I’m sitting in an office with a large, overstuffed couch next to two leather chairs and a desk. Is he passing this off as a therapy session? Weird. He doesn’t seem the listening type. I definitely have a lot of pent up problems to talk through.

Biggest problem on my mind? I want it all gone. I’ve been so good at shoving everything inside. Why can’t I keep doing that? Oh, yeah, I know why. It’s not working. That’s why. I’ve cracked an egg. There’s no uncracking that.

I take out my pocket rocket and hold it in my hand. My talisman. Brody will help me endure the agreement I made with Tayte.

“What’s that you have there?” Speak of the devil.

“Nothing.”

“Well, it’s certainly not nothing. Do you even know what it is?”

“I know who it is.” I glower. “It’s my friend.” My more. Quite probably, my everything.

“What does it do?”

“It serves the purpose of inviting stupid questions from you.”

“There are no stupid questions,” he chastises.

I sigh, just wanting to get whatever he’s planned over with.

“It’s a departure stone. What does a departure stone do?”

I roll Brody through my fingers. “Elementals use them to get places, namely Sheelin. There are also landing stones that dictate where you end up after you depart.”

“That’s a very basic understanding, but yes. Sheelin is a demi plane limited to the space of the house residing there. Nothing is outside the house, though the area does bend to accommodate its occupants. One might even classify it as a living thing. Some believe it’s responsible for everything we are.”

“Why does this matter to me?” I kick at the legs of his high horse.

“It matters a great deal to you, or it should.”

I look at the rock. So, Brody turned into a departure stone when he died. That means all his magical properties solidified. His energy didn’t disperse. It converted into something tangible at the time of his death.

“Even in death, he becomes a useful tool for you,” he proposes.

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“A useful tool for what?”

“To get to Sheelin, of course,” he retorts.

“I fail to see how that has anything to do with you.”

“Do you think I’ll keep you from going?” His eyes widen. “I plan to give you the missing pieces to your portal issue.”

“Why would you do that?”

“I’m not exactly gifting them to you. You’ll be earning them,” he clarifies.

“Why?”

“Because when you blow up Sheelin, I won’t have to obsess over the Tribunal anymore.”

“Why do you think I’m blowing it up?”

“How quickly you forget I have you swishing around inside me.”

I roll my eyes.

“Landing stones,” he adds. “That’s where you’ll have trouble. Those are much rarer. Do you care to wager what a landing stone is made of?”

The prospect makes me sick to my stomach. “A Solathair.”

He nods. “That’s why they’re permanent, whereas a departure stone can only be used once.”

The stones are more precious than gold. They’re the physical remnants of an eternal war, lives taken by unconscionable acts of murder for the sole purpose of transportation. “Why are you telling me this?”

“I like my pupils to be well informed.”

“I’m not your pupil,” I contend. “I’m your pet.”

He shrugs. “Tomayto, Tomahto.”

Yeah, I prefer potatoes, but I get the gist. “How long will you study me?” I have important places to be. Time with him is wasted, regardless of what he thinks he can get from it.

“You’re interested in the remaining departure stones. What if we trade for them?” he negotiates. “You use your reversion techniques on the Sumairs I bring to you, and in return, I’ll give you a departure stone as wage. You’ll need to give me three reversions.”

“Four.” I won’t give up Brody.

“Three,” he counters. “Phelan should be kicking around somewhere, no?”

They collected Brody for me. I’m not sure what happened to Phelan’s stone. “I’ll let you know.”

He clicks his tongue.

“That’s seriously all you’re making me do?” I confirm.

“I may not be an honorable man, but I’m an honest one.”

I want to light his smug mug on fire. There would be nothing to stop me once he opens the valve to my energy, yet he isn’t scared. Why should he be? He’s keeping me from exploding. Problematic to the max.

“You have a candidate lined up? When will I meet him?”

“Her,” he corrects.

I stare blanks.

“Her name is Marie Louise Gundy. She’s an Air Sumair. Her human, Brenda Annelle, is tagging along for moral support.”

“Her human?”

“Yes.” He dismissively waves his hands in the air. “We just call her Gundy, and for the most part, she’s a joy to be around. Actually, she’s always a joy to be around. You’ll see what I mean soon enough.”

“Is this something she wants, or are you forcing her to be vaccinated…immunized…whatever?”

“First of all, I don’t call it vaccination or immunization. I call it reversion. Those terms make it sound like we have a disease meant to be cured. This isn’t a disease. It’s a gift. I thought you had an open mind.”

“Fair enough. Sorry I offended you.”

“Second of all, no.” He ignores my apology. “I wouldn’t push reversion on someone that didn’t want it. She wants it and also needs it. I’ll let her explain why, as I expect you’ll want verification on the second point.”

“What’s her ability?”

“Best she shows you.”

I lift a brow.

“Did you want to bring in a passenger?” He tilts his head to the side. “They might spontaneously combust if someone isn’t allowed behind this door with you soon.”

I groan.

“Do they typically hover like this?”

I inhale sharply. “Yes.”

“How dreadful.”

Common ground, at last, along with a step toward the greatest flame-induced misfortune of all time. Bright sides for the win.