"I don't understand you at all." Evangeline had been more of a mystery to me than Brenon at times. She seemed to dislike me but wouldn't risk upsetting him. What was it about me that made her so upset.
"I know I come across stern, but I don't know any other way. I want you to stay here. You make Brenon happy, and he deserves to be happy. But so do you, and if going to your family is what you need, I want you to do that. I don't want you to feel trapped."
Hand still holding on to Brenon's, my brow furrowed. "I'm not leaving him like this."
She nodded, then without arguing, she left the room.
"I'll give you three some time," Miles said to me. "If anything changes, send Goldie to find me."
I nodded as Miles left the room.
Joe and Goldie walked over to where I sat next to Brenon's bed and sat down on the floor next to me.
"How's he doing?" Goldie asked.
"I don't know," I said.
Joe squeezed my shoulder. "He'll be okay. You're owed something good at this point."
"I hope you're right," I said, not sure if I believed it.
My fingers were asleep when I woke, stretched out next to Joe and Goldie on the floor.
"Morning," Goldie said.
I rubbed my eyes and glanced at the light streaming in through the windows. "How long was I out?"
"Few hours."
I shook out my hand and turned to where Brenon was still laying, eyes closed, on the bed. Brushing my hand against his cheek, I wondered how long I'd have to wait. Was he going to open his eyes again? He'd looked at me for a second in the car, but since then, there'd been little to no response.
"Hey," Joe's groggy voice sounded from behind me. "Any news?"
"Not yet," I said.
The door to the car opened and Evangeline entered. She took one look at Brenon, then let out a sigh, then looked back at me. "Ara, you should take a break. Get something to eat. I'll watch him."
The last thing on my mind was going to get something to eat, but my stomach growled at the mention of food.
Evangeline settled herself on the floor next to me, taking up vigil beside Brenon. "Go, Ara. Take Joe with you. Goldie can stay with me if you're concerned."
"That's not it," I said. "What if he wakes up?"
"Go," Goldie said. "If he wakes, I'll come running for you."
Knowing it would do no good to argue, I stood and crossed the room, pausing at the door before I left.
"Come on," Joe said. "We'll be back before you know it."
Goldie had settled in my place in front of Brenon. With a sigh, I pushed open the door and left, with Joe behind me.
"You doing okay?" Joe asked as we walked through the corridors toward the dining car.
"Not really." Terra was still alive, Gia was with Terra, Brenon had iron poisoning, and we weren't any closer to solving the issues we were facing. And now, anything we did would have to be without the Sayges.
"I wish I had something comforting to say," Joe said.
I glanced behind me and noticed his expression was darker than I'd seen in a long time. This was getting to him. My shoulders sank. I didn't want Joe to internalize all of this. He'd relapsed once before, and I didn't want this to send him there.
Pausing in front of a door to take us to the next car, I turned and pulled Joe into a hug. "Thank you. I couldn't do this without you."
He hugged me back. "Yes, you could."
I let go of him and looked at him, brows furrowed. "No, I couldn't. If you hadn't believed me in the beginning, if you hadn't agreed to go with me, I'd probably be going crazy somewhere alone."
"You've overcome so much," he said. "You're stronger than you know."
"I've never overcome something like this before," I said.
"Hey," Joe squeezed my shoulder. "If you can kick the blue pills, you can handle anything."
I froze as I recalled someone mentioning the blue pills. They kept magic away, making those with magic unable to use it so they could hide. I'd resisted the idea of Brenon cutting off the supply but what if we asked them to quit taking the pills? What if they came to us? "Joe, you're a genius."
I took off in the direction we had just come and burst through the door. Renewed hope rushed through me. "Evangeline, can you contact the others? The supernaturals and Fae that are in hiding?"
"Yes, why?"
"What if we ask them all to come here and stop taking the pills? Can we hide them while their magic returns? If there's enough of them, can we work together to surprise Terra?" My pulse raced. Could this work?
Evangeline stood and looked into the distance for a moment as if considering my words, then she nodded slowly. "I think it might work."
"I can put out an announcement," Goldie said. "Like we do for the Fire Festival invite."
Evangeline looked back at Brenon and frowned. "This isn't how I wanted to take the lead." She turned to Goldie. "Do it."
Chapter 24
A half-eaten plate of food sat on the low table near Brenon's bed. I'd left only to use the bathroom in the last two days. Time seemed to move more slowly than usual as I paced the small room, stopping every so often to check for any signs of movement from Brenon.
Settling into my spot on the floor next to his bed, I leaned back and let myself close my eyes. I'd only slept in small spurts despite Joe and everyone else's reprimanding. There was no way I wasn't going to be here when he woke up.
With each passing day, Miles grew more concerned, though he tried to hide it from me. He wouldn't tell me exactly how long he'd wait until he'd given up on Brenon waking, but I knew it couldn't be much longer.
I opened my eyes and turned around, so I was facing Brenon. I ran my fingers through his hair, then grabbed hold of his hand. "Please wake up."
A gentle knock sounded on the door behind me before it opened. I turned to see Goldie and Joe walking in. Goldie had taken Joe under her wing, finding things for him to help with while I sat vigil over Brenon.
"Any change?" She sat down next to me.
I shook my head. "How about on your end? Any word from the others?"
Goldie had sent out a message to the supernatural community two days ago, but last I'd heard, there wasn't an overwhelming rush of responses. I wasn't even sure how they communicated, but yesterday she'd seemed disappointed.
She shook her head. "I thought we'd have more responses by now. A few have let us know they'll come. Some have sent excuses as to why they won't. Mostly, they're afraid. Word got out about Terra."
"And there's the rumor she's spreading," Joe added.
"What rumor?" I asked.
Joe and Goldie exchanged a worried look.
"Just tell me," I said.
"Word is that Terra will be opening the gate in two days. The rumor is that Gia knows how to do it."
"That's impossible," I said. "Unless..."
I'd been thinking a lot about the curse and the threat that Terra was to us. Since there was nobody else like me, that we knew of, I had wondered if there was another way to open the gate. Sometime in the middle of the night, I'd had a terrible thought.