Ladimer stands, holding out his coin purse. “Are you set yet, Kailey?
I seem to have run out of currency, you know.” Ladimer shows me that the purse is empty.
I make sure to hug Mortimer once more, and Ladimer offers his help if he has any more unruly customers. Mortimer shows him his weapons behind the counter and Ladimer seems to leave the matter at rest.
“Are you worried about the guy who ran?” I say, after we leave.
“Yes, but he, I fear, is only a speck in what’s happening here,” says Ladimer. “When we can, we must talk with Gunthreon.”
“Why is it that everyone’s gotta talk to Gunthreon? Gunthreon, Gunthreon, Gunthreon.” Then I realize there’s nobody better with whom I’d like to share my Devoten experience. “Okay, whatever.”
“Mortimer is a very special person, Kailey.”
“Yeah. He’s cool, I like him.”
“Yes, he’s nice, but he has a unique power of his own.” Ladimer points to my necklace. “He has an ability to produce a metal that is special in itself. Nobody knows how he does it. We call his metal
‘lutheose.’ This metal has certain...nasty effects for anyone with unhealthy convictions who touches it,” he says, staring at my necklace. “First few seconds, the metal burns; beyond that, it leeches poison into the skin of those it’s touching, and eventually, if kept in contact long enough, kills. Those who have turned to Velopa, and believe in its need to rule realms through brutality and slavery should be very afraid of Mortimer’s metal, but for some reason, I feel they may be seeking it out, instead.” He turns toward Mortimer’s shop for one last look. “But why?” he says to himself.
I touch my pendant upon my chest and feel its coolness. “Well, you know whose side
I’m
on.” I raise the pendant toward Ladimer.
“It
is
stunning on you.” I suddenly feel the need for Ladimer to touch it. His slow hand movement toward the pendant stops, as if I’ve just slapped him in the face. “Do you not trust me, Kailey?” His mouth is open, slightly, as he stands still, looking shocked. The suddenly overwhelming sadness that I feel radiating from him hurts badly. He feels betrayed.
“I w
as only joking. Cool down,” I reply. Bad part is, I was actually not. Worse part is, he didn’t touch it. But how could I not trust this man thoroughly? Why would I doubt someone who’s come to my rescue? Simply because my mom taught me not to trust everyone, but I damn well want to be able to, especially someone as valuable as Ladimer. I shake off his sadness, not wanting my own emotions to mix with his. I need to think clearly.
Once again, Lupa’s cottage is within our view. Gunthreon is apparently back and ready to leave. We say our goodbyes to Lupa, and I see the tears in Gunthreon’s eyes as he kisses her, softly. “Stay safe, my dear love. My offer is always open, you know.”
“Are you trying that persuasion of yours on me again?” Lupa kisses him on the cheek and smacks him on the butt to send him off. He grunts, and seems embarrassed that we witnessed it, which makes both me and Ladimer laugh to ourselves.
Leaving Meadow’s Edge makes me sad, but as I look to the sky and see the long, snake-like silhouette so many miles above us, I relish the small amount of hope I have in my new friends, including a certain sarcastic, fire-breathing ally.
Chapter 25
Defeated
“Kailey, I admit you’re a great worker, and one of the very best here, but you have not been very dependable lately. And you just can’t
not
show up. We were worried about you.” Over the phone, Evan sounds not angry, but disappointed, which is even worse.
“I’m so sorry,” I murmur
. “I’ve got some personal issues going on, and I don’t like it, either. I don’t know what to do, and you know this totally unlike me. How many paid personal days do I have left this year?”
“You have six left.”
“Thanks for not firing me.” I mean this sincerely.
“Just don’t quit on me. I know you’ll get through this,” he says. “Call me if you need anything. Take care. Just please remember, business is down right now, and the board of trustees is looking to downsize.” He hangs up.
“I don’t know what to do. Will I ever be able to go back to work and lead a normal life?” I say this to Ladimer and Gunthreon, who are sitting at my kitchen table, sipping tea and eagerly exchanging news that each acquired in Meadow’s Edge. With maps spread out and a safe place to speak openly, they seem to be coming up with plans for more traveling.
