GOLDRIC

Chapter 5

Luz and Hunter burst through the front door at about 2 AM, where to their surprise, Eda was still awake on the couch.

"Eda, hey!" Luz said, and Eda looked up with exhausted, yet surprised eyes. Next to her sat a stack of books. Eda scrambled to close them but Luz gave her a worried look.
She set down her bag and perched on the edge of the couch next to Eda.

"Kids, I'm going fucking crazy. Raine is in the hands of the Emperor and I have no idea what's possibly happening to them. They could be as good as dead, for all I know. I'm trying not to show you two my struggle with this. I assumed you'd be gone so I started studying again."

"Eda, you should get some sleep. We all should." Luz said with a yawn.

Hunter nodded. "I have to admit I'm feeling pretty anxious lately about this whole Golden Guard bullshit." His face fell.
"Eda, I'm kind of... scared."

Eda stood up and hugged both of the teens tightly. "Listen, you two, you're the most important thing in my life right now. You're safe, and that's all I should care about at this moment. Raine may be in danger, but what good am I if my kids are too?"

Luz looked at her mentor with admiration. "Eda, we're going to help you rescue Raine. We just need to make sure that Hunter stays hidden, or you'll be arrested again."

Hunter didn't say anything, he just sank into Eda's hug, feeling secure.
"Now, go to bed, don't worry about anything except getting plenty of rest." Eda said in a motherly tone. "King, Hooty and I are just a shout away."

--
All was normal for another 2 weeks: no stern looks from Odalia, no suspicion of Hunter's identity, and no change in his levels of anxiety. Well, they didn't get better: he just felt uneasy, more nervous by the day.

The only things that eased his despair were hanging out with Luz and the Blights-- they visited the Owl House almost every day after school to do homework, or, in the twins' case, set booby traps in the halls for Hooty to unfortunately discover later.

The Owl House was woken abruptly in the middle of the night to the sound of Hooty screeching for their attention and banging at the door.

Hunter and Luz shot upright-- they'd slept in Luz's room together because Hunter was feeling anxious, and Luz insisted on him not being alone. They looked at each other nervously, and Luz crept to the window to observe. Hunter stayed put in his makeshift bed on the floor.

Eda was standing in front of three Emperor's Coven scouts, her arms across her chest and her feet wide.

Luz could hear the scout say boldly:

"Edalyn Clawthorne, it's come to our attention that you were one of the last to see the Golden Guard before his betrayal of the Emperor."

Eda threw her head back and laughed. "I don't know what to tell you. I may have been there, but I didn't see him."

The second scout took a step closer. "You do understand the consequences of withholding information from the Emperor, don't you?"

Eda laughed. "Do I look like the type to corral a bunch of little kids? I have better things to do."

Luz and Hunter tried to hold in a laugh. Bold, Eda.

Finally, the three scouts all approached the door. "Ma'am, we're going to have to search this house for any signs of the Guard."

Eda's face didn't dare show surprise. She looked straight up at Luz's window as the scouts stormed into the Owl House, and Luz nodded.

"Hunter, listen, we need to hide." Luz said, gently but with purpose. She carefully hid Rascal inside her messenger bag.
"Do you have your artificial staff?"