On New Year's Eve, three days later, Josh was once again lounging in his chair at home. He really loved his desk chair—if he ever did go back to the Greywood, it was absolutely coming with him. On the screen was his account with Whittier College, still picking classes to take again. He still hadn't decided if he wanted to enter as a transfer student or not.

  If he did… well, it wasn't like his status as one of the awakened was totally unknown. He didn't exactly get a flattering profile from Cinza in the book—Cinza didn't make much of his contributions, and Josh didn't blame her. Until Rallsburg fell, his role on the council was behind the scenes by design. He'd never wanted the attention anyway.

  Still, he was in it, and a Councilor to boot. A Joshua Miller from Norwalk wasn't particularly notable, but a Joshua Miller who had attended Rallsburg University until May 2018… that was a goddamn celebrity.

  Lose three years of credits toward my bachelor's in business, or announce to the school staff I'm awakened and a veteran of all that crap. Why the hell did I want to go back to school, anyway?

  He knew why. Josh wanted the legitimacy of it, the normalcy. He needed a balance—he sure as hell wasn't giving up magic, but at the same time, Josh wanted to bring back the normal parts of his life again. They'd been gone for so long, lost in a sea of cult politics and life-or-death situations.

  Besides, I already asked Kendra and Lily for the tuition money, and they both seemed so happy I was continuing my education. I'd feel like such an asshole if I didn't go through with it.

  So Josh had picked Whittier, a school close enough for him to stay home with his parents, and small enough to fit the small-school style he'd preferred—one of the reasons he'd ended up at Rallsburg in the first place. It wasn't exactly the best school for his degree, but it was something.

  Reluctantly, Josh closed the transfer form. He'd start over, work toward an Economics degree instead of Business. If he really wanted, he could always get his credits later. For now, even the faculty knowing his history was too much. Josh wanted to go unnoticed again, just another guy in the school, nothing special about him.

  That they know of. He pulled out his phone—it was time to exercise one of those precious connections he'd built up over the years. "Lily?"

  "Hello, Josh. Are you prepared?"

  "Just for the night. Then I'm coming back." He paused. "Thanks again for doing this."

  "It's not a problem."

  "It's gotta be exhausting, isn't it?"

  "It is far worse without Grey-eyes' assistance. If we do not attempt it often, the strain is manageable. This is why it must remain secret." Lily paused. "Have you informed your parents?"

  "Not exactly. Just that I'd be out of town for New Years."

  "I see."

  Josh picked up his backpack and strapped it on. "All right. I'm good."

  A wooden door was in his bedroom wall. Josh walked through—and now, with Nikki's words vaguely ringing in his ears, he did feel some vertigo at the black void around the cobblestone path. Nothing had changed, but there it was. Thanks Nikki.

  Lily was inside this time, standing near another open door. "Does the door you pick matter?" asked Josh, curious.

  "Yes, but in another sense, no," said Lily with a shrug. "I do not wish to explain it further than absolutely necessary."

  There's that Rallsburg paranoia. Josh nodded. "It's cool, I was just curious." He glanced out the door, where his cabin waited. "Are you coming as well?"

  "We want to see the ceremony, and perhaps see if I can find news on Natalie." Lily gestured for him to continue. "I assume you'd rather we not both emerge from your cabin."

  He snorted. "Now that would get people talking."

  Lily smiled. "Where did you tell them you would be?"

  "Took Hoskins' offer to go into town for Christmas. He and Nikki are the only two who know where I really went."

  She nodded. "Well, I will see you later."

  "Take care, Lily."

  Josh stepped through, and the door disappeared behind him. Inside, he found Nikki lying in their bed, half-covered and half-clothed. The warmth from the little box in the corner slowly diminished every few minutes. Josh reached out with magic and refilled it, making sure their cabin would be nice and cozy that night.

  He sat down on the edge of the bed and ran a hand along Nikki's arm. She mumbled in her sleep, twisting toward him.

  "Hey, Nikki," said Josh.

  Her eyes fluttered open. "Hey you," she mumbled. "Is it New Years already?"

  "Eve, yeah," said Josh. "How are you doing?"

  "Good day," she said, smiling. Her hand grabbed at his arm and pulled him down. "Get over here."

  Some time later, the two of them emerged from the cabin, wrapped up in jackets and scarves. The Greywood never reached freezing like the rest of the forest could, but especially coming from California, Josh felt like he might as well have stepped into a block of ice.

