by Amanda Fleet
He put the sword and bag in the cupboard at the end of the kitchen, tucking them behind the ironing board. I wished I had his faith that the police could do anything at all about Aegyir, but I didn’t. He’d kill and shape-shift his way out of any detention.
My only hope was that the Realm would send some Guardians to deal with him, but there was precious little sign of that so far.
17
“You still will not leave Outside and return to The Realm?”
Lilja and I were back in the misty wasteland. I peered at her. As ever, she was dressed in dark leather trousers and a snug fitting pastel jacket, her hair loose and flowing over her shoulders.
“No. Not if Finn can’t come too. I’m not leaving him Outside.”
She sighed as if she’d known all along that this would be my reply. She probably did. She was a Seer after all – able to see the different versions of the future. I wouldn’t have left Finn in any of them.
“Aegyir is planning to trap you. If you will not return, you will have to kill him. He will not be easy to kill Outside.”
“Will you help me?”
“I am trying. I am forbidden from having contact with you. Everyone is. And anyway, I am not a Guardian.”
“Nor am I,” I retorted.
Lilja said nothing, her expression hard to read.
“Can you send the Guardians? Can’t they protect the Outside? Aren’t they supposed to deal with Guides who turn feral?”
Lilja shook her head. “The Realm is not in danger. Not yet. Outside is not in danger. Only you are in danger and the Guardians will not come to help you.”
What did she mean, the Outside was not in danger? “Aegyir is killing people! Surely the Outside is in danger from him? If he gets strong enough, The Realm will be in danger too.”
“The Guardians are not concerned yet. The Seers see no threat to the Outside and no threat to The Realm. The Guardians will not be concerned until it is too late for you.”
My head sank and my shoulders slumped. No one would help me. “Okay, so I kill Aegyir to protect Finn and myself and the Outside? Can you see that?”
Lilja turned away, her fingers plucking at the edge of her jacket, her breath shuddering as she exhaled. When she looked back, there were tears in her eyes. “I see you in battle, Aeron. I do not see you win.” She brushed a tear from her face. “Come back to The Realm? Please!”
“No. I won’t leave Finn and he can’t enter The Realm, so I stay here and fight Aegyir. What else can I do?”
I stepped back from Lilja, watching as the mist engulfed her, feeling truly alone.
I woke with a jump. What if these dreams were real? What if the things that Lilja said to me in them were true? She could see me in battle, but she didn’t see me win.
My mind slid out of the half-dream state and I woke fully, my mouth parched and my heart racing. They were only dreams. They were the way my brain processed stuff. How could they possibly be real?
I tried to get back to sleep but a single question kept rattling around my brain, keeping me awake.
If they weren’t real, how could things be appearing in our kitchen?
***
“I wonder if you could help me?”
I was on early shift again. It was coming up to half seven in the morning and I was the wrong side of a second mug of coffee. I looked up at the young woman in front of me. “I’ll try. What’s up?”
She leaned her elbows on the chest-high divider, moving in to speak softly. I assumed the tampon dispenser in the ladies’ loos needed refilling.
“I need a portal opening,” she said, flashing me a wide smile. “And you can open it for me.”
I frowned. “I’m sorry?”
“Oh, Aeron. Aeron. You heard. I need a portal opening. And you will open it for me. Invite me in.”
Her eyes flicked red, for no more than a fraction of a second. She was still smiling as if we were best friends and bouncing on her toes, long legs clad in fitness tights, her top half in a fluorescent pink t-shirt. I scanned the ground floor. Other than a couple getting a drink at the cafe, there was no one around.
“I don’t know where this portal is you keep talking about, and even if I did, I couldn’t open it,” I said, fear trickling through me.
She sighed, pursing glossy lips. “Do you love Finn? Billy said that you do. More than anything.”
I felt the blood drain from my face. “Leave Finn alone.”
“Aeron, you will open the portal for me and invite me into The Realm. Or I will kill Finn.”
