Flame Moon (A Flame Moon Novel, page 18
Charlotte bit her tongue as she went to the wastebasket and dropped the glass pieces into it. She set the broom and dustpan down and walked over to Aiden, towering in a pissed stance over him. “You’re talking to the wrong person about loss, Aiden, I know you know that. Why do you think I’ve let this go on as long as I have? When I lost Thomas...well, I’ve been everywhere you have been in here,” she rapped his head. “But I’m done watching it.”
She bent down, sitting on her heels in front of him. “And lord knows, I miss Triaten too — but it’s been a month. I’m not saying you have to be okay with anything — ever — if need be. But you do need to start functioning again. You need to take one step outside.”
Aiden tried to focus on Charlotte. “I just have to kill the memories.” He didn’t bother to hide the pain in his voice. “How do you kill the memories? Days pass, and I haven’t been able to do it.”
Charlotte’s face softened in empathy. She reached out, hand on Aiden’s cheek. “I wish I knew what to tell you. But I never wanted the memories of Thomas to die. They are my only comfort, even after all these years. They are my proof that I could love someone that deeply. With my entire soul. Even if it was for such a short time. Even if that time haunts me. Knowing what love I was capable of...it makes me who I am.”
Aiden shook his head. “But what you had with Thomas, it was real. What I had...what I had was a lie...something I concocted for myself. Because I wanted it. But it was never real. She was never real.” He hung his head. “I believed in the wrong thing. The wrong person.”
Tears brimmed in Charlotte’s eyes for her friend. She didn’t have an answer for him. And he was broken. Her hands slipped into his and she stood up. She pulled on him, willing him to his feet. He wobbled up.
Charlotte led him down the hallway to his bedroom, talking to him, her tone no longer scolding. “Aiden, I need to speak to you sober. Sober and not railing against the world. Just sleep this one off, and I’ll be back in a few hours.” She pushed him down onto his bed. Her voice took on an edge again. “Promise me you’ll stop drinking, at least for today so I can talk to you. I have been alone — no Triaten, no you. Just give me this, give me one hour of soberness, and then you can go back to whatever you call this embarrassment of a life.”
Aiden flopped down on his back, arm covering his face. “Fine, but bring some grease from Joe’s back with you.”
~~~
Aiden was showered and clean-shaven, cleaning up the kitchen when Charlotte walked in hours later. The early summer sun was shining bright afternoon light into the house. The empty piles of whiskey bottles littering the floor were gone.
Charlotte smiled at the back of Aiden. This was the friend she was used to.
“Good,” she walked over to him, giving him a hug and kiss on the cheek, “this is exactly what I wanted to find.”
Aiden looked down at her, cynical, “Enjoy it, I doubt it will last for long.”
She took a step back from him. “I’m hoping it’ll last longer than you’re planning. But for what I need to talk to you about, you may just disappear on me again. And I would understand if that’s what you choose to do.”
Aiden paused his cleaning and eyed her, curious.
“Come, sit with me.” Charlotte said. They sat down at the table across from each other.
Charlotte was silent, picking at the aged wood on the table. She wasn’t looking at him. Aiden watched her, waiting. Finally, he prodded her. “Out with it.”
She looked across the table at him. “I don’t want you to have to go back to that day. But we have to.”
Aiden’s eyes narrowed at Charlotte. “I sobered up so you could remind me why I need to drink?”
Her hand rose to stop him. “I need you to listen, for just one second.” She took a breath and continued. “We were willing to do anything to get you back safely. All of us. Once we had a plan, that was always the goal, there was never any discussion about it, never any wavering from that mission. We knew we had to get you back alive, at least alive enough for me to heal you. All of us, myself...Triaten...and Skye.”
Aiden started to stand up, but Charlotte’s hand shot out, grabbing his wrist. “No, please sit. I won’t mention her name again.”
Aiden slowly sank back down to the bench. But his eyes were wary now on Charlotte.
“So we were successful in the mission — we got you back — and we all believed in it, even if there was damage along the way. We didn’t anticipate everything — we couldn’t — we didn’t have a lot of time, so we just acted.”
