Mending the Rift

by Shea Balik

  “Oh my God,” Logan said. “Seriously? What kind of mother would do that?”

  “The men weren’t for Elspeth, were they?” Eirik’s tone was filled with a mix of disbelief and rage.

  For even though Omri had slept with at least two women, one of whom had been Aed’s daughter, that led to them being cursed in the first place. The second being more recently with Wylie’s sister. The fact was Fen, Omri’s one brother, had admitted that Omri’s tastes ran to men, not women.

  “She was bringing them as offerings to the Fae in exchange for leaving her daughter, and later on, her granddaughter, alone.” Ruth’s words were like a dagger into Brandr’s heart.

  “We handed Kyleigh to Rowan,” Eirik whispered. “We trusted her and…”

  Ruth reached out and grabbed Eirik’s hand. “I’m so sorry. When we found out, we went to put a stop to it, but somehow Caoimhe must have known we were coming, for she, Elspeth, and five-year-old Rowan were gone.”

  So engrossed in Ruth’s tale, neither Eirik or Brandr had paid much attention to the approaching vehicle. Brandr had assumed it was Oluf and Arne returning after dropping off the buses, but instead it had been Cullen, Kyleigh’s cousin, and Ulf returning after searching for Rowan.

  “Is that true?” Cullen asked. “Would someone be that cruel to hand over another person to the Fae? Did we just send Kyleigh…”

  The rest of his words were choked off by a sob that broke from his chest. Ulf pulled him into his arms and held him tight, but Brandr wasn’t sure there was any comfort that could ease the pain of knowing they hadn’t protected Kyleigh from one of her biggest fears – being enthralled by the Fae.

  CHAPTER 10

  It was odd. Since the day of the winter solstice, he’d been either running or fighting for his life. Oh, they weren’t always being attacked, but finding food and shelter, as well as medicine, for so many people had been work.

  Yet, when he met Brandr, the man had told him of this place in the mountains of Colorado where he and the others would be able to find some peace. He’d never lied about the Fae still at times attacking them, even in this paradise of trees and lush grass, but the Vikings would do everything in their power to keep them safe so they would have the chance to relax.

  Logan was sure Brandr had meant every word at the time, but in the two weeks they’d been there, no one was allowed a second of peace. Well, except for the kids. They were given the chance to run around outside, play indoors, watch TV, and eat some of the most delicious meals Logan had ever tasted.

  Then again, his parents hadn’t been great cooks. The microwave had been their best friend. That and the pizza delivery guy.

  The only respite Logan had found was that with plenty of food and rest, he’d not only healed Tyree, but Joffrey, as well as those with the worst injuries that would take weeks or more to heal, including the ever complaining Perth. Not that he’d been happy about it. It was amazing that the man still had managed to find something to complain about even though he was able to walk without pain.

  But through all of the turmoil there had been one constant that had helped Logan get through it all. Brandr. No matter how busy he was in the medical suite, especially with so many kids, who had the tendency to get into scrapes, or how much time he spent on the computer trying to find some clue that would lead them to Rowan, or even the few times he’d been the one to go search for her when a lead came in, Brandr always made sure Logan was well taken care of.

  He smiled as Leith came running into the room Logan had found on the bottom level of the west wing of the house. Which was just… he rolled his eyes at the fact that he now lived in a house with wings.

  “Lowen,” Leith said as he was having a hard time pronouncing ‘g’ in some words. “Bran said you are to come to the kitchen and eat.”

  Logan wasn’t sure he appreciated the fact that Brandr had a sidekick to help him when it came to telling Logan what to do. He’d been watching the other druid/Viking couples and for the most part they seemed to have an equal say in their relationship.

  Not that Logan and Brandr were in a relationship, for that would require getting to know each other. Since Logan wasn’t ready for that and Brandr was too busy taking care of the world, Logan wasn’t sure they would ever find common ground to form this mystical relationship all his friends talked about.

