Restless Shadows, Waiting Roads

by Yolande Kleinn

  "Tell me how I can help you," Caleb said. When Eli only narrowed dark eyes at him, he pressed, "The favor I owe you. Tell me what I can do."

  Eli stepped forward, putting them nearly chest to chest, and peered into Caleb's eyes as though trying to gauge his sincerity. Apparently satisfied, he cocked his head to one side and said, "You can free me."

  "How?"

  "A ritual so simple only a mortal can complete it." Eli paused, his mouth curling upward at one corner. Caleb absorbed the admission—the confession of inhumanity—but he didn't interrupt as Eli continued. "Are you quite sure you want to do this? Even simple magic can change you, mortal or not. You may regret ever coming here."

  Caleb would not consider regret. He had to see this through. "Tell me what to do."

  Eli regarded him for several silent seconds, but at last stepped away. "Please move to the edge of the room." He was heading towards the periphery himself, passing between the two chairs so that he could drag both behind him. A moment later Caleb understood why, as Eli left the chairs by the wall and took hold of the heavy rug that covered most of the floor. A hard yank drew the material aside, revealing smooth floorboards beneath—

  And a brightly painted sigil that almost looked to be glowing.

  "What is that?" Caleb stared, stepping nearer without thought. The symbol was round, a wide circle filled with complicated runes and patterns that he couldn't begin to decipher.

  "My seal," Eli said, appearing at Caleb's side. "The magic that holds me here." Caleb's downward glance turned into a startled gape as Eli drew a long knife from a shimmer in the air. Eli held it out to him, haft first, and with a single arched eyebrow said, "There is still time to refuse. Favor or no, I would not ask too much of you."

  Caleb had suspicions of what he would need the knife for, but he accepted it from Eli's hand. The hilt was hard leather, the blade perfectly balanced. He didn't bother testing the edge. Eli's hand pressed his arm in fleeting thanks, and then Eli nodded at the circle.

  "Kneel. At the very center of the seal. And when the moment comes, use the knife."

  "How will I know?" Caleb's brow furrowed, but Eli only smiled.

  "You will know. Trust me."

  Caleb knelt. The bright lines pulsed brighter as he took his position at the center of the circle, and when he raised his eyes he found Eli watching him. Anticipation thrilled inside him, warm and cold at once, making it difficult to breathe. A full minute passed in eerie quiet, and Caleb realized that the storm outside had ceased. He took a firmer grip on the knife. Then, without breaking from Eli's gaze, he nodded assent.

  Eli nodded back, but he didn't approach. He stood well outside the circle, hands clenched into fists at his sides. When he opened his mouth it was not to offer instruction, but to breathe words unlike anything Caleb had ever heard before. The sound was almost musical, multiple voices layering one atop another, though every syllable matched the movement of Eli's lips. Caleb stared, entranced, as Eli's eyes slipped closed and the words grew louder.

  Something was happening. He could feel it in his blood. An icy edge of violence, a mounting restlessness that made his limbs itch. He wanted to rise, to move, to take Eli in his arms and never let go.

  He felt wind, and it took him several seconds to realize it was rising inside the small sitting room. It twisted louder, muffling Eli's melodic words, turning the very air to chaos. The seal beneath Caleb's knees glowed brighter, surging with power he could feel beneath his skin. The power twined through him. It closed around his throat like a threat, or a promise, tight enough to make breathing a challenge.

  Still he didn't move. He had no intention of letting Eli down.

  Before him, Eli pivoted suddenly, putting his back to Caleb and facing the empty hearth. The wind rose stronger, blowing his dark hair with violent force. Eli's spine was taut, and his bare back glinted in the powerful glow cast by the seal. Caleb bit at his own lower lip and forced his lungs to draw breath. The wind was a brutal torrent, stinging his face and threatening to knock him down. He didn't know how Eli could stand so steadily against the brunt of it. He didn't know how Eli's words could still be audible, rising in a smooth crescendo over the maelstrom.

  Caleb squinted then. The seal was almost too bright to bear, and the power had wound its way deep inside him. It was burrowing deeper still, rooting him in place. Caleb's senses were raw and overwhelmed, and he could barely see Eli through the glare.