Gunthreon sits up a bit more straight. “Try to hold on to your job, because it’s
a grip on a normal life,” he responds, “but if it really came down to it, you would be taken care of. Actually, I hate to admit it now, but I have helped out you and your mother before.”
“Thanks, Gunthreon.”
“It’s the least I could do for your mother. She’s come to many a person’s rescue, my dear, present company included.”
I want to tell him what happened to me the other day, during my massage, but I bite my tongue, remembering my mom
’s request.
“Ladimer, Kailey,” says Gunthreon, “I
’ve spoken with many people and creatures, and nobody seems to know where Neda and Velopa are. It’s true that all their locations were generally kept secret, but I have always had a track on them, until now. He turns to me. “Energies this strong shouldn’t be able to vanish like this. It’s strange that they are both missing, but oddly reassuring to know that it’s not just one that is gone. I think, in finding them, we will discover what is truly going on with both our realms. The only clue I heard was that Devoten’s castle is now under lockdown.”
I shudder at his name as it rolls off Gunthreon’s lips. “That guy gives me the willies. Even just seeing him m
ade me feel very strange,” I comment. “What’s his story?”
Gunthreon and Ladimer exchange a very brief glance, and Ladimer holds out his hand, giving Gunthreon the go-ahead. “Believe it or not,” says Gunthreon, “Devoten is infatuation—that’s his ability.
” My brain churns how dangerous that could be. “He can make you willing to give your own life just for a chance to stand next to him. Thank Neda he mostly chooses grebles, for they seem to be the weakest against him. Still, quite the deadly fan club.” He hesitates. “In my experience, one knows they are under his control, bowing to his every need. It makes one feel small and unworthy. But it’s draining for him. He must constantly keep control over his minions. Some have the natural ability to block his control, but he’s very strong.”
“Devoten was no
t always what he is today,” begins Ladimer. “He was actually once a kind and gentle soul, capable of making anyone happy when the chips were down. Believe it or not, we shared the same circle of friends. We shared some good times together, but he came upon some much harder times after a bad deal with regards to a neighboring piece of land. He began talking nonsense and travelling with some strange individuals.
One day, he returned to town, and I remember his exact words:
‘I’ve learned to hate in full strength, and the power is incredible. Fear tomorrow, Ladimer.’ And with that, he was not seen again for a long time.
When he did show up again, I felt his new power an
d saw it in action. He had developed what the elders call sudo-abominor: a change in oneself in which hate takes over a portion of one’s cognitive being, like a leech, sucking and draining all goodness until it’s fed. It happens rarely, but when it does, the individual should be contained as soon as possible, for once sudo-abominor is fed, it can travel to a new host.” Ladimer’s energy briefly shudders, then resumes its complacency. “Unfortunately, Devoten was too wise to be caught. He appeared in town one day and began engaging with a local woman. The fire in his eyes was insanity itself. She deflected his passes at first, but he was so persistent, he made her fall madly in love with him. After weeks of her attention, he grew tired and annoyed with her, so he had her cut out her own tongue with Mortimer’s golden knife.
Still, she followed him around silently for a month, doin
g all his nasty biddings. One day, I caught her alone in a horse stall, crying. I turned her face to mine and knew it had to end. I could fix her tongue, but not her infatuation, so I did what I had to do. I hate Devoten for what he has become, but I fear him. Infatuation is no simple emotion.”
My doorbell rings. Ladimer reaches for one of my bags as I open the door for my mom. She seems excited to see us all. She gives Gunthreon a big kiss on his cheek and hugs Ladimer very tightly, confirming my belief they indeed know each other. I notice Ladimer shake slightly as he releases my mom. But if they
are
acquaintances, or even friends, why has he not healed her?
Suddenly, Ladimer starts laughing, holding Amber
’s lutheose pendant and grinning ear to ear, evidently not burning his hand.
“Gunthreon, do you know what I’m holding in my hand?”
“Jewelry.”
“It’s that damn plant you get your tea from. I can feel it through the amber. I could probably get it to grow again.”
“Why, I’ll be,” Gunthreon twitters.
As I run to see the pendant, the rush of excitement hits me so fast that I trip over my own two feet, but before I even hit the floor, my mom has me in her arms.
