Part 33 (2/2)

Austin. If Joe cared so much about ending the war, he should've ended it himself.

I march up to tell him as much, but Mick steps forward, searching my face. I shake my head, answering the unspoken question that pa.s.ses between us. Mick's face crumbles. He falls to his knees, and I kneel beside him. He hugs me to him, ignoring the sand and the water and blood that still clings to my hair. By the time he lets go, everyone else has moved up the trail, leaving us to mourn in peace.

We sit and stare at the ocean for hours, holding hands as we watch the moon fall across the sky.

”I don't know how much more of this I can take.” Mick finally breaks he silence, just as the sky turns from black to a dusty gray that beckons the sun.

I just nod. There is nothing left to say.

”He wasn't supposed to die,” Mick says.

It's my fault. Austin was mortal because of me. ”What will you do?”

”I don't know. You?”

I turn the wolfsbane charm over in my hand. ”I don't know either.”

Neither one of us moves until the sun breaks through the darkness. In the gray minutes between night and day, I watch the waves build and crash against the rocks, destroying them one tiny pebble at a time. The rocks stand strong, oblivious to the tiny cuts that will be their undoing.

I stand and walk to the edge of the bluff. Wind blows through my damp clothes. I push it away without thought, letting fire fill my veins, warming me from the inside. Blue flame arcs between my fingers, dances along my skin. I let it grow, let the fire burn until I don't think I can stand to hold it in another second.

But I do. I hold on to it until I can't see anything but blue spots, until I can't feel anything but fire. I let the heat consume me until I pa.s.s out. I let it carry me to Avalon. The field appears before me in sunny splendor, flowers swaying on a light breeze. The field is empty, but I am undeterred. I walk toward a stone wall in the distance.

”Austin.” I say his name, as if I can conjure him from thin air. ”Arawn.”

Nothing.

The wind picks up. Flowers beat across my legs. There's howling in the distance, but it grows closer. A tendril of mist curls along the ground ahead, swallowing the field as it goes.

I've never come here intentionally before, and now it doesn't seem like the best idea, but I still hold out hope that he is here. If Danu and Killian reside in Avalon, why not Austin? I call his name again.

Shapes move in the distance. At first, I think they are people and I move toward them. As I get closer, I see they stand on four legs, huge beasts moving in a pack of three. I don't need to hear the snarls to recognize Arawn's hounds as they move in the mist.

I back up a step, then another, fighting the instinct to run. The three dogs get closer, close enough that I can see their lips curl to reveal sharp canines.

”Sit.” They keep coming. Apparently, Austin didn't bother with obedience training.

I startle at a tug on my wrist. Killian leads me toward a large rock on the side of the field. I follow without questioning. The dogs snap their teeth behind us.

Killian gives me a leg up onto the ma.s.sive rock, encouraging me to keep climbing. I climb at least twenty feet before I reach a ledge large enough to sit on. Killian climbs up beside me. The three wolfhounds circle the rock at the bottom, teeth bared, but they can't chase us here.

”Thanks,” I say.

Killian nods and looks down at the dogs. ”They're harmless unless you try to go somewhere you don't belong.”

”That would be me they're after.”

”So I surmised.”

I kick the rock with my heel. ”Have you seen Austin?” When he wrinkles his forehead, I add, ”Arawn.”

Killian sighs and looks out across the field, which is now entirely coated with a layer of fine mist. ”You waste your talents.”

”What?”

”Arawn is no help to you now. The gateway is sealed. You would be better served to focus on what's going on topside.”

”I'll tell you what's going on. A truce. The Sons and Daughters have broken the curse.”

”Why would you think that?”

”Because Portia is aligned with the Sons. She didn't kill anyone when she had the chance.”

Killian laughs. ”There is time enough for her to kill.”

One of the dog howls from beneath us.

”Portia didn't fight with Liam. She was devastated when her father was killed. Blake protected her. That has to mean something.”

”They are still bound?”

”I guess so.”

”Then they are still cursed.” He looks at me. ”And you still live.”

”But the G.o.ds can't return. The gateway is sealed.”

Killian's smile makes him look more G.o.d than human. ”Don't confuse a victory in battle with a victory in war.”

The fog closes around us. I can't see the three wolfhounds circling below us. I can barely see Killian. And then I'm lost in the mist, floating, spinning. ”Wait,” I call to no one in particular. But I can't stop it.

When I feel solid ground again, it is dawn. Mick stands over me, holding out his hand to lift me off the wet gra.s.s. ”You want to tell me what that was about?”

I shake my head. ”Later.” I reach for my cell, but it's been soaked in the ocean, and is completely useless. I start to run back to the house.

Mick follows. ”What?”

”Blake,” is all I say. I don't stop running until I get to the garage. I grab the keys to the sedan from a hook on the wall and jump inside. I'm probably doing permanent damage to the leather interior.

I drive as fast as I can, considering I've had no sleep. I burst into the Cath Pub. A few local fishermen eye me over their morning mugs, but don't say anything. I take the stairs two at a time until I get to Blake's room.

I knock on the door. Once. Twice. Three times, before I hear footsteps from the other side.

Okay, okay. Footsteps are good.

Blake opens the door partway, his eyes wide as he takes me in. My hair is tangled and damp. My clothes are still stained with Liam's blood. Blake rubs the back of his neck with his hand. ”Is everything okay?”

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