Ravens and Crows

Chapter 19 ~Adam~

It was like nothing I'd ever seen before, and that was saying something.

Ronan closed his eyes and Cabeswater shook. The grass around them in the clearing grew past the bodies of the six of them. Then it weaved into itself and sank back down.

And they were gone.

Gansey let out a shaky breath and turned to Opal. "How do you feel?"

Opal took a while to ponder this and everyone waited anxious and jumpy.

Finally she nodded and smiled up at Gansey. "I feel fine."

Suddenly a strong wave of nausea fell over me. I sank to ground with an exhale.

"Adam?" Blue asked cautiously as her, Gansey, and Henry headed toward me.

"I'm fine," I say tiredly. "I'm guessing that means they made it to Ketterdam."

Gansey let out a breath and sank down on the grass with me. "Now he just needs to get back."

Henry walked over the spot Ronan and the others had gotten absorbed into and tapped it with his foot. "Does he do that a lot?"

"No," Blue said. "This is a first."

"How come he disappeared this time?" Henry asked. "Last time he just did it on the couch and we could see him?"

"Last time he didn't have to really be there, he just had to see it, just like in his usual dreams." I said. "Or at least I think that's how that works."

"What do you guys want to do while we wait?" Blue asked sitting down and laying her head on Gansey's lap.

"We have school," Henry said. "'My friend's currently in a past alternate dimension' does not count as an excused absence."

"Ba humbug," Blue mumbled.

I agreed with Blue. Though I usually hated missing school, the thought of sitting in class while waiting for Ronan to come back sounded like torture.

"We could raid Ronan's kitchen until it's time to leave." Blue offered.

Henry stared at her. "He'd kill me."

"And didn't you say he had no food?" Gansey added.

"I'm sure he has something," Blue said. "And Ronan wouldn't kill us. He pretends he's all viscous but he'd never hurt anyone."

"How can you be sure?" Henry asked.

"Because of the proof. Kavinsky was killing Cabeswater, Ronan's happy spot and one of his best dreams, and Ronan didn't do anything. Mr. Grey was hired to murder Ronan's dad and he's still parading around with my mother on the off occasion. Greenmantle was the one who hired Mr. Grey to kill his father and the most Ronan could cook up was to threaten him with account of murder. Ronan is not going to kill you for eating his food."

"Aren't two-thirds of those people dead now?"

"But that's not his fault. Kavinsky was killed by his own fire dragon dream thing and Greenmantle was killed by a demon his wife sent after him."

"You guys have demons?"

"Had," Blue corrected. "You were there, Gansey-"

"Can we please stop talking about all the times we could've died?" I said lying down in the grass as Opal leaned over me to study me.

"Adam, are you okay?" Opal asked cocking her head in a bird like way.

"I'm fine," I assured. "Just worried about Ronan."