“Not all distractions are a bad thing.”
He smiled, as he leaned over her, his lips slightly swollen and a little red around the edges. Gwen touched the bottom edge of his lower lip, her finger coming away slightly moistened. She bit her own lip as her heart fluttered. The idea of his arousal so beyond exciting to her that she was tempted to forget the little voice in the back of her head. But, even as she studied his full lips, his thin, almost sculptured nose, his beautiful blue eyes, she knew this was a bad idea.
“Time is running out, Cei. Even you said—”
“I know.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “But I can’t hardly think of anything but you.” He smoothed the hair from her face, his fingers gentle as they lingered against her scalp. “I love you. And I want to be with you before…”
“Before what?”
He looked away, rolling slowly off of her to lie on his back. He dropped his arm over his eyes, a deep sigh exploding into the air around them.
“Before what?” she asked again, even as she realized she already knew.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen in the next couple of days, Gwen. This could go very well, and everyone will be restored to their rightful places. Or…”
He let it hang unspoken, the words he didn’t want to say. But she knew them almost as well as she might had he said them.
Or things will go very wrong, and they could all be dead by the end of the week.
“On that sober note,” Gwen said, climbing to her feet and grabbing the clothes she had already pulled out of her bag, “I’m going to go wash up.”
“You’ll have to take a water bottle. There’s no fresh water nearby.”
Gwen acknowledge him by grabbing the refillable bottle she’d filled the night before, her graceful exit destroyed by a zipper on the tent entrance that refused to move properly. And then she tripped over the low threshold, nearly falling face first into the small fire pit he had built just outside the tent.
“Great,” she muttered to herself as she stormed off into a small copse of trees, trying to pretend she didn’t see Rhein watching her from the low branches of a small ash.
“Be careful,” Cei called.
You have no idea.
Chapter 8
“I see the two of you are still getting along rather well.”
“Did you think I would just grab my stuff and wander off in the middle of the night?” Gwen asked, refusing to turn around and face Rhein. “Or maybe you expected me to hitchhike back to Texas from here.”
“No. But I didn’t think I’d find the two of you making out like a couple of—”
“What? Teenagers?”
“Like two people who trust each other.”
She hesitated with that. But, still, she didn’t stop walking. She wasn’t even sure where she was going. She could have stayed closer to their camp—since there was no natural water sources in the area—and found a tree to do her business behind. There was just something about hearing Rhein’s footsteps behind her that made her want to run.
He finally had enough and grabbed her upper arm, forcing her to spin around. Gwen reached up to slap him, but he was prepared. He grabbed her wrist and held it hard in his hand.
“You’ve got to be smarter than this.”
“What? And trust you?”
“You’ve got to trust someone, Gwen.”
She jerked back, her clothes and her toothbrush falling into the dirt as she did. She continued to step back until there was more than the length of another human being between them.
“You tell me you think Cei is using me to find something and you think that’s enough to convince me that he’s not being truthful?”
“I told you more than that.”
She nodded slowly. “You think he killed someone.”
“I saw him kill her.”
“Did you?” She looked over at him, her hands shaking as she rubbed one over the outside edge of her face. “Did you really see him kill her, or are you just trying to manipulate me the same way you say he’s doing me? How am I supposed to know the difference?”
Hurt flashed through Rhein’s eyes. He stepped back as though the blow were physical. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, his eyes never leaving hers.
“I get that it’s hard to figure out which of us you can trust. With everything you’ve been through, everything that’s happened.”
“Don’t pretend to understand me.”
He threw up his hands, as though giving up. “Okay,” he said quietly. “But I’m not going anywhere, Gwen. When you figure this out, when you realize which of us is on your side, I’ll be here.”
“Don’t do me any favors.”
“I’m not doing it just for you.” He started to walk away, but stopped before he had moved more than a few feet. He looked back at her again, his eyes moving slowly over her face, over the thin jacket she’d grabbed before she left the tent. And then his eyes softened as they rested on hers again. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had hope. You don’t know what it’s like, living a life that’s devoid of hope. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.”
“If you’ve put your hope in me, you’ve made a mistake.”
“No, Gwen. The mistake I made was believing I was beyond redemption.”
“What does that mean?” she asked, her tone softened despite herself. “If you aren’t the traitor, if you aren’t manipulating me, then why would you need redemption?”
He shook his head slowly. “When you live a life like mine, there’s too much time. It’s too easy to think you can make things right sometime in the future, only to realize that you waited too long.”
“What do you have to make right?”
He looked down at his hands, as though the answer might be written there. Then, he looked at her again. “He’s not who you think he is, Gwen. He might make you feel like you’re his main priority, but he’s using you to get what he wants. I’ve seen him do it before, and I’ve seen what he does when things don’t go his way.”
“He killed her.”
“She trusted him, just like you do. She thought he loved her, just like you.”
“You don’t know as much as you think you do.” Gwen stepped forward and picked up her clothes and her toothbrush. “I’m not as naïve as everyone assumes.”
