by Kate Keir
Just when I thought I was going to run out of breath, he leaned back from me ever so slightly. I hissed and tried to follow his lips with my own, wanting to feel his mouth on mine again.
He laughed and leaned back a tiny bit farther. “I love you, Flora, and nothing will ever change that.”
He brought a hand up to gently stroke my cheek as he spoke, and my eyes filled with tears. Why had I kept my distance from him? I had wasted precious time.
“I love you too,” I whispered, and he grinned before pulling me tightly against him and kissing me again.
Chapter Thirty
We finally came up for air and both laughed at each other’s dishevelled appearances. I started to worry when I noticed how tired he looked and ushered him to the bed so he could lie down and get some rest. He reluctantly lay down in the afternoon sunlight, and I kissed his forehead before starting to walk away.
He wrapped his hand around my wrist and tugged me back with a jerk, and I toppled onto the bed next to him, laughing. He pulled my back tightly against his chest and wrapped an arm around my waist so we were spooning.
“You look as though you could do with some rest too, and I only just got you back, love. I’m not letting you go just yet,” he murmured against my hair.
Smiling, I whispered, “Okay, but you really do need to rest, sleep.”
We both quickly fell asleep in the warmth of the setting sun, and I instantly found myself in the Endwood.
“Hello, Little Dreamer.” Sluag’s grin was huge and rotten.
I curled my lip, angry at being stolen from the warmth of Lyall’s arms. “What do you want from me, Sluag?”
His grin never faltered. “So hostile, Flora, and it was you who killed my employee. Really, I am the wounded party here, no?”
I felt a flicker of guilt in the pit of my stomach as I thought of Helena.
“It’s an odd thing that your dark-haired Dion rewards you for killing his mother by sleeping next to you,” Sluag prodded.
“She wasn’t his mother,” I hissed. “She was a monster who tried to kill him.”
“You managed to save Lyall, but you didn’t get Finlay’s blood did you, Flora?” he mocked.
I shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”
Raising a sparse eyebrow, Sluag cackled. “Is that so? I have it on good authority that the existence of just one Super Draugur has put some serious strain on the veil. Imagine how quickly the only thing that stands between humanity and chaos will fall when I have an army of Super Draugur.”
“I’ve seen no proof of the veil failing yet, Sluag.” I wrapped my arms around myself, wishing I was back in Lyall’s arms.
He practically skipped through the trees, and I had little choice but to follow after him, scowling. “Oh, you will, Little Dreamer. Finlay’s blood will see to that. It’s quite astounding how powerful blood can be, especially the blood of a Dion.”
“Blood that you stole when you killed my best friend,” I accused.
He cackled. “Are you still bitter about that, Flora? I would have thought you would be grateful that I saved you from having to choose between Finlay and Lyall.”
I shook with fury. I stopped walking and crossed my arms over my chest. I was sick and tired of playing this game with this monster. I wanted out of these hideous summonings, but I didn’t know how to stop them.
He suddenly realised I wasn’t following him, and he turned back to stare at me intently. He took a couple of paces back toward me and mockingly placed a hand over his open mouth.
“Oops, did I kill the wrong Dion, Little Dreamer? Would you have preferred it if I had taken Lyall the brave and left the way clear for the white-haired warrior?”
I growled. “You do know that Finlay isn’t in the Everwood any more, right?”
I was rewarded by a look of genuine surprise on his grotesque face. He truly doesn’t know.
“Where is he then?” Sluag spoke with curiosity.
“I kicked one of your Draugur out of its body and gifted it to Finlay. He’s a walking, talking person again. So, you see, Sluag, you haven’t stolen as much as you think from me.” My arms were still crossed over my chest, and I raised my chin defiantly as I spoke.
He started to laugh. It began as a silent hiss of air and mutated until it was almost a full roar of mirth. I frowned at his face, which was made even more disgusting by the contortions of his glee.
