“I’m just wondering what frame of mind Morgan’s going to be in. He and Rhein are pretty close.”
“Most of Morgan’s memories of Rhein are false. Put there by someone else.”
Gwen shoveled the last few spoonfuls of stew into her mouth because she didn’t want to respond too quickly. She didn’t want to get Cei’s curiosity up.
“Who would do that?” she finally asked.
Cei had wandered to the tent in preparation of tearing it down one last time. He glanced back at her, his eyes lost in the bright sunlight that was bearing down on them.
“I have no clue. It could have been Morgan’s father, or it could have been anyone versed in Druid rituals. Even Rhein could have done it.”
“Rhein doesn’t have powers.”
“No, but he was studying to be a Druid priest. He knows more about the rituals they performed than anyone alive today.”
That thought had never occurred to Gwen. She cleaned up her bowl, wiping it out with the heavily sanded soil. Then she followed him to the tent, crawling inside to roll up her sleeping bag and gather her things, shoving it all into her pack for the day’s hike.
“Can you perform some of the rituals?”
Cei was doing the same, tying his sleeping bag to the bottom edge of his pack. She could see the small box he’d taken from Gwydion’s lab poking out of the top of the partially open pack. She found herself wondering how much he had learned as he served Gwydion, how many spells he witnessed, how many chants—or whatever—he heard spoken. Gwydion was rumored to be one of the most powerful of the Welsh gods. If Cei had picked up just a part of what he witnessed, he could be a force to be reckoned with.
That idea made Gwen want to get out of the tiny confines of that tent.
“It’s not as simple as it sounds. I wasn’t training to be a priest. I didn’t even study any of the Druid rituals. I was just the son of a farmer.”
Gwen nodded, as she quickly zipped up her bag and backed out of the tent. Cei followed, tossing his bag to one side as he turned his attention on the stakes that held the tent in place. In seconds, he had the tent torn down and rolled into a manageable ball. He shoved it into the pack and slung it over his shoulder.
“We should reach town by noon. Maybe we can find a decent restaurant and have something other than stew.”
Gwen smiled at that thought. “Do they serve hamburgers in this part of the world?”
“They have hamburgers everywhere, love,” Cei said, reaching for her hand. “You just have to know how to ask.”
They headed down the mountain, coming across a tourist trail after just a few hours. From there, they were in town in the early afternoon, just like he said. And it was a beautiful place, unnaturally green because of the constant rains in the area. Plus, the view of the mountains was breathtaking. Gwen found herself looking around in awe as Cei had to practically pull her through the streets until they found the small bus station where he arranged tickets to Llandudno.
“We have an hour to burn,” he said. “Why don’t we go find that diner?”
Gwen ate more than she should have, forgoing hamburger for the local fare: monk fish with laver bread and shepherd’s pie with another kind of bread that Gwen didn’t recognize. They washed it all down with a warm beer that tasted much better than Gwen expected it to. Maybe after three days of drinking nothing but water and eating stew after stew her taste buds had changed a little. Whatever, it all tasted like heaven.
As she settled back in her chair when all the food was gone from the table, she glanced out the window and immediately caught sight of Rhein leaning against the building across the street, watching them. Something about the boldness of his stance made her sit up again.
“I hope we don’t regret this later,” Cei said.
“I think I already do,” Gwen admitted, her hand moving slowly over her overstuffed belly. “I hope the bus doesn’t hit every pothole from here to Llandudno.”
Cei smiled, a relaxed smile that reminded her of the first time she saw him, standing on the Langley’s lawn the day the social worker brought her there. It was a smile that lived in her dreams for days afterward, even as she tried to remind herself she’d been moved to the Langleys to attend a better school that would help her get into the college she wanted to attend.
He reached across the table and touched her hand lightly. “Just remember, if you need to vomit”—he picked up her hand and caressed it gently between both his hands—“make sure you point it out the window.”
She laughed, shaking her head as she made a mock attempt to pull her hand away from him.
“That’s very romantic.”
“Vomit is not romantic.”
“Yeah, but aren’t you supposed to offer to hold my hair, or something like that?”
He shrugged, reaching across the table to push a piece of hair out of her face. “I’ll hold your hair, if you want. But if you vomit on me, it’s all over.”
Gwen laughed again, pulling away as she stood up. “On that note, I’m going to find a bathroom.”
She could still hear him chuckling as she walked away and it made her heart a little lighter. It made her forget, for an instant, about the heavy sword hanging over her head.
She went into the small bathroom and did her business. Afterward, she was standing at the sink, washing her hands when she became aware of movement behind her. She spun around, pulling the small dagger from the back pocket of her jeans, recognizing Rhein as she thrust forward, unable to pull back in time to stop the tip of the dagger from dancing over his ribs.
“Shit,” he grunted, grabbing her wrist and twisting it so that she was forced to open her hand and let go of the dagger. “Good to know you can defend yourself, but that hurt!”
“Sorry.”
