by Godiva Glenn
Cam nodded. He didn’t entirely understand how the rifts worked as portals to other planets, but he knew they weren’t entirely under Iona’s control. Iona could travel alone to wherever she wanted. She could travel the galaxy as long as a water source existed at her destination.
Rifts, however, where magic of their own. Likely, she located one to bring Pavel through. Otherwise, it would have been as Annika said, and he would have been disintegrated as he traveled. They all would have, for that matter. But Iona was clever.
“When he wakes, there’ll be a lot to explain,” Cam said. “Before all of this… had you told him what you were?”
She brushed at Pavel’s brow and combed her fingers through his thick brown hair. “I was about to.” She turned to Cam. “He already knew of Prism. He’s even met fae before.”
“Really? That should help him adjust, I suppose. What sort of human has contact with the fae, though?”
“His friend married a dryad.”
“That story is true?”
She nodded. “That’s how I know he’s meant for me. Human or not. The matchmaker put us together. She knows best.”
Cam’s heart fell. Mrs. Wilder’s advice to him—to be forthright with his feelings—had made sense, and he’d planned on acting on it the moment he was reunited with Annika. If only she hadn’t arrived the way she had, and with another man, no less.
“Do you think he’ll want to stay here?” Cam asked.
“What do you mean?”
“When he’s better. Won’t he want to return to Earth?”
Her brow furrowed and she returned her focus to Pavel. “Perhaps. But that’s a discussion for another day.”
“I can’t live here alone. I missed you too much.” Cam took her free hand in his. “Was it really worth it to run away?”
She gazed at their held hands. “I missed you too. And every minute of each day, I heard the waves of Prism calling to me. I felt empty. But this man made it a little better. I don’t know if it would be enough to last a lifetime, but it was something. If he wants to return to his home, I’d go with him.”
Cam released her hand, nodding. Annika always dove into life headfirst with eyes wide and expecting adventure. It didn’t surprise him that she’d make such a choice. Her fearlessness is part of why he loved her. She was bold and fierce.
He gestured to the food. “Eat something while he rests. I’ll see if I can contact Iona and get a clear answer on his health.”
* * * *
Cam stared down into a clear bowl of water, but Iona obviously didn’t want to be disturbed. She could usually be summoned quite easily, not that there was often a reason to bother her. Iona, being an ancient elemental being, had taken the water fae under her wing—so to speak—and cared for them when their aspects and deities had vanished. She was a mother and a guardian.
And right now, she was pissed. None of them could blame her. Magic had been exploited. A man had nearly died.
“Any luck?” Annika asked. She came from behind him and glanced around his shoulder.
“Nothing yet.”
Annika crossed her arms and paced to the nearby window. “He woke for a bit. Drank a bit of broth, but other than that he just stared at me. I want to say he’s getting better but is it in my head?”
“Yesterday he didn’t eat, so there’s that.”
“Yeah. There’s that.”
“He just needs time.”
She rubbed at her neck and stared out at the beach.
“You haven’t been in the water since you returned,” Cam noted. “I would’ve thought you’d spend days soaking it in.”
“I want to.” Her eyes lowered. “But I have too much guilt to be that far away. And besides, with Iona upset, maybe I should keep out of her domain.”
He joined her at the window. “She’s not that petty, and you shouldn’t punish yourself for things out of your control.”
“How isn’t it my fault? Teall…” She exhaled, exasperated. “What did I see in him?”
“It’s complicated. Love makes us do crazy things.”
“There are a million crazy things he could have done before resorting to murder.”
“Agreed.” Cam rubbed her arm, attempting to comfort her in vain. “But as you said, he did it. You didn’t make him. He made a choice.”
She started to nod but stopped. “How did he find me? I know Iona helped him get through, but even she couldn’t scour the planet. Unless she’d been searching for me since the moment I left.”
Cam shook his head. “Don’t hate me.”
“What did you do?”
“I contacted Earth, looking for you. When you didn’t come back, I got worried. Then I went to the rift and it was closed. I couldn’t stop looking for you, you do realize that, right? There was no telling what happened to you on the other side.”
“I know, and in time I would’ve found a way to get in touch but… things over there are different.”
“Well, I found you. Or your general area, at least. And Teall had been so broken since you left, I told him. Not because I thought he’d do what he did—I swear—but because I thought he would help me.”
“You shouldn’t have involved him.” She took a step back. “He’s always been too reckless.”
Cam threw his hands up. “And you weren’t?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Look, I have never tried to interfere with the chaos that was your relationship with Teall. But time and again, we were all friends. Then you left. You left and didn’t even say goodbye.”
“I wasn’t thinking!”
“You were thinking enough to leave a note!”
She ran a hand through her hair. “I didn’t know I’d be trapped on the other side, though.”
“You were only thinking of yourself, Annika. And I get it. I understand self-preservation, but how could you just throw away a centuries-old friendship like that? And how did you think we would handle it? Just the two of us, suddenly alone?”
“You just said that Teall’s actions weren’t my fault!”
