Soul Keeper

by Kate Keir

  “Lyall, you have to leave. Sluag is sending his Draugur after you, right now. Get Pen, and get away from there. Call me when you get this, please?” I had started out shouting, but my voice tapered off into a whisper by the end of the message.

  I ran to the door and flew along the hallway, hammering on each of the other doors as I went. I needed to rouse the others and could think of no quicker way to do it.

  Freya was the first to stumble out on to the landing. “Flora, what the f—”

  I cut her off. “Sluag knows where Pen and Lyall are. He’s going to kill them.”

  By this time everyone else was awake and had made their way into the hall, so they heard what I’d said. Mara gripped Artair’s hand and gasped, and Freya’s eyes widened with worry.

  “We all go to the great hall. Now.”

  My shoulders slumped in relief as Finlay’s calm voice rang out behind me. I was so grateful to my longest-standing Dion, for taking control of the situation as I followed him down the stairs.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  I felt lost as everyone began to sit at the long wooden table. Pen and Lyall’s absence loomed over us, making both the table and the room feel too large for our tiny group.

  Artair sat down just as he was leaving a second voicemail for Lyall, and Freya was cursing as she hung up the phone after trying Pen for the third time. Finlay stood at one end of the table—where Pen usually sat. He didn’t even wait until I sat before he spoke.

  “Flora, we need to hear everything that happened. I’m guessing you were summoned again?”

  I blushed. Not only did I not want to confess to providing Sluag with the means to find and kill Pen and Lyall, but I also didn’t relish the idea of telling all of my Dion the content of my conversation with Sluag. Especially not the part about Finlay and I having a moment.

  Finlay seemed to understand my hesitation. “There’s no time for sensitivity, Flor. Tell it like it is.”

  I told them everything, afraid that if I left something out, I could miss a vital piece of information that might help us to protect the two Dion who were now in danger. When I came to the part about Sluag calling Finlay a traitor, I looked over at him and studied his reaction.

  Apart from an almost imperceptible tightening of his jaw, he gave nothing away. I wasn’t fooled. I knew it must have hurt him to have the accusation spoken out loud before the others and I hated myself for ever doubting him. When I finished telling the others what had happened, I sat back in my chair, taking a deep breath.

  “I’m so sorry. I should have tried harder to keep him out of my head.”

  “No offence, Flora, but I really don’t think you stand a chance one on one with Sluag. Especially not when you’re in the Endwood, even if it is just in dream form.” As usual, Freya didn’t hold back.

  “It’s useless worrying about what’s happened. We need to concentrate on what we do next,” Artair said.

  “Artair’s right. What we have to do is help Pen and Lyall. How long will it take for the Draugur to get there?” I didn’t really want to hear the answer to my question.

  “They can be there within the hour I reckon, Flor. They aren’t bound by the constraints of time and distance like we are.” Finlay looked grim.

  “Then if we can’t contact Pen and Lyall, they won’t even know the Draugur are coming for them.” Mara’s face was deathly white.

  A sudden thought struck me. “If we shifted, could we communicate with them by thought?”

  “No chance.” Artair shook his head sadly. “They’re over sixty miles away. Once we get about a mile of separation between us, the telepathy just fizzles out.”

  “If I fly, I can get there in a couple of hours. It’s a better plan than doing nothing.” Freya stood up as she spoke.

  “Artair and I can come with you. All three of us can fly.” Mara started to stand too.

  “No.” Finlay’s voice was loud and commanding, making us all look toward him questioningly. “Freya, I think it’s a good idea for you to go.” He turned to Mara and Artair. “I need you two to stay here with me.”

  “Finlay, what’s one extra Dion going to be able to do? Sluag will send every single Draugur he has for them, now he knows they’re alone.” Artair stood up next to his fiancée.

  “Do you think so? Because I happen to think that Sluag is smarter than that.” Finlay was frowning in concentration.

  “What do you mean?” I asked my best friend.

