Page 30 of Boundless

Okay. It’s just a golem talking about keywords and social media posts, no big deal. Really.

Stranger things had indeed happened, though this came really,reallyclose to the top three. Which was why a minute must have gone by before I forced order into my mind and I actually made an effort to speak.

“I’m sorry,” I said, and I didn’t have the slightest clue what for. “Hold on—what do you mean,your systems? What did you delete? And who issomebody else?” Those were all the questions, I believed. Though I wouldn’t have been surprised if I missed one.

“My systems that I’ve put in place to catch anything people put on the Internet about Verenthia. I’ve got a list with a bunch of keywords. You know,fae, succubi, werewolves, merfolk,and the likes. It usually leads to dead ends, and a lot of them are made by fantasy writers, believe it or not. They do extensive research about everything and anything—and I meanextensive.”

My God, I was tempted to rub my eyes because I could hardly believe what they were telling me.

“I got a hit by you, and I deleted a post you made on three different apps. I believe you said something along the lines of,if anybody knows how to get to Verenthia contact me asap!Pretty straightforward. Took the posts down immediately. I doubt anybody important saw them.”

I looked at Betty, and she looked at me.

“I told you I posted,” I stupidly said, only because what the hell else was there to say?

“Okay, okay, Pink. Let’s back up for a minute.Howare you here again? Because last I checked we don’t have golems here on Earth,” Betty said.

“Jesus Christ, it’sArez,” she said with a roll of her eyes.

And I would have laughed, I really would have.Jesus Christ? There was no Jesus in Verenthia—there were only stars!

I briefly considered I’d lost my mind for real, but no. Betty was with me, and she was seeing the whole thing, too.

“I’m here because I was banished, too, just like you.” She pointed behind us—right at the Aetherway.

Fire underneath my skin. “How do you know that?” Nobody couldn’t see the ink on my shoulder from the shirt I wore, unless they knew it was there.

“Because I saw you just now. All that magic, and the Aetherway still didn’t let you through. Youhaveto be banished.” Again, those eyes scrolled down the length of me. “Something’s wrong with you, though. You have fae magic, but your ears are round.” Then she looked at Betty for a second, and I could have sworn her suspicion made the air heavier. The tension thicker. “What are you, really?”

Oh, you know, just a good ole vessel for half the soul of a dead queen. No biggie.

“That’s none of your business,” I said instead and took a step forward. “Why did you take down my posts?”

“Because there’s no telling what they’d do to you. They have entire divisions dealing with us. They’ve captured at least two Verenthians that I know of in my time here.”

Shivers all over my skin. “Who?”

“CIA, I think. Could be some other division—who knows? But they keep track of online searches and posts as well,” the golem said, rubbing the back of her neck like she was suddenly tired.

“If the CIA was interested in Nilah, they’d have been knocking on her door by now. The entire town is talking about her since the fae came and got her,” Betty said—my thoughts exactly.

But the golem shook her head. “Do you have any idea how many townspeople talk about ghosts and magic and miracles of one kind or the other? Any clue how manylegendsare out there, how many people call the police in the middle of the night to report paranormal activities?” She waved a hand. “They don’t take that shit seriously—unless you use a specific name, likeVerenthia.Or any of the fae courts.”

“Well, shit. Does that mean there’s a lot of you out here?” Betty asked because I still couldn’t speak.

“There’s enough. But if they find banished ones, they usually take them in and keep them locked up. The fae royalties have basically given them permission. They do come here once in a blue moon,” the golem said.

I close my eyes and breathed deeply. Yes, I knew that fae royals came here regularly—that’s how Lyall had created the life-bond when he healed me. But I had no idea that there were golems here, or even other Verenthians, or that they couldbe heldby humans in prisons. How in the fuck did that even work?

Betty said something, and the golem replied, but I still couldn’t bring myself to hear properly. To understand.

Just how much was out there that Istilldidn’t know? I thought Earth was safe from magics and curses and the likes. I thought humans were all safe.

“…like magic. Almost exactly like magic,” the golem was saying. “You’ve got inputs and outputs and currents—and it all comes with no feelings involved.”

I looked at Betty, the question in my eyes. “She’s talking about human technology.”

“Yes,” said the golem with a bright smile—and I was willing to bet that those were veneers, not her real teeth. “Between me and you, if we want to be completely honest, magic is kind of the original programming language, you know? The OG. I swear, they’re not too different in how they work.”