Chapter 196

I nodded. “What do you have in mind?"

"What would be agreeable to you?"

"We'll stay together."

He cocked an eyebrow. “And if I vanish while you’re there?”

“Then I’ll follow,” I said, surprising both of us.

I didn't know if that was exactly true, but I meant it. His breath caught. His gaze dropped to my mouth, then flicked back up to my eyes.

“Vandelise,” he murmured.

I swallowed hard. “Yeah?”

He leaned in just slightly, close enough that I could feel the warmth of his breath. Then, instead of kissing me, he reached up and brushed his thumb over my cheek, gentle as a promise.

“Don’t make promises like that,” he said softly. “They could get you into trouble… and I may believe them.”

The quiet stretched again, and I realized my heart was beating too fast for words. I exhaled slowly, trying to calm the wild rhythm in my chest.

“Then believe it,” I whispered. “Because I meant it.”

He didn’t answer. He just watched me, something unreadable flickering behind his eyes. He turned away and went back to reading something. I stayed there with him until the first light of morning crept through the curtains, painting the room gold. Only then did he lean back against me, exhaustion pulling at him.

And when his eyes finally closed, I stayed awake, watching to make sure he didn’t fade away, but I couldn't hold out for much longer before I was asleep.

I woke up lying in Lukas's bed, bundled up in his blankets and alone. How had he moved me without waking me? On the bedside table was my crude drawing with notes and I scowled at it.

"I wish I were better at drawing."

"You could enlist Ben."

I jumped, seeing him leaning into the room, tying his tie. My mouth went dry just watching his hands tie the knot so casually. Alright, kink unlocked it seemed. Lukas looked refreshed and crossed the room.

"He's up, by the way."

I nodded. "I'll do that for sure."

I got up, shuffling down the hallway. After a quick shower, I got dressed and headed downstairs with the drawing, the pencil, hoping Ben wasn't slow dancing in the kitchen with Matteo or otherwise occupied.

"Eat another slice of this bacon, and I'm going to bend you over this counter." My jaw dropped as Ben laughed.

"Is that a reward or a punishment?"

Matteo laughed, too. "Fair."

I rounded the counter to see Matteo pulling the plate of bacon away from Ben. He looked up. "Morning!"

"Hi," I said, waving my hand. "Can I borrow your artist's hand, Ben? Not the bacon-stealing one."

He licked his fingers and went to wash them. I squinted in the bright light. The sunlight through the kitchen window was too bright for how little sleep I’d gotten. Ben came back, looked at the drawing, and took the pencil.

"Alright, what's going on?"

"I need you to draw something from a description."

"Objects are always easier, tell me."

I tried to describe the token; he bobbed his head, listening and asking questions as he refined my crude sketch. I was pretty sure that Lukas' notes were way more useful.

“Palm-sized or bigger warped coin of magic."

“It looked like gold, but it seemed too thick to be just coin?"

Ben hummed thoughtfully, his brow furrowed in concentration. He drew on, asking more questions. It was incredible watching him take the details I gave him and turn them into something with dimension. He never grabbed for another piece of paper and his eyes narrowed, filling in details that I hadn't thought about. The beveled edge —the surface wasn't exactly smooth. Matteo finished making coffee. I glance over at the stairs. Lukas was still upstairs. I could hear him on the phone. I could also hear Isla singing off-key in the shower.

“Does this look right?” Ben asked, turning the sketch toward me.

It was closer than what I had. The token gleamed faintly in graphite. The concentric circles, the runic script curling like vines around the edges, and the faint crystal inset at the center.

“Almost,” I said. “The runes here—” I leaned forward, tapping one set of markings. “They curve inward, like they’re spiraling toward the crystal.”

Ben nodded and adjusted the lines, frowning.

"Any luck?" Lukas came up behind me.

"I think that's as close as we'll get," I said. "Ben's the best, even with my terrible directions."

"It wasn't that bad.

He took the drawing and frowned at it.

"Did you sleep at all?"

"A little," he said, smiling at me. "More than I have in a long time. What's Matteo making?"

"More bacon," Ben grinned.

"Menace!" Matteo called.

Lukas chuckled and tilted his head. "Do you have any idea what it would look like if it were two parts?"

I shook my head. "They didn't say anything about that… but… I remember." I frowned. "I think I tried to separate it. I think I tried to pull the crystal off."

He turned it. "They? In your dream?"

"Celeste and that woman at this time. She said that when the other half of the token shows up that the mirror will too, and Reese had the other part."

He frowned. "Did you get the crystal off?"

"I don't know."

"You're sure it's gold?"

I blinked. "Why?"

"The mirrors are made of stone. If they all go together, then…" He blinked and scoffed, cursing under his breath. "Hold on."

He turned, and before I could stop myself, I followed him. Ben followed too.

He went to his closet. He pushed his clothing aside and crouched down to pull out a small lock box. It looked old. It probably was. He opened the combination lock on it and pulled something out before coming back to me.

He held out a black disk, etched in runes, worn with age and yet impossibly intact. It wasn't gold, but for the missing crystal, it looked about the right size and shape. The runes felt right and it emanated a familiar energy.

"How did you get this?"