  “Okay, he stole the information from your mind. But like he said, you would never have known he’d been in your head if he hadn’t told you. Apart from obviously wanting to torment you, because he knows how important to you Pen and Lyall are, I think he wants us to do something stupid, like send everyone west.”

  Realisation dawned on me. “He wants me to be left alone here.”

  “He won’t send all of his Draugur west. He’ll save most of them to send after Flora once we leave her vulnerable.” Freya nodded in agreement.

  “But what about Pen and Lyall?” My voice came out sounding very small.

  “I’m sorry, Flora. You’re the Soul Keeper. No one is more important than you.” Finlay’s voice was firm.

  “You can’t just leave them to be killed.” Mara was furious.

  “I think Freya should go. But you and Artair need to stay here with me.” He pointed at me. “She’s the reason for everything. If he gets hold of her, we might as well all be dead.”

  I bit back a sob of frustration and sorrow. “Finlay, I can’t let them die because of me.”

  “I hate to do this to you, Flor, but you really don’t get to make the choice here.”

  I looked at him, and the hurt must have shown in my eyes. “You’re going to pull that card on me?” I asked,

  “Flora, he is right.” Freya’s tone was surprisingly soft as she came to stand next to me, resting her hand gently on my tense shoulder. She shifted her gaze to Finlay.

  “Permission to go now?”

  He paused for only a fraction of a second, before nodding once.

  She didn’t hesitate. Her clothes fell into a small pile next to my chair, and with a harsh caw, she flapped her midnight wings and flew to the stone windowsill. The raven Freya tapped her beak against the glass frantically until Artair crossed the room and opened the window, allowing her to dive off the sill and melt into the night.

  Finlay avoided my desolate stare. “Artair, you need to keep trying Lyall’s phone. Mara, keep calling Pen. Tonight, we don’t sleep. If Sluag’s Draugur show up, we need to be ready for a fight. I don’t expect him to be light on numbers.”

  “Exactly when did Pen put you in control here, Finlay?” Artair had returned to Mara and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, trying hard to comfort her.

  Finlay growled. “If I hadn’t taken control just now, you’d all be on your way to the west and Flora would probably be dead.”

  “Couldn’t we all go?” Mara’s cheeks were wet with tears.

  “I’m a cat and Flora’s a wolf.” I thought I saw him grimace when he said the word wolf. “We can’t keep up with you two, on foot. You’d either have to fly at our pace, which wouldn’t get you there in time. Or you’d have to leave us behind, which again would put her in danger.”

  “You know, it’s suspicious that you’ve taken total control here and ensured that Flora’s Dion are split three for three. Especially after Sluag has accused you of being a traitor, Finlay.” Artair stepped protectively in front of Mara as he spoke.

  I could barely follow what happened next, such was the speed with which Finlay crossed the room and wrapped his hand around Artair’s throat. He kept momentum, pushing forward until Artair’s back hit the stone wall with a thud that made Mara cry out.

  “A traitor?” Finlay’s voice was feral as he pressed his nose against Artair’s. “Is that what I am? Because all can I see, is that I am the only one who wants to do whatever it takes to keep Flora safe.”

  “Finlay, stop,” I shrieked.

>   Artair raised his two hands up in a gesture of submission. His face was going red as Finlay squeezed harder.

  I crossed the room and laid my hand on the arm that was throttling Artair. “You need to get a hold of yourself. If you don’t stop right now, I’ll change into a wolf and start running for the west myself.”

  After an endless moment, where I was terrified Artair would run out of air, Finlay let go and took a step back from us both.

  I gestured to Artair’s gasping form. “Mara, take Artair upstairs. Make sure he’s okay. Then would you please keep trying to call Pen and Lyall?”

  She nodded at me as she ducked her head underneath one of Artair’s arms and started to help him out of the room. She turned toward Finlay as she passed by him, her eyes pooling with tears. “I don’t know what that was, Finlay, but you may have just broken something that can never be fixed.”

  After they left, I closed the door behind them and turned to face my best friend. He sat down heavily in Pen’s chair and rested his elbows on the table and his head in his hands.

