Page 51 of Hexes & Heartstrings (Shifters of Bastion Keep #2)

Sitting on the stone floor of the Great Hall with Russell's head in his lap and arms wrapped around his waist, Bruin watched as several of Lady Yi's pack relieved the ones currently guarding the prisoner.

"How's Kerry doing?" Sergiy asked, striding over to take a seat beside them. Bruin's mate set aside his spear so that he could join him in running his hands through Russell's hair, and Bruin felt their lover squeeze him tighter.

"Still stable, still sleeping," Bruin said. "The dagger nicked his heart, and while I'm pretty sure I patched it up before any tissue death set in, he still needs to go to a hospital for a CT scan or something. Shifter stamina or not, hearts are too important to risk."

"True," Sergiy murmured. "Alright. I've spoken with Roland, he says it'll be just a couple more hours until he has his spare talismans attuned to Russ and Kerry, and then we can all ripcord out of here. Any word from the keep?"

"Just did a check-in." Bruin indicated the nearby lantern.

"Rosemary says that the injured guardians are doing fine, only three needed shipping out to Town for advanced care, Auguste included.

There's already talk of planning a celebration, but if we're not going to get back until after dinner, I guess it'll be tomorrow? "

He saw Sergiy shake his head, getting a glimmer of a smile on his snout. "I don't think we'll be able to restrain a castle full of guardians after something like this. No, we can expect a midnight feast that will last well into the morning, so you'll want to get what rest you can."

Bruin nodded, his gaze again returning to the comatose lord.

"Let's take a walk," Sergiy said, standing up, and Bruin felt Russell lift his head.

"But…"

"We won't be gone long, Kerry can survive a half-hour without you."

Bruin hesitated, but he probably was being too cautious. He didn't have any reason to think his healing charms hadn't worked, and the man was a shifter besides, with all the sturdiness that entailed.

"It would be good to stretch my legs," he admitted, then looked down at the guy who was currently the most important person in the world. "Russell, is that okay? Do you want to take a walk around?"

"I would like that, yes," he said, then took his time getting to his feet.

While Sergiy gave a few orders to Lady Yi over supervising their injured prisoner, Bruin checked his boyfriend over, looking up into his face. As if reading his thoughts, Russell reached up to pat him on the head.

"I am feeling better. Not all better, but some better."

And if Russell said it, he meant it. But between the kidnapping, violence, and being forced into the Umbral that he fears, Bruin expected that he'd be worrying over his boyfriend until they were properly back home, and he'd gotten some real laughter out of him.

Bruin stumbled to his own feet, one leg half-asleep from an hour in the same position, and had to be kept from falling over by Russell keeping his hands on his shoulders.

After making a last check over his patient, Bruin slung his witch's bag over his shoulder, grabbed Russell's hand tightly in his, then followed Sergiy as he led the way out of the castle.

The loss of the spirits didn't seem to have impacted the pocket realm any. The sky was still bright, if cloudy, the air was clear, and there was a temperate breeze that brought with it the scent of the sea.

Bruin look up at Russell worriedly since they were in the Umbral still, but he didn't seem bothered, merely looked around with his usual stoic expression.

Without discussing it, the three of them found their feet taking them to the shore. The castle itself was located near a short cliff with rocky outcroppings, and there was a gentle slope made by a well-worn, dirt path that took one down to the beach.

The sound of waves lapping at the shore interspersed with louder crashes against the cliffside seemed to drown out the surrounding atmosphere. It was pleasant, and lent their outing a sense of intimacy, as if they had an entire world to themselves.

Bruin sat himself down on the sandy beach, parts of it still damp from earlier waves, and Russell sat down next to him with Sergiy on the werewolf's other side.

It was just the three of them, and that felt nice. It felt good to breathe.

After a few minutes of enjoying the silence and the presence of his two mates, Bruin found that he couldn't contain his restlessness any longer.Still, he wasn't sure how Russell was doing, so he tried for a light-hearted tone.

"You know, I really hope that this kind of fallen lord stuff doesn't become a regular affair."

He saw Sergiy give a start, apparently jerked out of his thoughts, and then heard him grumble."Gods and goddesses, I hope not."

