Page 66 of Rarely Pure and Never Simple
"Got it. Take my hand. I'm right here. No doors to shut. You see the end from here?"
"Yes." Damien's grip on Blaze's fingers was most likely painful, but he couldn't loosen it. The world might fly apart.
"Good. Hand light? Good man. Let's go. A few steps and it's done."
Blaze kept up a steady stream of reassurance, his thumb caressing Damien's fingers. Damien managed to cling to both voice and hand, and he kept a shaky hold on his sanity, too. The animal inside him whimpered and threatened to howl but didn't start screaming.
As the light in front of them grew brighter, he let go of Blaze and hurried the last few steps, out into the sunlight and the blessed breeze. He clung to the side of the hill, breathing hard, waiting for Blaze to catch up. When his eyes adjusted to the light, he pulled in a hard breath for a different reason.
Before them stretched a protected valley, enclosed on all sides by guardian mountains. A lake sparkled in the center, obviously fed from snow runoff higher up. The air here was warmer than the outer world. Out there, it was February. In here, it was April or a brisk May. Brilliant green decorated the hillsides, dotted with sheep and terraced crops. Nestled in little clusters closer to the lake, cabins perched in the grass, each with its own set of solar arrays.
"How beautiful," Damien whispered.
Blaze echoed the sentiment in his own way. "Holy fuck."
"This. This is where."
"All right. But let's go slow here." Blaze began untying ropes, and Damien slipped behind him to help lower Shudder's unconscious body to the grass. "We don't know if these folks like strangers or if they have guns. Let me watch a bit. See what we see."
They crouched there by the mouth of the cave, observing the sheep and the occasional movement of someone on the hillside. Things looked peaceful to Damien, but he knew Blaze had a point. It would be just his luck to come all this way and have some nervous resident shoot him.
He was just about to suggest that he go down alone, less threatening that way, when the decision was taken from them. A yellow-eyed goat bounded up the hill toward them. It stopped to stare at them with its strange, square-pupiled eyes and then turned tomaaaaaback down the hill. A boy came puffing up the slope after it. He couldn't have been more than twelve, and he was so intent on the goat he failed to see them at first.
"Bad Hercule! You don't run off like that! And you're not supposed to go in the tunnel!" The boy reached for the goat's halter and froze, his eyes locked with Damien's. He remained that way for a few heartbeats. Then he grabbed the goat's lead and fled, screaming, "Shade! Shade!"
"Well. I believe the alarm's been duly sounded," Blaze said at his driest.
"Stay here?"
"Yeah. Let the authorities come to us. No need to scare anyone more than we have. And I'm tired of hauling his majesty's carcass around, anyway."
Blaze looked more than tired. He still hadn't caught his breath. He was bleeding from assorted small scrapes and gashes, exhaustion evident in his loose-limbed slump.
They didn't wait long. Within twenty minutes, a figure in white appeared, striding across the valley floor. What Damien thought at first was a white scarf resolved into a snow-white mane of waist-length hair. A long, white coat billowed out behind this purposeful apparition, giving the impression of wings.
Damien rose out of respect. "Am I dealing with this?"
"Probably best." Blaze squinted at the approaching figure. "Women don't like me much. Okay, men don't either most of the time, but you know what I mean."
Damien ran his fingers through Blaze's dusty hair, both reassurance and understanding. The woman was on her way up the slope. Now it was clear that her skin was as white as her hair. Red eyes regarded him warily when she stopped halfway up the hill.
"You are lost. Go back the way you came."
He took a step forward, hands held wide. "We're not lost. We came searching. I'm looking for someone."
She mirrored his actions and took another step toward him. "Yes. I know what you are. If you've come as a dog for the oppressors, you aren't welcome here. Those who live here are here by choice. You have no right to take them."
Like a chillier version of what Shudder said. "I'm looking for missing children. People are worried."
She snorted. "The children who arrive here don't have anyone. You're mistaken. Disturb someone who needs it, locator."
"Please." Damien's level of desperation rose with each refusal. "I can't just go back. We have an injured man with us. He can't travel back the way we came. Please. I need to speak to Tara Hernandez."
Something in her demeanor shifted, more annoyance evident than open hostility. "He doesn't seem badly hurt."
"Not Blaze. Though he could use some attention." Damien pointed to the ground where Shudder lay.
She stalked up the hill far enough to peer at Shudder. A flicker of surprise registered in her eyes. "I know this one. At least by reputation. You've injured him taking him into custody?"
