Chapter Forty-Five
"A Jumping Portal."
Aidan looked down after Carys' hushed announcement.
Beside a lake of black water, a portal frantically churned.
Spiky swiftly landed on the rocky shore.
Not wanting to waste time, they hurried to climb down Spiky, but both lost their footing when and fell in a rough manner.
Aidan pushed himself up and looked at the Jumping Portal.
It slid off into the lake, just a bit, little splashes of water echoing with the whirling movement.
An uncomfortable silence surrounded them as they approached the lake, so uncomfortable that Aidan needed to talk. "I hope I don't end up in the ocean. No Spiky to save me this time," he joked, trying to bring some ease to the moment. "I hope I don't end up in someone's privy!"
A familiar look came over Carys' face, her face scrunching up as if trying to determine if he was joking. "Homes tend to have protection? I am sure that you won't end up in any awkward place."
He chuckled. "Imagine if I fell right atop two people in the midst of a tryst?"
Her nostrils flared. "Aidan, you had best make haste before the portal gets too far away. You need to be gone before Meical works out our plan."
He sighed, unsure of his reason for hesitation. There shouldn't be any hesitation when he was so close to breathing sweet air. So close to the sun.
He turned back. "Carys, I..."
The look on her face silenced him. She stared at something in the distance, deathly horror on her wan face. He followed her gaze, half-expecting to find Meical but instead found a terrible demonic deer with an eyeless head facing them.
"It's just a Curse Creature," Aidan said. "Spiky can handle it."
"No, I saw this beast once before," Carys whispered. "Gil slew its parent. It was so much smaller the last time. But it knows me. It carries a grudge. I feel it. The Curse Stag died because I wanted to see the sun. Now it is mocking me because I will never be able to see the sun."
Aidan shuddered from the malevolence in its gaze. "The sun isn't everything. I always burn so dreadfully in the sun, you know. The one thing I haven't had to worry about is looking like a burnt buffoon."
"I wouldn't care if it hurt." Carys hugged herself. "I just love the feel of it so much."
"You could come through with me for a moment." He nervously rubbed his hands. "See the sun one last time."
"I spent too much time in the Starlands last year. A moment more could be my death."
"It is only a moment." He held out his hand. "That won't do you any harm."
"You've learned well the art of temptation, my prince," she teased. "Alas, I cannot do it. The portal shan't last forever, and I cannot risk being caught on the other side."
"Mona was able to summon another portal."
"The cost is too great," Carys said, her tone hinting that she knew the truth of the cost. "Now stop lingering. Any second that you linger brings your people closer to destruction."
That burdensome truth pushed him forward. A strange sensation flowed through him as he approached the portal. Too much time in the Curselands. The Law of the Beasts had a great hold on him. Selfishness whirled him around, and he kissed Carys.
She didn't resist. He ran his hands through her hair as she met him with a fierce response. Her lips were the sweetest wine for a man who had been too long without a drink. There was no good ending, but he couldn't seem to stop himself.
Then, just like that, the kiss was over. The two pulled apart. Once more dark flickered from Carys' eyes, but shadows obscured the true color.
"Twice Cursed," Aidan whispered.
"Beg pardon?"
"Love is like a curse. My love cursed me to this hell." He stroked her cheek. "Now I think that I love..."
"Don't!" A shaky breath escaped her and his finger froze. "You don't love me."
"I..."
"Don't you see?" She stepped back, sadness shadowing her face.
"I trapped you down here, and we were thrown together in an intimate way.
You latched onto me because I was kind to you.
But you cannot love someone who acted like a beast to you, simply because they stopped treating you that way.
You shall see things much closer when you return to your world of light. "
His mind agreed with every word she said. His heart screamed something different.
"I don't think I can go," Aidan choked out.
She held up her hands in a pleading manner. "You must! If you don't..."
"I know what will happen if I don't," he said brokenly. "I know I must go. It's like the last time. Just different. Your land has infected me. I am too selfish to give up something that I want."
"And I was afraid that you were too noble. I feared you might stay to help the Curselands for some sort of selfless reason," she whispered. "That's why I added Deadheart to the wine that you drank."
"What?" He took a deep breath, lungs burned as if he had been poisoned. "Oh Carys. What did you do?"
She lifted a hand as if to touch him before stopping herself. "It's been close to an hour. The effects should take hold soon."
Rage and sorrow strangled him. "If I lose my emotions..."
"Then, you'll choose what makes the most sense." Her lip trembled. "Nothing selfless and nothing selfish."
"Perhaps I should stay here," Aidan said, desperation shaking his words. "Perhaps it is the smart thing to better the Curselands. Perhaps without emotions, I can take down Meical."
"Perhaps..."
He clutched her hand, as if she was his anchor to anger and pain, affection and pleasure. Coldness crashed into him and he released her hand.
Uncertainty washed over Carys' face as if she was looking at a stranger. She stepped forward and Aidan quickly moved back. Her expression changed from uncertainty to misery.
No anger or affection stirred within him. Only calm certainty that he needed to return to the Starlands. He didn't care about the fate of his home, but there was no reason to remain in hell.
He turned away from the girl who twice cursed him. Freedom was a few steps away, and he had to leave before the portal disappeared.
Before he was cursed once more.