Hart of Winter

by Parker Foye

  Luc gently nudged Rob with his antlers as if in reproof, then huffed a huge breath.

  “Same,” Rob said. He frowned, taking a look around the shed. “Where did your clothes go— Hang about, what’s this?” Rob reached over and grabbed the thing that had caught his eye, glinting in the low light. It gave him a sharp shock when he touched it but quickly settled, and he sat upright again with it on the palm of his hand. His gut sank as he recognized the item. “Your cuff. Explains what happened, anyway, if you lost this. Do you want it back?”

  Luc shook his head gently, his antlers casting wild shadows on the far wall. Rob realized Luc wouldn’t be pulling his weight in their conversation and shifted on his makeshift seat. He’d never been good at Big Conversations, but he left his family behind for the chance to talk to Luc, and he’d been presented that perfect chance. Uneasiness curdled in his stomach at the thought he might be taking advantage, but he reasoned Luc could’ve fucked off into the night if he wanted. His legs were certainly long enough. Rob pocketed Luc’s cuff for safekeeping and cleared his throat.

  “I didn’t see the deer—stag, sorry,” he amended when Luc jerked his head up. “Not trying to be pejorative, sorry. I didn’t see the stag thing coming. The biggest I’ve ever seen anyone cursed was a classic Frog Prince, back when I was—I must’ve been about six. It didn’t last long. The curse, I mean. The prince himself is kicking about Portugal, I think. Has a surf shop or something. Water, I guess.” Rob heard himself speaking as if from far away and desperately wanted to stop, but babbling was easier to bear than awkward silence. “Anyway, the curse fell apart under its own weight as soon as my mother looked at it sideways. Magic can’t make people what they aren’t, not for long. Your curse must be….”

  Rob stopped talking, stunned at the strength of Luc’s curse. The evidence was clear in the size of Luc’s antlers, which were gnarled things bigger than any Rob had seen before and must have grown as Luc did. Rob didn’t know how long deer lived, but he would bet money it totaled only a fraction of the average human life. No wonder Luc seemed so huge; David Attenborough hadn’t covered cursed stags in any of his documentaries.

  If someone could temper the power of Luc’s curse, they could do anything.

  Rob felt sick. Hunters must’ve haunted Luc’s family for generations, as far back as the curse’s origin. Few “big” curses remained; where magic hadn’t been defeated by cursebreakers or its own ambition, the cursed lines had been hunted to extinction by dark hunters. More than once Rob had listened to Olivia’s lament on the lack of knowledge of older curses and how their loss meant cursebreakers no longer knew how to tackle the most convoluted cases.

  Rob let out a breath almost as heavy as Luc’s. “I really want to hug you right now.”

  Luc snorted and flicked his ears, then shuffled until his side pressed into Rob’s shins. As clear an invitation as he could make. Rob slumped over to bury his face in Luc’s ruff and wrapped his arms awkwardly around Luc’s neck and side for balance. He could feel the thump of Luc’s heart, and he rose and fell with Luc’s breaths. Almost meditative, Rob calmed as he lay there until his back protested and he heaved himself up again.

  “Thank you.” Rob tugged off his beanie to have something to hold, wringing it in his hands. “Do you want me to call someone? Is your phone around here? I should’ve looked, shouldn’t I, instead of telling you stupid stories….” Rob shoved to his feet, embarrassed, only to flop back down when Luc nudged him gently with his antlers. “No to the phone? Okay, no to the phone. Your choice.”

  Rob rubbed at the stitches on his beanie. He’d made it himself when he was practicing knitting as part of his weaving studies. More stitches were dropped than weren’t, but he liked it. He’d made something.

  “I’m rubbish at curses, you know,” he said before realizing he was going to. Luc’s ears flicked. “My family think I’ve finally ‘bloomed’ or whatever, but I broke the Rapunzel through luck. I’ve been lying to them ever since, and to everyone else. I can’t confess I’ve no idea what I’m doing, because everyone is using me to boost their careers.” He huffed and conceded, “Not using me, not like that. It’s convenience. I understand why, but I—Without this TV thing, it’d blow over, but with it—”

  “Luc? Are you there?”

