11:6
“Honey, I’m home!” Gwen threw the front door of Regan and Maise’s home – Manse? Mansion? Castle? – open and strode inside.
Patti stuck her head over the threshold of the parlor, craning to look down the entry. “So soon?”
Siobhan waved the sheaf of papers she still held tight in one hand. Nothing else was needed for Patti’s eyes to go wide and her to pull back into the room then exit a moment later with Abe, Ivan, and Ben in tow, the latter supported by Ivan.
Abe separated from the group. “I’ll go get Dempsey.”
So saying they charged up the right stair, cassock flaring at their heels. They paused when Ivan called out, “Abe? Can you get Prairie? I think she went to her room.”
Abe nodded. “Yep. Got it. Be right back!”
Regan sauntered into the foyer from somewhere in the back of the building, potentially summoned by the activity. Or maybe he just wanted to stretch his legs. It was his house, as he pointed out every two meros.
“Noise,” he announced, either a statement, a question, a complaint, or possibly just mouth noise, who knew.
Siobhan waved the sheaf of papers in answer, drawing Regan’s gaze. He nodded. “Need me?”
“No,” Siobhan started, then shook her head, “Probably not. But if we do I’ll find you?”
Regan nodded before turning on his heel and striding back the way he came. The sound of Maise’s voice came from the direction he went, followed by the rumble of his in reply.
Not to say a clear delineation of duties had been established but it was kind of acknowledged that Kim’s group would handle the logistics of any abductions as the original group explained ARFA did not like them. Or something like that. Could a computer or reality engine or whatever ARFA was – sentient or not – like someone? Not Kim’s area of expertise, but all evidence pointed to yes. Or maybe. Anyhow, the original group had offered support once retrievals were completed, if needed, but the actual retrievals would be on Kim’s group.
About a mero passed then Abe came clamoring down the stairs, Dempsey and Prairie following behind.
Siobhan turned to Patti. “Anyone else in the parlor?”
“Nope.”
“Okay.” Siobhan shifted her head to indicate the parlor then headed in. The others followed and took seats within the circle that remained from the earlier meeting. As soon as they did Siobhan said, “Don’t get comfortable. This presented within an hora or two so if we hurry we may be able to retrieve Bria, she’s the one missing, before anything can happen to her.” She cast her gaze around the group. “Anyone need to grab anything?”
“I need a few things from my room,” Ivan said.
“Anyone else?”
Ben straightened his jacket lapel. “I’m good.”
Siobhan eyed him. “You aren’t going.”
“Say what?”
“Stand up. Walk to the far wall unassisted. Walk back.”
Ben rolled his eyes and rose to his feet. Giving Siobhan a pointed look he walked to the far wall. He might not have had his usual stride but he did make it. It was when he turned back and started back towards the circle of chairs that his knees buckled. Only Dempsey’s quick reaction saved him from hitting the floor.
“So,” Siobhan said, no triumph in her voice, just quiet certainty.
Ben flipped her the bird. She lifted her brows. He folded his finger down then flipped it again. “Give me a potion or something.”
Siobhan heaved a sigh then looked around the group. “Yay or nay.”
Prairie bit her lip then shook her head in the negative. “You’ve been immobile too long. You need time to get mobile within the controlled environment of this house where people are available to catch you. I’m sorry, Ben, but on a mission you’ll be in danger.”
Ben grunted. “We are all in danger on a mission.”
Prairie looked down then up again with a resolute look. “I’m sorry. I should have said you’ll be a liability. Really, I am sorry.”
“But it’s true,” Patti added. “Prairie just said it.”
“Fuck.” A look of grudging acceptance transformed Ben’s features. “I hate this shit.”
Dempsey walked Ben back to the circle of chairs and helped him to sit on the couch then stepped back to stand behind it with his arms crossed. Ben mirrored the crossed arms and added an ankle crossed on his knee. He gave the group a steady look.
For a mikro or eight everyone remained quiet then Abe asked, “Do we start at The House?”
“Do we have a reason not to?” Ivan asked. He looked at the papers in Siobhan’s lap. “Did the story suggest any other options?”
Siobhan shook her head. “No.”
“I guess it’s worked for us up to now,” Dempsey said.
Gwen see-sawed her hand. “Before you joined us a couple didn’t start there. Nieve was in a warehouse. There was this guy, Bisman, with a story that was found at his house and uh–”
Kim picked up as Gwen trailed off. “We didn’t find him. Didn’t try. His was the second story we found so no obvious pattern yet though it started questions. Plus, he was a serial killer.”
