“Ciao.”

Irene Morrison hung up the phone, a smile lingering on her face for a moment. Her sister had a way of helping her forget her problems, but Cas had her own life to live and couldn’t be Irene’s support twenty-four seven.

With their vacation cut abruptly short following the disappearance of Irene's now-wayward husband, she couldn’t bring herself to ruin any more of Cas’s week than absolutely necessary. She called to check in with her sister’s progress, listened to her stories, laughed over shared photos, and...

Irene sighed.

Then she had to come back to reality. A reality poised on the edge of madness.

Irene wasn't sure if she was losing her mind, but between herself and her husband, someone definitely was. They'd been through a lot in their fourteen years of marriage, but by now she liked to think she had a pretty good idea of who Levi Morrison was.

This past week brought her assumptions into question. “Who Levi was” had apparently just done a major flip on her without bothering to announce itself.

The amount of communicating he wasn’t doing worried her. She wasn't used to radio silence. She was used to being his soundboard, his vibe checker, the one who heard about his complaints and successes before anyone else.

At first, it'd been a fairly standard low-contact week. He’d be attending lectures and panel discussions, shuffled from one networking opportunity to the next from breakfast to dinner, and by the time it was over he’d be mentally and socially drained.

Sometimes she’d wake up to a full debrief of the previous day, sometimes just a brief note, but there was always something. Even when he’d been out with the guys all evening.

The fact that the only information she was getting was through Gordon through Cassandra was two steps further removed than she preferred.

She scrolled back up to the screenshots Cassandra had sent her, Gordon's too-brief explanation.

Gordon: I found him

Looks like we’re going on a bit of a road trip

heading to kentucky apparently

I can’t tell you what he’s mixed up in, but it’s some crazy shit

I feel like I’m in a movie or a fever dream. Wild

But we’re safe and I won’t let him out of my sight

Gordon: Cas, you’re really not going to believe any of this.

Except you will because you're you, but I don't believe any of it and I’m the one living it.

It's way too weird, I don't even know where to start. But I found him, we’re safe.

Kind of.

I don't know if the word safe even has any meaning anymore.

Gordon: How do you feel about fighting an apocalypse?

I need a drink

I need several drinks.

But I need to be the designated driver because Levi's…

I don't even know what Levi is. But I would not trust him to drive right now.

I'm not sure why I trust myself. I don't know what's going on.

Gordon: Have I mentioned that we’re alive? That’s probably the most important thing.

It wasn't typical Gordon rambling. He and Cas had stayed in touch, but he usually spent more time talking about movies or sending internet jokes several years out of date.

Cassandra: are you sure you don't want me over there? If you need me to haul them back myself, I'm not opposed

Irene: no, I'll be fine. Gordon's already over there. No use having everyone rushing off. And Levi said to wait at the cottage, so I'll stay here.

I wish he would tell me what's going on.

Call with Cassandra: 2hr 17m

Cassandra: let me know if you need anything else. I'm always here.

Irene tabbed over to Levi's picture, the next one down, and scrolled back up through the flood of texts she’d sent without reply to the last thing Levi had sent.

Levi: I’m fine.

Sorry to worry you.

Some of the places I’m visiting are underground and don’t get reception.

I didn’t mean to worry you.

I love you.

I’ll be safe, I promise.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Please don’t worry.

I’m fine.

I love you.

Tell Peter I love him too.

Levi: How long until Peter gets back?

Once you pick up Peter, do not come home!!!

It isn’t safe.

I’ll meet you at your parents place and tell you everything

He’d sent a message without punctuation. Levi never sent a message without punctuation.

And then he’d not answered again since.

She’d sent questions, floods of them, but whatever the boys were up to, they weren’t answering her calls.

Combined with Gordon's incoherent babbling, the messages painted an alarming picture. Irene didn't normally get worked up over being out of contact for a few days—until her vacation with Cas was so rudely interrupted, she'd been almost off-grid herself.

I don't know if safe is a concept that exists anymore.

She sighed. What in the world had her husband gotten himself mixed up in this time?

She'd already run herself ragged searching for information about this conference he was attending, just in case it was secretly a cult recruitment affair. Everything she found indicated it was legit. Boring, but not sinister.

She pressed the Call button, more out of habit than real hope. With Peter off at camp and Levi away doing who knew what, the house felt strange and lifeless. It'd been so long since she’d visited her mom without having her family with her, being here alone left her unsettled.

He answered.

“Hey, beautiful. How are you?”

“Levi! Oh, thank god, you’re okay!” Irene gripped the phone. “Where are you? What's going on?”

“I'm sitting in a parking lot outside a diner at the moment, Gordon's inside getting something to eat. I…” There was something off about his voice. The cadence, the tone. It was setting off all kinds of alarms.

“Levi, what's wrong?”

“I can't… I just wanted to hear your voice. I'm…”

“What is all this cryptic nonsense you've been sending? Why is Gordon saying there's no such thing as safe anymore? What have you gotten yourself involved in this time?”