  Rob started at the voice, and Luc shoved up awkwardly before realizing he couldn’t move far in the woodshed. He glared eloquently at Rob, who grabbed the flashlight and moved around Luc to the doorway in time to see two figures approaching. He glanced at Luc.

  “Your sister?”

  Luc nodded as much as he could. Rob yanked his beanie back on and stepped out to meet Eloise and her companion, playing the flashlight on the ground to attract their attention. They hurried toward him.

  “Excuse me, have you seen my brother?” the taller person asked, worry making her voice shake. “He’s five ten, dark hair, a bump on his nose, and—”

  “Eloise,” the other woman interrupted, her eyes shrewd. “Dans le cabanon.”

  Whatever the woman had said made Eloise’s attention snap back to Rob. She looked exactly like Luc, with intimidating focus but none of the playfulness Rob had been fortunate to witness. Without saying a word, she shoved Rob aside and went into the woodshed. Her cry of Luc’s name was the clearest thing she said as she spoke to him in a low voice. Rob waited outside with the other woman, who was slight even in her bulky winter coat and would give Olivia a run for her money on the knowing looks.

  “I’m Rob, by the way. Je m’appelle Rob,” he said, in his best Duolingo French. He didn’t offer his hand. He liked his hands.

  She continued to assess him before seeming to decide he passed. “Rob Lentowicz, I know. I am Amandine. Luc is my cousin.” She indicated the woodshed. “You will not hurt him.”

  “I’m not planning to—”

  “You will not. Here,” Amandine said, then withdrew something from her pocket, holding it out. “This is yours, I think.”

  Hoping it wasn’t something awful, Rob held out his free hand and started when Amandine dropped his little compass into it. The light flickered happily and jumped against the cage of his fingers. He shoved it in his pocket and zipped it shut.

  “How did you get that?”

  “It came to us. We followed it here.”

  “That’s… that’s not how compasses work,” Rob felt it important to say.

  Amandine shrugged and looked back at the shed. “It worked like that for me.”

  Though he wanted to insist Amandine couldn’t have manipulated the gem, Rob held his tongue. He’d keyed the gem to himself years ago; the only way for Amandine to use it was if she had far more power than he did. If that were the case, Rob really didn’t want to argue with her.

  Oblivious or uncaring of his reaction, Amandine checked her phone and flicked through screens until Eloise climbed over Luc and out of the woodshed.

  “Okay, looks like he’s staying there until dawn. He should be all right. Most of the people around here are locals, and they go away for Solstice. It’ll only be us and a few others, and with the storm, no one’ll come out here tonight. He’ll change back by dawn, and we’ll come get him.” Eloise looked at Amandine, then at Rob. “We have to pick up some guests. They were delayed by the storm but should be arriving later. What are you going to do?”

  Rob raised his eyebrows. “Me? Dinner, maybe. Sleep? I don’t—Is there something I should be doing?”

  “You should be not telling people about my brother,” Eloise said.

  “I hadn’t planned on it.”

  When Eloise seemed unwilling to take Rob’s word, Amandine surprised him by stepping forward to take her cousin’s elbow. “He will not tell. I know it.”

  Because I can take him apart, her gaze seemed to say. Rob hunched his shoulders and ducked into the safety of his jacket, tightening his fingers around the flashlight.

  “Are you coming?” Eloise’s tone suggested it wasn’t a question. “It’s too suspicious if we stay he
re. Someone will notice the lights.”

  “Just a tick.”

  Rob darted back to the woodshed, finding Luc staring forlornly at the piles of wood ahead of him, flicking his ears back and forth. Rob crouched beside him and gave him another of their awkward hugs, relieved when Luc pressed his nose into Rob’s stomach. Rob dropped a kiss on the nearest branch of Luc’s antlers, reasoning he wouldn’t feel it, and therefore Rob wouldn’t have to die of awkwardness.

  “I have to go. Your family will probably hex me if I don’t. I’m sorry, I wish you had a blanket or something.” Rob paused, then shrugged. “Bugger it, hang on.” He wriggled out of his jacket and draped it over Luc’s broad back. Immediately cold surged over Rob, but he zipped his hoodie to his chin and pulled his hood over his beanie. He grabbed his stuff from his jacket and shoved them into his jean pockets. “There. I hope that helps. And now you have to come see me, right? To return my jacket.”

