Frost & Bothered (23 page)

T
he next challenge didn’t present itself before I began stumbling. We’d walked for hours and miles, slogging through snow and ducking the occasional falling clump from overburdened tree limbs.

“Cordi needs to rest, and I’m hungry,” Connor finally said. “We should make camp.”

“Of course. We need to find a clear space.”

That took another hour or so, and by then, my stomach was growling. At least making camp didn’t take long. Kethyrdryll only had to put the pavilion square and little knot of dried vine on the ground, and “Abracadabra”. We had shelter and a line of defense.

“Seems to me the Unseelie could’ve made things a little easier for people coming to try and help.” Connor removed his coat and went to the bath chamber.

I dropped my coat and gloves in my room before going to the table. “I don’t know. The yeti was pretty easy.”

“I doubt they expect assistance,” Kethyrdryll said. “Our arrival will be a surprise.”

“As long as they recognize you before they turn us into pincushions.” I took my turn to wash up as Connor left the bath chamber. Dinner was being served when I returned. Must be nice not to have to shop and cook yourself.

“If no one is standing guard, the castle will be extremely difficult to gain entrance into.” Kethyrdryll fed Leandra a slice of roast.

“If no one’s standing guard, it’ll be because they’re busy in the castle, or can’t,” Connor said. “Either way, can’t say I’m looking forward to that part.”

“Well, we have to find out what happened before we can figure out how to get home. I still need to find the other missing people too.”

How long had we been gone? I tried to count, but the elf was right. It was hard to keep track when it was always night. “I hope we haven’t missed Christmas.”

“Christmas?”

“Humans celebrate that instead of Winter Solstice now. It’s a religious holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, the son of God,” Connor explained.

“Which god?”

“God, god,” I said. “We date time B.C. and A.D. That means ‘Before Christ’ and ‘Anno Domini’, or after Christ’s birth. We’re in two thousand seven A.D. unless it’s two thousand eight now.”

“Interesting. Perhaps it’s the One God you speak of that some humans believe created the world. We heard of them before the Sundering.”

I nodded. “That’s Him.”

“The world existed before those humans latched onto that idea. Not that their ‘One God’ doesn’t exist, but if he caused the creation of the world, he left it alone afterward for millions of years. I believe it unlikely he’d return and the other gods wouldn’t know it.”

“How long have elves been around?”

“Far longer than humans, as have most races. Only shifters are younger than humans.”

“Cool. So did you see us crawl out of the ocean, or did we just appear out of nowhere?”

“Those are the theories?” Kethyrdryll chuckled. “Well, neither is correct. The first humans came from the stars, delivered from a great ship by strange beings of light. Humans were little more than animals then, but evolved as did other animals, at least to a point. Then they surpassed the animals and at that time, we began our acquaintance with them.”

My mouth had fallen open. I closed it. “Mind blown. We’re aliens?”

“If that means beings not natural to this planet, yes, though now, millions of years later, I suspect present-day humans cannot be considered ‘aliens’. Your species has been here too long to not be a part of the natural order of this world.”

Connor snickered, and we looked at him. “I’m going to guess there were some romances way back when, because elves have treated humans as near equals for as long as shifters can remember.”

The elf shrugged. “Possibly. All of that occurred well before the birth of any elf currently living. The eldest elves we have are merely in their fifth millennia.”

Elves were supposed to be immortal, but I’d seen one eaten by a god, and knew they could be killed. Logan had told me that beheading worked on most supes. Plus, elves had done their best to eradicate dark elves. “How long can elves live?”

Kethyrdryll’s expression brightened. “We don’t know. Historical records indicate some of our ancestors lived nearly a million years—and by the way, we did crawl out of the ocean, Lady Discord. Or some groups of us did. Others stayed, evolving differently. It’s all quite fascinating.”

“Yeah, it is.” My head was spinning, trying to fit his information into place with what I’d been taught and what humans had believed for so long.