He didn't answer.

“Levi?”

“I can't,” he whispered hoarsely, then cleared his throat, obviously trying to sound casual. “So, how are you?”

“How am I? How do you think I am? You disappeared! I’ve had calls from your boss, from your friends, no one knows where you are or what’s going on. Are you in trouble with the mob, or in witness protection or something? Gordon’s cryptic bullshit isn’t helping anything. What is going on?”

“Nothing like that. Honestly, it’s even crazier than that. Where are you?”

“At Mom and Dad’s like you asked. Mom isn’t very happy with you, by the way, so you’d better have a damn good explanation. And when Cas sees you next, she’s likely to tear you a new one.”

“It’s even more insane than you think. I’ll show you, as soon as I get there. But I have a lot to do in the meantime, and I don’t know how much longer I have before my phone dies, so... I just wanted to hear your voice. I need to finish… things here. I'll be there soon. I love you. Is Peter all right?”

“Levi, you're scaring me. What is this danger you guys are going on about? Why would our son be in danger? What is going on?”

“I don't know how to say it in a way that won't sound crazy.”

“Please tell me you haven't joined a cult.”

Levi laughed, an unsteady choked laugh, but it was the most genuine thing she'd heard from them so far during this bizarre conversation. “No, not a cult. I just... I might be out of contact again for a while, and I don’t want you to worry. It’s nothing to be worried about.”

“Nothing to be worried about? How can you think anything about this week is normal!”

“I know. Trust me, I know. And we'll talk about it soon. But I have to go. I'm in the middle of something very important.”

“Something. Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t sound okay.”

Levi choked a laugh. “I haven't been okay in a very, very long time.”

Irene stiffened, grief and anger warring. How long had he been hiding this... whatever it was? They were supposed to be past this! They were supposed to be communicating, not holding back.

But he kept talking, not giving her space to interject. “Knowing you're safe, I'll be fine. I promise. I have a lot of work to do, and some things I need to pick up on the way, but I'll be there as soon as I can. Stay there, keep Peter, stay safe. I'll be there in a week, two at most, and we can figure it all out then. Just stay there. You're safe there. I'll be there soon. Don't go back to Alturas.”

“What's wrong with Alturas?”

He didn’t answer.

“Levi, you’re scaring me. Please, just tell me. What’s going on?”

“It’ll sound way worse than it is, and it’s best for me to show you in person.”

“That’s not helping. You know I’m going to imagine the worst.”

Levi sighed, the short, resigned huff that meant he was going to be stubborn.

“Don’t try to put me off with some half-assed dramatic garbage, Levi Jacob Morrison. Just tell me what is going on! Why do you think we're in danger?”

There was silence for a moment, then, “I’ll explain everything in person. Don’t worry. I love you. Tell Peter I love him. Keep him safe for me.”

“He’s still at camp, I’ll be picking him up on the 12th.”

“No, that’s fine. We have months yet. It’ll be fine.” He sounded like he was trying to convince himself. “Just don’t go anywhere. I love you.”

Irene took a breath. The tightness in her chest shifted but didn’t relax. “Why does it feel like I’ll never see you again?” she asked, her voice low.

“Nothing is ever going to be the same again, ‘Rene. But the one thing that’s never going to change is that I want you by my side through it all.”

“Then why are you off in the middle of god-knows-where puttering around in Ubers? New York? Kentucky? What are you doing?”

“I have to go,” Levi said hastily. “I love you.”

Something squeaked, then the sound deadened as though he'd put the phone against his chest. Muffled voices, indistinguishable. She turned up the volume all the way.

“—when we get there,” he was saying. “I'm not going to try to explain your existence over the phone.” Another squeak, nearer, more insistent. “No, I'm not ashamed of you, I just think the whole conversation about magic and monsters needs to be handled in person.”

“Who are you talking to? Ashamed of what? Levi?”

“Nothing, no one. I have to go. I'm sorry. I love you. I'll be there soon.” And the line went dead before she could respond.

Irene stared down at the phone. She pressed the Call button. It went straight to voicemail.

She sat down heavily in her mom's overstuffed loveseat. The conversation played itself out again and again in her head. No part of it made any of this any better.

Why did he sound so desperate, so frantic? What was that odd difference in the way he talked? Everything sounded slightly off.

Magic and monsters? If it were Cas or Gordon, she'd say they'd probably gotten into some new role-playing game, but this was Levi. He didn't do the fantasy thing. He was a statistics guy. His idea of a good time involved a lot of spreadsheets.

Magic and monsters. No such thing as safe.

If not for Gordan’s assurance that they were fine, she’d be calling the police to try and track him down. Irene stared down at the phone, at his stock-photo businessman face in her Recent Calls list, and at her sister’s grinning face just below it.

She hated to bother Cas again so soon, but she couldn’t think of anyone else who could help make sense of this. Better to talk through it while the memory was still clear.

Irene scrolled down and pressed Call.

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