  Eli's chant ended in a keening chorus, deafening even over the raging wind. The empty hearth lit with flame, and Caleb felt the power inside him snap tight. He recognized the summons, the call to action, and he raised Eli's knife to his forearm. He hesitated only an instant, bracing himself, and then cut a shallow slice into his own flesh.

  It didn't sting—the blade was far too sharp for that—but immediately blood welled up and slid along his skin. He turned his arm to let it drip directly to the floor, and as the first drops landed on the glowing sigil, Caleb felt the power inside him twist and scream.

  It could have been his own voice screaming as more blood spattered the seal, dampening it—dissolving it, he realized—and he stared in disbelief through the burning light. Sullenly, the lines of the seal began to darken. Shadows spread out from the point where blood fell. Anywhere the shadow touched, the seal faded, then scattered like ash on the shuddering wind.

  Before him, Eli collapsed. He landed hard on his knees, screaming aloud as he curled forward, his spine arching in the weakening light. Caleb stared at the bunching muscles of Eli's naked back, desperate to go to him but frozen in place. The magic held him immovable and helpless. He could only watch as Eli straightened and silenced, back bowing in obvious pain.

  With a sickening jolt Caleb realized there was something moving beneath Eli's skin. The ritual must have gone wrong. He could see something besides taut muscle rippling along Eli's back, something restless and churning and unnatural.

  Eli screamed again, and a mass of gray and black erupted from his shoulder blades. Feathers Caleb realized in a disjointed corner of his mind. The last of the seal had faded. The wind gave a final, ferocious burst that knocked Caleb flat onto his back. Then, with impossible speed, the entire room fell still.

  Caleb scrambled to right himself, too breathless to do anything but sit there with his arms braced behind him. Eli was still on his knees, still facing away, as the snaring power at last loosened its hold on Caleb. Between the hearth's crackling firelight and the weak sun through the windows, Caleb could just make out the contour of wings where they emerged from Eli's back. There was no blood, no sign of damage. Eli's skin looked whole and unmarred, if not entirely right where it stretched to accommodate the expansive appendages.

  Unfurled as they were, the wings stretched almost to the ceiling. The shallow cut on Caleb's arm stung, but he ignored the dull pain. He couldn't stop staring. Eli still huddled forward on his knees. He was shaking hard.

  "Eli," Caleb whispered, suddenly terrified. "Are you all right?"

  At the sound of his name, Eli stilled. The tremors bled abruptly out of him. He rose smoothly and turned to face Caleb, tucking his wings in close along his back. His face was strained, but his eyes were what stopped Caleb's heart in his chest. The whites of Eli's eyes had been swallowed by a viscous, inky darkness. His pale skin glowed, or maybe that was the firelight casting him in stark silhouette. He filled the entire room with a foreboding rumble of power that sent shivers along Caleb's spine.

  "What are you?" He hated the shaken fear in his own voice. He had never been afraid of Eli before.

  "Why is it only now you think to ask that question?" Eli asked, the words a quiet purr as he took a step towards Caleb.

  "Tell me," Caleb demanded. He was still sprawled on his ass, not a great position from which to make demands, but he sounded steadier now.

  Eli had come near enough that when he dropped to his knees, he landed straddling Caleb's lap. Despite the unfamiliar tickle of fear, Caleb had to fight the immediate urge t
o grab for Eli and tug him closer—to take that taunting mouth in a rough kiss. He forced himself to meet Eli's eyes, which were normal enough now, though ringed with green fire.

  "Who are you?" Caleb asked, more softly.

  "My name is Eligos. I am of the fallen."

  "The..." Disbelief surged inside Caleb, and he gaped baldly. "Are you an angel?"

  "No," Eli murmured.

  "A demon, then?" Caleb amended, feeling so far out of his element his head spun.

  "Closer." Eli smiled, and there was uncharacteristic smugness in the expression.

  Caleb's throat went suddenly dry. "Are you going to kill me?"

  "Of course not." The smirk vanished from Eli's face, and his brow knit with disapproval. "I've never intended you harm."

  Caleb wanted to believe him. He had trusted so completely. He didn't want to be wrong.

  Some hint of Caleb's inner reluctance must have shown through, because Eli shifted his weight and tilted his head to one side, considering. The green glow of his eyes intensified briefly, as though in counterpoint to unspoken thoughts.

