Runebinder

by Alex R. Kahler

  The woman from outside was there in front of him, still in the black dressing gown, the hem of which was getting soaked under the shower’s jet. A man stood by her side. He was tall and lean, wearing a T-shirt and slim jeans, his blond hair slicked back loosely. Something about his appearance made Tenn think of all the old commercials for surfing in California—the defined features, the nonchalant pose with his hands in his pockets. But it was the woman who had his full attention. Her eyes were fixed on him like a hawk. Which should have been impossible.

  “Now,” the woman said. “I will ask you nicely. Remove whatever enchantments you are wearing, and we will talk. Otherwise, I will have Justin remove your limbs one by one.” The man at her side smiled even wider at the mention of his name.

  Tenn glanced down at himself. Of course. They could see his shape in the spray. There was no doubt that they would follow through with the threat. He glanced around the room. He was in a basement. The water siphoned into a drain next to a dusty water heater, and the rafters above were covered in cobwebs. Even if he did manage to dodge these two, the woman could fell him in a moment. She was a Breathless One. She didn’t even have to be able to see him to take him down.

  So, against all his better judgment, he opened to Earth and bled out the runes, leaving only the tracking rune on his wrist. They didn’t need to know about that one.

  “Much better,” the woman said. “Now we can talk.”

  She reached down and pulled him from the spray, yanking him up by the collar of his shirt. She looked willowy, but she nearly lifted him off his feet in that movement.

  “Who...who are you?” he asked. He tried to will his voice not to shake. It worked—mostly.

  “Who do you think?” she asked, leaning over to whisper in his ear. Then she did something that sent chills down his spine—she opened to Earth and shut off the tap.

  “Leanna,” he said. He didn’t flinch back. There was no point—he wouldn’t get an inch away from her. He had thought, coming in, that maybe he had some sort of divine purpose, that he’d be able to walk right up to her and kill her without breaking a sweat. He had the runes.

  But the runes hadn’t saved him. They’d just helped him walk straight into her clutches.

  Leanna nodded.

  “I take it this means you’ve killed him,” she said.

  It took a moment for it to click. Of course.

  “Matthias,” he said. “Yeah, I killed him.” To be fair, he killed himself.

  “Pity,” she said. There was nothing in her flat blue eyes to hint at any such emotion. “He was my favorite of pets.” She looked back to the man still lounging a few feet away. “We’ll have to find a suitable replacement. Perhaps one a little less arrogant.”

  Justin nodded.

  “What have you done with him?” Tenn asked.

  “With whom?” Leanna said, turning her attention back to him. There was a hint of a grin at the corner of her mouth.

  “You know who. Jarrett.”

  For half a heartbeat, he worried her eyes would glaze over, that she’d admit to not knowing what he was talking about. But then that little grin widened.

  “Ah, yes,” she said. “Of course. You’re here for the boy.”

  “Where is he?” Tenn hissed. He was inches away from one of the Kin; he knew he wasn’t in any condition to make demands. He didn’t care.

  “Alive,” Leanna said. “For now.”

  “I want to see him,” Tenn said. His teeth gritted together.

  “Be careful what you ask for,” Leanna said, though she was looking at Justin. He stepped forward. “Justin, take our guest to his room. He has surely had a long journey. I want to make sure he’s comfortable.”

  Justin nodded and stepped over to Tenn, throwing him over his shoulder fireman-style. Tenn wanted to map the place out, but all he could see was the floor and he was too drained to fight for a better view.

  A door opened, and Tenn was hit with a blast of warm air that smelled like cinnamon and fir as they went down a maze of white-carpeted hallways. He closed his eyes briefly. How long had he been unconscious in the basement? How long until sunrise and the twins started their attack? How the hell was he going to fight his way to Jarrett—and fight their way out—when he could barely move his head without being struck with pain? They already knew he could cloak himself, and it was clear even that magic was faulty.

  He tried to think. He tried to race through the runes, to discover some deeper level of meaning, but his thoughts were thick, his mind slow from what Leanna had done to him.

