I spent the rest of the morning showing him the spell over and over again while going over every detail of our trip before we headed to work. Joz even came over for dinner to finalize the plans, and to make me do the spell again before he headed home, intent to pick me up bright and early tomorrow.
Ezryn was real, and I was going to find a way to see him in person.
“So these really aren’t dreams, are they?” I asked as soon as I found Ezryn on my bed. He wasn’t as beat up as last night, but the marks were still there.
He shook his head. “No, it’s a spell linking our minds together, but we’re not asleep, not really. Unconscious to the world around you, maybe, but your mind is here. With me.”
I nodded, not fully understanding, but kind of getting the grasp of it. “But you talk to that Braylik guy, and he’s not in our link?”
He grinned. “I’ve been doing this a long time, so I can stay aware of my surroundings. It takes a lot of practice.”
I nodded since that was one of the few things that sort of made sense. “That first night, you came to me outside, but now we’re here in my bed.”
He smiled. “The first night, I’d only had time to see your house from the outside, and I wanted our surroundings to be familiar to you. After I linked to you the first time, I was able to catch a glimpse of your room, so that’s what I chose as our backdrop, so to speak.”
I waved that away, too confused.
“Are you okay, Ry?” His soft voice floated into my ear, and it brought a smile to my face.
“Yeah, I am.” I cleared my throat. “My friend and I are going to come to Rueberry.”
His eyes widened before he broke into a huge smile. “You are?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“Thank the Gods. That’s wonderful news, Ry. What made you change your mind?”
“I, uh… I did the spell.”
His eyes lit up. “Did it work? Were you able to remember the words?”
Slowly, I nodded. “I was practicing the pronunciation, and I caught my cereal box on fire.”
His eyes widened before he chuckled. “That’s not good. Did you figure out how to stop it?”
“Yeah, but not until after I tried to use a dish towel to put it out.” He grinned, and I added, “I showed Joz, um, my friend I told you about.”
“Did you say Joz?”
“Uh, yeah. He’s my best friend. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going crazy.”
Ezryn’s eyes went wide. “Jozzy’s with you?” Jozzy?
“What do you mean? You know Joz?” I asked with a furrowed brow.
Ezryn let out a happy giggle, making his eyes light up, his hands came up over his mouth as he stared past me, lost in his own head. “Of course you two found each other, of course you did.” He laughed again even as his eyes filled with tears before he refocused on me. “He’s your friend? The one that’s coming to Rueberry with you?”
“Uh, yeah.”
He smiled widely. “That’s wonderful, Ry.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’ll explain it when you get here. You just have to get here first. When do you leave?”
“Tomorrow morning. Since it’s a far drive, we’re staying in a hotel tomorrow night, then going to the orchard the next morning. Everything’s booked.”
“Perfect.” He sighed. “I’m sorry, it’s time to go, but I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“Will I get to see you? In real life?”
Ezryn nodded with a soft smile. “Yes, Ry, you will. Get to that hotel, and I’ll give you instructions from there.”
“See you tomorrow night.”
He gently cupped the side of my face and whispered, “Tomorrow.” Then he nodded once before disappearing again leaving me feeling like I was missing the most important part of myself.
The drive there seemed to take forever. Even though we were trying to limit our stops, it was still after eight at night by the time we were checking into the hotel. It wound up taking nearly twelve hours because of stopping for food and gas, plus hitting some traffic along the way. We were exhausted when we got to our room.
I face-planted on the first bed I reached, and Joz snorted as he walked around me to the other bed in the room. “What time do you want to get up tomorrow?”
“I don’t know.” I spoke into the comforter. “I always stay up after Ezryn mind-links with me, so I’ll be up early. What time do you want to go?”
“Since I think I could fall asleep right now, I say you wake me up after you shower and stuff after your… what did you call it? Mind-link?” I grunted assent, and he said, “Yeah, you get ready first, then wake me up and I’ll get a shower, then we can go.”
“Mhm. Good plan.”
“You planning on sleeping with your shoes on?”
I pushed them off my feet with my toes.
Joz chuckled before getting up, moving around and probably changing for bed, then he turned off the lights. “Night, Rhiles.”
“Night, Joz.” After a moment, I added, “Thanks for doing this with me.”
“Anytime, brother.”
I grinned at that. He’d been calling me that since the first time someone had asked us if we were twins. Which was ridiculous considering he was like four inches taller than me, younger by about eight years, and not nearly as bulky.
I wiggled my way out of my jeans before scooting under the blankets and falling into a blissful sleep.
“Ry?”
I opened my eyes and grinned at Ezryn. It was weird that we were sitting in my bed at home, but I guess that made sense, in a weird, crazy way. “Hey, Ezryn.”
He smiled softly. “How are you?”
“Really great, now. We’re at the hotel.”
His eyes lit up. “You’re really there? You’re really coming?”
“Yes.”
His eyes filled with tears, but he blinked furiously to keep them back.
“What’s wrong? What’s happened?” I asked.
He shook his head and took a deep breath. “Nothing. I’m just so happy that you’re close.”
I nodded. “Me too.”
“Did you pack supplies like I told you?”
“Of course.”
He grinned. “Good. Make sure you bring them in a backpack tomorrow.”
“I will. Tell me what I need to do before you run out of time.”
“When you get to the orchard, tell the owners that Ezryndryll Blackthane sent you, and that you need to get to the bridge.”
I blinked at that. “Ezryndr…? Ezryn what now?”
He smiled. “Ezryndryll Blackthane. That’s my full name. If you can’t remember the whole thing, try to remember Blackthane. That name alone should get you through.”
“Blackthane. Got it.”
He nodded. “Now I need to teach you another spell.”
Chapter 4
Rhile
Taking a deep breath, I walked up to the farmhouse at Rueberry Orchard with Joz right beside me, both of us hiking up the backpacks filled with the supplies Ezryn told me to bring. It was the only building we could see from the dirt road, so I assumed we were in the right place.