Page 13

Chapter thirteen

T he next morning, Ash woke up feeling better than he could remember ever feeling: well rested, his mind clear, a sense of purpose and the energy to go with it.

Plus, he was wrapped around Hallow, his wings folded flat between them. Hallow was curled up, his knees almost to his chin, a curl of gorgeousness like a cat or a comma.

Ash buried his nose in the soft, downy hair at the back of his neck and inhaled his scent. He knew, without a doubt, he wanted to wake up like this forever. Every day of his life, from now onwards, would be beside this magical man. The life he had because of Hallow. His second chance.

How could he keep this?

Could he go with Hallow after they vanquished The Quetch? Move to the Grefenlands and become a farmer, or whatever it was Hallow did... Could it be enough? Would it sustain him?

Was he allowed to even want such a life?

He remembered his father, charging him with learning magic, with training Charli, looking out for her. He couldn’t leave her. He’d only just got back to Aotearoa. Reconnected with his family. He couldn’t go away again so soon, leaving Willow and Charli behind. Not now.

He’d only just come back to life as well. Ash squeezed Hallow tighter, reflexively.

Hallow made a soft sound and gripped his arm, not waking, entirely, but responding.

Ash couldn’t leave his family, but he couldn’t let Hallow go either. He had to have both.

Something dark, deep inside, understood The Quetch’s need to possess Hallow. To hold him and keep him.

He shook off the comparison. He wasn’t The Quetch. He wasn’t a monster. The Quetch didn’t love, Ash did.

How could he find a way to exist in multiple worlds?

Ash had always wandered, searching for something just out of reach. He always needed more than whatever he had right in front of him. Was that need still there if his void was gone?

How could he plan any sort of future? He’d barely ever had plans. Instead he lived on whims, impulses, taking the cheapest flight no matter the destination. Taking the sponsorship offer and doing what they wanted. Saying yes without thinking anything through, leaving responsibility behind.

But now, more than ever before, Ash had things he needed. Things he had to protect, to safeguard. He’d never before connected to the term kaitiaki, the Te Reo word for guardian. Now he felt like it was etched onto his spine. He had to guard Charli. He had to protect his relationships with Hallow, Willow and his father. He had to step up and be the kaitiaki.

Hallow stirred in his arms. Ash loosened his grip as Hallow rolled over to face him. “I can hear you thinking.”

Ice-cold fear crept up Ash’s fingers. “You can?” A side-effect of the love bond Hallow had described? The resurrection magic? What had he heard? That he wanted to live with Hallow for the rest of his life? He wanted to possess him in some way close to what The Quetch wanted?

“Not literally, stop freaking out.” Hallow rubbed his nose against Ash’s. “You’re sighing and tensing a lot. What’s bothering you?”

“I’m... trying to work out what to do with... all of this.”

Hallow smiled the bright, heart-shattering smile which made Ash love him all over again. “You don’t have to have it all worked out, you know.”

“Sounds fake.”

Hallow giggled.

Ash’s angst melted away. “You’re cute.”

“You’re cuter. Want to talk about what you’re thinking?” Hallow pressed his hand against Ash’s chest again, grounding him.

Ash took a breath. “We’re going to go to The Magic Shop and—I don’t know. Arm up? Charli, we need to get her using her magic. I could feel it yesterday. I don’t know if Dad can help? Probably not, he can’t get around so well. But I guess it won’t hurt to ask him. I’m sure Wills has his number. We need to fortify ourselves before we can take on The Quetch.” Hallow nodded. “I have all my abilities back. I can do more to help. Maybe I can train Charli and you in a couple of things?”

“I hope so.”

Hallow pulled out of his arms and sat up. As he stretched his arms over his head, his wings unfolded, stretching as well. Their iridescence caught the morning light. Ash saw a thousand colours, an oil-slick of shifting light.

“Beautiful. You’re so beautiful.”

Hallow laughed, looking over his shoulder at Ash.

Ash wanted more. More giggles, snuggles, love. But they had to earn it. They had to do the hard yards, risk it all, and then be rewarded.

They joined Willow and Charli at the kitchen table.

“Weekend breakfast!” Willow placed a low, handleless wicker basket on the table, its contents covered with a tea-towel. It was the exact same basket their mother had always used for pikelets. Nostalgia hit Ash like a punch to the gut. A yearning for how things had been when he was younger. His mother covered pikelets in a tea towel to keep them warm. His dad whipped cream to have on them with a dollop of raspberry jam.

Home.

By some miracle, Ash beat Charli, pulling the tea-towel aside to reveal steaming golden brown pikelets. “Oh my god, Will.”

Ash piled four on his plate, and then passed the basket to Charli, reaching for the jam.

