Tears of Life

by Shea Balik

  “You need to land on that road,” she told him. “Get us as close to that light as possible.” As if what she’d said was the most normal thing in the world, Tess climbed back down, went to her seat and buckled herself back in.

  For several long minutes the entire plane was silent as the pilot looked back out the front window in the direction of the white light, then to the copilot’s seat Tess had just vacated. Then he turned slightly in his seat to look back at them, or maybe it was Tess he was looking at.

  Not that it mattered. All that concerned Oluf was the pilot saying, “I can’t land there.”

  There was no room in his voice for negotiating, just a flat no. Oluf felt his chest rumble as a growl burst from his mouth. Eirik placed a hand on his shoulder and said, “Let me handle this.”

  Oluf wasn’t sure he was going to be able to sit there and wait when he was literally prepared to jump from the plane. It wasn’t like he would die. Although, he would get hurt. Probably seriously, and that would mean not getting to Mingus in time to protect him.

  Plus, even though he would do whatever it took to stop the Fae from killing Mingus, Oluf knew, the only ones who could truly help when it came to the Seelie, were the other druids. Their magic would be necessary, as well as them completing the ritual to close any hole the Fae created.

  With his fingers gripping the armrests on either side him, Oluf forced himself to stay in his seat as he watched Eirik speak with the pilot. If he had to, Oluf would rip the guy right out of that damn chair and land the plane himself. It would be bumpy but he’d get them down there so they could help Mingus.

  “Look, I get that it’s unorthodox…” Eirik started.

  “No,” The pilot said. “It’s illegal. I could have my license revoked.”

  “So, pretend you’re having engine trouble,” Eirik told him. “Put out a distress call and tell them you have no choice but to land wherever you can find.”

  The pilot was already shaking his head. Thankfully, Eirik wasn’t above being persuasive. Eirik pointed to that light the pilot had been panicked about. “Do you see that?”

  The pilot’s eyes widened dramatically as he glanced in that direction. “What is that?” he asked in a shaky voice.

  “That is hell that’s about to be unleashed on earth unless you get us in there in time to stop it.” Then Eirik gestured back to the rest of his friends. “We aren’t ready to die any more than you are, but I’m telling you now, if you don’t land where Tess told you, the most horrifying demons you can imagine will descend on us.”

  He gave the pilot a moment to digest what he’d said before Eirik added, “And they will be coming for us. Since you’re the one flying us, that means you will also die.”

  The pilot was seriously shaking as he nodded his head. “Okay. But if I get into trouble…”

  Eirik didn’t let him finish. “We’ll take all the blame. If you need us to, we’ll even tell them we held this sword at your throat.”

  The pilot gulped when Eirik did, in fact, hold his sword to the man’s neck. Then he left a small nick, just big enough to bleed, but not enough to scar.

  The pilot gasped, but Eirik grinned at him before putting the weapon back in its sheath over his shoulder. “Just in case, you need to show them proof,” Eirik told him, before walking back to his seat. “Buckle up boys and girls, we’re going to land.”

  Sweat beaded along the pilot’s forehead before he turned back to face forward. The shirt at his neck was soaked with perspiration as he started calling out a ‘mayday’ over the radio. If nothing else, the pilot was convincing that they were having engine problems and he would be forced to land on the road.

  Minutes later, Oluf felt the bump of the tires hitting asphalt. The pilot shouted back to them, “I could see a driveway coming from the direction of that light. I’m going to put you right in front of it.”

  As they slowed, the adults already were unbuckled and gathering their weapons. The moment they rolled to a stop, kids were taken out of booster seats and carried to the steps of the plane.

  Thankfully, they only had three that were five or under. Tess, obviously, who was Wylie’s niece. Bryce, who was also five, was Cullen’s nephew. Lastly, there was little Gillie, who was only three but was the most fearless person Oluf had ever met. He was Teagan’s nephew.

