The Evensong (50 page)

I glanced at him when I heard the distinct disgust in his voice. He was scowling at the water in front of him.

He looked at me suddenly. “You knew that, didn’t you?”

“Knew what?” I said, only whispering.

“About witches. You’re just a mutt. Once upon a time a being like us got together when a human and boom—the first witch appeared. A very tragic day, in my opinion. Humans were supposed to honor us, not
be
us. Now we’re just a faded secret to most; myth. There was a reason why you should fear us.” He looked at me pointedly. “We could crush you.”

His eyes bore into mine, and I struggled to keep contact. “Well do it then.”

He paused, as if waiting to hear more, and burst out laughing. “All in good time. I hate the kinds like you who are further dirtying the Elemental line. Even if it’s part of the undines, it’s still a black mark on all of us.” He stood and dipped his hand in the water, watching it evaporate off his skin in thin streams of steam. “Just be patient. Eventually I’d like to just kill two birds with one stone.”

He gestured to the other room, and then walked towards it. I didn’t understand what he meant, but I was just relieved that he had left. I would have breathed a sigh of relief, but breathing normally was hard enough. Wrapping my arms around my middle, I rested my head on my knees and held back strong sobs; it hurt too much to move.

IN
DEATH

It was a very long night, and I barely got any sleep. Between staying as still as possible, I dozed, though it didn’t bring me any rest. By morning, my whole body ached, and it remained so throughout the day. Omar came by once to leave me a can of tuna and more saltines, but I didn’t touch them. I didn’t feel hunger much anymore; my stomach felt like a closed fist. A new ache was blooming in my chest, and it was familiar to me. I needed Linden.

Sitting alone all day brought on every thought I didn’t want to think of. I stared at the exit, wanting so badly to try to swim again, though it was impossible now that I was hurt. My ribs felt no better today, and I breathed in short breaths to avoid the pain as much as I could. I grew more and more frustrated by the fact that I couldn’t move much and that I was stuck here. The vivid possibility that I would never be found overtook my thoughts, bringing me to angry tears.

Omar drifted in after a long time. He looked down at my untouched food, and I kept my eyes in the distance.

“You should eat something,” he said quietly. He stood next to me and waited, but I didn’t move. He crouched down and watched me for a moment before reaching out to move my hair from my face. “Riley, come on.”

“I’m not speaking to you. Ever,” I said. “You don’t deserve it.”

He froze, and slowly dropped his hand. “Riley, I—”

“Don’t you get it?” I hissed, scowling at him. “There is nothing you can do. I’ve told you that before.

“Linden and I are twin flames—remember that term? Remember what Rene told you? Well I lied to her. When I looked into the pool in my journey, you weren’t down there. Linden was—get it? If ‘I love Linden’ isn’t enough for you, choke on that.”

I looked back to the distance entrance, my hand gripping my side. Omar was absolutely silent, but I could feel the fury radiating off him. It was odd though, because I didn’t care. At the moment, I didn’t care what he might try to do to me. If he hurt me, oh well. I was in a bad position anyway, so the truth might as well be voiced.

“Does Aidan know this?” he asked quietly. I could hear his voice trembling slightly, and I didn’t reply. I said I wouldn’t talk to him, and I would keep that promise. When he saw that I wasn’t about to open my mouth, he stood quickly and walked to the fracture, calling out for Aidan as he walked through.

I could almost laugh to myself about this. Almost. There were ways out of being in love, I suppose, but a twin flame situation was dire in Omar’s eyes. Twin flames were beyond true love or whatever people called it. I felt it. It was that opening of my chest in the middle of a downpour; a feeling that couldn’t be duplicated. Omar definitely couldn’t live up to this.

I smiled slightly to myself and tried to shift my position. A sharp pain shot through my side, and I froze, dreading the sudden nausea that came with it. This had happened during the night, and dry heaving only made the pain worse. I tried to hold down my stomach, and I squeezed my throat to close it off. It faded after a few minutes, and I heard Aidan’s voice from the other side of the cave. He stormed in, eyes already on me.