When he finally stopped laughing, he spoke. “Oh, my Little Dreamer. You are without a doubt the most talented and resourceful Soul Keeper I have ever faced. I’m almost tempted to keep you as a pet when I rule the world.”
I snorted. “Neither of those things will ever happen.”
He reached out toward my face with bony, grey fingers. “Oh, but they will.”
I stepped back quickly before he could touch me. “Why are you so amused by what I did for Finlay?”
He fired me an almost believably sorrowful glance. “Well, I can’t be completely sure” He found a suitable tree stump and sat down with a flourish as he spoke. “But I don’t think the body of a Draugur will hold the soul of a Dion for very long.”
My heart sank. “Why not?”
His grin widened, and his lips split apart, hideously displaying the rows of yellowed teeth inside. “Because Dion are tricky creatures and far too powerful for a mere mortal body—which is essentially all a Draugur is. I give Finlay three days in there at most.”
“No,” I whispered. But it did make sense. I had known Finlay’s issues in his new body were more than just inherited migraines, but I hadn’t wanted to believe it.
“How do you know this?” I demanded.
“I just do.” He smirked.
My mind was racing. If Finlay’s body was going to reject his soul, I needed to make sure he was in the Everwood when it happened; otherwise, his soul would be left to wander in the mortal world. My thoughts darted back to the Super Draugur in the cellar at Castle Dion. I needed to dislodge its soul somehow.
Sluag was studying my face as though he knew exactly what I was thinking. “You can’t dislodge my Super Draugur’s soul, Flora. Its body and soul are bound together, and if you could, I think Finlay’s soul would be too much even for that body.”
“You don’t know that,” I fired back in frustration.
“I think that you know it, deep down inside.” He rubbed his hands together gleefully as he spoke.
He could be lying, I reasoned, but if I was honest with myself, Sluag hadn’t yet lied to me about anything. I bit my lip. If neither the Draugur nor Super Draugur could hold Finlay’s soul, then I was going to lose him forever and there was nothing I could do about it.
“You believe me, don’t you, Little Dreamer?” Sluag asked softly.
My mind snapped back to the present. “Maybe,” I admitted.
“Anyway, I suppose I ought to be getting back to creating more Super Draugur, since you stole my prototype, Flora.” Sluag stood up.
I stepped in front of him, blocking his way. “I’m going to find a way to remove their souls, and if I can’t do that, then I will find a way to kill them. I swear it,” I growled.
“Hmm, perhaps you will, Flora. Although, by the time you find a way to do that, the veil will, in all likelihood, have been torn down and the mortal world will be flooded with rogue souls.” He stopped in front of me and smiled broadly.
“No matter what happens, I am going to stop you, Sluag.” I sounded surprisingly confident.
He side-stepped me and started to walk toward the shadows of the surrounding trees. “Well, I have lots of things to do so, I suppose I must be going. Never underestimate the power of blood, Flora. I can work true magic with the life-blood of a Dion, and there will be little you can do to stop me.”
As he gloated, something sparked at the back of my mind. I remembered back to the blood magic Pen had used to enable us to create Dion from adults, and I thought of the things Sluag had achieved with Finlay’s blood.
If a Dion had such power
ful blood, then surely my blood—the blood of a Soul Keeper—would be even more potent.
I looked around me, trying to find something sharp enough to serve my purpose. Spying a nearby tree which had a short, pointed branch low enough for me to reach, I walked over and snapped the twig free.
“What are you doing, Flora?” Sluag whirled on me as he spoke.
Without hesitation, I stabbed the point into my palm and dragged it through the skin, leaving a jagged wound that bled heavily.
“Don’t you dare,” Sluag howled as he darted back toward me.
Knowing I had seconds before he stopped me, I didn’t hesitate. I turned my palm until it faced the blackened ground, and I shook my hand to encourage the blood to drip on to the floor.
As the first drop hit the grass, I felt a change in my surrounding environment. It no longer felt like a prison I couldn’t escape, it felt as though I could choose whether or not I came here.
