Heir to the Underworld

by Walker, E. D.

  Abigail raised her chin. "She's my daughter. I am going with you to get her back."

  "No." Colin blocked her path to the weapons racks. "We don't even know if you still have enough sway with Cernunnos to affect anything. You will be nothing but a liability if it comes to a fight. No, Abby. You stay here if I have to knock you out to make you. Stop wasting time. If you want your daughter back, let me and the Greek get her."

  Her voice thickened, going husky and raw. "I can't just sit here waiting…wondering. I'll go insane."

  Colin cupped her cheek. "Don't make me worry about you tonight, too."

  The woman's face crumpled, her chin pinched with some strong emotion. "Damn you." She ran from the room.

  Polydegmon frowned in bemusement at the odd exchange but put it from his mind as he tried to find a place to stash another dagger. I should have worn boots.

  Colin watched the woman go. He did not move again until a door slammed somewhere in the house.

  The man turned, and Polydegmon met his gaze, studying the Hound. "Can you do this?" Polydegmon asked. "Flout Cernunnos' will? You were his right hand, second rider in the Wild Hunt, bound to him by blood-oaths." Long ago the stag-god had not gone anywhere without his trusted Hound at his back. How much must have changed since then to make Colin so eager to face off against his old master now?

  Colin adjusted the strap on his large metal shield, his brows knit together. "When Abby needed to escape the Otherworld, Cernunnos sent me with her. As guide and guard, servant and friend. 'Honor her wishes, old Hound, whatever they may be,' he told me." Colin bared his teeth in a harsh non-smile. "By these words Abby's orders subsume his own. And Abby wants her daughter back. So." The Hound tilted his head, jangling the car keys to signal it was time for their foolish--perhaps doomed--rescue attempt to begin.

  Polydegmon piled into the rusted old car, bracing his arms against the sides as Colin drove in a mad rush along narrow forest paths that no car, however compact, was ever meant to traverse. Polydegmon was certain a mundane car crash, even a very bad one, would not be able to kill him. However, he wished Colin would take a bit more care that such an eventuality not come to pass.

  The canyon came into sight, and Colin braked hard. Polydegmon's heart jerked into his throat, and he banged his arm against the dashboard, one more aching bit of bruised flesh in his menagerie of pains.

  The car skidded to a halt in the soft dirt at the lip of the canyon. Comrades now, Colin sent Polydegmon a brief look, heavy with appraisal, that seemed to say, Are you ready for this?

  Polydegmon fought to hide his cringing, cloying fear, keeping his face utterly blank instead as his gaze met the other man's. In answer to Colin's unvoiced question, Polydegmon nodded firmly, once. I will do what needs to be done. Colin seemed to believe the facade of fearlessness Polydegmon had erected because the man gave a short nod and turned away.

  Weapons clanking, Polydegmon climbed out of the car and picked his careful way down the canyon edge behind Colin, toward the bustling sounds and busy lights of the Hunt's camp. Polydegmon had loaded himself with a bow, iron-tipped arrows, and two swords--one strapped to either hip. Colin carried a large shield and a tall spear, a sword strapped to his hip as well.

  Two sentries attempted to stop Colin, but as the man stepped into the moonlight, the huntsmen fell back, cringing and wailing in broken, high-pitched horror. "The Hound."

  Colin lifted the barbed spear he had brought and banged it against his metal shield. The sound reverberated, a promising echo of things to come. "Yes, the Hound has returned. And I require an audience with our master. Will any among you stop me?"

  As one creature, the sentries shuddered and fell back, letting Colin and Polydegmon pass unchallenged. After, the path cleared of obstacles. All through the canyon, clumps of fey creatures parted to let them pass to where Cernunnos stood.

  Polydegmon hurried after Colin, refusing to contemplate how many there would be against them if negotiations went badly. His mouth went dry, but the rest of him dripped with sweat, his muscles braced for action. Cernunnos came into sight, overseeing preparations for the Hunt as he strapped on his well-worn leather armor.

  Colin sank to one knee before the stag-god.

  Cernunnos pivoted with languid grace. His teeth flashed in a delighted grin down at Colin's bowed head. "My friend. It warms my shriveled old heart to see you." He pulled Colin up, slapping him on the shoulder. "The years have stretched too long between our last meeting and this."

