Runebinder

by Alex R. Kahler

  He removed his finger and leaned in, kissed Tenn with more emotion and passion than Tenn had ever felt before. It made his heart sing and break, all in one gloriously painful moment.

  “I love you,” Jarrett said. “And I always will.”

  The vision faded.

  Tenn sobbed, leaning against Jarrett’s limp body. He wanted to slap him awake, wanted to see those blue eyes one last time, but he knew Jarrett had done all he could, had given Tenn more than he could have hoped. He’d had his goodbye. And now, Jarrett needed Tenn to say goodbye, as well.

  Water was still alive in Tenn’s gut. He reached out with hands and magic, touched the pulse of Jarrett’s chest. It was so faint, so weak. It was barely there at all.

  He could kill him. He could twist his power and stop the blood in Jarrett’s veins. He could open to Earth and push Jarrett over the edge, pray that he would turn him into something resembling the man he wanted so badly to love.

  Either way, he would lose the man he had fought for. The future he wanted to fight for. A life that went beyond revenge. A life worth living.

  He closed his eyes.

  He couldn’t save Jarrett.

  He couldn’t save his family.

  His family.

  His family.

  Water surged in his gut.

  Mom? Dad?

  He doesn’t want to walk down the hall. He doesn’t want to go back outside. He’d seen the shed door swinging in the wind, saw the way the grass had been trampled. But that isn’t what makes him drag his feet toward the shed. It’s a feeling in the pit of his stomach, a resonance with Water that draws him forward. He couldn’t have fought it if he tried.

  But he’s tired of trying. He’d already tried so hard. Fought so much. Across state lines and through hordes of the undead, past classmates fighting and dying and bleeding around him. And through all of it—all of it—Water had fought back. His only Sphere had pulled him forward, pressed him like a tidal wave through hell and high water. Just as it presses him now. Down the steps.

  Out the back door.

  Across the backyard.

  His knees buckle the moment he opens the door.

  They lay there. Pale. So pale. So hurt. Water hurts for them, feels the pull in their empty veins, feels the echoes of their life in the pools of crimson surrounding them. Tenn closes his eyes.

  He hadn’t been fast enough.

  Water hadn’t been strong enough.

  He hadn’t been strong enough.

  Tears well in his eyes and power wells in his gut. Water blossoms. Water rages. Behind him, another scream roars. The monsters have found him. The monsters will always find him.

  He needs to bury his parents. He needs to give them a proper, final rest. But he can’t—there’s no time. Just like he couldn’t have saved them. Water bellows. This is unfair. So unfair. He’s traveled so far, fought through so much. And it wasn’t enough.

  He turns. Lets the shed door close behind him, hiding them away.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispers as he stands. As he stands and turns to face the coming monsters.

  They surround him. He can barely see the freshly decaying flesh, the putrid shades of red and pink and purple. Not through the tears that shatter his vision in starlight. Not through the roar of Water in his gut, in his heart, in his head. He spent so many days fighting. Fighting the monsters. Fighting the other mages. Fighting the power within him.

  He’s done fighting.

  Not done fighting the monsters.

  He’s done fighting the power.

  He screams, and the Sphere of Water screams through him, pulses out into the world like a tidal wave. It catches the blood in the veins of the monsters, both living and undead. Tosses them to the ground. Pulls the blood from their veins.

  He doesn’t stop screaming.

  Water doesn’t stop screaming.

  He has all the pain in the world.

  He has all the power.

  Tenn gasped. Water still flooded his mind, but it relinquished his thoughts.

  He stared at Jarrett. So close. So close to death. And so close to being forever far away.

  “I wasn’t there for them,” Tenn whispered. “But I’m sure as hell going to be there for you.”

  How was he supposed to save the world if he couldn’t even save another human? How was he supposed to change the language of runes if he couldn’t even face the words he’d been given? He’d been given power. It was time he damn well used it.

