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Rafe was silent for a long moment. The light in the waves flickered. I feared we’d lost him, and I hated feeling so helpless. "Let’s at least go down to the dock.” I didn’t beg, but it was close.
He turned and left before I could respond. Giving the flickering light a final glance, I followed.
Somehow, I reached the dock before him. He must have stopped in his workshop, because he came up behind me, his cane in one hand and a length of rope in the other.
“Do you still see him?”
I squinted into the darkness, sending hope to the stranger in the boat, afraid we were inviting trouble by bringing him to shore.
You always bring trouble. Always have. Always will.
The words landed like a punch to the gut, but I fought them off. They weren’t true. They were lies conjured by an evil presence. My rational mind held firm, though deep down, I felt the truth. I did bring trouble. I didn’t.You do. No.
Laughter echoed through my mind, so loud that I didn’t notice the thing Rafe held out to me.
“Make this into a real bird.” His tone of voice didn’t invite argument.
I, of course, tried. “Why? I thought you didn’t want to help whoever it is?”
Between the dark and the glasses, I couldn’t read his expression. He turned away, making it even harder, and when he finally said something, it was too soft for me to hear.
“What?”
He took hold of my hand. “You’re a better man than I am, so we should do what you say.”
I blinked rapidly, my eyes wet with something besides rain. I had no idea how to respond, other than to admit I could be leading us both astray.
“Here,” he said, releasing my hand. “Make this into a real bird.”
I moved the witchlight closer. He shifted his cane from one hand to another and showed me one of his carvings, a bird, a gull most likely. I touched it and gave a push of power, and the thing blossomed into a full-grown gull, its white-grey feathers glowing in the darkness. Rafe whispered to it, words I couldn’t understand, but when he picked up the end of the rope, the gull grabbed it in its beak.
He tossed the bird into the air and it took off, flying straight and true in the direction of the light. It cried out when it dropped the rope, and the sudden tension told us the man had caught it.
Working together, we drew the rope in. The rolling waves made keeping the tension steady a challenge but in time, we learned to adjust. The light came closer and despite the darkness, the silhouette of man and boat became more obvious.
The rough, wet rope chapped my hands, opening up the blister that had healed so nicely. The saltwater stung and my shoulders ached, although I suspected Rafe did most of the work.
The little boat came close enough to see that the light we’d been watching was a witchlight. The man must be a witch, although I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.
Who would help you, really? No one. No one at all.
“Shut up,” I snapped. If Rafe heard me, he gave no sign. An extraordinarily large wave broke over the dock, and for a moment the rope slackened. “We’ve lost him.”
Sudden tension jerked the rope through my hands, tearing at my skin.
“He’s still with us.” Rafe gave a mighty tug and, with the help of another huge wave, the little boat came near.
Leaving me to hold the rope, Rafe raced toward the boat, grasping the prow. “Toss me a line.”
The man in the boat did as he asked, giving me a momentary glimpse of his profile. My heart dropped, leaving only emptiness in my chest. That profile, the light hair. Rafe extended his hand and the man grasped it.
That must have taken the last of his strength, for when he hit the dock, he fell in a heap. I busied myself coiling the rope, as if I could put off the moment of awkwardness as long as possible.
Hoisting the man up, Rafe helped him from the dock. When they reached me, the man’s smile confirmed my worst fear. “Vince? Is that you?”
Rutger Smit, my closest confidant and sometime lover, stood wavering on the dock. He reached for me and I clasped his hand with both of mine. “I can’t believe you’re here,” I said.
As if deciding the man could stand on his own, Rafe stepped aside. Rutger stayed upright, his eyes light with amusement. “I wanted to surprise you.”
