Broken: A Paranormal Romance

by David H. Burton

  I shook my head. “I was hoping you could tell me. You at least knew her name.”

  “I have to admit it took some digging to find out who she is. You have no idea how big the unseen world is. She could have been anyone. But what I did learn was she was once part of the Summer Court. Just over a hundred years ago, she was banished.”

  “Why?”

  “Don’t know, but there’s not a lot of tolerance when it comes to negative interaction with humans. And they don’t take kindly to mating with them either. That’s why the Summer Court is pure. No half-breeds, like your boyfriend there,” he said, and nodded to Chris’s still sleeping form.

  “He’s not my boyfriend,” I said.

  I thought there was a little light in his eyes at the mention. “Well, you smell of him. His scent is all over you.”

  I was inclined to smell myself to see, but that would look ridiculous.

  “Anyhow,” he said. “She’s now part of the Winter Court. I hear they took her in gladly.”

  “So what does she want with me or my ancestors?”

  He shook his head. “No clue. And if we knew that maybe we could appease her, or ask for help.”

  “Appease that monster?”

  I went on to tell him what I’d seen happen with my family members, detailing how each had died and how she had been involved. When I revealed she’d seen me in each vision and that in the last one she’d tried to kill me, Jonathan showed the most amount of emotion I think I’d seen yet.

  “Wow,” he said. “Impressive.”

  “Impressive?” I asked.

  What was so impressive?

  “She’s stronger than we thought. She can actually reach through those kinds of visions? It’s an impressive skill. We’ll have to ward your dreams — she can likely Dreamwalk.”

  This was getting to be a bit much again. I felt my head swimming.

  “Dreamwalk? What does that mean — she can get in my head?”

  He nodded.

  I sat on the bed. “What am I going to do? Is nowhere safe?”

  Jonathan sat next to me, enveloping my hand in the warmth of his own. “We’ll figure it out, Katherine. But we need to take this one step at a time. I think you’re going to have to go back into those visions to find out why she’s doing this.”

  “How?” I asked. “She took the earrings Aunt Marigold gave me.”

  “You let me worry about that. Faery charms are easy enough to come by.”

  I looked into those dark eyes of his. They were set with a concern I hadn’t seen in ages.

  “How do you know all of this?” I asked. “Why didn’t Chris tell me?”

  He lifted his eyes to glance at the other bed. Chris seemed to still be sleeping quietly.

  “He’s a puppy, like you — still new to this world. He knows almost nothing. He’s been immersed in the human world. That’s why Marigold gave us separate tasks. Chris is a half-breed and knew your world well enough to bring you here. I know the fey world, and was to help you find a way to survive this.”

  I nodded. It seemed to make sense.

  “Who are you?” I asked. I really knew nothing about him now. “Some of you seems the same after all these years, but some of you has changed. What happened to you? And why did you leave me?”

  He patted my hand, and rose. “That’s a long story, and you really need to get more sleep,” he said. “It was a long time ago, and I was a foolish boy that didn’t know a good thing when he had it. It was one of the biggest mistakes of my life, and one I will probably regret forever. But I can’t change what I did, Katherine. I can’t go back and undo it.”

  I felt a wave of fatigue flood over me, sudden and unexpected. I fought it and looked at him.

  “Don’t you dare try putting me to sleep,” I said.

  He had a curious look in his eye. “Stronger than I thought,” he muttered. The fatigue wavered. “Fine, but you really do need to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us and you’ll need your rest. Morgana wants you, and it would seem she’s willing to make deals with just about anything to get you. You need to have your wits about you.”

  I couldn’t argue with his logic. I hadn’t slept properly in days.

  “All right,” I said. “But what about warding my dreams.”

  “If you sleep next to him,” he said, motioning to Chris, “you should be safe. Close enough to him, he can protect your dreams, half-breed or not.”

  “Are you sure?”

  He hesitated, then nodded.

