Chapter Seven
Ahard body crashed into me, and the flow of power ceased as I lost my grip on the stone.
Air rushed from my lungs, and I lay sprawled on the ground, my upper half cradled against Owen’s chest. He must have twisted himself in the air and landed first, absorbing most of the impact.
In the moment of silence that followed, I curled in on myself, my body shaking violently.
Tears spilled down my cheeks, and I choked on a sob.
Owen’s chest rose and fell against my back. “Kira, what—are you okay?”
“What the hell was that?!” Jace shouted.
“I don’t know what happened,” I gasped. “I didn’t mean to… Is it gone?”
“Yeah, it’s gone. You’re okay,” Owen assured me.
But I wasn’t okay. The echoes of those visions and that voice still rang in my head. Craos had seen me through the rift—had called to me—and part of me had wanted to answer.
The wrongness of that made me shudder.
Owen rose to his feet, helping me stand as well, and I looked around the room. Everything looked normal except…
“Where’s Charles?” I asked, fear tightening my chest.
“Gone,” Owen said, scrubbing his face.
I blinked, unable to comprehend his words.
“He’s gone, Kira. There was a red light, a rift in the air, you looked like you were in the grip of a trance, and Charles disappeared. He must have been sucked into the…”
“Just say it,” Jace said, his eyes wide.
“It’s impossible.”
“We both know what we saw, Owen. It was a portal.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, panic clawing up my throat. What the hell was happening?
But the armchair where Charles had sat only moments ago was empty. His walker remained, and Charles couldn’t have walked away without it. We needed to find him, but the three of us stilled as we felt a shift in the air.
Rain battered the windows, and a sudden clap of thunder made me jump as it shook the house. Lights flickered, and shadows deepened, stretched, and moved along the walls.
My skin prickled, my breath coming in short gasps while my heart hammered. Owen and Jace immediately flanked me while they pivoted, trying to find the threat.
I turned and saw it.
A tall, skeletal wraith wrapped in a shroud of black floated in the corner of the room, its tattered cloak drifting silently around it.
With a skull for a face, its eyes should have been two hollow sockets.
But they glowed like red embers instead, staring at me with a vast hunger that pressed against me and made me recoil.
I stumbled backwards as the wraith lunged, its bony fingers reaching for my chest as I screamed.
Owen darted to the mantle and ripped the ancient sword from the wall.
The four symbols on the blade glowed white at his touch, and the wraith let out an otherworldly shriek as it lunged at Owen instead.
He met it mid-charge, sword flashing, and the steel sliced effortlessly through the wraith’s black form.
Time seemed to pause, the only sound the rain beating against the windows, and then the wraith began to shake, cracks of red light splitting its body. With a final shriek, it dissolved into ash, which drifted to the floor.
Owen stood over the ashes, breathing hard, the sword clutched tightly in his hand. The symbols on the blade pulsed softly as if waiting. For a moment we were silent, looking wildly around us for any more danger, before Jace’s raw voice broke the stillness.
“What the fuck was that?”
Owen and I stared at each other, wide-eyed. My voice was hoarse when I finally managed to speak. “You used the sword.” It wasn’t a question, rather a statement of fact. Like saying it out loud would help me make sense of what just happened.
Owen glanced briefly at the blade before meeting my eyes. “Granddad told me. You okay?”
No. Not okay. Not at all. But I was unharmed. Thanks to Owen. Again.
I nodded. “What do we do now?”
“Let’s look for Granddad. And any more of those…creatures. Stay close.”
He didn’t have to tell us twice. The three of us crowded together, Owen holding the sword before him, as we searched the house calling for Charles. We checked the backyard and walked up and down the streets but found nothing. Charles was simply…gone.
We regrouped in the living room in stunned silence.
Jace sat on the couch with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.
Owen stood in the doorway, one hand still holding the sword, the other rubbing his brow.
I slumped to the floor and pulled my knees to my chest, my back against the wall. Tears threatened to overwhelm me.
“Should we call the police? File a missing person report?” Jace asked.
“And say what?” Owen sighed. “A portal took my grandfather, and we were attacked by some creature? They’ll think we’re on drugs, and we’ll be the primary suspects. No, I think we’re on our own for this one.”