  Nor was he entirely comfortable with the idea that some relative in the eight hundreds had foretold Logan being with Brandr. It was too strange for it to seem real. That said, it was equally hard to deny the love the other seven couples clearly felt for each other.

  A tiny foot stomped on the floor to get Logan’s attention. How could he forget that Leith was standing in the room he’d claimed as his private sanctuary. It wasn’t his bedroom, but a small music room that happened to have a very comfortable window seat that overlooked the gardens.

  “I’m sorry, Leith, but I’m not hungry at the moment.” The pride that surged through him for standing up for himself was severely hampered by the fact that the one he was actually standing up to was a four-year-old little boy, instead of the man acting like Logan’s keeper.

  Worse, when Leith set his tiny jaw firmly and gave Logan a look that said Leith wouldn’t take no for an answer, Logan nearly caved. What did that say about him to have no backbone when it came to a little kid? How was he ever supposed to be Brandr’s equal if he was cowed by a four-year-old?

  “Bran said you have to come eat,” Leith repeated as if whatever Brandr said was supposed to be done without question.

  “Then I guess you’ll have to tell Brandr that I’m just not hungry at the moment.” Refusing to feel bad when Leith frowned at him, Logan remained firmly seated on the window seat.

  Even when Leith’s bottom lip quivered Logan didn’t give in, even if he did feel like crap for putting Leith in the middle. Logan had to stand on his own two feet sooner or later. Between Leith and Brandr, he had a chance with the child.

  Or he hoped so. If only that lip quivering didn’t end up with a tear leaking from Leith’s left eye. Damn it. It was a close thing, but Logan didn’t move and Leith must have realized he’d lost, for he ran from the room yelling for Brandr.

  Great, now he was going to have to face the man. It wasn’t as if Brandr wouldn’t have come looking for him when Leith told him he wasn’t hungry anyway, but now he’d look like the asshole who made Leith cry. Just what he needed when he was already feeling sorry for himself.

  Minutes later, Brandr showed up at the doorway. He didn’t say anything at first, just leaned a shoulder against the door jamb with his arms crossed over his chest and one eyebrow raised up as if waiting for Logan to give an explanation to his unasked, yet obvious question.

  When Logan looked away from him and back out the window at the garden and the rising mountain in the distance, Brandr let out a soft sigh. “Want to talk about it?” Brandr asked.

  Fuck no, but Logan wasn’t about to say that out loud. Wait. Why shouldn’t he? Hadn’t he just decided it was time to be the adult he was?

  “No, I don’t,” he blurted out. “And why would you care? Except to dictate to me what I can and cannot do, it’s not like you’ve taken an interest in anything I have to say.”

  Oops. That last part Logan really hadn’t meant to add. He may have been thinking it, but that didn’t mean he wanted Brandr to know how hurt he was that the guy, who was supposed to be destined just for Logan, didn’t care about Logan’s feelings.

  This was why he hadn’t wanted to talk in the first place. Everything was too damn raw inside of him. There were times he felt like one of those ugly boils that had covered Tyree’s leg for a time. They would grow and grow until finally, nothing could hold all that gross pus and it would burst free.

  Except, instead of disgusting oozing fluid, all of Logan’s anger, despair, and fear was underneath the surface, doing their best to break out and cause all kinds of havoc in Logan’s life. Something he didn’t need. His life was already nothing but chaos, ad
ding emotions for Brandr that he really wasn’t sure about wasn’t going to help matters.

  Apparently, that didn’t make any difference, since he’d still said what he did, causing Brandr to push off the doorframe and head over to him. It really should have pissed him off when Brandr felt it perfectly acceptable to scoop him up, sit down on the window seat, and place Logan on his lap.

  “I’m always interested in what you have to say,” Brandr told him.

  Try as he might, Logan couldn’t stop the roll of his eyes or the sound of disbelief from bursting out. “That’s a laugh. Since we arrived here you haven’t asked me anything about myself.”

  Shut up, shut up, shut up. Why was he saying all this stuff? Since losing his family, he hadn’t needed anyone to care about him, so why was he so damned determined to act all needy now?

