Through a Mirror, Darkly

Chapter 13

It felt to Charles like they'd been faffing about Port Townsend for weeks instead of days. A lot had happened in that short time. Abigail was neutralized. They'd confirmed there weren't hundreds of volatile magical objects spread all over town. Crucially, they had the information they needed to finally get in contact with Niko and make sure she was all right.

There was nothing for it now than to hope Cat had regained enough of his strength to teleport Monty back to London. It might turn out that he and Edwin would have to leave them behind another day or so while they mirror-hopped home. But Edwin wouldn't like the idea of leaving a still-injured Cat, and Charles found himself not liking the idea of leaving Monty unprotected. He was Cat's familiar, but if he was still recovering, he might not have the strength to protect Monty if Esther's old enemies came out of the woodwork or Abigail found some way to exact revenge.

Charles and Edwin had parted ways about an hour prior as Edwin went to check on Cat. Monty was exhausted, so he accompanied him back up the hill toward the motel.

"Hey um, thanks for the assist back there. With the claws," said Charles as he walked next to Monty on the last stretch back to the motel.

"Thanks," said Monty a bit sheepishly. "I wish I could do more. I plan to study more combat magic, you know? But Cat has mostly focused on teaching me how to transform back and forth from crow to human." Then he paused a bit, sniffed, lifted his chin and declared, "And they're called talons, not claws."

"Sorry," said Charles with a lopsided grin. "I'm not up on my bird anatomy."

"We'll have to work on that," said Monty cheekily with one of those broad, disarming, adorable smiles of his.

Charles looked away and felt his cheeks redden. It still took him very off-guard how quickly things had shifted with Monty. One minute, they were former enemies with Monty looking to redeem himself. The next moment they were...well, what were they? Dating? If they were dating, he'd have to tell Edwin. He wasn't looking forward to that.

They entered the motel room and Charles hovered near the door, hands dug in his pockets. "We might have to head back to London pretty quick if Cat's up to the teleportation. You should get some..."

The moment they were alone, Monty reached out and grabbed him by the waist and got up on his tip-toes to plant a kiss on Charles' lips. "I was worried about you with Abigail. She knows how to hurt ghosts. She could've..." He buried his face against Charles' chest and grabbed a handful of his jacket.

"Hey now. It's all right. I'm fine. See? Not a scratch," said Charles with his best reassuring grin. He cupped Monty's face.

Monty looked up at him, dark eyes a little shimmery, a pouty look on his face. He sniffled. "I...I know. And I know you get in danger all the time. But I never want to see what I let happen. What I did to you, and to Edwin, ever again. It was awful. It was evil. And I have no excuse for it except I was scared of her and I didn't know there was another way."

"Listen, mate. I know better than most what it is to have shit parents who mess you up. You're making amends, that's what matters." Charles put his finger under Monty's chin and tilted it up.

"I'm trying," said Monty quietly, with a little sniffle.

As Charles rubbed Monty's cheek to soothe him, a thought occurred to him. It was a big step, but... "Monty, I have something. Something to..." he paused, then added, "...lend you."

"Oh?"

Charles hesitated. It was a big step, but if he wanted to give things with Monty a proper try, it felt necessary. He pulled away from Monty and set his pack down on the table. He stuck his hand deep into it and rooted around until he found what he was looking for. He pulled Crystal's necklace out of the pack. "I know it's not your style, but..."