“I’m not Aeron and I don’t know where this portal is.” My body flooded with adrenaline.
“I do,” said Aegyir, flipping long blonde hair over narrow shoulders.
“Whose body are you in?” I asked, hoping to distract him. “Is Rick okay?”
“Rick was very useful. Full of energy.” Aegyir shrugged. “This is just someone else I found. It is sufficient. She doesn’t need it any more.” A sneer marred his pretty face. “The portal. You will open the portal and invite me in. Or I kill Finn.”
My mouth desiccated. The young woman’s features hardened.
“He is at home at the moment, I believe,” said Aegyir. “About to come to work.”
“Leave Finn alone. This has nothing to do with him.”
I wasn’t sure it had anything to do with me either, but Finn certainly wasn’t part of it.
The woman pouted. “No.”
No, Aegyir wouldn’t leave Finn alone? Or no, it wasn’t anything to do with Finn?
“It is a simple concept. Invite me into The Realm, Aeron. Tomorrow night. Or the day after tomorrow, Finn dies.”
“I’m not Aeron. I’m Reagan Bennett.”
The woman dropped her head on to her folded arms on the raised desk. “Reagan Bennett. That is only your name. Underneath, you are Aeron.” She jutted her chin towards my bracelet. “You say you know nothing of The Realm, yet you wear a Seer charm.”
“I found it.”
The door opened behind her and Finn breezed in, grinning at me as he passed. He blipped his card at the turnstile and his gaze swivelled to the person leaning on the divider. “Hi there. You joining?”
The woman simpered. “Yes, if all the staff look like you.” She looked him up and down lasciviously.
Finn laughed, blushing, and made his way towards the staff-room. And safety.
I exhaled slowly. Aegyir turned back to me, china-blue eyes flashing red again. “I hope for your lover’s sake that your memory returns, Aeron,” he snarled, making no pretence to disguise his voice.
I took half a step back, glad of the dividing barrier between us. “If you hate this Aeron so much and you’re so sure I’m her, why haven’t you just killed me?”
The woman shook her head, blinking. “Are you as stupid as you sound? Because I need you alive to open the portal.”
Did that give me a bargaining chip? “And if I could open it. What then? Are you going to kill me then?”
“Possibly. Though I want you to suffer for what you did to me.”
I rotated the bracelet on my wrist, its bead burning bright blue. My heart raced as ideas jumbled in my brain. “Where’s the portal? How do I open it?”
“Along the track from your house. Next to the boulder. You’re a Guardian. All you need to do is invite me in. Tomorrow night. Six.”
He morphed from the pretty young woman into Finn’s mum. I gasped.
“Jesus, have you killed Alison?” My vision tunnelled.
Back in the form of the young woman, Aegyir smirked. “I could have. But I have enough strength to appear as whoever I wish. Tomorrow night, Aeron.”
I watched as the young woman swung away from the counter and out of the gym. My hands hadn’t stopped shaking by the time Finn appeared, killing time before his eight o’clock class started.
“She gone?” He leaned on the exact spot that Aegyir had.
“Yeah.”
He dipped his head, squinting at me. “You o
kay?”
“Mm. I need more sleep, that’s all,” I lied. No point both of us being panicked and he was due to take a tough cardio class any minute. I’d tell him when we had a break.
He peered at me for a moment, clearly not believing me. “Okay. Sorry, I’ve gotta run. See you later.”
How the hell was I going to stop Aegyir from killing him? I couldn’t open any portal. I wasn’t who he thought I was.
Was I?
***
“Aegyir came to the gym.”
Finn turned, pausing mid-action as he opened a can of Coke. “What?”
We were in the staff-room. Finn had just finished taking his early class and his hair was dark with damp after a shower. I’d meant to wait until we were both on a proper break before I told him, but I couldn’t keep it in me any longer. I’d left someone covering the desk and dashed up here to catch him before he saw any of his individual clients.
“When?” he said, snapping open the can with a hiss. “I haven’t seen Rick and I was keeping an eye out for him.”
