Chapter Sixteen

Divulging everything I kept to myself was like releasing this unknown weight off my chest. I could breathe again. It helped that Chanelle found the news absurdly fascinating, more intrigued by my sordid history than the parts where I’d inadvertently brought on the worst possible outcomes.

Her curiosity buzzed around my head the rest of the day at the academy, allowing her a beautiful distraction from the gnawing guilt that’d settled in her chest. I nearly smiled once or twice. Nearly. An obvious side effect of latching my telepathy too closely to Chanelle’s thoughts.

Still, I sort of enjoyed how light I felt on the flight home. The only other person who knew this much about me was Milo himself. It was strange trusting someone with my shortcomings, my failures, my past, but I found solace in the fact it brought relief to Chanelle’s weary mind, allowing her nauseating cheerful personality to shine like a bright beacon at Gemini again. She’d undoubtedly do something to make me regret divulging so much, probably decide to overshare more of her life, which I already had too much insight into, thanks to my branch.

Once I’d gotten home, I fed the cats and gave Charlie all the cuddles he could handle as I lay on the couch unwinding after a long day. It was oddly comforting to have the biggest challenges in my life feel almost bearable. Everything had this aimless opportunity. Nothing, even the worst of the semester, held this dire urgency of impending doom. Yes, there was an upcoming trial because of the warlock incursion last school year, but I’d taken a page from Milo’s playbook. I couldn’t change or control it, so I pushed it out of my head because it was out of my hands. It helped that most of my homeroom didn’t dwell on the events, the potential outcomes.

“Maybe I should be more paranoid?” I hugged Charlie tighter than he preferred, kissing the orange fluff of his face. “Nah. Think I’ll just coast on these easy currents.”

Speaking of calm waters, Milo’s mind synced to mine as he flew across the city, closer to my home. The ebb and flow of his thoughts would’ve settled any lingering doubts, except I didn’t have any. For the first time in a long time, I was genuinely happy.

My phone buzzed. Ugh. Chanelle.

“This is why you don’t talk to people, Charlie.” I waved my phone in his face, showing him the invitation to some revolting staff outing. “Pass.”

Charlie bapped my phone, further encouraging me to leave the message on read. Hopefully, Chanelle would realize our conversation didn’t mean our dynamic had to change. Meh. I’d just ignore her until she got the hint.

I shuddered at the idea of chaperoning with Peterson, but I knew Chanelle too well to believe the idle threat. No way would she endure Thompson just so she could have a laugh at my suffering.

I spent the rest of the evening playing with Charlie, tossing his favorite toys around the house with the guidance of telekinesis. He loved the hunt almost as much as he loved delivering his bounty and cuddling up for praise on the masterful kill. Carlie, on the other hand—quite literally since I used telekinesis to tease her—wanted nothing to do with playtime. However, she wanted treats, so I provided them.

Milo had been kind enough to buy her an exercise wheel she never used, but we found hovering a treat just out of reach encouraged her to run a few laps. It was a delicate process. The treat couldn’t be too far out of reach, or she’d quit, too close, and she’d snap it up. If she ran too long, she’d cry and quit. If she got rewarded too soon, she’d learn to manipulate her way into treats for less effort. That really only worked on Milo, though. He spoiled my tabbies far too much.

As I unwound, I stretched my telepathy far and wide. I hadn’t by any means mastered this long-ranged technique, but I’d found better control over casting it toward Milo. Like a large net, my telepathy spread across the city of Chicago, scooping up dozens of passerby thoughts before finally syncing to Milo’s mind. The shift from outstretched psychic energy to precision focusing was almost instantaneous, where the net of thoughts vanished as my telepathy threaded to Milo like a needle.

Every time I linked to Milo, there was such a serene buzz that followed. Even when his thoughts were outside the positivity, he maintained for public appeal. Thankfully, this wasn’t one of those times. I floated alongside him during the bustle of meetings, the excitement of prepping for upcoming interviews, the dreaded filing of paperwork for cases. It made my evening routine effortless, listening to the podcast of thoughts from the man I loved with all my heart.

