My Beautiful Mind

26.

It takes a few minutes to make sure Carys and Cadeyrn aren't going to murder us in cold blood before we're comfortable enough to sit in the chairs around them. Jamie and I take a loveseat on the outskirts of the circle while the others drag over armchairs. After a quick line of introductions from the girls and Jamie, the twins are about to explain from the beginning what's been going on when the common room doors open to reveal a chestnut haired, hazel eyed Hunter expertly cradling three more bottles of alcohol. He takes in the extra company with an easy smile. If he's at all surprised by our sudden arrival, he most definitely doesn't show it as he deftly weaves through the maze of chairs towards the twins. "Well, it is excellent timing that I brought more drinks," the mysterious man says.

He places the bottles on the table with Carys's half-empty one and perches on the arm of her seat. "It took you long enough, James," Cadeyrn huffs, snatching a bottle from the table and popping the cork off. James laughs and leans down to press a loving kiss to Carys's temple. His hazel-green eyes lazily wander over each of us until they stop at Jamie, lingering at the arm draped behind my shoulders on the loveseat. "I wish you the best of luck on the chase, from one patient pursuer to another," James says to Jamie with a grin on his face. I look between the two men expecting them to elaborate, but Jamie simply clears his throat and fidgets in his seat, unable to meet my eyes. "About Jonathan..." he mumbles, waiting for anyone to finally fill us in, and steering the conversation elsewhere.

James's relaxed expression turns grim at the mention of his friend. "Always much too impulsive for his own good, but after a visit to Wales with us, he has gone absolutely mad. There exists much smarter and cleaner methods to pick off those bastards in Parliament." Cadeyrn rubs a hand over his exhausted face, "he found a way inside the Palace where he still is, biding his time while the Houses convene–I think 'going absolutely mad' is a severe understatement." "Has he killed anyone yet?" Cordelia asks, the cogs in her sharp mind turning trying to find a way to get him out before he exposes the Hunt to all of England. Carys sighs and shakes her her head, bringing her knees to her chest.

"Our main priority is to drag him back to base without anyone realising he was in the Palace to begin with," James explains, "the three of us intend to make the trip over to Westminster tomorrow." Carys lifts her head to rest her piercing eyes on Cordelia, then Jamie, then me, indicating her choices of who would be accompanying the three of them. James and Cadeyrn follow the path of her gaze, finality spread across their features. "Cordelia, Jamie, and Elin will be coming with us," Cadeyrn announces. Before Adela, Emy, and Mila can express their disappointment, the Hunter turns to them, "Rhys Prowell and Bryn Hier, our good friends, will need your assistance in other matters." The vagueness of his words doesn't go unnoticed, but the three of them simply nod their heads in consent.

As whiskey bottles are passed around and further detailed discussions of Operation: Save Jonathan from Self Destruction are being had, I sit in silence next to Jamie growing increasingly restless and desperate for fresh air. While the fae healer physically healed my concussion, the faint remnants of dizziness lingered. Jamie catches the occasional drooping of my eyelids and the swaying of my body as it bumps against his side. He grabs my hand and makes to get up, "C'mon, I'll take you outside." I'm about to take him up on the offer when Carys appears in front of our loveseat. Her scarred, slender hand is held out to me, her gray-blue eyes questioning. I stare at her long, delicate fingers for a moment before placing my clammy, cold hand in hers. As if I weigh nothing, Carys pulls me up from my seat easily. When she notices Jamie's reluctance to let me go, Carys gives him a rare smile, as if knowing more than she lets on. "I will bring her back to you safe and sound," she murmurs.

*****

The roof of the building in which bookshop occupies the first floor is a familiar, welcoming sight to my drowsy and woozy head. Carys and I settle ourselves down in a corner of the roof to watch life pass by down below. A chilling gust of wind comes our way, bringing drops of rain with it, and I wrap my cloak tighter around myself to stop my shivering. The cloak's oversized hood is drawn completely over my bowed head, shielding Carys from my periphery vision. We're completely silent for a good five minutes, neither of us wasting our precious breaths on small talk. As I fill my lungs with delicious fresh, crisp air, I subconsciously start listing words that begin with the letter 'E,' a game Evan and I played to pass time ever since we were four. Emotion. Evil. Excess. Equilibrium. Escape. Echo. E–