by Lexi Ostrow
Suddenly he could breathe. He gasped in a lung full of air and winced as it burned on the way down. He couldn’t stop gulping and it took him a moment to remember he could heal himself. He watched his brother, saw his blood stain his teeth, as he brought a hand to his neck and focused on healing. A second later he swallowed air painlessly. His brother stood up and backed away with his arms out in surrender.
“Your side may be stronger, brother. But never forget which of us was stronger in our mortal lives. I was the hunter. I will always be the hunter.”
His voice irritated him, but he made no move to attack his brother. “Have you had your fun then?” Anger laced his words and he itched to blast his brother one last time, but he refrained.
“For now. Yes. Besides I should think you would be upset enough. I was listening in after all. Julian Michelson was a failure that should have been put down years ago. We both knew that, but you were so hung up on how much power your side of this war had you didn’t think about a weakling messing up the balance.” The grin taunted him and he wanted to know what his brother was talking about.
“Do not kid yourself. I knew I was losing Julian. Your trick trapping him there was just pathetic. Julian can’t open a doorway and you know it. Problem is I never expected him to stay here. I was going to offer him the option to go there.”
“Ahh, but see, my darling big brother, now you lost him. It will eat away at you. It will fester and grow like a blister on your soul. A failure for you. You don’t dare interfere. You may not have been punished by Huracan for Ciara Miller yet, but you will be.” He lifted his shirt and red welts and dried blood covered his abdomen. So he had been punished then.
“We will see, brother. Besides, as long as I can sense Julian I can go get him. I have hours yet before he is lost to me.” It was true. There was residual power that would allow them to open doorways to Guardian’s worlds once they were fully of this world. After that, it was all over. But it took time. He just opened a doorway when he shouldn’t have and it disrupted the flow of events. He would have to wait and hope that by the time he could again it wouldn’t be too late.
“Don’t worry, little brother. Even when it is time, you won’t risk interfering again. Goodbye, little brother.” He vanished with one last wicked grin and a flash of red in his silver eyes.
The problem was he was right. Huracan hadn’t punished him yet, not outside of the squabble at the pool hall from a week ago. But he would soon and that meant he wouldn’t be able to interfere with any of his Word Speakers for a time. He’d broken the rules once and while his brother typically managed to do so under the radar, he wasn’t sure Julian Michelson was worth the risk.
* * *
The sun was high in the sky and his eyes needed a moment to adjust. Julian wasn’t used to such unfiltered sunlight. Not that he minded. There was something beautiful about the way it lit the grass and reflected off Serena’s hair. The golden blonde strands looked like pure silk with the sun illuminating her from behind. He could stare at her all day and had been doing so for the past few hours.
She was the one who pushed off his chest first. He grunted playfully as she dug her palm into his chest to sit up. They’d wandered over to the tree line, not wanting to be seen until they were certain they had a plan. An idea that had led to a small fight and her against the nearest tree with him pounding into her until they’d both screamed with release. Laying on the grass and simply waiting for the doorway to come back had seemed like a perfectly logical step. Neither of them had moved, just sat and talked, as if waiting was mysteriously going to garner an open doorway. They’d been warned it was one way and Julian fully believed it now. But the sky was growing dark and she assured him they didn’t want to be caught outside the safety of the castle walls when the moon rose.
His mind wasn’t completely wrapped around what had gone down earlier in the morning. Getting stuck in a fictional British history was never on his to do list. He hadn’t been lying when he told her he wouldn’t hold it against her though. She hadn’t done it to him and really, the situation wasn’t all that different from her own a few days back. For the moment he had accepted his fate because fighting against it wasn’t going to get them anywhere. What would happen in the quiet of the night before he went to sleep was another story all together. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d called his grandparents. A month ago? A week?
He sighed and Serena got quiet. He hadn’t even realized she was talking. Between staring at her and moping in his head, he’d been completely ignoring her.
“Julian?” Her voice was quizzical sounding and he felt guilty.
He’d been so involved when they had realized he was stuck, partially because of her excitement and partially to stop himself from thinking about the predicament he had gotten himself into. It had only been a few hours and she had shown him her favorite places outside the castle. It would be a lie if he didn’t admit to the beauty and serenity of her time. Without the noise of cars, cell phones and radios it was peaceful. He could actually hear nature and he enjoyed it. But it wasn’t a complete distraction from his predicament.
“Julian, you haven’t been listening to me these past few minutes.” She stopped them from walking any further to the village’s entrance and turned to face him and raised an eyebrow. “Have you?”
His laughter was sudden and unexpected. “Are you sure you aren’t married, Serena? I’ve heard my mother do the exact same thing to my father, same eyebrow raises as well. It has to be a woman thing.”
Her face flushed red and she smiled. “Well I have seen my mother do it to my father too I suppose.”
“Well now you know a nagging woman supersedes both reality and fiction.”
She punched him in the arm and he jokingly rubbed it.
“Now, what was I so rudely ignoring?”
“I was telling you that I should like to show you the village surrounding the castle. However if your thoughts are more important…” Her voice trailed off in a very calculated way.
