Page 68 of Guardian of Exile

“It won’t be that bad. Morgen’s mom sounds so nice.”

“That is the problem. The nicer they are, the more they dislike me, and the more their offspring like them and trust their judgment.” It was the look of resignation in Evra’s eyes that made Nyx realize Evra was completely serious. She actually thought meeting Morgen’s mother was going to doom her relationship.

“How many of your relationships have ended after meeting parents?”

“All of them that got far enough for parental introductions.”

“Then I say this with complete sincerity: your exes all need to grow a spine. Morgen already has one. Just be yourself.”

“I always am,” Evra muttered darkly. “That is the problem.”

“This woman raised Kaden and Maruca and apparently still likes them,” Nyx pointed out.

Evra mulled it over, then brightened a little. “That…is an excellent point.”

Nyx clapped her on the shoulder. “Ready?”

At the Amazon’s nod, Nyx stepped up beside Griff. The orbs atop the six silver posts that formed the hexagon of the portal bay began to spin, slowly at first, then faster, until they moved so quickly they looked still again. The familiar thrum of the portal built, calling to Nyx like it had the first day she’d arrived.

Objectively, it hadn’t been that long ago that she’d stumbled in here, confused and alone and desperately needing someplace to belong. But it felt like a lifetime. Because she fit here. Because this was home. Something hard formed in her throat as Evra stepped onto the cosmic floor, sinking into ley dust until she disappeared.

This was home. And standing just outside the border of that home was the person who was going to take it away from her. The person she had gone to find so that he could take it away from her.

It’s not today, she told herself. You aren’t losing Kaliaris today. And hopefully, she wouldn’t be losing them for a while, yet. She needed to talk to her Station.

The thrumming halted, the orbs atop their posts slowing to a halt until the portal floor went smooth and glassy again. Once it had, Nyx tapped gently on the surface. “Can we talk?”

In response, the portal swirled, opening not to the ley lines but to Kaliaris’s Heart. She jumped down and Griff followed. Once on the vine-covered floor, the atmosphere in the chamber felt somber. Or maybe that was just her mood, knowing what this conversation meant.

Kaliaris said.

“I do. But it isn’t all good news.”

“No. But he’s only agreed to help us—one Station, Avatar, and Guardian— and only so long as I find his mother on Raveras. He hasn’t agreed to help any of the other Stations yet. And while I think he will”—she hoped he would—“I have a lot of work to do to fulfill conditions he stipulated for him to even consider it.” She had to convince Bryn to let her train her portal witches to become replacements for the Stations. And she had to hope they actually had the skill and ability to serve that function. “It will take time.”

There was an odd inflection in Kaliaris’s mental voice.

“If Tristen does what we want—if he separates us all from each other now, and you from the councilors, the Council will immediately know that it has happened. They will feel their tethers cut. You’ll have two options, at that point. You can either choose to remain here until the other other Stations are freed, or you can choose to return to the Harvester. If you choose the former option, it’s possible we can keep the councilors out indefinitely. They won’t have direct control over you anymore, so it’s possible. But I don’t know.

“It’s possible that if they combine their efforts, they could force their way in. It’s possible they are capable of killing you again. I just don’t know. But even if you are successful in repelling them, coming and going from here will become difficult.” Not impossible, with Nyx’s Hidden ability, but even that had limits. “It will make doing what is required to help the rest of the Stations nearly impossible.

“If you choose to return to the Harvester instead, it will still be some time before the others can join you. You will be there, alone.” They had said they had not enjoyed their time in the Harvester’s depths. Already, she hated that the only way she knew of to free them was to first imprison them in it once more. “But there is a third option. You could wait. Allow Tristen to sever us all from each other, so you have autonomy, but wait on the councilors. Give me time to sort out the other Stations before the councilors become aware of what we are doing.”

The mass of vines in the room writhed, rustling against one another. Kaliaris’s voice in her mind was sharp enough to cut.

“I’m not going back on anything.”

Kaliaris said. They hadn’t sounded so hostile towards her since they’d first begun talking to her, back when they’d disliked her because Griff had almost died trying to help her.

“I already said that I would.” Her own voice was bitter, to the same degree Kaliaris’s had been angry. “And maybe if you stopped being afraid, and remembered that you know me, you’d realize I’m not trying to break any promises to you. Everything I’ve said is true, but if you want to know if there’s another reason I’m asking this of you, then yes, there is.