  "Are you wondering about the blizzard?" Eli asked.

  Caleb stared. He hadn't been wondering about the blizzard, but he certainly was now.

  "The storm was none of my doing," Eli said. "If I had power enough in this trap to control the elements, I'd have been free decades ago. Though I can't deny using the opportunity to introduce myself in... a positive light."

  The fear in Caleb's chest was quieting by degrees, but he still felt upended. He couldn't shake the sensation that he had done wrong somehow.

  "Regrets?" Eli murmured, easing closer and framing Caleb's face with both hands. "I did warn you."

  He had. The fact didn't sit comfortably in Caleb's chest, and he bit his tongue to keep from admitting his thoughts aloud.

  Eli smiled almost sadly, as though he understood anyway. His touch was restless, and he traced a thumb along Caleb's lower lip. His gaze dipped to Caleb's mouth before rising again, trapping his eyes more fiercely than before. "You are mine, little one. In ways you have yet to comprehend."

  "I don't understand." Caleb's breath felt shallow in his chest, his skin warm and too tight. Eli's weight atop his thighs was distracting—as was the dark wingspan still visible behind him—but neither was a match for the hint of something ancient and hungry that peered out at Caleb from those dark, green-limned pupils.

  Then Eli kissed him, and Caleb's eyes fell closed. He tried to stay detached, but even the fading pulse of fear couldn't overpower his desire to possess the man before him. Caleb reached for Eli, wrapping strong arms around Eli's waist and marveling at the soft sensation of feathers brushing his skin.

  When Eli turned his mouth aside and broke the kiss, Caleb couldn't make himself let go. He felt drunk and greedy, and he clutched Eli close, hands pressed to the small of his back just beneath the jut of wings.

  Eli leaned forward, and his next words brushed the shell of Caleb's ear. "It is your own fault, foolish boy."

  Caleb shivered, tightening his hold on Eli without consciously intending to. The quiet tickle of laughter along his skin only made him shiver harder, and he felt anger rise, frustration at the thought that Eli was laughing at him.

  "What is my fault?" Caleb growled. Anger gave him the strength to grab Eli by the shoulders and push him far enough away to glare at him. There was no laughter in Eli's face now, though. There was only somber honesty as he set his hand over Caleb's heart. Even through the thin fabric Eli's touch was cool.

  "To take me as you did," Eli murmured, meeting Caleb's glower steadily, "to claim me as you did, was not without consequence. You've encumbered yourself. Bound your fate to mine. You have woven a pact between us that can never be unwritten."

  Caleb held perfectly still as Eli's words sank in. He felt suddenly unmoored, more lost than he'd been even as a small boy in a blizzard.

  "You let me," he protested once he rediscovered his voice.

  "Of course I did." Eli offered no apology. Only bland agreement, as though any other course of action was unthinkable. "I would have you to keep, Caleb. Though until you touched me, I would never have dared hope. I am no selfless being."

  Caleb's mouth thinned into an unhappy line, but he made no further argument. Whatever the nature of this trap, his own thoughtless actions had put him here. He could hardly fault Eli for allowing it.

  When Eli kissed him again, Caleb kept his eyes open. In the quiet after, he saw Eli's wings shimmer and fade, vanishing into the air like a heat mirage at the crest of a hill. Eli was watching him in return, smile tugging at one corner of his mouth. The hand above Caleb's heart slid higher to curl intimately around Caleb's throat. There was nothing threatening in the gesture, but there was also no mistaking the possessiveness of it. Caleb's skin tingled, and he couldn't decide if it was a pleasant feeling or not.

  "Make no mistake," Eli said. "You are mine to protect, and I will be your fiercest champion. I will cherish and guard you against all harm."

  "I don't belong to you." Even to his own ears Caleb sounded unconvincing. Eli's fingers tightened briefly around his throat, but that intent expression didn't change.

  "Of course you do. But don't worry, little one. That knife cuts both ways."

  Caleb's forearm gave a twinge at the reminder, though the cut there had already stopped bleeding. His own grip on Eli tightened like an afterthought, and when he pushed Eli away he had the unmistakable sense that Eli was only moved because he allowed it.