  Colin stared back at the stag-god, his eyes like stone. "I want my daughter back."

  Cernunnos raised an eyebrow. "I take it you mean Frederica? Impossible." He waved a dismissive hand. "You may send my regards to Ab--her mother. After tonight, I will send the girl on with my steward to the Otherworld. There she will find company more congenial. We have still one more night of the Hunt to ride here, after all, scouring out the filth and scum of the place." He looked at Polydegmon and laughed. Polydegmon's cheeks heated in outrage, he clenched his fist to his side to keep from starting the conflict too soon.

  Cernunnos snorted but when his glittering eyes fell again on Colin they warmed with affection. "My dear friend, you have faithfully served me these long years, more than discharging your ancient obligation. I release you to wander where you will and serve who you might--even yourself. Go into the world with my thanks and my blessing." He kissed Colin's forehead.

  How--how could he do that? Polydegmon gaped in stupid shock. The enormity of Cernunnos' words nearly knocked him flat. Centuries of loyal servitude, an oath of fealty sworn in blood and death--all ended with an airy wave, on little better than a whim.

  Everything fell silent. Not just silent, but as if all the noise of the world had been sucked into a vacuum, consumed utterly. Colin blinked, his face draining of color. His throat worked, and he swallowed. He gritted his teeth and managed to shake his head once. "No."

  A dangerous glint started behind Cernunnos' eyes. "No?"

  Polydegmon edged closer to them, hand on his sword hilt, ready to leap to the Hound's aid should he need it.

  "No." Colin's voice was firm. "I want my daughter back. I told you."

  Cernunnos sneered. "Your daughter?"

  "Yes, my daughter. I raised her. I love her. She is mine, and I want her sent home." Colin's hands flinched, and the Hound seemed to force out his next words. "I'll return to your service for the rest of existence if you will allow her to go back to her mother and the life she knows."

  Even as he saw the wisdom in the Hound's strategy, Polydegmon winced inwardly at the sacrifice Colin offered. And Cernunnos released this man? The more fool Cernunnos to cast his treasures away to the dirt unheeded. Polydegmon's heart ached in unfamiliar sympathy for the Hound.

  Cernunnos' arm cut through the air, silencing Colin. "Impossible. I have need of the girl."

  Polydegmon tensed, his neck prickling with unease.

  "What need?" the Hound snarled, loud enough to make Polydegmon jump in surprise.

  Cernunnos' nostrils flared in anger. "I warn you, old Hound, you are as beloved to me as any of my own blood could ever be, but I will not take much more of this insolence¾even from you."

  "Sic your dogs on me then." Colin raised his spear. "I will not leave without Freddy."

  "Dad?" The sweet girl pelted through the crowd, knocking people aside as she threw herself down the hill and into Colin's arms.

  With her dad. Where she belongs. Polydegmon hefted his weapons, glaring menace at the assembled fairies, bracing himself for some intervention from Cernunnos' people. None came.

  "Daddy." Sobs wracked Freddy's body. Polydegmon moved to stand between the two of them and Cernunnos. Let the stag try and part them.

  Colin held Freddy close. He patted her hair and squeezed her, probably much too hard. "It's all right, baby. You're fine. You'll be fine."

  The stag-god watched Colin embrace Freddy with cheerful amusement. He met Polydegmon's gaze and winked mockingly. Polydegmon clenched his jaw,
swallowing back the foul epithets for Cernunnos that sprang to his lips.

  The stag-god cleared his throat. "Hound, release Frederica and surrender yourself to the huntsmen."

  Horror dawned on Colin's face. His arms spasmed, his whole body trembled as he moved away from Freddy. He staggered three jerky steps toward the nearest set of hunters.

  "Dad?"

  The fickleness of the gods is one thing, but this--Fury exploded inside Polydegmon, and he whirled on Cernunnos. "You freed him. You released him from your service!"

  Cernunnos met Polydegmon snarl for snarl. "He declined the offer, if you will remember? The Hound is still mine to do with as I wish. And I think we have found our quarry for the Hunt tonight."

  The blood-oaths binding the Hound were still potent then. Polydegmon stared with dawning horror at the poor Hound. Colin had sworn long ago to obey Cernunnos, and now the man was powerless to resist any command the stag-god might give him, even one that would end the Hound's life.