Though there was a group that believed we’d been planted here by aliens. They called it the “Seeder Theory” or something. Apparently, they were right.

“Can you explain what magic is in terms that won’t make my head explode?”

“Energy. Some of us have always been attuned to it, and others have become attuned to it. Those who are attuned can use that energy to manipulate the world around them.”

My head didn’t explode, because his explanation was simple and made sense. “But not everyone can just do it. Witches...“

“Like much of life, there are levels to magic. Some require aids, others do not. For example, I must visualize or focus by using words. A witch must do the same, but needs the assistance, or favor, of a god to achieve results.”

And psychics?”

“Far more attuned. You think and do. You’re natural energy conduits, hence the term ‘natural mages’. Though of course, even your kind has levels, those who can conduct more energy than others.”

All of it actually made loads of sense, and sort of chilled the “it’s scary” feeling I’d had since waking up from my coma. But it raised a huge question. “If we’re natural conduits, how come the Sundering stopped us from being able to do anything?”

“That was the genius of Olven’s spell. It drew all of the energy we’re able to manipulate, and wound into a...well, a ball. That ball,” the elf smiled, “Bounced a bit out of step with the world.”

I had to think about that for a minute. “So all the magical energy was out of sync.”

“The majority of it, yes. I said all, but some had to tether the rest to the world.”

“Okay.” That explained the brownie excursions. “I guess the Melding was because the ball stopped bouncing? Came back into sync?”

“Yes. Nature doesn’t enjoy being divided in such a manner for long. Olven’s spell was a masterpiece. There were many discomfited that a human was the solution to saving our world.”

“I’ll bet.” Olven had been human. Another thought occurred to me. “Um, the demon realm didn’t sync completely.”

“As it should not. Different energy, though similar in some respects. It bounces at a slightly faster rate, and always has.”

“Oh.” Did “faster” mean David’s theory that demons saw time differently was right? “When we get home, I want you to meet a friend of mine. His name’s David, and he’s a witch. He’s really smart. I think you two will like each other.”

“I’ll be honored to make the acquaintance of any you call friend.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that, and decided to smile and concentrate on eating dinner.

B
efore bed, I wanted a soak in hot water, but had barely slipped into the tub when a howl sounded.

Leandra howled in the main room, and I climbed out, grabbing for a towel. The hangings between the bath and main chambers fought my attempts to go through. The howl sounded again, closer, and I stopped to listen.

I knew who was howling, and couldn’t believe it. “That’s Leglin.”

The hangings finally cooperated, letting me through. Both men looked at me. Connor grinned. “You can’t go outside in a towel.”

“Don’t leave without me.” Ducking back through the hangings, I found clean clothes waiting. After drying and dressing, I went back out to grab my gloves and coat. The guys were suited up and ready to go.

Out we went, into a light snowfall. Kethyrdryll opened the thorny barrier and we heard Leglin howl again. Leandra howled back and ran ahead, disappearing from sight before anyone could call her back.

“Uh-oh.”

We ran after her, following her paw prints in the snow. The two hounds traded howls, locating each other. By the time we caught up with Leandra, she and Leglin were bouncing around each other like a couple of puppies, their tails blurring the air.

“Leglin!” I ran a few more steps, and my hound spun around, his ears perking.

“
Mistress!
” He came to me, and I bent to hug him.

“Are you okay? I didn’t mean to call you here.”

“
I am well. I heard your calls, but this is a strange realm. I cannot travel as I should be able to
.” Leglin licked my cheek, his tail thumping the ground. “
You found my mother and her master
.”

“Sort of.”

“
I found someone too
.” Leglin turned. “
Here they come
.”

“Selwin,” Kethyrdryll said. “She has a rider.”

Connor jogged away, going to meet the horse. “It’s Logan!”

