Rafael stared at his phone after Nick hung up. He had never heard Nick sound so afraid before. He asked for trust, and Rafael wasn’t sure how many more times he could do this.

  Rafael slid his phone in his pocket, glancing up to meet Tyler’s gaze. “Was that Nick?” Tyler asked.

  “Yeah,” Rafael said.

  Everyone’s attention was on Rafael at this point. Alejandra glared at him as though accusing him of having a conversation with him.

  “Is he okay?” Evelyn asked, an empty bowl of rice pudding in front of her. Amanda was cleaning up in the kitchen.

  “He…” Rafael let out a sigh. “He definitely hit his head a little too hard. It’ll be good for him to have a bit more rest.”

  That was enough for everyone. Rafael still didn’t know what he promised with what he said. Nick seemed desperate. Dangerously desperate. Rafael wanted to give in to what he said. That Nick had just hit his head a little too hard, but he couldn’t. He would meet them at Calawit’s. Rafael glanced at Amanda, who finished putting away the extra rice pudding.

  Evelyn stood up, gathering her bowl. “Let’s go. We’ve already wasted too much time already.”

  “This isn’t a waste,” Derek said. “You need it.”

  “Actually, Mrs. Perez, could I request your rice pudding every time?” Evelyn asked, her eyes falling on Amanda. “It’s just so good, I’d like to enjoy it when I’m not having a mental breakdown.”

  Amanda couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll tell you what, Evelyn. When you come back, you make sure you come inside, and I’ll give you the leftover rice pudding.”

  “Thank you,” Evelyn said.

  Amanda hugged Evelyn before they walked out of the house. Rafael was bothered by his phone call with Nick, and now that Amanda wasn’t near, he needed to talk about it.

  “Look, guys, um… Nick’s going to try something,” Rafael said.

  Tyler’s head jerked around, eyes growing wider. “No. No, he can’t. What’s he doing?”

  Tyler hardly finished when Alejandra started talking, Evelyn too. Derek had some questions, and Rafael was so overwhelmed with everything that he raised his hands. “Stop. Please. Let me explain.”

  Except there wasn’t much to explain. Rafael tried to help them understand Nick’s nervousness, his desperation. But all of them stared at him like this was the worst idea anyone could come up with.

  “No,” Alejandra said when he was done. “Absolutely not.”

  “Alejandra-”

  “He’s not allowed. Tyler forbade him from coming. He can’t do this,” Alejandra said.

  “I’m calling him,” Evelyn said, reaching for her phone, but patting her empty pocket.

  “You gave it to Nick, remember,” Tyler said.

  “Then you call him.” There was a desperation in her eyes.

  Tyler winced, then shook his head. “He’s most likely driving now. Dangerous as that is,” he muttered the last part quietly to himself. “We can’t distract him.”

  “Nick knows what he’s doing,” Rafael said.

  “No, he doesn’t. He’s got a concussion. And he’s driving. And being a huge jerk,” Alejandra said.

  “Stop,” Rafael said. His mind was made up. This was a small thing Nick was asking of Rafael. “He’s already set in motion what it is we need to do. We’ve been asking him for a month now to tell us. Well, what if he hasn’t been able to? What if, whatever Grizzizzik has hanging over his head is too much? What if Grizzizzik is threatening him with something so big he doesn’t feel like he can. What if he feels incredibly guilty, and is trying to reach out. The only person Nick needs right now is Ezekiel. No one else has to be involved.”

  “This is so dangerous. He shouldn’t be driving right now,” Evelyn said.

  “Nick already made up his mind. He’s doing this. We just need to be there for him,” Rafael said.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “No,” Alejandra said, folding her arms. “I’m not doing this. I refuse.”

  “Then go home,” Rafael said.

  Alejandra’s mouth dropped open before she glanced at the others.

  “Rafael,” Tyler started to say.

  He glanced at the game master. “Do you trust me?”

  Tyler let out a sigh, placing one hand on his hip, the other running it through his hair. “I…”

  “This is his Hail Mary,” Rafael said. “And if it doesn’t work, he’s resigned to never seeing us again, if that’s what it comes to.”

  Tyler scrutinized Rafael’s face. “Rafael… are you sure?”

  He thought about his conversation with Nick. Recognized that desperation. The need for things to change, and this one idea that might change it. It was desperate. It was insane.

  Actually, it wasn’t too insane. He had played CCNC with Nick for a year and a half. He’d heard his fair share of crazy ideas, and this was relatively tame.

  “All we need to do is make sure Grizzizzik isn’t tipped off that we know something. Make sure Ezekiel can sneak up on Grizzizzik and overhear their conversation. Nick is confident Ezekiel will overhear what’s going on,” Rafael said.

  “Why doesn’t Nick just tell us?” Alejandra asked.

  “Maybe he can’t. It isn’t the strangest thing that’s happened the past few months,” Rafael said.