“When was the last time you had good old kiwi pikelets?”

Ash shook his head. Pikelets weren’t a thing in any other country, well. Maybe Australia, his first overseas destination, and thus, a long time ago. “You know when.”

“What are... pikelets?” Hallow picked one up between his forefinger and thumb.

“They’re pretty much pancakes, but like, slightly different?” Ash said. “Sweeter? Smaller?”

“Easier to make.” Willow added.

Hallow opened his mouth to reply. Before he could make a sound, something hit the wall outside the kitchen window.

“What was that?” Charli moved like she was going to stand.

Ash intercepted her. “Let me check.” Whatever was out there, it was his job to protect them. His determination to protect his loved ones overrode his sudden fear. He leaned over the bench and looked out the window.

In the bright morning sunshine, nothing in the yard seemed amiss.

But something uncanny was definitely happening. What was it? Ash’s magical senses told him something was awry. “I can’t see anything.”

“Maybe it was a bird?” Willow had also stopped what she was doing to watch. The kitchen seemed to hold its breath.

“Check the shadows.” Hallow crossed the room, one hand going onto Ash’s waist as he went up on his toes to look over Ash’s shoulder.

The shadows? As Ash scanned the garden, the hedge caught his eye. The shadow of the hedge was too dark. Denser, and slightly too long for the time of day. As he watched, a tendril unfurled itself from the darkness and curled towards the house.

Ash placed his palm on the pane of glass, hoping to keep the shadow outside somehow. His mind blanked on the words of power from his father’s book.

Hallow’s grip on his shoulder tightened and he felt warm pink magic flow into him. “Use Knight and Protector ,” Hallow whispered.

Ash repeated the words, infusing them with magic from himself and Hallow.

The window pane thrummed. Outside the shadow tendril faltered and curled back into itself.

Ash felt the power of the shadow pushing back on him, resisting, trying to overcome.

A small hand, Charli's, touched his other arm where he braced himself against the bench. Ash’s magic bubbled up, boiling over, Charli’s magic was familiar, almost like his own, and it urged his power on.

He gritted his teeth and repeated the spell. “Knight and Protector.”

“Is that all the spell is?” Charli asked.

“It’s a state of mind as well.” Hallow said, voice soft. “You have to dearly wish to protect, to take on the role of Knight and hero.”

Ash wanted it. He wanted to strap on armour, swing a sword, and fight off all the monsters which might have threatened Hallow, Charli and Willow.

The shadow retreated back into the hedge. The ominous shadow faded a little, but the presence wasn’t entirely gone. Ash knew it was only a matter of time before it tried something else, or redoubled its efforts. And it was definitely, definitely, related to the Quetch. He knew it even without knowing how he knew it.

“We should go.” Ash dropped his hand and turned back to the kitchen. “We don’t have any time.”

Moments later, they piled into the car. Willow took the driver’s seat, taking off in a squeal of wheels as soon as all their doors were closed. Ash rode shotgun and Willow and Hallow were in the back, dividing up the pikelets and squabbling over how much jam each one should have.

Perhaps Ash should have hurried them more, rather than giving them the time to bundle the jam and knife into the basket, but they needed to eat, after all.

Hallow handed him a stack of pikelets.

Ash looked back at the house as they exited the driveway. The windows were uncharacteristically dark, as if painted over. Shadows seeped from them to the windowsills.

He faced ahead, mechanically eating his breakfast.

Bad. This was bad. He had to fix this as fast as possible. They would NOT lose the family house. The place he’d grown up with Willow. She probably expected to leave it to Charli someday.

“Where are we going?” Willow asked.

“K Road. We need The Magic Shop.”

Willow nodded. No one said anything more until they’d parked and were heading inside.

Ash opened the door. “This is The Magic Shop.” He immediately felt foolish for pointing out the obvious.

Hallow had hidden his wings and pointed ears, he looked strange. Ash tugged him in by the hand and planted a kiss on his nose, reassuring himself that it was still his Hallow.

Charli was bouncing, clutching Willow’s arm like she needed an anchor. “I can’t believe I’m in an actual magic shop!”

Willow looked around in disbelief. “How does this all fit in?”

The Magic Shop had changed somewhat. The shelves were in the same place but different books were on display.

The Owner strode down an aisle towards them, holding a deck of tarot cards in his hand. “Hello again. I believe this is for you.” He fanned the cards out in his hands. One popped out, standing higher than the others.

Ash took it and flipped it over, knowing better at this point than to question what was going on. The card showed a naked woman encircled by a wreath of leaves. At the top was the Roman numeral for twenty-two. The bottom of the card read The World. “Please, if you wouldn’t mind telling me, what does it mean?”