While he worked, I graded student assignments and rearranged mini-lessons based on which classes needed to revisit older content, and I even prepared an activity for the field trip. Chanelle pitched it as a learning opportunity, and Milo suggested the kids deserved to walk the halls of a guild. If I was being real with myself, Chanelle and Milo actually saw it as a fun day off for the kids. I could keep it fun. Scavenger hunts were fun. This would be ideal, so my students didn’t just fawn over their favorite enchanters.

I’d managed to get through a week’s worth of to-dos by the time I checked the clock. Quarter to ten, and Milo still hummed as he worked.

“ Are you seriously spending the entire night at the office? ” I thought as I did my nighttime ritual.

“ That a problem? ” Milo had a minxy grin, figuring my link offered him an invitation to come over.

He had a standing invitation, no matter how annoyed I acted when he showed up unannounced.

“ Only if you barge in at two in the morning, waking me up. ” I hopped into bed. “ Why don’t you just make one of your acolytes fill those out? ”

Milo sighed. “ Can’t. I’ve got them working an actual case. ”

“ Sucks to be you. ” I rolled onto my side, shifting my tone and my mood, making sure the right emotion spiked across the city. “ You know what else sucks? ”

“ Oh? ” Milo tilted his head, running a hand up his thigh. A sensual act that sent a wave of his arousal through the link holding our thoughts together. “ Do tell. ”

“ Not me at two in the morning. ”

“ Evil! ”

I severed the link of magic, making the snap of the tether as loud as possible so Milo would notice. It didn’t take long for my phone to vibrate. He might be spending the night at the office, but at least he knew what he was missing. I could feel his excitement, anticipation, and desire all wash over me as I dozed off to the buzz of missed messages that undoubtedly got dirtier with each unanswered reply.

Milo’s embrace roused me from sleep, not enough to fully wake, but enough to shiver as his chilled body huddled close to me. The night air clung to Milo, making me clutch my blanket tighter as his cold arms wrapped tighter around my stomach and stole my body heat. He must’ve flown quickly—even for him—as his ragged breaths took a bit to ease and sync with mine. I wanted to roll over, to say something, maybe even tease him a bit, but it was late. I was exhausted, more so when Milo’s groggy mind invaded mine, sending his sleep-deprived thoughts through my head.

Just as I was about to pass out again, wrapped in Milo’s bearhug, I heard him sigh. Not aloud. No, his wispy exhales tickled my ear as he nuzzled against the nape of my neck.

This sigh came from within, where he continued working somewhere deep inside the inner core of his mind.

Seriously? Resisting my heavy eyelids, I forced open my eyes, squinting at the bright light of my phone. One in the morning and twelve missed texts from Milo.

I huffed. Now I’d never get back to sleep. Whenever Milo pulled all-nighters, I found it impossible to simply ignore him. My mind craved his peace.

“What are you doing?” I strolled right into his mind, walking past the endlessly high wall of screens. Each one contained a grainy static picture of a vision I couldn’t make out. “Hello?”

He called this space his Fateful Viewing of Infinite Possibilities—something he’d never hear me utter out loud. I refused to give him the satisfaction over the absurd name.

Pushing deeper, I reached the second layer of visions where the luminescent board of fates interlocking along infinite pathways dwelled in a circular white room. His Dispatch Board of Destiny. I half expected not to see him, to have to push through to the filing room where he sorted visions like paperwork—funny that his mind created an office space for him, considering how much he actually despised paperwork.

Still, he wasn’t there. He stood silently studying a pink pathway. More of a magenta, I supposed. The spectrum of colors was so grand the wall looked like a rainbow yarn conspiracy board.

“Well?” I reiterated my question since I knew Milo heard it. My words echoed loudly through all the chambers of his mind.

“Sorry. Distracted.” Milo kept his eyes locked on the strand he studied. “Theodore Whitlock is having his first court appearance soon.”

I froze, drawn back to the warlock incursion, my students fighting for their lives, the void vision unfolding and fizzling out, Finn’s goodbye, the taste of death in my mouth… I ran my hand along the scar on my neck.

