Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

WILLOWMAN

T he three shirts and two pairs of pants that Calista bought for my stay are packed along with the pouch containing a few toiletry items. The backpack is evidence that I'm leaving. Moving on. But to where?

Where does someone go when they can go anywhere? Where does someone go when their past is dead?

Freedom is a loaded word, one that I've turned over in my mind too many times and discarded along with my dreams. But now that it's in my lap and I have the chance to make my dreams a reality, I have no clue what those dreams are.

A shadow fills the doorway to the small guest room. "Are you going to stare at the pack all day or are you going to come into the kitchen for breakfast?" Cali says.

Her hair is tied in a messy knot on top of her head today, and she's thrown overalls over a T-shirt. But even dressed casually, the woman is stunning.

She arches a brow. "Earth to Marcel…"

"I'm not sure I can eat."

"You could stay, you know. I could use talent like yours."

But if I stay, then I'll never leave, and then…then I'll be trapped once more. Here. By obligation and duty and maybe even love. I turn to face her. The beautiful, courageous woman who crossed my path all those years ago and who I formed an unbreakable bond with.

"Do you want me to stay?"

"Of course I do. But only if you want to," she adds reluctantly.

The shadows of loneliness shelter in her eyes. She succeeds in hiding them well but not from me. "Are you happy here?"

"It's a place," she says. "It needs me, so…"

"There are other places."

She smiles, and her cheeks dimple. "You offering to take me on a tour, old man?"

"Hey, enough of the old man!" I press a hand to my chest. "I'm not that much older than you."

"True…true, but I look so much better."

I can't argue with that. "You know if I could stay…if we could…"

"I know…And you know if I could tag along with you, then…"

"I know."

Calista and I are a dangerous combination. Even staying here, under the same roof as her for a handful of days has been a risk. For the both of us.

"Do you know where you'll go?" she asks.

"Not yet. I think…I think I'll see where the road takes me."

She nods slowly. "I hope it brings you back here sometime."

I cross the room and pull her into a hug. She melts against me and buries her face in the crook of my neck. "Being cursed sucks."

"You're not cursed, Cali. You're just you. You don't have to close yourself off to love because of what you are."

She pulls back with a wistful smile. "If only it were that easy." The sound of a tinkling bell has her sighing and rolling her eyes. "And we're still fucking closed. What is wrong with these people?" She hurries out of the door. "I'll be right back."

I grab my pack and give the guest room a final once-over to make sure I haven't forgotten anything. Who am I kidding? I came with nothing, so anything I forget isn't even mine.

There's a mug of tea on the table in the lounge, along with a plate of toast. Pretty sure they're for me. It's the mug she's been making my beverages in the past few days.

I take a sip. Sweet and strong just the way I like it.

Calista returns, sporting a frown. "This came for you." She hands me an envelope. But when I go to take it, she pulls it back. "Don't let them suck you back in," she warns.

"You don't know it's from them."

"Who else knows you're here?"

"Good point." I wiggle my fingers in a gimme gesture, and she reluctantly hands it over, muttering something under her breath that sounds suspiciously like I should have burned it . "You're going to watch me open it, aren't you?"

"You bet your ass I am. I'm not having your so-called friends try and pull you back into danger."

"Aw, you love me."

Her expression is serious as she says, "Damn straight I do. Now open it."

I tear open the envelope and quickly read the message before starting at the beginning and reading it again slowly.

"What is it?" Calista asks.

"It's from Orix. The elite were attacked and…" I blow out a breath. "Serath is alive."

"The sigma who was taken by the graynites?"

"Yeah. There's a war coming."

"Did it ever end?"

"No. Cal, up until this point, we've been living in a stalemate, but now the balance is about to be tipped in the enemy's favor, and they need my?—"

"Don't!" She holds up a hand. "Don't you dare say it."

I give her the eyes. The ones that always sway her.

She exhales in frustration. "Fucking hell, Marcel. What have they asked you to do?"

"To prepare a plan B."

"And what does that entail?"

"Gathering an army."