Chapter 19 – Soren #2
Suddenly, Cerce slips over the edge. We leap forward as one, careful not to get too close to the edge, and see her cautiously climbing down.
Then, we spot the boy not far down, on a little ledge.
He has a mop of blond hair on his head, the same shade as his mother’s, and he stares at me with big brown eyes.
On his head is a dried scrape, and he has another scrape on his shoulder, but otherwise, looks fine.
As Cerce makes her way to him, I find myself in a state of frozen fear. If she misses a step or a handhold… she’d fall straight down. And from this height, she’d die.
Despite all logic, I find myself ready to shift in a second’s notice. I don’t care if it gives us away. I don’t care if it’s reckless. This human woman is willing to risk her life for someone else’s child. I would risk everything for her without a thought.
When she climbs down low enough to reach him, clinging to the side of the ravine, she turns and looks at the boy. “Hi, Billy.”
He lifts his head from his knee, but says nothing. And yet, there’s fear in his gaze.
“I’m Cerce. Remember? Your mama’s friend.”
Still, he says nothing.
But she doesn’t seem to expect him to, she just goes right on talking. “If you hold onto me real tight, and not let go, I’ll take you back to your mama.”
He looks past her and into the distance.
I look to Kage. What’s going on? Why doesn’t the boy talk?
Cerce inches closer. “Do you want to play with Scaly? I bet he misses you so much. And you know your mama is scared of Scaly. She doesn’t like to feed your snake.”
The boy still says nothing. He still stares off, but his shoulders relax.
“I’m going to touch you now,” she says. “I know you don’t like to be touched, but it’s only to save you. I have to carry you back to your mama and Scaly.”
After a second, he blurts out, “Scaly.”
She smiles. “That’s right, Scaly and mama.”
Cautiously, she reaches out and wraps an arm around him, then draws him off the ledge, to press him between herself and the side of the ravine. Then, as we hold our breath, she carries him up, even though he doesn’t hold her back at all.
I don’t remember a time I was more afraid than I am now. It seems impossible that Cerce should have the strength and ability to climb out one-handed and to take the boy with her. It seems foolish that we even let her go this, let her put herself at risk.
Kage swears beside me as Cerce seems to struggle to find purchase with one foot for a minute.
Draven whispers, “Come on, come on!”
And then her foot finds a spot, and she continues up. Minutes seem to drag into hours. The drizzle of rain marks the side of the ravine, drawing my gaze with each drop. Will the water make it slick? Too hard to hold onto?
Images flash through my mind, and I stop breathing. Waiting for the danger I know will come.
And so, it seems surreal when she reaches the hold. Kage and Draven reach down and pull her and the boy to safety, and Cerce collapses onto her knees, still holding the boy. For several seconds, she just sits, holding him and panting, and then she rises to her feet.
“Let’s go find Scaly and mama.”
We follow at her side, staring at her in shock.
“Do you want me to carry the boy?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “Billy has autism. He doesn’t like to be touched. The fact that he’s letting me is almost a miracle. I think he’ll panic if I hand him to you.”
Kage frowns. “What does autism mean?”
Her gaze moves to him, and there’s a smile in her eyes. “It means he’s special. He sees the world differently than we do. He experiences it differently than we do. He doesn’t often talk, or like to be touched, but he makes this world better just by being in it.”
I don’t understand. Not talking or being touched seems like a hard life. But the tone of Cerce’s voice? It’s like she doesn’t think those things matter. Which makes no sense.
We continue trudging through the woods, and I feel utterly useless. Cerce tracked down the child, rescued him, and now continues to find the strength to carry him through the woods. And us? Three big gargoyles? We stood and watched her do it all.
Her steps are soft through the woods. Ours are loud, and the rain falls a little faster.
She hums softly under her breath, and after a moment, the boy starts to hum too. Slowly, her voice fades away, and the sound of his humming follows us. It’s somehow a beautiful sound, an expression of something. Something sad.
I find my throat tightening. How can a humming be so sad? As each note comes and goes, I feel it building to something, and when it finally ends, I feel different.
Looking at the boy, who is staring off into the distance, I think maybe I understand a little of what Cerce is saying. There is something special about the boy.
When we finally reach Stacy, she spots us instantly and starts running. When she reaches her son though, she doesn’t touch him. Tears streaming down her face, she simply says. “Thank you.”
Cerce nods and walks up onto the sidewalk. Near it, a beat-up car waits. Stacy opens the door, and Cerce loads the child inside. Once he’s buckled, Stacy kneels down and hands the boy a sucker.
“Do you want a sweet treat, Billy?”
His gaze locks onto the sucker and he takes it, carefully removing the wrapper and folding it before sticking the sucker in his mouth. Stacy continues to kneel by the car, staring at him, her eyes roving over his injuries. Then she takes a step back and closes the door.
In an instant, she turns to Cerce. “Will he be okay?”
Cerce smiles, and the tough woman is gone. She simply looks… kind. “He’ll be fine. Clean out his flesh wounds and bandage him, and he’ll be good as new in a few days.”
Stacy nods. “He won’t like that, but at least nothing looks broken or like it’ll need stitches.”
“He’s fine, Stacy. These things happen.”
Her friend’s eyes fill with tears. “I shouldn’t have answered my phone. I knew better.”
Cerce strokes her arm. “If only we were all perfect, huh? Then we could hold ourselves to such high expectations.”
Stacy laughs and rubs at her eyes. “That sounds like something Kayla would say.”
Cerce’s grin widens. “She did say it.”
Stacy seems calmer when she looks at us. “Thanks you, guys.”
I shrug. “It was all her. We didn’t do anything.”
It’s almost embarrassing how true my words are.
“Well, thank you, all the same,” she says. When she moves to the driver’s side of the car, she pauses. “I think maybe you guys might be some of the good ones.”
When she gets into her car and drives away, we linger a minute longer. I’m not sure why. We just don’t seem to be able to leave.
And then Cerce turns to us. “Thanks for coming with me.”
Kage grins. “I just wish we could’ve done more.”
She shakes her head. “It’s enough that you came.”
Then something comes over her face, and she looks to the woods. “What are you guys doing now?”
Draven answers. “Heading back to our apartment. Want to join us?”
I’m shocked by his offer, but even more so, I find myself aroused at the thought. Flashes of images from the night before come back to me, no matter how hard I try to push them to the side.
She’d felt so fucking good.
If she comes back to our apartment, no matter how illogical it is, no matter that we have a hellhound to catch tomorrow night, we’re going to have sex again. And this time, I’m not sure I’ll be able to walk away from her.
Hell, if I’m honest, I don’t know if I could’ve walked away from her last night, if she hadn’t have been gone in the morning.
She glances at Draven, her expression unreadable. “Maybe another time. I have something to take care of.”
He looks disappointed. “We might be gone after tonight.”
She looks away from him, tucking her hair behind her ear. “If I don’t see you, well, take care.”
And then she turns and heads back into the woods.
We watch her for a time, until she completely disappears from view. And then, finally, I seem to be able to take a deep breath.
“I never imagined a woman like her,” Kage says.
“She’s different,” I say.
He grins. “She’s strong, fearless, and kind.”
She’s all those things and more.
“Do you think she feels the same way about us?” Draven asks.
I answer honestly. “With her, I can’t really tell.”
We walk a little slower as we head back to our apartment. It’s true that Cerce is amazing. More amazing than I ever imagined.
But it’s also true that Hades will give us a perfect woman.
I just can’t imagine she’ll be more perfect than Cerce.