“And they weren’t! You had the right to walk away, but since when do you get to absolve the disaster left in the wake? You didn’t just break up with him. You fucking left the planet and your entire life.” Cam took a deep breath. “He snapped. In all the years of you two playing on and off, he never realized that he was ruining you.”
“What? Ruining me?”
“Breaking your spirit. Enough that when you had enough, you were willing to vanish. And honestly, you abandoned me, too. I deserved better than that.”
She turned from him and placed her forehead against the windowpane. “I never meant to hurt you.”
“But you did.”
“If I knew it was a one-way trip, I wouldn’t have left you,” she said softly.
“It’s too late to take it back.”
“I know.”
Of course, she did. Nothing she said came as a surprise. He knew she didn’t mean to hurt anyone, but at the same time, she simply hadn’t considered consequences. He hated that he felt abandoned, but that was the truth. As much as he’d missed her, he’d also been stifling his anger.
He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked toward the front door but stopped short. “Teall went too far. But the matchmaker told me you were with a human, and I feared the worst. Eventually, you’ll have to face the truth. You know the two of you are doomed.”
She didn’t reply and didn’t make a move.
He left the house and walked until the tide swept up to his ankles. The cool water worked quickly to draw away the heat of his pain and lingering frustrations. He continued forward and once the water was deep enough to swim, he dipped below the surface and scurried along the sandy floor. Tucked beneath a rock, his skin awaited him. He needed to clear his head.
Nine
Pavel
Voices drifted through Pavel’s dreams, and though he was quite aware that he was sleeping, he didn’t understand why.
Even more confusing was realizing that the dream didn’t feel like a normal one. Instead of nonsensical images and absurd situations, he felt to be listening in on the world from behind a thick, dark fog.
Sometimes the dream would brighten, and he’d try to reach through. The last time such a moment had occurred, he’d managed to touch Annika’s hand. Whether he was reassuring her or himself, he couldn’t tell. His emotions were locked away. His comprehension of the situation was a detached state. The warmth of her skin and delicate pressure of her fingers twining his brought him nothing. Perhaps it was all an illusion of the dream.
One certainty he felt comfortable with was that time passed. He remembered kissing Annika and jumping into the water. After that was a jumble, but outside of his dream, he knew Annika was around and moving. He knew the days were going by. How he knew that, however, was a mystery.
Something warm pressed his lips and parted them, lifting the veil between his dream and the waking world somewhat. Annika’s sweet scent invaded, and her presence made him fight through the barrier between them. Cool water dribbled into his mouth, just a few drops at a time. He swallowed and found that the action was easier than it usually was. More came, and as it refreshed him, it woke a part of him that had long slept.
He struggled to grab hold of something, but the attempt proved fruitless. The sensation of being weighed down was both a comfort and a frustration. He felt safe, but at the moment, he desperately wanted to move.
After fighting for control for what felt like hours, his eyes opened to find a hazy silhouette hovering over him.
“I’m here. It’s okay,” she said in a gentle tone. The words were ones he’d heard again and again in his dream. She’d often sat at his side.
With each passing second, his vision cleared. She lifted a spoonful of lukewarm broth to his lips and brushed through his bangs as she tilted the liquid onto his tongue. Like her words, this was familiar, but lacking the usual distance. He was here now. No longer adrift in his unconscious.
To be spoon-fed by a gorgeous woman was certainly a fantasy, but not in this situation. He tried to sit up. His shoulders twitched, and after a moment, he managed to take control of his hands enough to push on the bed and adjust his reclined position.
“Pavel?” Annika’s voice trembled with hope. “You’re actually awake?”
“I’m here,” he rasped.
The spoon fell onto his chest as Annika all but tackled him back against his pillow. Kisses rained on his temples and neck and whispered words of thanks to deities he’d never heard of brushed against his ears. She pulled back after a moment and stared into his eyes. “I’ve missed you.”
“I gathered.”
“How do you feel?”
Mentally? Physically? She lifted his hand in hers and pressed the back to her cheek. Damn, she was lovely. And so excited. “How long was I out?”
“A week.”
He wasn’t sure if he was surprised. The revelation went over him and left nothing behind. His state wasn’t as fascinating as her constant attention. They’d only just met. He couldn’t believe she’d stuck around, much less nursing him to health. She owed him nothing, even if they’d hit it off from the start.
As he pondered it, he looked around the room. It was a bedroom, not a hospital room as he’d expected. It couldn’t be her apartment, though, judging by the rough stone walls. “Where are we?”
“My home.”
“In the city?”
“On Prism.”
He laughed, but it turned into a dry cough. His lungs felt like straw. “I’m hearing things.”
“No. Iona brought you here to save you.” Creases formed on her brow. “Do you remember anything?”
The past was mostly clear. “We were on the boat. I saw someone in the water and… what happened to him?”
Her lips pursed. “That’s the last thing you recall?”
“I imagine there’s more if I needed saving.” His eyes scanned her. “But you’re alright? You weren’t hurt?”
“I’m fine.” She kissed his knuckles and lowered his hand back to his side. “We can talk about everything when you’re better.”
“I feel okay. A tad thirsty.”