Logan was barely conscious, half-frozen, and wearing the horse’s blanket as he clung to her neck. We hurried back to the pavilion, the hounds leading the way. After they helped Logan off the horse, Kethyrdryll took Selwin into her stall, and Connor carried Logan into the pavilion.

“Put him in my room.” Logan’s guestroom didn’t exist right now. I went in first, to pull the covers back and helped Connor untangle Logan from the horse blanket. We tucked him in, propping him up with pillows, and Connor moved the brazier closer to the bed.

Logan slowly blinked. There were still punctures across his stomach and back. They weren’t bleeding. I bit my lip. “Maybe we should put him in the bath. It’ll warm him faster, and we can clean him up at the same time.”

“Okay.” Connor hauled Logan upright again, ignoring the older man’s groan. “You’ll feel better soon.”

I forgot Logan was naked until we lowered him into the tub, and I stepped away for a second to stretch my lower back. He was relaxing, his arms uncurling, his back and legs straightening, so I was treated to a full frontal view. If not for the puncture wounds, the view would’ve been amazing, and I may have blushed more than I did.

Because of the holes, I focused on business, instead of drooling over him, and grabbed a couple of towels. Logan began shivering as I knelt beside the tub. Dropping one towel in the water, I put the other behind his neck and head. The second towel had soaked up water, sinking below the surface.

I tried not to look or touch while spreading the towel out and tucking one edge under his butt. Connor smirked at me while tucking the towel on the other side. “Humans think about sex too much.”

“You can shut up now.”

He laughed. “You do. Must be because you wear clothes all the time.”

“Probably.” I picked up a bathing sponge and wet it to wipe Logan’s face.

He mumbled and opened his eyes. I smiled. “Hey.”

Logan mumbled again, his eyes slowly closing. I glanced at Connor. “What did he say?”

“I think it was ‘my queen’.”

“Poor guy’s delirious. Must think I’m Terra.” I finished cleaning Logan’s face.

“Guess so.”

“How long should we leave him in here?”

Connor put his hand on Logan’s shoulder. “Until his temperature’s normal.”

“What about the bite wounds?”

“They’ll heal without help, once his temp’s normal and we get some food into him.”

“Okay.”

Kethyrdryll slipped through the hangings. “How is he?”

“He’ll be all right,” Connor answered.

“How’s Selwin?” I asked.

“She is well. Her injuries have healed and she’s eating.”

“Good.” I made a note to take her a couple of apples. “Her blanket’s in my room.”

“Thank you.” He left.

“I’ll see about feeding the hounds. Yours is probably hungry.”

“Thanks. I’ll uh, make sure Logan doesn’t drown.” Connor left, and there I was, alone with someone who could accurately be described as a wet dream. Even if it wasn’t exactly what “wet dream” really meant, and there were holes in him that shouldn’t be.

I wiped down his neck and shoulders next. Logan’s eyes opened again, and his lips nearly formed a smile. “Are you in there?”

He blinked, and responded in a hoarse whisper, “Barely.”

“Coherency. Yay.” I patted his cheek, scruffy with a lack of shaving. “I bet you’re starving.”

“Could eat.”

“As soon as you’re warm.” His cheek felt chilled. I wet the sponge again, and wiped his face, as well as those bits of him that were exposed above the lightly steaming water. “They thought you were dead.”

“You didn’t?”

“No,” I agreed. “I didn’t. You have nine lives, remember? Though you’re down to six now, by my count. Need to quit spending them so fast.”

Logan chuckled. “Sorry.”

“You should be.” I leaned forward and kissed his forehead. “Quit scaring me, damn it.”

“Saw you.”

“What?”

He shivered. “Pulled me out of the river.”

“Um, no...” Was he delirious? “I haven’t seen you since the drake snatched you in mid-air.”

“I saw you,” he said, his voice firmer and less hoarse. “Couldn’t pull myself the rest of the way out. You came.”

“Logan, I swear,” I paused, something trying to surface. “I didn’t... wait. I had a dream that night.”