“Thanks, Mom.” She helps me to my feet. “Since you can move like that, how come I remember a certain painful fall off the monkey bars at age ten that sent me to the emergency room?”
“You had to learn, honey,” she says. “I couldn’t
totally
shelter you.”
I bite my tongue and just furrow my brow. “Well, I did get that pendant for Amber. I can’t keep it for myself. Karma, remember?
Maybe when she tires of it I can reclaim it. Well, giving it to her gives me a damn good reason to go to work.” I hand my mom her snow globe and her eyes twinkle as she shakes it.
Ladimer stands up and announces that he’s going home.
“Uh, don’t you think your mom might freak out if you just wander in?” I ask.
He laughs heartily. “Yeah, well, I guess I’ll go borrow your bathroom for a minute.”
“Can I watch?”
My mom gasps. “Kailey, that’s rude!”
“He’s going to transform back into a seven year old.” I’m intrigued.
But he doesn’t let me follow him. Soon enough, “Philip” emerges from my bathroom in
Ladimer’s shirt which hangs below his knees and no pants. “Wouldn’t she have noticed that you’ve been missing?” I say. “And what is she gonna think when you walk in like that!”
“Actually, she hired a sitter whom I have a certain relationship with: she gets paid for the time she stays in my apartment, having sex with her boyfriend, as I come and go as I please. But I need to figure something out fast. I need to be that knock out gorgeous guy with the ass you and your mother are always staring at.
“Don’t talk like that in your current condition. It just weirds me out,” I reply. My mom falls over laughing—a melodic sound to my ears—into the couch, but then grips her side from the pain, and I feel my love for her deep in my heart.
*********
That night, as everyone has left, I decide that I will indeed go to work tomorrow after a good night’s sleep. I heat myself up some tea and sit before the television in my nice, satiny pajamas. With nobody around except Kioto, it’s peaceful, and I feel nice and comfy.
As Kioto curls up at the front door, I wonder if Bu is outside. Of course, I promise myself I will not doze off on the couch, but who really tries to fight that battle anyway?
The windows are open, and the air coming in is cool, promising fall is on its way. I can hear the last of the summertime crickets chirping their farewells.
Sleep wins.
*********
I walk barefoot through a parking lot, the asphalt still warm from the day’s sun. There’s only one car in this lot, a familiar one—a black Mercedes SUV. Slowly, I walk toward it, drawn to its mysterious solemnity, for there is music coming from the car—a sad, haunting sound. Russell sits at the wheel, just staring forward. His eyes are blackened from lack of sleep, and there are dried-up tear stains on his cheeks. I knock on the window, but he’s so lost in his own thoughts that he doesn’t budge.
It is then that I look down into his hands and see something that my eyes don’t clearly interpret. With a closer look, I see it’s a soft, small, blue teddy bear covering its mouth with its own paws, like a “speak no evil” monkey, which, like all three of those monkeys, has always creeped me out. Closer examination reveals that something resembling blood is splattered all over the bear.
Russell turns slowly to me with unseeing eyes, and he mouths one word: “Why?” As I stare at him, I realize that he is not alone. Just barely peeking from the passenger seat, is another head, cloaked, and all I see is a very wide grin.
*********
As I jump from the dream, I find drool dripping down the lip of my mouth, and I wipe it off. “Whoa, Kioto. That was weird.” Kioto ignores me, instead getting up and going to my bedroom, which is exactly what I should be doing. But
I decide to stop in the bathroom first; I’d rather go now than wake myself up having to go half an hour before my alarm clock goes off. While rinsing my hands, I glance in the mirror.
My reflection stands with its hands over its eyes and a beating human heart in the sink.
How can I see myself if I’m covering my eyes?
My heart skips a beat, and I suddenly stand up off my couch for the second time. “Damn! What keeps happening?”
Kioto is at the front door, asleep.
At this point, I
’m frightened, unsure whether or not I’m still dreaming. But I reach over and turn on the light, and all seems normal. I keep thinking of the “speak no evil” monkey. Quickly, I run to my bedroom and slip under the covers. My breathing is heavy, and I remember the meditation techniques I’ve been working on.
The smell of lilacs is the last thing I remember.