in my gut, but it didn't feel like a stomach ache. It was as if my heart sank into my abdomen and rested directly over my well for a moment.
“—weird, right?”
I glanced at Grace and nodded. She tilted her head a bit before turning away and continuing her speech.
“I don't understand why I even care. Or why I'm having all of those mixed emotions. I shouldn't be, should I?” She peered up at me again.
We answered, “Why wouldn't you? It's normal, and it's okay. You can love someone and still realize they aren't healthy or right for you. It doesn't mean you've done anything wrong, and it doesn't mean that those feelings disappear instantly.”
We walked in silence on our way to the unit. We paused once when our attention was drawn to an Angel kicking a Soulless female as she lay on the walkway. Then I adjusted our path, so I knocked into the Angel, shoving them over. While I spouted a fake apology, the Soulless hopped up and ran away. The Angel fumed but couldn't do anything about it. After that, we continued on.
Grace spent most of the time chewing on her lip, and occasionally, she would nod as if answering herself. I split the time between running over those missing sections of the Power's memories and probing my insides as I searched for the monster.
When I couldn't find the point where it ended and I began, I nearly started hyperventilating. Only my training kept my appearance level. I wanted to run around, screaming and waving my arms above my head, but that wouldn't look good to anyone. It wouldn't solve anything, either. No, my solution was more familiar than that; I sped up. The quicker we dropped off her things, the sooner I could change and shove the monster back into its place.
After we reached my unit, we piled her things in one corner of the gathering room, leaving them to deal with later. With limited time left before my appointment with Master Akai, I did not have any to spare. Certainly none to help someone unpack, even if I knew where we would put her. The four bedrooms were already taken, so it would need to be addressed soon.
I debated whether to leave Grace on her own or take her with me. My concern that I would lose control of my body if I remained combined with the monster for too long made it much harder to concentrate. I still hadn't been able to find anything to indicate that the monster and I weren't one being.
On the other hand, if I brought her, it would expose her to secrets that involved more than just me. But more than once, she'd proven that she knew how to keep her mouth shut. If she tagged along, merely knowing of the portal implicated her and the King wouldn't hesitate to punish her by association, so it would be in her best interest to remain quiet.
In the end, I asked her, hedging around the details in case she answered no.
“Do you want to stay here, or go on my next task with me?” I asked.
She glanced at the empty unit, twisting her fingers through one another and said, “I'll go if you don't mind.”
“I don't care, but where I'm going isn't exactly,” I paused, stepping forward and lowering my voice to barely a whisper. “Legal.”
She whipped her head around, eyes wide as they searched my face.
I nodded, stepped back, and then a thought hit me. “Wait, I can't take you to the actual place. Not with…” I held up my arm, tapping on the raised area above my wrist.
“What if I grabbed us something to eat while you did whatever it is?” she asked as she turned over her arm and stared at the device.
I pondered for a moment, trying to work out the downside to that. When nothing came up, I said, “Perfect. Let's go.”
We left the unit, switched to our incorporeal forms, and traveled to a compact building only a few blocks away from the palace. I changed back, and Grace followed suit, looking around as she tried to decipher why we were there.
“There's an eatery just ahead that's decent. Grab me whatever. I'll be back for you as soon as I'm done.”
By the time I finished giving her instructions, we were already standing in front of the eatery, so I reached down to switch off the tracking abilities. It was rather simple, and if Enan was correct, anyone