"And as nice as it was to see some new places, and to see all the guardians and especially my adorable drake doing his job…"

Sergiy leaned past Russell, making eye contact while giving him a mock growl.

"Heh.Yeah, it'll be good to go home. What do you think, Russell? Won't it be nice to be back home and out of the Umbral? I know you've said you don't like being here."

He felt Russell put a big hand on the back of his head, gently massaging it.

"This place is different.I like it."

That brought even Sergiy up short. "You do?"

"It's quiet. It smells nice. It feels like Bruin and my da."

"Huh," Bruin said, working that tidbit of information."Makes sense, though, since this place was made at least in part by Dafydd using our ritual walks for energy."

Russell then raised an arm up, pointing out at the distance. Following his arm, all Bruin saw was a blue-green sea, and beyond it, a misty gray wall. The edges of the realm, Bruin guessed.

"Is that the ocean?" Russell asked.

For some reason, that simple question left Bruin hurting in the chest. Russell had never left home, had he? Never traveled, never seen any sights. Even homebody Bruin had visited one of the Great Lakes and a few surrounding states.

"It's a memory of one, yes," Bruin said gently. "It's a little clearer than a real ocean, I think, but that might be because there's no fish."

"I want to swim in it," Russell said decisively, turning to look at Sergiy, and Bruin saw a frown forming on his draconic snout.

"I don't know if it's safe."

Russell shrugged, then patted their lord on his head.

"It is okay, I am a good swimmer! You don't have to come, I know you enjoy acting like a rock."

Sergiy's displeased grumbles abruptly changed tone, and he coughed in embarrassment. Bruin laughed, but came to his mate's aid… or at least pretended to.

"Russell, the reason we don't know if it's safe is because we don't know how far out this special realm extends. If you swim too far or too deep, you might get lost in a deeper Umbral layer."

"Yes, exactly," Sergiy said, sounding relieved.

Bruin tried to hold back a grin as he pivoted so that he was sitting in Russell's lap, reaching up to pat the sides of a face that was starting to look a touch crestfallen.

"So to make it safe," he said, "we just need to wait until your dad finishes with your talisman! Once he does, I'll give you a thong so you can wear it around your neck, and then we'll come right back here and you can swim all you want."

"Bruin!"

But Russell was smiling, now, that silly, cheesy, beard-splitting, open-mouthed grin of his that Bruin loved so, so much, and getting a stern talking to by Sergiy was worth it.

"Yes, please. Thank you. I can wait."

"Wonderful! But also, Russell, you don't have to wait until then if you just want to splash around on the shore.

" Bruin saw Sergiy puffing out his chest, ready to give him a tirade, so he hurried to add, "I've been sensing the earth, checking for the border, and it's well beyond the shore.

As long as you don't go out to where the water is above your head, you'll be fine. "

Bruin wrapped his arms around Russell's neck, bringing his head in, and he felt his boyfriend squeezing him back.

"I can go? Ser, I can go?"

Bruin heard Sergiy grumble, but Bruin knew that both of them were putty in their wolf's hands, especially when he so very rarely asked for things on his own.

"Yes, Russ, as long as you do what Bruin says and stay in the shallows. And Russ?"

Bruin hurried to get off of his wiggling boyfriend, who was rushing to take off his sandals and kilt. Naked, Russell started rocking back and forth on his feet, clearly impatient but waiting for Sergiy to finish.

Sergiy came forward, lifting his snout up to deliver a gentle kiss.

"If somehow you do fall out of this realm, just stay put. I promise you, Bruin and I will immediately come find you, even if we have to take apart the entire Umbral to do so. Now go, we only have a bit of time before we should head back."

"Yes, thank you. I love you, Ser. I love you Bruin. You two should come, too."

And then Russell leapt forward, shifting into his large wolf form as he ran to the shore line, charging down the beach as he alternated chasing and retreating from the tide.

At one point, Bruin saw him snap his teeth at the ocean before making a face and shaking his head as he got a mouthful of salt water, and then promptly did it again.

Seconds later, Bruin was joining him, chasing his excitable wolf through the surf, followed closely by a large drake.

This alien pocket realm might not be Chicago, or even the true Bastion Keep, but as long as Bruin was with his two loves, he supposed it didn't really matter where he was.

He was home.