No matter how much I buried the events of that day, the horrors, the slightest mention sent it all flooding back into my mind. “Have I mentioned how much I despise the fact Gemini assigned our field trip the same day as that?”

“That was my doing.” Milo had an apologetic smile, and his eyes had this annoyingly sweet puppy dog effect. “I pushed for it. Really prefer you and your students somewhere safe while Theodore’s outside the walls of the MDC.”

I huffed. Funny since I didn’t think I’d feel truly safe until Theodore Whitlock and his warlocks were behind the heavy wards of a maximum-security prison. A trial would drag on for months, much like setting the date of this sham of a trial intended to prove guilt for something everyone knew he’d done.

“Do you suspect something?” I struggled to ask, frightened of what answer I’d receive. “Did you see something?”

“No. And I wouldn’t.” Milo continued studying the magenta string. “The MDC is so well-warded that all the inhabitants are challenging to read. Though, given I haven’t seen a single fate in the city crossing paths with him or his warlock allies in the future, that should be enough to assuage this feeling.”

“Then why doesn’t it?”

“My clairvoyance is being blocked or avoided. Hard to say.”

“And you suspect he’s doing it?”

“Not at all. Maybe. No. I don’t know. It’s too fuzzy to tell.”

The last time someone blocked Milo’s clairvoyance, preventing him from reading potential possibilities—making every outcome too fuzzy to interpret—it came from a woman affiliated with Theodore’s warlock faction. Darla. She possessed a hex branch known as counter.

Memories of her sparkling blade as it emerged from tiny pocket portals flashed in my mind. The nicks and slashes across my body. It wasn’t her branch alone that blocked Milo’s magic, though. It required the brands from Vincent, who placed an enchantment of Darla’s hex onto all those aligned with them in the months Theodore Whitlock spent conspiring to overthrow his father and destroy the guild industry he considered tainted and corrupt.

“Whoa.” Milo cocked his head, smirking. A carefree expression hiding his concern. “You’re thinking aloud. Or is it because you’re in my head?”

“Both.”

“It’s not Darla Monroe.” He plucked an olive-green string. “Her paths are blurred but there, meaning her hex isn’t at play. She’s very much detained. And based on the charges the state has for her actions prior to joining the warlock incursion, I’m surprised they didn’t toss her right into a maximum-security prison. Guess everyone’s entitled to their day in court.”

“Is this the work of other warlocks making a move with the upcoming trial?” I asked hesitantly. “A few months ago, during your investigation with the demons, you stumbled onto a faction of warlocks—would be warlocks, whatever—who idolized Theodore Whitlock’s revolt against the guild system.”

He’d faced them when seeking intel from Cassidy Gardner outside her club. It seemed so inconsequential, but they’d used enchantments to block his psychic branch. Not strong or durable like Darla’s counter hex, but enough to evade Milo’s clairvoyance all the same.

“Unlikely. Since getting the guilds back to collaborating, I’ve been passing intel to Kraken so they could get the glory of squashing rogue warlocks.”

“Could there be other factions who…who are… I don’t know.” I lingered on what I wanted to ask.

“I don’t think so. I’m not even sure how or why it’d involve the warlock incursion. Just grasping at straws because of the timing with the trial, and I can’t seem to make a connection elsewhere.”

Fuck. This was what I got for doubting the world was conspiring against me for a full fucking minute. Containing my aggravation and concern and anxiety, which’d looped to Milo’s encroaching dread, I took a deep breath and sent the most calming energy his way as I possibly could.

“Relax.” Milo stepped close, rubbing his hands up and down my arms.

“What’s happening?” I asked, remaining pensive, not paranoid.

“There’s someone skirting my magic.”

“Someone or something?” I swallowed hard. “Something demonic?”

My heart hammered in my chest so intensely it nearly pulled me from Milo’s mind. He steadied me here in his inner core.

Very few things avoided Milo’s visions, but resisting branch magics came easily to demons. They were deadly and dangerous and nearly destroyed Chicago when one sought to make me his new host body. His perfect host. I was a fool to believe with the devil dead, the threat of new demons surfacing in the city was over. Was it a small, random threat? With demons, no such thing existed. Was it one that’d survived the slaughter when the guild witches united against the chimera and his forces? I had believed Milo had ended every single threat that day.

