Runemaker, page 6
His eyes snapped open.
Apparently a few moments had passed, because Tenn was now on the opposite side of the room conferring with blondie and the not-twins were huddled together, looking at each other as though they had telepathy. They were probably just unhinged. Kianna stood beside Tenn and blondie, growling something under her breath, and for a brief moment Aidan wondered if they were about to leave him. Then Kianna shook her head, turned back to him, and began gathering the few things she’d managed to scavenge from the flat: a cricket bat, a few kitchen knives, some new clothes.
“What’s going on?” He tried to whisper but his voice was too rough.
“We’re leaving,” Kianna said.
“All of us?” Aidan looked to Tenn, whose head was down. Defeated. That was the look. He glanced at Aidan once, and Aidan felt the same spark as he had the first time their eyes locked. Not passion. Something darker. Something covered in blood.
“There’s a Guild east of here,” she mumbled, sliding a knife into her boot sheath. “They want to take you there.”
“I’m not going anywhere with him,” he spat, looking straight at Tenn. Hell no. He would rather die than put up with that miserable wretch.
“Oh? Planning on walking somewhere on your own?” Kianna nudged him with her foot. “You’re coming with us. Even if I have to knock you out to get you to cooperate.”
He knew she’d do it, too.
“Then what?” he asked.
“We get you better.”
There was no mistaking it—the way she didn’t look at him, the particular tilt to her words. She was lying.
“You don’t think I can get better,” Aidan said.
“I don’t think you were ever right in the first place.” She tried to grin and failed. “Once you get healed they want to assemble an army. Try to bring over troops from America. Then we’re going to take down the rest of the Kin. All of us.”
Aidan held back the words that burned in his throat. He looked at Tenn again, who seemed sad beyond belief. And he looked at Kianna, who still refused to meet his gaze.
They expected him to die. She was already readying herself for it. She was already figuring out what she would do after.
That inner acid turned to fire, the first warmth he’d felt since the Inquisition had branded it out of him. They weren’t going to the Guild to save him. They were going to drop him off. To let him die. They were going to abandon him. After everything he’d done for them. Everything he’d sacrificed. They were just going to let him go.
Screw that.
He wasn’t about to go gently.
They thought they could just leave him in some sickbed and go off for glory themselves?
He closed his eyes and felt the shadows whispering in the back of his mind. The words he’d spoken to activate the shard. And the ones hidden in the corners, words for powers beyond his wildest dreams.
Runes to make everything right again.
Absently, he pressed his fingers to the brand on his wrist.
The Dark Lady smiled with his lips.
His story wasn’t over. Not yet.
CHAPTER TEN
TENN
They neared the new Guild around sunset.
Jarrett had gone on ahead, flying off to alert the Guild of their arrival, leaving the rest of them to trek on in silence. Dreya and Devon kept near the back, by Tenn, while Kianna carried Aidan as easily and resolutely as if he were a bag of laundry.
Tenn couldn’t get Jarrett’s anger out of his mind, nor could he stop reliving the conversation they’d had.
Jarrett hadn’t been sent to save Tenn. They hadn’t crossed paths because they were star-crossed lovers. The Prophets had known Jarrett and Tenn were connected, that they’d gone to Silveron together and shared a spark.
The Prophets had used that. Turned it into another weapon.
Jarrett had been sent to ensure Tenn didn’t become a threat.
One way, or another.
It made Tenn look back on all their shared encounters, all the nights twined in bed together, and wonder if any of it had been real. Had it just been an act to keep Tenn placated? To ensure he wouldn’t fight for the wrong side? It made Tenn’s gut twist and Water writhe in despair. Had any of that love been real? Any of it?
And the lengths Tenn had gone to, to save Jarrett. The sacrifices he’d made. The deals with the devil. All to save a boy who may be nothing more than an actor in a play. A boy who would happily see Tenn dead if it meant upholding duty.
The worst part was, he was no different. He was doing to Aidan exactly what Jarrett had done to him. Make him trust. Make him malleable. Convince him to fight for the right side.
It made Tenn sick.
“Do not think on it,” Dreya said.
Tenn started. They’d barely spoken since Leanna’s compound. The twins had been in all the same meetings as Jarrett had. Technically, they’d been sent under the same orders as Jarrett. But for some reason, even though Dreya had covered up her own bloody past, he didn’t think she lied. At least, not about her standing with Tenn.
Dangerous as it was, he felt he could trust her. Somewhat.
“Think about what?” Tenn asked. He knew she could read her brother’s mind, but did that extend to others, as well? Maybe it was a gift of Air...
“Jarrett. I know it troubles you. But I do not believe it is your fault.”
“Sure as hell seems like it,” Tenn muttered.
Dreya sighed. Her eyes flickered toward Kianna.
“Do you remember what happened in that house, the night Jarrett was taken?”
How could he forget? He’d felt the memories of the house, had seen a Breathless One burst through the window and kill the family having dinner within. Places hold memories, Dreya had said.
“Emotional transference,” Tenn replied. “What about it?”
She nodded to Aidan.
