Runemaker, page 25
Light and power flared above Outer Chicago, and moments later, Jarrett stood in their midst.
“Is it over?” His face was bloodied and scratched, and despite everything, Tenn wanted nothing more than to reach out and heal those cuts. “The Dark Lady and the Wight—”
“They’re gone,” Tenn said. “Along with Devon. He...he was the one who destroyed the Dark Lady.”
“And I,” Kianna said, stepping forward with a bow, “killed the Wight.” She winked at Aidan. “May not be the first person in history to kill a Kin, but I’m definitely the first to shoot a Wight between the eyes. Suck on that.”
Aidan rolled his eyes.
Jarrett took a step closer to Tenn. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but there was nothing to say.
It felt like this should have been a triumph. Surely, somewhere, other Hunters were celebrating.
But here, in this circle, they bowed their heads, paying tribute to the one who gave his life to save all of theirs.
* * *
“I don’t get it,” Aidan said.
They sat alone in one of the remaining rooms. The others had all gone off on their own. Dreya and Kianna, still holding hands. And Jarrett, to find Cassandra and deliver the news.
The Dark Lady was gone.
The threat was over. For good.
“What don’t you get?” Tenn asked.
“I thought...” Aidan flicked a small flame around his fingertips. “I thought that it was supposed to be us. Or one of us. You know. Who killed her.”
Tenn nodded.
“Me, too. But I guess... When I was with the Violet Sage, she told me it wasn’t about being the Chosen One. It was about choosing to take up the call. It was about all of us. I guess it didn’t matter who decided to attune to Maya. It just mattered that someone did.”
“Yeah, but. That still doesn’t explain why you were sent to find me.”
It made Tenn think about what Jarrett had said. Or, a variation of it. “Some people think they know what the gods want. But I don’t think it’s possible. We worked together to find the runes to truly attune to Maya. If we hadn’t found each other, we never would have been able to do that. Maybe that was why—we needed to see the light and the dark in order to end things.”
“Maybe,” Aidan said. He watched the flames dance. Tenn thought maybe that was the last of their conversation. He found it strange that he’d spent so much time around this guy, and this was the first time they’d truly talked. At least, as equals, and not as enemies. “Do you miss him?”
“Who?” He knew.
“Tomás.”
Tenn sighed. He tried not to think of the Kin. After all, Tomás was gone, and there was no changing the past—besides, he was a monster. Even if the monster had treated him like a prince. He had Jarrett; Jarrett, who had apologized, who had asked to start over. He’d also lied to and imprisoned Tenn. Tenn still wasn’t certain what that meant for the two of them. With Tomás, he had always been the prey, had always been the one toyed with. At least with Tomás he always knew where he stood.
He hated to admit it, but there would always be a part of him in love with Tomás. Or, at least, in lust. Tomás was the embodiment of all his darkest desires, the ones even Tenn hadn’t known he’d harbored. It was hard to ignore just how powerful that was, even when it had been used against him.
“I do,” Tenn said. “He made me feel—”
“Alive.”
“Yeah. Alive. Do you?”
“Bastard tried to kill me,” Aidan said. Emotions flickered over his face. Not one of them was anger. “But yeah. I do. I probably shouldn’t have, you know, killed him like that.”
“I don’t know. It was dramatic. I think he would have appreciated that at the very least.”
Aidan watched the flame a bit longer, sighed, and let the sparks die.
“What happens now?” he asked. “I doubt that was all the Howls in existence, and you heard Kianna—so long as we have magic, there will be people out there who will abuse it. Before long, another Dark Lady or, I don’t know, Dark Lord, will show up, and it will be hell all over again.”
“You almost sound sad about that. I thought you liked killing?”
“It just means none of us are out of a job yet. Besides, there’s still the Church to contend with. I don’t think they’re going to be happy to learn their little secret’s out. Can’t imagine they’ll have many followers when the world realizes the Dark Lady was one of them. And that they’d made a deal with the Kin.”
A knock on the door. Tenn knew who it was even before he opened his senses to the runes that bound them. He opened the door with a pulse of Earth, and Jarrett stepped in.
Jarrett paused when he realized it was the two of them. He looked younger then, awkward. The cuts on his face had been cleaned up and healed. With a pang, Tenn realized he was jealous he hadn’t been the one to do it.
“Sorry.” Jarrett looked to his feet. He actually seemed sorry. “Didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“You weren’t,” Aidan said. He stretched and took a step to the door. “I was just leaving.”
“Leaving?” Tenn asked. His heart fell. They were finally on good terms. Could finally start pooling their knowledge.
When he saw the resolve in Aidan’s eyes, however, he knew better than to push. There was still a gravity between them. Aidan could go to the ends of the earth, and they would still find themselves back within each other’s orbit.
“I’m back in America. I can finally go find my family. Or, you know—”
“Yeah,” Tenn said, remembering his own parents, trying to remember them as they would want, and not as corpses or toys of the Dark Lady. “I know.”
“Do you think Kianna will go with you?” Tenn asked.
“Nah. I think she’s finally found a reason to stick around.”
“And you?”
“I don’t stick around.” He grinned. “But I’ll be back. Haven’t you realized? We’re the chosen ones. We’re bound to be together.”