  "How was it?" asked Nikki, sticking close to him as they headed for Cinza's cabin.

  "I got everything you wanted," said Josh.

  She rolled her eyes. "Thanks, but I meant your family."

  "They're good." Josh hesitated. "Let's talk about it tomorrow, okay?"

  Nikki nodded. "Sure."

  Cinza's door loomed before them. Ruby's engravings were complete, but the girl never stopped adding to the design of the whole structure. With the door complete, she had begun adding flourishes everywhere else, even learning to shape metal to add new textures to their windows. They'd added a new room as well, a loft above the main area with a retractable step ladder that released by a simple trigger—no hanging pull-strings needed when one could flick a switch with magic from a distance.

  Josh knocked on the door.

  "Come in!" called Cinza's echoing voice.

  A crackling fire greeted them—burning forever on the same pile of logs, through another trick of nature magic which replenished the wood fibers even as they combusted. It took energy to maintain, but not as much as one might expect. The ever-burning fires had been Cinza's first idea for a permanent solution to heating after the blackout, but Makoto and Rufus had come up with the portable heat boxes as a more practical solution a few days later.

  More controllable, and no risk of setting off forest fires everywhere. Since then, they'd distributed a few dozen to the camp, to replace the now-useless space heaters most had brought. Can't believe Kendra and Lily finally gave up their monopoly on enchanting objects. Still not to Jackson-levels of anybody-can-use-it, but it's a huge advancement.

  "Hello, Josh," said Cinza warmly. She and Ruby were curled up in a blanket near the fire, while Makoto sat a few paces away on the rug. "Welcome home. Your absence was felt."

  ...Well, shit. I definitely have to tell them. Tomorrow, though. "Couldn't miss your big show," said Josh.

  They each took one of the comfy armchairs across from the pair in their single wide one—Cinza and Ruby had improved them as well, and the chairs were both remarkably supportive and incredibly soft. Scratch my chair at home, I want one of these.

  "Did you get to read the speech on Friday?"

  "Someone brought me a transcript," said Cinza. "I'm told Rachel was there?"

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  "Yeah." Josh shrugged. "Moving up in the world."

  She nodded. "As she should. Their initiative will hopefully do us all a great service."

  Huh, guess they're still on the same side after all. "You said Stafford couldn't be trusted."

  Cinza shook her head. "I said Stafford was not to be trusted with our affairs. An important distinction."

  "Well, we've got to do something now that Grey-eyes is gone."

  Immediately, Ruby stiffened. Makoto's eyes flashed. The whole cabin seemed to get a few degrees hotter.

  Cinza frowned. "Why do you say that?"

  "It's been four weeks. We've heard of at least nine deaths now, and I'm sure there's more we don't know about." Josh shook his head. "I know you don't want to accept it, but if Grey-eyes were coming back, she'd have done it already. We have to start working from that assumption."

  "I couldn't find her," murmured Nikki.

  Everyone in the room turned to her, sitting next to Josh with her eyes closed.

  "Nikki, you good?" he asked.

  She nodded. "Yeah, no headache today. I was just…" Her eyes opened. Nikki was obviously a little upset. "I tried to scry her. I didn't get anything."

  "If Grey-eyes doesn't wish to be found, I have no doubt she knows many ways to defeat scrying," said Cinza dismissively.

  "Yeah, but she never used them 'til now."

  "You scried her before?" asked Josh.

  Nikki nodded again. "I wanted to see if it'd work. She came to ask me why I did the first time I tried, and I just said I was experimenting, learning how to use it properly. She said that was okay, then left again. Sometimes, I felt her in the craziest places, too."

  "Which you should not reveal," said Cinza pointedly.

  "Never," said Nikki firmly. "Since Natalie's ritual, though, I haven't felt her once. I can find her essence, so it's not gone, but… I can't find her."

  "Essences don't disappear when you're dead though," Josh pointed out. "I found Morton's essence just fine." And nearly died trying. Never doing that again.

  Another sharp reaction from Cinza's companions. "She's not dead," snapped Ruby.

  Cinza laid a hand on her partner. "No, my love, and I don't believe that's what Josh intended."

  Josh nodded. "I'm sure she's just fine. But we have to assume she's not awakening anybody anymore. The last death report was yesterday."

