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Tilting his head to the side, Gus demanded, “What body part is the problem.”
Daniel took a deep breath. Then pointed to his crotch. “I want to know how to get this working again. And if I have to run the risk of an erection lasting longer than four hours, I will happily take myself to any ER if it happens.”
TWENTY-ONE
UP ON THEmountain that was called Deer, Blade’s eyes remained fixated on the ghostly entity before him. He was not sure how to defend himself. The gun was going to be useless—indeed, bullets only worked against corporeal targets. He could run, but he knew without further information that he was not going to beat whatever it was in a footrace. And dematerializing? He was certain that was not an option without even trying.
He was too scattered to calm himself sufficiently.
A static charge was upon the air, one that emanated from the old woman, and it was not merely agitating the molecules of oxygen, it was in him. The effect was a heightening of his sight, his hearing, his sense of smell, and that information load funneling into his brain was creating a buzzy chaos: The pine boughs were too clear, each needle among the countless numbers a green knife piercing him, the trunks made of sandpaper, and the loose stones on the ground a tactile nightmare,even as he did not touch any of them. Additionally, the perfume that the entity carried was roaring in his nose, as if a meadow in spring with a rushing river beside it was actually inside his sinuses.
And then there were the howls in the air. The wolves’ voices entered his ears and echoed into a cacophony that redoubled until he wanted to cover his head to block it all out.
So no, there would be no dematerializing. He was locked in to whatever was happening next.
“I am glad you came,” she said in her voice of birdsong. “Your long journey ends up here, and I sense you are ready for it all to come to its conclusion.”
The nape of his neck tightened, sure as if a hand had landed hard upon it and was gripping with the strength of a warrior.
“I do not… know what you’re talking about.”
Somesymphathmanipulator he was. He was not playing chess with her, choosing his words carefully, engineering an outcome he would patiently execute and then enjoy. No, he was on his back foot and then some, stumbling over his words, grappling for logic, lost in his surroundings.
“Yes, you do know that to which I refer.” The smile was calm and ancient. And yet he was not reassured. “But then destiny transcends words, does it not. It transcends everything.”
“Why…” He cleared his throat and indicatedthe fissure in the boulders behind him. “Is this your… home? The cave?”
“You are welcome to take shelter in it for however long you wish. The male who resides there is on his own journey and far from the mountain.”
“Oh.”
“I saw what you moved in earlier.”
Blade’s left eyebrow started twitching, the spasms causing his vision to disco. “I was not aware I had an audience.”
“I didn’t intend for you to know my presence.” More with that smile. “You brought your most precious possessions. You take care of them so well.”
There was no replying to that. Absolutely not. “I shall move out—”
“Not at all. You are precisely where you are supposed to be. Where you are needed.” The old woman looked over to the rocks. “And you have what you need. For what comes next.”
“There is no next. I am merely here on a little vacation.”
And now seriously reconsidering what he had thought was a private place where he could hide out, determine his strategy against his cousin, and come and go from this base camp as he hunted his prey.
“You are trying to impress her,” the entity said, “but you have at your disposal the ultimate prize to present unto her.”
“Her? I am afraid you have confused me with someone else.”
Now that kindly face registered an authority. “I do not get confused. And you know exactly to what I am referring. You are better at caring for others than you wish to acknowledge, and if you love her as you believe you do, then the decision is an easy one, is it not? Would you not give all of you to the one you love? Sacrifice yourself for them?”
Blade slowly shook his head back and forth.
“Yes,” the entity said. “You would. And you have. All these years, avenging your sister. You have lived no life in service unto her—and you have sought no glory for yourself from her. She is blind to your virtue, and that is your business. It is also your preparation for the true sacrifice that is coming.”
“Again, I think you’ve confused me with someone else.”
“As you wish. Free will is a force in this world. So you will believe what you do—”
