Part 2: Rabbit-Fox

Daybreak is silver streaked with pink at the edges, the streets still glossy with the night's rains. Heavy, blue-gray clouds linger overhead, promising more to come. I take a long drag on my Lady Royale, my mouth filling with vapor and the flavors of honey and rose—something new I'm trying out.

I've had to try a lot of new things lately. It doesn't matter if I liked those things long before she came along. The flavors and scents of our time together are too clearly burnt across my mind. Overwhelming what came before. It's hard enough trying to get over someone like her without smelling and hearing and tasting memories of her everywhere. Without seeing them in the faint silver tracery of scars that adorn my neck, my collar bone, my shoulder. At the thought, my free hand goes up to run along the soft ridges of flesh at the base of my neck. If I'm honest with myself, I'm glad to have them. Glad that, if I had to lose her, at least I have her mark. Time may have taken her from me, but it will never take these scars.

No less than five pigeon-rats crowd my balcony rail, waiting for leftovers. They'd be here even if it weren't for that, though. Ever since I became Stormstruck, animals have been drawn to me.

Behind me, the door clicks open and Leon pads over to place a tray of breakfast beside my coffee service. He's unmasked, but dressed impeccably as he always is when in service, in the fashion of an old-style butler. His blue eyes crinkle at the corners as he smiles in response to my thanks, bowing just enough for the city lights to refract in the ashy blonde of his short cropped hair.

He represents one of the things from my time with E.J. that I simply couldn't give up; the Otherside. I'd been careful to go when I knew she wouldn't be there, and it hadn't been long before I'd met Leon. Now I get my fill of that world at home, or at least—the parts of it I can stand to face my desire for. But he's no replacement for her, of course.

I haven't even looked at another Zhadra type in months, much less talked to one. But a good, loyal Theodras like Leon? One who not only expects nothing, but pays for the privilege of waiting on me hand-and-foot? He's another matter.

And an amazing cook and baker. I close my eyes as I savor the first bite of chocolate croissant, the perfect pairing for this morning's coffee selection.

"Is there anything else I can do for you at the moment, Miss?"

"Yes, please. Could you get my studio set up for the day? I'll be working on Meadow Manor Project #3 to start out with."

"Of course, Miss." Bowing again, he spins on his heel to disappear back inside.

"Thank you, Leon."

To my other side, Boon chirps.

"Incoming call from E.J. Shall I accept?"

At the sound of her name, my heart constricts. I drop what's left of my croissant.

"What? E.J? I..." I take a deep breath. Swallow. "Yes, please."

An instant later, E.J.'s voices buzzes out from the little servitor.

"Ashwyn, before you say anything, this isn't about us."

My guts twist together like a pile of agitated snakes.

"O-of course not. What's going on?"

"I did it, Ash. I got the island Gate registered and approved to move forward. We're opening the school in stages. It starts with a small, foundational group of students and teachers. The facilities there are still rudimentary and in-progress, and the first group will be expected to help in the development of things, but they'll also have a hand in shaping the future of the curriculum," the words pour out of her in a rush.

"Of the school as a whole, really. Since it's a soft opening, it'll be easy to pass it off like you just arrived and went through earlier than everyone else as part of a test-run before the proper ceremony."

"Wait. You're saying you want me to be part of this first group?"

"As I said. It's the best way to get you legitimate as an Umbran without drawing too many questions."

My eyes flick towards the window, where I can see Leon setting up my canvas and humming to himself. First, I imagine what it would be like—having to tell him I'm stepping out of the arrangement that's gotten me through the most difficult period of my life, and that's meant so much to him. To go far away and leave everything I've established here behind.

And then I think of what it would be like, not to have to hide what I am. I still wouldn't be able to drink blood in front of any non-Umbran outside of my small circle of trust, or disclose my dietary needs to them at all. But I'd be able to speak and interact with other Umbrans as a peer. To feel like a part of something again, rather than an imposter lurking at the fringes. To make open use of my extraordinary power. But can I handle the pain of being in the periphery of E.J.'s life like that, seeing her often, but not actually being with her? Probably not.

"Alright. When does the semester start?"

"In two weeks."

If I hadn't already swallowed my last bite of food, I'd have spit it out.

"Two weeks?"

"Two weeks, yes. I'm sorry, I know it's short notice, but we need to get this off the ground as soon as possible. Get people through the Gate before some bureaucrat can challenge the decision."

I'm quiet for a moment as I gnaw at my lip.

"Does this mean you've given up on fixing the Gate? Making it safe for everyone?"

There's a long sigh, and I swear I can hear E.J's fingers running through her hair.

"I've had to accept that it can't be done. And the people on my waiting list to go through—they accept the risk. Prefer it, over waiting any longer for something which may not be possible."

That startles me. E.J? Give up on something? It doesn't sit right.

"If you're worried about leaving Leon behind, don't. He's on the list."

My lips move silently for a few heartbeats before any words come out.

My head snaps back around to watch my Theodras as he flits about his task, my eyes going wide.