  Tenn grabbed the stone Leanna had left behind. It was wrong. He knew it in his bones, knew it in the way it seemed to sink into his flesh like oil, in the whispers of death and destruction the runes wrought in his mind, but he also knew it held power. So much power.

  He traced the runes along the stone with a finger, let the grooves twist words and images through his mind.

  The endless void; the teetering expanse; a black hole devouring the horizon; the pull of power.

  It was made to drain its victims, yes. But he realized, as he read the runes over and over again, that it was more than that. It was a vessel.

  And it was storing Jarrett’s power.

  He traced the runes again. Felt the surge of energy deep within the stone. Tenn couldn’t channel enough Earth to mend Jarrett—maybe, if it had been Water, he would have stood a chance. But he’d only been attuned to Earth for a year or so. It wasn’t nearly strong enough. But if he could rewrite these runes. If he could reverse the power...

  He opened to Earth.

  He opened to Water.

  Water had always guided him. Water had always pulled him forward, connected him to something bigger than himself. Water, he realized, was how the gods spoke to him. Spoke through him. And he would give them that chance.

  “Help me,” he whispered and prayed. Please help me save him.

  He poured a thin stream of energy into the stone. But not to activate it. To change it. He manipulated the runes. Changed the paths of the currents of power. His eyes were half-closed, his breathing soft, his thoughts no longer his.

  Save him, he thought on repeat. His mantra. His lifeline.

  The stone hummed. Grew hot with power as the runes slowly changed. As the runes became a different language. A lighter language. One not cursed by the Dark Lady’s tongue.

  He reached out, pressed the stone to Jarrett’s belly. Pressed more power into the stone. Into the runes as he changed them: release; the rising sun; a plant bursting to blossom.

  The stone glowed green, runes flared emerald.

  And with a rush of energy that sounded like thunder, that shook the room like a windfall, the stone connected to Jarrett’s dying Sphere. The stone and the runes stopped draining.

  The stone released its power and filled him.

  Jarrett’s body arched from the ground as wave upon wave of light and energy crashed through him, flares of green that nearly sent Tenn backward. But he kept holding on. Holding on to the power he poured into the stone. Holding on to Jarrett’s arm even as he bucked away. Holding on to the hope that this had worked. This had to work.

  Another rumble. Another wave of power. A lance of energy as the stone cracked, as light poured out and nearly blinded him.

  Then Jarrett collapsed to the ground.

  The stone fell to the side and shattered.

  Tenn sat there. Staring. His heart hammering louder than thunder in his chest.

  Come on. Come on. Come on.

  “I believe,” Jarrett whispered, his eyes quirking open, “my prince is supposed to kiss me awake.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  HE DIDN’T KNOW how long they huddled there, curled against one another. Jarrett was alive. Jarrett was alive. But weak. So weak. He fell asleep in Tenn’s arms right after speak
ing, as though that act had been scaling a mountain. Tenn didn’t care. He could have stayed there all night, holding Jarrett to his chest, until the twins began their attack and he had to kick his brain into gear.

  He could have stayed there, if not for the hand that touched his shoulder. The hand that burned with fire and ice.

  “Tomás,” Tenn hissed, flinching away, shielding Jarrett from the incubus.

  Tomás stood there, inches away, once more wearing nothing but skintight jeans and a smile, as though it weren’t snowing outside. As though this were just another seduction. He burned like a sun. He must have been feeding. Tenn hated himself for not sensing the Kin’s arrival. He should have known Tomás and Leanna would be together. Working together. And now, here he was to gloat.

  “I am impressed,” Tomás said. He was staring not at Tenn but at Jarrett. Jarrett, who could barely keep his eyes open. “You have done what no other could do.”

  “I didn’t turn him,” Tenn said.

  “No. But you spoke the language of the runes. You heard the Dark Lady’s call.” His eyes trailed to Tenn as he spoke, the smile twisting into something else. Tenn didn’t like that change in Tomás’s demeanor.

  Tomás was looking at him like an equal.

  “I didn’t hear anything,” Tenn said. “What the hell do you want?”