“Oh no. You will not get to use that female trick on me as well. A village tour sounds great.” He grabbed her hand back in his. “I’m sorry. You can relate, it’s a little disorienting going through this and my mind is elsewhere.”
She kissed the top of his hand and resumed walking. “Yes I understand. Bollucks! How am I going to sneak us in? I can’t go in wearing this!” She gestured wildly to her clothes and she was right. Screw the denim, she was in pants and her shoulders were bare. He could see the entrance to the castle wall was within a minute’s walk now.
“Hmm what if I told you with a little tom foolery I can get us inside?”
She titled her head to the side as they walked closer still.
“Tom foolery? Whoever that is, the answer would be yes.”
He laughed. “All right. It’ll be simple. We’ll go around the side the guard isn’t facing. You’ll start to scream, shriek really, and call for help. Then I’ll throw a big rock away from us so he’ll go looking that way. We sneak in when he goes to check on the scream and voila. In you are, my lady.”
“Very well, only where are you going to get this big rock, Mr. Michelson?”
His eyes scanned the ground. Grass was plenty and that was about it. “Well shit. Give me a minute. I can improvise just you watch.” He scanned the ground near them and smiled when he saw a branch laying in the grass near the tree line they had recently walked out of. He dashed over, picked it up and ran back, wiggling the stick in the air. “So it’s not a rock, but it will work.”
“I suppose it will. Tomas, the guard that should be on duty, always stands facing the west. Something about the sun bothering him should be looking the other way. But he knows his duty and occasionally scans both directions so we need to be quick if this plan will work.”
Julian urged Serena forward with his hand on her back. The man they were tricking was in plain sight. Under the chain mail it was hard to tell, but the male appeared to be very physically fit an
d Julian hoped they weren’t caught because he wasn’t interested in punching chain mail today.
Walking past the man’s left side had been a piece of cake. Sure they’d been quiet, but the Tomas character didn’t appear to be on alert for anything small. Good. They were both pressed against the hot rock of the castle wall when Julian turned to look at Serena.
He nodded his head and mouthed, “On three.”
She nodded back and he got the branch into positon before raising his left hand and slowly lifted his index finger, his middle finger and finally his ring finger.
Serena’s shrieks were deafening so close to his ear and he forgot to throw the damn stick. Tomas began to turn in their direction and he let the branch fly. Tomas’s path changed from their direction at the last second and he let out a sigh of relief. He turned his head to Serena and saw her grinning from ear to ear. His princess might be loyal to her family, but she certainly wasn’t against providing mischief. He took her hand in his and tugged her toward the gate. He stared at the gear mechanism and shrugged his shoulders at Serena. Her laughter was a little too loud and she covered her mouth with her hand before she grabbed the rope and began to lower the door.
The process was going too slowly for him so he joined in and tugged the rope. Tomas’s back was still to them, but he didn’t want to even be raising the door when Tomas turned around. Not to mention if he turned and saw the draw bridge rising back up it would send him charging to see who had snuck in. There would be a manhunt in the village and they would stick out. She as the princess, and he in strange clothing.
Finally the door was low enough and they darted over it. Julian winced as every step they took, no matter how careful, echoed in the stone arch. He didn’t waste a second and grabbed the rope on the inside, tugging as hard and as fast as he could until the gate closed. He put a hand around Serena’s waist, prepared to protect her should their arrival have stirred up trouble. But when he turned his back to the gate his mouth dropped open.
The village was amazing. It was bustling and full of life. He couldn’t fathom how a gate lowering and raising didn’t garner any attention. But it hadn’t. People scurried around holding baskets and chasing a goat or pig through the open section. Huts functioned as markets right before his eyes. Dried meats hung from the thatch roofs, scarves of every color were tied to poles and a blacksmith pounded away in his forge a few feet away.
“It’s exactly as the movies show it.” His whisper was filled with awe and he felt Serena slip her hand into his.
“I’m glad to hear history preserved us properly— even if mine is nothing more than a fictionalized version of yours.”
She smiled happily at him and he wondered just how much of his world had terrified her with hers being so simple and straightforward.
“Come on. There is so much I want to show you!”
He tugged her backwards quickly and hoped it didn’t jerk her arm. “Serena. Our clothes.” He gestured to their outfits and she smacked her hand into her head and laughed.
“Right, the reason we had to sneak in to begin with. Hang on, don’t move, Julian.” She dropped his hand and scampered away quickly to a nearby market stall. The woman she spoke to didn’t seem shocked to see the princess walking around or by her clothes. A moment later a bundle was handed to Serena and she briskly walked back to him and handed him what looked like a burlap sack.
“Um how do I wear this Serena?”
She laughed and pulled her own version over her shoulders like a cape.
“Here let me help you. The big bad fireman is a little out of place this time and needs his lady.” She chuckled and he laughed as she settled it over his shoulders and tied it.
When she was done he swatted her ass for her comment. He immediately looked around to see if anyone had seen him, the merchant smiled and nodded her head, but otherwise, his horribly inappropriate act had gone unnoticed.
“Now you can show me and explain your world. Starting with, why did that woman not seem shocked and help you?”
