“Now is not the time,” she said. She stood and walked over to the nearby table. She opened to Fire, briefly, and steam began waving from the dishes.
“Eat,” she said. “You have much recovering to do. We will speak of this in the morning.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” Tenn said. “I’m going to save him.”
“Eat,” she said again. “If...if what you say is true, there is much to discuss.”
“There’s nothing to discuss,” Tenn said, but she was already out the door.
He stared down at the food, forced aside the nausea and tried to convince himself he had an appetite. It wasn’t hard. When the first drop of broth touched his tongue, Earth and Water growled with hunger. They wanted to devour it all.
He ate. And while he did, he couldn’t help but feed the tiny flame of hope that fluttered inside of him. Jarrett might still be alive. Jarrett might be waiting for him.
And Tenn was going to do anything he could to get him back.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
DREYA CAME IN only once more, Devon at her side.
Tenn had drifted in and out of uneasy sleep. It wasn’t nightmares that plagued him, but memories of Jarrett—some real, some imagined. Dreams that stuck with him even when he woke, so that every time he opened his eyes he felt the man beside him. In his cold sweat, he felt the absence like an ache.
Dreya had Tenn recount everything he’d seen and everything Matthias had said. Devon said nothing when Tenn was finished, but he shared a look with his sister that spoke volumes.
It was clear that neither of them believed Matthias.
It was also clear that neither could risk the chance it was true.
“We’ve spoken with the Witches,” Dreya said. “With Rhiannon and Luke gone, there is no one else to teach about the runes.”
Tenn’s heart sank.
“So what do we do?” he asked.
Again, the twins shared a look, though brief.
“There is a way,” Dreya said. She took a deep breath. “Rhiannon said the spirits wanted to speak through you. If that is the case, we should bring you to a place where you can meet them.”
“How?”
“You can find out. Tonight.”
*
The bonfire was ready at dusk.
Dreya came and helped him from his bed. He’d spent the afternoon sleeping fitfully, and every time he’d opened his eyes there had been fresh warm food on the bedside table. Every time, he’d eaten the whole meal. Even then, however, he leaned heavily on Dreya. His heart hammered in his chest as she led him out the trailer and into the cold evening air.
He was scared.
He didn’t want to admit it, not even to himself, but his fear was a living thing, a rabbit chasing through his veins.
It was one thing to be at the mercy of Water, or to be told he was important. It was another thing entirely to be told you were going to speak to the powers that created you.
The world outside was quiet, save for the crackle of flames. Everyone in the clan had assembled around the bonfire, firelight making them all glow orange and red in the coming dusk. Their expressions were solemn, expectant. He wasn’t the only one worried about what he’d find.
Dreya silently led him to a space beside the bonfire, to where a few blankets had been laid out on the ground. Room enough for one. For him. Dreya went and stood by her brother.
Mara stood beside the blanket. She gestured for Tenn to lie down, and then picked up a bundle of herbs resting beside the blanket. She thrust them into the flames and, once they’d caught, blew out the fire. Heavy smoke wafted from the incense. It smelled of sage and cedar, and with it she began to walk around the fire, leaving Tenn to stand awkwardly on his own.
“We call to the spirits,” she said as she walked, “to the Ancestors and gods. We call to the earth, to the sky, to the flame and the streams. We call to the Mystery that binds us all, hear us!” When she reached Tenn again, she wafted the fragrant smoke over him, from his toes to the top of his head. The scent made his head spin. Inside, he felt the Spheres flicker in response, the smoke pulling some magic out of him he hadn’t known he possessed.
“With this smoke I purify you,” she said. “In body, mind and spirit, you are clean.”
If only it were that easy.
She drew the smoke about her, smudging herself, and then raised her hands to the heavens.
“On this night, we call to you and beg for your guidance. Like a fire in the dark, we seek to bring light to this world. Let us be the flame, the star. Let us be the way to wholeness.” She swept her arms down and looked at her clan, then gestured to the blanket on the ground. He just stared at her before realizing she wanted him to lie down. He did so, staring up at her as she continued waving the smoke over his body.
She knelt by his side and placed the herbs on a patch of dirt, then whispered in his ear, “Close your eyes, Tenn, and let the drums guide you. Delve deep into the earth, to where the Ancestors sleep. They will guide you from there.”
For the briefest moment, she rested her hand on his temple, the lightest butterfly of a touch. Then she stood.
The drumming began.
It reverberated in his bones, made his whole body vibrate. It was a pulse, a heartbeat, the very hum of life. He had worried he wouldn’t know what to do, that this was all some smoke-and-mirrors bullshit, but the moment the drumming started, he felt himself fall. His body became heavy. His Spheres flared into life. And like Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole, he felt his consciousness sliding into the soil.
Stars streaked across his closed eyes as the tunnel took him deeper, deeper, his mind or spirit or whatever it was riding the beat of the drums like a horse into the underworld.
The tunnel seemed to stretch on forever, and soon he forgot that he was actually lying on the ground beside a bonfire. It was like a dream, that world, and it slid from his mind as another reality woke him.
After an eternity, or no time at all, the tunnel opened before him. He stepped into a cavern that glowed white as snow, light coming from every crystalline surface. Water swirled at his feet, but it wasn’t cold or warm or wet. It had a presence, a vibration like static, and it made his whole body hum. He looked around at the vast expanse, at the great stalactites dripping down from a ceiling that glowed the dull gray of a wintry night sky. Something splashed at his feet, a ripple that drew his gaze down to the shimmering waters.
A tiny fish swam against his calves, its scales glinting silver and light. He knelt down. The fish didn’t swim away, and in that moment he realized the fish wasn’t reflecting light, but creating it. The creature glowed like a platinum star.
He reached into the water. It felt like sifting through electrified smoke. He cupped his hands.
The fish swam between his fingertips. It tingled, sent chimes flurrying across his skin. Its light grew.