“No.” Sluag slid to a stop just a few feet away and watched me with a mixed look of horror and admiration.
Another drop and another landed on the blades of black grass, sliding down their length until the sticky red liquid reached the ground and soaked into the soil.
The look on Sluag’s face and the change in the atmosphere confirmed what I had suspected. I concentrated on the image in my mind: Lyall sleeping peacefully next to me in the sunlit room, and I started to fade.
“Well look at that? I guess my blood is pretty powerful too, Sluag,” I gloated.
He hissed. “Never fear, Flora. It won’t be long before I can visit you in the real world anyway.”
I laughed as I faded even more. “But for now, you’re not going to be summoning me again any time soon. I have just a teeny tiny little bit of power here in your hell now.”
“It may be a stalemate for now, Little Dreamer, but by the time I’m done, you’ll be begging me to kill you and put you out of your misery.” I could barely see him now as Lyall’s room solidified around me.
“Yeah, yeah, we’ll see, but for now, adios asshole. You won’t be seeing me here again for a while.” I grinned to myself as I fought my way out of the Endwood and found myself safely back in Lyall’s arms, sure I could hear a howl of fury echoing after me.
Chapter Thirty-One
I sat up quickly, and my movements caused Lyall to follow suit. “Flora, what is it? Are you okay?” His amber eyes were dark with worry.
I shook my head to clear the fuzziness and smiled at him. “I’m fine. I think I just finally stopped Sluag from ever summoning me again.” I looked at the jagged wound stretching across my palm. It had stopped bleeding already, I noticed.
Wrapping his arms around me, he laughed aloud. “Well done, love. I’m relieved he can’t kidnap you in your sleep anymore.”
I returned his embrace before pulling back from him and starting to stand. “I have to tell Pen, and I need to check on Finlay. Sluag doesn’t think his Draugur body will hold.”
“You don’t honestly believe a word that thing says, do you, love?” Lyall stood up and started pulling on his boots.
I paused. “Truthfully, I do. He’s never lied to me before, Lyall. I don’t trust him, but I do believe him.”
Lyall caught hold of my arm. His face was filled with concern. “If it is true, then what happens to Finlay?”
“I don’t know,” I whispered.
“All right, come on. Let’s go and find everyone.” He gave me a quick kiss on my forehead before we headed for the stairs.
The castle seemed to be completely empty. We couldn’t find anyone in their rooms or the great hall and dining room. After a quick check of the library turned up nothing, we came to the conclusion that the others must all be in the Everwood.
I watched Lyall shimmer into view with the backdrop of the Everwood behind him. We both picked up the sounds of fighting from through the trees and headed quickly in the direction of the noise.
Arriving at a clearing, we realised our initial worry was totally unfounded. Artair and Freya were both sparring with each other while a wide-eyed Enid watched on. Pen and Finlay both sat on a large woven rug, surrounded by a pile of books. Each of them was leafing through their own hefty tome.
By unspoken agreement, Lyall gave me a quick kiss and headed toward the sparring arena while I made my way over to Pen and Finlay.
“Hi, Flor.” Finlay glanced up long enough to greet me.
“Hello, Flora. Join us?” Pen invited.
I looked around at my Dion as I sat. “What are you all doing out here? Why didn’t you wake us?” I asked.
Freya somehow heard my question, and her voice floated across the clearing. “We didn’t want to interrupt anything.”
I glared at her, but she just winked at me before turning her focus back to Artair’s oncoming attack.
“We thought you and Lyall deserved some time together and a well-deserved rest,” Pen said more sedately.
I noticed Finlay keeping his eyes trained on the book in front of him, and I felt pangs of guilt. “I need to tell you something, both of you,” I added.
They both listened as I related the story of what I suspected was my final summoning by Sluag. When I talked about Finlay’s soul being too much for the Draugur body, he shook his head in disagreement.
“This body feels fine, Flor. He’s lying to you to screw with your mind. Don’t let him get to you.”
