Alaric walked up beside me, stinking of smoke from burning the bodies. “We’re done here.”
I couldn’t bring myself to meet his eyes. If only he’d known how close I’d come to losing myself entirely to the key. It was quiet now, but I was certain it could flood my thoughts again whenever it chose.
Sophie joined us, fully healed. Mikael and his people had marveled at the effect of my healing energy, since most executioners caused only destruction, but Sophie had merely been irritated. Maya had escaped her again, and that was all she had to express.
Mikael walked up out of the darkness, followed by Aila. Most of his people had been sent on ahead of us. “We need to move far from this place,” Mikael stated. “I’m without many of my contacts, and can’t cover up anything that’s happened any more than we already have. The human police will likely be on a terrorist hunt quite soon.”
I nodded, but didn’t speak, thinking of the burned bodies. So much death had transpired, and only more would come.
“What will we do now?” I asked distantly.
Mikael gazed up at the moon. “Once we are safe, we plan the next battle. This time, it will be in a place and under terms of our choosing.” He turned to Aila. “Scout the way ahead. Make sure no one waits in ambush.”
Aila nodded sharply.
“I’ll join her,” Sophie volunteered, then looked to Alaric expectantly.
He waved sarcastically. “Have fun!”
Sophie placed her hands on her hips. “We have better eyes and ears than most. We’ll be able to see any scouts before they see us.”
Alaric grunted in reply, then glanced at me.
“I’ll keep her safe,” Mikael assured.
Alaric looked over my head at him. “Somehow, I don’t find that comforting.”
A moment later, Alaric, Sophie, and Aila slipped away. I felt the barest caress of Alaric’s hand on my back as he left, leaving me with shivers as I stared back up at the moon.
“Your ability to heal . . . ” Mikael trailed off.
I continued looking up at the sky. “Pretty good for a creature of death, eh?”
Mikael chuckled, then gently guided me forward as the few members of his clan left with us began walking.
Mikael glanced at me. “What exactly did you do right before that?”
Before I could answer, Faas walked past us, glaring all the while. He probably hated me even more now that I’d saved his life.
“Hmm?” I asked, watching Faas walk away. “Before what?”
“I’ve been told you defeated the other executioner. How?” he clarified. “He was a force to be reckoned with.”
I winced, uncomfortable with what I’d done. Not only with how I’d saved us, but with the wary looks Mikael’s people now gave me. They might be alive because of me, but it wouldn’t stop them from being cautious. If I was a threat to Aislin, I was a threat to everyone.
I bit my lip, feeling uneasy about what I was going to admit. “The key took control. I let it.”
At that moment I really wished I could sense Mikael’s emotions, but he was giving me nothing. His face remained passive. “That was unwise, Madeline,” he said finally.
Well, duh. “I tried to destroy it afterward,” I explained, “but it knew my every move. I had the energy to do it, but the key had the energy too. When I attacked the other executioner, our energy collided. The same thing happened when I tried to attack the key. It fended off my every attack. I couldn’t have even dropped it to the ground in that moment, that’s how powerless I was.”
Mikael sighed. “I suppose all of this is my fault.”
I gave him a surprised look and almost tripped on a branch. He grabbed my forearm to keep me from falling, then let go as soon as I’d righted myself. “How so?”
“If I had taught you to shield when you first asked me, you might have been able to destroy the key.”
I shook my head. “I doubt it’s something I’ll be able to learn in a day.”
Alaric appeared in the woods ahead of us, then made his way toward us as we continued walking.
“All clear ahead,” he explained upon reaching us, then fell into step beside me. “Sophie and Aila are looping back around to ensure we are not followed.” He looked over my head at Mikael. “I’ll scout further once you tell us where we’re going.”
“We’ll need to split up again,” Mikael explained. “We’re too easy to track in a large group. We will only come together when we’re ready to attack. There is another house at my disposal where we may hide.”
“My sister stays with us,” Alaric said instantly.
