by Billi Jean
“But if I don’t? Others can find me by hearing me?”
“Hearing you? No, not hearing you unless you’re a mage?”
He snorted and released her to pace the room. Sorcha’s gaze was steady and he sensed no questions for him. He stopped across from her, facing the fireplace. Startled, he examined that knowledge. He could sense her, he realised. She watched him even now, but all he felt from her was a steady calmness. Had they bonded? He couldn’t hear her thoughts. Some couples could, he knew. But they’d not exchanged the vows. He wanted to, every fibre in his body demanded it, but he wanted to exchange the bonding words with her somewhere special, so that ten hundred years from now, she’d remember their exchange.
“Will this kill me? What is it? How did you give it to me?” The witch sounded frantic and he turned, not answering her. She sobbed then sucked in the sound. “Tell me, what is this? Why can’t I reach my powers?”
“It’s a potion. The same one I gave Sorcha. He wanted her harmless, now you can tell him she is. The plan has changed. I want more than the pendant. I want him to use the pendant to open the door to the past. Then, and only then will I hand over the witch.”
Blue eyes wide, the young witch shook her head more scared now than before. Why? Had Zith warned her not to fail? Or was the pendant useless?
“Aye, call him when you break free, tell him that I will meet him at Braeriach on the full moon. Not a day sooner, not a day later. Midnight on the full moon. Have him be there, alone and with the pendant, or the exchange is off and the witch will be back under her protections, her powers fully functional.”
The witch’s expression turned uneasy then abruptly hopeful. “So this potion is reversible?”
“Aye, if you survive without the antidote. He has the antidote. I suggest you call him quickly.” He turned his back on the witch and went to where Sorcha sat, pulling her to her feet and pushing her ahead of him out the cabin door. She went docilely with enough of a downward cast to fool everyone but him. He reached the doorway after her, and pulled the mirror from the outside compartment of his pack. He tossed it at the young witch’s feet.
“But, wait, wait, how will I get loose?”
He turned back and looked her over. “Work at it, I’m sure you will manage before the need for the antidote burns through you.”
With that, he headed off, loping to catch Sorcha and pull her into his arms for a kiss as soon as he’d got the gag off her.
She smiled and kissed him back. “This might work,” she breathed against his lips. He untied her hands, pressing for a deeper kiss as he worked at the ropes. As soon as he had her hands free, she hugged him tight, making his heart—and other parts of his anatomy—swell.
She’s right. This might work, it just might actually work. Three days, three days with Sorcha, alone and all his, then he might gain the vengeance he’d sought all his life. What better way to start my new life?
“Come, I want you, but not until we reach the next resting spot.”
“Oh?”
The way she’d said that made his body twitch, eager to hear her make other, lustier sounds.
“Aye, come, if you hurry I might show you a new way to tease me.”
He watched her smile grow with one of his own.
“So, another resting spot, huh?”
The melody of her voice soothed him. “I planned out several,” he told her, letting her go so she could walk beside him up the steep slope.
“In case he did these things?” she asked after a few minutes.
“Aye, one can never put all their eggs in one basket, eh, witch?”
She laughed merrily and slipped her hand in his.
Three days he had her to himself. Could life work out so easily, he worried, then tossed the concern aside and threaded their fingers together, satisfied to have her this close, this willing to touch him, and be his.
* * * *
Sorcha struggled up the steep incline and made it to the narrow ledge with help from Alex. A snowstorm had started up around midday and blew through the mountain pass, making their travel slow, but Alex had assured her they were close to the next stopping point.
“Here, put these on,” Alex yelled over the wind blowing through the pass and hitting them with icy darts.
She pulled the extra gloves on and squinted through the storm at him. The man was prepared, she’d give him that. He’d packed white fleece lined jackets, built to keep them warm, and by the colouring, hidden. He watched her above the white facemask looking more worried than she’d ever seen him.
