44. Home Again
Home Again
Darien
In the pitch black of the night, Darien heard Masai’s bike rumbling and Anara’s frequent caws signaling it was all clear. He’d expected more sentries on the road, but their absence did not relieve him. If there were no sentries on the roads, they must have gone to the city.
But even in the pale moonlight, Darien could not have missed the familiarity of the road.
No doubt, Aagen would hear them coming. Darien would have to make himself known before Aagen assumed they were sentries knocking down his door.
Though Darien’s anxiety begged him to ask Larissa to keep driving straight to Safír, there was an undeniable portion of his heart that would not yield its desire to see Aagen again.
He’d promised Aagen he would return, and he was going to keep that promise.
Darien’s visit with the Norn had only increased his love for his adoptive father. It was one thing to love someone else’s child; it was another when they knew the risk involved. There was only one true damper on Darien spirits.
Even bound, Calder still somehow managed to sprawl in Helga’s bed, looking more prince than prisoner. “Not going straight to Safír, then? Going to hide like usual?”
Darien ignored him. Most of their time had been spent this way, with Calder throwing his jibes while Darien sat silently.
Darien had almost gotten used to them, wouldn’t have been bothered by them at all if it weren’t for the moments Calder’s voice would soften and a hint of Aeron would slip through.
“Leave him alone,” Kai hissed.
Darien glanced at the boy in surprise. Though Kai had insisted on riding in the truck bed with Darien, he’d been silent the whole time.
At first, Darien wondered if he was trying to give Halla more time with Larissa, or if he was worried Calder would overpower Darien if there was no one else in the truck bed, but Darien wasn’t so sure.
Something had changed in the boy after visiting Dal’s Berry Farm, or what was left of it.
He’d pulled himself up into the truck, and for the first time, Kai looked at Calder with more than just fear. There was anger mixed in as well.
Calder turned toward Kai’s voice, his mouth stretching beneath the blindfold. “He speaks! Here I thought you might be mute.”
“You’re only going to make it worse for yourself,” Kai threatened.
Darien winced. Didn’t Kai realize he was just feeding Calder’s nature? The only way to win in an argument against Calder was to not argue at all.
Calder’s voice softened. “Shouldn’t a Diamantian like you be on my side?”
Though Darien didn’t sense any galdr , he wasn’t about to risk it. “Enough, Calder, or I’ll ask Masai to knock you out again.”
Darien nearly thought about signaling to Masai then, but with each use of the nectar, it lost its potency. They couldn’t risk using it if they were to need it again.
“Maybe I’ll keep talking, then,” Calder taunted. “Unless you’re about to become interesting company? You could tell me about Lovisa’s visit back to Dal’s farm? Did she cry? Did she realize it was me who sent the draugr back to her farm and killed them all?”
Kai rose to his feet as if he would hit Calder, but a bump in the road landed him flat on his butt.
Darien reached for him, silently cautioning him against further action.
Kai huffed, flinging himself against Helga’s tailgate and crossing his arms firmly against his chest. Darien rubbed the sapphire ring on his hand, willing himself to stay calm even as his own fists yearned to plant themselves into Calder’s face.
Helga vibrated violently as the road beneath them changed from asphalt to dirt. This was it. A single word bounced around in Darien’s head.
Home .
The scents of soil and apples greeted Darien like an old friend.
They were nearly there. Holding on tight to Helga’s side, Darien stood, waiting for the moment the farmhouse would come into view.
Its windows shone with light. Aagen had heard them coming.
Masai pulled his bike alongside Helga, and Darien motioned at him to fall behind as he remembered the gun that Aagen had hidden under the floorboards of the kitchen sink.
As Helga slowed in the front drive, Calder leaned forward. “Well, go on then, run along to the only daddy that actually loves you.”
Darien tensed, seriously contemplating kicking Calder as a parting gift, but jumped from the open tailgate instead. Masai parked his bike behind the truck.
Masai removed his helmet, nodding toward Calder. “I’ll stay with him.”
Darien lay his hand on Masai’s shoulder. “Thank you.”
“Finally trust me now?”
“Between the draugrs , goddesses of fate, and Calder, you’re the least of my worries.”
Masai’s laugh was deep. “I suppose that’s true.”
There was something about the tall, dark man that Darien appreciated. If they survived the next several days, Darien was determined to make Masai his friend.
Anara swooped down, landing beside the two men. She arched her eyebrow with her hands on her hips. “If you two are done, someone is waiting for you, Darien, and I don’t love the look of his gun.”
