31. Chapter Thirty-One
Nicholas
Exhausted didn’t cover how Nicholas felt laying dirtied by the black lake, his breaths unsteady and limbs cold.
The sky showed such a brilliant blue that stung his eyes.
Then a shadow blocked out the rays. William leaned over him, face bloodied and silver arm gone. His sleeve hung in shredded tatters.
“Nicholas.” William’s hand held painfully to his neck. “Nicholas, talk to me.”
His mouth tasted of dirt, stale and chalky.
He smacked his lips together, seeing as that was all he could move.
Fearworn drained the energy from him. If he could sleep for a year, that wouldn’t be enough to regain his function.
That force forever within him, once stronger than a blaze, flickered like dying embers.
He had never ached so terribly, never felt so empty and cold.
“Help me sit him up,” William said.
Two hands fell on his shoulders. With a shove, he sat, and the jolt had him wiggling his toes and fingers.
That earned relieved breaths from the group.
Charmaine knelt on his other side, one hand on his back to steady him.
Evera and Arden observed from a distance.
Henry sat behind William. They monitored him with a sense of care so foreign he questioned if his mind was deceiving him.
“Look at his eyes,” Henry declared. The group gawked, William most of all, somewhat hopeful, somewhat fearful. He caught Nicholas by the chin to force their eyes to meet.
“Is…” he coughed, his throat bitterly dry.
“Water,” William demanded.
Henry retrieved a canteen from his pack. He tried taking it, but his hand fell limp. William tipped his head back and poured the water over his parched lips. He gulped down more and more until William retreated.
“Is something wrong with my eyes?” he finally croaked.
“I don’t know about wrong.” Henry shifted through the pack. He chuckled when retrieving the crystal he used to follow them at the start of their adventure.
“Look.” Henry presented the crystal, angling it until he caught a reflection of himself. His eyes were brilliant fuchsia, save around the iris where violet leached into the hue.
“Fearworn was draining you of your powers, what made you a shade, somehow,” Evera half said, half asked.
“Then his powers are gone?” asked Arden.
“No.” He was weak, but knew he wouldn’t be forever. Those dying embers were still embers, struggling to light themselves, growing. He sensed it, like another heartbeat picking up pace. “It’s still there, just… quieter.”
“Forever or for a short time,” Evera muttered.
William fell against his chest, his arm wrapped tightly around the shade’s torso. He returned the gesture, savoring the sensation of them being together. He didn’t want to upset William but couldn’t deny how good it felt to know he worried, that he clung to Nicholas with a lovely vice grip.
“You’re safe. Fearworn’s gone. We saved who we could. That’s what matters,” William said, but there was a strangled hope in his voice.
“Are you…” His throat ached when he swallowed. He held William’s neck, scrutinizing the shreds falling over his scarred shoulder. Where the silver once bled into his skin were dark lines, like thick veins. “Does it hurt?”
“It’s sore and… stranger, but bearable,” he answered and didn’t sound that dejected at all. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Arden clapped and kicked at the ground. “While the lovebirds chat, I suggest we find any blood from Fearworn and burn it, or something. I don’t want anything from him to remain. He may crawl his way out of whatever the portal led to.”
Evera and Arden wandered off, bickering over what should be done. Charmaine surprised Nicholas by kissing his cheek. “I’m glad you’re safe.”
He pondered, briefly, if the warm feeling he had was why William and so many other mortals sought friendships. If so, the feeling was rather nice, and he wasn’t entirely opposed to seeking friendships in the future. Then Henry patted his leg, smiling with all his teeth. “You did good, Nicholas.”
Henry went to the patients, who huddled together beneath a tree. He gave them food from his pack that they inhaled and thanked him profusely for. They looked worse for wear, but they were alive and he had full confidence that William would see to their health.
“Is it really over?” William whispered.
“I don’t know. I don’t remember what you did,” he answered.
William took his hand. He peered at the spot the others circled, searching for any of Fearworn’s remains. Where the portal had been, the grass withered, leaving a pale darkness. Blood stained the ground too, no doubt a little of all of theirs.
“He opened a portal, Nicholas. Call me mad, but I don’t think it led to Faerie or Terra. It felt colder, distant, and I remembered what you said.” William gave him a stern look. “Don’t stray from the path, so I ensured Fearworn didn’t have enough time to walk it at all.”
