Chapter Twenty-Seven
Elliot
The path wound through the forest. Aengus’s and Cael’s glow only extended so far. Cael stayed vigilant, but nothing bothered them. If there were animals around, they remained hidden in the dark. We walked along a trail with small pebbles beneath our feet.
I felt Grym as soon as we arrived. His presence grew stronger the farther down the trail we went. I didn’t realize he wasn’t there until we’d entered this realm and he was there again. It brought tears to my eyes. We were getting closer.
When Cael started yelling Grym’s name, I did, too. Cael pulled away, searching a few feet away. With his own light source, he could do that, and looking in a different area of the realm was a good idea. They’d cover more ground that way.
Then the forest shifted, coming to life. It was as if the trees uprooted themselves and began walking.
One tree came straight toward us. I grabbed Aengus and pulled him out of the way.
The noise was deafening. It turned out that trees being ripped from the ground made an actual ripping sound. There was also a squeaking, as though branches were rubbing against each other in the wind, but it wasn’t just one. It was a symphony of them.
I covered my ears.
“What’s happening?” I tried to yell as loudly as I could, but Aengus just shook his head.
It lasted only a few minutes, but it seemed to take hours for the forest to settle again.
I repeated my question.
“We were close to finding your reaper and the others.”
“So, Donnie Death decided to move the furniture.” It must have created distance.
“Are Joel and Miles still with Grym?” They’d be hard to find individually.
“They are together. One of the beloveds found their mate here, a hellhound named Arnoc.”
“Whoa. No shit?”
“No shit detected.” It turned out the god of love had a sense of humor, but it didn’t last long. “It seems we’ve lost Cael.”
Shit. That was right. I turned in a three-sixty, searching and yelling for him.
I heard him call back almost immediately.
Aengus and I turned toward him.
Aengus waved his hand, and half the trees vanished. He smirked as I gaped at him. “If Donn wants to play games, I can play, too.”
“By making it easier for Grym to see your light.” It was smart.
Aengus just smiled. “My son is this way. When we find him, we will find the others.”
He began walking. Aengus held out his arm.
“Can I ask you a question?” I grasped at it as though it were a lifeline.
“It’s about Cael being a reaper, isn’t it?” Smart and perceptive. I could see why Aengus was a god. He was good at it, not that he had chosen it. Or maybe he had. Either way, though.
I nodded. “That seems like the exact opposite of what the god of love’s son would do.”
Aengus shrugged. “That’s what I thought at first, too.”
“Was Cael becoming a reaper an act of rebellion?”
“A grand act, wouldn’t you say?” Aengus smiled.
We walked at a leisurely pace. I wasn’t so sure we should go so slowly.
With Grym and the others still out there and Cael still sort of missing, we needed to get to everyone as quickly as possible so we could go home.
I was ready to get back to normal. Well, my new normal, which included a bunch of reapers, I should probably start considering family since we were in this thing together.
“Cael always did his own thing. And Donn was seductive. Cael rarely listens to me. He’s always been an obstinate child.”
“Dad!” Cael’s yell carried a clear note of alarm.
Aengus didn’t increase his pace, and I was a prisoner to his light. Aengus knew he had me trapped. That was a god’s prerogative.
“Donn wasn’t ready for change. No one really is, are they?”
“I guess not.” I knew I hadn’t been ready when I met Grym.
“So you knew Cael and Donn’s love wouldn’t last.”
“I suspected.” Aengus seemed a little saddened.
“Do you think Donn will come around?”
“All I can do is see the tether and bring people to the moment of discovery. After that, it’s up to them.” He smiled. “You’ve strengthened me with your love for Grym. I must thank you for that.”
“I’d say you’re welcome, but I didn’t fall for Grym on your behalf.”
Aengus chuckled. “It’s never about me, silly boy. Unless you’re talking about the love others have for me.”
“Like the love you have for Cael?”
“My love for him belongs to him. His belongs to me.”
“I think I understand.”
The forest disappeared before us. It was as if our world had shrunk between us and Cael.
What appeared was a wolfman whose teeth dripped fire onto Cael.
Cael strained to keep the creature from biting him.
The fire didn’t burn Cael. It sizzled and turned to water when it hit his skin, then rolled off him.
Aengus waved his hand, and the beastly creature flew off him. He hit a tree, landing with a sickening thud.
The creature's hair disappeared, and its body shrank. He lay unmoving on his side, curled in the fetal position. Where the creature had been, a man with long black hair obscuring most of his face appeared. The man was naked.
A pile of folded clothes appeared beside him.
Cael huffed as he stood. “Thanks, Dad.”
What Cael was thanking him for was a mystery to me. It seemed Aengus had eyes everywhere and helped in ways I didn’t know about.
“Of course.” Aengus put his arm around Cael. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Arnoc!” Wait. Was that Joel?
Suddenly, the darkness turned to light, as if someone had flipped a switch on the sun. The forest disappeared around us.
I let go of Aengus’s arm when I heard Joel’s voice again.
“Grym!” He was the most beautiful person I’d ever seen, even with the weariness etching lines into his face and his tired eyes.
“Elliot!” Grym dropped his arms from around Miles and Joel, then ran toward me.
My chin wobbled before I even touched him. Tears fell the instant my arms were around him.
The tightness in my chest eased, but my body shook as he held me close.
He cupped the back of my head as I pressed against his chest. “I thought I’d never see you again.”
I’d thought the same thing. Even with Aengus and Cael helping, I thought it would be impossible to find Grym.
Leaving Tech Duinn would have meant leaving Grym behind.
The thought was so painful that I hadn’t let it in at all.
Throughout my time in the realm, I’d not given up hope.
The dread of failing had been a darkness that lived in the pit of my stomach.
“I found you.”
“That you did, A stor. That you did.” Grym pulled me away but never let go of my shoulders. He searched me from head to toe with his gaze, as if looking for an injury. “Are you hurt at all?”
“I’m fine. Are you?”
“Turns out the hellhound Donn sent to harm us is very attached to Joel.”
I pointed to the guy who was just now coming to. Joel knelt beside him, holding his hand.
“Do you mean that guy?”
“Yes, that’s Arnoc. Joel is his beloved.”
Oh, wow. “The guy’s saliva was fire, and he used to be very furry, but now he’s like, all naked and stuff. Aengus had to save Cael from him.”
Grym pulled me close. “Cael’s here?”
“Turns out he’s the son of the god of love.”
“His son?”
“Yep. He left to help us. Sort of, anyway.” He had self-serving motives. It wasn’t very fair that everyone else had a beloved when his rejected him. He’d probably left because he was jealous of Grym.
“Yeah.” Grym didn’t seem to believe it. He knew Cael better than almost anyone, except maybe Aengus.
“Well, he helped keep me safe and searched for you, Joel, and Miles, so maybe cut him some slack.”
Grym sighed. “I suppose you’re right.”
Cael and Aengus came over.
“Perhaps we’ll leave this realm before introductions are made.” Aengus gestured toward a gray door that suddenly appeared.
I clung to Grym, unwilling to be separated from him ever again.