Paying the Piper

Twenty-Nine: Out of Love

A snarl interrupted us, just as I was agreeing to a deal with Dorian Gray. I turned, awestruck by the glowing form making its way toward us. It was Cale in fox form, shedding light behind him as he came running up to us.

At that moment, seeing him approach, the bar of steel I had been forcing myself to hold inside melted a little in relief. I wasn't entirely alone in dealing with this situation after all. I had already ruined it for Hannah and Ryland, but maybe Cale would know something or have some way of dealing with this to get us all out of here unscathed.

Then I mentally scolded myself for trying to put all my hopes on him. He didn't need that kind of pressure. He already put too much on himself as it was.

Dorian's lips twisted at the sight of Cale approaching. "Callen." He said the name in a near-growl. Then I could see him forcefully relax his features. "This could be a double deal, actually. I'm sure I can offer Callen Fitzgerald something as well."

Of all the revelations of the day...I'd never known Cale had a last name before. And I realized how little I actually knew about Cale and his family. I had come to see him more as a fox than a human. From the feral way he had acted, he seemed less human with a fox skin and rather a fox in earnest, with the human part just a skin to put on.

By the time I looked back at Cale, he was in his human guise. "I'm not making any deals with you," he said tightly. He reached out a hand in my direction. "Take my hand, Faye. We're leaving."

I looked at Ryland and Hannah, the former of who was asking who had appeared and what was happening. "Can you take all of us?"

For a moment, Cale's face hardened, and I sensed he was debating a lie. But then he pursed his lips and shook his head. "I cannot travel the In-between with all of you at once, no."

"Then we can't go." There was no way I was leaving Ryland or Hannah behind. "This is Hannah, who we were looking for, and my friend Ryland. I can't leave them behind." I wanted to ask where Cale had been or whether he had heard me calling for him, but it didn't seem like the appropriate time.

Cale didn't seem to have the same reservations. "Why are you here, anyway? We agreed you'd wait out of the In-between."

Okay, so we were going to have this conversation. I drew him slightly aside, even though if Dorian wanted his deal, he'd better be willing to wait.

I spoke lowly. "Well, why didn't you come when I called for you? Ryland and I didn't know we were entering the In-between until it was too late. And we couldn't just ignore Hannah calling for help. That's how we wound up here."

Cale seemed loath to speak about his whereabouts.

Crossing his arms, Dorian tapped a foot and summarized, "Hannah slipped into the In-between last night, and Faye and Ryland joined her a little bit ago when they heard her cries. Since Ryland is a walking gate-creator, it was a simple matter of their going into the Potomah. Any other questions I can clarify? Ah,"—he held up a finger—"Hannah is dead and Ryland has lost everything good I gave him, hence his melting face." He shrugged. "I'm sure it'll eventually reveal his true one beneath—the one he would've had, had I not bestowed my fortune on his birth."

My hands curled into the closest semblance of claws I could make of them, and I charged at Dorian for his careless words regarding my friends.

But Cale grabbed me and held me back so my swinging fists couldn't reach Dorian in my poor attack.

"Ignore him, Faye. He's heartless, but that's just what he is." He took a breath. "You wanted to know where I was when you were calling for me...I was in the middle of a dream."