“I’m counting on it.”
She looked over at him, but he was gone. He walked away without so much as a goodbye. She tried to pretend that it didn’t hurt that he would do it, or that she was relieved he no longer wanted to argue. In truth, she wasn’t done. She wanted to know more. She wanted him to reveal more about himself. This, she realized, was the first time he had talked freely about the immortal life he had lived. He had lived as long as Cei, but she knew next to nothing about his life before the ceremony that turned him into Amaethon’s servant, and nothing about afterward.
She desperately wanted to know.
If arguing with him was the only way to get the information, she was willing to go there. She was willing to do just about anything to know Rhein. And that was probably not the attitude a girl in love with someone else should foster.
What was wrong with her? Why was she doing this to herself? To Cei? Was she beginning to doubt Cei’s motivations?
Gwen mulled it over as she washed herself, preparing for the long day ahead. When she was finished and was walking back toward camp, she paused as she came up beside a huge, old oak tree. She pressed a hand against it and felt its power vibrating through it. It seemed to wash into her, pushing away the soreness in her muscles and the exhaustion that was threatening to dull her senses.
“Thank you,” she whispered to the tree.
An image formed in her mind, a place she had seen before. But this time, there were more details. Specific details. She realized, as she stood there that she knew this place; she knew how to find it despite the fact that she had never been there before.
She knew where the gate was.
Chapter
9
The temperature dropped noticeably as they walked deeper into the mountain, following a path created thousands of years ago through erosion and whatever other processes were in effect back then. It was a natural cave, deep inside the earth, that Cei promised led to a deep cavern where Gwydion once had a sort of lab.
“He liked to keep his things hidden, in a place where others couldn’t touch them.”
“What kind of things?”
“Enchanted objects. Gifts from the Druids. Herbal remedies.”
“What did he do with all those things?”
Cei glanced back at her. “Anything he wanted.”
“Why did they stay here? Don’t most gods have their own place to live in some other realm?”
“The Celtic gods get their power from the earth. If they left, they would lose those powers.”
“Then, why can’t the sons of Don release themselves from Annwn? Isn’t that a part of the earth, too?”
Cei paused, his hand barely visible on the smooth rock wall of the cave in the glow of his heavy duty flashlight. “It’s complicated. Annwn exists on earth, but it really isn’t a part of earth. It’s like a magical realm that can be accessed from here. And in the right circumstances, it actually enhances the power. Some even say that Annwn is the center of that power. But there are different parts to it.”
“Gwydion and the others are trapped in the wrong part.”
“They are trapped. There’s no telling what Bran’s curse has done to them.” Anger slipped across Cei’s face, hardening his expression. “All we know for sure is that they are incapable of leaving.”
Gwen caught up with him, touched his chest lightly with a gentle touch that was meant to soothe him. But it seemed to pull him out of dark thoughts with something of a jolt. He grabbed her wrist in almost the exact same place Rhein had grabbed her, jerking her hand away from him.
“Sorry,” he muttered, pulling her back into him in almost the same instant he had pushed her away. “Bad memories.”
“Were you close to him?” she asked, looking up at Cei. “To Gwydion?”
“As close as a servant and his master could be.”
The words were fairly benevolent, but the tone behind them was hard. Unpleasant.
“Was he mean to you?”
Cei slipped around Gwen and began walking again. “We should be there in a few minutes.”
Gwen had to rush to keep up with him. But, like he said, they arrived in the hollowed out room in the cave in just a few minutes. And it was…breathtaking. It wasn’t just an open space inside the mountain that someone had decided to turn into a laboratory. It was a huge space that echoed with every step, every word. Natural light came from some unknown source, and stone shelves were each filled to the brim with objects Gwen didn’t even know how to begin to explain. Beautiful things…tapestries and baskets and ceramics. But horrifying things, too, like a skull that had been polished to use as a bowl, or the animal skeletons that served every function from bowls to coat hangers to decorations.
Gwen found herself running her fingers over the soft edges of objects that were clearly made out of bone, but done in such a way as though to suggest a deep respect for whoever—or whatever—the bone once belonged to. There were swords, daggers, and lamps. Jars were filled to the brim with everything from some sort of dried herbs to crushed flowers to various body parts. Gwen lifted one jar, thinking it held a jewel suspended in some sort of water only to realize it was a pristinely preserved eye the color of amber.
She had never seen anything like this place. A part of her wanted to stay for hours, admiring and studying every little artifact. But another part of her was disgusted by the things this god had thought were his for the taking. Her imagination was going to all the wrong places, as she wondered where these body parts had come from and what Gwydion did to acquire them. She had to remind herself that he lived in a different time, a time where some of this was acceptable behavior. But preserving a human uterus, swollen with a child that would never see the light of day, didn’t feel like acceptable behavior to her.
