I hit it on the head, and finally we were on the same page.
“Do you know if you died before she put a lost soul into you? Or did you cross over to Be and she snatched you up there?”
Be, he mouthed.
“You’re young,” I observed. “Maybe late twenties? Early thirties? I thought Be was a place mostly for retirees. Your life must’ve been pretty grim if you turned your soul over to her so young.”
Harold shrugged with a hollow look in his eyes that had nothing to do with the beating Foss doled out.
I knelt beside him, having given up on untying the crazy knot on his other arm. I looked up into his obsidian eyes and tried to communicate with utmost sincerity that he could let his guard down with me. “Pesta screwed you over pretty good. You didn’t want to attack us, did you?”
He shook his head in earnest. Then he began struggling against the binding on his arm and legs, letting out a small raspy whine.
It was a good sign. He was capable of noise. We were getting closer.
I tipped the cup to his cracked lips. “The things you must’ve seen. You didn’t want that life. You went to Be because she promised an escape. She lied to you.” I wasn’t trying to hide my hand. I wanted him to know the point I was gunning for so I didn’t spook him. When it seemed we were on the same page, I held his free hand between mine and rubbed his wrist to soothe him. “Harold, I need your help. Pesta keeps finding us, but I don’t know how. She sends Werebears, of course, but she’s been possessing other animals. And now you? It’s too far. It has to end.” I massaged his forearm, and I could feel him relax in my grip. “Is there any way you could help us?”
Harold found himself through the haze of relief I was instilling in his arm and nodded.
Crap. Yes or no questions were the only thing he could handle right now. I thought hard on how to best pull the information from him.
“So, she’s tracking us, right?” His nod prodded me forward. He pulled his arm from me and pointed to my forehead. “In her mind? Some psychic way?”
Harold shook his head, frustrated with his shortcomings. He pointed to my chest.
“Me? She’s tracking me? What the crap for?”
Harold pounded his fist on the table once, and then mimed stabbing himself in the heart.
That was pretty clear. “Oh. To kill me. That sounds about right. Why wouldn’t she hate me? Never met me, but whatever. How, though? How is she tracking me?”
He pressed his finger to my forehead again.
“In her mind?”
He shook his head. The bags under his eyes and his various injuries were evident, even in the candlelight. I may not have beaten him up, but I realized questioning him when he was in such a sorry state was cruel.
I rubbed his arm again. “I’m sorry. You’re just as tired as we are. How about I give you some time to get your voice back?”
Harold nodded gratefully, his shoulders sagging forward. His mouth hung open, too swollen to resume its proper place.
“Hang in there. I’ll get Jens to bust you outta these. My brother’s a Huldra, so he might have to whistle you to sleep so we can be sure you don’t escape, but no one will hurt you.”
Harold shook his head and began to cry silent tears of desperation.
I stood and ran my fingers through his black greasy hair, pulling his head to rest on my hip. “It’s alright. I’ll stay with Foss. I promise no one will attack you here. Foss shouldn’t have done this to you. I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Harold tossed me a look with such resignation to his fateful death, I couldn’t not hug him. I was considerate of his many sore spots, but did not otherwise hold back. Poor kid. Sure, he was far older than me, but he looked like a giant boy all beaten down like he was. I kissed his forehead, somehow making him cry even harder. “It’s okay. It’s alright. Let it out.” I patted his back gently and held him for several minutes until he was able to collect himself. “You have to trust me a little bit, here. Let me get my brother. He won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do. He’s just going to help you sleep through the night.” I brushed a lock of his long hair from his face and tucked it behind his ear. “I’ll be here when you wake up. Promise.”
I pressed one last kiss to his temple before rousing Mace and summoning Jens. Jens was reluctant to untie him, but he knew Harold had no weapons on him. Jens was sleeping in the main room with me, so there was precious little opportunity for Harold to escape.
Charles was tired, but luckily whistling an exhausted person to sleep was fairly simple. Jens and I dragged the poor guy into Mace and Alrik’s room, depositing him gently on the wooden floor. Jens tsked me when I retrieved a spare blanket from a closet and covered Harold with it.
