I blinked, my jaw clenching. I hadn’t expected that.
“I wouldn’t believe all the garbage Sain spews,” I spat, taking a step in full expectation of continuing down the hallways as though nothing had happened.
“But he’s your father.”
“I told you not to call him that, Ry. You of all people should know how I feel about him.” I stopped dead, a small bubble of hurt forming in the pit of my stomach as I turned to him. His eyes had an odd mix of hard and sad. “You had a crappy father, too.”
“Sain is my friend—”
“Ryland!” Ryland’s rebuttal was interrupted by an overexcited voice, accompanied by the loud sound of steps from behind us as we were bombarded by Ryland’s protégé and full-time shadow. The eagerness of the child spread over his face in a smile that squished the kiss on his cheek together until it looked like a burn.
He was as excited as he always was. That was, until he caught sight of me, and his smile faded to something akin to horror, his youthful eyes wide, lanky limbs freezing in place. Then everything about him was more irritating than endearing.
I guessed gossip traveled faster than I thought.
Thanks, Dad.
“Hello, Jaromir,” I cooed, hoping it would take the edge off, but he took a step back, his eyes widening more if that was possible.
Jaromir looked between Ryland and me like a confused child trying to gauge which parent to side with and, instead, chose to stay still, an odd expression twisting his face as he tried to communicate nonverbally with Ry.
“I would pick who your friends are more carefully,” I whispered to Ry, my focus refusing to leave the kid, who was looking more scared by the minute.
“Interesting advice coming from you.”
My focus snapped to him, my eyes hard as he met me with a smile, the grin tentative as he pulled his hand through his hair.
“I’m sorry?”
“You’re my friend, Jos,” he said with a sigh, his eyes looking to the chain that still hung around my neck before looking back out the window, back to the barrier that had caused all the problems in the first place. “I still choose for you to be, and I don’t think you are a bad choice.”
I stared at him, my tongue tied in a large knot, shock pressing against my chest in an oddly comforting weight.
Joclyn, Ilyan pressed into my mind, his worry paramount.
I flinched a bit at the infiltration, my focus so heavy on Ry I had forgotten he was there for a minute.
“Right,” I finally said, knowing it was a lame retort. “I would still be careful.”
He smiled in that goofy way he always had, the look sending a shock up my spine that I hadn’t expected.
I gawked at him, expecting him to say something, expecting me to say something. However, I couldn’t find the words, so instead, I nodded my head.
Ryland’s smile stretched even farther as I walked past him and Jaromir with my eyes stubbornly pulled forward.
I could hear his voice as he spoke in quick Czech. I could hear the tiny squeak of Jaromir as he asked a question. Still, I walked, ignoring them, pretending I still didn’t understand the Czech, though I did. Three months living amongst native speakers, trapped in a Cathedral where that was the only language, had done me wonders.
At least now I could ask for more than the bathroom, although I would gladly choose to speak nothing except English any time I could.
Joclyn? Ilyan’s voice was terrified, desperate, and I felt bad he was trapped there, unable to leave the rooftop while all of this was going on. Are you okay?
Did you see? I asked, already knowing the answer.
Yes. All of it. His tone said it all. I want you to come right to me.
I want nothing more.
For the first time in the last few minutes, I realized I was fighting back tears, anger, and adrenaline, everything seeping away into an emotional drainage that was trying to take over.
His magic filled me in a frantic attempt to comfort me as my head spun again. The hallway seemed to tilt head-over-heels as my vision shifted, my magic coming to life.
In desperation, I stretched my arm to the wall, grasping for some kind of support, for some kind of reality before my magic pulled me into a sight, before the world around me sunk to black.
Precognition blazed through me in a powerful torrent, pulling me right into the dark, derelict streets of Prague, the streets I had been in a million times.
I ran through them as I had in so many other sights, and like in a million other sights, I knew what was coming.
The cloaked man.
He flashed before me, running from street to street as I tried to follow, as I waited for him to turn and remove the hood as he always did. This time, he kept running.
My heart beat in fear and excitement, my magic a heavy weight on my chest.
One more turn, one more flash of the tail of his cloak.
I turned with him, following him. In place of the same scene I usually faced, there was a lone man, someone I recognized all too well.