  "No." Freddy ran at Cernunnos, her fists swung with precision and force, but the stag-god caught her all the same, then tossed her from him like trash.

  Polydegmon pulled her to him before she lost her balance and fell, offering a comfort she deserved, but he had no right any longer to give. He supported her as her knees gave out and held her close as she cried, her eyes broken shards of green glass. To see her so distraught constricted Polydegmon's heart, as if someone had grasped hard the organ inside him and squeezed.

  The huntsmen stripped Colin to his undergarments and smeared his body with sticky blue paint. One fairy sketched swirling Celtic symbols over Colin's arms, legs, chest, and face.

  "You can't do this," Freddy whispered.

  Cernunnos shrugged his massive shoulders and tightened one of the cinches on his horse's straps. "The Hound has blood-bound himself to me and must obey my commands." He tilted his head as if considering. "I believe it will amuse me to hunt him, to take his life and watch my dogs clean the bones."

  "No. No, please. Let him go."

  A tremble coursed through Freddy. Polydegmon gripped her harder and tried to radiate comfort as best he might. He found himself ill-equipped for such things, but longed, for her sake, to be better.

  "Why should I?" Cernunnos turned to regard her, a speculative grin on his face which Polydegmon did not like.

  She hesitated and worried at her lower lip with her teeth. She glanced at Polydegmon. He shook his head, but she turned from him and locked her gaze with Colin's. He too shook his head, bottled anger livid on his face. Freddy next turned her shadowed, sad eyes to scan the eager faces of the huntsmen.

  Cernunnos' rabble assembled their gear, discussing how much fun they might have with Colin before the Ol'Stag ordered the kill. Polydegmon yearned to take Freddy's chin and turn her face away. She must know what Cernunnos wanted her to say, to do. There was a choice before her, but perhaps the more she thought about it, no matter how the fairy court repulsed and frightened her, when you probed to the meat of the matter…she had no real choice at all. She wouldn't let Colin die.

  Yet Polydegmon did not wish to let her make this foolish trade, however grim her other options were.

  He held her snug and wrestled his will against hers to keep her silent. "Colin does not want this, Frederica. Not for his sake."

  She jerked her head away, like he was a gnat buzzing against her ear. Stepping past him, she evaded his hands when he would have pulled her back. Polydegmon fancied that a small part of his heart yanked itself free to trail after her. She moved to stand nose to nose with Cernunnos. "I'll take my dad's place." Her voice sounded dull and dead, nothing like the husky velvet tones that Polydegmon had become addicted to. The change tore into him as unmercifully as the dogs' teeth had ripped his flesh the night before.

  He pushed between her and Cernunnos, shouldering the stag aside. He shook her by the shoulders, hoping she could be taught sense at the last. "You cannot do this."

  "Should I let my dad be ripped apart instead?" Her fingers clawed at his hands, frantic, leaving shallow, stinging scratches behind. She would not turn her face toward his, would not look at him, and that hurt more than the sharp bite of her nails.

  He clenched his hands on her shoulders, dark defeat in his heart, regret closing his throat. "Do not do this."

  She shrugged him off and went to the Lord of the Hunt. "I'll do what you say." She raised her chin, fierce and beautiful. "Give Colin his freedom, let him and Polydegmon get safely home, and promise not to hurt any of them or my mother ever again. Promise that, and I'll do whatever you want."

  "No." The cry seemed to tear itself from Colin's throat in a strangled moan. He turned and smeared the latest blue design as he did so. The skin painter kicked Colin's shins and swore at him to stay still. Colin ignored the imp and glowered at his master instead. "She doesn't understand. She is innocent. You know that." A vein in Colin's head began to throb. The huntsmen and other fairies fell back, cringing away from his palpable wrath.

  Polydegmon stepped toward him, burning for a fight, thinking he could tear the whole filthy lot of them to bits alone.

