Chapter 19

Cricket

Pathetic.

That's me.

Though I'm loathe to admit it, I've been reduced to following Julian instead of the other way around. And it's about as awful as I'd have guessed.

Maybe even worse.

But if there's one thing I know, it's that I'm going to do what needs to be done, and Julian needs my help with this whether he believes it or not.

Hiluron admitted—under threat of malice—and by malice, I mean I threatened to steal one of every pair of his fancy earrings if he didn't tell me everything they talked about—that Julian intended to go after the guildsmen in Irondale.

I knew as much already. I just hadn't thought he'd leave without me.

Or that he'd go without the coin.

What I didn't know was that the guild operates from the docks. Specifically, the westernmost dock before the land curves inward and the adjacent stone buildings up the shore a bit farther inland.

My family is from the Irondale's farmlands, outside the city on the eastern edges before the swamp. I've always avoided the area down by the docks, so I'm not familiar with the terrain or those buildings, but that's where Julian must be headed, so that's where I'm going.

Thank the stars he didn't take Slinger, or I'd have cursed him all the way to the Gatekeeper's dungeons and back. As it is, I owe the slimy sorcerer a piece of my mind, and he owes me the apology of a lifetime. But at least he didn't steal my only friend.

With Slinger for company, I'm alone with my thoughts as we travel south as fast as the little horse will let me go.

Hopper would have laughed at me. For falling for the worst boyfriend ever. For following him when I should leave him to his own devices. For doing it all with nothing but a grumpy half-blind pony at my side.

Hopper would have held his belly and doubled over. "Always the fool," he'd say, and it would be true too. He was the smarter one out of the pair of us. The one to think things through. To plan before he acted. To anticipate consequences.

What I wouldn't give to have him back, even for a day.

Even for an hour.

Even just to laugh at me one last time before we say good-bye.

But there's no use dwelling on that which can't be changed. My twin died of plague—at least that's what everyone believes—but I know the truth.

Hopper died of a broken heart. Hopper was the soft one too. The one to cry if anyone was mean to him. The one who needed my protection. The one who couldn't bear to go on when we lost our mother.

Though I swore to keep him safe.

I wasn't enough.

I never am.

No wonder Julian left me in Willowood. Probably thinks I'll screw up his plans. Didn't want my help. Not even when I still have the coin he's so crazy over. Fickle thing that it is, in my vest, quiet and still for now.

The coin may have protected me from Julian's magic, sure, but it didn't protect me from the man himself.

Didn't protect my heart.

Maybe when I get to Irondale, I'll throw it into the sea. Let some mermaid find the blasted thing. Maybe she'll have better luck figuring out what it wants because Julian and I sure haven't.

Birds have the nerve to be chirping as we leave town for the road through the farmlands. They have no idea how mad I am. But I won't let my emotions jeopardize Julian's well-being. He must be stopped before he turns into someone he's not.

My reunion with my neighbors can wait.

One more day's travel. One more night's camp. Then straight to the docks.

Straight to save my sorcerer.