When All is Null and Void

Chapter Forty-Four

Even though it was Christmas, and despite how everything should have been jovial and exciting, it wasn't. Caleb woke Alexander in the morning and said, "We need to go see Rhea."

Alexander's drowsiness disappeared instantly. "Why? What's wrong?" He sat up quickly and appraised Caleb. "Is it your ring? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Caleb said. He held his hands up at his mentor who tried to grab his right hand and examine the ring. "But we need to tell her Danielle said no."

"Oh," Alexander said, flopping back onto his pillow. "Do we have to do it today?" He said this, even though he rose out of bed and started to get dressed and held out his hand to Caleb.

Alexander brought them to a bright, April morning. It seemed to have finished raining, as the trees were dripping water. The sun was peeking out from behind dark clouds, filling the day with a blinding radiance. They were on the hill looking down at the Estate, and Caleb took off walking before he'd even extricated his hand from Alexander's grip. Rhea wouldn't be happy with what he was going to say, but somehow he didn't expect she would do anything drastic.

The front doors opened for them, and they were faced with an unfamiliar woman in black. She smiled at them and asked what they needed, and then she was leading them to Rhea James' office, where so many conversations had been held before. Caleb felt worry clench at his gut every time he came into this place, and he was already excited to leave. It had only ever held bad news for him.

"Caleb!" Rhea said, but Caleb could tell she was looking to see if Danielle was with the two of them.

"Danielle isn't going to help us," Caleb said with more confidence than he really felt. He walked into her office and sat down, as if she had invited him in and told him where to sit. Alexander stayed at the door, though he'd walked inside the threshold.

"I'm not a part of this," Alexander said, raising his hands in submission when Rhea looked at him. "You two can figure it out."

Rhea didn't say a word. She closed the door, pushing Alexander into the room. She rounded her desk, and Caleb felt rather like a student about to receive a scolding from a teacher.

"Did you explain the reason I want to see her?" Rhea asked. She steepled her fingers and her pointed gaze instantly filled Caleb with an odd sense of remorse. As if he were failing Rhea somehow. She seemed haggard and angrier than Caleb had ever known her to be. It radiated like fire from her eyes.

"I did. We—I hopped with her," Caleb answered. "But then she almost passed out, and then the ring forced me to Hop, but when I tried to get back to her, it wouldn't let me." He wasn't sure why he wasn't adding his mentor to the narrative. But for some reason he was trying to protect Alexander.

But Rhea didn't seem fooled. "Why did you come to me with this." She wasn't looking at Caleb anymore. Instead her steady gaze was focused on Alexander's back. His mentor wasn't looking at either of them, instead flipping through an old book from the shelf.

"We fixed it," Alexander said. "There wasn't a need to."

"Alexander," Rhea said slowly. "You know how important it is for the Void to be closed. You knowhow important it is."

Caleb felt impossibly cornered when Alexander turned on Rhea. "I'm not stupid, Rhea. I know what this could all mean, but she's a teenage girl, and you can't just use her."

When Rhea James stood, her hands splayed out on the desk, somehow she seemed much taller than she'd been before. Even though she was leaning over. Thunder coursed through her eyes. "I'm not using her."

But Alexander didn't seem cowed. She stared at Alexander for a moment.

"If you're refusing to help me," she said, "Then I'm removing Museum protection from your home. Anyone can enter at will. Perhaps once you've faced what's out there, you'll understand what we're actually up against."

"What do you mean?" Caleb asked. It seemed the two adults had forgotten about him, amidst the battle of stares they were engaging in.

"Not all Voidsick are rabid animals."

She didn't say another word.

And then she sat at the desk, and Caleb knew they were dismissed.

Alexander and Caleb walked out quietly, and it wasn't until they'd Hopped back to the house that Caleb spoke. "What did she mean?"

"I don't know," Alexander answered, but there was a resoluteness that told Caleb this wasn't truth.