“Are you lying?” he demanded.

“About what?” I asked.

He had no patience, and he stood in front of me with clenched fists. “Don’t stall. Is Linden your twin flame?”

I smiled slightly, and the tiny expression sent him over the edge. My neck hurt with the force of his hand slapping my cheek.

“Speak up!” he yelled. Omar stood by, and he looked slightly pained as I turned back, mumbling a yes.

“That must be in,” Aidan said, speaking to himself as he paced the small space. “That’s where auctorita comes from . . . if only it were that simple to find the other.”

He was so blind to everything but power. Secretly, I hoped that if he ever found it he would be consumed. He was evil enough; perhaps auctorita would just destroy him. It seemed too much to hope for.

“We have serious things to research,” Aidan said to Omar. “I need to know everything about twin flames. What happens if one dies? Do you know?” He looked between Omar and I, but neither of us answered. I hoped he was wrong. I would rather Linden live at all costs.

Aidan returned back to the other side, calling Omar after him. I wondered where he hoped to find his information, but more importantly, I wanted to hear it. I had never heard of twin flames dying together, but it was possible. That seemed so unfair, but it also made sense.
Please let it be wrong . . .

After a long while of the normal silence and sounds of the cave, I heard a distant buzzing. It was the faraway sound of a motor; Aidan must have a small motorboat somewhere. Had I the ambition to move, I might have gone to look, but I stayed put.

Hours passed. I dozed here and there, tried walking once. It was a painful ordeal, but I forced myself anyway, feeling sick the instant I stood. I walked as close to the edge of the rock as I could and sent out strong thoughts towards Linden. There was no guarantee that this would get his attention since it wasn’t my forte, but I was willing to try.

I eventually lay out the thin blanket I’d been given and tried to get comfortable on my back. This was virtually impossible, but I found a position that didn’t hurt so much. I dreamed lightly and slept fitfully. I woke up feverish and weak, and as I sat up I could hear the motorboat in the distance. I’d been dreaming about some of the things I remembered of Rene’s lessons, but none of it made sense now that I was awake.

My eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and I watched the wall where the other space was located. I soon saw a faint light inside as it bounced off the walls; a flashlight. There were low voices, and shadows came with the light. Omar stepped through, a silhouette against the light behind him as Aidan followed. With them came the odor of fish, and I could see Omar held a large one along with a long knife. Aidan extended his palm towards me, and I watched as flames seemed to seep from his skin, covering his hand like a light film. It gradually grew larger, creating more light.

“You should feel lucky,” he said as he pulled his hand back. “The death of one flame won’t kill the other.”

I watched the flames grow and settle in his palm; it dripped from his fingers like liquid.

“This doesn’t upset me though. This makes for a challenge. That’ll be a nice change of pace.” He stroked the small fire as if it were some kind of animal. His skin didn’t burn at all, but his palms were redder than the rest of him.

“You like fish?” he asked, looking up from his hand. I didn’t say anything, though the prospect of real food had my empty stomach aching. Aidan smiled knowingly and turned back to Omar. “It’ll be there if she wants it. Come on.”

He walked through the wall, and a minute later I could hear the crackle of flames and an orange glow came from the crack. Omar hesitated for a long time, tossing the fish innards into the water. Just having him nearby angered me, and I was relieved when he left.

A few minutes later, with the sound of their voices came the smell of cooking fish. I tried to hold my breath; the smell of real food was disgustingly tantalizing, and I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of my caving. I forced myself up instead and felt my way towards the rock. Blindly, I reached into the water, my fingers grazing over foreign objects until I felt what I was looking for. I tugged the little bit of kelp out and shook away the excess water. It was slimy and almost unappetizing, but I tore off a small bite anyway. The seawater gave it enough salt for taste, and I ate it quickly. It wasn’t much of anything, but it was something in my stomach.