“Agreed,” Mikael replied, “As will some of my people.”
“What about James?” I interrupted. I hadn’t even had a chance to talk to him since we’d gotten back. It seemed cruel to just leave him with a bunch of people he didn’t know, even if he deserved it.
Mikael nodded. “Three for Madeline, and three for me.”
“Aila, I’m assuming,” Alaric guessed, “but who else?”
“Faas and Tabitha,” Mikael answered.
I tripped again, and both men dove in to steady me. I seriously needed some rest. I was going to end up impaling myself on a branch. “Faas?” I questioned, feeling a nervous ripple in my chest. When I’d first met him, I’d been dying to ask him a ton of questions. Now, I would have preferred to be anywhere but near him.
Mikael gave me a knowing look. “There are few I would trust more.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Do you trust him to not try to kill me?”
Mikael laughed.
Alaric grunted in irritation.
“I trust him to do as I command,” Mikael replied.
I supposed that would have to be good enough. Really, with the forces currently gunning for me, one executioner with a bad attitude shouldn’t worry me. I should be more worried about one who would kill the beings that created us just to ramp up his power, or about the two rulers hell-bent on gaining control over all. Still, it was Faas’ cold, angry eyes that would haunt me that night.
25
When Mikael had said house, I’d assumed he’d really meant a house. Something similar to the quaint little home we’d stayed in before being chased off by the police. The living room where our group now stood was as large as my entire little house back in Spokane.
The house’s owners, an elderly couple, watched us excitedly from the entry room. The woman wore a classic sheath dress and pearls that made her look like an elderly version of Audrey Hepburn. Her husband was a little less dapper with his wrinkled plaid shirt and green trousers.
“Who are these people?” I whispered, leaning in close to Mikael’s shoulder.
With us were Alaric, Sophie, James, Aila, Faas, and Tabitha. I thought again how I could have done without the latter three, or really, the latter four, but I hadn’t chosen the arrangements. Mikael’s people stood near him, and mine near me.
“They’re my fan club,” he answered mischievously, too far away for the old couple to hear.
I walked a few steps further into the living room. The furniture was all over-stuffed, done in floral fabric heavy on the gold thread. The rug beneath our dirty boots probably cost several grand.
“Fan club?” I questioned softly as Alaric went to marvel at one of the painted landscapes on the wall. James stood near our hosts, seeming to prefer their less aggressive company.
“They’re historians of mythology, more specifically of Dolos and Prometheus,” Mikael explained. “They’re quite fond of me.”
“But they’re human,” I argued. I didn’t really know that for a fact, but it seemed a safe guess considering how they were gawking at us.
Mikael snickered. “Some humans are more informed than others, choosing not to look blindly past what is right in front of their faces.”
“But we haven’t been right in front of their faces,” I argued. “We’ve been hidden away within various Salr.”
“Your beau and his little sister, perhaps, but not
I,” he said with a waggle of his eyebrows.
“I can hear you,” Alaric said tiredly as he slumped across the cushy couch uninvited.
Sophie lowered herself to sit primly beside him. Mikael’s people stood waiting near the entryway, silent like good little minions.
“Can we get you anything!” the elderly woman finally burst out, waving one of her frail hands in the air to gain our attention.
The old couple’s excitement was palpable, yet there was no twinge of fear or anxiety. They trusted Mikael, though they probably shouldn’t have.
The Viking in question gave a slight bow. “Dinner would be lovely.”
My stomach growled at the mention of food. More pressing still was my need for a shower. Between the time we’d spent in a livestock shed back in Viking days and the burning of my victim’s bodies, I stunk.
Our hostess hurried off to the kitchen, dragging her husband behind her. James watched them forlornly as they disappeared down the hall. With our hosts’ advanced age, and the size of the house, I knew they likely had help with the upkeep, but I saw nor sensed anyone else.
