Chapter 5 Heidi
HEIDI
The great news is, we must finally be really close to where the sleepers are buried.
The not-so-great news is, I know that because of all the ghosts in the tunnels.
I try not to flinch when another translucent, barely humanoid shape drifts out from one of the walls beside me, muttering unintelligibly. So far, all of the spirits popping up today look like they've been down here for a really long time. I can't understand a word they're saying.
Maybe I should just take off the enchanted necklace hidden under my shirt, but I'm paranoid about losing it.
“Another apparition,” Silas mutters nearby, eyeing the new specter.
"Fantastic. As if these tunnels weren't creepy enough before turning out to be fucking haunted," my older brother grumbles beside me, pulling another one of the cookies I made out of his small backpack and taking a bite.
He's not usually a fan of sweets, but he claims my cookies are worth every calorie.
"If we die in a ghost-induced cave-in, Maven will never forgive us. "
Everett stands beside me with his arms folded as we watch the fae excavators debate the best way to magically extend this tunnel without causing a collapse.
My brother has somehow found a way to make durable, practical excavation clothes look stylish, and, as usual, there's barely a speck of dust on him. He’s even wearing a trench coat that he somehow pulls off.
Meanwhile, I brush dirt off my face for the millionth time before elbowing him gently, well aware of what has put him in a sour mood.
"Relax, Broody. I'm sure Maven's fine—but you could've gone with her to Halfton, you know. I know you guys can't stand being apart from her."
Everett glances down at me. In the dim mage lights hovering in this tunnel, the jagged scar stretching down the left side of his face looks lighter than usual. “You think I would leave you to die alone when the cave-in happens? Give me some credit."
"Gods, you're such a worrywart," I tease, watching as some of the fae use magic to start carefully clearing another path branching off of this one. "So, what's the telepathic update?"
Thanks to an incident in which a couple of the Amato quintet members forgot to wear mytherun around me, I quickly learned that they have telepathic conversations.
That little fact wasn't a big deal to me at the time because I was a little too busy almost suffocating under the many very intense emotions they all feel toward their keeper—and my sister-in-law feels just as intensely, if not more so, about all of her matches.
Being around them is pure torture whenever they're not wearing mytherun.
Don't get me wrong. I adore my brother. I really love his quintet, too, even though I'm a nervous, uncharacteristically shy mess around Maven. Seriously, though, how is one supposed to act around a literal hell-raised demigoddess sister-in-law who is a bonified baddie?
They're the most famous quintet in the world. A quintet that's gone through unthinkable things and back again to be with each other, despite all their inner and outer bruises and scars. Now they're living the sort of happily-ever-after all legacies ache for deep down, including me.
I'm really happy for them.
But gods, even with mytherun, my empathic sensitivities get rubbed raw around them. I've gotten myself a little too drunk while visiting them on a couple of occasions to try to take the edge off.
At one of the fae excavators' requests, Everett creates a temporary pillar of ice to help support the new tunnel's ceiling in one place. Powerful elemental that he is, he barely gives it his attention as he replies to me.
"There isn't much of an update yet."
"Aside from our keeper being quietly horrified by all aspects of childbirth, the more she learns about it," Silas adds with a slight chuckle.
"Maven, horrified?" I laugh, trying to picture it. "I didn't think that was possible."
The excavation starts to move forward again, with the fae using their magic to slowly delve further into the new tunnel. I try my best to sense where the sleepers are calling to me, realizing it feels stronger today than usual.
As usual, their dream-like feelings seem almost synchronized, somehow. Whatever they're dreaming about, it's a blur of pain, hope, helplessness, need, frustration, desperation…
It feels exactly like a cry for help. Though how they're coordinating and communicating that while so deeply asleep, I'm really not sure. I'm just glad that sleeping emotions don't overwhelm me the same way waking emotions sometimes do.
I finish telling the others the next direction I think we need to go before I fall into step with Everett again. It doesn't take an empath to notice that both he and Silas are quietly impatient today, aching to get back to their keeper.
I bet it’s amazing to adore someone so much that being apart from them is torture.
Finally, Everett clears his throat. "I'm sure you've heard, but the next official Seeking is being held in one week. First time since before the Upheaval."
Aha. That.
"I'll probably go next year," I say sheepishly, fidgeting with one of my coat sleeves.
"Why wait? Aren't you curious who fate will match you with?"
Oh, I'm definitely curious.
I'm just not that mean.
There's a very good reason I blend in with humans so well, and why I've pretended to be one for years.
While I'm technically a legacy and I do have an inner animal, I'm so far down on the totem pole of strength that there are plenty of humans who are stronger, tougher, and far more legacy-ish than I will ever be.