I went back to my spot on the blanket when I heard Aidan’s voice coming closer. He slid out of the fracture, his fist holding his fire again. It was enough light to see the uneven ground, and he walked carefully.

“Don’t you wonder how I knew Linden was alive?” he asked as he stood in front of me.

I shook my head. “I don’t care.”

He chuckled. “Oh you actress, you. That’s all you care about. The gods should have granted you the privilege of being an Elemental. Too bad.”

I didn’t reply. His attempts to insult me were getting pathetic.

He crouched in front of me, and I could see he was getting impatient. “You are so stubborn. How long are you going to pretend you’re not afraid?”

“I’m not pretending,” I replied.

His eyes were calculating for a moment, and then he held his hand close to my cheek. I could feel the heat radiating from his skin, and it increased as the film of fire covered his palm.

“You don’t mind ending up like Aly?” he asked as he tilted his head slightly. I clenched my jaw when he said her name.

“Do it,” I said through my teeth.

“Don’t say things you don’t mean,” he warned.

“I mean it!” I shouted. “All you can do is bluff, you never act on it. You’re more impatient than you let you, so just kill me already!”

A brief look of surprised crossed his features, and then he seemed somewhat amused. “You think I’m bluffing?”

“If you’d stop being so bitter about not having auctorita, maybe you’d get more done,” I said. “I’m sorry you can’t be as powerful as you like, and I’m sorry you try to gain recognition with your stupid, trivial ways of—”

My words stopped as he grabbed a fistful of my hair. It hurt, but the intense pain in my side was worse. I cringed as he brought my face close to his.

“Are you being insulting?” he asked lowly.

“Why?” I gasped. “Are you hurt?”

I could hear his teeth grinding, and he wrenched me to my feet. “Keep talking, Riley.
Keep talking.
”

I could hardly breathe, but I still spoke. “See? You can’t even do it . . .”

His fist slammed across my mouth, rattling my whole body. I felt my lip split and blood flowed down my chin. The pain was sharp and dull, but I barely registered it as he put an arm around my waist and easily tossed me into the water. The salt burned the open wound, and when I came to the surface I was gasping and spitting tinted water. Grasping the rocks, I tried to breathe. Aidan’s hand came from above, and he held my chin, forcing me to look up at him.

“You’ll love it down there,” he said softly. “All the undines do.”

He pushed me down below the surface while I flailed uselessly. I was gulping water instead of air, and the smarting of every wound was blinding. Soon, I couldn’t swallow anything else and my body gradually stopped moving. The dull heartbeat in my ears began to slow, and I felt the slow sensation of floating up.

I opened my eyes. Above me was that beautiful soft blue and the gentle rippling. I knew where I was, though I moved slowly, and I was breathing what felt like moist air. The bubbles drifted up before me, and I soon came to the surface as they did.

I stood on the pebbly ground that was suddenly there. Taking a moment to really get some air, I looked around at the astral plane. It looked the same as it had the last time I’d been here, only now Linden was nowhere in sight. The giant lily pads rocked slightly on the water, and the strange sounds came from the shore, wherever it was located.

I started walking, not knowing what I was supposed to do. Now, there was only one reason why I was here, and I glanced down at my wrist. I was surprised to see the thread still there, only now it was so thin, it looked like spider silk. Somehow this didn’t frighten me, and I only kept walking, wondering if it would be stupid to call out into the distance.

“Linden!” I shouted first. Once again, my voice seemed muffled, though it did carry a little. The noises beyond didn’t stop, so that gave me a little more confidence. I tried again.

“Morcant!”

I kept walking as nothing happened. The foggy sky showed no sign of anything except maybe the moon. I navigated around lily pads, calling out for Morcant again and again. The scene started to change as I went; the lily pads became more frequent, and up ahead I could see tall reeds growing out of the water. I stopped at the edge of them, looking up. They were taller than me by at least two feet, but I still wanted to walk into them. Reeds only grew near land, and I wanted to find it.