“Alleged,” Ivan added.
“Serial killer,” Prairie said with dead certainty which, yeah, necromancer plus she’d channeled one of Bisman’s victim. She could speak with certainty – dead or other.
“And he may be one of the kidnappers.” Dan shrugged when the others looked at him. “Can’t rule it out.”
“But,” Ivan said, “we know The Three are for sure taking people. We’ve seen it or at least the aftermath. How would Bisman fit in?”
“Rabbit hole,” Dempsey snapped. “Doesn’t matter right now. Focus on finding Bria. Fall down rabbit hole later.”
Ivan gave a rueful grin then nodded.
“Llora wasn’t in The House, she was in the tower in the woods. It’s still there,” Siobhan said, “I’ve gone back to it and what we found there, the books and potions, were still there. So not everything leads back to the House.”
Abe curled their nose. “Since I joined you everything seems to end up there though. And can you be sure that The House wasn’t involved with that tower? Like is it bigger on the inside? Is everything you ran into finding Llora still there? Have you looked?”
Siobhan blinked several times. “I haven’t. I didn’t consider it?”
Abe’s shoulders rose to meet their ears. “It’s okay. We all have different angles. You didn’t think of it. But worth a question?”
“Yes. Worth a question.”
“We’re off track. Again,” Dan said. When the others turned their attention to him, he added, “Good avenue of inquiry. Wrong time for it.”
“So do we just assume The House and go there?” Ivan asked. “Or do we investigate one of the other ways we have with Dempsey’s cards or perhaps Prairie’s Spirit skills?”
Ben twisted his lips to the side. “Will we lose more time with one or the other?”
Siobhan frowned. “We’ll lose time if we pick wrong the first time. Any reason to pick The House over going to the facility Bria disappeared from? Prairie?” She turned to the other woman. “You said you couldn’t track Gryphon from his lodgings because you couldn’t be sure it was where he was last. And that you could track Nieve from the Pump House because you knew it was where she was taken from. We know Bria was at the care facility earlier today and it’s bound to be where she disappeared from.”
Prairie was quiet a mikro then gave a decisive nod. “I can track her from the facility if that is true. Kirby can help which will make it easier than before. I think it’s a better bet than assuming The House and being wrong. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush?”
“It’s settled then.” Siobhan slapped her hands against her thighs and rose. She cast a look around the group. “What are we waiting for?” Then she held up a finger and turned to look pointedly at Ben. “Except you. You stay.”
Ben panted a few times then said, “Woof!” which got an eye roll from Siobhan.
#
“That’s really big.” Gwen craned her head back, then rocked back on her heels, taking in the height of Lady Mary’s Home, last known of Bria Rubiginosa.
She’d been expecting something smaller, maybe? Less castle, more medical facility?
Instead of being squat and industrial or at best uninspired, Lady Mary’s Home stood a palatial six or seven stories. Made of brick. Circle driveway, the central part of which was a small garden with four walkways leading to a fountain in the middle. Beyond this was an entry with not one, not two, not three, but four sets of double doors.
Above the doors on the second level with big windows with arches on the top. Six of them. Then to the sides of those stretched towers. Turrets? Square towers capped with something like gazebos open on the sides with domed roofs. Centered in the middle, up those – she counted – yep seven floors was a peaked roof with a statue of a female figure – maybe Lady Mary – stretching towards the sky. Wings, big wings, stretched beyond the two towers left and right.
She didn’t do the architecture like Kim but she was guessing the word for such a place was something fancy. The place had grounds. Grounds! Trees, windchimes dangling from their branches, manicured grass, artistically placed benches, some with fountains beside them, and cobbled walkways inviting exploration. Convalescing there had to cost the big, big coinage.
“I’m guessing they have security. Expensive security. It looks like that kind of place. How are we going to find Bria’s room? I’m betting you can’t just wander in.”
“I’ll handle that,” Ivan said.
He drew his town leadership persona around himself. Squared shoulders. Head erect. Authority an aura around his large frame. Sometimes Gwen forgot one of their team held that kind of position within the government. Then he donned that cloak and boom she remembered. From normal, albeit TDH (that was Tall, Dark, and Handsome) which there was no missing or forgetting, to Big Man in three mikros. It was almost Magickal.
