The Hunt: A Custodes Noctis Book (26 page)

“He’s had his own agenda all along. It’s only because he thinks we can help him that he’s working with us at all.” Galen cast a glance over Rob’s shoulder. “Right?”

“Yes,” Stephen said, walking up.

“What’s going on?” Flash asked, gripping his war hammer.

“It’s the blood sacrifice for the king,” Stephen said.

“What?” Flash stepped between them. “No! Fuck no!”

“It’s part of it all,” Galen said.

“I never agreed to this, Galen,” Rob said, the longing, the joy, the pain, filling him. He was nearly gone, the chanting of voices, the soft sound of the horses waiting for him pulling him away.

“I know. Of course you didn’t,” Galen said gently. “Trust me.”
 
Galen lifted a silver knife from the altar and looked at it with an odd smile on his face. Suddenly, he pulled Rob against him in a tight hug, holding him for a moment, letting the warmth of the Gift flow. The light calmed the pounding of Rob’s heart and allowed him to focus for a moment longer. Galen pulled away and pressed the knife into Rob’s hand with a gentle pressure.

“It is good, it is right, it is joy,” Rob said, the words catching him unaware. His hands moved of their own accord, the ritual movements known without thought. Part of him watched in horror, in utter terror and defeat, as his hands shoved the blade into his brother. The other half was singing, the ancient words forming in his mind as he began.

He could see shadowy figures gathered in the trees. The
each uisge
had come to watch the final moments. Rob pulled the blade from his brother, watching the blood as it welled up before dipping his finger in the blood, tracing patterns on his brother’s arm and chest.
“It has been too long since we had this, too long since the ritual was met like this,”
the king’s voice sang in his head
.
The song was getting louder, he looked down at Galen’s eyes. “I’ll be expecting you,” Rob said, laying his hand on Galen’s chest.

“I’ll be there,” Galen promised, Rob felt the bond hum.

Rob straightened, one of the
each uisge
was walking towards him to take him to the final ritual. He would be king. The knowledge sang through his body. The
each uisge
nudged Rob gently. He turned and smiled at it, running a hand along its soft gray flesh, the cold touching him. He swung easily onto the horse-like creature and it moved away from the ravens’ stone walking into the fog, into the night.

The stone was cold under Galen’s back, the damp seeping into the fabric of his jeans. He could hear the call of the ravens in the trees. A fluttering noise filled his ears and one of the birds landed beside him. It chuckled to itself and hopped along the stone, dipping its beak in the blood on his arm before gently touching his face with it. He heard Flash’s mutter of protest and Blake’s deep voice quieting him. The raven hopped onto his chest and looked into his eyes, then stretched its wings and jumped into the air. Galen watched it as it disappeared into the swirling mists.

The wound his brother had made was stinging, a coldness moving out from the cut, the drying blood cooling his skin in the chill of the evening. The mists were calling him, his brain refused to respond at first and he realized there must have been something on the knife
.
He lay there looking at the dark fog, his awareness swirling on the eddies that moved over his head. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, he focused the healing into himself and let the Gift drive away the mists and the cold movement of whatever had been on the blade.
The fog in his mind slowly started
to clear and he struggled up.

“Let me help,” Flash said, supporting him with a hand on his back.

“Thanks.” Galen looked around, Rob was gone, swallowed up in the fog, only the harsh call of the raven echoing around them.

“Was the knife poisoned?” Blake asked.

“Yes, you knew?” Galen said, standing carefully and letting the dizziness pass before he turned to face him.

“I thought they might.”

“Who?” Flash growled.

“I think we’re at the ‘take your pick’ point, aren’t we?” Galen said. “The Fae? The champion?”

“I doubt the Fae are behind it,” the priest said. “The blood sacrifice is part of their requirement, but the poison is new.”

“Then how did you know?” Flash stepped towards Blake an angry scowl on his face.

“It didn’t seem an unreasonable expectation.”

“If Galen doesn’t kill you, I’m going to.”