  I wasn’t sure if I should do it, but after the one dream I had on Aunt Marigold’s sofa I figured it was advice I had better heed. I did what he suggested. I crawled into bed beside Chris, feeling the warmth of his body next to mine. He rolled, putting his arm around me. There was something safe about his presence. I closed my eyes, and drifted off to the sound of his breathing.

  Then I slept.

  When I woke, Jonathan was still by the window. I got out of bed before Chris’s morning arousal turned into something embarrassing.

  We dressed and headed downstairs to find that breakfast was going to be a lead weight in our guts: eggs, bacon, sausages, fried bread, and mushrooms. I ate it anyway. I would have filled Chris in on what Jonathan and I had discussed, but the place was crammed with locals and other guests. We just ate our food in silence, listening to stories of how the winds had ripped the roof from one barn and how some sheep had gone missing. All seemed in agreement that something unnatural was afoot.

  When we stepped out into the wet cobblestone roads, I looked around for signs of the howlers that we’d seen in the night. There were no prints.

  “You won’t find anything,” Jonathan said. “They don’t leave tracks.”

  “What?” Chris asked, as he approached.

  “Howlers,” Jonathan said.

  Chris nodded, yet grimaced. “Then we better get moving. Her scent will be obvious.”

  “No more than yours,” Jonathan said.

  Chris glanced at him with that non-impressed look and moved on. “Which way, tour guide?”

  “We’ll cross the Cotswolds Way and then southeast to the Kingley Vale. Her ancestors’ home is near there.”

  Chris nodded. “Yew trees. Good.”

  “Glad you approve,” Jonathan said, and turned to begin the trek.

  I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on between Jonathan and Chris. It was obvious they knew each other, or of each other at least, but they didn’t seem to like each other much. I hoped it wasn’t a jealousy thing, but it was shaping up that way.

  I let it go. At the very least, they were being somewhat civil and I really didn’t feel like having an all-out dispute at this point. I needed them working together to help me get where I needed to go.

  As we trekked across rolling hills, along centuries-old roads and trails, and through a smattering of trees, I couldn’t help but wonder about this world in which Chris and Jonathan were immersed. Changelings, Nymphs, Howlers, Faeries — what else was I bound to find?

  I yanked on my hair. I felt so lost, so out of control.

  I knew my world, and what to expect from it. Twenty-fours years of knowing. This other world in which I was being thrown was a mystery. Sure, I’d seen Brokk and some little winged people through the course of my teenage years, but I’d been taught that none of that had been real. Now I realized I could have been learning about this other realm, and that knowledge might have prepared me for what was coming.

  I blamed Joan for that.

  That made me wonder. What would Geoff do with all this if he could witness what I was seeing? Would he believe it, or would he check himself into an asylum?

  Jonathan paused at a small stream that weaved under a bent, old willow. Brokk was there.

  He waved at me, and I couldn’t help but smile.

  “Brokk,” I said. I picked him up. “I’m sorry I didn’t pay more attention to you. All this time we could have been friends.”

  The little man stroked my face with h
is hand. He looked into my eyes with his shiny black ones and smiled back at me. I was really glad to see him.

  I rose and let him climb onto my shoulder.

  Jonathan gave Brokk a playful poke. “It seems he’s forgiven you. He had a hard time reaching out to you when you were on those meds. And when you moved into the city and refused to have any plants near you, you made it almost impossible.”

  “You know about the meds?”

  He nodded. “Marigold told me that your parents had medicated you and that it killed the Faery Sight. It’s good you’ve got it back. You’re going to need it.”

  We continued on the walk. Chris took stride next to me.

  “I have the Faery Sight?” I asked. A part of me wished I could get rid of it.

  Jonathan nodded. “But if a Faery doesn’t want to be seen, even with the Faery Sight, you’d have a hard time finding it. Faeries can hide even from themselves when they want to.”

  I looked at Chris.

  He nodded.

  “What about the howlers last night?” I asked. “Why would they want me to see them?”