  "You still feel betrayed," Eli observed mildly, rising to his feet with elegant ease. "You shouldn't be angry with me. I never lied to you. It was your own free choice to aid my escape. The ritual would never have worked otherwise."

  He offered a hand to help Caleb to his feet, and after a moment's sullen contemplation, Caleb accepted. The problem was, Eli was right. Caleb had little right to be angry that he hadn't asked the right questions.

  More piercingly, he realized a different truth. Even if he had asked those questions—even if Eli's honest answers had chilled and terrified him—Caleb would have done the same.

  "Are you all right?" Eli asked. His tone was cautious. Tension angled his entire body towards Caleb, as though waiting for absolution.

  "I'm fine," Caleb said. He was genuinely surprised to realize it was true.

  *~*~*

  The manor disappeared when they stepped back out into the forest. It was there one instant, vanished in a surreal shimmer the next.

  Its sudden absence didn't surprise Caleb like it probably should have. The clearing looked much the same as before, if soggier than they'd left it. Even Eli looked the same, dressed in a fresh shirt with his wings hidden away. Caleb couldn't shake the feeling that he alone had changed, and that more than he could ever undo.

  The ground was wet beneath his feet, grass and mud clinging to his shoes. He didn't try to scrape them clean. He had a ways to walk before he reached his car.

  "What happens now?" he asked, suddenly unsure. It seemed wrong to offer a ride to a man with his very own wings, but Caleb couldn't fathom what else he was meant to do.

  "Now you go about your own business, and leave me to mine."

  "Wait, leave you? Here?" Caleb gaped, not sure he could do as Eli asked. It felt wrong a hundred times over.

  "It is as good a place as any to begin my journey."

  "You're leaving." The revelation landed like lead in Caleb's stomach, and he stared helplessly. He felt lost all over again. It was becoming a familiar feeling.

  "Yes." Eli gravitated nearer. "But I will return for you."

  Though Caleb's voice caught in his throat, he managed to sound normal enough when he asked, "Where will you go?"

  "I must see to some ugly personal business," Eli admitted. "The element of surprise is a potent weapon, and I will need it to best my enemies. I've been in these woods for a century. It's time I settled old debts."

  Caleb wanted to ask what that meant. He wanted to know more about E
li's enemies, wanted to know what vengeance Eli intended. God help him, Caleb wanted to help.

  "How long will you be gone?" he asked, looming closer but somehow keeping his hands to himself. The light was fading, and the falling gloom made the glow of Eli's eyes impossible to ignore. "What if something happens to you? How would I even know?"

  "You would know," Eli assured him, reaching up to touch Caleb's cheek. "And nothing will happen to me."

  "Can you really promise me that?" Caleb asked. The question was barely a whisper.

  "I will never lie to you, little one," Eli answered softly. "I cannot lie to you. You've seen to that yourself." There was something wry, almost exasperated in Eli's tone. The hint of rebuke was softened by fondness.

  Somehow, despite Eli's assurances, Caleb found himself stubbornly dissatisfied. He had to stifle a petulant protest when Eli's hand fell from his cheek, and he struggled with how best to convince Eli this conversation wasn't over. Promises weren't enough. Caleb wouldn't risk losing Eli now. He couldn't bear the uncertainty of letting Eli walk away.

  He could not let this be goodbye.

  When Eli tried to take a backward step, Caleb caught him by the wrist. The intercept stopped Eli short, and one of Eli's eyebrows arched high, a wordless question.

  "Take me with you," Caleb said. He stepped nearer, forcing Eli to tilt his head back in order to keep meeting Caleb's eyes.

  "That is a terrible idea." Eli's tone was bland, but Caleb didn't think he was imagining the spark of interest in those green-lit eyes. Eli was listening, for the moment. Caleb crowded him, determined and guileless.

  "Can you take me with you?" he asked. His grip on Eli's wrist tightened thoughtlessly, but Eli gave no indication of noticing.

  "Yes, but—"

  "And can I help you?" Caleb interrupted before Eli could voice whatever caveats he intended to attach. "With whatever it is you need to do?"

  "I suppose, but—"

  "Then wouldn't you rather have me at your side than trying to track you down the hard way?" The instant the words were out of his mouth, Caleb understood the truth of them.