“Try, idiot,” Blake said, moving towards Flash.

“Stop.” Galen put himself between them. “This isn’t helping Rob, or stopping the
feorhbealu
from rising and coming through the Veil.”

“They, whoever they are, will try and stop us,” Blake said.

“Yeah, you think?” Flash snapped.

“Just wait, both of you. We need to take care of this, then you can squabble.”

“Are you telling me what to do?” Blake asked, anger simmering in his voice and flowing off of him with a physical force.

“I am
ordering
you, Fae,” Galen said, focusing on him. The priest recoiled a step. “We’ll deal with this. Nothing else until this is over.”

“So, on with the plan?” Flash asked, standing beside Galen.

“I need to go and get the swords before we go,” Galen said, turning to his friend.

“Way ahead of you, Galen. I picked up the Keepers swords before I followed Blake out here.” Flash walked to the patio outside the hotel and picked the scabbards up off a lawn chair.

Galen took his sword and let the music of the blade hum through his body, giving him a jolt of energy, then slapped Flash on the back. “Thanks. We need to get to Rob.” He looked into the thick mists surrounding him with a sinking feeling.

“How?” Flash’s voice reflected the bleakness in Galen’s heart. “We can’t drive in this shit.”

“I don’t know. You have any ideas?” Galen asked Blake.

“No.”

Galen heard it, at first he wasn’t sure, but then it was clear, the pounding of hooves getting closer, and they were there, materializing out of the fog, fleshless faces staring down from gray steeds. One of them dismounted and walked towards Galen, stripping gloves off his hands as he did. The rider suddenly stopped, joy radiating out from him like a light. “Stephen?” he said.

“Guy?” Blake whispered, his voice harsh.

“My friend.” The rider walked to Blake and pulled him into a hug. The look on Blake’s face was almost enough to soften Galen towards the man.
 

“How?” Blake asked, pulling away.

“I… Things are changing, something is happening,” the rider answered.

“Yes,” Blake answered in the same tone. “Your brother?”

“Robert is still lost.”

“I promised, I mean to keep that promise.”

“Blake,” Galen said.

The rider turned to Galen, his eyes falling to the sword clasped in Galen’s hand. “That blade has gained power since I carried it, my brother.” He offered his hand, then clasped Galen’s forearm in the formal greeting of the
Custodes Noctis.

 

An icy cold shivered up the contact, the call of the Hunt increasing as a wave of dizziness flowed over Galen. Part of him sang with joy. It was nearly time to ride, time to join his lost brothers. A longing filled him, an ache like he hadn’t known since Rob came home. He took a deep breath and forced it away. “It’s been a while since it was yours,” Galen said with a smile.

“Yes, I gather. Time passes differently for us.”

“I’m Galen.”

“Gaius—Guy,” the rider said.

“You aren’t free of them completely, are you?” Galen said.

“No, the darkness is still there. I am awake, though, for the first time in many, many years. I feel the first glow of my Gift returning. And I am awake enough so I could come here when my King requested. His champion did not wish us to come, or you to be there, but we are loyal to our king.”

“And to your brother?” Galen asked.

“He is not my brother, he has not been since we came for our last ride. He is still king, however, and knows the importance of the ritual,” Guy said defensively.

“I understand,” Galen said. “We need to get there.”

“It is why we are come.”

“Should I be freaking out that I can understand what everyone is saying?” Flash asked in English.

“No, idiot, it’s part of the plan, I told you,” Blake snapped.

“You have not changed, my friend.” Guy chuckled. “We must hurry. You can share my mount, Galen, until we get to the ritual. Yours awaits you there.” He swung onto his horse and offered Galen his hand.

Galen swung up onto the horse, settling behind Guy. The touch of the horse burned his legs, the cold pulsing through his body and the call of the Hunt filled him. Guy waited until Flash and Blake were mounted behind riders before snapping the order to move out.

