading another behind him. Will’s uncle had delivered the new wagon already and was now taking the team of horses back home.

  Will tried to access the spell he had prepared, and as before, he failed. He needed to have some perception of his body. When he tried to do that, the sunny road vanished, and he became aware of Tiny holding him. The spell was there, but he couldn’t use it without seeing his target. Will spent several frustrating minutes switching back and forth, but he couldn’t seem to recapture what had happened previously when he was exorcised.

  Then he had been actively fighting against a magical pressure wave that was trying to force his astral self away from the target he was connected to. The tension between those opposing forces had somehow created the in-between state, where both his target and his body had been visible to him.

  He kept trying, switching back and forth, but finding the balance was elusive. Will could almost feel it in the instant between changing states, but he couldn’t hold onto it. He struggled for minutes more, until something suddenly changed. It happened while he was in the astral, staring at his uncle. Something disrupted his concentration and threatened to pull him back to his body. Will fought to maintain his focus, and for short time he saw both and realized what was happening.

  Tiny had grown tired and was putting him down. The jostling had disrupted his concentration. Will returned fully to his body and reported his discovery. “That’s it. I need you to move me while I’m trying to concentrate.”

  His friend must’ve thought he was being sarcastic, for he replied, “I’m sorry. Even as big as I am, you’re a full-grown man. I can’t hold you up forever.”

  “No, I’m serious. I wasn’t having any luck until you started to put me down. If you can jostle me enough while I try to maintain my concentration, I think I can make it work.”

  “Jostle you,” muttered Tiny. “Are you sure? I was always told you shouldn’t shake a baby.”

  “Very funny.”

  The big man took a minute to let his arms recover and then picked Will up again. This time he did, in fact, hold Will somewhat like a father would hold an infant, with one hand behind his head and neck. Will gave him an odd look. “This is weird. Do you have to hold me like this?”

  Tiny shifted his grip and held him under his arms, then shook him rudely. “I could do it like this, but imagine what that would do to you. You’re completely limp when you leave your body.”

  Rattled, Will made a different suggestion. “Just pretend you’re burping me. You’ll need practice anyway.”

  His friend put him down. “Are you trying to make me nervous?”

  “That makes you nervous?”

  “Thinking about the baby makes me nervous.”

  Will rolled his eyes. “Vampires, demons, trolls, and assassins, none of that bothered you, but one mention of babies and you get scared.”

  Tiny sighed. “I’m scared of all those things, but at least I know what to do with them. Babies are very, very small. One clumsy mistake and I might hurt it, or worse.”

  “I’ve seen a lot of babies,” said Will. “They’re tougher than you think. I can’t imagine anyone better suited to being a father than you.”

  His friend looked suspicious. “When did you see a lot of babies?”

  “Helping Mom. She’s a midwife, remember? Anyway, you really will do well. Much better than me, probably.”

  “You think so? I doubt that.” Tiny seemed both hopeful and relieved.

  “Yes! Now pick me up. The longer we take, the more anxious I am.” Tiny lifted him and held him against his chest so that Will’s chin was resting on his shoulder. The upper part of the knight’s breastplate promised to be painful, but he pushed the thought form his mind and closed his eyes.

  He managed the transition in half a minute. Frequent practice was making it almost too simple. Will only had to watch his uncle ride along the road for a short time before he once again found himself fading away and his physical awareness started to return. Wasting no time, Will focused on his uncle and activated the teleport spell he had prepared.

  They appeared on the verge of the lane, close to his uncle and the horses. Will and his uncle made eye contact for one brief second before the horses reacted. Both equines reared, and Johnathan Cartwright was thrown to the ground. The man landed hard but managed to roll enough to avoid being kicked.

  Tiny dropped Will and seized the second horse’s lead. The animal reared once more before the massive knight jerked hard and brought it back down. The horse Will’s uncle had been riding took off at a run, but Will caught it with a sleep spell. Unsure how much it would take to render the horse unconscious, Will did his best but still overdid it. The animal went limp in mid-gallop, fell, tumbled, and finally rolled to a stop thirty feet down the road.

  Will got up and ran to check on it, but he knew before he got to it that the horse was dead. His uncle scrambled back to his feet, a long hunting knife in one hand. “What the hell!” It took him a moment to recognize his nephew, and a second longer to recognize Tiny. He had met the giant man before, but he had been badly startled.

  “Are you all right, Mister Cartwright?” asked Tiny worriedly. “We didn’t mean to—”

  “You nearly killed me!” Johnathan shook the point of his knife at Tiny to emphasize his words, then glared down the road at Will. “Is Blue dead?”

  Will had once known the names of all his uncle’s horses, back before the invasion of Barrowden, when they had lost everything. These days he wasn’t familiar with them, but he could guess that ‘Blue’ must be the name of the dead animal. He checked and sure enough it wasn’t breathing. He put his head against the animal’s shoulder and listened just to be certain, then turned back and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Uncle—”

  “Damn it!” Johnathan sheathed his knife, paused to spit on the road, then added, “Where the hell did you come from?” Limping, he walked down the road toward Will.

  The dead horse was bad enough. Seeing the older man hobble toward him filled Will with even more regret. “I was in a hurry to get here. Mom is in danger. I used a spell, but I couldn’t reach her. I had to home in on you instead.”

  Johnathan was staring at Blue’s corpse, but as Will spoke, his gaze snapped up to his nephew. “I didn’t understand half of that. What’s wrong with Erisa?”

  Will did his best to explain. Much of what he said must have been confusing, but his uncle singled out the important facts pretty quickly. When Will finished, he asked, “It’s still a couple of days to get there if you’re going to use the pass. Do you want to take Larry? He can’t carry both of you.” He gestured at the horse whose lead Tiny was still holding to clarify his meaning.