“True.”
“Let’s start from the beginning,” Owen said, exhaustion and pain lacing his voice. He leaned the sword against the wall and crouched before me. “Kira, think. Do you remember how you opened the portal? Could you open it again?”
I drew back in horror. Open it again? Unleash Craos? Possibly more of those creatures?
“I can’t. I shouldn’t.” My voice broke. Owen and Jace had seen the portal, but they hadn’t heard that terrifying voice or seen the vision of the cloaked figures, I realized. They didn’t understand that a demon lay in wait on the other side. I needed to tell them, but words failed me.
“Kira, I know you’ve been through something awful. But please. For Charles.”
Charles. Sweet, lovable Charles. Charles who would make me tea and discuss novels for my thesis and listen while I brainstormed ideas.
Charles, whose stories about faraway places and exotic peoples I could listen to for hours.
Charles, who only ever wanted me to be happy.
I hadn’t known many good people in my life, but Charles was one of the best.
Is, I corrected myself. Charles is one of the best because he’s alive. The alternative was unthinkable.
But he was missing, and I was somehow responsible. The stone had glowed when I touched it. Guilt flooded through me like water through a broken dam. My heart started racing, tears streamed down my cheeks, and I couldn’t take a full breath.
“She’s in shock,” I heard Jace say, but he sounded far away.
“Breathe, Kira. Breathe with me.” Owen took my hand and laid it over his heart, and I concentrated on the texture of his shirt and the warmth of his chest behind it. In and out. In and out.
“We’re going to figure this out. Together.”
Together. My breathing slowed, and Owen came back into focus, the blue of his eyes like an ocean of calm. But there was a storm brewing on the horizon, and I couldn’t guess what he was thinking.
“Jace, can we have some water, please?” Owen asked, still watching me. His hand continued to cover mine.
“I’m okay now. Thank you.” When he moved away, the contrast of the cool air on my skin was startling.
I leaned my head against the wall as Jace handed me a glass of water. Owen gently tucked a blanket around me, and I burrowed into its warmth.
If Charles were here, I’d tell him that this was why I never went on adventures. I didn’t do well in stressful situations. I didn’t travel the world or live epic stories where I could say In the end, I chose love…
But Charles wouldn’t leave a friend behind.
I needed to tell Owen and Jace what I had experienced.
I took a deep breath and, in halting sentences, described what I felt when the portal opened.
What I saw. What I heard. And then I pulled the blanket up farther while Owen and Jace stared at me in horror.
Across the room I spotted the stone, its dark onyx surface shifting like swirling mists.
I pointed a trembling finger at it.
“There it is,” I whispered. “I’m not touching it again.”
Jace gave a low whistle. “What do we do now?”
“We’re going to save my granddad,” Owen said, his voice hard, but it softened when he added, looking at me, “but we’re not putting Kira through that again.”
I sighed in relief.
“Where do we go from here?” Jace asked. “Is there someone we can speak to who knows about portals and demons? Surely Charles mentioned something about this stuff to you, Owen? You were so close growing up…”
“That was a long time ago, Jace. My grandparents and I haven’t been as close since…well, you know.”
I looked at these two men who were saying so much without saying anything at all. Clearly, I was missing something. I wanted to ask what they meant, but I didn’t want to pry into personal matters, and Owen looked like it was the last thing he wanted to discuss.
“Granddad never mentioned anything about magical portals or glowing stones or shadowy creatures,” Owen said at last. “That’s for damn sure.”
“Are you sure you don’t know anything?”
“Nothing.” Owen sighed. “Sorry, but this is out of my area of expertise. Kira, is there anyone at the university who could help?”
I immediately thought of Shae, but I doubted the kind of information we needed could be found in university textbooks. It was worth asking her, but we needed to speak to an expert before we started hunting through books. We couldn’t waste time. Charles needed us right now.
Dread settled in the pit of my stomach. There was only one person I could think of, and the idea of asking her for anything made my stomach churn. But I would talk to anyone if it gave me a clue as to how to save Charles. I looked up at Owen and Jace and lowered the blanket.
