“Uh uh.” She shook her head and folded it up. “I can’t risk you giving us both an impromptu identity crisis in the parking lot. I need to get where I’m going already.”
“Fine.” Will sighed and folded his arms, tucking his hands behind his elbows. He gave himself a brief hug to ground himself. He didn’t want to seem overly eager. “You know we don’t have to take the turnpike.” Will bit his lip and raised his brows. “I know a much, much faster way.”
He watched as Zani took another swig of water and rubbed at her temples. He braced himself for further rejection. He’d conveyed the offer to her through Maida more than once since the night they’d met.
Just say the word, and I’ll be there. I can take Zani anywhere she wants to go.
And on every occasion, Zani had turned the offer down. She had reasons. She didn’t want to risk carrying enchanted–or worse yet,cursed–relics through the unstable “in-between” spaces. She enjoyed conventional travel, the act of looking out the window and watching the scenery change. She didn’t want to tax him, or be a burden. Blah, blah, blah.
Will wished for nothing more than Zani to tax him. He perched on the seat opposite her. Will hoped his face reflected his sympathy for her long journey, and not just his excitement about the chance to play the hero. He really couldn’t stop picturing carrying her across the threshold of the Mudpuddle in a blaze of gentlemanly glory.
“I don’t know.” Zani bit her lip. “But maybe….” She consulted a brass pocket watch and seemed to reconsider, giving him some hope. Will was excited to see she was thinking about the offer. She was genuinely considering it! “But my travel case is quite heavy.”
“It’s nothing.” Will waved her concerns away. “I’ve carried far heavier cases. I’m much stronger than I look.” He tried not to puff out his chest but Zani wasn’t even looking at him. She was staring at her satchel on the other seat.
“And I have the satchel as well.” She tilted her head, as if calculating a figure, or more likely doing an internal inventory of whatever was inside the bag. “I suppose I could leave the satchel in the van if it’s too much. But what about the van?” She looked concerned.
“Not to worry, I can just pop right back for it. Best if I wait a couple of hours till traffic clears. You’d really be doingmea favor.” Will played his last card. “And the satchel should be fine as well, as long as you can hold on to it.”
“You know what? Why not?” Zani sat up straighter, slipped an elastic band off her wrist, and pulled her long, dark, shining hair into a sleek ponytail. “The sooner we get back, the sooner I can lie down and enjoy being unconscious.”
He saw the circles under her eyes now, and the way her forehead was creased with worry.
“Zani,” he probed, “is everything–”
“I don’t want to talk about it, Will.” She cut him off. “That’s another reason I’d like to get to Maida’s as soon as possible. I’m not sure how much more small talk I can handle right now.”
Will felt deflated. Of all the reasons to want to port with him, spendinglesstime with him hardly seemed like the best. He hid his dismay, poorly, by picking at a loose thread on his cuff.
“I’m sorry, Will.” Zani softened as she apologized. “Please don’t take it personally. It’s just … well…” She fished around for the right words. “I’ve had some setbacks recently and this isn’t quite the homecoming I’d envisioned. In fact, I’m not sure how long I’ll even be staying. I’ve got to get right back out to the field, considering recent developments.” She pulled the satchel’s crossbody strap across her chest.
“Oh, dear,” Will said and frowned.
“Oh, dear what?” Zani whipped her head back toward him, staring quizzically at the way he twisted his hands.
“Nothing, nothing at all,” Will insisted. “I guess I was just hoping that you might stick around for a bit. Boston’s not a bad city to settle in, you know. And there aren’t many magical communities out there as safe and lovely as Primrose Court.”
“And by safe, do you mean boring?” Zani rolled her eyes and stood up.
“Primrose Court is not boring!” Will objected. “We recently had an incident with a rogue mage, and the Mudpuddle disappearing and?—”
“So I’ve heard,” Zani interrupted. “I expect that’s the most excitement in Primrose for decades, though. Didn’t the mage get turned into a betta fish?”
“He did.” Will nodded.
“So all’s well that ended well? You can get back to your town council meetings and arguments over whose potions belong on the front shelf of the apothecary?” Zani smiled politely. “Primrose Court is stuck in the past. Some things never change.”
“Minerva Lathrop and Zephyr Nightshade are opening a cheese shop and commissary!” Will defended the community he knew and loved. “It’s a rather avant garde concept!”
“If you say so.” Zani tapped her foot impatiently. “Are we doing this?”
“Ready when you are.” Will drew the curtains carefully and waved a hand in front of the blank interior wall of the van. He wished, now, that he had parked on the ground level of the parking garage. Porting was always easier and more straightforward the closer you were to the earth. But he could still feel the energy of the ley lines that pumped strongly beneath them. When he waved his hand, he could feel his own blood move and intersect with that energy, as if he became a part of the essential network that connected all beings and all places at all times. He bent down on one knee, not unlike the man in the airport terminal.
Zani registered this warily. “What the Hecate are you doing?” she asked. “You’re not proposing to me, are you?” She looked worried now. She glanced at the van door like she might bolt.
Will’s hands had grown warm and were beginning to glow. Next came the hum, which was not so much an audible noise as the roaring vacuum of silence. Zani looked alarmed.
“You’ve never ported before,” Will said, recognizing his error and knowing it to be true as he spoke the words. He stuck his hands beneath his elbows, slowing the progression as much as he could. Once a portal was activated and had begun to open, it was extremely difficult, painful even, to reverse the process. If he had known it was her first time, he would have gone slower, and been more gentle.