  Ryley’s sister was also with them, who had recently turned seventeen. Then there was Cullen’s sister, Nessa, who was fourteen, as well as his cousin who was about to turn twenty-one.

  They were the most vulnerable of their group, for they weren’t immortal. Then again, so were Mingus and his parents, assuming they were still alive.

  Racing ahead of the others, Oluf put on extra speed as he raced down the tree-lined driveway. He didn’t speak to anyone, or help with the kids. Oluf had one job, to get to the man fate had designed for him and keep him safe. The others would worry about the kids. Of that Oluf had no doubt.

  “Hurry,” Tess yelled. To whom, Oluf wasn’t sure, but he did manage to find a little more speed within him. “They need help with the ritual.”

  He heard tires squeal up ahead. Afraid someone would come barreling down the driveway in an attempt to get the hell away from what was about to come out of the sky, Oluf screamed over his shoulder, “Car.”

  He kept to the edge of the hard surface, but just as he rounded a slight bend, he saw skid marks blacken the already dark asphalt. He looked up to see the back end of a truck barreling back toward the house.

  Whoever thought to try and get away obviously realized the futility of that decision. “Smart,” he breathed out as he continued to follow the driveway.

  If Tess was right about it being the Seelie, there was no surviving when they crossed the Veil. The only option was to close it. At least someone had realized it. Now, he just had to hope it wasn’t too late.

  He rounded the last bend, and there maybe two hundred yards away, was that truck. Close to it, were three people standing before a small fire that was getting bigger every minute. But it was the sight no more than fifty feet from where the three were gathered that nearly stopped Oluf’s heart.

  “Holy fucking shit sticks,” Wylie cried out as he and the other druids sailed past Oluf.

  “Cheaters,” he mumbled when he saw Wylie was using his magic to basically ‘fly’ them to where the three people stood.

  Not that it mattered. For standing on the other side of the Veil were… Oluf shook his head. It had to be close to five hundred Seelie standing there at the ready to come across.

  Leading them was the man they now knew as Omri. Tess’s Seelie father and member of the Royal Court.

  They were well and truly fucked if they didn’t seal that damn Veil before they could come across. Killing any Seelie was nearly impossible, but killing someone from the Royal Court? It had never been done, at least not in the human world.

  CHAPTER 3

  Energy started to swirl all around them. It was causing the hairs along Mingus’s arms to stand on end. He had no idea why it was happening, but he was fairly sure it meant the Seelie were about to step through that Veil.

  He was sure his parents must have also felt it when they joined together to start the words to the ritual.

  “We call upon Mother Earth, who has blessed this…”

  They hadn’t talked about which ritual to do, but they must have somehow felt since they were close to Lughnasadh, that would be what they’d use. Mingus could only hope it worked.

  “…land for our use. We welcome her bounty…”

  Then other voices started to mix with theirs, startling Mingus. He turned to find six men, who he hadn’t seen since the last time they’d all met camping when he was still fifteen years old.

  “What…?” he started to say when a screech drowned out their voices. His gaze went to the opening to find one man standing on the other side, yelling in their direction.

  Fear raced down his spine as electricity poured from the man’s fingers and into the fibers of the V
eil, burning them to make the gap even wider. Dread sank deep within his body. They were out of time, Mingus just knew they would never finish before the Seelie came for them.

  “We beseech Mother Earth to bring us hope and prosperity from the bounty she has given us. Let it nourish us as we bind the fibers that keep us safe from those that seek us harm.”

  “They’re coming,” a man’s voice yelled from somewhere between them and the Veil.

  Confused and… well, if he was completely honest, intrigued by the deep sound of the man’s voice as it tugged at something deep inside of him, Mingus turned to look his way. He didn’t falter as he kept reciting the lines he’d learned since he was old enough to speak. That is, until he saw the man.

