“Of course I felt it, but I knew I had to keep you safe, and having this information would have been dangerous for you.”
He rubbed his hands through his hair. “You have no idea how difficult it is to question my father. He is the Princeps, the supreme ruler of our clan. You accept your missions and never voice an opinion. I attempted to keep him satisfied with small useless pieces of information. And I stuck by your side to protect you.”
I was on my feet now, tears forgotten as the anger flowed. I was afraid if I sat any longer, I’d be the one setting things on fire.
I turned to Josian. “Dad, how can you be fine with this? You should smite him where he stands or something.”
Josian’s lips turned up in a small smile. “My smiting skills are a little rusty, baby girl. And unfortunately I understand Brace’s position. Don’t get me wrong –” he interrupted my unspoken words, “I’m not happy about what he’s done, but Walkers do have a strong control system. There’s not a lot of room to question the orders of those more powerful. And as Que is also Brace’s father, he was in a tough position.” He turned his head. “The fact that Abby’s still here, still alive, and not in the hands of Abernath, tells me you’ve worked very hard to keep her safe.”
“He’s going to come for her now.” Brace rubbed his chin. “He knows I haven’t followed my mission. He won’t rest until Abby is captured.”
“He won’t start a clan war over this; he’s going to be sneaky about it.” Josian didn’t seem overly worried.
“I thought you’d be flipping out, Dad, locking me in my room until I’m thirty,” I said, confused.
This didn’t mesh with his personality; he was much too calm.
He laughed out loud, and I realized how much I’d missing that booming sound. It gave me a happy feeling deep down.
“Oh, I’m thinking about it, but since Brace believes you aren’t exactly governed by the laws of Walkers, I doubt I could keep you anywhere you didn’t want to be.”
“Yes, Red, how did you get us off that island? I couldn’t open a doorway. That Doreen had it barred with ancient stones. I didn’t even know any of those still existed.”
I faced him then, letting my eyes scream my anger. I felt betrayed at the basest level. I would never have deceived Brace. I don’t think my soul would have let me.
“Don’t call me Red,” I said to him.
The rest I directed to my father.
“I didn’t open a doorway. I was trying to picture my room like you showed me. Instead, there were all these glittery ties ... ropes tethered to the image. I was desperate enough to just grab on to one and yank hard. When I opened my eyes, we were on my bed.”
“You … you traced,” his brow furrowed, “and not just yourself but another person. Aribella, that’s astonishing and thoroughly impossible.”
Of course it was.
“I thought she traced, but I couldn’t believe it either. No Walker has been able to do that since ... well, the originals, right?” Brace’s voice held the same contemplative wonder as Josian’s.
He was still staring at me. I continued to ignore him.
Lallielle’s face fell. “I’m so tired of hearing that my children have yet another thing to deal with, another trial they must overcome.”
“No, Lalli, this is a gift. Aribella is one of the few Walkers not bound by the doorways,” Josian said.
I was with Lallielle. All these new powers kind of stunk. Well, it wasn’t that they were so terrible. It was not knowing how to use them, and what new one would pop up when I least expected it.
“And it’s also instantaneous.” Brace was close.
I could feel that heat he always generated.
“You don’t have any time-delay, as there is to walk between the worlds using the doorways.”
I sat up straighter. Could I actually have a skill that was beneficial and not just a pain in my butt?
“So what exactly is tracing? And don’t ask me to do it again. I have no idea how I did it the first time.” I spoke artlessly, but on the inside I was extremely interested.
Josian smiled.
Sneaky Walker could probably read my excitement.
“Every object, whether alive or inanimate, contains energy, which you already know. But what I haven’t taught you is that they’re all connected to each other and to the planet they inhabit. This is part of what allows Walkers to open doorways. Our energy isn’t connected to any planets. We’re not held down in ways that other races are.
“Those ropes you saw attached to your room are the energy tethers that allow this room to exist in this house and on this planet. If the energy wasn’t tethered down, it would disperse and no longer exist in the manner in which you understand it … as a bedroom.”
I held up a hand to interrupt. My Walker brain was having no problem keeping up, but my Earthling side was going: What the hell?