Page 38 of Midnight Sun

“He is. As of yet. But you shouldn’t linger, my child.”

Finn sets off in a sprint.

His lungs are burning as he rushes up the street towards his apartment, Snjór right at his heels. Finn jams the key into the front door’s lock, ignoring the sweat burning in his eyes. He takes the steps two at a time and almost drops the keys as he tries to unlock the apartment door as quickly as possible. Finally, the door swings open and Finn stumbles into the hallway. He can only hear his own harsh breathing, otherwise the apartment is quiet.

“Jamie?”

No answer.

Finn picks up an umbrella for lack of a better weapon. His swords are safely locked away in the weapons cabinet downstairs. Carefully, Finn steps down the hallway. He takes a quick glance into the living room. Empty. The kitchen is deserted, too, but Jamie has obviously been up and helped himself to some coffee, if the mess he left on the counter is anything to go by. Finn pushes open the door to the bathroom next. The air inside is still warm and humid from the shower Jamie must’ve taken only minutes ago, but he’s nowhere in sight. Snjór’s hackles rise and he quivers with tension, canines bared and ready to pounce.

The shattering of glass and a muffled shout from the bedroom have Finn darting forward. He tears open the door, and Jamie spins around, looking at him wide-eyed. Snjór rushes past Jamie toward the French balcony, looking out into the back garden, barking angrily. Finn takes in the shattered coffee mug at Jamie’s feet and the paleness of his face. He’s at Jamie’s side in two large steps.

“Are you okay? What happened?”

“Sorry about the mug.” Jamie’s voice sounds off, toneless.

“Hush, Snjór,” Finn hisses, and steps closer to the windows. Jamie makes an aborted motion as if to stop him, but doesn’t touch him. Snjór retreats from the windows with visible reluctance, still growling quietly. Looking down into the garden, Finn can’t find anything out of the ordinary. His pulse races, and although he’s relieved that Jamie is not in immediate danger, he still feels uneasy.

Finn senses movement outside, and a second later something dark clashes against the glass. He flinches. Jamie grabs him by the shirt and drags him backwards as another bird crashes into the window. Finn lands halfway on top of Jamie, who pulls him down behind the bed as if he fears something might shatter the glass and attack them. Snjór huddles beside them, barking like crazy. Finn counts nine hits in rapid succession, corvids as far as he can tell. Shit. The ram could’ve been some freak out to scare Jamie, but this seems like someone is tampering with black magic. Finn turns to pull Jamie closer against himself.

“Thanks for looking out for me,” he says against the soft hair of Jamie’s neck.

Jamie looks up at him and traces the curve of Finn’s broken nose with slightly trembling fingers. “Can’t let you just stand there and get hit by shattered glass. And now please tell me that this is normal for Iceland and that we haven’t landed in ‘The Birds’?”

“This is definitely not normal. What happened before, though?” Jamie tenses in his arms, but doesn’t answer. Finn leans down to look Jamie in the eyes. “You can tell me.”

“It was nothing. Maybe there was a bird flying by the window.”

“This is not what made you drop your coffee.”

Jamie shudders. “It was nothing.”

Finn’s jaw clenches in frustration. Jamie still doesn’t trust him with his weaknesses, and Finn should know better than to push. He should give him time. But this affects Jamie’s safety and he can’t help but at least try to persuade him. Finn grabs Jamie’s jaw, firmly but gently. He tilts Jamie’s head back, exposing his throat and reveling in the fact that Jamie lets him. They lock eyes, and Jamie stares him down defiantly for some long seconds before relaxing. His eyes flutter shut and he all but melts in Finn’s grip.

“What happened?” Finn asks, giving his voice the edge of steel he adopts when playing. “I won’t ask you again.”

Jamie sighs. It’s a small defeated sound that pulls on Finn’s heart. “It’s the first floor. There’s no way–I’m just tired and–”

“What did you see?”

“For a second I saw someone standing there, wearing that mask, the ram, you remember?”

Anger rushes through Finn’s veins. How dare this person come after Jamie, to scare him like this?

“Of course, I remember.”

“It’s nonsense.”

Finn caresses soothing patterns over Jamie’s back. “I’m not so sure about that. The birds could’ve been a coincidence, but I don’t think so. I think someone wants to scare you, someone who’s willing to use any means to get under your skin.”

“Well, fuck them then.”

“We need to do something about this. Bev thinks it’s escalating, too.”

“You talked to Bev about this?” Jamie pulls away from him abruptly.

“Yes. I see no use in keeping the stalker a secret other than isolating you.”