  “Fine,” Alejandra said, folding her arms. “Why wouldn’t Nick tell us instead of saying to my face that I’m incapable of understanding why he’s doing what he did because dad hit me for most of my childhood and gave me brain damage?”

  Derek winced. Rafael kept his sister’s gaze, knowing she was in pain. Nick telling that to her had made his sister lose all trust in Nick. Possibly forever.

  Rafael had no answer for her, because he wasn’t sure himself. The truth was, that caused the rift in a lot of what was happening. Nick was spiraling, and Rafael had to be careful not to get sucked in with him.

  “Akshi can control Mr. Stower,” Rafael whispered. “The two worlds are colliding. It would make far more sense if Nick’s being controlled by Grizzizzik somehow.”

  “Grizzizzik is not that powerful,” Tyler said.

  “Still, we have an opportunity to figure out why Nick’s been doing what he’s been doing the past month. I’ve already made my choice. I’m going to help him. If you don’t want to, you may go home.” Rafael glanced at everyone else. “The same offer is there for any of you.”

  “I want to help,” Evelyn said.

  Tyler glanced at her, trying to read her face, then at Rafael. “I will, too.”

  “God, I need to know the juicy gossip,” Derek muttered.

  Rafael couldn’t help but snort before turning his gaze again on Alejandra. She was angry. Hurt. There were tears forming in her eyes as she walked up to him and held out her hand. “I’ll see you at home.”

  Rafael reached into his pocket and pulled out the keys, placing them in her hands. “I’ll let you know what we find out.”

  Alejandra shook her head and turned around, heading toward the car. It wasn’t until he watched his sister drive away that a different problem appeared.

  “I… um, I can…” He glanced at Evelyn before turning away again. “Tyler, can you drive me? We can still take separate cars.”

  “Oh. Right, sure,” Tyler said, pulling out his keys.

  “Don’t worry about it, Tyler,” Evelyn said. She then looked at Rafael, a slight smile. “I’m okay, Rafael. Our characters are meeting us at Calawit’s, and I don’t have to sit by you because it won’t be crowded. We can ride in the same van.” She turned around, heading for Derek’s minivan. “Come on. Let’s go save Nick.”

  Rafael tried to calm his beating heart the entire time they traveled to Calawit’s shop. It wasn’t any calmer when he walked through the tent. There was a lot of activity, and he saw the characters mingling around the store. He spotted Ezekiel and Clarissa by the books, with Ezekiel showing Clarissa one of the Flannigan Jones novels. Milo was at Calawit’s desk, using his magical wrench to attach something to one of his inventions. Hraktar was sucking in a breath, moving through the bookshelves, afraid he would break something as he looked at the weapons with Grizzizzik. The rogue acted like he wanted to find somewhere else to brood in, but Hraktar was not letting him leave his side.

  Grizzizzik noticed Rafael and his friends enter.

  “Alright, they’re here. Let’s go,” Grizzizzik said, heading for the tent opening. Hraktar grabbed his cloak, forcing Grizzizzik to stop.

  “Let the kids breathe,” Hraktar said.

  “We already know where we need to go. We can tell them on the way there,” Grizzizzik said.

  “I will use every bit of money I have left to buy Calawit’s mana manacles to keep you within thirty feet of me,” Hraktar said.

  Grizzizzik’s lip curled. “You mean the money you don’t have?”

  “Oh, I’d hand them over if he asked,” Calawit said, hands tucked under her chin as she watched Milo tighten something in the mask. She kicked her legs, and despite the white hair and the wrinkly old face, she looked like a child excited to watch someone build something with her.

  Grizzizzik closed his eyes, shaking his head.

  “So, who are we fighting today?” Tyler asked.

  “There’s a cult out there in the desert. A leader and three of their fanatic followers. Don’t much like cults,” Calawit said. “They make me nervous.”

  “Yeah.” Tyler pulled out his phone, checking something. “Especially now that it seems like a month has disappeared from our deadline. Have you looked into that?”

  “No. All I know is the earth humans still can’t see me. I went out and gave them my typical gnomish greeting, and none of them reacted.”

  “That’s…” Tyler rubbed his forehead, “That makes sense. Do you have any idea who these cultists worship? Just so we’re prepared?”

  “Doesn’t matter who they worship,” Ezekiel said, closing his book. “If they’ve turned toward fanaticism, we must make sure they’re stopped.”

  “Got it!” Everyone turned to Milo. His mask was glowing, and he lifted it up with pride. “My own set of night goggles. I knew I was close to a breakthrough.”

  Grizzizzik turned back to Ezekiel. “And by stopped, you mean killing them, right? We’re not going to convert them to your deity, are we?”

  Ezekiel shrugged. “We can try.”

  “But then they’ll become fanatic toward the Great Lady, and she wouldn’t like it. We need to kill them,” Grizzizzik said. “It’s the only way to get-”

  Grizzizzik was cut off as the tent door opened and Nick walked in.