“I honestly don’t think he is, Finlay. Please stay alert and let me know if anything starts to feel different,” I practically begged him.
He didn’t reply, instead he dropped his gaze back to the book that was open on the rug in front of him. I turned back to Pen.
“So, have you found anything that might help us with the Super Draugur yet?”
As I spoke, I noticed a greenish-coloured rogue soul drifting a few inches away from Pen’s head, and almost without effort, I banished it to the Endwood. I should have obliterated it, but I was still exhausted from the attack on the castle and our subsequent rescue mission, and I didn’t want to push my luck.
Pen nodded gratefully at me before answering my question. “I’m afraid we’ve not found very much at all. Super Draugur have never existed before, so there’s nothing about them in any of the manuscripts.”
“If we can’t kill them and I can’t dislodge their souls, then what the hell are we supposed to do?” My voice was louder than I had intended, and the other Dion paused their training to wander over and sit with us.
“We will keep working on it, Flora. I’m more concerned that Sluag was telling the truth about the veil starting to give way,” Pen confessed.
“How will we know if he’s telling the truth?” Freya was breathing hard from her sparring with Artair.
Pen shrugged. “Honestly, I have no idea, but I think we will find out soon enough.”
“Maybe Flora’s blood could be the key,” suggested Artair.
“How so?” Lyall’s voice came out as a growl.
“Calm down, brother. I didn’t mean we should sacrifice our Soul Keeper,” Artair chuckled. “I just meant that maybe Flora’s blood has more power than we know. Perhaps it could kill Sluag.”
Pen’s voice was grim. “I doubt that, Artair. I think we need a lot more power than that to kill the Host of the Unforgiven Dead—no offence, Flora.”
I shook my head. None taken.
“I do have some good news.” Pen’s voice was lighter this time.
We all turned to look at her, and Enid spoke up. “What is it?”
“I think I may have located our newest Dion.” Finlay’s face paled slightly as Pen spoke and my heart broke for him. He knew that this Dion was his replacement.
“Where are they? Do we need to go and collect them?” Artair asked.
“Actually, I don’t think we do,” Pen replied with a smile. “He seems to be headed toward Castle Dion as we speak.”
“Does he know who we are?” Freya spoke with surprise.
“I don’t think so, but I
believe something is nudging him in the right direction, and he seems to be a very resourceful young man,” Pen answered.
“Exciting. I wonder when he’ll get here.” Enid mused.
“I don’t think it will take him too much longer. Artair, will you please let him join you and Enid for training when he does arrive?” Pen asked.
“Of course, he can join, right?” Artair smiled at Enid, and she nodded enthusiastically.
“Lyall, are you happy to help out with shifter training for Enid and our new Dion?” Pen asked.
“No problem. Hopefully the new Dion’s name will help us figure out his animal form. I’d rather not have to go through what we went through to get Flora shifting, all over again.” He smirked at me as he spoke, and I playfully punched his arm in retaliation.
I knew I was the worst student he’d ever had for shape-shifting, but it wasn’t my fault that my name hadn’t given away my inner animal. Still, Lyall had managed to get me there in the end, and I actually wasn’t too bad at it now.
“I don’t think you’ll struggle too much with finding this Dion’s form. His name is Bear McKay.” Pen laughed.
“That is probably the coolest name I have ever heard in my life.” Artair stood up as he spoke.
Lyall frowned. “Let’s hope it is that easy, and he’s not supposed to become a sparrow or something.”
Freya snorted with laughter and stood up to join Artair back in the clearing. She touched Enid’s shoulder lightly as she passed her, and the younger girl leapt up to follow.
“She thinks the world of Freya and Artair,” I mused aloud.
“She thinks the world of all of us,” Pen corrected.
My attention was suddenly drawn by a light that hovered behind Pen’s head before disappearing from view behind her shoulder.
I frowned and stood up to make my way behind the older woman. Pen and Finlay both watched me with curiosity as I leaned over Pen’s shoulder and discovered the tiny green light that was hiding from me.