“Let us agree that if the bastard dares to defy death again, we let another deal with him,” he said.
“Yes, let’s.” William laughed. “But what shall we do instead?”
“I want to dance at a ball where all can see. I want us to share a meal under the stars. I want us to build a home. I want all my experiences, new and old, to be with you.”
William’s head fell on his shoulder. He breathed deep like he tasted air for the first time. “You are the greediest and most troublesome man I have ever met.”
“Is that a yes?”
“It isn’t a no.” He kissed Nicholas’ shoulder. “I love the sound of that.”
“Even if I change again?” he dared to ask, fearful of an answer when he shouldn’t have been because William gave a kiss so full of love that his heart couldn’t bring itself to rest.
William settled their foreheads together. His eyes were always intoxicating, tempting Nicholas the moment they met and held him captive ever since. “Whatever the future may hold, we will face it together. You are troublesome, but you are my trouble.”
They shared an elated smile. Then Nicholas held him close and watched their companions burn whatever may have remained of Fearworn, if anything. He dared to believe there wasn’t, that they had gotten rid of the bastard for good that time and they could go on living their lives.
Our lives, he thought with such burning hope, his eyes watered.
He always imagined his life to be short and meaningless or drawn out and dreadful.
He never believed he would be missed should he die or change entirely.
There would be no family to mourn his loss, no friends to laugh about him as they told tales, nothing at all.
But as he cuddled with William, listened to Henry ask Arden a thousand questions, and watched Evera smirk over Charmaine’s nervous responses, he realized that his life had changed entirely.
There would be a family to mourn his loss, friends to laugh about him as they told tales, and a love that made him want to fight to be there. He was not the dog on his father’s leash, destined to be nothing more. He had friends and a family; he dared to think.
“What are you smiling about?” William nudged him, his smile sweet as ever.
“Nothing troublesome,” he answered. “Quite the opposite, in fact. I’ve realized something extraordinary.” He smiled and his eyes felt watery, though he refused to let that water fall.
“We need to discuss how to tell my family about us.”
“What is there to discuss? I can kiss you in front of them.” And he did so there, planting a kiss on William’s smiling lips. “That is more than enough.”
“Absolutely not. They need to get to know you.” William smiled like he was delighted by the notion, regardless.
“I love you. Is that not all they need to know?”
William huffed. “Of course not. You’ll be part of the family now.”
Family, he came to love that word.
“They need to learn about you, as I have learned. You’ve won over Henry already, so he will be of some help, but you need to get closer to everyone, especially my mother. She will worry.” William cast his gaze aside where he gnawed on his bottom lip.
Nicholas kissed him to make him stop and because he wanted to. “I will win her over with my many charms.”
William had the audacity to roll his eyes. “What charms do you speak of?”
“Do not dare to ask when you know the answers.”
William trudged into dangerous territory by kissing his neck.
“You are tempting me to take you here on the dirty floor,” he said against William’s smiling mouth.
“We’ve done that before and I’ve discovered I much prefer a bed, although,” William took his bottom lip between his teeth and released. “I’m not opposed to using my mouth.”
Nicholas would have undressed him then and there if William hadn’t stood and offered his hand. However, the playful look to his eyes promised Nicholas that once they had the opportunity, they’d have time for themselves.
With William’s help, he eased himself onto shaking legs. Fearworn took more than expected, resulting in him using William as a personal crutch.
“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I would like to get out of here,” Arden declared.
“I would feel safer if we put distance between us and this lake,” said Henry.
Everyone looked worse for wear. Though the fae would heal quickly, the mortals direly needed rest, even those who had William’s aid.
“There should be an abandoned hag’s lair nearby that we can rest in,” Evera claimed.
“Good enough for me. Lead the way.” Arden gestured toward the exit.
A handful of mortals couldn’t walk. Arden used his vines to create a cart that he and Evera pulled. Complaining the entire time, of course, more so Arden than Evera. Nicholas couldn’t walk a straight line without William. Henry and Charmaine took the rear, keeping their eyes opened for trouble.
They made it to the abandoned lair in less than two hours. By then, the sun began its descent. Dusk light broke through the trees where Evera tore roots from a hatch leading underground. The earth above formed a series of mounds that wouldn’t warn of a lair beneath.