  Luc didn’t answer, of course. Rob’s stomach flipped uneasily as he retreated to the shattered doorway of the woodshed. He wondered who would fix the damage. Amandine? What a complicated family.

  “Good night, Luc.”

  Rob walked away without letting himself look back.

  SLEEP was long in coming, so when someone knocked on his hotel room door, Rob had barely had a chance to close his eyes. Tempted to ignore whichever family member had swung by for gossip, he relented and heaved out of bed, yanking on his hoodie as he went. They could cope with his boxers, or they could come back later.

  When Rob opened the hotel room door, he remembered the other visitor he should’ve been expecting.

  “Luc.”

  Dressed as casual as Rob had ever seen him, Luc wore jeans, sneakers, and an oversized jumper reaching midthigh, with one of his scarves half pulled over his hair. His eyes were bruised with sleeplessness, the curls of his hair limp, and his jeans were straight-legged instead of skinny. Things were serious. Rob wanted to hug him. Preferably horizontally.

  A miserable expression on his face, Luc held out a tray of takeout coffees and Rob’s jacket. Rob hadn’t even noticed he had them.

  “I brought your coat and a drink,” Luc said. “I’m not above bribery. Can I come in?”

  Rob gestured for Luc to enter and closed the door behind him, using the latch for good measure. The room had a desk and chair, which Luc took, draping Rob’s jacket over the back while Rob sat on the edge of the bed. His fingers itched to do a quick tidy, but doing so would draw attention to the mess. He plucked at the duvet cover while Luc rolled a coffee cup between his hands, staring at it like it held the secrets of the universe.

  “Are you feeling all right, then?” Rob asked when Luc kept staring.

  Luc jerked, then looked at him. “Yes! Sorry. I come here and then—I’m all right, thank you. As cursed as usual and won’t be having sleepovers for, oh, my entire life, but I’m okay. Like, relatively speaking.” His fingers twitched, and he grabbed the other cup and held it out to Rob. “Here, by the way. Do you have any allergies?”

  “No. And I could murder a coffee—”

  “It’s hot chocolate,” Luc said.

  Rob needed to never speak again. He course-corrected. “I could equally murder a hot chocolate. Any beverage needs slaughtering, I’m your man. Accept no substitute.”

  Luc snorted. “You talk an enormous amount of shit.”

  “You’re beautiful when you smile,” Rob said. He took a sip of his scalding hot chocolate and swore, immediately losing any nonchalant-compliment points, but he didn’t mind. Luc had lit up again, his eyes losing their bruised color as he enjoyed Rob’s suffering.

  “This isn’t the time to be throwing around compliments. I came here for a reason,” Luc said, making the worst attempt at a serious face Rob had ever seen.

  “Was the reason kissing?”

  After a long moment during which every second fizzed over Rob’s skin, Luc set down his cup. Hastily Rob moved to do the same, stretching back to put it on the bedside table. When he turned around again, Luc had moved, silent as a predator. His eyes were darker than usual, his lip slick as if he’d bitten it. Bracing himself with a hand on Rob’s chest, he put one knee on either side of Rob on the bed. Rob gripped Luc around his thighs, the muscles firm beneath his hands. He gaped at Luc like an acolyte at their idol, stupefied with lust.

  “You make me fucking crazy,” Luc said, his voice confessional. “You know that? I came here fired up and nervous, and you’ve undone me. Can I please kiss you?” His gaze fixed on Rob’s mouth. “Let me kiss you.”

  “Let”? Rob needed a lot of time to explain to Luc how “let” wasn’t the word. But that could be later.

  He leaned backward, still holding Luc’s legs, and held on until their combined weight bounced on the mattress. By the time the memory foam got to work, Rob could taste the chocolate from Luc’s lips, and it warmed him to his toes. Sliding his hands under Luc’s jumper to his arse, he let his legs fall open as Luc pressed between them, at first hard and hungry, then melting into him. Their kisses turned soft, like they’d kissed a hundred times already. Like they had a thousand more to go before they were anywhere near done.

  Letting out a sigh Rob could taste, Luc rolled to one side and lay beside him, taking in gulps of air. When Rob glanced at him, Luc was staring at the ceiling. Confused by the turn of events, Rob’s dick tried making a case for attention, but after adjusting himself in his boxers, Rob put pleasure out of his mind.