  Jonathan’s eyebrows furrowed. “I’m still trying to sort that out. If they wanted to be seen, they must be very confident in what they’re tracking.”

  Chapter 17

  The day was bright and sun-filled. It made for a warm walk, but it wasn’t the heat that bothered me. It was the shoes I was wearing. They were old runners. I hadn’t really planned on hiking across England while trying to save my own skin.

  The breaks were few. So each time I took a moment to remove my shoes long enough to massage my aching feet.

  Jonathan advised that we take the roads and trails to continue to look like tourists. It would draw less suspicion now that we were far from Aunt Marigold’s house. Besides, it was unlikely anyone would be looking for a group of three.

  Now whether this Morgana woman knew there were three of us was another matter. Although if I had to guess, those howlers had probably figured it out. If they were like dogs in their ability to smell, they’d probably know my last meal as well.

  The day was fairly non-eventful, Chris and I focusing pretty much on just trying to keep pace with Jonathan. The boy could move.

  Along deserted, single lane roads and trails he led us. We passed some little towns and villages, smiling and offering polite hellos to those we passed. If we hadn’t been in such a rush, it would have made for a scenic vacation.

  Chris took stride next to me, mostly quiet, until Jonathan was quite some distance ahead.

  “I don’t trust him,” Chris whispered.

  I kept walking, not looking at him. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I wasn’t sure I trusted either of them. Other than his past transgression, Jonathan had not given me any reason not to trust him, and Brokk, who rode upon his shoulder now, seemed to gravitate towards him.

  “What makes you say that?” I asked.

  “Because he’s a Nymph. He’ll try to send me away so he can have his way with you. Right now, with me around, he won’t try anything. He’s having to restrain himself. I can tell.”

  “Are you having to restrain yourself?” I asked. I really shouldn’t have said that. It was petty. But honestly, I was still a little pissed and confused as to what had actually happened between us.

  “I’ve already told you what happened. I didn’t charm you into bed,” he said. There was exasperation in his voice. “Marigold told me to find a way to get you here, by any means possible. So I did try when I first met you because I figured it would be the easiest way to bind you to me, but it didn’t work. Your meds or something blocked it. And as time went on, I was getting worried I wouldn’t be able to do it. Your birthday kept getting closer, and all I could do was be your friend. Then when you said you were never really with Tony and those papers showed up, I figured it was the only chance I had. I tried using my human charms. What I offered you was me. It was real, Katherine. What I feel for you is real. And what happened between us was real.”

  I nearly tripped over a rock on the path. Chris caught me before I fell. He took my hands in his.

  I took a step back. “Chris,” I said. “I don’t know what to believe or who to trust anymore. I can’t make any of my own judgments because I know nothing of your little world. I don’t know who’s what, I don’t know what’s who — I don’t know shit. I practically need an encyclopedia to keep up. Do you have any idea how powerless I feel? I can’t make any kind of rational decision about my own survival. I have to leave everything to the two of you. You’re asking me not to trust him and to trust you, but you seem just as lost as I am. Not to mention you weren’t honest with me. So what am I supposed to do?”

  Tears welled up in my eyes. I hated feeling vulnerable.

  He pulled me towards him. He whispered in my ear. “I hated not telling you who I was. I wanted to, but I needed to get you to safety first. I’m sorry.”

  I closed my eyes and leaned in closer to his chest. The tears flowed faster. Although it was just two little words, they helped. I don’t know exactly how I knew it, but the sincerity in his voice was true. I put my arms around him.

  “You’re not off the hook yet, Chris Silver. You’ll need to prove it.”

  “I will,” was all he said.

  I let him hold me until I heard some foot shuffling down the path.

  I backed away from Chris. I was pretty sure I had a grasp on him now. Jonathan was another matter entirely, and I didn’t like being torn between the two.

