Chapter 23

CALIX

The last thing Calix wanted to do was hold Convergence, but there was no other choice. His powers of foresight were scattered at best, and he had no ability to break through magical incantations or patterns the way Aubrey and Ethaniel could. As he took the book from Aubrey, Calix realized his hands were cold. Though cold was not the proper word for it; perhaps numb was better. He didn’t mind being numb right now. It provided a gray detachment that let him act, but also helped to push the traumatic realizations of the last few hours and days to the back of his mind. Without that detachment, he’d probably break down into a teary mess.

“Tell us where it is,” he snapped, hoping there was enough steel left in his voice to make Convergence — or Talbot — comply.

“A moment,” the book practically sang, the giddiness in its voice ratcheted up now that it was even closer to its goal. The dread pooling in Calix’s stomach wasn’t about to leave anytime soon, apparently, since the prospect of giving this…creature its truest wish was rather daunting.

Beside him, Aubrey and Ethaniel began to glow, their magic creating vast swaths of color and accompanying shadows along the cave walls. If this worked, they may have accomplished the extraordinary. Calix shook his head and refocused. Losing sight of the now would only get someone hurt.

“Remember,” Aubrey said to them both as he formed tiny wisps of power at the ends of his fingertips, the strange third eye on his forehead opening sleepily. “Quick as a flash. No hesitating.”

Ethaniel’s own magic flared in response. “You’re taking the biggest risk, Aubrey. Please…” He looked away for a moment, then straightened. “Be careful. Both of you.”

Ethaniel’s words were a lodestone. With a final look to them both, Calix moved forward while Convergence scanned the items. “Anything?”

“There,” the book rasped, one clawed hand pointing to a small shelf on the left. “One of those. Closer, bring me closer, Oracle. I wish to see.”

Calix moved toward the shelf and the others followed, left to eddy in his wake like a strange lunar tide. Convergence began to hum in his hands, a soft vibration that left Calix holding on, his knuckles turning white with the effort. The shelf held three objects: a dark green gem on a tarnished silver chain, the stone cut simply into a square; a flat disc of bronze carved with symbols Calix couldn’t read; and a clear crystal bottle sealed with red wax.

Suddenly, the vibrations stopped and the ghostly face reared back as it pointed a trembling finger toward the bottle. “THERE!” it screamed and Calix nearly trod on Aubrey’s foot in his panic. Behind him, Calix heard Ethaniel mutter, “For fuck’s sake”. The laughter that bubbled up inside him was tinged with hysteria.

“The bottle?” Calix asked once he got his heart rate under control. “You’re certain?”

“YES!”

Aubrey licked his lips and nodded. “Then when we’re all ready…”

“Do it, Aubrey,” Ethaniel said, his hands flaring bright with ocean-blue power.

Calix’s skin tingled in response to their magic and he waited, his breath coming almost too fast now.

“Preserve me,” Aubrey whispered.

The flash of Aubrey’s magic nearly blinded Calix and as his third eye opened wide, he thrust his hand forward. The very air in front of the shelf cracked, as if Aubrey’s power were a stone against a windowpane. Aubrey pushed forward, gritting his teeth against the invisible spell meant to repel him, and that’s when Calix knew he was needed. Aubrey’s forehead was beaded with sweat, his muscles straining against his shirt, and Calix didn’t hesitate.

“Hold firm,” he said as he put his hand on Aubrey’s back and let Convergence fall to the floor.

Like the first time, Aubrey’s power flooded through him the moment Calix let his mind open. It didn’t feel like a stranger now, though; it was welcome, a warm touch to his cheek after a cold afternoon walk around the Village. The pop and crackle of a fire seeping into his bones. And beneath that, Aubrey’s passion — for knowledge and magic, for the curious and antiquated, for a good book and a cup of tea. For him, and for them.

In his mind, Calix held doorways, tunnels and paths, and endless arrays of cobblestoned halls where he could envision and understand another. He’d always been so, so frightened of letting someone in, of not having total control of every single faculty of his mind. You’ll be taken advantage of had been his mother’s constant adage. But this was…an epiphany. Calix didn’t just feel Aubrey’s magic, he felt Aubrey. He could see what made up the man so willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good, and it spurred him forward.

The air before them shattered, the magic barrier clinking to the ground like broken glass.

Ethaniel was there, thrusting a hand forward and snatching up the bottle before slapping his palm over where the air sizzled, his magic weaving a pattern that echoed in Calix’s bones. Secure. Safe. Contained once more.

Aubrey hauled them back as something snapped into place. Calix’s foot caught on the book and he caught himself on his hands, the stone unforgiving, cutting into his palms.

“YES!” Convergence screeched, its voice echoing against the cave walls. “THE PHYLACTERY!”

As Calix fell, he saw Ethaniel stumble, twisting as he fell to the floor.

More glass shattered.

“NO!”

As Calix looked up, he saw a familiar shock of red-orange hair come into view, hazel eyes opened wide in shock at their macabre tableau. Something shot out of the remains of the bottle where Ethaniel had dropped it.

That energy, dark and swirling and reminding Calix so much of a whirlpool, hit Lawton square in the chest. He fell backwards in a heap.

Everything was sound and fury and the frenzied beating of Calix’s heart. He heard Aubrey yell for him, felt Ethaniel as he tried to stop Calix’s momentum with a hand, but nothing would hold him back.

Calix fell hard to his knees beside Lawton, a sob already building in his chest. The ache was exquisite. It would be his undoing if Lawton perished. He knew it. He would never be able to hide from that truth, as much as Lawton had betrayed him, had lied and cheated and crossed him and taken advantage—

“Calix?”

It was Lawton’s voice, but the inflection was off. Softer on the tongue, slightly higher in tone. “Lawton,” Calix managed to spit out as he fluttered his hands over Lawton’s bandaged chest and bruised face. “Lawton, please.”

“Darling.” That tone again. Something shivered inside Calix.

It couldn’t be.

Lawton sat up with preternatural grace and framed Calix’s face in his hands. His touch was cool but almost foreign. Like a stranger, but not at the same time. “Lawton?”

Ethaniel and Aubrey came to his sides, their presence a much-needed comfort. “Careful,” Aubrey said softly. “We don’t know what was in that bottle.”

“It was supposed to be empty,” Ethaniel said. “We keep trusting the wrong…things.”

“Not empty,” Lawton said as he ran his fingertips over Calix’s cheek.

Everything in Calix ground to a halt.

He knew that touch. That voice. The gentle, loving way Lawton blinked at him, then smiled.

Calix reached for her. He couldn’t stop himself. “Mother?”