  They halted, and he heard the click of a door opening. All thoughts of fighting and escape were knocked from his head, along with the wind in his lungs, when Justin threw him to the ground. Tenn moaned.

  “Don’t be such a pussy,” Justin said. He kicked Tenn in the side. Then he knelt down. “After all, you don’t want to fuck up your heroic entrance.”

  He grabbed Tenn’s chin and forced his face to the side.

  The room was white and dimly lit. And there, in the shadows, was Jarrett.

  “I’ll let you two lovebirds reconnect,” he said.

  Then Justin stood and left, the lock latching behind him.

  Jarrett’s eyes were closed. He didn’t register the noise of the door slamming. Tenn crawled over, his muscles screaming nearly as loudly as the hammer of his heart. Please. Please. Please be alive.

  Jarrett’s arms were twisted behind his back, his legs bound with rope in front of him, and his hair hung limp over a pale face. Bruises masked his eyes and a gag wrapped around his mouth. Jarrett was still. So, so still. Tenn reached out and put a hand to Jarrett’s face, his fingers shaking. Jarrett’s skin was warm. But not nearly warm enough. Tenn gently removed the gag, swept the strands of hair behind Jarrett’s ear. More bruises. Jarrett didn’t move. When his chest rose, Tenn gave a small cry of relief.

  “Jarrett,” he whispered. He brushed his forehead, touched his lips. Jarrett remained as still as the dead. “Please,” he whispered. His words were salty with tears. “Please be okay.”

  He opened to Earth and tried to heal Jarrett’s wounds.

  Tenn gasped.

  The force of it hit like a blow to the gut. The moment he pressed the magic to Jarrett’s body, something took hold. A hunger so great, a void so vast, Tenn felt himself nearly swallowed by the pull. Earth screamed. He fell back, stared at his hands as though burned. Then he looked at Jarrett. Really looked.

  The sallow skin, the bruises that had nothing to do with being beaten. Jarrett hadn’t been attacked. His Earth Sphere had been tapped.

  Tenn’s breath caught in his lungs as he stared at the man he had hoped could be everything—home, safety, salvation. The man who was only minutes away from turning into a kraven.

  Earth was dying in Jarrett’s pelvis. It had been drained to the point of exhaustion, well past the point of replenishing itself. If it was pulled just a little bit more, it would implode and start the horrific process of turning Jarrett into a Howl. That hunger... That was more than Tenn’s magic could fill.

  He stared at Jarrett and felt a horrible vise clench at his heart.

  He was going to have to watch Jarrett die.

  Again.

  The door opened behind him, but he was too stricken to even turn around. The door closed with a click. Tenn could feel the intruder’s presence but wouldn’t look. He couldn’t tear his eyes off Jarrett. He reached out, touched Jarrett’s shoulder. He didn’t let go. Maybe if I just give him a little. If I try.

  “This one, he has been such a charming guest. So polite.” Tenn heard her step closer to them. “He’s been waiting so long for you to arrive. Imagine his delight when we heard the wall crumble! We knew who it was, of course. And so, I had him specially prepared for your arrival.”

  “You did this t
o him,” Tenn said. The vise tightened, but a new emotion tinged his hopelessness: rage.

  “In a sense,” Leanna said. “My necromancers have been practicing for ages to perfect it. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to pause the draining process right on the tip of conversion? Even the tiniest amount too much, and he would be nothing but a mindless kraven right now.” The swish of fabric, and he saw her kneeling beside him from the corner of his eye. “You should be honored. I did all of this for you.”

  Tenn’s gut churned. He spared her a glance.

  “Why?” The word sounded so small. But in the face of this, he didn’t feel strong. He didn’t know why he’d ever thought he could save anyone.

  “Because,” she said, “you are special. And I had to make sure you were the one before continuing.”

  “What?”

  She placed something in his free hand. It was warm and heavy, and it seemed to press against his heart like oil. He glanced down. It was a stone, smooth and black, inscribed with tiny marks that caught the light like quicksilver. Just looking at the marks sent whispers through his thoughts, the Dark Lady echoing in the void: be mine, be mine.