He ran a hand over his hair then strode towards the entrance. The rest of the group followed behind like ducklings. Gwen found herself waddling just because.
Caught up in the rhythm, her shoulder bumped Dempsey. He looked down at her with a small scowl. She lifted her brows, pursed her lips, then waddled harder so she banged into him a few more times, putting a bit of elbow and Derby into it. He heaved a small sigh, shook his head, and directed his attention forward, causing Gwen to suppress a smirk. It was darned fun to mess with the big guy.
Dan held the door open and everyone filed into a lobby that matched the exterior of the building for tasteful opulence. To either side of the bank of doors there was a sturdy desk and behind each one sat a large individual in a security uniform. One male; one probably female with the kind of stature that made Gwen wonder if they could be recruited for some Derby action. The guards each gave them the once over then the one on the right asked. “Are you here to see someone?”
“Your site administrator,“ Ivan answered in a business-like tone that reeked of confidence and clearly put the guard’s mind at ease. The guard nodded and said, “The concierge can assist you.”
With that they went back to perusing the doors.
A chandelier – an actual chandelier – hung above a seating area to the left of the doors where squishy looking armchairs and couches clustered around several coffee tables. To the right of the front doors an antique-looking desk with a spindly legged chair sat looking very much like the concierge area in a fancy hotel. A large book sat on the desk, a pen resting on the open page. The woman with artistically applied makeup and a blonde chignon that suggested professional styling sitting in the chair looked up as Gwen’s group entered the area.
“May I help you?” she asked in a modulated voice that matched the impression of hair and makeup.
Ivan strode to her, hand out. “Hello. I’m–”
“I recognize you Selectman.” She took his hand, clasping it between both of hers. “What can I do for you today?”
The gentle smile she bestowed on him was professional and bland, but there was a subtle note in her voice that suggested more than professional interest. It didn’t take more than a smidge of application of her Magick for Gwen to confirm that there were deep waters under the woman’s calm surface.
Wish she knew where the lady learned that classy thing. Gwen sincerely lacked the classy thing. Not that it really would suit her a lot but knowing how to bury what she was feeling or thinking would really help when she got hit by a wave of someone else’s stuff. It was probably at some fancy boarding school or sorority conclave. They had conclaves – right? And that boat had definitely sailed for Gwen so, eh. She shrugged and settled back to watch Ivan do his Ivan thing.
“There was a disappearance of one of your patients today. An investigation has been requested.” Ivan turned and waved over Dan. “This is one of our investigators. We were hoping to see the room of Bria Rubiginosa to look for evidence.”
A very small frown creased the very smooth forehead of the blonde. “We weren’t made aware of any investigation.”
“Perhaps your administrator was made aware?”
When the blonde reached for the phone sitting on the corner of her desk, Ivan made a small noise of discouragement. “I’m afraid that won’t work with me here.”
The blonde’s eyes widened. She hovered her hand over the phone for a mikro then pressed it to her chest. “I am so sorry. That was very insensitive of me!”
She visibly relaxed, melted even, when Ivan gave her a small smile. “Perhaps you could show me to the administrator’s office?”
“Please.” The blonde rose from her chair and indicated the hallway to the back of the lobby. Ivan waved her forward then followed behind her with Dan in tow. He cast a quick look back, his gaze settling on Dempsey. A jerk of his chin towards the desk and the open book on it. “Room number,” he mouthed before turning back to the blonde and bestowing a panty-melting smile on her as she said, “follow me.”
“Anywhere,” he practically purred and seriously Gwen was pretty sure the blonde’s knee went wobbly for a mikro. When Ivan pressed a hand to the small of the woman’s back, gently directing her as she turned left and down the hall even Gwen’s knees went a bit wibble wobble.
He should bottle that stuff. It was one hundred proof.
Dempsey cast a very quick look around the lobby. A few people were seated in a cluster of chairs to the left but they were clearly intent on each other and not the right side of the room. The security guards were both studiously looking at the entry doors, though prolly they’d notice any obvious disturbance in the lobby. They just needed to not be obviously disturbing.
Gwen suppressed a snort at the thought. It was not really their strong suit, was it?
With a small nod Dempsey sauntered over to the desk, hands in jacket pocket, then lowered his head to sweep his gaze over the book. He frowned slightly, then pulled a hand free of his pocket to hover it over the open page.
