Only the Strong, стр. 45

see.”

“That’s potentially sad,” Zoe said. “It’s also not for us to worry about. We’re here about the gates. Send them on their way.”

I did as she asked, spending a full three minutes rooted to my spot and watching them wander down the sidewalk. They took a hard left at the intersection and continued on their way, neither of them saying a word.

“They’ll be fine,” Zoe reassured me, turning back to the house. “Now, come on.” She lifted her hand into the air and dropped a dome over us. It seemed like a waste of effort given the fact that we’d just spent fifteen minutes talking to one another out in the open, but I didn’t argue. There was no point.

At the front door, I used my magic to enter yet again, and Zoe dropped the dome once the door was closed.

“This way,” she instructed, heading straight for the basement.

I risked a glance at Cernunnos and found he was amused at her bossy nature. His reaction to her left me with a lot of questions, although I couldn’t help wondering if he would bother answering. “You like her,” I noted as we navigated down the stairs.

“Like is a strong word,” he countered. “I’ve always been mildly attached to her, though. I watched her long before I ever revealed myself to her. She grew into a true power at a young age, and there were stumbles as she attempted to figure out her place in this world. She grew stronger with each passing year, and now she’s an absolutely terrifying specimen of courage.”

“A specimen of courage, huh?” I snickered. “That’s a weird way to put it. I guess it fits. She doesn’t appear to be afraid of anything.”

“And what are you afraid of, Isabella?”

“Izzy,” I automatically corrected. “Call me Izzy.”

“It seems you and my little mage have something in common.” His eyes twinkled. “Maybe more than one thing. The question stands. What are you afraid of?”

I held out my hands. “I don’t know. I never really feared anything growing up. I’d already lost my parents and I figured it couldn’t get worse than that. Sure, in reality, I would’ve fallen apart if I lost my grandfather but I never let that be a consideration. He and my aunt were all I had so the only thing I feared was losing them. Now, though ... .” I trailed off.

“Now you have so much more to lose,” he surmised. “Braden. Cormack. Aisling. Lily. You love them all.”

“I do.”

“You want to protect them.”

“I do.”

“Recognizing fear isn’t a terrible thing,” he noted. “You simply can’t let it rule you. Look at the mage. She loves her husband and child beyond reason. There was a time, before she even married the wolf, when I offered her the chance to hop between worlds. Do you know what she told me?”

“The same thing I’m going to tell you now,” Zoe barked. “I like my world fine. You know what I hate? People who talk about me like I’m not even here.”

Cernunnos chuckled. “Now you see why I’m fond of her. That mouth has been weaponized since she was a teenager. Eventually she learned to back it up with magic. Ultimately she started leading with her heart. That’s why she’s as powerful as she is.”

The sentiment was enough to rock me back on my heels. “You really are enamored with her, aren’t you?”

“No. I find her intolerable at times. I respect who she is, though.”

“Thank you, Bob,” Zoe drawled at the bottom of the stairs. “I feel the same way about you. By the way, we’re here.”

Conversation ceased at that point. Cernunnos’ attention was fixated on the gate and whatever he was going to say — something I was certain was designed to irritate Zoe — died on his lips.

“This is ... wrong,” he said finally, shaking his head as he hunkered down and angled his gaze to stare at the shimmering surface of the gate. “I don’t understand how they did this.”

“How were the other gates formed?” Zoe queried.

“Hmm?” Cernunnos glanced up at her. “Why does that matter?”

“Because Izzy doesn’t know and I’m betting whatever story has been told to the reapers is a bunch of crap.” There was fire in her eyes, enough so that I was caught off guard. “Who created the gates?”

“How do you know anybody created them?” Cernunnos challenged. “How do you know they’re simply not born of a need?”

“Because I’m not naive.”

“You are mouthy, though,” he shot back. “I’m not familiar with the history of the gates. That’s not my area of expertise.”

Disappointment reared up. I had hoped that, at least by the end of his visit, he would impart some knowledge to me regarding the gates. Apparently that wasn’t going to happen.

“You’re full of crap.” Zoe was adamant as she shook her head. “Your whole thing is that you only drop whatever information you deem important. It’s just like when I was in that stupid hole in the ground with you and you suggested I leave with you even though I could hear Aric screaming my name. You knew I was never going to leave him. The entire conversation was a ruse to get me to absorb that stupid book.”

I was only half-listening, and yet the last part of the statement stood out to me. I was the curious sort, so I asked the obvious question. “You absorbed a book?”

“Never mind,” Zoe fired at me, her eyes remaining fixed on Cernunnos. “Just know that I’m onto you. Whatever you say you don’t know about these gates, I don’t believe you.”

“If you don’t trust me, why are you here?” he challenged.

“I didn’t say I didn’t trust you.” She was quiet for an extended beat and then lowered her voice. “I know what you did for us, there at the end. You knew what was going to happen, and you hung around even though it wasn’t necessary.

“Technically we’d won,” she continued. “We’d taken down the Academy. You stayed to help Sami save me because you