  Tall, with bulging muscles that were on display as he had no official shirt on. He was somewhat covered with two leather straps crisscrossing his back. Since the man was brandishing two swords like he was some sort of ancient warrior, Mingus guessed the leather was to hold them in some capacity when he wasn’t using them.

  Skintight pants that hugged every damn curve of his ass, thighs, and calves like a glove, moved with him as the Seelie that had come through the Veil came close enough for him to fight. Not that it did any good.

  A nudge brought him out of his trance and Mingus’s voice spoke without even having to think about it, falling right in line with the others. “For the fruits of our labors will strengthen the bond, enforcing each thread as they twine together to repair the damage done.”

  “Don’t let them get through,” the man’s voice bellowed, tugging at Mingus to take another peek. But he held firm. He had to, or they would all die.

  But then he peeked. Not at the man, okay, so maybe a little, but he also looked at the number of Seelie that were now in the human world. There had to be several dozen. No way would they stand a chance against even that small number.

  Seeing the stranger that must have come with Mingus’s old friends, in action twice now, it was obvious he was a great fighter, but he was still losing. Each swipe of the deadly blade he held, might strike the skin of the Seelie, but their wounds healed as swiftly as the edge of the sword left their bodies.

  The man, as well as several other men, who appeared just as strong and capable as the one who seemed to steal Mingus’s ability to think straight, didn’t recover as quickly. They pushed through any injuries they sustained, but their bodies were still cut, still bleeding, still wounded.

  Sooner or later, that would slow them down.

  “Heed our command to…”

  Pain lanced through Mingus’s back. He tried to cry out, but it was as if his voice no longer worked.

  “No,” he heard the stranger’s voice scream.

  But as much as Mingus wanted to turn to the man, he couldn’t find the strength as a chill seeped into his body, invading every cell as his sight started to darken around the edges. Before he could even try to take a breath, not even the flames of the fire were able to penetrate the darkness that quickly enveloped him.

  He had the sensation of falling, but when he tried to reach his hands out to take the impact instead of face planting into the ground, Mingus couldn’t get any part of his body to work.

  Just as his brain went fuzzy, a thought finally reached him. He’d been hurt. The Seelie had gotten to him. He was going to die. Worse, Mingus was going to die a virgin. He really should have accepted the offer from Griffin Breck when he was sixteen.

  If only Griffin hadn’t of been one of those selfish assholes who didn’t give a shit about anyone but himself, even in bed. It hadn’t helped that he’d wanted to fuck Mingus up against the side of the school one night after a pep rally.

  Maybe he was lucky to not have said yes. Too bad he’d never know what it felt like to have a man’s arms around him.

  Then, as if God had decided to grant him his wish, strong arms lifted him into the air and that voice floated all around him. “I’ve got you, Mingus.”

  Talk about a perfect way to die.

  “Shut the hell up.”

  Mingus’s brain struggled to push the heavy fog that enveloped it out of the way as he heard the most heavenly sound. Did he die? Was that warrior he couldn’t stop staring at really an avenging angel and had taken him to heaven?

  Nothing else made sense as to why the man would be there with him. Yeah, even in his current befuddled state, Mingus understood that wasn’t the most logical explanation, but he could dream, right?

  Especially as the more he managed to force himself awake, the more pain was starting to flow through his body. And the bickering around him wasn’t helping.

  “I’m just saying, when Mingus wakes up, he’s going to want food,” a voice said that sounded similar to one from his past. However, it had been too long and Mingus’s mind was still too fuzzy to place it.

  “And what could be better than having the man he’s destined to love make that food for him?” That was another voice from the past, but having just heard it when Wylie stood right next to him at the ritual, Mingus recognized it.

  Wait!

  Did he just say, ‘destined to love’?

  “Yeah,” another voice chimed in that didn’t sound remotely familiar. “Cooking is kind of your thing. Don’t you think Mingus might have his feelings hurt to know the man who is supposed to love him above all others didn’t even bother to cook for him?”

  Love above all others? What was going on?