A look of concentration formed his features then he decisively slid his finger along the edge of the book before flipping about a quarter of the pages back. It took less than three mikros before he nodded and resettled the pages as they’d been before the flip then he stepped away from the desk and joined the group where they hovered pretty much dead center of the lobby over a very nice inlaid compass rose in the marble floor.
Siobhan gave him a look. “That was fast.”
Dempsey lofted his brows. “Finding things is my Magick, remember.”
“Finding information? In a book?”
“Jack made me think of it when he said he can find anything, including the truth. Not sure I can do that but figured I’d try to find the room number. Worked. 3201.”
“Now we just have to figure out where 3201 is.”
Dempsey slid a piece of paper out of his pocket. “Map. Of the facility.”
Siobhan frowned down at it. “Where did you–”
“Found it. In the desk drawer.”
“And put it in your pocket,” Gwen quipped.
“Yep.”
“I didn’t see you go in the desk.”
“You were watching that close?”
“No, but–” Gwen threw up her hands. “Let’s just go.” She looked to Siobhan. “3201 is where?”
Siobhan slid a quick look at the map. “Third floor. Second wing which looks like it’s to the right. First room down the hall.” She shifted her attention around the group. “We probably don’t all have to enter the room. I say Prairie because you need to do your Magick, uhm,” she glossed over the faces of the group, “Abe, Gwen, and, hmm,” she tapped her fingers on her mouth, “Dempsey. Too many people in the room might look suspect. Once we get to the third floor we can figure out where the rest of us can hover.”
Dempsey nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”
They walked over to the hall Ivan, Dan, and the blonde had entered. A quick scan of the walls showed a sign pointing towards elevators. Clearly the facility was not used by Magickers. Much. Maybe not much. Or maybe there were separate accommodations.
In a world where Magick messed with technology it made sense for accommodations. Just such a one was made clear when they wandered in the direction of the elevators and saw a Tinker box attached to the elevator call button that probably negated Magick and a sign pointing to stairs way down the hall. Far enough Magick wasn’t going to affect the elevators if a Magick user used them.
Gwen started opening the door then turned to look at the others. “At least it’s the third floor and not the seventh.”
“Yeah,” Patti agreed, “small blessing. I’ve skipped leg-day a few times. Like all times.”
Siobhan referenced the map Dempsey had lifted. “This is the first floor so just two flights.” She put on false cheer and did a ‘go girl’ arm pump. “We’ve got this!”
“We are not happy about it though,” Patti grumbled.
They climbed the stairs with varying levels of enthusiasm with Abe at the front galloping up the steps, cassock flapping and buoyant curls flopping, and Gwen and Patti bringing up the rear and clinging to the railings like the things would invest them with strength. At the top of the stairs Siobhan opened the door onto the main floor, stepped out, then looked up and down before pointing to the left.
“That way, I think.”
Good a direction as any. As they headed towards what appeared to be an open area in the center of the hall, light coming from one side of it a falling on the parquet wood floor, Gwen read off the numbers on the closed doors they passed. 3210. 3209. Etc. Etc. Finally 3201. It was open just a crack. They halted in front of it.
“Okay, Prairie, Gwen, Dempsey, Abe. Fast as possible. We don’t know how much time Ivan is buying us.”
Prairie slipped into the room. Gwen followed, assuming Abe and Dempsey would do the same. She turned when she heard the door close quietly. Dempsey stood next to it, finger on the wood.
“Don’t you think we should leave it open since it was when we got here?”
Dempsey shrugged. “Kim, Siobhan, and Patti will make some kind of noise to let us know if anyone is coming around. We should be fine.”
Prairie shook out her hands then approached the empty bed. It had a number of blankets, kind of haphazardly arranged rather than being made. Probably left as it was when Bria’s disappearance was discovered in case there was any evidence to be found on the mattress or in the coverings.
It was a nice room. Big bed with a wood headboard and footboard. Dark wood. Looked antique. Two armchairs sat next to a large window. Between them was a small table with a pitcher of liquid. Maybe water. To either side of them were low bookshelves. Across from the end of the bed was a wardrobe. Doors closed. It looked like a nice, high end hotel room more than a hospital space. Cozy. Welcoming.
“It’s so quiet,” Prairie said in almost a whisper.
Gwen moved close so she could talk equally as low. “It is an empty room.”
“No. The floor. The facility. I can’t say for other floors but this floor is so calm. There’s no energy flows. If it’s a floor for comatose patients that makes sense. Most of the activity will be centered in the domes in Spiritus with just subtle readings in the rooms close to the beds.”
