Page 86 of Incoronate
I started to shake my head before catching myself. “I’m ready.”
I wasn’t sure why I was so nervous. This was nothing more than recon work. Just a quick trip to the edge of town to see the barrier up close and personal and figure out what we were working with. At least that’s what I kept telling myself. But deep down inside, I knew what was at stake here. I knew that if we couldn’t get the barrier down, Ares and my sister would be trapped here with us. That they’d be chum in the water for the Order.
I couldn’t risk that. I had to get the barrier down.
Trace moved to my side, wrapping one arm around my waist while his other hand reached out to grip Dominic’s shoulder. “Hold on,” he murmured, and then the world dropped away.
The cold hit me first. That same bone-deep chill that always came with porting, as though we were being dragged through a place where warmth didn’t exist anymore. The world blurred and reformed around us in a dizzying rush, shadows and light bleeding together before snapping back into focus.
We materialized at the edge of town, near the old stone bridge that marked the northern boundary of Hollow Hills. The structure had been there for over a century, its weathered gray stones covered in moss and ivy that crept up from the creek below. I’d driven past it dozens of times before without giving it a second thought. It felt so much more significantnow, as though I were standing at the threshold between trapped and free.
I supposed in a way I was.
The cold began to recede slowly at first, like ice melting from my skin, before disappearing completely. Trace’s arm was still wrapped around my waist from the port, his other hand just slipping from Dominic’s shoulder. I could feel the thrum of our bond beneath my ribs, grounding me as the last of the porting chill faded away.
“Well,” said Dominic, brushing an imaginary piece of lint from his long overcoat. “That never gets more pleasant, does it?”
“Not really, but you get used to it,” answered Trace, his hand lingering on my hip a beat longer than necessary before finally letting go.
Movement caught my eye near the bridge’s stone railing. Caleb stepped out from the shadows. His hands were shoved deep into his jacket pockets, his shoulders hunched against the biting evening wind. His desert eyes locked on mine, and something in my chest pulled tight as we slowly closed the distance.
I couldn’t tell if he was sad or just nervous, but he didn’t have his usual upbeat demeanor. The Caleb I knew would have cracked a joke by now, said something to cut through the tension, or at the very least, flashed one of his cocky grins. This version looked dejected and uncomfortable, his hands tucked into his pockets and his head lowered, almost like he wasn’t sure if he was welcome.
“Hey,” he said gently, then nodded to Trace and Dominic.
“Hey.”
There was an awkward stretch of silence that followed. As though a wall had gone up between us that hadn’t been therebefore. I hated that it felt this way with him after everything we’d been through together.
I settled for the simplest truth instead.
“Thank you for coming,” I said, my voice gentler than I’d intended. “For helping us with this. You didn’t have to.”
His expression softened, some of the tension bleeding out of his shoulders. “You don’t need to thank me, Blackburn. I’ll always come when you need me.” He glanced at Trace and Dominic, then back at me, his voice dropping lower. “What happened with Carly…I wasn’t involved in any of it. I swear I wasn’t. I’d never do that to you.”
My throat tightened. “I know.”
His shoulders sagged slightly, relief washing over his features before he added, “She feels horrible too. I don’t expect you to believe it right now, but she really didn’t know what they were planning. They lied to her and used her.”
The mention of his sister made my chest squeeze with a mixture of emotions. I’d had time to process it since everything went down. Time enough to understand that the Order was good at one thing above all else: distorting the truth to meet their goals. I had no doubt that they’d manipulated Carly the same way they’d manipulated me. The same way they’d manipulated all of us. What she had done was stupid, obviously, there was no doubt of that. But I didn’t believe sheintendedto hurt me.
“I know that too,” I finally said, not wanting to drag out his pain any longer than it already had.
“Really?” The word came out hopeful, almost desperate, as though he needed to hear me say it out loud. Needed confirmation that I’d forgiven them both.
“Really,” I said with a nod.
There was so much more I wanted to say. A million things I wanted to ask and apologize for. But everything felt too tangled to unravel in a single conversation.
I needed to be strong right now. Focused. There’d be time for feelings later when this was all over.
Well, you know, providing we all survived it.
“So what are we working with?” asked Trace as he turned his attention to the field across from us.
There was nothing visible to mark the barrier’s presence. Not even a starting point. Just empty air and the darkening sky beyond, but I knew we were close to it. I could feel it.
“The barrier’s about two feet that way,” said Caleb, gesturing to his left with a quick jerk of his chin. “You won’t be able to see it until you touch it.”