“What are you trying to tell me Charlotte?”
“Hold on.” Charlotte got up and walked out the front door, leaving it open. In a moment, she was back through the doorway. Right behind her was Triaten.
Alive, healthy, Triaten. Standing in the doorway.
Aiden’s breath stopped. He looked back and forth several times from Triaten to Charlotte. They were both staring at him, silently holding their own breath, waiting for his reaction.
Slowly he stood up. “Shit.” The word was long and low under his breath. The word was furious.
In a horrible flash, he was over at Triaten, tackling him with a guttural roar. They hit the ground outside together, hard, with Aiden on top. He punched Triaten several times before Charlotte jumped on his back, yelling.
“Stop it, Aiden, stop it. Get a hold of yourself.” She gripped at his arms.
He paused, fist mid-air, eyes piercing Triaten. He unclenched his fist and pushed himself back off his friend. He got to his feet, disgusted. Charlotte let go and slid off his back.
Charlotte went over to Triaten, giving him a hand to his feet. Aiden’s eyes were at the sky, his breath heaving. Eventually, he lowered his gaze to the pair. “Do you know what you’ve done?”
Triaten nodded, blood trickling from his mouth. “I deserved that. And yes, we know what we’ve done. We got you home alive. That I won’t apologize for.” He wiped away blood from his lip with the back of his hand. “But the second Skye’s sword went into me, I knew it was a mistake, we should have found another way, but by then it was too late. Once her sword was in me, we had to play out what we had planned. ”
Aiden eyed him furiously, anger refusing to cool. “How did you not die?”
Triaten widened his stance, just in case Aiden decided to come at him again. “We had practiced all day where Skye could stab me. She hit the mark spot on. And then she drew all the attention to herself while Charlotte healed me from underneath.”
“But you were screaming.” Aiden’s look shifted to Charlotte.
Charlotte shrugged it off. “Acting.”
Aiden’s jaw clenched and unclenched. He couldn’t look at the two of them. His eyes shifted back to the clear blue sky. “Why would you do this to me — to Skye?”
Triaten answered. “It was her idea, and it was a good one. She had to convince us, and if we could have come up with something better, we would have. We all knew you would never leave her. Or you would get yourself killed in the process of saving her.”
“You could have just left me.”
“Skye was going for you with or without us,” Charlotte said. “They had a small army, Aiden. And it was just the three of us. The elders wouldn’t help. Skye and Triaten went to them first. Triaten and I just didn’t think we had another option.”
Triaten picked up the thread. “Aiden, I didn’t know she would go to it so soon. We were supposed to play it out longer, to see if we could find another way. But when they dragged you out, she was crushed. I thought she was going to break right then. But she didn’t. She was true. I was there the whole time, and she didn’t break, even after Charlotte took you away, she wasn’t going to give you up.”
Renewed anger shook Aiden’s voice. “So you let the one person with very little training, and no tactile experience, lead you into it?”
Charlotte stepped in front of Triaten, she wasn’t going to let Aiden attack him again. “We know we shouldn’t have let it go. Believe me, we’ve gone over and over it in our minds. It was our fault, there is no arguing that. We take that responsibility — we never should have let it happen. But we did, so the best we can do now is try to rectify and salvage what we can.”
“Salvage?” Aiden didn’t like where Charlotte was going. “Where is she?”
Charlotte stepped toward him. “Let’s just go inside and talk about this.”
Aiden’s look stopped her. His fingers clenched into a fist. “Triaten, where the hell is Skye?”
Triaten stepped up next to Charlotte, he wasn’t about to hide behind his friend, Aiden’s fists be dammed. “The plan was for me to track them, her, right after they left, and then extract her as soon as you were safely away. We thought we would have her back within a day, maybe two, tops.”
He paused, not wanting to go on, but then looked directly at Aiden. They created the mess, now Aiden needed to know. “Instead, they took her away in a helicopter.”