  Tenn tried to let go but she clenched his fingers around it. He felt bones grind.

  “You know what this is, don’t you?” she asked. “You’ve seen this before.”

  He didn’t answer. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t look away from Jarrett as a slow realization dawned. It took everything he had to push the thought away.

  “But I would bet there’s something you don’t know,” she said. She turned his face to hers with her free hand.

  Before he could ask what the hell she was talking about, she opened to Earth again.

  He saw and felt her filter energy into the stone clasped in their hands. But that was it. The runes didn’t glow. The stone didn’t shiver with energy. She closed off to Earth and let go of his hand, settling back on her heels.

  “As you see,” she said, her voice tinged with bitterness, “although those are the words of the Dark Lady, one must be fully alive to use them.” She glanced out the window. “The runes won’t activate for the Kin, even though we wield the Spheres like any of our...minions.” She nearly spat the word. “It’s the only reason we put up with those idiots in the first place.”

  The implications made Tenn’s head spin: the Kin couldn’t use runes. That’s why they needed living necromancers to turn the Howls. He had thought the Kin were all-powerful. But why the hell is she telling me this?

  Leanna looked back to him, and there was something in her eyes that made him wonder if she could read his thoughts.

  “That is where you come in.”

  “I don’t—”

  “You don’t understand. Yes, I’m well aware.” She gestured to the stone. “Why do you think there are only six Kin? Why do you think we’ve settled for creating lesser Howls since the Dark Lady died?”

  Tenn shook his head. Jarrett was dying in front of him. He didn’t have time for this. He should be healing Jarrett, not listening to this madwoman rant.

  “She used special runes to bestow our abilities to use magic. Runes that let us keep our minds and our powers. But she took those secrets to her grave. We have tried. Oh, we have tried. No one has been able to replicate her runes. The words were never right. We needed someone who could speak the language the Dark Lady had tapped into. Someone who could hear and read the runes.”

  That made him look at her. His heart thudded. Did she truly think he’d...

  “So this is your dilemma,” she said. She stood. “Jarrett is well beyond healing, as I’m sure you’ve already discovered. He will die very soon unless you do something to change it. The stone in your hand will push your lover over the edge and turn him into a kraven. He will lose his mind and every inch of beauty in that well-defined body. It would be a terrible waste. The runes inscribed on that stone are too weak to do anything else. But if you are truly able to read the Dark Lady’s language, if you can communicate with the gods, then you will be able to change that. You could turn him into one such as I—immortal, powerful, beautiful. And entirely in control of his Sphere’s hunger. You could grant him that gift. You could have your future again.”

  She leaned down and whispered in his ear.

  “Or he will die within the hour. The choice is yours.”

  Then she left, locking the door behind her.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  TENN HAD MENTALLY prepared himself for many things. He’d prepared to blow the house down, to face off against Leanna. He’d prepared to die in here, so long as Jarrett got out safe.

  Nothing could have prepared him for this.

  Leanna’s locking the door behind her brought it all crashing down. The scene had been too horrible to take in. It felt like some awful dream. But now reality was dawning.

  He dropped the stone and pressed closer to Jarrett. He placed his hands on Jarrett’s cooling face, bit back the tears that were forcing themselves to the surface. He had to save him. He had to heal him. There had to be a way. There had to.

  “I’ve come too far,” he heard himself say. “I can’t lose you. Not now. Not again.” The last word came out as a sob.

  He opened to Earth and gently, gently, pressed the power to Jarrett’s skin. Maybe if he took it in doses...

  Again, the power wrenched from his fingertips. It was like catapulting into a whirlpool. He let go of the Sphere as Jarrett’s starving center tried to suck him dry. Tenn closed his eyes and knew Leanna hadn’t been lying. Jarrett was going to die; no amount of Tenn’s power could replenish what had been stolen from him. And there was nothing Tenn could do about it.