“I’m fine. I was born in this valley,” she said, pulling him closer to speak into his ear. “Stop worrying over me.”
He squeezed her shoulder and motioned with his gloved hand to the left. She looked and saw beneath them the rough landscape already covered in a layer of white. The mountain passes above them were dangerous, full of unsteady snow and ice—easily as deadly as any trap Zith might lay for them. More so, she thought with an inner growl.
“We need to move. I want you out of this then we decide if we tackle Braeriach tomorrow, or hope the storm passes and the sun melts some of this snow, before we need to move again.”
“That’s your plan?” she yelled, hoping he’d hear her over the wind. He wanted to scale Braeriach on foot? “No trucks? Snowmobiles?”
Alex pulled his facemask down then hers and kissed her. “Don’t start doubting me now.”
Like this is the first time? “This is the age of motorised transportation.”
He grinned. “And he’d expect that, eh? Come, you’ve rested enough.”
The brat. She hadn’t needed a break—she broke off mid-rant and swatted his big manly chest. His grin turned to a laugh. He tugged her close and kissed her again, warming her to her toes then released her with a light possessive smack to her butt.
“Get moving. I’ll follow. Choose your steps carefully. We head for that pass,” he pointed to the side of the edge they would walk. “And down that first ravine. There is an ancient halfway house there. That’s where we head. Hour more, two tops.”
She nodded and pulled her facemask back up, already heading up the slope. The snow wasn’t deep yet and none had survived the summer to leave behind an ice shelf. In the past, she’d learnt to test her footing before walking on new snowfall in case the top layer hid the crystallised depths from the year before. If it had, it could break under footsteps creating holes in the top that could start an avalanche.
Here, with the first of the storm, they were relatively safe, but farther up the mountains may have more and that could have been there for longer—and be much less safe. She trusted Alex, but worried that the weather and the unpredictability of it there in the highlands would be one factor he hadn’t considered.
As far as Zith living here, it made sense to her. No one ventured so high up, not in the winter months. Local conservation laws protected most of these lands, and those that weren’t had their own type of defences—this storm being one of them.
Alex squeezed her shoulder again and she halted, turning to see him pointing ahead of them down the path. She turned and spotted a wolf, the grey and light browns of its fur clear against the backdrop of white.
“Markee.”
She shot Alex a surprised look, but he merely narrowed his eyes and nodded for her to keep moving. Markee shifted into his wolf—not just the power of his wolf like Alex had for me—but to his wolf form? Alrick had forbidden such things centuries before to safeguard the pack, but she’d always wondered at such a ruling. The wolf within the Lykae was part of who they were.
Markee loped towards them, unhindered by the steep, slippery slope. When he grew closer, his wolf form shimmered until she had to squint her eyes at the brightness. Seconds later, Markee stood there in his winter gear. She turned to Alex, but he moved forward, grasping Markee’s forearm and grinned.
“You were quicker than I thought.”
“Aye, well, I thought I’d best make sure no beasties ate yo
ur supplies.”
“And?”
“Nay, not too much anyway. I started a fire too.” He glanced behind him then back at them. “Can’t see the smoke. It’s a perfect location.” He eyed her cautiously, but when she dropped her mask and smiled at him, he heaved a huge sigh of relief. “Damn, I didn’t want to be involved in this,” he said.
She laughed and leaned into Alex. She bet he didn’t. “Well, too late now. What else has Alex planned for us?”
Alex circled an arm around her waist. “None for us, more for Zith. Let’s get out of this storm. Where is Agni?” Alex demanded.
There had been some bite in that question, but not as much as she’d expected. The question itself startled her.
“He’s on call,” Markee said.
She was about to ask what that meant, but Markee headed up the trail, leaving footsteps in the snow for her to follow.
“What does that mean?” she asked Alex.
“Later, once we’re inside,” Alex urged her on and she trudged after Markee. What was Alex up to? Why not simply tell her? She guessed it was dangerous and if Agni were involved now, more so. The demon had an odd sense of humour and his skill at retaliation was legendary. If he thought to harm Alex… She stumbled over a rock and Alex caught her arm, steadying her.