“The cavalry’s on the way,” Flash said. “The really, really creepy cavalry.”

The night was cold, the fog shifting through the trees, eddying in pools of graying darkness. The path wound ahead of them, a ribbon of black blood running through the forest. Galen could see bright eyes watching the passing of the horses. Some disappeared when they got near, others flitted out from under the trees to join the growing procession, the bodies dark spots against the night. Some were crooning, a rasping joyful song. “This night the king is come,” they sang.

Rob stood at the center of the circle,

the
each uisge
beside him, he was whispering to the creatures.

 

All heads suddenly turned to the field behind them as the Hunt came into view. The gray horses were prancing in the soft night, their breath mingling with the fog, the king and his huge black horse leading them. They stopped in front of Rob
.
On a sharp order, the horses parted, and another black horse, even larger than the king’s danced happily between the others. The gray horses dipped their heads as the horse walked past. Galen could feel Rob’s joy as the animal stopped in front of him.
 
Rob gently touched its nose with his forehead, then blew into its flared nostrils in greeting.
It ruffled his hair with its breath, snuffling softly as he ran a hand down its black-boned neck. “Welcome,” Rob said to it.

Guy bowed his head and swung Galen from the horse. The animals moved to the edge of the circle as their riders dismounted. Then the priestess from the chapel, dressed in white with a wreath of evergreen around her neck and bells on her ankles, came and took Galen’s hand to lead him to his place in the circle.
 
Flash stood behind Galen and Blake drifted to the other end of the stone—the Great Altar—where a group of Fae waited.

Galen watched as the king approached Rob. “My brother, myself, this is the night of our joy,” he said.

“My brother, myself, this is the night of our joy,” Rob repeated.

The rider laid a skeletal hand on Rob’s face. “I am old, my brother, myself,” he said.

“I am young, my brother, myself,” Rob replied. Galen could hear the longing in his brother’s voice, feel it radiating though the bond.

The priestess stopped before Galen, a bowl in her hands. She held it out to him.
 
He hesitated for a moment, then reached for it, feeling the electric shock of power in the metal. “It is right, it is good, it is joy,” he said, drinking the liquid. It was sweet on his tongue, tracing a path of molten velvet through his body. His eyes closed as the ringing of the bells around him filled him. There was a soft song coming from somewhere behind him, the small creatures of the night were humming, their soft music drifting on the air with the mists. His heart joined the song, the notes resonating through his body. He heard a sound in front of him and opened his eyes. Rob was standing there, the reins of a large black horse in his hand. Galen dipped his head in acknowledgment.

“We ride tonight, young and old. Beginning and end under these stars. Will you join us, my brother?” Rob said, holding the reins of the horse out to Galen.

Joy bubbled through him. He was to ride with the kings, Young and Old. “My brother, I will join you this night under these stars,” Galen said
.
“We ride together.” He took the reins from the waiting hands, letting his hand run down the soft black neck. The animal snuffled his hair, and he let it breathe in his scent so it would know him. He took a deep breath, reveling in the sweet smell of the skeletal creature.

“Hello,” Flash said gently. Galen looked at his friend, Flash was stroking the flank of a gray horse that had its head turned to rest on his shoulder. “Galen?” he asked uncertainly.

“It’s okay, Flash, we ride with our king this night. With Rob,” Galen added quietly.
“Rob?”
he called through the bond. He could sense his brother, but not much, worry niggled at the back of Galen’s mind. There was a whisper of an answer, but Rob was nearly gone. Something flowed through the bond, obscuring his worry. Rob was happy, this was as it should be.

Galen swung up on the horse, his heart singing as his king called, “We ride together this night, one last time, under these stars, beginning and end.” Galen answered the call as they moved out. Skeletal hands thumped him on his back. “Welcome, brother,” they sang. “Welcome.” He laughed joyfully, his voice joining the song of the Hunt as they rode the fields. The kings, old and new, rode ahead. Galen laughed as he sang, reveling in his place as a rider with his king
.