“Kings and Queens,” Darien muttered, spinning toward the front porch where Aagen waited half-concealed in the shadows, but the light from inside his windows glinted against the metal in his hands. “Aagen! It’s me!”
Darien took a step, then froze, shocked at the sight of the gun pointed in his direction. Aagen glared at him with enough seething hatred that Darien almost wondered if the Norn had erased his memory of him entirely from Aagen’s mind. In the cab, Larissa reached for her gun.
“No!” Darien called to her, raising a hand in her direction and lifting his other as a show of surrender to Aagen.
In his peripheral, Larissa shoved Halla down behind the dash.
Anara and Masai still stood at the back of the truck; Darien would have heard them move otherwise.
He could only hope that Anara would let him handle this. “Aagen, it’s Darien. Do you remember?”
Aagen harrumphed. “Do you think I’m stupid, draugr ? Leave before I make you.”
Understanding almost made Darien laugh if not for the hollow of the gun still pointed his way.
“When I left, I told you that I would come back and have my own story to share with you. You told me you’d like that.
” Aagen’s face softened at the familiar words, and Darien stepped forward.
“Well, I’m back, and I’ve got quite the story. ”
“Darien?” Aagen’s words were a whisper. His arm fell to his side as he hurriedly thrust the gun back into his waistband.
He stomped down the steps, his injured leg thumping awkwardly as he went.
Before Darien could move, Aagen was there, wrapping him with his enormous arms and burying Darien’s face in his long, braided beard. “My boy!”
“It’s good to see you too.” Darien laughed, pushing off of Aagen’s chest. This was what family was supposed to feel like, but Darien shoved away the traitorous thought before he could linger on it.
Aagen cupped the back of Darien’s head. “Look at you. Your beard is coming in. You were just a boy when you left.”
Darien looked away, grateful for the shadow of hair that hid his flush. “It’s only been a few weeks.”
“Yet everything has changed.” Aagen’s voice sombered. His gaze landed on Larissa and Halla in Helga’s cab. “The girls from your dreams?”
“Yes.” Darien ran his hand through his hair. He stepped to the side, revealing Anara and Masai’s presence behind him. Even Kai was sticking his head over the tall rails of Helga’s sides. “And it’s more complicated than you’d expect.”
Aagen harrumphed. “With you? Complicated sounds about right. Come in and explain it to me.”
Only Masai stayed behind to handle Calder as the rest followed Aagen. Darien motioned at the gun at Aagen’s waist. “What were you going to do with that against a draugr ?”
“Go out fighting. Give the others a chance.”
Darien stopped at the steps. “The others?”
“Refugees.” Aagen pulled on his beard. “I sent them to the next safe house.”
“Safe house?”
“Safírians are taking advantage of the Vienám’s presence to flee the city while they can. This group wasn’t supposed to move on for another day.” He sighed. “I should try and bring them back. They’re probably terrified they’re being chased by a monster.”
“Better to let them stay scared then to bring them back here.” Darien gestured back toward Helga where Masai held tightly to Calder’s bound hands. Though blindfolded, it seemed as though Calder looked straight at Darien. “We didn’t come without our own monsters. He isn’t a draugr , but he’s—”
“—a Kafteinn ,” Aagen breathed out. “What in the name of óeinn’s left eye is he doing with you?”
“He’s my brother. Was my brother.”
Aagen’s hand paused on his beard. “Seems we better get straight to your story.”
Anara slid beside Darien with such ease it was as if she had suddenly appeared. “We’ll need a place to put Calder.”
Aagen gestured to the side of the house. “There’s the cellar, if you think that will do.”
“That’ll work.” She glanced back at Masai, her voice laced with meaning. “With a little help, I think.”
At Anara’s approach, Calder pulled against Masai’s grip, but the Smaragdian held him resolutely.
Darien caught the bottle Anara rifled through Masai’s bag to throw his way.
Larissa stood behind them, her hands glowing in case she was needed.
Kai and Halla watched from the shadows. Though Calder no longer fought, his body was rigid with fury.
“You think you’re on the right side, don’t you?
” Calder spat out. “You’ll learn just like Aeron did that there isn’t a right side, there’s only the winning side.
And when you lose, you’ll lose it all. You might have stolen Aeron’s crown, Prince Darien,” he sneered, “but you’ll lose it along with every person you care about, and it will be your fault. ”