Cei didn’t seem to be bothered by what he was seeing. But she had to remind herself that he had seen this place many, many times in the long ago past. From the way he moved purposefully through the large room, she could see that he knew exactly where the item he was looking for was stored. He muttered to himself as he moved things out of his way, words she couldn’t hear and wasn’t sure she wanted to hear.
It was so clean in here. Gwen found herself wondering if that was because of the depth in which this cavern was hidden in the earth, or if it had more to do with Gwydion’s powers. Had he left some sort of protection spell on this place? Did such a thing really exist? Or maybe someone had come here recently, someone who was a caretaker of this place?
“When was the last time you were here?” she called to Cei.
He glanced back at her as he dug through a low shelf at the back of the room. “It’s been a few years.”
“Does anyone else know where this place is?”
“No. Why?”
Gwen just shrugged as she turned in a slow circle, her eyes trying to take in everything all at once. There was a full sized bed in one corner, a straw-stuffed mattress lying on a smooth ledge of rock. The mattress had rotted over the years. It was the only thing in the entire room that seemed to show any neglect.
She slipped her backpack off and settled on a low bench that sat in front of another stone ledge that appeared to have served as a work counter. She ran her hands over the smooth stone and felt that familiar tingle of magic. She closed her eyes and had a flash of an image: a man hunched over this same counter, working slowly and methodically with tiny instruments. She couldn’t quite see what it was he was doing, but it seemed to be of great importance because there was sweat pouring steadily from his forehead even though it was quite cool inside the cavern.
And then he looked up.
“Hello, Gwenydd.”
A jolt pierced through Gwen as though she had touched an electric socket. But the man, a man of about thirty with dark hair and green eyes, a kind looking man, smiled.
“I’ve looked forward to meeting you.”
“How do you know me?”
“Time is a funny thing, Gwenydd. It is a fluid thing, easily manipulated under the right circumstances.”
“I know you,” she said, speaking slowly as the memory surfaced. A dream. “Your voice.”
“I am Gwydion, son of Don.”
“You spoke to me, told me I would know what to do when I found the gate.”
“I did,” he said, acknowledging her with a slight nod. “And it’s true.”
“I’ve been told that before. But what if I don’t? What if I make a mistake?”
Gwydion reached out to touch her, the feel of his hand on the back of hers so real, so solid, that she really believed he was there.
“This is your destiny, Gwenydd,” he said to her. “It is what you were born to do.”
“I’m glad someone has confidence in me.”
He smiled. “Of course I do. You are hope in a world that has lost its connection with the basic goodness in humanity. You will restore the balance.”
A sound across the room startled Gwydion. He turned to look and his expression turned dark in a way that frightened Gwen. She moved back a little, her hands sliding over the satin smooth rock. Gwydion reached out and grabbed her hand.
“Take this,” he said quietly. “It will help you.” He pressed something into her hand, something small and thin. He leaned close and kissed her cheek lightly. “Do not let your heart lead you astray.”
“Do you mean Cei?”
A sadness that was so profound Gwen could actually feel it, as though it were palpable waves moving from Gwydion to her filled his expressive eyes.
“I loved him, too,” he whispered.
And then he was simply gone.
“Gwen?”
Cei shook her shoulder. Gwen opened her eyes and
studied him, the sight of his familiar face with a smudge of dirt on his cheek was both reassuring and frightening. She wasn’t sure why.
He had a small, wooden box in his hand. He held it up for her to see.
“I got what I needed. We should go now.”
“Can’t we stay the night here? It’s cold, but it looked like rain outside.”
Cei glanced around the room and shuttered, as though the idea of spending more time there was unpleasant.
“We need to go. It’s time to find the gate.”
He picked up her bag and held it out to her. As Gwen reached for it, she realized her hand was clutched around a small, thin object. She pressed it as casually as she could into her pocket, hoping Cei didn’t notice—not really sure why she didn’t want him to know, or why she hadn’t told him about what the oak tree had shown her. Then, she slid the bag back onto her shoulders. As she followed him out of the cavern, she glanced back at the long counter. She could see him, almost as though he were still there, the god who once was lord and master of this place.
There was grief in his eyes as he watched them walk away.
Chapter 10
“What’s in the box?”
Cei had slid the little, wooden box into his backpack as they began the reverse trip out of the mountain, but she could see the clear outline of it against the nylon of the bag. It wasn’t much bigger than a paperback book, so it couldn’t hold anything too profound. A piece of jewelry, maybe. Or a rock collection?
She had no experience with this sort of thing. What did gods keep in their private lab that might attract their servant’s interest?
“Is the map inside of there?”
Cei didn’t respond to either question. He seemed to be concentrating on the path ahead of them. Gwen followed in silence for a moment, trying to ignore the trickle of fear that was running slowly down the length of her spine at Cei’s silence.
“What do we do now? Is the gate somewhere nearby?”
Cei finally stopped and turned to face her. “Did anyone ever tell you that you ask too many questions?”
SONS of DON Page 38