“We had told you Water was not the only Sphere that resonated with the hurt of a place. Fire does, as well. And Aidan...whatever he did, he damaged his Sphere greatly. It is like a wound, one that screams in anguish and tugs at the hearts of all who are near it. I think that is why Jarrett has been so angry. He senses Fire’s anger, even if he is not attuned. We all feel it. Devon especially. It makes us...sensitive.”
Tenn looked to Aidan, as well.
“So you’re saying, as long as we’re around him and he remains broken, we’re all going to be unstable?”
Dreya nodded. “It is only a theory. But I think it makes the most sense.”
He didn’t tell her his own theory.
Jarrett wasn’t here to protect him or Aidan. He was here to ensure neither became threats.
And with the secrets hanging heavy between all of them, the threat was growing stronger by the day.
* * *
Admittedly, Tenn had hoped the Guild would look more...European. Or at least something other than tall earthen walls with protruding spikes and a great swath of burnt-down space around it. At least a mile all around the Guild was barren field, a heavy mist roiling over the black burn. Even from here, Tenn could tell the place was smaller than Outer Chicago, or even Outpost 31. Hell, it looked like it was no more than a few city blocks. His heart dropped the moment he saw it.
If this was where they were meant to hold out against the Kin, they didn’t have a chance.
Once more, he glanced over to Aidan, the advice of both Tomás and Jarrett ringing in his ears. Maybe they should just leave the boy behind. Let him fend for himself. Especially since the more Tenn was around Aidan, the less he thought the Fire-tainted boy could help anyone.
The gates lowered the moment they neared, a small guard appearing in the entrance. Jarrett was at the lead.
“You made it,” he said. He didn’t seem happy or disappointed. The aloofness was worse.
Tenn nodded. Truth be told, he wasn’t really looking at Jarrett anymore. He was looking past his shoulder at the ragtag team of Hunters and the jumbled mess of buildings farther in the Guild. In that moment, he knew they wouldn’t stand a chance against a small band of necromancers, let alone the Kin. Not with all the runes in his limited arsenal.
“What’s wrong with him?” a girl asked him, nodding to Aidan.
She was a year or two younger than Tenn, wearing a long plaid trench coat with a broadax strapped to her back. She stared openly at Aidan and Kianna. Aidan was laughing to himself and saying the words not broken over and over again.
So much for a good first impression.
“The Church,” Tenn said. “They tortured him.”
The girl grunted. Answer enough. If the Church was anything over here like it was in America, their reputation preceded them.
“Name’s Amiina,” the girl said. “I’m in charge of Outpost Hera. Jarrett’s told me about your travels. And what happened to London.”
Jarrett didn’t meet his gaze. What exactly did he tell her?
“This Hunter needs our help,” Tenn said, trying to keep his voice steady. He didn’t like the way Amiina was looking at Aidan. Clearly, Kianna didn’t either. She stared daggers at the Guild leader.
“I don’t know if we can,” Amiina said. She looked to Jarrett. “Tall, pale and handsome over here says a battle is coming. Frankly, I haven’t decided if that means I want you on this side of the wall or the other. Especially if the Kin are coming after you. But...it’s our duty to fight off the Dark Lady, and that means readying all the fighters we have.” She raised an eyebrow at Aidan. “Even if they are...questionable.”
She gestured, and two other guards stepped forward.
“Take them to their chambers and get the medic in to see that one.”
Kianna growled and squared her shoulders. “This one stays with me.”
Amiina shrugged and turned away, heading back in to the safety of the Guild.
“Suit yourself. Gates close at sunset. Sounds like this may be our last night on earth. I don’t know about you, but I plan on spending it in a bed.”
Jarrett looked between all of them, but his gaze lingered on Tenn. As if asking whose side he was on.
Trouble was, Tenn wasn’t certain anymore.
Before he could say anything, Jarrett turned and followed Amiina inside.
“I don’t trust them,” Kianna said, low enough that only Tenn and the twins could hear.
“We don’t have a choice,” Tenn whispered.
“That’s what sheep believe.” She glared daggers at the Hunters who helped gather their things. Despite her words, she began walking forward, holding Aidan proudly. “And I don’t plan on being led to the slaughter.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
TENN
The Guild was just as depressing within the walls as it was without, and it didn’t take Tenn long to feel like a caged animal. Especially because every Hunter here looked at him with the same disdain as Caius and his followers had in Outer Chicago. He’d wandered up and down the narrow streets, past converted shops and flats, through small blocks of hovels that housed the few civilians who couldn’t or wouldn’t fight. Every single person that could wield magic had been on high alert since Tenn’s arrival. Everyone knew what this entailed: one Kin had been killed, and the rest were coming to enact their revenge. Tenn could tell from the looks in their eyes that no Hunter expected to make it another night.
Once more, Tenn wondered if coming here had been the right move, or if these were all just needless casualties he could have avoided. The Kin were after him. Well, him and Aidan. But try as he might, he couldn’t see another option. Aidan had needed medical attention, and this was the only way to do it.
Unless you weren’t sent here to save him, a voice whispered. It sounded eerily like Jarrett’s. Maybe this wasn’t supposed to be a rescue mission, after all.