  Her eyes softened. "Who was it?" asked Cinza gently, her tone full of sympathy.

  "Seventeen year old kid in Montana. Somebody had a Scrap way out there, in safekeeping until they heard she was back," said Josh, dredging up the details from the story he'd read that morning. "A bunch of kids broke into the safe, passed it around, dared him to read it, and…" Josh snapped his fingers. "He was gone."

  Cinza shook her head. "A terrible tragedy."

  "A preventable tragedy," Josh shot back, his temper rising a bit. "If she's still around, she could have stopped it."

  "I do not pretend to know the thought processes of deities," said Cinza. "I owe her my life, as do you and everyone in this forest. Without her, I would be nothing. I would be less than nothing. If she has decided humanity has reached its limit of awakened, I accept and will trust in that decision."

  Sometimes I really hate talking to her. Josh might have kept going, except that Nikki touched his hand. He glanced at her. "You okay?"

  "Yeah," said Nikki. "I just…" She glanced at the door. "Yusuf's coming."

  In the last month or so, Nikki had started to become more aware of everyone in the Greycloaks, plus Josh. She knew where most of them were at any given time. It had started after the attack by Brian's people, wanting to keep track of everybody she cared about, and had shifted into a frequent practice, until Nikki had developed it to a constant perception.

  I still haven't decided if it's invasive or endearing. We all told her it was fine, though, so I guess I'll go with endearing.

  Sure enough, Yusuf knocked on the door a moment later.

  "Come in, Yusuf!" Cinza called.

  The door swung wide, and Yusuf's surprised face greeted them. As soon as he saw Nikki, he smiled.

  "Ah. I was not to understand you were meeting now."

  Cinza smiled. "Your presence is always welcome. Would you like to join us?"

  "Actually," said Yusuf, "I was asked to deliver the messages to you. Captain Hoskins wants to have talked with one or both of you."

  Cinza glanced at Josh. "I've still many preparations for tonight. Are you able—"

  Josh sighed. "Yeah, I can do it."

  "Are you certain? I'd be happy to hear whatever the Captain needs."

  "Nah, I want to see him. I'm going to miss Xavier, he's a good guy."

  The whole room seemed to take a breath. Josh realized what he'd just said. Shit.

  "...Josh?" asked Nikki, grasping his hand.

  "...Are we to understand you're not planning to stay?" asked Cinza tentatively.

  Josh sighed. Fuck it, might as well get it over with. Nikki's gonna hate me. "I don't think so. I can do a lot for us from the outside, with internet access and phones and shit. Plus, I just… I really need to get out of here."

  Cinza nodded. "This isn't your place."

  "Well damn," said Josh, rolling his eyes, "don't hold back, Cinza."

  She smiled. "You are always welcome, and we will maintain your cabin as long as you desire in honor of your contributions, but we've all known this day would come sooner or later. You aren't a member of our family, and it's always grated at you."

  "Well… yeah," said Josh, nodding. Nikki was uncomfortably quiet, but she hadn't let go of his hand yet, which he took as a good sign. Damn, when did I get so attached to her? I mean, I do like her, but… huh. Is this something more than a good friend and great sex? "I'm sure you'll see me again."

  "I suspect you'll be one of the very first we communicate with, once we design a new method."

  Josh grinned. "Looking forward to it."

  "Now I think you had better leave," she added, nodding at Nikki. "You two have a lot to discuss."

  "...Right. See you tonight, then."

  Josh stood up, and Nikki stood as well, following him out in a half-daze. Yusuf sat down in the chair he'd vacated, and Cinza had soon struck up a fresh conversation about preparations for that night. As Nikki and Josh crossed the field, he realized she was leading him toward the exit from the Greywood, not back toward their cabin.

  "You're coming?" he asked, surprised. As far as he knew, Nikki hadn't left the Greywood since… well, since they came back in May, after the rest of the Rallsburg remnant scattered to the winds. "I mean, if you want—"

  "I'm coming," said Nikki determinedly.

  They walked out in silence, Josh carefully opening and closing the locks as they went, making sure the Greywood remained secure. They hadn't yet had to deal with any sort of magical assault, of course… but there was no telling what might come next. Cinza wasn't about to leave her home to chance. It wasn't until they'd gotten almost halfway to the pilgrim camp—Josh gently warming the air nearby as they hiked through the forest—that Nikki finally spoke up.