He believed he had ended them all, too. How I so wanted to believe the horrors of our past were gone. How I wanted to believe new threats like this trial with Theodore Whitlock meant nothing. How I wanted to believe my students wouldn’t cling to their grief, how students like Jamie wouldn’t be locked in hellish trauma, how friends like Chanelle wouldn’t lose themselves to the same guilt that consumed me for so long. I wanted to ignore the bad, fake it until I made it, and live the happily ever after Milo promised.

“Not demonic. Not really their MO.”

“Then what is it? Not demonic. Not a hex at play.”

“I really don’t know. I thought it was a really bad void vision at first, the type that didn’t even come with a grainy image, just a nagging feeling. Something in the corner of my eye, but when I turn to look, it’s gone.” Milo shrugged. “It’s like someone is walking around the edges of my visions, almost as if they know them.”

“How?” I couldn’t even see Milo’s visions.

“No idea.” Milo pointed to the magenta string.

“The obsessive side of me wants you to work, to remain vigilant on any potential threats, but another part of me knows there will always be something lurking in this world.” While standing close to Milo in his inner core, my body outside turned over, and I buried my sleeping head in the crook of his shoulder. “Another part of me wonders if this is actually intentional. Is a danger really out there dodging The Inevitable Future’s clairvoyance, or is it just a coincidence? Are you afraid that maybe things have gone too well? Too calmly? Are you searching for any possibility of someone or something interfering with those happy futures you work so hard to create?”

Letting go of Finn, accepting Milo, and looking to the future I still had all helped strip away the pricklier sides of who I was, the paranoid side, the part that constantly worried if I wasn’t looking over my shoulder for danger at all times than it’d swoop in and harm those I cared most about in life.

“I can’t see everything and everyone, but I’ve had my branch wound throughout Chicago for close to a decade. Nothing accidentally or coincidently avoids my magic. Not the brightest successes, the foulest hearts, or the seemingly mundane. I observe it all, ensure paths converge to the best possible outcome.” Milo’s serious expression crumbled away, transforming into a sweet smile. “Get some rest, Dorian. Your field trips coming up, right? You gotta be presentable when you bring the kiddos to Cerberus.”

“You know I’m not going to be able to sleep with you working all night, running yourself into the ground.”

“I’m fine. Really. Still catching my beauty rest, don’t you worry.” Outside his mind, Milo’s sleeping body hugged me tighter. Whether on instinct or instruction, he wanted to reassure me, like cuddling would wash away my anxiety. Admittedly, it helped some.

“If you don’t sleep, I don’t sleep.” I crossed my arms, firmly making my stance inside Milo’s mind. “So, if you have a theory, let’s hear it. Sometimes, the best way to work out a problem is to share it.”

“That one of your teaching approaches?”

“As a matter of fact.” I frowned, fighting back a smile because if I smiled every time Milo made me happy, the muscles of my face would break from being overjoyed. “All right. You suspect the upcoming trial. That’s not grasping. You have a reason to feel it. You always do.”

“I’ve always suspected Theodore might cause trouble, even after being detained. But like I said, Kraken Guild has helped pick up the slack there. They’ve been instrumental in keeping tabs on the MDC.”

“But?”

“I don’t know where to even begin.”

“How about where this feeling first started?”

“I first noticed it on Cassidy’s pathway. A blip then gone.”

His mind had drifted onto Cassidy weeks ago during our double date. Had he been carrying this fear for that long? Had I been so wrapped up in my own happiness that I overlooked it?

“Looking back, there are others where it’s happened.” Milo pointed to a blue string, a red one, and a violet one far off on the opposite end of the board. “Yet no one is connected anywhere, and nothing has happened. Nothing I’m aware of. I’m having trouble pinpointing what’s going to happen, what the goal is, but this level of caution suggests something truly nefarious.”

Ignoring my own paranoia, I listened intently, hoping any little bit helped Milo piece together the scattered thoughts entwined with futures he couldn’t make sense of.