Chapter 30: Chapter 30

Lyric pulled into the driveway and got out of his truck. He was hopeful that she’d report she’d also had a discussion with Ru and now she was much more willing to believe, but he could tell by her solemn expression that wasn’t the case. “Well, that didn’t go as expected,” she muttered, tossing his keys back to him.

Cutter caught them and shoved them into his pocket. “You think?”

Offering him a small smile, she crossed and sat down next to him on the swing. “I don’t think you could’ve done anything differently, though. All of that information at the same time has to be hard to accept. Especially the part about who she is and what she’s supposed to do.”

“I hardly even got into any of that, though,” Cutter replied, exasperated. He ran both hands through his hair and leaned forward, doubled over, his elbows embedded in his knees.

“Just give her a few days. Let her come back to us.”

“And what if she doesn’t?” Rider stepped out onto the porch and crossed it to hoist himself up on the railing.

“I think she will,” Lyric replied, her voice much calmer than Rider’s.

“But if she doesn’t….” Rider wasn’t willing to let his contention go.

“Well, we can’t do anything about it right this second. At least we found her. That’s the most important thing.” Lyric caught Cutter’s eyes, and even though he still felt like he’d messed everything up, she did have a point.

“So has Nat, apparently,” Rider reminded them. “What do we do if he takes her?”

“She won’t go with him.” Lyric seemed sure of herself, but Cutter had his doubts. If anyone could lure someone away, it was Thanatos.

“Yeah, well, no one thought Seraphina would follow Larkin either, but we saw how that went.” Rider hopped down off of the railing, causing the porch to shake a bit.

“She’s not her mother,” Cutter interjected, not sure how he knew Ru would be any different than the wayward Keeper that gave birth to her. “The circumstances are not the same at all.”

“No, Seraphina completely understood what she was doing and chose to do it anyway, whereas Ru is clueless.” Rider had his arms crossed, his expression showing his disposition was just as cross.

“We don’t know what happened with Sera for sure,” Ivy reminded them, speaking from the doorway, her voice serene. “And we won’t know until we can find her. Now that we have Ru, we might be able to.”

“We don’t have Ru, though,” Cutter replied. “And, thanks to my colossal mess up, I don’t think we ever will.”

“We will.” Lyric nodded once slowly.

“We better.” Rider stormed off, back inside, stepping around Ivy. Cutter could hear his loud boots echoing up the stairs even from out here.

Lyric patted him on the back. “Like I said, just give her a few days. Don’t say anything to her about it at work. She’ll grow curious and try to find out more information. In the meantime, Nat won’t be able to take her. She’s too strong for that.”

Cutter nodded his head, as if he were agreeing, but he had no idea if Lyric was right or not. If anything happened to Ru, he didn’t know what he would do. “Maybe… maybe I should go to her house, in spirit form, and keep an eye on her.”

“You can’t do that every night,” Ivy reminded him, stepping out onto the porch. “You have a job to do, and you’ll have to rest some time.”

He knew she had a point, but if it meant keeping Ru safe, he’d find a way. She was growing more and more important to him each day, and he realized not all of it was because she was the lost Keeper.

“We could take turns,” Lyric suggested, glancing from Cutter to Ivy and then back.

“That’s a good idea,” Cutter replied. “And since I don’t have school tomorrow, I’ll go first.”

“Well, just be careful. You don’t want her to know you’re there, and if she has honed her abilities any at all, she’ll sense you. It seems like whatever cloaking device her mother used to hide her must have dissipated once we found her because we can feel her now.” Ivy’s warning was reasonable.

He knew what she said was true. The closer he got to Ru, the more he could sense her whenever he reached out with his mind. “I’ll be cautious,” Cutter assured her, rising. He would need a dark, quiet place so that he could concentrate. His bedroom would work sufficiently, so he headed that direction. Hopefully, this would work, and he could keep Ru safe from Nat while she tried to come to grips with her own understanding of everything he’d told her. She’d have to come around eventually, wouldn’t she?

“And then, Steve said to follow him, so I did. But we forgot the potion, so I went back and got it. And Rupert was with us, but later, he died. And I was really sad about that. So I researched that if you keep the healing potion, you can save him, so I’m going to restart when I get home and see if that works.”

Ira was standing next to her desk, telling her a story about Minecraft, and Ru was nodding along, even though she had no idea what he was talking about. “Wow, Ira, that sounds interesting. Can you tell me one more thing and then save the rest for recess?”

“Sure,” he replied. The young boy continued to talk, but Ru was no longer listening at all. She caught a glimpse of Cutter over his shoulder in the hallway. He glanced in her direction and then looked away, taking his class down the hall, likely headed toward lunch, which is where Ru would be taking her friends in just a few minutes. Returning her attention to Ira, he said, “but I don’t like that Villager, so I think I might lock him up.”

“Right,” Ru nodded. “That sounds like a plan. I would love for you to tell me more at recess, okay?”

“Okay.” Ira didn’t seem particularly excited about the possibility, but Ru knew that didn’t mean he wasn’t looking forward to it. It was difficult to judge his emotions based on his reactions, just as he struggled with understanding the emotions of others.

“Class, class?”

“Yes, yes?”

She had everyone’s attention now, and Ira was settling into his seat. “Go ahead and put your writing journals in your desks, and let’s line up for lunch.”