  “Touchy, touchy,” Tomás muttered. He stroked the side of Tenn’s face, sending chills down his spine. Then he reached for Jarrett. Tenn beat his hand away. Tomás actually chuckled. “She expects this one to be a monster, you know.” He looked at Tenn. “What will you do when my sister arrives and finds him whole? Do you truly think you will leave here?”

  “We’ll fight.”

  Tomás laughed. Far too loudly. Tenn fully expected Leanna to come barging in right then. The fact that she didn’t had him on edge. She had to have felt that much magic. Maybe she just thought it was him turning Jarrett into a Howl?

  “You’ll fight?” Tomás asked. “Adorable. And here I thought you had actually learned something in the last few days.” Quick as a viper, Tomás had Tenn against the wall, feet away from Jarrett, a hand around his neck. “You forget your place, little mouse. You cannot kill Leanna. Just as you cannot kill me. At best, you are our plaything. At worst, a meal.”

  He leaned in and licked Tenn’s jawline. Fire screamed inside Tenn’s chest as the incubus drew the heat from him, leaving him shuddering. A renegade sigh escaped his lips.

  “You don’t have it in you to fight her,” Tomás said, his words tilting on bedroom huskiness. “And neither does your lover. If you want to get out of here alive, you are going to have to play by my rules.”

  Tenn wanted to say he wasn’t playing. He wasn’t going to be manipulated by Tomás—not after what he’d just done, not after he’d done the impossible. But he couldn’t get the words out.

  Tomás could be very commanding when he wanted to be.

  “What...what do you want?” Tenn managed. He shuddered and his chest ached; Tomás was drawing heat from him even now, more than he ever had before.

  Tomás chuckled. “You always ask that. My answer is always the same. I want everything, Tenn. And you have just proven that you can help me get it.” He leaned in, and the little strength Tenn had left wanted to pull the Howl closer. “I am actually quite glad you restored your lover. He is going to make the coming days so much more interesting to watch.”

  “I don’t—”

  But Tomás put his free finger over Tenn’s lips.

  “You don’t. But you will. If you follow my lead.”

  He let Tenn go. Tenn slumped to the floor.

  Heat rushed back through Tenn’s limbs, followed by a terrible tingling that made it impossible to move. He watched Tomás saunter toward Jarrett. Jarrett watched him approach with half-lidded eyes.

  “Don’t you dare—”

  “I’m not going to hurt him, Tenn. I already told you, I look forward to the fun we will all have soon. Oh, so very soon.” He knelt down in front of Jarrett, studying him but not touching. “But he will die if you keep him here. And you are in no shape to protect him from what is about to come. I won’t be able to, either.”

  He looked back to Tenn.

  “I will take him from here. Bring him to your friends. We can tell Leanna you pushed your lover out the window or something.”

  Tenn wanted to ask a thousand questions, but the only one he could get out was “Why?”

  Tomás’s smile read every question.

  “Do you truly believe there is a single moment where I am not watching you, Tenn? I observed you and your friends creating your little runic circle. How positively ancient of you, by the way. As for why... I have my reasons. Let’s just say, it’s much more fun to watch you struggle. Opposition breeds resilience, after all.”

  Tenn inched forward. He couldn’t trust Tomás. Not when Tomás had kept this from him. He must have known Jarrett was alive this entire time. He couldn’t trust him...

  “I haven’t lied to you once, Tenn,” Tomás said as Tenn tried to move, his limbs barely working. “I told you from day one that I would keep you alive. And that I have. But you are right not to trust me. You shouldn’t trust anyone. Not even your lover, who still hasn’t admitted why he was sent to find you. Charming, if not a little convenient. Oh, yes, keeping him alive will make this so much more fun.”

  Before Tenn could ask what Tomás meant, the incubus and Jarrett were gone.

  Tenn blinked. The room suddenly empty, as if it had all been a dream. He could have almost believed it was a hallucination, too. If not for the shattered stone marking where Jarrett had lain.

  Moments later, Tomás reappeared.

