Page 12 of The Scattered Bones

The snow whips into a frenzy, and my breath stills. Another tiger. I don’t have the strength to fight anymore. I can already feel the blood loss blurring my edges.

“Stranger,” I say. “Goodbye.” He doesn’t answer. His silence hurts.

I grip the sword and twist my aching body toward the commotion. I wish there was an afterlife. I wish Hreinasta hadn’t banished Death. At least then, the end wouldn’t be so cruel. My soul could join his. Eternity would be ours, but nothingness will greet me, just as it did him.

I brace for death, but no tiger appears. As the snow whirls, a form takes shape, and as if emerging from thin air, a man steps onto the roof. My gasp catches in my throat. He’s the tallest being I’ve ever seen, even taller than Kaid. His head reaches at least seven feet, and his build is broad, all strength and grace. His long, ice-blond hair hangs down his back, half of it tied up by braids and cords. He’s terrifying and beautiful, his massive body dressed in fur and leather, and I can’t breathe. I’ve never felt power this intoxicating. I have never seen beauty this magnificent. His blue eyes are so light they’re almost white, and for a moment, The Stranger’s eyes flash through my memory, but while his are solid and blinding, this newcomer has faint irises and pupils. A jagged scar runs down his throat, and a second one consumes his hand. I stare at them, but all I see is a scar that severed perfect lips. Lips that worshiped me, praised me, comforted me, and I know who this new stranger is.

Lovec. The God of the Hunt has returned to the realm of men.

I look down at the blood pooling beneath the tiger, and as if Lovec is reminding me, I recall the villager’s words. He vowed to return only after the evil who took his bride was destroyed. There are other tigers. I hear their hunting roars, but when I killed this monster, I pledged it to Lovec’s wife. The first kill to Kaid. The second to her. This was my sacrifice for both of our lost lovers, and to my shock, I realize it was the godless girl who returned the Great Hunter to our land.

As my blood leaves my veins, stealing my life with it, I smear my fingers through the tiger’s death. Lovec demands offerings of the flesh, so on unstable legs, I approach the god. With shaking hands, I mark each of his cheeks. He’s so tall he has to bend so I can reach, and when I’m done, he surprises me by capturing my hand in his. I yelp in fear. No deity has ever touched me in their true form, but he merely wipes the excess crimson from my palms. I expect him to keep the blood for himself, but he raises his fingers, and starting at my forehead, he drags three lines down over my nose, lips, and throat. Painted in blood, I understand. I am his hunter now. Lovec has bestowed his favor on me. The godless girl, the sinner, the unholy. The woman who understands his heartache, who gave his pain revenge. We are the same, and I belong to him. Warmth fills my chest, and my calf stops hurting. I look down, seeing nothing but new skin. His blessing made me whole, and suddenly I feel the Stranger’s presence. I had no one. Now I have The Stranger and the Great Hunter. Soon I’ll have my thief.

Lovec strides past me without a word and seizes the discarded sword. With grace and strength only a god could possess, he drops from the roof and settles before the gathering tigers. At least a dozen man-hunters are chasing my scent now, and with an expert swing of the blade, his strong voice roars through the city.

“Run.”

I run with everything I have left in me, and Lovec follows my lead, cutting down beast after beast. I grin at the Stranger’s words. The god isn’t helping me. Not truly. He is simply standing behind me in the blizzard so that the creatures cannot see me.

“You’re not out of the fire yet,” The Stranger’s voice says. I roll my eyes at his choice of words, but I heed his warning and push through the endless white. My lungs burn from the icy air, my legs burn from the exertion, and to the song of snarls and death, I explode upon the temple. I race inside, my heart singing with joy at finding another piece of him, but that excitement dies before it can take root. I just stumbled into the tiger’s den, the dozen outside merely a taste of what waits in here.

The Friendship

SEASON OF THE THAW, CYCLE 78920

The soot around Kaid’s eyes did little to hide the bruising. He’d barely spoken more than a handful of words since he climbed into my room, and my fingers itched to brush back his hair and wrap him in my arms. Not because I wished to sin. Not because he was forbidden fruit, lingering just out of reach. I wanted to hold him because every inch of his body whispered of the pain he’d endured. I longed to bring him comfort and steal his suffering. He normally spoke of his adventures when he visited, but he said nothing as he leaned against the wall. Only that he’d completed a job successfully, but at a cost.

Without a warning, Kaid stood and opened the window. Dressed in black, hair as colorless as the midnight sky, forehead painted in the ashes, he was a demon in the night, an angel of grace. He moved with agility and power, his forceful presence almost unnatural. Everything from his scarred lips to his hardened muscles to his gold-flecked eyes sang of danger, wove tales of darkness. Yet I could watch him for the rest of my days and never be afraid. He’d become my favorite part of my existence, breathing life into parts of my soul that had died. In such a brief acquaintance, this breathtaking man had carved a jagged hole in my heart and buried himself inside it. It was crude and bloody, still raw where it tore, but I held the pain close. I never wanted to be free of him. I couldn’t explain his importance to me. He was a thief. A stranger. A sinner, yet he called to me in ways I didn’t know one soul could beckon another. Perhaps it was my naivety and loneliness, but something had bent inside me. Bent and cracked and shattered. I would never be the same.

My heart sank as Kaid climbed out into the night air. His visit had been too short, barely a breath in my stifling week, and I wasn’t ready to release him into the world. I braced for the dreaded goodbye, but then his tired gaze met mine.

“Come on.” He gestured for me to follow him. “You should be able to manage the climb now that the ice has melted.”

“Climb?” I balked. “I can’t leave the temple.”

“We’re not leaving. I want to show you how I get in.” He curled his fingers, enticing me closer. “Let’s climb up to the roof. There’s a flat section where no one will notice us, and you can see most of Szent from there. Come with me, Sellah, please.”

I would have gone anywhere with him if he only asked.

“I’ll show you how to climb,” he said as I moved for the window. “I’ll teach you anything you want.”

I wanted him to teach me everything, but I was afraid to leave my room. Every second I spent with him was an act of defiance, a rebellion against the calling I was bound to, yet the lonely ache in my heart had burned a hole into my soul, a hole that Kaid’s presence filled so thoroughly the edges ripped.

“I won’t let you fall.” Desperation brimmed in his eyes as he begged me to trust him, and for the first time, I had the distinct impression that Kaid needed me far more than I needed him.

“It’s not that,” I said, stepping closer. “You can’t catch me, but that’s not it.”

He flinched, my words reminding him of how solitary my life was. “I’ll leave then.”

“I’m afraid,” I blurted before his black hair dipped from sight. “This…” I gestured between us, “...is not who I am. I’m meant for Hreinasta, and every time you offer me your friendship, I feel my soul being pulled in two. The goddess has already claimed me. I can’t give anything to you.”

“I don’t want to take anything from you.” Conviction fortified his voice. “I want to give everything to you. I’m not here to break your vows. A lonely girl simply helped a lonely boy, and I love the light in your eyes when we’re together. How can that be a sin? How can wanting to be your friend be wrong?”

“I must remain pure.” My walls were crumbling.

“And you will.” He smiled. “I won’t take that from you. I won’t take anything from you that you don’t willingly give. If you want me to leave, I will, and despite my disappointment, I won’t come back.”

“Why do you visit me?” I searched for any reason to accept his offer. To send him away and forget his scarred lips and sunshine smile.

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