“Yesterday, Charles mentioned Crann Bethadh, the Celtic Tree of Life, when he saw the box that held the stone. Todd’s grandmother, Sylvia, might be able to tell us more.
She owns an antiques shop, and I’ve noticed Celtic and Tree of Life symbols on some of the items she sells.
She was a lecturer at U of T before she retired, and she specialized in Celtic languages and runic symbols. I can’t think of anyone else.”
Owen studied me. “Are you sure?”
His concern for me strengthened my resolve. “I’m sure. If she can help us find Charles, then of course, I’m sure. Besides, there’s very little chance Todd will be at the shop. We’ll get information from Sylvia and leave.”
Owen nodded. “It’s as good a lead as any, and it’s all we’ve got. For now, let’s search Granddad’s notes and journals. Look for anything that mentions Druids or portals or shadowy creatures.”
For the next two hours we combed through Charles’s living room and office, read every piece of paper we could find, and scoured through the contents of the fortingall dig, 1963 box, but we found nothing useful.
Finally, Owen let out a deep sigh. “It’s been a long night. Let’s get a few hours’ rest. We’ll go to the shop tomorrow morning when it opens.”
“What do we do with that?” I asked, gesturing at the stone on the floor.
We fell silent while we considered it.
“We can’t leave it there. Kira shouldn’t touch it again and, since I’m related to Granddad, maybe I shouldn’t touch it, either. Jace?”
“You’re going to owe me big for this one, buddy,” Jace said, staring at the stone as if he had tasted something awful. “If I get sucked into Hell, you’re saving my ass, got it?”
Owen nodded. “Promise.”
Jace straightened his shoulders and approached the stone. Just as he reached for it, I yelled “Wait!” and Jace jumped back, cursing.
“Don’t scare me like that!”
I grabbed a dishcloth from the kitchen and tossed it to him. “Use this.”
Jace slowly reached down and winced as he picked up the stone using the cloth. We all released sighs of relief when no portal opened. Jace slipped the stone into his pocket.
“Jace, you might as well sleep here for the night, or what’s left of it,” Owen said. “Kira, I’ll walk you to your place and sleep on the futon again.”
“No!” I shouted, surprising even myself with the vehemence in my voice. Jace and Owen stared at me in concern.
“I don’t have to sleep at your house, Kira. I would never—”
“That’s not what I mean. I don’t want to be alone. Can we all sleep in this living room?”
Owen and Jace exchanged glances. “Of course,” Owen murmured, and he left to find extra bedding.
I curled up on the couch, using a throw cushion for a pillow, and pulled my blanket around me.
I was shivering, but I wasn’t cold. Owen laid a second blanket over me, and he and Jace took seats in the armchairs facing me.
We decided unanimously to keep the lights on. I was certain sleep would elude us all.
“Did you learn how to sword-fight in the military?” I asked. Jace’s head was thrown back against his chair, but Owen was watching me. I felt safe with him nearby. So safe, apparently, that I yawned. Shae was going to lose her mind when I told her everything.
“No. Why?” Owen asked.
“Because you looked like you knew how to handle a sword,” Jace explained without opening his eyes.
Owen gave a small, humourless chuckle. “My grandparents taught me when I was younger. I practised with that exact sword in their backyard every time I came to visit.”
“It was impressive,” I said. “That’s twice now that you’ve saved me.”
“Don’t forget the interference I ran with Sylvia.”
“Fine. Three times. Next time, I’ll save you.”
“Deal.”
“It’s been a weird weekend,” Jace muttered. “Might have to rethink the company I keep.”
Owen scoffed, and Jace’s mouth quirked.
A tear rolled down my cheek, but I quickly dashed it away. “I’m so worried about Charles. Do you think he’s okay? Do you think he knew what would happen?”
“Who knows?” Owen said with a sigh. “We’ll find him, though. For now, try to get some sleep.”
“I’m too afraid to close my eyes. What if—what if that thing comes back?”
“Rest, Kira.” I focused on the steadiness of Owen’s voice. “Close your eyes. I’m here.”
I barely heard his next words, but I hoped with all my heart they were true.
“I’m not going anywhere.”