She grabbed a cup from the bedside table and held it to his lips. “I could only give you a little at a time. I didn’t want you to choke.”
He took the water in his own hand and drank, downing the cup in one go. He handed it back and she refilled it from an earthenware pitcher. He drank slowly this time, watching her and noticing her expression had slipped from elated to nervous.
The water helped to further clear his head. His stomach rumbled, but he didn’t want more broth. He needed real food. Questions piled up in his mind but with no coherent priority. Conversations he’d overheard while dreaming hovered in the background. Things he’d heard before that hadn’t stuck with him but were gaining relevance now.
“I almost died,” he said aloud. “I was drowning.” The complacent state of shock he’d felt when first waking faded and his heart began to race. “I was attacked.”
“You were.” Annika leaned forward in her chair. “But as I said, you were saved and brought here. Cam and I have been watching over you.”
“Cam. He’s not the one who pulled me down,” Pavel said as the pieces slid into place. Names that a week ago he didn’t know now felt familiar. “Is he a doctor?”
“No, a friend.”
Pavel sat up, brushing away Annika’s hands when she tried to hold him down. His body felt weak but energized. Impatient. He wanted to move. “I shouldn’t be here.”
“Why not?”
“I was drowning. I’ve been asleep—in a coma—I should be at a hospital. I could be sick inside. This isn’t right.” His feet flinched on the cool floor and, looking down, he realized for the first time that he was naked. “Where are my clothes?”
“Slow down.” She placed her hands on his knees and moved so that her face was directly in front of his. Her deep brown eyes pleaded with him. “The magic healed you. I was promised that you’d live. You slept because your body was adjusting to Prism. You’re awake now, and you’ll be back to normal in no time.”
Having met a couple of fae, the concept of magic wasn’t foreign to Pavel. Still, it seemed like a flimsy explanation for everything. He didn’t like to believe that anything without a logical explanation was magic. “What sort of magic?”
“Undine magic.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
She shrugged. “Elemental magic. Iona is an ancient being of the waters. I don’t know exactly what she did to save you, but she said you would survive, and she wouldn’t lie.”
“Then I should thank her…” Despite not wanting to believe an answer as simple as “it’s magic,” he couldn’t deny that every passing second felt better than the last. With each blink, his vision cleared, and even though he’d felt weak upon waking, now he was filled with energy. Perhaps more than he had on a normal day, even. “Maybe she could tell me more about what she did to save me.”
“If she wants to speak to you,” a deep voice intruded.
A tall man with dark, wavy hair stood in the arch to the left of them. He entered the room with an appraising glance over Pavel. Pavel instinctively secured the blanket around his waist, though it hadn’t slipped.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“This is Cam,” Annika said. “This is our home.”
“Our…” he looked from Annika to Cam. “You live together?”
“For longer than you could imagine,” Cam commented.
“How long?” Pavel asked.
Cam glanced at Pavel for a second, then at Annika. “He understands me.”
“It must be Iona’s doing,” Annika said staring at Pavel.
“What’s going on?” Pavel looked between them.
“I’ve been speaking English, but Cam was speaking the informal language of Prism,” Annika explained. “It seems you can understand it though.”
Pavel rubbed his temples. More magic, apparently. So, the undine had given him something or cast a spell or something to let him understand languages. It was helpful yet horribly invasive. “I see.”
“Cam’s my best friend.” Annika beamed at him. “I’m glad you two will get to properly meet now.”
Cam smiled, but it wasn’t the same warm smile that Annika had. There was tension, and Pavel could guess why. If his best friend had run away and come back with a stranger from another world, it would be hard to swallow.
“It’s nice to meet you, Cam,” he offered.
Cam nodded then looked to Annika. “Have you told him everything?”
“Not everything,” she murmured.
“You should,” he replied.
Pavel shifted on the bed. “How much more is there?”
“I suppose it depends on how concerned you are about the future,” Cam said in a noncommittal way.
“Very concerned.” Pavel turned to Annika. “What about my future?”
“Do you remember that we were going to have a talk? About me?” she asked.
He did. “Right. What sort of fae…”
Cam pulled up a chair, causing Annika to narrow her eyes. “What?” he asked. “I’m here to make sure you don’t leave out any details.”
“I won’t,” she insisted.
“Fine.” He settled in the chair. “Then I’ll just listen while you explain selkies, ancient magic, rifts to other worlds, and your murderous ex.”
* * * *
Pavel sat on the sand and watched the violet-hued tide roll in and out. Occasionally tiny pink shells would wash up, and the sand would bubble as they dug back down to hide. The surreal sight and atmosphere added to the chaos in his head.
After Annika and Cam had explained everything, Pavel had walked out. Not in anger, but simply to find space. He didn’t want to rest for another moment in the room where he’d lay unconscious for the past seven days. But the outdoors hadn’t offered solace. Instead, he was reminded of how large the universe was and how small and insignificant he was in it all.
He’d dreamt of visiting Prism when he first heard about it. Now he was here, and he found it hard to appreciate the beauty and whimsy thanks to everything else.