He stooped over and snatched up the dagger, holding it out to her handle first. “This was a perfectly good shirt.”
“You shouldn’t have snuck up on me.”
“I thought you heard me.”
Gwen turned back to the sink, shoving the dagger back into her pocket as she turned her attention back to washing her hands. “You shouldn’t be here.”
Rhein moved up beside her, lifting his shirt to check out the damage the dagger had done. Gwen glanced at him, convinced she would never get used to seeing damaged flesh knitting itself back together as his was doing in that moment. She touched it with her damp fingers, the water mixing with his blood, turning it into teardrops that ran slowly down the length of his side.
She grabbed a paper towel and pressed it to his side. He placed his hand over hers, as his other slid over her arm, pulling her closer to him. Gwen found herself staring at the impressive shape of his chest and his abdominal muscles before she cleared her throat and stepped back a little.
“I should go. Cei’s going to wonder what’s taking me so long.”
“Where’s he taking you?”
Gwen turned back to the sink, finally finishing the job she had started on her hands moments ago. “Llandudno. Cei got an email from Tony telling him that they found something.”
“What kind of something?”
Gwen shook her head as she dried her hands, trying not to look at him. But when she finally turned and tossed the paper towel away, she saw that he had lowered his shirt back into place.
“Don’t know.”
Rhein sat back against the sink, running his hands over the legs of his jeans. “At least you’ll be back with Tony and Morgan. It’ll be safer.”
She nodded, as her thoughts moved to the Cei she had just left at their table. Some part of her wished that was the Cei he was all the time—the funny, flirtatious guy who made her heart flutter with his warm laugh.
And that made her think of something else.
“I heard Cei talking to someone this morning. You didn’t happen to see who it was, did you?”
Rhein’s head came up. “Talking?”
Gwen lifted her hair off of her shoulders, smoothing the loose strands tha
t were trying to escape her braid back into place. “I don’t know. It might have just been part of a dream.”
“I saw you go back to the tent alone. And I saw Cei come back pretty late.”
“Was someone with him?”
“Not then. And when he went to sleep…I went to sleep, too. By the time I woke up, the two of you were gone.”
“Some protector you are.”
“I may be immortal, but I still get tired like anyone else. Besides,” he said, gesturing at the blood stains on the front of his shirt, “you seem quite capable of protecting yourself in close quarters.”
“That protective barrier thing seems to help, too.”
Rhein smiled. “Good.”
Gwen started for the door. Her hand wasn’t even on the door handle when Rhein called to her.
“Who did you think he was talking to?”
“It was probably just part of my dream.”
“Indulge me. Who do you think he was talking to?”
She turned, learned back against the door with her hands trapped behind her and her eyes on the floor. She ran the overheard conversation over in her head again, the tone of Cei’s voice, Branwen’s clear, shrewish tones, and the other voice. She was pretty sure she knew who that was, too, but she didn’t really want to admit it to herself. If she did, it meant she was in more trouble than she had thought.
“They were talking about me,” she said quietly, “about the fact that I haven’t been able to find the gate yet. Cei defended me, said I needed more time.”
“Who did he tell that to?”
She slowly looked up at him. She knew there was fear in her eyes, knew that her thoughts were written all over her face. One of her foster mothers had once told her that she had a face that was like an open book—there was no hiding her emotions when she was really upset.
Rhein came to her, moving slowly, but with purpose to every step. He reached for her, his hand stopping just inches from her face before it dropped. He took her hand instead, squeezing it in a friendly, reassuring sort of way.
“When you get to Llandudno, make sure either Tony or Morgan is always around. Don’t let Cei into your hotel room. Don’t do anything that allows him to get you alone.”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
Rhein studied her face closely, but he didn’t respond to her question. Instead, he squeezed her hand again and said, “I’ll be right behind you. No one’s going to hurt you.”
“You don’t know that. If Cei figures out I know—”
“He won’t because you’re the only one who can tell him, and you won’t do that.” Rhein leaned close to her, his breath dancing on the tender skin of her throat. “This is all going to be over very soon. As soon as we figure out where the gate is, you can end it, and we’ll be on our way back to whatever life has in store for us.”
Gwen nodded. She turned, about to leave when another thought occurred to her. “That night,” she said, without looking at him, “the one when Branwen and…when I was kidnapped. You said you had something to show me. You told me I had to come to your house so that you could talk to me alone.”
“I was researching the ritual, and I found a picture of a baton that the Druids believed increased their powers because it was made of the bones of one of the earliest priests. That picture reminded me of the baton Cei had when I saw him kill that girl. It wasn’t exactly the same, the markings were different. But I knew it meant something and I wanted to warn you.”
“You knew Cei was the traitor.”
“I knew you might be in danger. And I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.”
“But you saw him kill her. Didn’t it occur to you before that that Cei might have an agenda?”
“No.” He placed his hand on her shoulder. “Cei was an immortal servant like me. He is one of a few people who knew me before, who I knew before. I knew what he had done was wrong, but I wanted to believe he did it for the right reasons…at least what he believed to be the right reasons.”