  “You don’t care about the curse, do you?” Luc asked like he already knew the answer.

  “Not really,” Rob said. He winced. “Well, I do, obviously, because you do? And because if I can help you, and you want me to help, then I will. And it’s not something I’d go mentioning at social events or whatever, because that’s rude, and also you’re the size of a tiny house and could easy stave my head in.” He took a breath and wished for death. “But I don’t really care? Bollocks. That’s definitely the wrong answer, isn’t it.”

  At least Rob’s dick had stopped asking for attention. It was one more babbling streak from retracting entirely into his body.

  Luc rolled onto his side and propped his head on his hand. Rob glanced at him sidelong, finding Luc’s cheeks flushed and his eyes bright. He looked very soft, wrapped up in his scarf. Rob tried to shrug from his horizontal position.

  “What?” he asked.

  “I like you very much. We’re going to snuggle now.”

  Letting himself be manipulated into the correct snuggling arrangement, Rob felt as if he’d passed a test he didn’t know he’d been taking. He definitely preferred success to the opposite, which he was far too familiar with.

  Once Luc had arranged Rob to his satisfaction, he curled into Rob’s side, one arm across Rob’s chest and his face mashed into Rob’s shoulder. Rob didn’t think Luc could be particularly comfortable, especially since they were both still dressed, but he had no intention of protesting. He lay there for a few minutes, smelling the chocolate from their drinks and the fruity smell of whatever Luc used on his hair. He could feel the faint thump of Luc’s heart where his chest pressed against Rob’s arm, which was weird and amazing. It made him think of the giant stag from the night before and helped consolidate Luc’s two shapes in his mind.

  In the perfect stillness of the room, he cleared his throat.

  Luc’s eyelashes brushed Rob’s skin as he opened his eyes. “What is it?”

  “I have one question,” Rob said.

  Luc’s heartbeat increased. “Go ahead.”

  “Do you prefer Bambi or Rudolph? Choose now or forever hold your—Hey, be nice!”

  Chapter Nine

  LUC jerked awake at a pounding on the door. Disorientated by the light streaming through the window in the unfamiliar room, it took him a moment to notice the other thing that didn’t belong: the absence of another body in the bed. He stared at the indentation in the rumpled sheets until another bang at the door made him start. He rolled from the bed, landed on h
is feet, and crouched behind the bedstead.

  Where the fuck was Rob?

  “You in there?” someone yelled from the other side of the door.

  Luc pulled a face. Was he supposed to answer in the affirmative?

  “No!” he yelled back, because Luc Marling was nothing if not contrary.

  His answer provoked some muttering from behind the door. In the cessation of pounding, Luc heard the shower shut off, and realized it had been running since he woke. As the muttering outside continued, he heard an electric razor start, along with whistling. Despite the situation, Luc rolled his eyes fondly at the sound. Of course Rob whistled.

  “We can bloody well hear you!” the shouter declared like it was some great coup.

  The electric razor stopped, and the bathroom door slammed open. Rob strode out, towel around his waist and razor in hand, his blond hair slicked back. He unlatched and yanked open the door as someone unleashed a spell that filled the room with a flare of light that raked Luc down to his soul in a fiery shriek of pain. He toppled over.

  “—ARE you doing here? I told you—Shut up, he’s coming around.”

  Recognizing Rob’s voice, Luc opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the beady red eye of a camera hoisted on the shoulder of a woman barely bigger than it. The camera was pointed at him. He scrambled backward, only to contact a warm and unyielding wall. Which said, “Oof.”

  “Luc, can you just calm down for a second—”

  Luc felt his eyes go wide. “Calm fucking down? Are you—Who the fuck are these people?”

  Behind the camerawoman—front and center in Luc’s priorities—were two other strangers wearing varying degrees of amused expressions. Nearest to them stood a slender older woman with her hair drawn back in a bun held together with what Luc strongly suspected was a stiletto knife. Behind her stood an androgynous teenager with glossy hair Luc was deeply jealous of, considering his own bedhead, a book in their hand. The two of them shared a similar face type, which Luc had recently spent a lot of time looking at.