“You’re such a mother,” he commented, bumping his hip to mine with a sleepy smile.
I snorted and then yawned. “Well, our little giant’s going to be okay. Please don’t let Foss in to see him in the morning. I’ll probably wake up if he does, but just in case.”
Jens kissed my lips with great tenderness, his pace slow and drippy, like the candles that did their slow melt around us. When he finally pulled away, fifty percent of my problems magically decreased. “I love you,” he whispered. “When this is all over, we’ll sleep in a real bed together.” He glanced into the main room toward the fireplace where Foss rested on the fluffy rug. “Without Foss.”
“Agreed.” I pulled out two more blankets and moved toward the hearth. I got down on my knees and stretched the smaller of the sheets over Foss, making sure to cover his toes and tuck the cloth around him without disturbing his slumber. I laid down next to him and patted the spot of fur on my other side. “Come on.”
Jens was always beautiful, but clean and shirtless, he was a sight to behold, even as tired as I was. “Baby?” he whispered as he slid in next to me and pulled me to him, facing me and taking full advantage of the fact that very little material separated us. He kissed my lips once before he spoke. “I saw you kiss Foss outside.”
I stiffened, my eyes flying open. Suddenly, I was fully awake and ready to go for a run – a very long run away from this conversation. “I… um… yep. I did. It didn’t mean what you’re thinking, though. It wasn’t a romantic kiss.”
Jens shushed me, which normally I’d take issue with, but this time I let him take the lead. “I know. I saw it. Looked more like kissing your dad than what we do.” He kissed my scrunched nose. “You told me we weren’t together, and I get it. I just didn’t want you to think you had to hide anything from me.” His long arm stretched down and cupped my calf. Then he took his sweet time dragging his hand up the back of my thigh, his thumb dancing on the edge of danger. “I only want to be with you, though, so I guess I’ll just have to be patient.” Goose bumps ripped up and down the length of my legs, and I shivered. Jens smiled lazily, fully aware that I was his plaything, and he was a very naughty boy. “Do you want to be with Foss?”
I was acutely aware that the subject of our little hushed conversation was right next to me. I could feel the heat from Foss’s body warming my back. It felt dangerous and wrong in so many ways. “Of course not. We’ve just… we’ve been through a lot. Neither of us feels that way. We’re trying to figure out how to be civil to each other.” I closed my eyes, the guilt I’d suppressed tearing at my insides. “It didn’t feel wrong because it felt like friendship. Like, our version of it. Is that completely mental?”
“Not mental. Not normal, either. But that’s Foss. You’re good for him. And surprise of surprises, he’s letting you be good to him. If it was anyone but you, I’d be happy for the guy.”
“We’re just friends, and sometimes barely that. I know it sounds weird, but I’m his wife. I kinda feel responsible for him.”
“I know. You’ve got that mothering thing in you.” He kissed my lips, hitched his leg around mine and rolled me atop him so he could tease both my thighs. “Do you want Foss?”
“Of course not,” I breathed between his
lips. The firelight lit his tanned skin in luscious ways, the glow bouncing off his perfectly toned body. “I only want you.”
He kissed a line down my throat, and my entire body felt like a powder keg teetering on the edge of an explosion. My back arched involuntarily, and before I knew it we were rolling around in front of the fireplace, a mess of arms and bare legs. We panted and gasped as the stakes were raised, the heat of the fire lighting our bodies in all the right and wrong places.
When Jens kissed me, I felt alive, like life was possible and worth making a grab at. I mashed my lips to his, letting loose a tiny squeal when he was not so gentle with me. My legs locked around his as we rolled off the rug, tangled and seeking each other at new angles while still trying to keep things quiet.
I noticed Foss stirring out of the corner of my eye, and the air in my sails began to dissipate. “Shh,” I scolded Jens as he lifted my skirt to an indecent height. I rolled off of him, giving him space to deflate as he stared up at the ceiling, trying to catch his breath.
Foss rolled onto his side, muttering with his eyes closed. “Go make babies somewhere else. I’m tired.” He scratched his cheek. “And Jens, you’re acting like a child. Of course Lucy’s still yours.”
