Page 58 of Awakened Ash and Alchemy

“I know. And I am sorry that you’re being dragged into our world like this, when normally the Accords are here to protect you and your kind.” He sighed. “But, as much as I want to shield you from it, you deserve nothing but the truth. Even if it may seem overwhelming to you, it’s the truth.”

Overwhelming? Ha! People got overwhelmed by taxes, gridlocked traffic on the highway, or credit card bills that arrived after a big Christmas splurge. They weren’t overwhelmed by magick, dark lords, and men dressed in armored leather—things that had no business existing on the other side of a bathroom door.

“I would rather you fear reality than trust a lie.”

She believed him, which frightened her almost as much as Katarra. Why was she so willingly to believe Zarek like this?

“And I am truly sorry to scare you…’’ For the first time, his voice sounded like a man instead of a warrior. “But you are in danger, whether you believe in our war or not. Katarra has begun his search for you, and he’ll use you to his advantage, or he’ll—” He paused as if to wince. “I won’t let that happen…” His silence fell heavily, exacerbated by the door between them, where they sat back-to-back, on the floor.

“What about my aunt?”

“You are the priority. You won’t be missed.”

“Excuse me?” Didn’t that get her back up.

“There is a time difference here.”

“Right. Like time zones?”

“Time is not fixed, it flexes. When I am in your realm, I exist on your time. But when crossing the veyll, time stretches or compresses between realms. We have a historian who says time involves quantum physics, linear lateral lines, and distance variables such as the distance from the Veyllgates, season, moon cycle, and planetary alignments. Footnote version, two minutes in your realm could equal two days in Paradox. In this instance time is on our side, where no one will notice you’re gone.”

Where the hell am I?

“Your aunt does not carry your anomaly. She does not disrupt magick. That makes her less valuable to him.”

“Less valuable?” The frown was fierce.

“For now, Katarra seeks power. And you are that new power. Your aunt is leverage only if she becomes a pathway to get to you as a tool to control you.”

“And would he?”

“Yes. If Katarra cannot reach you directly, he will probe your life for weaknesses as a strategy.”

She snarled through gritted teeth, “And what are you going to do about that?”

Zarek’s tone shifted into that cold, tactical tone she was beginning to despise. “I will assign the Vanguard to monitor her. They will watch for any Black Cloak activity.”

“Are you like the police?”

“We’re the custodians who protect the realms. Your world is what we call the mortal realm.”

“Where exactly am I?” Her pulse tripped again not just with panic, but over the stupidity for not asking sooner. But in her defense, she had a lot to deal with.

“Paradox. It is the realm where magic exists openly.”

“A realm?” She tilted her head as the questions spilled out. “Like a kingdom? A country. Separated by what? Because I didn’t see any border, or have my passport stamped to get here.” Did he knock her out with some drug to give her the impression that the five-minute trip was in fact hours?

“The realms are separated by the veyll.”

“Like how ghosts cross the veil in every scary Halloween story we’re told as kids. Do you tell scary stories too? Or is snatching people off the street your thing.”

“It’s V-e-y-l-l. Not veil.” He corrected her so calmly. “Think of the world as a building with many floors. There are layers separated by concrete and steel. Each floor is a realm, and we access them by parting the veyll. It’s just a door we unlock and close behind us. Like a fire escape.”

The explanation felt like a betrayal of physics. If he was right, then every astronaut and architect was simply a tenant who had never thought to look for the stairwell to the stars.

No wonder the weathermen always got it wrong; they were all staring at the wrong side of the wall.

“And it’s safe?” Her eyes roamed the room to the tall window that showed a sky so blue it looked painted. “This place? Paradox?”