Page 23

Chapter 23

Cold sank deep into Rowan’s body. He couldn’t feel his arms and the throbbing in his leg was absent. It was as if every nerve had fallen asleep. But he felt the cold. Nothing else but cold.

He opened his eyes, the frost coating his lashes breaking apart. Nothing but endless blue mist and tuneless music greeted him. Rowan knew this realm like the back of his hand. Somehow, he’d passed beyond the veil. But where are the spirits? And why is it so fucking cold?

He pushed himself to his feet, wobbling at his weightlessness. This wasn’t right. He was a corporal being in the world of the dead. Spirits usually huddled about him, attracted by his life force. Now there was just the emptiness, inside him and out. I’m dead! Oh shit, somehow, I’m dead!

“My prize.” The wraith’s moan was as raspy as the winter wind. It grabbed Rowan by the shoulders, turning him to face its horrible pile of bones strung together by sinew. It’s face parted into a dripping sharp smile, excited flesh billowing like a cloak. “I said you wouldn”t escape me. And now you’re finally mine.”

“You…you killed me.” Rowan’s horror grew as the wraith ran his tongue around the shell of his ear. “Why the hell did you kill me!?”

“You’re not dead. Just nearly dead.” It ran its claws through Rowan’s hair, gazing at it in wonder. “No need to worry. Your body is near.”

Rowan shut his eyes. Somewhere his heart was still beating. Thank Hecate for that. But fear kept its stranglehold, the wraith moaning as it drank its fill. Stay calm. It”s your only chance, Ro. “You can’t expect me to live here. Eventually I’ll die and you’ll starve. You have to send me back.”

The wraith’s eyes blazed, its body flapping wide. “And give you the chance to return to that fucking satyr?!” It screeched, the stench of decay heavy on its breath. “He won’t have you! No one will! Even when you decay and crumble to dust, you will always be mine!”

Rowan ran into the mists. He reached out, desperate to hook into the veil, His fingers found a tiny fold in reality and he shouted, “Blessed Hecate give me strength and show me the-!”Something snapped taut at his spine, shattering his numbness into pure agony. Rowan slapped a hand across his lower back, finding an icy tether buried like a leech. He slingshotted backwards, slamming into the musty cocoon of the wraith’s embrace. “My Rowan. My little prize. Why must you run?” it said. “We are bound, you and I. Bound by your sadness. Bound by our love.”

“Love?!” Rowan squirmed for freedom. “This isn’t love! This is obsession and I hate you!”

The wraith’s smile dropped. It snatched Rowan’s throat, fury burning in its green eyes. “Don’t make me punish you!”

“Fuck you!”

Rowan’s cry was cut short as it covered his mouth with its own and inhaled. Sparks of his essence poured from his lips and into the greedy wraith’s belly. Rowan weakened, going heavy as a knapsack. Feebly he slapped at the wraith, but it grew stronger with every breath.

I will make you so happy Witch-boy that the wretched creature will starve. Callum”s words whispered to him. A dot of light winked in his chest. Callum, with his strong arms and merry laugh. His unwavering devotion. His wounded heart filled with love. Love for Rowan. His brave, wonderful satyr. Rowan clutched the feeling tight, the light inside him growing with every wonderful thought and loving memory. He makes me Disneyland happy! Gods, I love him! I love him!

The wraith’s eyes widened, the smell of burning ash pouring from its body. It threw Rowan aside, retching piles of ooze and clawing its belly, burning from Rowan’s joy. He wasted no time celebrating and dashed away, the wraith’s enraged roar chasing him. Rowan reached for the veil again, pinching the thin edges between quivering fingertips. The tether tightened, weaker now but determined. Ice filled his veins, his skin turning blue.

With a shout, Rowan pulled the veil aside. “Blessed Hecate, give me strength and show me the crossroads!”

The ache in his leg throbbed to life and the fresh scent of the mountain hit his nostrils. Cold air. Tingling fingers. Rowan laughed, never happier to feel winter.

His body was prone in a dark cavern of stone, pale and coated in frost. An abandoned mine. They were tucked all around Big Bear, meaning he could be anywhere on that damn mountain. He jumped for the opening, but the tether yanked, almost tearing out his spine. He yelped, clutching the edges of the veil before he was taken back into the mists.

A massive silhouette loomed against the grey mist, horns curling from his temples and his bull-like tail lashing the air. Beside him was the shadow of a proud stag. Callum. Broderick. Somehow, they had found him.

Callum ran to Rowan’s body, gathering it into his arms and pressing his long ear to his chest. “His heart beats.” The relief in Callum’s voice was palpable. “It’s weak and slow but there.” He gave Rowan a little shake. “I’m here Rowan! Wake up!”