“You trusted him.”
“I never trusted him. Why do you think I’ve been watching him all these years?”
Gwen turned and found herself practically in his arms. She leaned back against the door and looked up at him. “You’ve been watching over Morgan.”
“I was watching Morgan because I knew he would eventually be drawn to a female demigod—to you. And I knew that would bring Cei onto my radar.” He touched her arm lightly. “I was watching over Morgan so that I could find you and make sure Cei didn’t repeat his previous performance.”
“That’s why you kept showing up wherever we were.”
“It was more than that, Gwen.”
He was so close to her that she could feel the heat of his body pulsing against her, the power that hid just under the surface throbbing like an engine that only wanted to be allowed to strut its stuff. She was so aware of him, so aware of everything about him, that her heart threatened to stutter to a stop. She looked up at him, suddenly overwhelmed with this sense of vulnerability that was so far from what was the essence of her.
She wasn’t sure she liked it. But she also wasn’t sure she wanted to move away.
“I will protect you,” he said close to her ear. “I will make sure you survive this thing.”
“And when it’s over?”
His lips parted, an answer so close she could almost see the words forming in his eyes. Then, a pounding on the other side of the door vibrated so hard through the thin wood that Gwen could actually feel it pushing her closer to Rhein.
“Gwen? You okay in there?”
Cei.
“You should go,” Rhein said instead of whatever it was he had been about to say before. “We’ll talk again later.”
He backed away and watched as she slowly, almost reluctantly, turned around and walked out.
“Everything okay?” Cei asked.
“Fine.”
She brushed past him and led the way out of the diner, looking back just once to try to catch a glimpse of Rhein coming out of the bathroom. But it was like he had never been there.
Chapter 14
“Gwen!”
Morgan jumped out of his chair so quickly that he knocked it over. He threw his arms around Gwen and hugged her. Gwen laughed, surprised by his affectionate reaction. They had only known each other as passing acquaintances until recently, and the only reason their relationship changed was because Morgan found out the truth about his biological father.
She hadn’t expected it, but she was happy for it. It was nice to know someone was happy that she still walked, talked, and breathed in this world.
Just as quickly as he had grabbed her, he turned to Cei and—after a slight hesitation—threw his arms around him, too.
Tony came over and gave Gwen a quick hug, too.
“Glad to see you’re still in one piece.”
“For the moment.”
He inclined his head slightly. “Been a long couple of days. The kid’s been pretty wound up.”
“Don’t blame him.”
“Hey, Tony,” Cei said, disentangling himself from Morgan and moving up behind Gwen, pressing a hand to the small of her back even as he held the other out to Tony. “Good to see you.”
“Must feel good, being back in your home country.”
Cei shrugged. “It would be if the circumstances were a little different.”
Tony nodded. He gestured for them to follow him through the lobby of the hotel. Cei called the moment the bus arrived to let Tony know they were coming, and he kindly agreed to arrange for rooms for the two of them. He led the way now to the elevator and the newly renovated rooms they had managed to rent in the same corner of the fourth floor.
The moment they were alone in Tony’s room—she could tell it was Tony’s because of the papers and books scattered everywhere—she found herself wondering how he got them all there on the multiple flights required to reach the area from Dallas. He began to explain what it was he had found without any
preamble.
“It is rumored to hold something that will allow the user to manipulate the gate.”
“What is?” Cei asked.
“The artifact I found.” Tony picked up a picture from a pile of them on the small desk provided with the room. Cei’s eyes narrowed slightly as he studied it. Then, he quickly handed it to Gwen.
It was a wooden box with intricate carvings along the front edges and down the length of the small door. There was a small keyhole on one side of the door, an old fashioned one that was elongated, the kind that called for a key like the one Gwydion had given to Gwen.
“I’ve never thought much about it,” Tony continued. “We always assumed that whoever broke the curse would have to perform some sort of ritual, but we never imagined they would need props. I don’t know why…I suppose we should have thought of it. But when we went in search of the gate in the basement of the local hospital, we found this instead.”
“This is in the basement of a hospital?” Gwen asked.
“Odd place for it, isn’t it?” Morgan asked. “And it’s like no one has ever noticed it even though it sits right in the center of the back wall of their boiler room.”
“They might not have if it was protected,” Cei said.
Gwen had to agree. If she could hide herself with a puff of air, surely someone could have created a spell that would keep a wooden box from becoming visible for two millennia. But how it had survived having a hospital built around it, she would never understand.
She was of the opinion there were just things about this life, these powers, that she wasn’t meant to understand.
“What do you think it holds?”
Tony passed another picture to Cei. “It’s a wand, kind of like the kind of baton a conductor uses.”
Gwen leaned close to Cei so that she could see the picture. She wasn’t as shocked as she should have been at the sight of the baton—so much like the one Cei had in his pack right at the moment, but different, the markings were different. She suspected this was the picture Rhein would have shown her the night she was kidnapped if she had made it to his house.
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