Chapter Six: An Unexpected Departure | Part 1
A sudden, vivid burst of light roused Thirtyx from sleep. He opened his eyes to find the room illuminated by an incandescent golden mass writhing on Benn’s bed.
The mass maneuvered into a sitting position, revealing Benn, his eyes open alarmingly wide like golden headlights, his skin radiating an eerie glow. It took Thirtyx a moment to decide whether his panic was the instinctual repulsion Pfah magic evoked in him or if something was truly and terribly wrong.
But Benn’s mouth hung open now, gasping for air.
Thirtyx clambered to his feet. “Benn! Are you okay? What’s happening?” He hesitated a few steps from Benn’s bed. His hand seared with the phantom sting of the magical display he’d so carelessly touched the day Rhea and Benn returned from break. How was he supposed to help Benn if he couldn’t touch him?
With a sudden urgency, he remembered a set of summoning poppers Rhea had gifted him years ago. He’d never needed them, because he was always with her or Benn, but this felt like the exact thing they were designed for. Thirtyx dove for his bedside table and rummaged in the drawer. There they were, a set of pea-sized beads in a silk pouch in the back. He could throw one at the ground and she’d come running—
The light vanished. Benn slumped onto his mattress. Thirtyx sprang back to his feet, blinded as his eyes adjusted to the sudden absence of light.
He collided with Benn in the middle of the floor. Benn’s hands grabbed wildly for Thirtyx’s shoulders before squeezing them firmly as if for support. “Thirtyx!” he gasped.
“What’s wrong? What was that? What happened?”
“The— the palace. There’s been an attack.”
A ball of purple light appeared in Benn’s hand, casting an eerie glow on his panic-stricken face. He turned toward his dresser, then toward his trunk, then back toward Thirtyx with an utterly helpless look. “I— I don’t—”
A bright flare of gold made Thirtyx’s pupils contract violently again. When he pried his eyes back open, Rhea was in the middle of the floor. “Benn, we have to go. Grimm’s been attacked.”
“Grimmary?” Thirtyx repeated, but his question was drowned out by Benn.
“I know. I got the message too.”
“Then why are you still standing here?” She began tracing a golden sigil in the air. “Let’s go!”
He gently grabbed her wrist. “Rhea, we can’t.”
She yanked her wrist free but paused her spellcasting to level a vicious glare at him. “What in the Twins’ name do you mean we can’t?”
“They’re sending a carriage—”
“If you think I’m going to sit here and wait for a twice-damned carriage while Grimm is injured—”
“And when we’re missing in the morning with no explanation of how we managed to leave?” Benn gestured wildly at Thirtyx. “With a Verith as our witness?”
Rhea shook her head, golden sparks flying from her eyes. “We’ll sort it out later. Benn, we have to get to him!”
“He was stable enough to send that message.”
“Before he passed out from the effort!” Rhea’s voice was an octave higher than normal. Tears streamed down her face. “Could you not feel his pain? How in the universe can you just stand there and wait for a carriage? When we don’t know what happened or how bad he is, or—”
“And if we expose our ability to use Pfah magic because we were too selfish to wait, what then, huh?” Now Benn’s own voice was cracking. “You think this isn’t killing me, too? But he wouldn’t have sent a carriage if he wanted to risk it. He’s kept that secret his entire life. Rhea, please. You have to believe that he knows what he’s doing.”
Rhea let out a hiss through her teeth, and her fingers clenched into fists as her sigil dissipated. Thirtyx wasn’t sure if he was making matters better or worse when he put a hand on her shoulder. “Grimmary’s been training Benn to make strategic decisions in the face of emotional stress his entire life. His instincts are probably dead on here.”
Calley Jones 