The Wishing Tree - Book Two [Completed]

The Bargain - Part 33

We're in a cave and Mason won't allow us to have a fire, so we're sitting in the dark while Mason plays with a small spark between his fingers. I watch him intently and then start trying to mimic the motion of his hands, just to see if I can call up a spark, too. I know I can get a light, but this looks like more fun.

An electric current jumps between my fingers, but doesn't spark. I try again, concentrating on the motion of my fingers and then I have a spark. Once I have the motion, I find I can toss the spark around like a coin. When I look up, Mason is staring at me.

"What?" I ask.

"It took me months to learn that damn trick the first time. You watch me for a few minutes and you've got it. It's incredible, really." He grins. "Those keepers must have peed themselves when they started seeing how quickly Journeyers were picking up magic and power."

I shake my head. "They killed all of them, Mason. It's hardly something to rejoice."

He laughs. "Souls don't really die. They're either in the Ether, which would be really hard for us to fix or they've been stuffed into something or put somewhere in a holding pattern. They're out there, I'm sure of it. Whether we'll be able to get them back; I don't know."

I'm starting to feel tired. I yawn and stretch, letting my little spark extinguish. Mason's fingers have a dull glow. Rocco, Riven and Clara have gone to sleep, bored by the lack of light and the vegetarian dinner of roots and berries.

Watching his face closely, I say, "What exactly did you do to me on the Third Realm? I thought if people did the bonding ritual they ended up moving in the same circles in all their lives after that."

He raises his eyes to me and they're hard in the candlelight glow of his fingers. "I burned it out of you using illegal magic. That's when they kicked me out; but I'd been doing other things that I shouldn't have been doing leading up to that." He looks back down at his fingers and dims the light more.

"I'm not proud of that man anymore. I was, once; I thought being hard and uncompromising was the only way to get what I wanted. I'm starting to see the realms through a different lens now." He laughs softly. "Who knew walking in on Ryan's dreams so many times would actually make me a better person? I sure as hell never would have thought it was possible. If there is one thing in all the realms that the keepers have done well, it's Ryan."

I'm not about to disagree with him there. I worry though, almost constantly that I'm hurting him too much by being here in the First Realm. He's the best thing that's ever happened to me, to Mason and I think, if we can get the Third Realm sorted out, he'll be the best leader they've ever had, too.

"If this doesn't work, Mason, if Grayson captures me at some point, I want you to put an arrow through my heart. I don't want Grayson to have the satisfaction of killing me. Can you promise me that?"

Mason's head snaps up and his gaze is stormy again. "The only death that's going to happen is Grayson's. He's not getting you. I'm an old dog, with many, many tricks."

"But, back in the clearing, you seemed worried," I say.

"I wasn't ready to face him; there are some answers I need. But, when we do face him, I'll do whatever needs to be done to protect you and Ryan."

"What's your deal with Ryan, Mason?" I ask, quietly, wondering if he'll finally tell me.

His smile is soft and wistful. "I've given you all my other secrets, why not this one, too? Is that what you think?"

I shrug and wait, watching him.

"It's the same deal that I struck with Grayson; it's the one thing I've always thought was out of reach but would be absolute perfection."

I raise my eyebrows, questioning.

"Each ruler gets two tickets to the Fourth Realm. Their own ticket is determined by the job they do, but the other two? It's their choice. Grayson promised me a ticket and Ryan, in getting me to switch sides, agreed to match that."

I laugh, delighted. "You want to be in the Fourth Realm? They'd poop their pants if you turned up there."

"Yes, but they can't veto it," Mason agrees, laughing.

"Why would you want to go there? I mean, I've only been there a few times, but I can't imagine you fitting in."

Mason is quiet for a while, looking at his glowing fingers. "Where do you think a soul like mine goes after centrums of death, destruction, and mayhem?" Mason asks quietly, all trace of laughter gone.

My laughter vanishes. "I would hope you'd just get recycled."

"A soul like mine? Come on, Hannah. You're not dumb. They're not going to recycle me; I'm going straight to the Ether."

I think about Mason, trapped in endless nothingness and my breath catches in my lungs. Tears prick at the back of my eyes and I blink rapidly, not willing to cry about something that will not happen. Ryan loves him like a brother; he wouldn't let it happen. I won't let it happen.

"So, how do you get to the Fourth Realm?" I ask, trying to alter the subject.

"Easy. I just have to survive till you leave. Once you're gone – poof – Ryan can pop me out and up – it's the golden ticket."

Easy. He just has to survive. And, he's immortal, so what could possibly go wrong? Violet's warning niggles at the back of my brain, but I brush it aside. We'll all get what we want in the end. We'll all be happy. I smile at Mason.

"I can't wait until we both get to 'poof' out of here," I say.

Mason laughs. "It'll be a great day." He nods at Rocco, Riven and Clara sleeping. "We should get some rest or we'll be the weakest links tomorrow. It's going to be another long day."

"Tomorrow we get some answers," I say as I lie down on the ground.

"Tomorrow," Mason says, "we figure out what to believe." With that cryptic response, he turns on his side to sleep.

Author's Note: Are you surprised by what Mason's after? Do you think he'd fit in on the Fourth Realm?

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