  "Calm down," Cernunnos called to Colin. "She is mine." Walking toward Freddy, he yanked her to him and caught her by the hands. She recoiled at his touch. Cernunnos softened and bent to kiss her forehead. "I take your bargain, child." He looked back to Colin and waved away the huntsmen, who were moving to begin again their work. "I release you from my service, dear Hound. Whether you will have it or no. You are free to do and say as you please from the sun's first rise tomorrow onward…to the end of time. I will grant an hour's safe conduct from these lands." Cernunnos' eyes narrowed. "Do not waste it and dishonor the girl's sacrifice on your behalf. Besides," he turned from them and his voice wavered, "her mother will need you now."

  Polydegmon followed Freddy's progress with his gaze until she disappeared from sight. Colin closed his eyes, squinting them tight in pain and denial. He opened them again, apparently hoping to find he had not lost his daughter forever. Glancing around at the onlookers, Colin's eyes fired with rage before clouding again in defeat. He slumped, forehead pressed to the ground, legs tucked beneath him, obviously content to let the hour of safe passage dwindle away.

  Something inside Polydegmon shattered and died then, but he went to the Hound and grabbed Colin by the arm. He scooped the other man's clothes from the dirt and hurried from the clearing, coaxing and yanking Colin along. An hour, after all, was not much time, and did not allow for dawdling.

  And it would be a waste for Frederica to have given herself over to Cernunnos for nothing.

  Pine trees withered in Polydegmon's wake. The fresh spring grass shriveled and died underneath his feet. Barren. Bleak. This was something like what Demeter must have felt when Hades stole her daughter Persephone. What Polydegmon's parents had felt when Kore was taken.

  Lost. Helpless…

  Responsible.

  Polydegmon's fault. This night's work was all his fault.

  Chapter Ten

  Polydegmon pushed and cajoled Colin into the passenger side of the Honda and slid into the driver's seat himself. He hadn't driven a car in decades. The automobile's controls seemed strange now, alien. Polydegmon darted a glance Colin's way. The man didn't move, only stared ahead with hollow, unseeing eyes.

  Tense and defeated, Polydegmon flexed his fingers around the steering wheel and puffed out his breath to help calm his twitching nerves. Turning the key, the engine roared to life, loud enough he jumped in surprise. Carefully, he maneuvered the car back through the forest. No need for haste now, after all.

  Polydegmon parked in the driveway, turned off the Fitzgeralds' beat-up old car and sat there for a long while.

  He would rather have performed the twelve labors of Hercules with his teeth than go back into that house and tell Freddy's mother he and Colin had failed. Tell the woman her daughter had gone, and he possessed no way to get her back.

  But Colin remained catatonic, and if Polydegmon
left him on the doorstep or in the car, the man would stay there all night in his boxers.

  Sighing, Polydegmon muscled a pliable but unhelpful Colin out and toward the house. For the second time that night, Polydegmon knocked on the pale blue door while his insides writhed in guilt.

  Abby opened the door. He avoided her eyes, and instead he made a business of urging Colin inside and, by careful degrees, down the hall to the shower. The greasy paint and dirt of the camp still covered the man.

  "What happened?" Abby followed at his heels. "Where is she?" Her voice caught.

  "We failed." Two words, simply said and true, but they beat as a hammer against Polydegmon's body, pounding into him how deep was this failure, how profoundly this loss pained him.

  He pushed Colin, still speechless and dumb, into the shower. Polydegmon fumbled at the controls, but Abby shouldered him aside to set the water.

  "What hap--" She broke off and looked at Colin more closely. He turned away from them, his gray eyes dead and dull, his forehead pressed against the cracked tiles of his shower. Abby cast a worried glance at Polydegmon.

  In terse sentences, he put her in possession of the facts of their recent encounter with the Horned God.

  Abby's face remained blank as she listened. Then, without saying a word, she stripped to her undergarments and hopped into the shower to assist Colin. Even the simple task of washing himself seemed beyond the Hound in this moment.

  Giving Colin a quick but thorough scrub down, she then pulled him out with her and wrapped him in a towel. She guided him to his bedroom, then sorted out clothes for him and placed the garments next to Colin on the bed. After casting one last worried look at the Hound, she led Polydegmon to her bedroom. Shivering, she started to peel out of her undergarments. Polydegmon turned his back.

  He studied her room while he waited for her to dress. The place oozed overt femininity with ruffles of violet lace on the bed and gauzy curtains on the window. Knickknacks cluttered the top of every surface. Most were statues of graceful carousel animals with jewel-toned bridles edged in gold.