  Jonathan walked up beside me. He looked at each one of us, assessing the situation. “If this little love fest is finished we need to get moving,” he said. He nodded towards the setting sun. “We don’t have a lot of time. When night strikes, we need to be indoors. Out here in the open, we don’t stand a chance.”

  He didn’t look hopeful. And as I looked out from the hill upon which we stood, sunset would happen in about half an hour, and there was nothing but open green space. There wasn’t even a barn to hide in.

  Jonathan started walking. My aching feet followed with Chris at my side.

  The pace was fast, and I felt like one of those women I see power walking their way to a slimmer body.

  Then Jonathan changed to a light jog. I looked at Chris, but his attention was all about the land around us. I kept up, my feet screaming at me.

  Five minutes into the jog, I felt a sickening fear settle in my gut.

  Jonathan called out. “Run!”

  I ran. But, to where I had no idea. I could see nothing to run from, nor had I heard anything behind us. All I knew was to follow Jonathan and that was becoming more difficult to do as the night sky overtook us. The bumps in the ground were harder to see, causing me to stumble repeatedly. Chris caught me, lifting me up and running with me for a few strides like I weighed nothing to him, before he placed me back on the ground with ease.

  Up ahead a copse of trees loomed and I knew for what Jonathan was making. He said something to Brokk. Then the little man nodded and disappeared.

  I picked up the pace. There was nothing behind me I could hear, but I knew what was there. The howlers. I had the same feeling now I had back at the inn when I first saw them. Except, this feeling was much more intense. There had to be dozens of them.

  I sprinted and caught up to Jonathan as we closed in on the forest.

  “Trees!” he yelled. “Brokk will tell you which one to climb!”

  He looked at Chris. “You know what to do!”

  As we entered the forest, I scoured the trees, searching for Brokk. I found him on some low lying branches of a gnarled old tree. He was glowing and waving furiously.

  I bolted for the tree and climbed as fast as I could with Brokk lighting the way upwards.

  When his presence dimmed, he climbed on my shoulder. He patted my face, and I knew this was where he wanted me to wait. I got myself comfortable while looking down through the gloom to where Chris and Jonathan stood, backs to the tree.

  Chris’s body lit up w
ith a glow like I had seen in my dream. Jonathan’s didn’t, but he tossed out some small glowing spheres in the clearing to help light the space.

  The howlers became visible, one by one as they stepped into the light. I stopped counting at thirteen.

  The beasts stalked about the tree, encircling it.

  Jonathan stood at one side, Chris at the other. Somehow Chris seemed bigger. His shirt was stretching, to the point he removed it. The tattoos I had seen in my dream were there, glowing. His body got thicker. Not hulkish, but larger than his usual size.

  He looked at me. His eyes were glowing.

  I sucked in my breath.

  I heard growling at the opposite side of the tree, so I searched for Jonathan. He was barely visible, a dark aura enveloping him. A curved blade waited in his hand. His eyes were black sockets as the shadows enveloped him. He disappeared from sight after one last glance in my direction.

  Then, the howlers attacked.

  Chapter 18

  I felt helpless sitting in the tree.

  Chris dodged the first howler, his thick form much more agile than he looked. He smashed the beast with his fist as it flew over him, striking it in the ribs.

  The dark form yelped and hit the ground rolling. Then it limped into the darkness.

  Two more jumped at him, and I wrung my hands as one of them latched onto his arm with its teeth. Chris barely reacted other than to pull it off and fling it at the tree. I felt it shake when the howler struck.

  On the other side, I caught only glimpses of Jonathan and the flash of his blade as he stabbed at the howlers before disappearing into the darkness once more. Puddles of darkness began to pool near the foot of the tree as, one by one, the howlers dropped at his feet.

  Yet with each one that Chris or Jonathan took down, three more took their places, emerging from the shadows, teeth gleaming. The two men moved closer together until their backs were to the tree and each other.

  “This isn’t going well,” Jonathan said.

  Chris dodged another bite and tossed the howler into the others. “There’s too many of them.”