“Callum!” Rowan screamed. “I’m here! Broderick! Can you see me?!” The tether jerked, another jolt of cold filling him. He gasped as frost formed across his knuckles. Rowan pulled himself forward, fighting the wraith’s hold. Of course, they wouldn’t see him. He was beyond the veil, beyond their reach. No amount of screaming would catch their attention. “Shit shit shit!”

Broderick’s ears perked. Rowan held his breath as the stag crept towards him, looking this way and that but never directly at him. “Can you hear me?” Broderick answered with an affirmative snort and Rowan laughed maniacally. “Yes! Broderick you are an amazing familiar! I’m stuck beyond the veil!”

The stag reared up, its hooves kicking the air before it nudged Callum’s shoulder. The satyr hissed, unwilling to release Rowan’s body when the talisman he wore began to hum. It burst to light; the sigil casting long shadows across the dark rocky cave.

Callum touched the glowing pewter, wonder reflecting in his eyes. “He’s here,” he whispered. “You spoke true, Broderick. He’s here” Slowly he placed Rowan’s body down, rising to his hooves. “Rowan! Show me where you are!”

“I’m here, Callum! Right here!” Rowan cried. yet Callum wandered the mine, feeling the stone walls for openings. “Dammit! Just look at me!” Another tug on his back, harder now. The wraith was growing stronger. Rowan dared to free a hand and reached for him. whispering his command. “Callum an Ceann Is Géire, see me. Hear me. Please!”

A light flashed in Callum’s mismatched eyes, and he turned towards him. His mouth fell open as their gazes locked. “Rowan!”

“Yes!” Rowan cried “You can see me! You can-” Rowan’s grip wavered as the wraith pulled its tether again.

***

“Callum an Ceann Is Géire, see me. Hear me. Please!” Rowan’s voice was as clear as day, compelling Callum to turn around and find his witch. Mist swirled in the air, spreading like a curtain. Broderick bleated, shoving Callum towards it as it parted, revealing bright red hair, and slender shoulders. Rowan’s beautiful eyes locked with his, transparent but real.

Callum let out a relieved cry. “Rowan!”

Yes! You can see me! You can-” His eyes widened, and he vanished.

“No!” Callum lunged for him, praying to catch a hand, a wrist, anything. Thank the Goddess, Rowan appeared again, clinging to the edges of the shimmering curtain. “Where are you?!”

“I’m in the veil!” Rowan’s faint body turned a pale blue, frost crusting his hair and eyebrows. “I don’t have much time. The wraith. It’s here and its-” He vanished again, only to reappear with a strained cry of pain.

“How do I get you out?!” Callum demanded.

“I-I don’t know! You’re not a veil walker! You don’t have the power to cross over!”

“But I’m part of the fae! The fair folk! There’s always a loophole with my kind!”

Rowan shouted in agony, blinking in and out of existence. A thin sheen of ice covered his body. “It’s getting its strength back!”

“No! I won’t let it take you!” Damn the Gods, Callum hadn’t felt this helpless since Orlaith was slain. He clutched his horns. “If I can see you surely, I can get to you!” His ears rose, body stiffening. “Rowan Connell Bennett, I command you to bring me to you!”

Rowan stared at him. “What?!”

“You used my name to let me see you, now I’ll use yours! Bring me across the veil!”

“I don’t think it works like that!”

“Do we have any other choice!? Now bring me across the veil Rowan Connell Bennett!”

His command seemed to calm the witch. He closed his eyes, one trembling hand reaching across the veil and passing through his. Cold consumed him. Callum spasmed, vision doubling before spinning into a kaleidoscope of darkness. There was the brief sensation of floating away before he slammed back into his body, tumbling ass over hooves. Broderick ran to him, offering his antlers for support. “Why didn’t it work?!”

“Because you’re not dead!” Rowan’s eyes fell to the glowing talisman around Callum’s neck. “I’m not alone. We’re not alone.” he whispered. The sigil exploded in a blinding light, turning the dark mine into day. Rowan outstretched his hand. “Throw it to me!”

Without hesitation. Callum pulled the talisman free. He swung the pewter disk towards Rowan, clutching the leather cord in a death grip, It landed in Rowan’s palm as if he were there. “Oh sweet Hecate! It’s the talisman! It bonded us to each-” His words twisted into a screech as they vanished, this time completely. But the talisman’s cord stretched past the veil, tethering them together.

Callum inhaled deeply. “Rowan Connell Bennett. You will bring me across the veil to find you.”

A force hooked into Callum’s gut, tugging like a lure. His vision swirled, colors melding as his nerves buzzed in a wild storm, then fell silent. Numb. He looked to Broderick as his soul pulled free. “Guard us well. I’ll return with our witch-boy.”

The last sound he heard was the thud of his body hitting the ground. He was light as a feather, floating in a peaceful haze before the cord jerked as fast as a whip crack, pulling him into a misty blue void.