“He was there when you got in. He was the pretty woman leaning on the desk.”
“What? Jaysus! Why didn’t you say something?”
“Because he’d just threatened to kill you if I didn’t open the portal to this Realm place for him. Tomorrow night.” I reached behind me to grasp the table and perched on the edge of it.
He blanched, his eyes dark with fear and a pulse throbbed at his neck. “What did you say?”
“I said that I wasn’t Aeron and that I couldn’t open the portal for him but he wasn’t having any of it. If I don’t open it, he’ll kill you on Thursday.” I stopped before my voice squeaked any more.
“We have to call the police,” he said.
I hauled in a deep breath and let it go in a rush. “And say what? That someone we can’t describe has threatened you? I have no idea who that woman was, but I think she must be dead. And Aegyir said he can shift to look like whoever he wants. If the police go after him, he’ll switch to a new body.”
Finn’s knuckles went white as he held the can. “So what do we do? Do you even know where he thinks this portal is?”
“Mm. Up the track towards the quarry. Next to a boulder. Where we run.”
He leaned back, scouring my face. “You have that look you get when you’re planning something.”
I squared my shoulders. He wasn’t going to like this. “I thought I would meet him. Take the bag of soil up there earlier and sprinkle it around and stash the sword. Then when he arrived, I would pretend to open the portal but kill him instead.”
Finn’s brows canted upwards. “I mean, apart from a whole heap of other points, like, I’m never in a month of Sundays gonna let you anywhere near this fucker, don’t you need some special daggers and a jar to put him in? And do you honestly think you can chop his head off? Not that it matters, because you’re not gonna go near that place, tomorrow night or any other time.”
Before I could reply, one of the other personal trainers breezed in to grab a glass of water from the sink next to where Finn was standing. He looked from me to Finn and back again and hurried out, slurping from the glass. I assumed he thought we were in the middle of a domestic.
I wrapped my arms around my body, hugging myself tightly. “Finn, I have to. He’s going to kill you!”
Finn screwed his nose up. “Nah. He might try, but nah.”
“Finn, he could look like anyone. You wouldn’t be able to stop him. All he needs to do is put his hand on your chest.” Tears spiked my eyes and panic began to rise in me. “What if he looked like your mum? What if he looked like me? Do you think you’d fight back? Do you think you’d hesitate, even for a second, if he looked like me and went to kiss you and put his hand on your chest?”
I could hear the hysteria in my voice but I couldn’t help it. The thought of Aegyir killing Finn, the only man I had ever loved, was more than I could cope with.
“Hey, hey,” said Finn, pulling me towards him and wrapping his arms around me. “Come on. Come here.”
“How can we be ready if we don’t know what he looks like? I have to go to the rock face by the boulder tomorrow, otherwise he’ll kill you and we’d never see him coming.” I pulled back and scraped my hands over my face. “What would you do if it was me he’d threatened? You’d go to the rock face. You’d take the soil and the sword and you’d go there and try to kill him. I have to do that! How can I not?”
He drew me towards him again, rubbing his hands over my back, tracing the wonky line of my ribs.
“He’ll kill you,” he whispered, his voice catching.
“No. He needs me alive to open this portal. He might want to kill me after I open it, but since I’m not this Aeron woman, I can’t actually open it, can I?”
“And then he might kill you because you can’t. I won’t let you go there.”
“Finn, I have to.”
I couldn’t stop the tears. He was my world and I would protect him at any cost.
There was a long silence. I knew from Finn’s breathing that he was crying, though if I moved so that I could see his face, he’d pretend he wasn’t.
“If you really, really have to go, then I’m coming with you.”
“No. You’re staying at home, where it’s safe.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
I moved back, ready to remonstrate with him, but the defiance in his face silenced me. “Rea, there’s absolutely no way that I’m gonna let you go up a secluded farm track to meet a demon, on your own. No way.”
He wasn’t going to back down and secretly, part of me was pleased he would be there to help.
