I clear my throat. “I’m alive because of you, and for that, you have my gratitude.”
He shrugs. “A Wall Man does what he must. And your life is more valuable than mine. You needed to eat. So I came.”
“I’m just…grateful. And I wanted you to know that.” What else can I say? That I wish there were a way I could stop the No Ones from coming? Or that I would take his place if I could? Gabrio would feel emasculated by the thought of me dying to save his life.
“Lake, I am displeased to see you looking so weak—like a wet, starving Skin that is too pathetic to slaughter and eat because it has no meat, no sustenance to offer, therefore making its death pointless. And who wants a pointless death? However, it gives me great honor knowing that in a few weeks’ time, you will be strong again and proxy for my people. I leave you today with a sense of pride.”
I blink up at him. “You’re leaving? Today?”
“I have served my purpose here. You are home. You are strong enough to feed yourself and regain your strength, and right now the wall is under attack. My people need me.”
I’m about to protest his move but stop myself. I have to appeal to his Wall Man mentality. Wall Men are the cream of the War People warrior crop. They pride themselves on being the fiercest fighters in all of Monsterland.
“If you go back over the bridge, will you return to your normal size?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “The bridge removes foreign living matter on the journey here but does not return it if one goes back.”
As I suspected. “So then what good will you be to Alwar?”
His face lights up with indignation—tightly shrugged golden brows, narrowed eyes, and crinkled lips. “I cannot sit here doing nothing while my brothers die fighting the Mountain People. There must be thousands of them. And well armed, too. Otherwise, Alwar would not have been so quick to send you home in your weakened state. I must go and fight.”
He has a point, but so do I. “I can’t keep you here. You know I can’t. But let me point out two facts. One,” I hold up a shaky but determined index finger, “Alwar wanted you to stay with me until your time’s up. He asked you to protect me—”
“That was before the attack on the wall and—”
“And two: the No Ones will grab you the second you step foot in your world.” The only reason they haven’t taken him yet is because he’s here, and Grandma Rain—God rest her crazy-ass soul—warded the hell out of River Wall Manor’s one hundred and fifteen acres. I personally watched her plant a maze of crystals in the soil throughout the property. At the time, I knew nothing about this other world of vicious creatures, and she told me the stones were some “New Age” thing she was into.
I chalked it up as another of her eccentricities, such as sleeping on the couch in her study every night instead of in one of the ten bedrooms in the main house. She also spent an obscene amount of time reading. I’m talking sunup to sundown for the better part of two decades. Not entirely weird. Except for the fact that her books were generally about botany. Also not entirely weird if it weren’t for the fact her beloved rose garden out back was neglected to a state of decay.
How could a person who loved plants so much let her prize roses turn into a crime scene of weeds?
Of course, since her death, I’ve come to understand there was a method to her madness even if I’ve only scratched the surface in terms of answers. Those crystals are just one of many examples. Somehow, they repel the No Ones, but not forever. Eventually, they’ll work their way through the maze.
“I would rather die standing on my home soil,” Gabrio says proudly, “defending the wall like a true Wall Man.”
“You won’t die. Not right away. The No Ones will torture you first.” I was told that they enjoy stripping off your skin and eating out your eyes. They take pieces of you, being careful to not let you die. Then they heal you and start over again.
He shrugs. “Everything must eat. Even the No Ones.”
God, what’s the matter with these people?
He adds, “But before I leave, I must ensure all of the windows are secured on this side—just a precaution in case our enemies get a hold of Alwar’s keys.”
“Sorry. Grandma never mentioned anything. But exactly how many windows are there?”
“There are dozens throughout the house. I am sure she kept them locked—”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“And then there are other windows, like the one in the water closet, she did not know about. They are only locked on the other side. Otherwise, Alwar would not have been able to open it from his end and shove you through.”