I covered my mouth to stifle my giddiness. “Sorry. Go back to sleep.” I adjusted my gown so it was more appropriate and laid down in between the men, smiling as Jens situated himself.
After a few more goodnight kisses, I fell asleep sandwiched between the two warm bodies. One day, I would look back on this journey and the oddity of this sensation would dawn on me. That night, however, I could feel nothing but safe, and that blessing was a rare commodity.
Twenty-Two.
Just an Accident
“I lower my guard for one second, and you let this happen?” Foss roared in the cramped space of the bedroom. “Where’s Alrik? He’ll answer for this, that’s a sure thing.”
“Mace and Uncle Rick are hunting for food. They’ll be back,” I informed him, trying to keep a cool tone to calm the situation.
Poor Harold sat on the bedside, his head hanging as he readied to receive the beating I promised him would not come again under my watch.
Jens waved Foss’s anger off like the man was an annoying pet. “Give it a rest. Nothing happened. Harold’s still here. No one was attacked. We covered all our bases.”
I’d explained Harold’s muteness and that everyone needed to back off, but Foss was in a state. Letting his guard so thoroughly down last night had serious repercussions. Every time I spoke, I could feel his anger boiling. I had cared for him. I had bathed him. He’d kissed me. He’d thanked me and been kind. It was a situation he would make me pay for, I was certain.
“You! I expect this from her, but you?” Foss growled at Jens, his nostrils flaring.
Jens rolled his eyes. “Unclench, Foss. You’re just pissed because we did something without talking to you first. She breathed without your permission, too. Yikes.”
Foss lunged at Jens, and I screamed. “You two are obnoxious! Knock it off!” It was tight quarters for the alpha dogs to wrestle in. As soon as they reached the doorway, I pushed Foss out the door and slammed it shut behind them. I ran to Harold and knelt in front of him. “Is your voice back yet?”
He was able to eke out a whisper. “Yes.”
I held his hands and begged him with probably too much passion. “Please tell me something I can take back to Foss. He’s not going to calm down unless I can prove to him it was a good idea to spare you.” Harold nodded, and I squeezed his fingers. “Good! Now tell me how Pesta’s tracking us. Tell me why. Tell me everything, quick!”
“She’s hunting you so she can finish the portal on the Other Side. It’s almost done. She’s just missing a little more bone. The structure isn’t useable yet. She needs your bones.” He paused to cough. “She’s keeping tabs on Alrik because he’s an elf, and they leave traces of magic that can be tracked. She thinks some of his magic is in you, so she’s following scents of that around, sending Weres when she gets a whiff of his magic in the air.”
“B-But I’m not magic! I’m one hundred percent human. Alrik’s not even my real uncle! We’re not actually connected.” Then I inhaled sharply when I recalled that, thanks to Alrik’s arv, I now was his blood relation.
“It’s you, Alrik and the Huldra boy she tracking, though she doesn’t really care about the boy’s bones. She wants your bones, and she’s going past her territory to get them. She’s got the other animals she’s not supposed to be able to control, too.” His face was morose as he spoke, begging for clemency. “When I crossed over into Be, she told me I could keep my arm and still stay with her in paradise if she could use my body for just a little while. She kissed me, and I felt something cold – part of her – slide down inside me through my mouth.” He shook his head. “I didn’t know! I didn’t think she’d make me do all the things I did!”
Foss came charging back into the room, and I sprang to life. “No!” I threw my body onto Harold, wishing with everything in me that it would deter an attack. Foss ripped me off Harold and launched me hard against the wall, knocking my head to the wood.
I always thought “seeing stars” was just an expression, but I had to blink away the small bursts of light that accompanied Foss’s temper. He bent over me, always surprised and confused at my smaller stature, and was shouting something with grave concern in my face.
I heard Jamie cry out, and Jens ran into the small room and leaped atop Foss, punching and kicking until the two were a tangle of masculine nonsense on the floor. I stood on unsteady legs as the room shifted. Harold caught me and pulled me across the bed, steering me to the doorway so I didn’t get hurt anymore. The room shifted unnaturally, like I was instantly drunk.