Prairie spread her fingers and hovered them over the empty mattress. Her frown smoothed out, her features going blank and her gaze inwards. Long mikros passed, one breath to the next. They flowed into a mero and then another. Prairie’s expression went from calm to strained then she took a long, deep breath and stepped back from the bed.
Stepping into the center of the room she slowly pivoted, hands forward, fingers spread. She rotated twice. A third time. Her lips thinned, then started moving on silent words.
As she mouthed them her emotions spiked, pinging off of Gwen’s Magick. Instinctively Gwen reached out and started spooling the heightened energy off Prairie and into her own core. Several more meros passed this way and then Prairie took another long breath. Her emotions settled, to an extent, and she lowered her hands. Shifting on her feet she focused her gaze on Gwen.
“I can read her energy history. Mostly centered on the bed. Then it moved. Floated? And then it just went,” she flared her fingers, like the motion worked better than words.
Gwen repeated the finger motion. Prairie nodded.
“Abe?” Dempsey’s voice rumbled from near the door. “Do you see anything?”
Abe pushed off from where they’d been leaning against the wall and walked to join Gwen and Prairie in the center of the room. Once there they juked from foot to foot before settling with their gaze focused not focused on the nearest wall.
They made a ‘humph’ noise. Then another. Turned slightly so they could not focus on the adjoining wall. Another noise. Another shift. After about a mero they opened their eyes. Wide. Very wide.
“There’s a tear. Uhm. Hard to explain if you don’t see what I see. I’ll try. All of this,” they waved their hands around, making the wide sleeves of their cassock flap, “is words. Or how I see it. Words? Ink. A drawing made of words?” They twisted their mouth. “It’s hard for me to explain what to me just is. Uhm,” they looked down them up again, “however you want to imagine it there’s an overlay of energy that coats everything and keeps it in the shape it’s meant to be. Only over there,” they gestured to the wall next to the wardrobe, “the overlay has a slight line that disturbs the perfect flow of the picture. Like the canvas was cut and someone repaired it kind of okay but not good enough that it will pass close inspection. Does that make sense?”
It actually did. Enough.
“So,” Gwen ventured, “the thing we saw before. The hole or cut or whatever that the bad guys can kind of use to teleport or escape or whatever?”
Abe frowned. “That’s a thing?”
Gwen realized that Abe had not been with them when they saw this before when finding Nieve. “Yes. It’s a thing.”
“Its probably how The Three are getting into closed spaces,” Dempsey rumbled. “Likely an object because it doesn’t seem to be part of the skillset we’ve been told they possess. Unless it has something to do with Geppetto’s manipulation of those strings.”
Gwen shrugged. “Don’t know the how but do know the what.” She turned to Abe. “So, probably the bad guys did something and entered or exited there?”
Abe nodded when Gwen waved at the wall.
“What does that tell us?”
Dempsey frowned. “Not enough.” He turned his attention to Prairie. “You can’t read the energy beyond that?”
Prairie nodded in the negative. “Just stops.”
“So we try the cards then.” As he said this he was reaching into his man purse. Messenger bag. Thingy.
Gwen frowned. An idea niggled at the back of her brain. “One mikro. Please?” she added.
She poked at the idea in her brain, kind of jiggling its incoherent edges to try to make it come into deeper focus. It went from a splodgy cloud to a kind of ball. No. A dome.
“The domes!” She turned to Prairie. “You said people in comas rest in the domes in your Spirit place until its time for them to wake or to die?”
Prairie gave a small nod. “Yes.”
“So, if we find Bria’s dome could we then use that cord thing that attaches the domes to the peoples’ bodies to find hers?”
A look of dawning suffused Prairie’s features. She smiled. Big. A smile that lit Gwen from within. Or maybe that was the spool of emotions Gwen still held. Oops. She should have let those go. Oh well.
“We can.” Prairie nodded. Hard. “That could work! I mean I can. Uh,” she bit her lip. “I can enter Spiritus and find the dome. Kirby could help. It’s all theoretical but there would be a cord and I should be able to follow it.”
“We,” Gwen interrupted, “We should be able to follow it.”
Prairie pinned Gwen with a penetrating look. “We?”
“Sure,” Gwen said with far more certainty than she actually felt. Luckily no one had her Magick so no one could read the certainty for anything except certainty.
