The favor I'd asked for was simple enough to a being who wore Celia's face but wasn't Celia. Her gaze had been calm, distant, a void stretching behind those familiar cheerful eyes.
"I'll bring them," she'd said cheerfully, her tone light and almost childlike. "But there will be a cost."
"Another Date," I said calmly, without hesitation.
She smiled, "Yes another date"
Her words didn't matter. Whatever the cost was, I'd decided it wasn't mine to pay today.
And now, as the mist thickened around me, wrapping the battlefield in a shroud of uncertainty, they were here. My team. My anchors in this nightmare.
I glanced at each of them as they emerged from the veil of gray. Jess, the embodiment of flame and fury, her great sword resting on her shoulder, burning faintly. Lovia, a calm wind emanating around her body like a silent storm. Uvan, electricity sparking around his figure. And Celia, frost curling off her fingertips, her piercing gaze unshaken.