“I’m sorry!” I clung to Harold, who nursed the left side of his body as he led me out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. “I thought I could protect you from him. I promised I’d keep you safe. I’ll figure out how to settle him down. I’m so sorry, Harold. Are you alright?”
Harold nodded, fingering my face and showing me a trickle of blood that stemmed from my hairline. I’m not sure if it was the head wound, the sight of blood or just plain bad luck, but gravity pulled at my body like a vacuum trying to suck me into the center of the earth. Harold caught me and lowered me to the chair at the kitchen table just as Jamie stumbled out of his room with Britta.
“Did-ja do this to her?” Jamie roared, his speech beginning to slur.
Harold shook his head, but Jamie wasn’t looking for an answer. He took a swing at Harold, but his aim was so impaired, the momentum knocked him off-balance. Britta placed her hand on Jamie’s back, and I could feel the irritation flaring up in him at being babied.
“Jamie, stop!” I cried. I was so dizzy. I swooned off the chair, heading straight for the floor. Harold caught me and righted me at great personal sacrifice to his own injuries. We were a sorry state, the whole lot of us. Britta was the only one with her wits about her, but she had no idea who was in the wrong or how to be helpful.
Vomit churned in my gut, and try as I might to steady myself, I knew it was no use. “Outside,” I begged Harold, who was surprisingly the only one apprised of the situation. I began heaving and only just made it out the door as the bile retched out of me. Jamie crawled to my side and puked up his dinner.
I was cold as the morning rain pelted down on me, my white dressing gown soaking through in half a minute. Harold looked down on us, putting together that we were laplanded, and now there were two pathetic messes to look after. “Run, Harold,” I coughed out as my stomach slowed its purging. “I can’t keep you safe. Who am I kidding?” I wiped my mouth. “I can’t even keep myself safe! Run.”
He looked on me with pity and pushed out in a rasp, “Where would I go?”
“Anywhere. It’s a fresh start. Pesta can’t control you, now that the foreign soul’s out of your body. Go now! Foss is… just go!”
Harold debated this, looking around for wh
at I assume would be an escape route, but his eyes landed on me and he shook his head. “No. I can’t leave you like this.”
I sat up and sagged against the house, watching in fear as Jamie collapsed in the mud. “It’s too late for me. I’m in it, and I’ll never get out. Run, Harold! Please!”
Harold smoothed the hair from my face and kissed my forehead. “Thank you, Guldy. Move quick to keep ahead of Pesta. She knows you’re headed for Elvage. The Mouthpiece is waiting for you there.”
Then Harold stood, gave me an unfathomable look and turned from me. He limped off down the hill, aiming toward the neighboring village. As I watched him go, a small amount of my anxiety decreased. It was too late for me, but Harold had a chance at a new life. He would escape and start over.
When a large hand I would know anywhere grabbed my shoulder, I screamed and burst into tears. Given the circumstances, I don’t think that was an overreaction.
“Get in out of the rain,” Foss scolded me as if I was being annoying on purpose.
“Don’t touch me!” I shouted.
“Calm down. It was an accident. Let me see.”
“Jens!” I yelled, my own volume making my head swim. “Jens!”
Foss helped Jamie up and lifted me out of the mud, carrying me into the house. I struggled against him, and Britta shockingly came to my aid. She punched Foss square across the face. His head snapped to the side, and when it rounded on her, it was with the disposition of a bull seconds before the charge.
Jens emerged from the bathroom, sporting a fresh shiner. “What the… I know you don’t need to be told again! Leave her alone!”
Foss glared at the siblings. “It was an accident, I already said! I’m trying to make it right, so back off!”
“Put her down!”
The two mules yelled their frustrations at each other until the noise and chaos started giving me a migraine. I fought against Foss until he set me down. Then I pushed my way past Jens to the bathroom in my tipsy state. I was so tired. My skin felt thin and my bones, breakable. I turned on the spigot for the rainwater and filled the tub halfway. It seemed I could not escape the mud. I peeled off the ruined gown and stepped with leaden feet into the steel basin, slipping twice, but luckily catching myself before I fell.
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