The Owner smiled, shuffling the remaining cards one-handed. “Like all the cards, it can mean a lot of things depending on the time of day, the place in a reading or the querent's state of mind. Usually, the world has something to do with the end of a journey, possibilities, or maybe the world opening up to you.”

Ash considered this. He no longer believed in coincidences. He’d travelled the world and came back home. He’d discovered new worlds. He’d died— the end of a journey no matter how you looked at it. Now they were trying to traverse between worlds, defeat a monster and get his fairy boyfriend home.

What the fuck? How did this card know all of that?

It wasn’t a coincidence, but it was too uncanny to just accept.

The Owner smiled gently at him. “Take a look around, you’ll find what you need.”

Ash offered him the card back.

The Owner shook his head. “Perhaps it will bring you luck?”

Ash nodded, slipping it into the breast pocket of his shirt. “Thank you.” He looked around the shop, not sure where to start.

The others seemed to have no such trouble. Hallow was across the room, filling a velvet bag with crystals. Nearby, Willow and Charli stood close together, murmuring and looking wide-eyed at the array of items on a cluttered shelf.

Ash closed his eyes, tuning into his intuition. The World card burned in his mind’s eyes. A talisman, perhaps, a guiding light and a comfort.

The Owner had said he’d find what he needed. He followed his gut and let the tarot card lead him. He opened his eyes after he felt the correct direction and walked towards a shelf labelled ‘Community and Covens.’ He picked up the book with the oldest looking leather cover. The World card stopped tugging at him. The inscription on the first page caught his eye.

“The power of community cannot be under-estimated,” he read, under his breath. “We are many, and we are strong.”

Community. Himself, Hallow, Willow and Charli. Maybe his dad if they had time to get out to his retirement home, which seemed unlikely. They didn’t have any extra time. But he did have a community. Ash slid the book under his arm and scanned the titles on the shelf. A slim paperback poked partially out from the hardcovers. He withdrew it.

“Diagrams for Group Casting. Useful. ”

Charli had picked up a silver dagger inscribed with runes.

Willow’s finger pointed at the cabinet. “Put it back, it’s far too dangerous.”

“But mum, it’s so pretty, and I don’t know, it feels right in my hand.”

Ash joined them. He decided to test a theory. “Why’d you pick the knife up, Charli?”

“I dunno, felt drawn to it I guess? I like it. Please mum, can I have it?” Charli bounced on the balls of her feet, unable to contain her excitement.

Ash nudged Willow. “I think it chose her.”

Willow sighed heavily.

Hallow appeared beside them. “I can teach her how to handle it safely. I have one of those back home. Probably should have brought it with me, in hindsight. In fact...” Hallow took the knife gently from Charli and examined it. “Yes, by the maker’s mark this was made in the Grefenlands.”

“No coincidences. Come on, Will. I’ll pay for it and Hallow will show her how to use it safely. It might come in handy.” Ash gave his sister his most serious look.

Willow rolled her eyes. “Fine. But I don’t like it, and we’re getting it a safe box for storage at home.”

“You’re the best.” Charlie kissed her mother on the cheek.

“I have this book of diagrams. I think we can use them right away.” Ash showed the book to Hallow who grinned.

“Perfect.”

On the way to the counter to pay, Ash noticed a barrel full of walking sticks and staffs. One of them caught his eye, a green painted wooden staff with hinges in it. He picked it up, the label said it was foldable for ease of travel. “Made for me.”

Ash paid for everything and they piled back into the car.

“Where now?” Willow tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. “I hate this, I just want it to be over.”

“We need a portal,” Ash said. “The one by the house is still there, right?”

“It’s too dangerous. The Quetch can find us with its shadows. Might even be waiting on the other side of that door.” Hallow shuddered.

“Make a new one then?” Ash suggested.

“Yeah, somewhere with power.” Hallow turned to Willow. “Is there a place with historical significance? Maybe a place people gather, or used to gather? Even better if it’s high up—those places make for the best portals.”

Willow hummed then put the car into gear. “One Tree Hill. Maungakiekie as it’s actually called. There are always tour groups, field trips, plus the locals use it all the time to walk their dogs.”

“Oh, and it has historical significance too. It’s an English settler’s land he gifted back to the people, but he stole it off the local tribe before... The tree was cut down by a protester in the nineties.” Ash warmed to his subject but was cut off when Willow shook her head.

“Mum’s ashes are scattered there,” Willow added, her voice low.

Ash bit his lip. He’d expected that there would be a grave. There might still be a stone somewhere. But Willow had taken their mother’s ashes and scattered them in the park. He felt a twist of guilt peppered with shame and nodded. There were no coincidences. “It will work, right?”

“Yes.” Hallow nodded. “Of course, making a new portal is going to be the easy part, compared to what happens after.”