“Okay. But only because I don’t think I can stop you.”
He gave me a lopsided grin and kissed me. “What kind of guy would I be if I let you go on your own?”
“A safe one.”
18
Was this the right place? A lot rested on us having found exactly where Aegyir would be. I circled on the spot, examining every stone, every blade of grass. We’d walked up the track that started at the end of our lane, hugging the edge of a farmer’s field. At the end of the field it changed to a thin stony path that wound its way towards the quarry. On the right-hand side was a sheer rock face, not far from the place Finn and I would picnic in the summer, looking out over the valley. This was the place where I’d heard voices before and I was sure it was the place that Aegyir meant.
The rock face was a wall of craggy limestone, its surface mottled with lichen and pitted with cracks. The path up to the top of the rise was strewn with boulders, but next to the rock face a larger, rounded boulder dominated the space. Unlike the rocks littering the path, its surface was smooth and had no moss growing on it. Yellow, grey and green splashes of lichen speckled one side; the other side, shielded by the crag, was clear. Scrubby gorse bushes ringed the edge of the path.
I walked along the rock face, letting my hands travel over the pitted surface. I don’t know what I was hoping for. A door handle? A conspicuous keyhole? There was nothing. Finn stood next to the boulder, the bag in one hand, the sword clasped against his leg, the blade running down towards his foot.
“Is this the place?” His eyes scanned the area and he looked dubious.
“I think so.”
I needed a better sign that it was. I moved further away from Finn, climbing the hillside before turning and picking my way back down, listening for the whispers I’d heard before. If Finn thought I was mad, he didn’t say anything. I tried to remember exactly where it was that I’d had the vision of the Realm when Finn and I had done a night run, just over two weeks ago. It was near the rounded boulder, I was sure of it. I slowed my pace, concentrating.
Nothing.
I kept going until I was sure I was too far away and then retraced my steps. Finn fidgeted, shifting his weight from foot to foot and I tried to blank him out and focus on the limestone cliff.
“Do not invite him in.”
I stopped, my heart
in my mouth. I’d heard it. It was faint, but I’d heard it.
“You are not welcome.”
I swallowed, listening for more, but there was silence again. I faced Finn. “Here.”
“Sure?”
“Mm.”
“Based on…?”
“The whispers. Same as I heard before. I can hear the Realm.”
Finn peeled himself away from the boulder, holding the leather bag out to me. The grass was thin here, cropped short by rabbits. A stride away was a gorse bush where we could conceal the sword. It was here or nowhere. I pulled the neck of the bag open and prayed that I was right. Reaching in, I grabbed a handful of soil. It was gritty and had a different tang to it. Less earthy. I scattered it on the ground around me, covering an irregular shape that stretched from the boulder to the rock face, extending about a metre and a half in width.
Please let me be right. Right that this was the place. Right to be putting the soil here.
Right to believe I could kill Aegyir.
The bag empty, I took the sword from Finn and stashed it in the gorse bush. I circled around it, fiddling with it until I was convinced it would be easy to grab when we returned and had to face Aegyir, but was safely hidden from view until then. It wouldn’t do to come up here and realise some yob had found it and nicked it.
Satisfied, I checked my watch. We had about an hour before we were due to meet Aegyir.
As we walked back down to the house, my brain churned. How did you prepare for meeting a demon? How did you prepare yourself for needing to chop its head off? My hands were already shaking at the idea of doing it. When it came to it, would I be frozen to the ground? A queasy feeling settled in my stomach and I had a sour taste in my mouth.
At the cottage, Finn made coffees and taped his hands as if he was about to have a training session on the punch bag. I raised a brow.
“Just in case I need to hit him,” he said, working the tape deftly over his knuckles.
I wished we had body armour. We’d decided to go up wearing our motorbike jackets and trousers as at least they were made of Kevlar. I had no idea if they would be any protection against a demon reaching into your chest to rip out your vitality, but at least they were stab-proof.