CHAPTER 130

They walked further into the trees, and a chill overtook him. He rubbed his arms, then stopped long enough to pull a light jacket out of his backpack. "Are you warm enough?" he asked Yuki.

She smirked. "The cold never bothers me."

"Of course." He put his backpack back on. "How far should we go? So far, it seems like more of the same."

Everywhere he looked, it was just trees and rocks, and they took their time, with Yuki leaving marks on the trees as they passed.

"Should we have Daisy scout ahead?" Yuki asked.

Mike shook his head. "I don't want us getting separated at all. We know something is out here, and I don't want Daisy getting snatched up and disappearing forever. It's bad enough getting a banshee back from the faerie queen, but traveling all of Purgatory to find such a tiny thing? Take us forever."

Daisy buzzed her wings in his ear, causing him to grin. They walked for about ten more minutes, then stopped when they reached a rock big enough for Mike to sit on.

"Tired already?" Yuki leaned against a tree.

"No. Just need to think. There aren't any landmarks so far. There's just...nothing." Looking across the silent forest, he shook his head. "I'm surprised we haven't even seen a wayward spirit, or at least something."

"This is what happens when you go somewhere outside of time and space." Yuki's tails twitched behind her and she turned her head. "If you wanted to see something different, now's your chance."

"What?" He followed her gaze and stood.

A thick fog was rolling through the trees now, and he made it to Yuki just as it buried them. Visibility dropped to only a few feet, and he clung tightly to the kitsune, afraid that either of them might suddenly get sucked away.

Dark shadows milled about in the fog, and he felt hundreds of hands touch him as they drifted past. Though they lacked corporeal form, each touch sapped some of the heat from his body, and he shivered, then pulled the hood of his jacket up.

The fog thinned a bit, making every tree look like a distant shadow. The figures in the fog were almost imperceptible, except for out of the corner of his eye.

"Okay, that was unnerving." He stepped away from Yuki, but kept his hand on hers.

"Agreed." Yuki stuck her sword in the ground and pulled another card from her sleeve, then tossed it in the air. It turned into a small ball of fire, and hovered before them. "I'll keep this on me, and you can use Daisy as a light. I think I might need both hands, if you don't mind."

"Oh, right. Sorry." He let go of her, and she picked her sword back up. "Any idea what direction we should go?"

She looked around, a frown on her face. "Honestly? I'm almost thinking we should head back now. When it was just trees, we could see a threat coming. But this? We can come up with a better plan for navigating it, don't you agree?"

It was good advice, and Mike nodded. Yuki navigated the fog, sending the ball of fire ahead of them to light up the trees in the area. A few minutes passed before she found one with a fresh cut in its bark, and Mike let out the breath he had been holding. He had half expected the marks to disappear, and was glad to see that they hadn't.

"So how are you feeling about things?" he asked as they moved through the fog.

Yuki shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I've been throwing myself into research and art lately, but I've also been trying to make time for me. I've spent a lot of time talking with Naia at night, when the house is finally quiet. Abella too, sometimes. There's just a lot to go through, and it sucks not having the relationship with them that I used to. I feel like I have to hold back, that we aren't in that place yet, but I so desperately want to feel that level of closeness again."

"You don't think there's a way to fix that, do you? Like, undo the destroyed memories?"

"No idea. Ratu and I have discussed it, she finds it a fascinating puzzle. But she's been so tied up in helping Dana undo her curse and studying this weird necklace that she found that she hasn't made any progress on the issue."

"Necklace? What neckl—" He put his arm out sideways, and Yuki bumped into him. However, his eyes were on the shadow that moved toward them through the fog. Unlike the shadows from earlier, this one moved with a confidence he recognized almost immediately.

"Mike Radley." The shadow stopped about ten feet away and chuckled. "I feel like it's been a lifetime since we last spoke."

"Been too busy dodging my succubus, have you?" Mike instinctively grabbed at his waist, going for a magical dagger that was now lost forever.

"Yes. She can be quite troublesome. But now you are in my world, and the advantage is mine."

"I don't think so," Yuki replied, holding up some of her tarot cards. She had them fanned out, and Mike was curious what was on them.

"Call off your pet, Mike Radley, I'm only here to warn you." It was odd seeing the shadow in three dimensions as the fog moved through him.

"Are you here to warn me about my world burning again?" Mike shook his head. "I need a spiritual spam filter for dicks like you."

"I am here to warn you." The shadow kept its distance, but walked around them. "You see, I've given you plenty of warnings about your own future, warnings you have failed to heed. And I now find myself on the crux of a very interesting dilemma. You see, I—"

An icicle thicker than Mike's arm blew through the shadow, leaving a void in the fog.

"As I was saying," the shadow continued, "I've come to believe that I'm only wasting my time trying to bargain with you."

"You're wasting both of our time," Mike replied.

"I have my own agenda, which isn't too far off from your own. To protect my home. To do what I think is best for it, even if it may be...unsavory." The shadow's features were solidifying now, and Mike could almost make out a hawkish face beneath a hood. "It's occurred to me recently that there may be another method to achieving what I want, but I'm afraid it will be at your detriment."