“A helicopter? Shit.” Aiden swore, realizing right away that meant Skye could be anywhere.
Triaten nodded. “So I’ve been tracking her ever since — she’s alive — I just found where they have her two days ago.”
“You just found her?” Aiden was incredulous. “It’s been a month — damn, she must think we abandoned her. It took you a month Triaten? You’re better than that.”
Triaten was obviously disgusted with himself. “Apparently not. They’re about four hours west, holed up on a mountain ridge I didn’t know they used. I scouted, and then came back.”
Triaten’s voice turned to even deeper gravity. “Aiden, we need to get her out of there right away.”
Aiden didn’t want to ask the question. His scowl pierced Triaten. “What have they done with her?”
“It’s not good.” Triaten shook his head.
Aiden reached out and grabbed Triaten’s shirt, gripping him upward. “Tell me.”
Triaten made no motion to protect himself. “For starters, there’s a river that runs through the cave they’re in.”
“And?”
Triaten hesitated. Aiden tightened his grip.
“And they’ve been torturing her, drowning her again and again. They’re trying to turn on the Malefic in her.”
Aiden shoved Triaten away from him. He ran at the house, fist raised. With a tormented scream, his fist went through the front door, splintering wood in all directions.
He didn’t turn back to Triaten and Charlotte. The two waited. And waited. Aiden was breathing heavy, fists dug into his thighs, standing in the wrecked doorway.
He didn’t look back at them, but finally spoke, asking a question. “Have I missed any time shifts?”
Charlotte answered him. “There was only one, it was a day after we got you back. It was really short — maybe a five minute repeat. There haven’t been any others since.”
Aiden gave the slightest head nod, and then there was silence. Eventually, he half-turned his head over his shoulder. But he did not look at them directly. “We will go and get Skye back. But know I will never forgive either of you for this.” He walked into the house.
Charlotte’s eyes closed at the blow, her hand at her face as she fought back tears. Triaten put his arm around her shoulder. He knew he was getting off easy. They walked into the house after Aiden.
~~~
“We need twenty, and you are going to give them to us.” Triaten’s voice was harsh.
Horace looked at the three of them surrounding him, Triaten, Aiden, and Charlotte. The anger circling him was palpable. He was sitting alone at the bar in the salon. Helen was perched in her usual spot on the couch, but Edmund was absent, not in the spacious room at all.
Horace swirled the amber liquid in his stocky glass. “Don’t you think that’s a bit extreme? How many Malefics could actually be posted there? The topography alone wouldn’t warrant that much of a protective force.” He took a swallow. “And didn’t you say there’s only one way in and one way out?”
“We don’t plan on taking any chances,” Triaten said. “We’re going to get her back, one way or another.”
Horace took another gulp of his drink, specifically eyeing Aiden. “Plus, you’re assuming we would allow her into the fold.”
Aiden was near to throttling Horace. Charlotte grabbed his arm in reminder to remain calm. It wouldn’t do any good to take out the one that they may actually have on their side.
Although downplayed, Horace was relieved to see his chosen son alive. Charlotte had refused to tell the elders anything of the night they lost Skye. The only thing the elders knew was that Charlotte and Triaten had left with Skye, and only Charlotte and Aiden had returned to the mountain.
Triaten’s hand went to the bar, leaning in on Horace, his voice low. “Do I need to remind you she can control time? We’ve all seen it, we know it, and they’re turning her into a Malefic.”
Horace stared down at his glass. “Honestly, we thought they had planned to kill her.”
“Well, you were wrong. You made a deal with the devil, and if you don’t help us get her back, you’ll be paying for your deal till the end of days.” Triaten leaned back to stand shoulder to shoulder with Aiden. He continued, arms crossed in front of him. “If the Malefics have control over time — I think you know exactly what could happen to the Panthenites, to mankind. Let your imagination go on that one.”
The first bit of worry crept onto Horace’s face. “We’ll discuss, and get back to you about the force.”
Triaten jumped on his words. “No. Unacceptable. You gave her up once when you allowed them onto the mountain. And then you gave up Aiden. You are going to rectify both of those mistakes right now. Today.”
