“Just breathe, my dear,” she crooned to her. “We will get him back.”
Mari’s face contorted. “I am—not safe when I am angry.”
“That is not unique to you,” Cara reminded her. “Managing emotions is a huge part of what you are learning.” She turned to me. “Off to bed with you. We need you recharged.”
I shook my head in denial. Sleep was the furthest thing from my mind.
“You may be able to reach Matt in your dreams,” Cara pointed out. “I can give you a herbal sleeping potion, if you like, but some drugs might put you under too deeply to dream.”
I thought of Matt and the sleeping pills. I knew from experience that they worked, and certainly didn’t affect the dreams. They must still be in his room. “If I can get into Matt’s room—I gave him my pills.”
The Watcher didn’t question it, merely dug around in a pocket, and emerged with a small bundle of keys. She pulled one off and handed it to me. “It’s a master, and will open any room. I’m trusting you won’t go on a looting spree.” When I didn’t answer her smile, she placed a warm hand on my arm. A pulse of calming energy surged into me. “We will find them, Anna. I promise you.”
She couldn’t guarantee that, not really. “Has your friend Ash foreseen that?”
“If he has, he hasn’t told me. But Fate doesn’t bring people together, just to tear them apart. It has plans for all four of you.”
I blinked back tears. I wasn’t nearly so sure that there wasn’t an ocean of pain in my future.
She patted my arm. “Get some rest. We are making a plan, so that we’ll be ready as soon as we have a location. Now I have to find Jacques—”
My mouth twisted. “I think he’s with Constance.”
Cara’s eyes fogged for a moment. “Yes. You are right. Well, he’s had enough time to recharge. I’ll get him tracking Xumi. Carting two unconscious figures through a gate is likely to be noticed.”
I froze. “She’ll take them to another realm?”
The Watcher nodded. “Likely. Tyrez said she has strongholds in several. The Mierva gate gets a ton of traffic, so I’m not sure I’ll be able to track her that way, but I will try.” She offered what was intended as an encouraging smile and sailed off on her quest.
Mari regarded me with concern and then suggested her go-to solution for stress. “We’ve got a while until lunch. Want to hit the vending machines?”
I rubbed a hand over my eyes. I was desperate to help Matt and, at the moment, helpless to do so. “You go ahead. I’m not that hungry.”
“See if you can sleep,” she suggested. “I will bring you chocolate and lunch when they serve it.”
I sketched up a smile for her. “Thanks, Mari.”
“I need you to promise me something,” she said.
“Of course.”
“Next time you go somewhere, don’t forget to take me. Okay?”
I stared at the pacifist ogre who now wore a surprisingly fierce expression. “Okay,” I promised.
She nodded, satisfied. We’d climbed to the fourth floor, and she peeled off toward the vending machines. Trix and I continued on to the fifth, and made our way to Matt’s room.
Talakai’s remaining books were still scattered across the carefully folded bedcovers. Matt’s side was a mass of tossed clothes and tangled sheets. Trix snuffled through them, then jumped up on the bed and curled up.
I sat down beside her. The box of pills was on the dresser amid a tee shirt and a framed photo of someone who looked a lot like Matt, carrying a small calf.
His brother. It had to be.
I popped one pill, and after a moment, a second. Then I lifted the pillow, held it to my nose, and inhaled the musk that was pure Matt.
More tears slid down my cheeks as I hugged it, and then I fell over to lie amid the clothes that also smelled of him.
He was part of me, and having him gone was worse than missing a limb.
