Page 7 of Urn My Love

By the time we finished brushing them, the man had returned. Clipping two lead ropes to their halters, he led the two beautiful horses away.

The exhaustion from the trip hit me all at once, and I headed for the lodge, ready to find a bed to crash in. Pushing open the beautiful hand-carved door, I found the inside of the lodge was just as desolate as the grounds outside.

“Well, howdy, folks.”

My eyes darted in the direction of the booming voice. A man with a beard that reached mid-chest and bushy white eyebrows was leaning back in an office chair with his boots kicked up on the reception desk.

He pulled out a pocket watch and glanced down at it. “I figured you’d be here last night. Did you run into trouble on the trail?”

His tone was that of a worried father rather than one of annoyance.

My cheeks warmed. “No, I just found the trail so beautiful and I couldn’t keep myself from stopping to admire the flora and fauna.”

The man’s eyes sparkled. “I’d say that’s a pretty good way to enjoy a trip. You know what they say—you gotta take time to stop and smell the roses.”

I’d never heard that, but I liked it. “Do you still have room for us?”

The man’s eyes darted around the silent, empty lounge area and he raised a single caterpillar-like eyebrow. “With the current crowd, I’ll have to check to see if we have some vacancy.”

I nodded while trying to figure out if he was being sarcastic or if he was being serious.

“I’m just teasing, little lady.” He chuckled and handed me two keys. “Here are the keys to the two rooms. They are adjoining rooms, but you can keep the door locked between them if you prefer.”

I stared at the keys, my forehead creasing. “But I haven’t paid for the rooms yet.”

“Your travel agent took care of that for you yesterday. It was X something.” He shuffled a few papers. “Ah! Here it is: Xerxes Drakon. He said you’d be tired after the trip, so he wanted to make sure the paperwork was taken care of so you could rest after arriving.”

Surprised, but not exactly shocked, I murmured my thanks and headed down the hall to find my room.

“The Xerxes Drakon is your travel agent? He makes the world’s criminal underbelly tremble in fear, but calls to make reservations for you?” August’s deep rumbling laughter did weird things to my stomach. “For those words to come from his mouth, you either outrank him in power, or Ryls found out he knew you were leaving and didn’t stop you, so she demanded he make sure you were okay. I’m guessing it’s the latter.”

“Hm,” I answered noncommittally.

Both were likely true, but I didn’t correct August. He didn’t need to know anything more about me. When my work finished here, I wasn’t even sure which side of the veil I would be stuck on.

As much as I liked earth, Cucalas needed me, and once I was there, he would never see me again. So why waste any more of my energy on the stubborn, silent man who’d be gone in a few hours?

Finding the first room, I handed August the second keycard and quickly let myself into the room. I closed and locked the door behind me, not giving him a chance to follow me inside.

With the flick of a switch, the lamps in the corners of the room flickered to life, and I experienced a sense of déjà vu.

This was the exact room from my vision, down to the brochure on the small table by the window and the chessboard set up beside it.

Sagging down on the bed, I dropped my backpack to the floor and stared out the window. I didn’t sense Azurea’s presence here. So now what?

Worse, the urgency in my chest had grown stronger, driving me to follow it… but to where?

I’d come to this lodge in the middle of nowhere, confident I’d find the answers here. It hadn’t occurred to me that I should’ve come up with a backup plan.

Flopping back on the bed, I wiped at the stray tear sliding down my cheek. I hated this. My life had been one of order, one where I knew exactly what was expected of me.

Now I was stumbling around in a world I didn’t fully understand, and without a clear plan. Find enough power to stabilize the veil, trap Azurea back in Cucalas, and then permanently repair the veil between our worlds.

Easy, right?

Not.

And the only person who might’ve been able to help me on this mission had taken one look at me and decided we’d never work out.

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