Horace bought time with a swirl and sip of his drink. His eyes travelled from Charlotte’s blue eyes, imploring — to Aiden’s icy blue eyes, murderous — to the dark eyes that mirrored his own, commanding. He sighed as he set his glass on the mahogany bar. “We agree. Twenty of our best will be outfitted and ready to accompany you by nightfall.”
{ Chapter 16 }
Dispatching the seven guards at the opening of the cave had been easy, three were eating and two were playing cards, so all were taken by surprise, their weapons not nearly close enough. The two that were left, were at the least, alert and at the ready, but no match for the force of twenty-three that had descended on them in the middle of the night darkness.
Aiden, Triaten, and Charlotte left the twenty, strategically spread out on the mountain landscape, down the dirt path, and guarding the opening of the cave. The three friends, all in black, moved with stealth deeper into the cave. The enclosure, lit by an ongoing track of lights strung amongst the stalactites, was darkened by Charlotte silently unscrewing the light bulbs as they progressed. All three of them had excellent night vision — being able to faintly see body heat in total darkness once their eyes adjusted, so the blackness would only help if a retreat became necessary.
A half-mile into the thick dankness, they came upon a split in the cave. Lights ran down both tunnels. They held up, the three looking at one another, all ears straining. Just as Aiden heard the faded sound of water running in the left corridor, footsteps, a mass of them, were coming at them fast from the other corridor.
Aiden, Charlotte and Triaten quickly smashed the light bulbs near them, plunging them into near darkness.
“I go in, you two keep the corridor clear.” Aiden whispered.
“Go.” Triaten and Charlotte returned in unison.
Aiden cut through light bulbs with his sword as he ran. It was only moments before he heard the clash of steel echoing down the tunnel after him.
A minute later he slowed, and stalked covertly toward the wide cavern opening in front of him. The water was rushing loudly now, drowning out any sound of the battle behind him. He slipped along the rock wall next to the entrance, and paused to observe what he was coming into. He was instantly horrified.
An underground river cut out from under a sheer wall, running the length of the wide cavern, only to cut out and disappear under a rocky ledge on the far side of the dank cave. The entrance he was by appeared to be the only way in or out.
Sunk into the wet rock at the top of the cave was a pulley system. Control ropes came down to the side of the river from it, the ends wrapped around a metal wheel. Hanging straight down from the pulley, down to the water, were two entwined ropes. The ropes were being tugged at a slight angle in the direction of the rushing water. Tugged by two bare feet tied together at the end of the rope.
The feet were the only thing above the rushing water.
Aiden’s eyes froze at the sight of the feet. “Hell, no,” he mouthed to himself.
“Pull her up.” The words came from across the cave, opposite the pulley system. A Malefic sat at a small wooden table. He looked bored. Aiden recognized him from the night a month ago. Evan. He also recognized him from the bar.
Another Malefic in a chair by the pulley system stood up, and started to crank the wheel. The ropes pulled upward, pulling the feet away from the water.
Aiden was suspended, his heart stopped, and horror intensified. Triaten had said they were drowning her, but he had not imagined this monstrosity.
Skye’s limp body rose, upside down, from the river. Her arms hung down past her head, hair tangled around them, wrists bound. There was no movement.
The Malefic at the pulley tied off one rope, then pulled at the other, swinging Skye’s hanging body to position above the side of the river. He let the wheel down again, depositing her hard onto the slick rock floor. She still wore what was left of the black tank and jeans from the night they took her. Even wet, the clothes hung off her body. She had easily lost a quarter of her weight. Bones stuck sharply out of her skin. Her body was lifeless.
Aiden could feel his own life sucking away from him. He willed Skye movement, a twitch, anything. Minutes passed, his breath held, not able to swallow.
A gargled suck of air and sputtering cough jerked Skye’s body. Still bound, she rolled to her side, vomiting up wave after wave of water, body in seizure with every purge as desperate gasps of air fought their way into her lungs.