  Almost against his wishes, he looked to the stone that had rolled to Jarrett’s hip.

  Or is there?

  He knew how the stone worked; it was the same as the markings on the jar they’d found, only attuned to Earth. Just a little bit of magic and the runes would activate, would start drawing out Jarrett’s magic, just like Cassandra had demonstrated. The memory made his head swim. It felt like years had passed.

  If Leanna was telling the truth, maybe he could do it. Maybe he could alter the runes and turn Jarrett into...into what? A Kin? Some sort of bastardized kraven? Rumor was not even the Dark Lady could create an Earth Howl that kept its sanity—the Kin were all bloodlings or higher. Earth was a hungry, mindless Sphere.

  But what if he managed it?

  He looked at Jarrett. He traced the curve of Jarrett’s jaw with his fingers, delicately, not wanting to hurt the bruises that marred his gaunt face. The scars seemed to stick out even more now, made him look more battle-hardened. He looked older. Too old.

  Tenn tried to imagine his world anew. A different future, where Jarrett was still alive but not quite human. He looked just like before, acted just like before, only now, every night, they didn’t sit down to dinner, didn’t drink wine before the fire while reading books. Jarrett would be out hunting. And Tenn would have to ignore the blood on his lover’s clothes, would have to train himself never to ask what or whom Jarrett had had for supper.

  It would be possible, that future. He could feed off necromancers or maybe even cattle or kravens or...anything. They could still be together. It wouldn’t be any different from now, right? They still had to kill to survive. Jarrett would be in control of his urges. He’d be like the Kin. Like Tomás. He’d still be the man Tenn cared for. Only different.

  There were tears in his eyes. They blurred Jarrett’s sharp features, but Tenn didn’t wipe them away. Only a few days ago, Tenn had thought Jarrett was dead. Gone. Seeing him here and now ripped that open, left Tenn bleeding in the gutter of memory. Tenn had hoped, in his rage to get here, that he could have his future again. He could have the home and the family, the reason to wake up in the morning.

  Only now, he didn’t. The m
an he loved would die no matter what. But maybe, if he really was chosen or important, he could have a semblance of Jarrett back. He could save him. Part of him.

  Tenn shook as he leaned in and kissed Jarrett on the lips. He closed his eyes, wove his fingers gently through Jarrett’s hair and prayed Jarrett could feel this. Jarrett needed to know he had fought for him. He had found him. He hadn’t given up. In the end, Jarrett needed to know that Tenn had tried everything he could to save him. Even this.

  Against his wishes, Water opened and flooded between them.

  In the space of a heartbeat, his reality shattered.

  “You have to let me go,” Jarrett said.

  The room was dark, so dark, but somehow Tenn could see Jarrett clearly, like he carried his own light. They stood in the darkness together, hands linked. Jarrett stood tall, his face warm and golden. Glowing. No sign of the damage Leanna had wrought. He looked whole. Tenn sobbed in relief and fell into his arms. Tears rained unchecked on Jarrett’s shoulder.

  “I can’t,” Tenn said. He knew what this was. He hadn’t expected Jarrett to be conscious enough, but there it was. Emotional transference. He wanted to believe this was real, that this wasn’t just a memory. He wanted more than anything to live that lie. But he knew the awful truth.

  These were Jarrett’s final thoughts.

  Jarrett squeezed him tight, kissed the side of his neck.

  “I can still do it,” Tenn sobbed. “I can still save you.”

  Jarrett pulled back, his hands tight on Tenn’s shoulders.

  “You did save me,” he said. His blue eyes sparkled like the sky, wet with tears.

  “But I wanted us. Our future. I can give us that again. I can make you a Kin.”

  Jarrett smiled sadly.

  “I wanted our future, too. But I can’t let you do that. You know it wouldn’t be right, for either of us. You have to let me go.”

  “But I told you I’d fight for you. I can’t just—”

  Jarrett pressed a finger to his lips.

  “You are fighting,” he said. “And you always will. For us. For our memory. Fight for that, if nothing else. Fight for a new future.”