Page 8 of Tino
“Fuck!” Silver exclaimed, looking around as if to see where he’d gone. “The mages must’ve taken him!”
“The locket!” Niam gasped. “He’s got the locket! We can’t find him without it!”
“We will,” I said, knowing that even though this all seemed like a fevered dream, Iwouldget my Tair back. I still had no idea what was going on, but my Tair was in danger. It took everything in me to not fall to my knees and weep.
“Why are we standing here then?!” Silver snapped and rushed inside. “Let’s drive!”
Julie and Xarius rushed right behind him and started the RV. Wilston, Niam, and I followed right behind them.
“Guys, we need to figure out a way to locate him. They can make portals, remember?” Wilston said calmly. I was annoyed that he seemed so unaffected by my Tair being taken. But I didn’t want to use my energy on him. He was right after all.
“Fuck, you’re right,” Silver and Xarius muttered, then Xarius turned the RV off and we all sat together.
“If your mothers could make the locket, then so can we,” Niam said confidently. “It was silver, so one of you make a silver locket.”
Xarius shared a look with Wilston, and like they could speak telepathically, they both stood and grabbed each other’s hand, while their other hands were held up like an offered plate. A locket formed in each of their free hands, giving us two lockets instead of one.
“This one is for you to wear,” Xarius said, placing one chained locket around my neck. “It will protect you against glamour and will make it possible for us to track you. I fear you’ll be their next target.”
“Do you think he’s dead?” I asked, dreading their answer, but I needed their reassurance. They were used to this, it seemed, and I wasn’t. Again, I was hanging on by a very thin thread, hoping to get my Tair back soon and then find out what the fuck was happening.
“I have a feeling they aren’t allowed to kill us,” Xarius said after too many seconds of silence. “The leaders could’ve executed us without anyone outside the castle knowing about it. Yet they still shunned us. They could’ve poisoned us as children, but they didn’t. The mages that have come for us, have never been strong enough totruly kill us. I’m starting to believe that killing us isn’t an option for them. I just don’t know why. It seems like they want us separated, and that’s it. Maybe the mages coming after us were ordered to harm and kidnap, not kill?”
“Hmm,” Silver said, seemingly pondering Xarius’ words. “I think you’re right. Killing us would’ve been way easier, but remember how I was dumped in the ocean and almost died? That has to mean they don’t care about us dying, though.”
Xarius shook his head. “Maybe if you’d died of natural causes, it wouldn’t hurt them or whatever their reason for not killing us is.”
“Or maybe,” Niam said, “they simply took Altair to use as bait. Think about it. We will do anything to get him back, so they likely knew this and have planned a trap for us.”
I grimaced. My Tair being used as bait was a horrible thought. Was he afraid? Was he even awake? Alive?
Wilston pointed to the locket he’d created. “Whatever happens, we need to activate this. I don’t want to wait around before we start searching for Altair. He doesn’t deserve that.” I was warming up to him again. He truly seemed to care about Tair, so that helped my annoyance with him a little.
“So, we agree that we activate the locket and start searching no matter what their intentions are?” Silver asked, as we nodded in unison. “Perfect. We could spend days guessing their plans for us anyway. I would much rather begin searching.”
I rubbed at my heart absentmindedly. I’d just gotten Tair back in my arms. I wasn’t ready to lose him. I’d done that once and barely survived it. Somehow, I knew this time Iwouldn’tbe able to survive it.
“I’m still not following anything,” I finally admitted, rubbing at my temple instead of my heart. The headache that had formed after crying in the cabin was now a throbbing ache as I tried to figure everything out.
“Oh shit,” Silver grimaced. “We haven’t explained anything to you yet.” I shook my head, then winced from the pain in my skull. “Okay, new plan. We activate the locket and start moving. While on the move, we explain everything to Tino.”
They all nodded and then stood and did something to the locket. While they busied themselves with whatever they were doing, Julie sat down next to me on the floor. “You okay?” she asked, placing her hand on my arm to offer comfort.
I shook my head. “I feel like my entire body is being ripped apart from the inside,” I admitted. Everything in me screamed to find Altair and hold him close. Keep him safe. But I was powerless. Like when we were thirteen, I simply couldn’t do anything.
“He’ll be fine,” she tried to reassure me. “These guys,” she pointed to the others, “they’re crazy powerful. They won’t let the mages get away with this.” I could only hope she was right. They’d said they were shunned mages like me, but I knew once they’d created the portal that they weren’t like me. Maybe they’d been shunned by a mistake or something.
“It worked!” Silver whooped and rushed towards the front of the RV, Xarius right behind him.
Xarius started the RV and Wilston came over and took Silver’s place in the front, muttering something about helping Xarius pave the way, and why a portal wouldn’t work, then something about being attacked through said portal… I had no idea what that meant, but Silver just pouted and went to join us on the floor.
Niam sat down too, looking nervous and tentative as he smiled weakly at me. “I guess we better start filling you in on everything. Silver, can you grab us some food from the fridge? This might take a while.”
Chapter 7
Altair
I felt wrong. The scents around me were wrong. Everything was very,verywrong.