Sophie, still seated on the couch with her spine ramrod straight, aimed an icy glare at Mikael, “You should not let them worship you.”
With Sophie’s superior attitude, I was surprised she cared. It made me feel a little more warmly toward her. I didn’t like taking advantage of the sweet old couple either, and I liked even less that our presence might be endangering them.
Before Mikael could make whatever sarcastic remark he had in mind, I cleared my throat. He turned his gaze away from Sophie to land on me. “Yes, Madeline?”
“I agree with Sophie,” I stated, “but right now I’m more worried about someone finding us here, and our hosts getting caught in the crossfire.”
“No one will find us here,” Mikael assured.
“They found us last time,” Sophie cut in before I could point out that fact.
Mikael suddenly looked angry, but he stored it away quickly. “We had a, what is the modern term?” He held up a finger. “Oh yes, a mole.”
“Not exactly a modern term,” I muttered.
Alaric stood abruptly. “One of your people gave us away?” he hissed.
Mikael tilted his head and gave a slight nod, remaining calm.
Alaric looked past Mikael to where Aila, Tabitha, and Faas stood. “And how do you know they will not do so again?”
Mikael glared at Alaric. “No one else knows we’re here. Those who have accompanied us have been by my side longer than you’ve been alive. I trust them with my life.”
“I hope so,” Alaric replied, his voice low, “because you’re trusting them with ours.”
Tabitha shifted uncomfortably under Alaric’s gaze, while Aila remained indifferent. Faas glared at me. I glared right back, wanting to flip him off, but knowing we were all close enough to a fight as it was.
“I need a shower,” I grumbled. I looked to Mikael, “I trust our hosts won’t mind?”
He gestured toward a hallway further into the house. “Up the stairs, third door on the left.”
“Great,” I muttered, then turned and walked away.
Alaric followed me out of the room, with Sophie close behind. We both stopped and turned questioning looks at her.
“Well I’m not staying with them,” she explained, gesturing behind her at the Vikings.
“Whatever,” I grumbled. I turned to continue walking, leaving James to take care of himself.
Mikael’s directions held true. Up a very wide set of stairs covered in the cushiest carpet I’d ever felt, and past several closed doors, we found the bathroom.
Sophie leaned her back against the hallway wall and slid downward with bent knees until she was slumped into a seated position, her legs pulled up against her chest. “Don’t take too long,” she advised. “I reek of blood and burnt flesh.”
Ignoring Sophie, Alaric followed me into the bathroom. Though some alone time would have been nice, I didn’t mind the company. Somehow having Alaric close made me feel less frightened, as if his very presence could ward away the impossible task of destroying the key.
Once the door was locked behind us, he cranked up the hot water in the shower. The place we were supposed to bathe was one of those huge, glass-walled contraptions, big enough to fit five people. There were multiple shower heads angled down from the ceiling in different directions. The shower didn’t go well with the rest of the house. It was the epitome of modernity, nestled in a house filled with old-world, wealthy charm.
I stared at myself in the massive mirror above the double sinks as Alaric began to undress. My dark hair was matted and dirty, hanging limply nearly to my waist. My face was just as dirty, the mottled colors of soot and grime blending in with the bags under my eyes. I stared at myself, and wasn’t sure if I recognized the girl in the mirror at all.
Alaric moved to stand behind me, fully comfortable in his nude state. His hair was somehow in better condition than mine, but it was also pin straight. It didn’t tangle as much as my wavy mass.
“We don’t have any clean clothes,” I muttered miserably, only then realizing it.
Alaric turned me away from the mirror and helped me out of my tunic and pants, bending to undo my boots to remove the pants fully from my legs. He stood again, and stared down not at me, but the key around my neck.
“I brushed it when I was removing your shirt,” he commented, “but it didn’t knock me away. Not like last time.”
I sighed. “I’m an empath and it’s linked to me. It can sense your intent. It had no need to exert the energy to repel you when you were simply trying to undress me.”
