SONS of DON

by Brenda L. Harper

  The key would not have come to you if that was possible.

  “You won’t,” Rhein said. “The magic doesn’t work that way.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because the earth is all about balance. It controls everything in a way that keeps that balance intact. If you were meant to have this baton, then you are the right person at the right time to have it. If not…we wouldn’t even be here.”

  Exactly.

  Gwen shook her head, a sense of dread battling with the feeling of peace that swelled from the baton into her fingers and traveled slowly—almost painfully slow—up her arm. She couldn’t help but think of the other baton—the one so much like this—that was in Cei’s possession.

  “I hope I don’t actually need to use it.”

  “So do I,” Rhein said. “But it’s good you have it just in case.”

  She nodded. She slid the fragile thing in her jeans pocket and pressed the door of the box closed before taking the key back. As she moved her hand from the box’s surface, it disappeared. She stared at the spot where it had been. Now, there was nothing but the few missing crumbles of concrete to even suggest that anything had been there. She touched that place, but all her fingers found were cold, slightly damp concrete.

  “Where did it go?”

  “Its purpose is finished. It went back to its place in the earth.”

  “I will never understand this stuff,” Gwen sighed as she turned and faced Rhein in the dim light. “I have no idea how you do.”

  “I began studying it before I was old enough to read.”

  She touched his face light, stealing a light kiss before she took his hand tight in her own. “We should get out of here.”

  He took the lead, holding his phone out so that they could see—sort of—where they were going. Just like before, they were able to get up the stairs and back on the elevator without any problems. It was when the elevator opened in the emergency room that they ran into a little trouble.

  Tony, Cei, and Morgan were headed right for them.

  “This way,” Rhein said, pulling her down a short corridor that ended in a small room filled with vending machines.

  “If we can’t get the damn thing open tonight,” they could hear Cei saying, “we’ll have to forget about it and concentrate on other methods of finding the gate.”

  “I don’t know what good that will do us without Gwen,” Tony responded.

  “Something tells me we’ll find Gwen when we find the gate,” was Cei’s response.

  “They seem incredibly worried about me,” Gwen said, unable to keep a little bitterness from bleeding into her tone.

  “You’re not really surprised, are you?” Rhein asked.

  Gwen shrugged. “Not where Cei’s concerned, I suppose. But I thought Tony kind of liked me.”

  “Tony is another story all to himself,” Rhein said. “His main concern is simply proving the gate exists. His mistress has been trying to prove its existence since before the curse, before the Cei and I were immortal.”

  “His mistress?”

  “Hmm, you haven’t figured that one out yet?” Rhein asked, amusement making his eyes dance. “And here I thought you were so quick about these things.”

  “You’re teasing me,” she said, slapping his shoulder lightly. “I don’t like to be teased.”

  “Think about it, babe.” He pushed a piece of hair that had escaped her braid out of her eyes. “It has to be someone who wasn’t affected by the curse to be around in the eighteenth century when Tony became immortal, but someone close enough to the whole situation to want to prove the existence of the gate, and, perhaps, play a part in the reversal of the curse.”

  “I have no idea. The only gods I know about are all locked up in Annwn, or trying to kill me.”

  “Does the name Druantia mean anything to you?”

  Gwen thought about it for a second, then shook her head. “Not really.”

  “The goddess of knowledge? Someone who doesn’t really care about power struggles, but loves knowing everything about everything. Sound like anyone you know?”

  Gwen shook her head again. “I’m clueless.”

  Rhein laughed. “Dru…antia.”

  Her eyes lit up. “You can’t mean—”

  “Yes. Ms. Dru.”

  Gwen’s mouth dropped open. She was about to comment when some guy stumbled into the room behind them.

  “Got change?” he asked in a slurred tone.

  “Here,” Rhein said, dropping a couple coins in the man’s hand, even as he began to propel Gwen out of the way.

  They were out on the street before it hit her completely. Her history teacher. Her history teacher was a Welsh god.

  Why did that surprise her? Her mother was an owl, for goodness sake.

  Nothing could possibly surprise her anymore.

  At least, she hoped not.

  ***

  Rhein had rented a little car—something like a Mini Cooper—that took them back up into the mountains. Gwen lay back in the passenger seat and stared up at the stars through the moon roof that he had shown her how to open and close. A breeze tickled her cheeks as they rushed through the night, taking the mountain roads at speeds that felt crazy fast to her when she focused on the road ahead. Maybe that was why it seemed so much safer to look at the stars.

  It wasn’t as far to Beddgelert as Gwen had imagined it to be. They arrived in the small village an hour or more before dawn. Rhein slowed the car down to a crawl as they drove near the ancient church, the Church of St. Mary, that stood at the end of StrydyrEglwys, or Church Street. Then, they drove around a corner to pass the many hotels and restaurants—a few of which were surprisingly open already, or hadn’t yet closed—that were the main income of this small, tourist town. As they left town, the crossed the Conwy River not far from where it combined with the River Glaslyn.

  “A beautiful place to spend a day,” Rhein said.

  “It’s that way,” she said, pointing toward an unpaved road that veered off into a wooded area off to the right of the main road.