  "You asshole!" she snapped.

  Josh sighed. "I was going to talk to you first."

  "So you bring it up in front of Cinza and Ruby and Makoto first, huh?"

  "That was an accident," he said, shrugging.

  "You already decided!" snapped Nikki. "So what, were you even gonna tell your girlfriend you were moving out?"

  "I hadn't—"

  "Bullshit!" Nikki stopped walking, leaning against a nearby tree to catch her breath. "You know I can tell when you're lying, right?"

  A ping of concern danced through his head. Nikki did know how to cast that spell—she'd worked it out with help from Rachel now that they were in contact again, who could remember the sensations of magic in the air from when Mabel used to cast the same spell. Josh frowned. "Thought you said—"

  "No, I'm not using magic on you, asshole. I told you I wouldn't. I've just been sleeping with you for the last few months."

  He sighed again. "I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to spring it on you. It just… came out."

  Nikki started to calm down again. "...Yeah, I know. I'm sorry too."

  "I wanted to talk to you tomorrow, after the big show."

  "This is gonna throw me off so much tonight."

  "You're doing it?" he asked, trying to lift the mood a bit.

  "Yeah," said Nikki, smiling slightly. "I've been practicing with them. It's not a big part, but I'm gonna be in it."

  "Congrats."

  "Yeah, you'd fucking hate it, I know."

  Josh shook his head. "No shit I would, but this is your family. It's a big deal."

  "...Thanks," said Nikki. Her expression softened. "And it's yours, too. Back in California."

  "Yeah." Josh sighed. "If you want…"

  She was already shaking her head before he voiced the thought. "Maybe to visit, but this is my home. I'm staying."

  Neither of them spoke for a while, letting the sounds of the winter forest around them fill the air, the birds of winter chirping away as the wind whistled through the leaves. If Josh were being honest, he would miss this—the peaceful quiet of the forest, where his mind could really just settle down and think. At the same time, though, he missed the rush of the world, the crowds, the excitement.

  As long as he wasn't a part of the excitement, obviously.

  "So do we…" Josh started, but trailed off.

  Nikki shook her head. "Not yet. It's just me and you, and after the show tonight, you'd damn well better be in my bed."

  Josh put a hand on the small of her back and pulled her close. "You know it."

  A twig snapped nearby. They both jumped, breaking the mood in an instant.

  "Err…" started a voice nearby. "I don't mean to intrude…"

  Josh whipped around, alert on his feet in an instant. Nikki, too, seemed ready to fight at a moment's notice. To their relief, though, it was just Captain Hoskins, unaccompanied, carrying a portable heater someone must have powered for him.

  "You were gonna wait until we started fucking right here, weren't you?" asked Josh.

  Hoskins coughed politely. "I would have said something long before then."

  "You wanted to see him," said Nikki, brushing hair out of her face and desperately trying to catch her breath. "Here he is."

  "I can see that," said Hoskins pointedly. "How was California?"

  "Nice and warm," said Josh, smirking. "Looks like you solved that problem though. Nice toy."

  "Yes, Private Deeks managed to win this off someone in a game of cards." Hoskins shrugged. "Naturally, I had to confiscate it, since our regs currently state no soldier is permitted to have unauthorized magical artifacts in their possession."

  "Bet that stung."

  "Anyway," said Hoskins, clearing his throat. "I wanted to inform you and Cinza that the Guard plans to significantly diminish our presence here."

  Josh sighed. He stepped away from Nikki. This was going to be a serious conversation and not a friendly chat after all. "What's the timeline?"

  "Once the winter clears up. We've already moved most of our nonessential equipment, and those with Christmas plans already left on the 14th, but the Governor authorized the rest of us to stay on through the winter to ensure the camp's stability during the harshest months."

  "It doesn't get that cold here," said Nikki. "And we've got magic."

  Hoskins shrugged. "They're working off models that don't include magic, for obvious reasons. All of the men still stationed here don't have any particular desire to leave anyway, but we do need to go home sooner or later."

  "Well, it was always gonna happen eventually," said Josh with a shrug. "We've appreciated everything you've done for us, Captain," he said formally.

  Hoskins nodded. "Thank you. Don't worry though, I've no plans to leave quite yet. You'll be notified well in advance whenever we do."

  Nikki shot Josh a pointed look.

  He sighed. "...About that."