Look, it made sense in her brain, okay?
“Sure. I went in with you before. You said something about sympathetic Magick. So I can go again.”
“I don’t know how I did it last time!”
Gwen pressed a hand to where she felt the ball of Prairie’s energy in her chest. “I think if I draw enough of your energy and hold it in me when you do what you do I might, maybe, get yanked along. It’s worth a try?”
When Prairie didn’t immediately give in to the obvious, Gwen pressed, “No one goes alone.”
Prairie frowned then her features smoothed into a look of contemplation. Then she nodded. “I guess the worse that happens is it fails.”
“Right! So,” she shrugged, hard, “it fails and it’s only you and Kirby in there. It succeeds and I’m with you and–”
“I won’t go alone,” Prairie said on a soft smile.
“You won’t go alone.”
“So,” Dempsey broke their moment of shared silence and smiles. “Abe and I just what? Stay here?”
“Watch our bodies?” Prairie offered. “We won’t travel in our bodies, just our spirits. I think it would work better. I can travel in body but I have less confidence I can yank Gwen’s in. I do think I can pull her spirit though. Like she said, sympathetic Magick. If she has an anchor to me inside of her,” she looked to Gwen, “that’s what you are saying, right?”
Gwen nodded. ”Right.”
Prairie looked back at Dempsey. “If our spirits are linked, I can pull her spirit with me. Our bodies will be vulnerable so having you and Abe to protect us will be great.”
Abe shifted a little, drawing their attention. “How do we know if there’s a problem? What do we do if there is one? Can we yank you out?” Worry flowed in their tone.
Prairie considered silently for several mikros. Then she sighed. “I’m not sure. Really. It’s untested theory. But, I guess if we stop breathing that’s bad?”
“Uh,” Gwen ventured, “yes. Yes, stopping breathing is bad.”
A small glint of light came from deep in Prairie’s eyes. Gwen blinked, thinking it was an illusion. But, nope. Something light was there. Weird.
Prairie turned her luminescent gaze fully on Abe then shifted it to Dempsey. “You and Abe watch Gwen and I – if I can pull Gwen’s spirit with me – and if we stop breathing or otherwise show signs of physical distress, uhm, keep us alive?”
“That seems like a sketchy plan,” Dempsey said to which Prairie shrugged.
“I know. It isn’t really a plan.” Prairie wrinkled her nose. “But its kind of a plan?”
Dempsey muttered something about Ivan. Prairie lifted her brows and Dempsey looked a bit chagrined then shrugged. “Fine. What do you need us to do?”
Prairie looked at the floor then she looked at the armchairs by the window. “I think Gwen and I will sit in the chairs. Maybe link hands?” She looked at Gwen. “Would a physical contact help you hold my energy?”
It was Gwen’s turn to think for a mikro. Then she nodded. “I think it would.”
“Well,” Prairie smiled again. “That’s settled.”
She moved and sat in one of the chairs. Gwen moved to take the other but stopped when Dempsey loosely grabbed her arm. Halting in her steps she turned her face up to Dempsey.
“What?”
Dempsey frowned down at her then grumbled, “If you die I’ll figure out a way to bring you back so I can kill you again.”
Gwen took a mikro to process. “Not sure how to respond to that.”
Dempsey shrugged and released Gwen’s arm. “Just saying.”
“Just thinking you’re a psycho.”
“Whatever.”
“Whatever.”
With that witty response, Gwen went over and plopped down in the seat next to Prairie. Dempsey and Abe followed them over. Dempsey stooped, knees out, and placed so his eyes were on the level or there abouts with Prairie’s. Abe dropped to the floor and sat with legs crossed. They leaned an elbow on one knee and rested their chin on their hand while giving Gwen a steady stare.
Prairie looked at Gwen. Gwen looked at Prairie. Then she reached out and took Prairie’s hand so they linked above the table between the armchairs. Slowly she lowered their hands until they rested on the table because she wasn’t sure if they’d go slack and their hands would fall and the link would be broken or what would happen and using the table for support made sense. Prairie nodded like she approved the idea then met Gwen’s gaze.
“Are you ready?”
Gwen took a fortifying breath then nodded. “Sure. Why not. Let’s do this thing. Whee!”
For a mikro she held Prairie’s gaze as fiercely as her hand. Then the world kind of went wibbly wobbly whee. Her vision blurred. And then–
Enter The Woods 