“Careful.”
The slope on her left was steep, cutting sharply down the mountain. A slip and she’d be in trouble. No matter how pretty the landscape looked, a fall wouldn’t be soft and cushioning. She nodded and followed Markee’s broad back, more than ready to get out of the cold and hear what Alex had planned. She had questions for him too, like what gate did he think a pendant would open? And why would he want to open a gate to the past?
Focused on what Alex had said, she didn’t sense the danger swirling up from the ground until it caught her foot and dragged her downward, right off the side of the mountain. Snow flew in her face, up the back of her jacket, instantly chilling her spine. She twisted to her stomach, trying to grab onto anything on her way down, a rock, a boulder—anything, but found nothing to stop her fall. Nothing held her either, at least not that she could see. But around her leg, she felt fire gripping her ankle, painfully.
Above her, she sensed Alex and she feared he might be under attack, too. Seconds flew by until with a painful jolt, she hit a tree with her elbow. She ignored the sharp pain and twisted, kicking with her other foot to dislodge the grip. She hit something with her foot and the hold loosened, then tightened. Another tree whizzed closer, but this time she was ready for it. When it grew close, she reached out, grabbed onto it and held on. Her leg felt like it might get ripped off by the sudden weight pulling her downwards, but she hugged the tree tighter and kicked and abruptly she was free.
She scrambled on all fours around to the other side of the tree barely holding back the scream building in her throat at the idea that whatever had grabbed her was right behind her again. Without her power, she couldn’t do much, but she could feel the uneasiness of the earth under her body at whatever had attacked her. Fear pumped enough adrenaline through her that she felt like her heart might explode.
The weather had cleared, at least for the moment, enough for her to see that there had been more snowfall down here than on top of the mountain. She was in the ravine Alex had pointed out, but at the bottom now, not up top.
Down the slope from her, she saw movement not on the snow, but under the whiteness. She patted the ground, frantically searching for a weapon while keeping her eyes on the burrowing clump of white. Her fingers found something and she pulled at it. A branch. It would have to do. She tucked it in her jacket, stood then climbed the tree, not sure she wanted her feet hanging down for whatever it was to grab, but absolutely certain she didn’t want to be on the ground with it either.
From above her, she heard a shout, maybe her name, maybe not, but she could tell it was Alex. He lived. So whatever was after her wasn’t after him as well.
“Stay back! I’m fine!” she warned.
The ground suddenly surged upwards ten feet. She climbed higher and pulled her branch free, holding it as her only defence. Laughable, but that was life. She perched on a limb, stranded in a tree like a child, while something swirled and slowly took the shape of a monster complete with glowing icy blue eyes and sharp, white teeth.
Holy Danu. What was it? She almost dropped the tree branch, but she tightened her fingers, determined not to let this—some Abominable Snowman—be her end.
When it howled at her and swept closer, she took hold of her stick with both hands and swung at it with all her might. Except, when she did, she didn’t factor in that the swirling whiteness would merely let her break right through without any resistance.
She tried to keep her balance but her momentum tumbled her forward off her perch and she landed painfully at the thing’s feet. The air rushed from her lungs and she barely rolled out of the way, as it made a grab for her. Its massive paw solidified into ice—and the reason for her burning ankle became clear. It hadn’t been fire around her leg, it had been freezing ice.
She dodged away from it. The thing roared, flinging a blast of cold and wind straight from its centre right at her. This was no beast controlled by a mage. This was something else altogether. She scurried out from under its gigantic feet, hearing Alex’s call growing closer.
“Stay back! Stay back!” she shouted, but over the wind blasting her from the snowy creature, she didn’t know if he heard her or not. Faster than she could follow with her eyes, the creature spun and toppled her to her back. It grabbed her around the ankle again and dived downwards, right into the ground, dragging her with it. She spotted Alex for one brief second before whiteness covered her face, blocking him and the mountainside from her view.