Serena began to walk in the direction of the market. “She is the mother of one of my serving ladies, her name is Mariah. She knows I like to leave the castle on occasion and if she was appalled by me in pants she knows her station and said nothing.” She pulled the hood of her burlap cape over her head. “You can leave yours down to see better. I will be recognized though.”
He couldn’t help but admire her. She didn’t think she was wild. She was. Even while she tried to hide who she was she walked tall and confidently. He assumed some of the villagers knew her for who she was and didn’t say anything. He watched the sway of her ass as she walked away and he had to grind his teeth together to keep his cock from taking over and making him kiss her in public.
Shaking off his desire, he jogged to catch up to her. She was pointing out the stalls and what they sold in whispered, but excited tones. He was mesmerized by both her and the marketplace. A group of children ran squealing by them and he laughed watching their antics. “It’s amazing here, Serena. It really is.” He tugged her in-between one of the stalls and kissed her softly. “Thank you for being happy I’m here.”
“I will always be happy with that, Julian. I don’t know what caused it, or if the connection should be gone now that I’m not really your Guardian, but I’m grateful I was. Even if I ran away scared, you showed me what it’s like to love and I will owe you every day.”
He grinned and kissed her again. “Oh I don’t know. Something about getting to marry a princess and be a king one day definitely is payment enough.” He wiggled his brows at her. “Oh and getting to call you mine and touch you anytime I want.” He winked and she laughed.
“Oh, but that bridge still has to be crossed, Mr. Michelson, and I promise we will convince my father somehow. Now I want to go to a tavern and, you sir, are going to take me.” She looped her arm through his and strode through the street stopping at a rather louder shop front with shouting and laughter and music pouring through. “Now you can help me experience something new in my world too.”
* * *
He sucked in a breath of air as his head was tugged out of the bucket of water. His chest heaved from oxygen deprivation and his whole body moved as he tried to steady his breathing.
The swirl of wind released the collar of his trench coat and he heard Huracan’s voice floating on the small breeze in the room. “I should think you have had enough Lazaras, is that the name you use still?”
Not answering was not an option, but he couldn’t get his mouth to form the words. His throat was raw and his shock at hearing one of the names from his past was as strong of a shock as the torture the God had inflicted on him.
“No. Not in centuries. My brother, he obtained a Word Speaker who knew my name through her Guardian’s powers.” He choked on the pain that talking caused. “I had to change it again.”
The rush of air that had been a gentle breeze slammed into his throat, constricting his airway again. Suddenly he felt the grip of an actual hand. A firm, steely grip with fingers that dug into the sensitive flesh of his neck. His vision was fading, he’d been left without air on and off for the last eight hours. His body may have been hard to kill, but he had a feeling if Huracan wanted to kill him, he could.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t find out what you did?” Huracan’s voice boomed like thunder in the smallness of his living room. “How foolish did you think me, boy?” The hand on his neck loosened as he was thrown backwards over the couch. “That was foolish and while we may have been at this for the past day, we are far from down.”
Tears stung his eyes. His punishment for freeing Ciara and helping Dale was finally coming to fruition. But this was the first time Huracan had explained why he was attacking him. Hours prior he’d been ripped from his bed by a hurricane of wind and told it was time to pay for his sins as a leader. He’d honestly thought it was about letting Julian return to a world when a ritual to break the Word Speaker Guardian bond had been completed.
“I’m sorry.” His voice wheezed out and when he tried to sit up he felt the distinct pain of a cracked rib.
“Sorry does not change what you have done.” Huracan walked towards him and he couldn’t ignore the spike of fear the unclothed man spiked in him. The God was in his full form; tall, muscular, and radiating energy from every centimeter of skin. “The rules are not to be broken. That was made clear.”
A fist connected with his right cheek and his head snapped backwards from the force. His teeth pressed down on his tongue and his fangs sliced down the sides of it. Pain and blood blossomed and he couldn’t stop it as he spit on the couch.
“Over a thousand years you followed the rules. All it took was a little girl to break you.” Another punch, this time to his solar plexus and he lost the ability to breathe for a second again. “Tell me, was she worth it? Was giving Ciara Miller a happily ever after, literally, worth what’s to come? Because trust me—” he opened his mouth as if he just gleaned the information of the name he used now and fear rolled over him. “—no, I will not say it and take your advantage with your brother. But trust me, that leniency is the only you will feel from me in the days to come.”
He didn’t respond. The question had to have been rhetorical. Pain was beginning to settle into every muscle in his body as he was no longer having the air stolen from his lungs. He winced as Huracan picked him up by the arm.
They weren’t in his home anymore. He wasn’t sure if Huracan was able to make places up, or even world walk himself. But they were undoubtedly in a medieval torture chamber. His body was launched into an Iron Maiden and as the door closed, just enough to pierce the skin, but not really impale him, his scream was violent as it tore through the room.
“I asked you a question, boy.” The Iron Maiden’s door opened and he couldn’t stop himself as his eyes trailed down his chest and arms and saw the bloody rivulets. Huracan was once again a voice on the wind that was stirring in the room.