Page 83 of Bound Paths
“You still have to explain!” Rose called. They had fallen through the void and landed back at Compass Lake. Rose was still picking herself up off the ground when Zrak started to leave.
In no realm could he just walk away. Carter agreed, growling still in veil cat form, herding Zrak away from the willow’s branches. She shook herself as she caught up to him. This god might be more trouble than he was worth, but he had answers they needed. Cassandra was happy to be rid of him. That didn’t give her a lot of hope for his usefulness.
Zrak’s face was impassive as he replied. “You’ll do what is needed to retrieve him, I’m sure.” He picked an invisible piece of lint from his shirt as he continued. “Everything is going according to plan.” His reply wasn’t cocky, but it was sure.
“Aterra trying to escape was part of the plan?” she hissed, her hand moving to her hip.
“Those details aren’t always evident in the bigger picture.” He didn’t look at her as he spoke, proof that he knew his answer was as useless as it sounded.
“Whose plan is this, Zrak?” Carter asked, having returned to his fae form. “You haven’t shared yours. How do we know we have the same goals?”
The directness Carter had started with Cassandra was overflowing to the Osten god. Rose was right there with him though. None of their questions had been answered so far as Zrak was concerned. They were still operating on the idea that he was the lesser of two evils.
Zrak turned to him, appraising the Vesten Point in a new light. “You don’t.”
Rose tried to count to ten to calm herself. She was failing miserably. She agreed with Zrak’s initial statement. She would retrieve Luc, but that wasn’t the question. “What are we going to do with Aterra?” she asked. “If you have a plan, does it include solving that god-sized problem? Does it still hold that we need three gods to balance the continent? What about a demigod?” She decided to launch a stream of questions at Zrak and see if he’d answer any of them since all other attempts to reason with him had been unsuccessful.
They had reappeared in the Burning Garden, within the shelter of the willow tree they traveled through. Zrak gave no further reply as he stood there. His unhelpfulness was maddening, but Rose was pretty sure he knew it.
“What was your plan, Zrak? If things are still going according to it, then it’s time we knew.” She gave Zrak one last opportunity to share this himself.
His lips pressed into a firm line.
“Fine. I can start guessing.” Rose had a list for Zrak. She wasn’t sure how they would help with Aterra, but she knew she needed to get Zrak talking if they were to solve anything. And time was of the essence. Even with Luc helping to hold Aterra, it was only a matter of time before he slipped his leash again. He’dfound some weakness in Cassandra’s magic, and Rose was sure he’d continue to exploit it.
She started thinking through everything she knew out loud. “You somehow knew what Carter was.” She scratched her head. “You knew before he was born what he would be.” It was a statement, not a question. Cassandra and Zrak had made this deal five hundred years ago. Carter couldn’t be much older than Luc. Somehow, Zrak knew another veil cat shifter would be on the continent, and he knew Carter was him when he arrived.
“Yes,” he said, though he offered no additional information.
Rose turned to Carter. “Did she tell you why she needed you?” Rose didn’t think the Lost God would be much more help on this front. Though she wasn’t positive, they could leverage this to help with Aterra. Even if they could—would Carter let them?
“Not really,” he replied. “She at least acknowledged that she did need me. But she was intent on what she said aloud—I would only shepherd spirits to start.” He ran a hand through his shaggy hair, damp with sweat from the movement between realms.
“What does she need from him?” Rose challenged Zrak again.
The Osten god was unphased as he replied. “That’s for her to tell him.”
A low growl rumbled from Carter’s chest. Rose turned to look at the Vesten Point. He was still in fae form, but the noise emanating from him was all feline.
“Yes,” Zrak said too casually. “He’s becoming more aligned with his shift. The more he lets the magic of Cassandra’s realm in, the more the three parts of his magic will unite.”
Rose’s attention whipped back to the god. “I don’t know what to do with you.” She waved her hands in exasperation. “You’re coming with us.” She wanted to walk right up to him and grab his ear, yanking him by it back to Norden house like the petulantgod-child he was. Let Aurora, Arie, and Juliette deal with him. He was their friend and patron—allegedly.
He looked down his nose at her. “You can’t force me to. You’re down a Compass Point,” Zrak replied. There was plenty of arrogance in the statement.
Rose saw red. Just as she was about to explode, an unlikely voice of reason broke through the tree branches.
“Do they need to hold you?” She’d never been so happy to hear Arie’s voice aloud before. Her shoulders wanted to sag in relief as Aurora and Arie parted the tree branches and let themselves in.
“Would you make the Compass Points’ existence harder than we have already?” Aurora asked, not unkindly.
The dynamic changed instantly.
Zrak’s easy confidence—his carefree stance—was gone. He appeared far too still. Rose wondered if he was even breathing. “Arctos.” His head turned. “Aurora.” His gaze returned to Arie as he said, “I can explain.”
“That’s what I’ve been telling Rose,” Arie replied. “But you seem to be bringing my defense of you into question.” Arie let Aurora’s hand slip from its place in the crook of his arm. She let him go as he closed the distance between himself and Zrak. “Please, Zrak.” Rose wasn’t sure she’d ever heard Arie speak so softly—so kindly. His tone was gentle, and Rose feared his heart would break if Zrak turned out to be the villain of this story. “Tell me I haven’t been lying to her.”
“There’s so much you don’t know,” Zrak’s words were quiet, but exhaustion thrummed through each one of them.