"I didn't know."

"I just need to know if you're in for this first semester. I haven't contacted Leon yet, so you can go ahead and tell him yourself, but I already know his answer. I can give you some time to think about yours, but—"

"I'm in."

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

"Good. I want to arrange for you to arrive a day before all the others to account for your supposedly going through the Gate before them. So that'll be the 17th. We'll port over from the Stronghold sometime in the early evening. Would you need a ride?"

I grip the stem of my Lady Royal.

"No, thank you. Leon will drive me."

"Alright, well. Let me know if that changes, I can always have Hornsby pick you up. I have to go now, but I'll message you later with more information."

And before I can even finish saying goodbye, her voice cuts off.

I take another long drag on my vape stem, staring off into the city just as Leon opens the door again.

"Your studio space is ready, Miss."

"Thank you Leon, but my schedule for the day's changed a bit." I set down the Lady, taking a deep breath. "I just got a call from E.J."

~*~

Rain patters across Boon's invisible force-field umbrella, the wind stirring my hair. Hornsby waves to us from the control panel across the roof, and the port sigil begins to glow. I squeeze Leon's arm as the light flares and the ground drops away.

In the next instant, slick stone appears beneath our feet—the rain now battering our umbrella so loudly it drowns out all else.

It takes a moment to see past the downpour to our surroundings. At first everything's just a blur of green and blue-gray. But then I begin catching occassional snatches of detail through the sheets of rain. Our raised position and the rough wooden railing seperating us from the landscape tells me we're on another rooftop. A forested slope falls away from our lofty perch, terminating at a stretch of beach and the wind-tossed expanse of the sea.

Someone calls to us, their voice muffled and distorted by the rain, but not so much that I'm not certain who it is even before I lay eyes on her. We turn as one to see E.J. waving from the covered area to the north end of the roof—Somi hovering over her shoulder. I'm forced to let go of Leon as he breaks away to push our luggage trolley. As we get closer, an odd sort of jittery neausea wells up in my gut, and I fall back to cling to the trolley for support.

"Welcome to the Lodge. We'll think of a more creative name for it eventually," says E.J, nodding to us in greeting. She meets my gaze for only the briefest of moments before looking away as though it cuts her. In the half a heartbeat that our eyes lock, I'm struck by a memory of our last night together so vivid that my hand twitches upward. Towards my scars. E.J's expression tightens, jaw setting as she opens the door to gesture us through. Inside, the walls are a combination of artfully interlocking log panels and stacked stone, lit by warm-toned lanterns. Inside and away from the rain, E.J.'s distinctive, delicious scent engulfs me. And since I've been away from her for months, I'm no longer desensitized to it.

Slowing my breathing, I keep a careful distance from her as she leads us to an elevator—where I hold my breath completely as we descend.

The lodge is quiet as E.J leads us to an elevator. I can smell the traces of a few others besides E.J. who've walked these halls recently, sense the the energetic warmth of their lifeforce in the building still. Staff members, most likely.

The lift deposits us in a grand common area with a vaulted ceiling, high windows, fine but mismatched furniture, and trickling water feature of rough volcanic stone. Outside the windows, a wide raised deck wraps around the building. From here, I can just make out what looks like a fire pit and perhaps the edge of another water feature. The walls are adorned in places with reclaimed stone reliefs of shifter faces and glyphs—I recognize their style from the ruins I saw the night Beatrice disappeared.

E.J. tosses another look back at me as I take it all in, but her gaze elludes me before I can return it.

"Kitchen and main dining's down that hall, towards the end. There are some study and classrooms that way too, and storage. And down there," she getsures to a hall that opens from the opposite direction, "you'll find the library and more study and classrooms. Eventually all of this will be general-use and common space and there'll be seperate buildings for the library and classrooms. Once we've expanded.

"Living quarters are on the lower two levels for now." She goes on, gaze straying from us as she sweeps a hand through her hair. "Rooms are first come, first serve. You can take your pick."

She takes a deep breathe in, then out again through her teeth as her thumbs hook in her belt and she looks anywhere but to me.

"I think that's everything you need to get by for the night. You'll have a proper orientation once everyone gets here. In any case, I have a lot to get done before tomorrow." She flashes a brief, half-hearted smile. "Breakfast's at nine. Goodnight, you two."

And with that she leaves us. Taking our trolley, we return to the elevator to claim our rooms. Since the lodge is built into a slope, the east ends of both levels are underground, while the west sides are lined with windows and more balconies. After a quick tour, we settle for adjacent rooms on the second floor, in the northwest corner.

Once alone in my room, I see E.J. everywhere I look, from the rough-hewn, dark wood furniture to the jewel-toned patchwork quilt on the bed. I make it less than a minute before escaping to my balcony with my vapestem.

Outside, the rain's lightened. The air smells of palm fronds, flowers, ocean and ozone. Insects and night birds sing from the blue shadows of the forest. I can even make out the trilling scream of a rabbit-fox calling for its mate.

I look out at the beauty laid before me, and all I can think about is her.