  “Stop,” that deep rumbly voice ordered. “I’m not cooking for you. There is a kitchen downstairs that Elsie said you were more than welcome to use, so I suggest you use it yourselves.”

  Mom? At least if the man was talking about his mother’s kitchen, it meant they were still at home. Now, he just needed to figure out why all his friends from the druid families that they used to get together with every year were there.

  More importantly, who was the man with the voice that sent little shivers of pleasure through him each time he heard it? If only he could open his eyes to find out, but Mingus was finding it an impossible task.

  Then again, that could be because he struggling to even stay awake.

  “Arne, stop.” The sound seemed to explode from the stranger with the amazing voice, startling Mingus into waking up.

  When had he fallen asleep again? Mingus had done everything in his power to stay alert earlier just so he could hear that magically deep voice that had a way of soothing him. It even had helped some of his pain ease, which, at the moment, he could use a lot of, as it felt like his body had been placed into a fire.

  No. It was so much worse than that. More like hot lava had been injected into his veins.

  “But we tried making our own food,” the man who the stranger had called Arne, whined. “Bjorn burned a pot of water. Water,” Arne exclaimed. “I’m still not even sure how that could happen, yet the fire alarm going off assured us all that’s exactly what happened.”

  If Mingus wasn’t in so much agony, he might have laughed at Arne’s tale. That he wasn’t even close to finished, somehow helped take Mingus’s mind off the pain that flowed through every inch of his body.

  “Of course, considering how often that damn fire alarm went off, I’m surprised it hasn’t broken, especially after Ulf punched it when it started blaring when he burned the toast.” There was a soft thud of noise that Mingus thought might be a hand slapping against a thigh.

  Either his dream voice stranger was laughing really hard, or Arne was using dramatic gestures to tell his story. He was willing to go with the latter, since he didn’t hear any laughing, and Arne was definitely being dramatic.

  “I mean, Ulf charred those suckers until they were pure black with not even a hint of white underneath. I’m not even sure they could be considered bread at that point,” Arne said. “Then there was the grease fire that nearly burned the house down when Wylie, Ryley, and Eirik accidentally spilled the juices from the chicken they were cooking onto the flames of the gas stove.”

  There was deep sigh, which Min
gus just knew was from his mystery man.

  “Which, one would think someone who had the power to control fire wouldn’t have freaked out when flames shot up, but not only did Ryley scream, but he dropped the chicken right into the flames, which not only burned the fuck out of the chicken, but caused the flames to grow even bigger.”

  Mingus would give this Arne guy credit for being able to tell a story with maximum effect. The pain in his body was still there, but it was greatly decreased. Although, in part, that might have something to do with the large hand he felt holding his.

  It was strange to feel the warmth of that hand spread out through his body, actually quenching the heat that had been consuming Mingus when he first woke up.

  “The only edible food we had from that fiasco was some pasta Bjorn and Kegan finally managed to boil without setting off the fire alarm again.” There was a sigh that was so melodramatic, Mingus had to assume it had come from Arne. “But it was like eating mush. So please, please, please, come cook us something before we end up burning this house to the ground, while we starve to death.”

  “Fine,” the deep voice vibrated through the room. “Just give me a few minutes and I’ll be right down.”

  “Thank Odin for miracles,” Arne said.

  There was maybe a minute of silence before he heard the dreamy voice say, “Are you awake enough to open your eyes, because I have to be honest, I really am dying to see them.”

  More awake since listening to Arne’s funny rendition of what happened in the kitchen, Mingus managed to pry his lids open. Green eyes with flecks of gold looked down upon him.

  “Beautiful,” the man whispered. “Just as I thought they would be.”

  Mingus smiled. How could he not with that kind of compliment?

  “My name is Oluf,” the stranger said.

  Oluf.

  Mingus wasn’t sure why but when he heard it in his head, butterflies flapped around in his stomach. Not in a weird nervous way, but in an excited, happy way.