  “Maybe that was because you weren’t ready to open up.” There was a soothing quality to Brandr’s tone as his large hand rubbed up and down Logan’s spine, easing the tension that had been there moments before.

  Was what Brandr said true? Logan hadn’t thought so, but then again, he really hadn’t thought about it before.

  “You’ve been so busy trying to take care of everyone else, I sometimes wonder if you were hoping to not have time to think about yourself.” Brandr’s words had tears springing to Logan’s eyes.

  “No,” he said adamantly even though the emotions that welled within him said otherwise. “I mean…” But before he could get anything more out, a sob broke loose and he was curling himself tightly against that hard body, seeking the strength Brandr offered so freely.

  Arms wrapped around, holding him snugly. “It’s okay, my fated one. I’ve got you. I’ll always have you.”

  Damn if that didn’t sound nice. If only Logan could believe it. The problem was, life had taught him otherwise. He’d watched too many people die. Good people, who didn’t deserve the fate that had been dealt them.

  “You can’t promise that.” His voice was barely even a whisper as Logan hadn’t wanted to say the words, but he desperately needed to believe what Brandr told him.

  Brandr cupped the side of Logan’s face and tilted his head back until their gazes met. “I swear it,” Brandr whispered with his lips mere inches from Logan’s. “For nothing in this world, or the Fae realm, will keep me from you.”

  Damn if Logan didn’t want to trust Brandr meant every single word. Who was he kidding? Every cell in his body believed this man. He’d seen Brandr’s determination in action and Logan had to admit, he didn’t think even the Fae could stop Brandr from fulfilling that promise.

  He had no doubt Brandr meant what he said, but that didn’t mean that’s what would happen. After all, he’d lost his parents and friends he’d made as they’d tried to fight the Fae. In life there were no guarantees.

  As he had several times since they’d met, Brandr seemed to know what he was thinking for those lips brushed against his as the man said, “I vow it.”

  Then his mouth melded with Logan’s and thoughts of the Fae melted away as he held onto this man’s strength with everything Logan had, sinking into the kiss that not even his wildest fantasy could come close to competing with.

  CHAPTER 11

  “Load ‘em up,” Eirik called out as he headed out the door with Ulf, Cullen, Oluf, Mingus, Arne, and Dermot behind him.

  “What’s going on?” Logan asked Brandr as he came running down the stairs from his bedroom, most likely having heard the commotion as Arne and Dermot had found another lead for Rowan, but this one had photographic evidence that it was, in fact, her.

  Brandr just prayed that, for once, this lead would pan out. Sure, they knew Rowan was, in fact, sighted, but that didn’t mean she was still in Tombstone, Arizona. He feared she was heading across the border into Mexico.

  “We found Rowan,” Brandr told him, loving the fact that Logan had stepped right up to his side, even cuddling closer when Brandr put his arm around him. “If they can get there in time, they might be able to capture her.”

  “What about Kyleigh?” Logan asked.

  “The three pictures they managed to get from social media didn’t show Kyleigh, but we’re hoping she’s nearby.” It was a longshot. Hell, it had been three weeks since that Veil had been sealed and unless Omri had managed to punch another hole into it, the enthrallment he’d placed on Kyleigh would cause her to feel desperate to find him again.

  For most, the person who’d been enthralled couldn’t stand to be away from the Fae that long and would commit suicide. Brandr hoped that wasn’t the case for Kyleigh, although, finding her to only have her kill herself later on wouldn’t do anyone any favors.

  “Would you call me crazy if I said I don’t think she’s with Rowan?” Logan whispered, his gaze staring down at his feet as if afraid to admit to something.

  On alert, Brandr studied the man he had been falling in love with since the moment that they met, but especially during the past week. That day Logan had admitted he wanted to get to know Brandr better, things had started to change.

  Finally.

  Brandr had feared it would never happen. Logan had been too shut down to let anyone past the walls he’d built. Using every bit of patience he had, Brandr had given the man the space he kept putting between them in the hope that one day he’d let his guard down.