  One day, Tenn would figure out how he was traveling like that.

  Tenn opened his mouth, but Tomás was at his side before he could speak.

  “Do not worry, little mouse. Your boyfriend is safe.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Tenn asked. “Why are you helping me?”

  “I’m not,” Tomás said. He gently caressed Tenn’s face, once more sending chills and heat through Tenn’s skin. Tenn’s mind raced with the images of what other sensations the man could arouse, but his words cut the thoughts short. “You are helping me.”

  Tenn reached up and grabbed Tomás’s hand. His mind was fluttering, but he had to stay focused. Had to draw the Howl closer. Had to...

  The door opened.

  Leanna stormed in, her lackey Justin right behind her. She took one look at the room before her eyes narrowed on Tomás. It was clear, seeing them in the same room, that their relation was only through being Kin. Leanna was pale to Tomás’s tan, willowy to his muscle. Calm, to his crazy.

  “Brother,” she said. Her voice was flat.

  “Sister,” Tomás said. “How pleasant—”

  “What are you doing here? And where is the boy?” she asked, staring at Tomás warily. It wasn’t fear on her face. It was consideration. He was clearly a very unpleasant surprise. Maybe Tomás was telling the truth, and they weren’t working together, after all.

  “Your captive is whole once more,” Tomás said. “Our little wonder boy here came through—he didn’t just read the runes, he changed them. And now, Jarrett is back outside your clutches, just waiting for this one’s return. Tenn succeeded. Just as I knew he would. But not in the ways you thought.”

  Leanna didn’t even spare Tenn a glance.

  “Get him out of here,” she said to Justin. “Lock him in the basement.”

  Justin stepped forward, but before he could wrest Tenn from Tomás’s death grip on his arm, Tenn’s thoughts coalesced. He was still open to Earth. And he wasn’t going to lose track of Tomás again. He wasn’t going to be watched from the shadows.

  With a whip-quick lance of power, he seared the tracking rune onto To
más’s heart. Tomás cried out and yanked his hand away. He stared at Tenn with a snarl on his lips and rubbed his chest with a free hand. Was he actually shocked? Or just impressed that Tenn had bitten back?

  “What the hell was that?” Tomás asked.

  “A going-away present.”

  Justin gave Leanna a wary look, but she just nodded dismissively. Tenn closed off to Earth and let Justin haul him to his feet.

  “Wait,” Tenn said, just before they reached the door. The sky outside the window was starting to lighten.

  “What?” Leanna asked.

  But he wasn’t looking at her. He was looking at Tomás.

  “Why do this?” Tenn asked. “Why did you bring me here? If it was to kill her, why not just do it yourself?”

  Tomás’s look of indignation took on its usual elfish grin. “Oh,” he said. “That.”

  Leanna’s jaw was clenched, and Justin was clearly torn between following his mistress’s orders and watching this play out. Tomás sighed dramatically and walked over to an armchair in the corner, settling himself down and crossing his ankles. Leanna looked ready to spit fire, but Tomás’s grin was all comfortable mischief.

  “I crave power,” he said. He was looking straight at Leanna.

  “I fail to see how this,” she said, gesturing to Tenn, “is your path to power, brother. I have precisely what I sought: the one who can speak the language of the runes...” Tomás started miming her with his hand, rolling his eyes. Leanna snapped her jaw shut.

  “Oh, yes, sister. You have the ‘Chosen One,’” he said, making air quotes. “Too bad you’re going to die before you can use him to create more of us.”

  Leanna actually laughed at this.

  “What? You believe this boy can kill me?”

  “No,” Tomás said. “But having him here will make him the perfect scapegoat. After all, our brethren already know his name. They know to fear him, as much as they covet.”

  “Coward,” Leanna said.

  Tomás chuckled.

  “I am many things, but a coward I am not. If I killed you, the rest of our brethren would be up in arms. What would our mother say? I’d have the entirety of the Dark Lady’s army at my throat. But if the Chosen One kills you? Well, no harm, no foul, as they say.”