Thordin\u2019s shoulders slumped as the door clicked shut behind Matt, lingering on it for a few seconds as he flexed the fingers of one hand, then the other.\u00a0 It was as if he was trying to will warmth back into them after being so high, so deep in the storm.\u00a0 Hecate watched him for a few seconds, trying to tamp down the rising fear that bubbled up from somewhere deep and dark inside of her\u2014the old fears, the ones that were enough to drive her to the edge of madness and beyond.<\/p>\n
It had before and it had taken centuries to win free of it.\u00a0 It was not an experience she was keen to repeat\u2014now or ever.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you all right?\u201d she asked after a moment of watching him.\u00a0 She stood and gently disengaged his fingers\u2014still frigid\u2014from his now-cold mug of tea.\u00a0 He blinked, as if startled, watching her as she crossed the room to empty the mug and pour him a fresh, hot cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d he said after a moment.\u00a0 \u201cI still feel like my heart\u2019s beating too fast.\u00a0 Sif\u2019s not going to be happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you threw yourself to the edge and she wasn\u2019t here?\u201d\u00a0 The heat bled into her fingers as she came back to him, settling the mug back into his hands.<\/p>\n
Thordin shivered, fingers curling stiffly.\u00a0 \u201cA whole lot of that, if I\u2019m honest.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t blame her,\u201d Hecate said.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s not like she doesn\u2019t worry for good reason.\u00a0 Matt was here, though.\u00a0 That should take some of the edge off.\u201d\u00a0 She sank down onto the edge of the coffee table in front of him, tilting her head slightly to get a better look at his face.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re a little pale.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m having a hard time getting warm again,\u201d he said before he took a slow sip of the tea, both hands wrapped around the mug.\u00a0 \u201cProbably because\u2014probably a lot of reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hecate just nodded.\u00a0 \u201cDrink that,\u201d she said softly.\u00a0 \u201cIt should help.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes fluttered shut for a few seconds as he nodded.\u00a0 \u201cRight.\u00a0 You\u2019re right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes.\u00a0 Usually.\u201d\u00a0 She managed a grin even as her heart sank.\u00a0 Yes, it had been a long time since he\u2019d thrown himself into a storm like this, especially one as huge as the one he described.\u00a0 But this reaction seemed a little more than what she\u2019d expected\u2014and more than what it seemed like he<\/em> expected, too.\u00a0 \u201cThordin.\u201d<\/p>\n He started to shake his head, fingers tightening around the mug.\u00a0 He lifted it to take another sip, rasping quietly, \u201cDon\u2019t ask me, Hecate.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have to,\u201d she whispered.\u00a0 \u201cThis is more than just the storm.\u00a0 What is it?\u00a0 Who<\/em> is it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t be sure that it wasn\u2019t my imagination.\u201d<\/p>\n Cold shot through her.\u00a0 The wind rattled the windows in the casements, startling her, and she cursed, standing and walking over to peer out beyond the glass.\u00a0 \u201cThat what<\/em> wasn\u2019t your imagination?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe feelings.\u00a0 I thought I felt<\/em> something from whatever\u2019s feeding this storm.\u00a0 But I\u2019m not sure if it was real or my imagination.\u00a0 It\u2019s just been so damn long, Hecate.\u201d\u00a0 He turned slowly in the chair, watching her as she stared out at the lashing rain, driven nearly sideways on the wind.\u00a0 Thunder boomed, near again, rattling walls and sending a deep vibration through the ground.\u00a0 \u201cIt felt distant and muddled and it might not have been real.\u00a0 I might be wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n She wrapped her arms around herself.\u00a0 \u201cDo you really think that you are?\u201d<\/p>\n Silence stretched for a few moments before the answer came quietly, subdued.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 I don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Hecate drew a deep breath and exhaled, nodding slowly.\u00a0 \u201cGut check on who?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf I say it, it could make it real.\u201d\u00a0 He covered his eyes with one hand, the other tightening slightly around his mug.\u00a0 \u201cI very badly want to be wrong about this, Hecate.\u00a0 I want to believe that we were never bothered not because the treaty but because something else dealt with them so we didn\u2019t have to.\u00a0 Someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOlympium, then,\u201d she said quietly, her stomach folding in on itself for a few seconds.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels like it could be but I don\u2019t know,\u201d he said, peeking through his fingers to watch her.\u00a0 Whatever he read in her face was reassuring enough that he continued.\u00a0 \u201cThe sense of it was southron\u2014I know that.\u00a0 It could be any number of others, though, or anyone they\u2019ve dealt with, allied with.\u00a0 That might have learned from them\u2014associated with them.\u201d\u00a0 Another slow, unsteady breath.\u00a0 \u201cI suppose it depends on who might be holding Thesan\u2019s leash now, too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHer?\u201d\u00a0 Hecate looked at him squarely, a chill trickling down her spine.\u00a0 \u201cReally.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think so,\u201d Thordin whispered.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe.\u00a0 Did she…?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s possible,\u201d she admitted.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u00a0 But if she was still out there, do you really think that she\u2019d have stopped hunting her uncles or her father?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d Thordin admitted.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe not.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSounds as if it\u2019s the same old lines, though,\u201d Hecate said quietly, drifting back toward him.\u00a0 Her exhale came as a sigh, her heart aching.\u00a0 \u201cIt always feels that way, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOld grudges,\u201d Thordin murmured.\u00a0 \u201cVisited and revisited down the generations, on and on.\u201d\u00a0 He fell silent for a few seconds, then asked, \u201cDo you think they\u2019ll stop it?\u00a0 The cycle?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWho?\u201d she asked, though she already knew the answer.<\/p>\n Thordin just smiled at her and she glanced away, back toward the window and the storm beyond.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d she whispered.\u00a0 \u201cI really don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thordin\u2019s shoulders slumped as the door clicked shut behind Matt, lingering on it for a few seconds as he flexed the fingers of one hand, then the other.\u00a0 It was as if he was trying to will warmth back into … Continue reading