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I stood with him in the desert. Not with him, really – he was tense, watching the horizon. I was bundled in his leather jacket. Way too big for me, but it was cold out. People think deserts are hot. Not at night. Not at midnight.
Hold me, he’d said. No matter what happens. Just hold me.
He turned his head sharply, as if he was hearing something I wasn’t –
And everything changed.
Light everywhere. Not daylight, though – a strange, shimmering light that seemed to come from Kellen as much as it came from everything around us. If not more. A heartbeat after the light came the energy, and now I knew why Kellen had given himself to them. This was better than any high I’d ever had. I gave a small, surprised laugh, and he shot me a warning look.
What is this?
The light coalesced. Three… beings. Spirits, gods. Something elemental. Something old, and more powerful than I’d even imagined.
It was the center one who’d spoken, vaguely female voice thrumming bone-deep, felt more than heard. Filling the world. Kellen’s voice sounded reedy and weak next to hers. “I have come to end the bargain.”
You swore an oath, child.
He swallowed painfully. “I – must break my oath.”
What reason do you give?
“She’s carrying my child.”
Their attention fell on me, and I gasped from the sheer pressure of it. Bug pinned to the wall. Kellen stood with them, among them, lit from within. Already half-theirs.
They withdrew from me, almost reluctantly. She is.
“So I have to stay. I have to stay with her, with my baby.”
You have not won your freedom, child. You have won only a chance to claim it. Their attention shifted to me again. Rather – she has.
“I love him,” I said quietly. With these spirits, these gods or demons, ablaze in the night, I could not speak loudly. Compared to them, I was so, so small.
He has chosen wisely, in choosing you. But have you chosen wisely in him?
“I… don’t understand.”
A laugh – again, more heard than felt. Bone-rattling. Would you win him? Then keep him from us. If you can.
Hold me, he’d said. No matter what happens. Just hold me.
He turned his head sharply, as if he was hearing something I wasn’t –
And everything changed.
Light everywhere. Not daylight, though – a strange, shimmering light that seemed to come from Kellen as much as it came from everything around us. If not more. A heartbeat after the light came the energy, and now I knew why Kellen had given himself to them. This was better than any high I’d ever had. I gave a small, surprised laugh, and he shot me a warning look.
What is this?
The light coalesced. Three… beings. Spirits, gods. Something elemental. Something old, and more powerful than I’d even imagined.
It was the center one who’d spoken, vaguely female voice thrumming bone-deep, felt more than heard. Filling the world. Kellen’s voice sounded reedy and weak next to hers. “I have come to end the bargain.”
You swore an oath, child.
He swallowed painfully. “I – must break my oath.”
What reason do you give?
“She’s carrying my child.”
Their attention fell on me, and I gasped from the sheer pressure of it. Bug pinned to the wall. Kellen stood with them, among them, lit from within. Already half-theirs.
They withdrew from me, almost reluctantly. She is.
“So I have to stay. I have to stay with her, with my baby.”
You have not won your freedom, child. You have won only a chance to claim it. Their attention shifted to me again. Rather – she has.
“I love him,” I said quietly. With these spirits, these gods or demons, ablaze in the night, I could not speak loudly. Compared to them, I was so, so small.
He has chosen wisely, in choosing you. But have you chosen wisely in him?
“I… don’t understand.”
A laugh – again, more heard than felt. Bone-rattling. Would you win him? Then keep him from us. If you can.
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