But he couldn’t let himself believe he’d been sent to massacre someone. The spirits wouldn’t do that. Right? The Violet Sage told him he could save Aidan. He had to hold on to that. But how long until he falls so far into the Dark Lady’s clutches, there’s no turning back?
That, like everything else, he had no answer for.
Wandering the Guild in the dark and the rain might have been depressing, but it beat staying within the Guild’s headquarters and risking running into Jarrett. He hadn’t said a thing to Tenn since they got in, and no matter what Tenn told himself, he couldn’t believe it was solely because Aidan’s Sphere was fucking with everyone’s emotions. Jarrett had never been this distant, though Tenn knew it was a trait Air users often held. When Jarrett looked at him, it wasn’t with love or admiration. It was calculating.
And Tenn knew precisely what those calculations were—Jarrett saw him as a threat. And every wrong move Tenn made was another tick in the wrong box. He wanted to tell himself he knew Jarrett better, that his lover would never...eliminate him.
Then he remembered the look in Jarrett’s eyes the night before, and his circle of doubt started all over again.
He finally gave up the effort of avoiding everyone around nightfall. But he didn’t go back to the room he’d been given—he hadn’t had the nerve to ask if he was sharing it with Jarrett. He headed down to the medic’s ward, where he found Aidan exactly as he’d left him—comatose in bed, with Kianna sitting guard.
“How’s he doing?”
He had to unbutton his coat the moment he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. A fire raged in the hearth, and sweat broke across his skin.
Kianna didn’t look to him.
“Not good,” she said. “The doctors here are shite. Turns out the NHS hasn’t improved much since the Resurrection.”
“What did they say?”
She shrugged.
Tenn sat down on a chair on the opposite side of the bed, looking between the two of them.
“They say his life expectancy is shorter than yours and mine,” she said. Then she looked down to her hands. “They can’t do anything. Magic won’t touch him, and medicine won’t either. At this rate, they expect him to freeze to death by tomorrow night.”
“I’m sorry.” It didn’t seem like enough, but he couldn’t find any better words.
They sat without speaking for a while, the only sound the crackle of flames and Aidan’s labored breathing. Tenn wanted so badly to reach over and heal him. The fact that there was absolutely nothing he could do was a torture he knew all too well.
“What’s your real name?” Kianna asked.
“What?”
“Tenn. It’s not a real name, is it?” The way she said it was not a question.
“Why does it matter?”
“Because we’re going to die soon, and talking about your past is better than bemoaning our lack of a future. Plus I figure you owe me, since you came out of nowhere with the Kin on your heels. So. What’s your name?”
Tenn didn’t want to answer. Answering just opened up too many other questions. But she was right—their chances of a future were slim unless he could somehow magically figure out a way to heal Aidan and defeat the coming Kin. And since that didn’t seem to be in the cards...
“Jeremy,” he finally said.
“Jeremy,” she repeated, as if rolling the word around in her mouth. “Common. Not at all as inspiring as the great and mighty Tenn. I can see why you changed it.”
Tenn grunted. He wasn’t about to ask if Kianna was her real name—he had a feeling it wouldn’t go over well.
“But that’s not why you changed it, is it?” Kianna asked. He looked at her, to see her staring at him like a hawk eyeing a mouse. “No. You aren’t the type who wants to inspire stories. You’d prefer a common name like Jeremy over something as memorable as Tenn. So why the switch? What were you running from?”
Tenn swallowed and tried to quell the images Water churned in his guts. The bloody hall. The shed. The shed. The shed.
“To,” he said.
“Pardon?”
“I wasn’t running from anything,” he continued, his words already coarse with tears. “I was running to something. Home.”
Kianna just watched him expectantly.
“It’s the number of days it took me to get home,” he said. “When we learned about the threat. When the Resurrection took place. That’s how long it took me to get to my family.”
“What did you find?” Her words were oddly gentle.
“Death,” he whispered. He blinked, watched tears fall to the stone floor. “Ten days of running and screaming and bloodshed. And I was too late. My family was gone. My past was gone. So I changed my name. As a reminder of what happens when you try to hold on to the past. A reminder that I was too slow, and because of that, their deaths are my fault.”
He didn’t expect Kianna to answer. Silence stretched between them, and with every breath, he gathered himself up just a little bit more.
“I’m sorry,” she finally whispered. “I lost my family, too.”
“We all did,” he said. Too harsh. Too harsh. He forced himself to sit upright, to look her in the eye. But that gaze was too hard, and he found himself staring at Aidan’s sleeping form instead.
“He’s the key to ending it,” Tenn said. Even though they were his words, he was finding it harder and harder to believe them. “I don’t know why, or how, but I was sent here to find him. To end the Dark Lady once and for all. He’s the key.”
“Then you better hope he lives through the night,” Kianna said. “And that he didn’t hear any of that. It would go straight to his head.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
AIDAN
Aidan’s eyes flickered open.
He felt like a human ice cube despite the fire burning in the hearth. He’d heard someone talking. A few people. But that had been ages ago. Ages. And now he was alone. The chairs beside him empty. Empty and cold and filled with shadows.