There have been a lot of positive changes to the world ever since the Entity was destroyed—but even though the new legacy-human government is trying to make culling the weak no longer a thing, it's going to take time to catch on.
Meaning anyone currently looking for their matches probably still wants a quintet of strong, fearless, kick-butt legacies.
I'm more of a sit-on-my-butt legacy. I like binge-watching trashy human TV shows, baking every recipe I can get my hands on, decorating my house over-the-top for every single holiday, traveling, and hanging out with friends.
At least, I did before I was dragged into the Nether. A lot's changed since then.
"I'm not sure I'm ready to be in a quintet just yet," I hedge.
He frowns. "Why not?"
Just thinking about all those intense emotions burying me alive makes me queasy.
And with my current condition, if I got any matches, they'd be forced to feel everything I'm feeling with every touch.
That might make them hesitant to get close to me, and just thinking about that kind of slow-burn, tepid rejection…
I put on a smile to hide my grimace. "I think a boyfriend is more my speed for now."
Preferably one who's decent in bed and doesn't mind cuddles.
Gods, I'm so touch-starved, it hurts.
"A boyfriend?" Everett repeats. He's repeatedly adjusting one of his trenchcoat sleeves, which tells me he's still anxious about Maven, but he gives me his full attention. "Look, I won't tell you what to do, but you should at least consider going to the Seeking."
"Why, so I can be as constantly and completely and blissfully consumed with my future keeper's entire existence as you are?" I joke.
He remains dead serious. "Trust me, there's no better feeling. And even if the others annoy the hell out of me and I sometimes want to freeze Baelfire's head to get him to shut up, our quintet is everything I never allowed myself to want before."
I smile, pleased as always to see how drastically better he is now compared to our childhood. "Complain about your quintet members all you want, but I've never seen you so happy."
"I want you to be this happy." Everett gives me an earnest look. "The Decimuses are putting together the biggest Seeking that Everbound has ever seen. Maybe your mate or mates will be there, looking for you."
Mates.
That word makes my inner animal perk up ever so slightly. Still, as usual, she's so contented and docile that she's only curious, nothing more.
"Whoever fate has in mind for you, you know they'll feel incomplete until you turn up, right?" Everett tacks on, clearly trying his best to be persuasive without being bossy.
I know my brother means well, but the mere possibility of me being a disappointment to my future matches makes me want to curl up in the fetal position.
As much as something deep inside me craves the kind of intimacy and wholeness I've only felt around other quintets for myself, it's better if I leave them be for now and meet them later on at the next Seeking.
Besides, it's not like I'm needed to complete a quintet and break curses now, anyway.
"Maybe, but I just…" I start to hedge in reply.
But then my attention catches on someone who just wandered into this tunnel.
At first, I think the strangely-dressed stranger is just another fae in the excavation team.
Then I realize he's slightly translucent as he glares at the fae excavators all around as if they've personally offended him.
He's wearing bloodstained purple robes that look a bit like the robes priests wear.
His ears are pointed, his long dark blue hair pulled back from his face.
When the perfectly clear, not-blurry-at-all ghost sees me staring at him, his face lights up, and he moves toward us.
Crap. I didn't want these ghosts to know I can see them.
"Heidi?" Everett checks gently. "What is it? Are you sensing the sleepers in that direction?"
I focus on him. "Hmm? Um…no, I think we're still headed the right way."
The ghost approaches me. “Is e vos! Ahn videthis emi?”
From context, it's clear that he's asking if I can see him.
I pretend I can't as a few of the fae excavators call out in excitement and wave Silas over.
The blood fae necromancer hasn't noticed this new ghost yet, and Everett is right behind him as they go to see what all the excitement up ahead is about.
I start to walk after them, but when the ghost moves into my path, I accidentally look him right in the face.
He gets excited. “Aha, faodaidh tu pothes!”
That's an aha, gotcha if I've ever heard one.
Peeking behind the barely translucent fae to make sure no one else will overhear, I look back at him and hiss, "Sorry, but I don't know what you're saying. Excuse me."
He waves his hands frantically to stop me, frowning at my mouth as if he's trying to understand. He motions as if he's urging me to talk again.
“Nach, répéter sih te pla?t?”
"I really don't think I can help you, but my sister-in-law can," I tell him, anxious that Everett or Silas might see me talking to a ghost and start asking questions.
Luckily, they're very engrossed in whatever a fae is animatedly telling them from far away enough that my shifter hearing isn't doing me any good.
The strange ghost tips his head as if thinking hard before clumsily attempting, "English?"
His accent is thick, but I blink in surprise. "You know English?"
"Thae. Yes," he amends, relief obvious on his face. "Many years have passed since I last rose from these depths and learned this tongue from the captives. With what English I wield, perhaps I may speak with you. You are…" He thinks hard. "Elise, the Feeling One?”