  Rhein followed her directions, following the road as far as they could before the terrain just got too rough. When he pulled over, he glanced at her.

  “Do you want to do this now, or do you want to go back into town and get something to eat?”

  Gwen stared down the road, the pull of the gate so intense in that moment that she wasn’t sure she could physically walk away from it. It had begun the moment they crossed the town limits all the way on the other side of the church and grew steadily stronger the closer they came. She knew it was only a mile or so deeper into the woods. If they started walking now, they would reach it by the time the sun came up. But she also knew that it wasn’t the right time yet. The curse was begun at midnight. It should be undone at the same time.

  “We should probably wait,” she said, the reluctance clear in her voice.

  Rhein reached over and placed his hand on her thigh. “Are you sure?”

  “No,” she said, the ache of longing turning into frustration and maybe a touch of anger in that single syllable. “But it just seems logical.”

  He squeezed her leg, before turning the car around and heading back to town. They parked in a lot that serviced one of the more luxurious hotels, hiding it between a couple of Lexus SUVs. The sun wasn’t even peeking around the corner as they walked hand in hand down the street, but they weren’t the only couple out at this ungodly hour. People were spilling out of a couple of restaurants, others came from the hotels, freshly scrubbed and ready for a day of sightseeing.

  “Do they have really early church services, or something?” Gwen asked.

  “They’re probably heading to Snowdonia to hike while the weather is still pretty stable,” Rhein said, gesturing to a couple who were wearing what was clearly expensive hiking clothing.

  Gwen nodded, the pull of the gate a little less intense than it had been, but still pulling at her with a need that made her feel a little sick to her
stomach. She stumbled over a crack in the road. Rhein slid his arm around her and pulled her tight against his side.

  “You okay?”

  She nodded, but she really wasn’t convinced herself.

  “Come on, let’s get something to eat,” he said, directing her toward a small restaurant halfway up the block.

  Gwen let him lead her, even though food was the last thing she could possibly want at the moment. It was, however, nice to sit for a while. She curled into her chair like a cat on a sunny windowsill, wrapping her hands around a cup of hot tea that smelled like heaven in a place that already had a pretty heady scent.

  She found herself watching people walk past the window beside the table where she and Rhein sat. They were not just locals, but clearly people from all over the world. She was pretty sure she could pick out the ones who came from America from the way they walked, the boldness they seemed to exude in every movement of their bodies. The English were a little less bold, but still confident in their simple existence. Then, there were the Asians, the Russians, and the Italians, all with their own distinct way of moving and interacting with the people around them.

  They were all in the same place, but they all clung to their own cultures so tightly that they stuck out like sore thumbs. Gwen found herself wondering if she did the same, if she stuck out as an American. Or Rhein. Technically he was Welsh by birth, but he’d lived in America for a very long time.

  “Maybe we should get a hotel room.”

  Gwen looked over at Rhein, a soft smile on her lips. “You think so?”

  “I think you should be well-rested for tonight. And it would be easier to keep you safe if we had four walls around us.”

  “Oh.” The smile disappeared, only to make a comeback when he caught on to her line of thinking and a blush touched his cheeks. “I suppose you make a good point.”

  “I’m just…” He reached over and stroked the back of her hand. “Cei’s going to figure out where we went sooner rather than later. There will be trouble.”

  “I expect there will be.”

  “You don’t happen to have any idea how this thing is going to play out, do you?”

  Gwen looked down into the depths of her tea. “I suppose Cei’s going to show up with Bran and Branwen. And they’re not going to want us to break the curse, so they’re going to cause trouble.”

  “I kind of figured that out already.”

  “I don’t know what else to tell you.” She looked over at him. “I’ve never broken a curse before.”

  “Me either.”

  Rhein pushed his plate of half eaten eggs, sausage, and laver bread away, picking up his own coffee cup. He was quiet for a long little bit, not drinking the coffee, but not putting it down, either. He seemed lost in thought until his cellphone buzzed in his pocket.

  He dug it out and glanced at the screen. Then, he handed it across the table to Gwen.

  “Cei pissed about missing box,” it read. “Disappeared after leaving hospital. Might be on his way to you.”

  “Do you think he even knows that you’re in Wales?” Gwen asked Rhein, as she handed the phone back to him.

  “I don’t know. I wouldn’t put it past him. We have this sort of sixth sense when it comes to each other. Something to do with the whole immortal thing.”

  Gwen nodded. “I thought so. He seemed to know I wasn’t spending an hour to brush my teeth and change my shirt every morning.”

  Rhein pulled some money out of his pocket and tossed it on the table before reaching for her. “We shouldn’t stay in one place for too long.”

  They stepped back out onto the street, and the sunlight seemed to wash the sleepy from Gwen’s eyes. She followed him as he wandered down one street and then onto another. In a few minutes, they found themselves standing outside of the church with a group of tourist waiting to take a tour.

  “Nowhere safer than a church,” he whispered into her ear.

  Gwen moved into him, her hand slipping around his waist as they stood there waiting.

  “Oh, you’re such a cute couple,” a voice said.

  Gwen peeked out from under Rhein’s arm and smiled at the middle aged woman who was in line in front of them. “Thanks,” she said politely.