He patted Jarrett on the shoulder and walked out the door.
Jarrett watched him go. Tenn didn’t know what to expect from his former lover. But then Jarrett chuckled.
“I can’t pretend I’m sad to see him go,” he said when Aidan was out of earshot.
“I heard that!” Aidan yelled from down the hall.
Well, almost out of earshot.
Tenn laughed.
“I don’t think that’s the last we’ll see of him.”
“Of course not. I wouldn’t be so lucky.”
Jarrett went silent. An awkward, heavy silence that hung between them.
Jarrett had asked if they could start over. This felt like starting over. It felt like they had never seen each other before. And maybe they hadn’t. Tenn had always been the chosen one in Jarrett’s eyes. Now, he was just another human. Just like Jarrett.
“Can I sit down?” Jarrett asked.
Tenn scooted over on the bed and patted the cover. Jarrett sat awkwardly.
Neither of them spoke. Tenn had no idea what to say.
It was Jarrett who broke the silence.
“You may have gotten your wish.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s over. We can have a normal life now.”
“This will never be over.” Tenn’s voice was more bitter than he meant it to be. He tried to soften it. “And we’ll never be normal.”
Jarrett nodded.
“But I’m okay with that. It will keep things interesting.”
“That it will,” Jarrett said. He put his hand on top of Tenn’s. “That it will.”
Despite the last few days, Tenn didn’t flinch away. Jarrett’s hand was heavy and warm on his. Comfortable. Tenn leaned his head on Jarrett’s shoulder. Closed his eyes. Tried to imagine a new future. And then, when he realized it was futile, he let the thought go.
They sat in silence, listening to each other’s breath, letting the future unfold on its own.
For once, that was enough.
That was enough.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
AIDAN
Aidan paused outside the gate to Outer Chicago.
He’d considered seeking out Kianna. Telling her his plan. Giving her the choice to join him. But he didn’t want to tempt her, didn’t want to give her any reason to leave this place. They’d known from the beginning they’d part ways. That had always been the endgame. He was just following through, and letting her do her thing guilt free.
Not that he really thought she had it in her to feel guilty.
Did he?
He stared out at the ashes. Sun was beginning to peek through the clouds, illuminating the reds and the blacks, the embers and sparks, all of it billowing slightly in a breeze. He felt it, that siren’s call, but it was muted.
Fire was no longer as angry.
Without that heat, he thought he’d feel empty. Without the Dark Lady whispering in his heart, he thought he’d feel aimless. He’d killed all the Kin. He’d saved the world. Well, mostly him, anyway.
Did it redeem him? For everyone he’d killed?
He looked down to his arm, to the Church’s brand and his mangled fingers. He’d never believed in redemption. And if he did, he’d already paid in blood. At the end of the day, it evened out.
At least, that’s what he told himself.
He also realized that, if he found his family, he might leave a few details of his claim to fame out of the narrative.
He knew he was lingering. Drawing this out.
If he was honest with himself, he was scared. Not of any monster, but of what he might never find. But that was no reason to stay.
He’d spent his life seeking out reasons to kill.
Now, it was time to find a reason to live.
He looked back one more time. Hoping to see Kianna standing in a window, waving him on. Giving him her blessing. Behind him, there were only shadows. He looked forward.
Looked ahead.
He opened to Fire and, like a spark in the sun, vanished into the light.
CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT
DREYA
Dreya lay back in her bed, in the room she had once shared with her brother, stroking Kianna’s hair as the woman rested her head in Dreya’s lap. The room should have felt emptier, and perhaps in a way it did. But with Kianna there, the emptiness was almost bearable. It was a comfort that would not last—she knew this in every rational cell in her body. Soon, she would turn to take her brother’s hand, or speak his name in her thoughts, and she would find only silence. The thought brought tears to her eyes. And she let this happen. Let the room waver in the firelight. Let her tears fall atop Kianna’s head.
If Kianna noticed, she said nothing. A small grace.
At least, right now, she did not feel alone in her pain. And that pain did not make her feel small. Or powerless. It made her feel human.
Her thoughts shifted when she felt Aidan leave, and she opened her mouth to tell Kianna this. But when she looked down, she found Kianna sleeping.
Peaceful.
Dreya did not want to disturb that peace. They would each battle their own emptiness soon enough. For now, let them be together.
So she sat there, and she breathed, and she closed her eyes, letting herself feel the pain of her brother’s loss. The absence.
I am sorry, she called out. I just hope... I want you to know...
And perhaps it was her imagination. Perhaps it was her need.
But there, in the darkness, she felt his hand on her cheek, wiping away her tears, and she knew he wasn’t gone—not truly. He was with the Ancients now. He was ever with her.
Perhaps they were her own words curling through her head, and not the spirits. But they carried his voice, and she heard them all the same.
I know, Andrea. And I will always love you, too.
What do I do now? she asked.
You live, he responded. This is our story. All of our stories. And it is up to you to write it.
* * *
ISBN: 9781489290328
TITLE: RUNEMAKER
First Australian Publication 2019
Copyright © 2019 Alex R. Kahler
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Alex R. Kahler, Runemaker