She fought as best she could, kicking and jerking her foot, trying to free herself, but icy cold settled over her, feeling as if it was freezing her solid. The creature ignored her. It tunnelled deep, too deep for the few inches of snow layering the ground, and the farther down it went the heavier her limbs became.
Abruptly she remembered Gwyneth. She ripped her gloves off with her teeth and patted her pockets, battling the monster with only half her attention as she searched through the layers of clothing to reach her jeans, not sure where she’d put the talisman. The cool metal met her fingers and she tightened her fist around it and prayed the Fay could hear her.
“Gwyneth, I have need of you!”
Nothing happened. Not a horn call. Not a whisper of their song. Nothing.
Blackness replaced the white surrounding her and she felt the monster roar, burying her under what felt like tons of snow.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Call Agni!” Alex roared, watching the spot where Sorcha’s face had disappeared. He launched himself off the side of the mountain and landed next to where he’d seen her. Immediately he heard Markee’s soft landing next to him. He ignored Markee and started digging. “What was that?”
“How the fuck should I know?” Markee yelled back.
“Call the demon, damn it!”
“I am, settle the hell down!”
He shot Markee a look when his gloves hit rocky soil through the snow. Sorcha was nowhere.
Markee’s eyes widened and he gripped a handful of his light hair. “Shit, shit, shit!”
“Yo, what the hell are you two doing?”
Alex jumped to his feet and dragged Agni closer by his jacket. The demon’s nostrils flared in anger, but he froze when Markee put a hand between them.
“Look, Sorcha just got taken by the Abominable Snowman, so cut him some slack, right? Alex, drop the grip we need him,” Markee growled.
Agni’s eyes narrowed, but Alex dropped his hand, not backing down. “She’s mine, just remember that. Now, where the hell is she?”
“What? How am I to know that? What the—”
Agni broke off, and they all turned at the sound of horns and the sudden surge of bells on the wind. Within seconds, the Fay emerged like ma
gic from the snow-covered forest. Through the swirling white, Alex spotted Moon. Next to him, Agni jerked as if someone had hit him, but Alex ignored the demon and pointed at Markee.
“You stay right there, that’s where she was last.” As soon as Markee nodded, he raced off to meet Bethany—Moon—halfway towards her before he realised Agni was at his side.
Moon glanced at Agni with a worried frown, then focused on him. “We heard Sorcha’s call, Alex. What—?”
“You heard Sorcha’s call? That’s all the fuck you have to say?” Agni bristled at her.
Moon paused, and turned to face Agni fully. The impact of her chilly stare hit the demon as if she’d shot him with a gun. The demon staggered backwards two steps before he caught himself.
“Agni, I see you are well.”
“You see I’m well? You, damn you, you…you have been gone centuries!” The outraged recognition in his tone would have been humorous if Sorcha wasn’t even now stuck beneath the earth, swallowed by a snowstorm.
Alex turned to grab Agni by his damn jacket again. The demon’s eyes were flooding black, his features hardening in a pre-demon rage. Alex decked him in the side of the head and tackled him to the ground, hauling him up to within inches of his face. “If you get Sorcha killed because of your rage, I will make certain you suffer before you die, demon.”
Agni blinked and his irises chilled out to his normal light brown. As Alex waited until Agni’s face lost some of the sharpness. As soon as it did, Agni blinked, and shoved Alex off and stood, making a big show of brushing the snow off his pants. “Fine, whatever the fuck, you’re right. We need to find her.”
Alex pulled Moon to his side, motioning to the snow where Markee stood. “She’s disappeared over here. A—” He paused, unsure how to explain, but Gregory stepped forward. Tall, broad shouldered and dressed in the war gear of the Fay on their hunt, Gregory faced Agni, then him with a calmness that settled some of the panic riding Alex. Gregory would know what to do.