  The woman shaded her eyes from the sun, her brightly colored lips curved into something between a smile and a grimace. “People used to say that about me and my Charlie,” she said. “I never knew what to say in response. Now, I wish I had just remembered to enjoy the time we had together.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” Rhein said, his voice vibrating through his chest against the side of Gwen’s face, as his arm tightened his hold on her waist.

  “Yeah, well,” the woman waved a dismissive hand, “his secretary can have him.” Her smile was more genuine this time. “I do hope your romance lasts much longer than ours did.”

  Gwen turned her face into Rhein and tried not to laugh too hard. It just seemed so ironic to her. Here she was, about to either die in an attempt to free the light back into the world, or free the master who would take Rhein away from her. Either way, she lost. And this woman was wishing them a long romance.

  Life was really one incredibly difficult joke.

  The line moved into the church behind a nasally tour guide who explained how this section of the church had once been the chapel of a monastery in the twelfth century. Gwen only half-listened. She was more interested in the carvings that hung on the walls than the story the guide was telling. Rhein stood close behind her, his hands always touching her somewhere, even as they paid attention to two different things. He seemed fascinated with the story of the young monk who oversaw the construction of the original building.

  Gwen was studying a carving that depicted a tall, light-haired man standing at the entrance to what looked like a tomb when she heard the name Llewellyn.

  “His dog, Gelert, is said to be buried right here in our little town.”

  “Is she talking about the Prince of Wales?” Gwen asked.

  Rhein nodded, making a face to remind her to keep her voice down.

  “I read a book about him. I thought it was mostly fiction though.”

  “No. Llewellyn was a real figure. The only leader to bring all of Wales together under one ruler for any amount of time.”

  “Impressive.”

  “Or sad, depending on which side of the coin you’re on.”

  “Did you ever meet him?”

  Rhein’s eyebrows rose, but then his smile gave him away. “You’d be surprised what kind of man he really was. Nothing like the history books.”

  “But I understand he loved his wife to the point of destroying his reputation.”

  “True. That much is true.”

  Rhein pulled her against his side again, his hand moving possessively over her hip. Gwen forgot about the carvings and turned her attention to simply enjoying the feel of being with Rhein.

  The tour wasn’t long and before they knew it, they were back to where they had begun. Gwen’s attention began to wander again, the pull of the gate almost forgotten for a while, but suddenly pulsing in her chest like palpitations. Maybe she’d made a mistake, deciding to wait. Maybe they should have gone straight there. Maybe…

  But then, it was already beginning.

  Chapter 21

  Gwen felt her more than saw her. The heaviness of her magic. The lack of light that should have surrounded her. Or maybe it was just the heavy scowl on her face as she approached them.

  Gwen pulled away from Rhein and pulled the baton from her pocket in one smooth motion. She saw the snap of surprise in Branwen’s eyes, but it didn’t stop her from approaching, and it didn’t cause her to change her mind about the attack.

  Branwen raised her long sword over her head and lunged toward Gwen. Gwen didn’t even know what it was she was going to do until a picture jumped into her mind and she waved the wand. Branwen disappeared, her face twisted in horror in the seconds before she did, her body becoming something like a tornado as it
spun in tight circles and scattered to the four winds.

  “We have to go,” Gwen said, reaching back for Rhein’s hand. But there was nothing there.

  She spun around and saw Rhein standing against the far wall. But he wasn’t alone.

  Bran stood behind him, a dagger in his hand pressed to Rhein’s throat.

  “I can’t hurt you, but there are no rules against hurting an immortal,” Bran said to her.

  “Let him go.”

  “Did you know that if you sever an immortal’s cervical spine, he won’t be able to survive?”

  “Let him go.”

  “You’ve gotten stronger, my dear,” Bran said, his eyes falling to the baton in her hand. “Have you had much time to practice with that thing?”

  “Don’t need practice to know what it’s capable of.”

  “True.” Bran shifted the dagger, pressing it so tightly against Rhein’s throat that Gwen could see a drop of blood run down his tan skin. “Bring my sister back.”

  “Let Rhein go.”

  Bran chuckled. “Seems were at a bit of an impasse here.”

  “I would guess so.”

  “Do you really think you’re going to be able to break that curse? Do you know how many little girls have tried before you?”

  “Did any of them get this far?”

  Bran looked down at the dagger, a soft chuckle again slipping from his lips. But none of it hid the fear and surprise that flashed over his features. He moved the dagger over Rhein’s throat again, more blood joining the first drop.

  “Let him go.”

  Bran looked up. “What happened with you and Cei? I thought the two of you were hot and heavy for each other.”

  “That was before I realized he was working with you.”

  “Oh? Put that together, did you?”

  “It wasn’t that hard.”

  “Hard enough that it took you nearly three months.”

  Gwen lifted the baton and again saw that flash of fear in Bran’s eyes. She found herself wondering what would happen to Rhein if she did the same to Bran that she had done to Branwen. But she didn’t dare try because she didn’t know what it would do to Rhein.

  “Don’t let him bait you, Gwen,” Rhein said, his voice a little choked by Bran’s dagger.