  I walked slowly to the table and chose the seat next to his. He gave me a surprised look. He obviously thought I’d sit farther away.

  “I thought you’d be scared of me.” His voice came out sounding hoarse.

  I looked at him sadly. “I’m more scared of you right now than I have ever been of Sluag. I don’t even recognise you.”

  “I’m pre-programmed to protect you, Flora. Add to that the fact that I love you more than life. I can’t let anyone make a bad decision that could end up with you getting killed.”

  “You didn’t have to hurt Artair.”

  “No, I shouldn’t have done that. But he will forgive me.”

  “I’m not sure Mara will.”

  “Maybe not, Flor. But you’ll still be alive, so I’ll take it.”

  I looked down at my hands clasped on my knee. My fingers were twisting restlessly. “We can’t let them die, Finlay.”

  “They won’t die. Pen’s been playing this game for years. She’s nobody’s fool, and Lyall? Well, Lyall’s kick-ass.”

  I looked back to my hands. So many thoughts were running through my mind. I contemplated sneaking out of the castle to go and find Pen and Lyall.

  “Neither of us is going to bed tonight. You can’t sneak off, Flor.”

  I raised my eyebrows at him, wondering if he had Sluag’s ability to read my mind.

  He gave a weak laugh. “No, I can’t read your mind. But I know you well enough to know when you’re plotting.”

  How can I resent him for trying to do his job and keep me safe? “Thank you for protecting me,” I whispered.

  “Always.”

  “What happens now?” I asked.

  “We wait.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The next few hours passed slowly with no news. Mara and Artair remained upstairs, obviously avoiding Finlay. Although Mara did send me texts now and then, letting me know they still hadn’t made contact with either of our missing Dion.

  Finlay was true to his word and hadn’t let me out of his sight, even going so far as to come and stand guard in the hallway outside the bathroom when I could no longer hold off from going.

  As soon as we returned to the great hall, he walked to the window and stared into the darkness, as though he would be able to see the shadowy figures of any Draugur that marched on Castle Dion through the night.

  We had barely spoken, and the silence only increased my anxiety as I repeatedly imagined the Draugur surrounding the stone circle and closing in on Pen and Lyall, eventually overwhelming them both.

  “I had to take charge. Leaving you vulnerable wasn’t an option, Flor.” Finlay didn’t turn away from the window as he spoke, and I almost didn’t hear his words because he said them so softly.

  “I know. I’m not sure you needed to attack one of our own to keep me safe, though.” I couldn’t lie. I was still disturbed by Finlay’s actions earlier.

  He sighed heavily. “If I’m completely honest with myself, Flor, I didn’t attack Artair to keep you safe. I lost it when he called me a traitor.”

  I had no reply for that. I had suspected that Artair’s accusation had been what provoked Finlay’s reaction. How could I blame him?

  “Sluag has been chipping away at my reputation for weeks,” Finlay continued. “Making you believe that I’m going to betray you. Turning the others against me. Turing you against me.”

  I crossed the room to him. He still had his back to me, so I hugged him from behind. I wound my arms around his waist and laid my head against his back as I spoke. “He hasn’t turned me against you. I told you that I trust you, and I meant it.”

  He stiffened and then relaxed again. “You can’t tell me you haven’t thought about believing what he’s told you. You can’t tell me he hasn’t got inside your head even a little bit.”

  I could feel the muscles in his back shift as he inhaled and exhaled. My own body naturally fell into the same rhythm as his, and our breathing synchronised as I kept my arms around his waist and my cheek pressed against the soft material of his T-shirt.

  “He’s gotten so far inside my head, he has his own house, with a white picket fence and a garden set up in there.” I laughed. “But that doesn’t mean I believe a word of what he says. He’ll say whatever he can to try and isolate me, just like he did to Aiden.”

  “Excuse us?” Mara’s voice shocked me into releasing Finlay and stepping back from him. We both turned in surprise.

  Mara and Artair stood in the doorway to the hall. Mara gave us both a disapproving look before holding her phone up. “Pen’s on speaker.”