  He’d never imagined it would work as well as it had, but it seemed that once the first crack had formed, the rest of Logan’s walls had come crashing down. Since that day, they spent each day carving out time just for them as they got to know one another.

  It was why Brandr knew that there was something Logan didn’t want to say out loud. For he’d been studying the man long enough to recognize the tension that caused his body to be rigid was nothing less than fear.

  “You know I’ll believe anything you tell me,” Brandr said without any hesitation in his voice. “But we can’t figure it out if you don’t say whatever is going on in that head of yours.”

  There was a slight tremble along Logan’s body but then he took a steadying breath and lifted his gaze to Brandr. “I dreamed about Kyleigh. She was asking for help.”

  “What kind of help?” Brandr asked, not missing the way Logan’s shoulders relaxed a bit when he didn’t question the validity of what Logan was telling him.

  He wasn’t about to point out that in his twelve hundred years, Brandr had seen a lot of weird things the druids could do. Dreams often played a part in some of their magic. But having experienced it or not, Brandr still would have believed Logan, because the one thing he knew about Logan was he didn’t have it in him to lie about something like that.

  If he thought the dream meant something. It did.

  “That’s just it,” Logan said shaking his head as if trying to clear it. “I’m not sure. I mean, I can still hear her voice, you know?”

  “Are you sure it was Kyleigh? You never met her, so is it possibly someone else who was calling to you?” Brandr had to ask. In fairness it was a logical question. He only hoped Logan thought so, too.

  Thankfully, Logan didn’t appear upset. “Yeah, I am, but I honestly can’t tell you why.”

  Leading Logan over to the rocking chairs that dotted the large wrap around porch, Brandr pulled a second chair close enough so that he could face Logan, yet still hold his hand. “Tell me about the dream.”

  There was a faraway look in Logan’s azure eyes that gave the appearance that he was remembering the images he’d seen the night before. “Honestly, I can’t pick out much of the woman’s face, but the panic that was in her voice was haunting. Tell them I forgive them, she said over and over again.”

  Slowly, Logan’s head moved from side to side. “I tried to reach out to her, but she refused to let me touch her. The words were slightly garbled but it sounded as if she didn’t want to lose the connection she had with the one she loved.”

  Those azure eyes blinked, clearing whatever memory that Logan had been focused on as he returned his gaze to Brandr. �
�Does that make any sense? I mean, from what I understand, she’d be under an enthrallment, not in love. Right?”

  If only it were that simple. “Unfortunately, for the one who has been enthralled, the difference isn’t discernible. It’s probable that Kyleigh believes herself in love with Omri and will do whatever it takes to find him.”

  Logan’s head shook twice. “No. I got the sense that she knew she wasn’t going to see him again.”

  “Fuck,” Brandr swore violently. “Do you know where she was?” If they didn’t find her soon, Kyleigh would be dead, most likely by her own hand.

  This time, Logan gave a nod as he smiled. “That was the only clear image I had. She’s camping in the Arches National Park.” Teeth bit down upon Logan’s bottom lip before he let out a breath and said, “I think she plans on climbing up one of the arches and jumping.”

  Brandr tugged on Logan’s hand. “Come on. It’s about a two hour drive from here.”

  Without letting anyone know where they were going, Brandr ran, doing his best not to trip up Logan by going too fast. They jumped into his SUV. Once they had their seat belts on, he took off. There was no time to wait. His only hope, that Kyleigh had to hike her way through the park. Otherwise there was little chance of them making it in time.

  For once, Brandr appreciated the fact that Eirik demanded whenever they returned home, they stop at the little gas station in the town closest to them to fuel up. It would mean he wouldn’t have to stop. Even Logan’s stomach growling for food was solved with the water bottles and power bars he kept in center console of the vehicle that he’d had made into a small cooler.

  With it being October and them being so high in the mountains, everything would be cool anyway, but since he had no idea what condition he’d find Kyleigh in, Brandr was grateful they would be able to offer her something until they could get her safely home.