Alaric raised a dark brow at me. “You speak as if you can read its thoughts.”
I stared up at him, letting all of my worry shine through in my expression.
“Oh, Maddy,” he said softly. He wrapped me in his arms, understanding what I was trying to tell him. I could read the key’s thoughts, and it could read mine. We became closer every time I used its power.
“It tolerates you because it knows you’ll protect me,” I whispered against his shoulder as the first of my tears fell.
He stroked my matted hair. “You make it sound almost benevolent.”
As my tears fell faster, I began to shake. The hot water from the shower was filling up the entire bathroom with thick steam, making it hard to breathe, or maybe it was just my anxiety. Either way, I felt so suffocated I could hardly keep my feet.
“Sometimes I forget it isn’t around to help me,” I sobbed. “I don’t know how to block it out, and sometimes its thoughts seem like they’re mine. Sometimes I can’t tell our thoughts apart at all.”
Alaric rubbed small, comforting circles across my bare back. The touch of his skin on mine was the only thing keeping me grounded, and I dreaded the moment I’d have to step away.
“We’ll insist that Mikael teaches you to shield tonight,” Alaric assured. “Once you can block it out, your thoughts will be your own again. You’re strong enough to do this, Maddy. I know it.”
The key laughed in my mind. Shielding wouldn’t work. I didn’t really want the key out of my mind, did I? It was a part of me. I should want it as close to me as I wanted Alaric. Closer.
Alaric, unaware of my thoughts, at least I thought they were my thoughts, guided me gently into the shower. I couldn’t seem to stop crying. Once the hot water hit me I felt like I couldn’t move. My entire body was exhausted, as was my mind. The idea of keeping my thoughts separate from the key’s was always in the back of my head, and in that moment I realized just how much energy I’d been expending on that goal. It was a constant battle, whether I realized it or not.
Alaric began to wash my hair, gently combing out the tangles with his fingers. I could feel his worry, and his sadness. Underneath that was fear, though whether it was fear for my sanity, or something else, I wasn’t sure. I did, however, get the impression he thought we’d lost the baby. My empathy at times was becoming eerily
close to telepathy.
I shivered, despite the hot water running down my body. I had no definitive answer to soothe Alaric’s mind either way. Part of me felt like I was maybe still pregnant, but I hadn’t been sick or felt any other signs. It was just a feeling I had. I didn’t want to get his hopes up based on a gut feeling. I could sense what the eventual disappointment might do to him.
Once Alaric had finished helping me wash, he positioned me so I’d be kept warm under the falling water, then moved to stand under one of the other shower heads so he could get clean. I watched as the water made his black hair even darker, cascading down his pale skin. Normally the sight would have put other thoughts in my mind, but all I craved was a good cuddle, and a long night’s sleep.
I watched as he washed his hair, using the same shampoo he’d used in mine, something that looked and smelled pricey, and had probably been placed in the shower just for guests. As the foamy streaks washed down his body, I felt the sudden need to go to him. After all the scary crap that had happened, he was still here, doing his best to protect me. At some point I’d forgiven him fully for past betrayals. He had become my partner, in both name and action. It was a feeling I’d known little in my life.
I moved toward him and wrapped my arms around his waist, startling him since he’d closed his eyes to protect them from the shampoo. He responded seconds later, wrapping me in his embrace.
“Thank you for still being here,” I said softly, huddling to share the single shower head with him.
“Thank you for existing,” he replied.
I laughed, and it felt strange with all the emotions welling up in my chest. I pulled away slightly so I could look up at him. “That’s not exactly something deserving of praise.”
He pulled me tightly against his chest. “Yes it is,” he whispered against my wet hair.
We stayed like that for a long while, until finally we had to admit we should probably get out of the shower. After shutting off the water, we stepped out and made use of the fluffy white towels stacked on a shelf near the door. With the towels wrapped around us, we both looked down at our dirty clothes with distaste.
Collide and Seek Page 20