  I almost collapsed with relief as both Finlay and I sprinted across the room to hear what Pen had to say.

  “Is everyone there now?” Pen’s voice came crystal clear through the phone speaker.

  “Yes, we’re all here. Are you okay? Are Lyall and Freya okay?” I held my breath as I waited for her reply.

  “We are all fine, Flora. I sensed the Draugur before they actually appeared. I think because there were so many of them. So, Lyall and I made our way to a little cottage by the sea that I rent for just such an emergency as this.”

  “Thank goodness.” I breathed out in relief.

  “What about Freya?” Finlay queried.

  “She’s at the cottage too. I left a message at the stone circle that only the other Dion would understand. I suspected you may send a search party for us if you knew the Draugur were coming.”

  “I’m sorry we didn’t send more of us to help you, Pen.” Artair looked pointedly at Finlay as he spoke.

  “You stayed to protect our Soul Keeper. I would be disappointed if you had made any other choice.” Pen was firm, and Finlay looked satisfied.

  “Are you on your way home?” Mara asked hopefully.

  “Not just yet. The good news is, I have completed the ritual. Lyall’s blood was as potent as I had hoped it would be within the Stones of Broca. But I need to go back and seal the spell, so it cannot ever be undone by another.”

  “That won’t take long, though?” Finlay queried.

  “We will wait a couple of hours to be sure the Draugur have given up their hunt. Then we will go back at dawn. I expect to be home by tea-time tomorrow. Or is it today by now?” Pen laughed.

  “Be careful,” I begged.

  “Flora, I have a favour to ask of you.”

  “Of course, Pen. Ask away?”

  “Freya told me about the summoning and Sluag breaking into your mind. My first mission when I return will be to find a way to put a stop to both of those things, for good.”

  My face flushed in shame as Pen spoke.

  “It’s not your fault, Flora. However, I can’t afford for Sluag to steal our new plans from your mind tonight.”

  “You want me to stay awake until you’re done?” I cringed. I was exhausted.

  “Yes, please.”

  “Don’t worry, Pen. I’ll stay with her and keep her awake.” Mara raised
her eyebrows at Finlay as he spoke.

  “Thank you, both of you. I’ll send you a text as soon as you are free to sleep, Flora. Now I need to go. Freya will stay with us and travel back tomorrow too. See you all soon.”

  “Bye, Pen,” we chorused, before Mara hung up.

  Mara and Artair started for the door, but they paused when Finlay called out Artair’s name.

  Finlay bowed his head. “Artair, I’m sorry about earlier. I still think I was right to make the decisions I did. But I shouldn’t have gone for you. I hope you can forgive me?”

  Mara narrowed her eyes, but Artair walked back toward Finlay, holding out his hand. “It’s forgotten. We were all worried and stressed. I’m sorry I called you a traitor. I didn’t mean it.”

  They gave each other a rough handshake, both smiling.

  Mara came to me and gave me a warm hug. I was surprised but delighted and responded by hugging her back.

  “I’m sorry, Flora. I’m glad Finlay didn’t let us do something stupid. But you do understand why I was angry, don’t you?”

  “Of course, I understand, Mara. Finlay shouldn’t have done what he did. But everything will be okay now, as long as I can stay awake for a while longer.” I laughed.

  She stepped back from me, holding me at arm’s length. Shooting a quick glance in Finlay’s direction, she whispered, “Just be careful, okay?”

  I started to ask her what she meant, but she let go of my shoulders. Grabbing Artair’s hand, she led him out of the door and into the hallway.

  I shook my head. Mara was obviously still upset by what Finlay had done to Artair. Thinking back to it, I really couldn’t blame her. One thing I did know for sure, though, was that my best friend would never hurt me.

  Finlay held his hand out to me. “Come on, even if you can’t sleep, you can still rest.”

  I took his hand, and we headed upstairs to my room. Once we were inside, I sat on the bed and scratched Achilles’s head while Finlay shut the door. There was a time when I would never have felt uncomfortable about Finlay being in my room.