Page 44 of Outside the Veil
The worst seizure yet—he’d never had one preceded by such evil hallucinations before.
He opened one eye and found himself on the ottoman in his clothes from the night before. He must have crawled there, though he couldn’t remember. Arms wrapped around his head, he fought against nausea and self-pity. His own fault for not taking his meds. But it would have been nice to have someone there to take care of him. He eased his feet onto the floor and tried to convince himself to go to the kitchen for aspirin and tea. If necessary, he could crawl. He’d done it before.
“Good morning, my hero. How do you fare?”
The deep voice stopped his heart and sent it racing again. “Finn?”
“It’s Finn. Original and unaltered. Accept no substitutions.” Finn smiled as he repeated Rodney’s formula. He stood hipshot in his black jeans, regarding Diego with his head cocked to one side.
The casual greeting, after all his anguish and doubt, infuriated Diego. Despite the pain, he staggered up and stalked over to straight-arm Finn against the wall. “Where the hell have you been?”
Finn’s smile slipped. “Outside. Making certain the house is secure.”
“No, not just now! Where’ve you been so long? Without so much as stopping in to say you were all right?”
“Diego… I haven’t been gone so terribly long.” Finn appeared genuinely confused.
“Five whole fucking days! Without one damn word. Maybe that’s not long to someone who lives forever but it is to me. I’ve been falling apart here thinking you were hurt or you’d died or I’d driven you away.”
“I—” Finn closed his eyes and swallowed hard. He turned his gaze up to the ceiling and drew a long breath. “I have been a thrice-cursed fool. I should have returned to you at the first sign of something odd. Never, never, you must believe me, did I wish to hurt you so.” He threw his arms around Diego in a crushing embrace. “And when I saw that thing had flown before me and arrived here first…oh, gods, I thought…”
Diego’s legs turned to water as the room tilted. “You mean it wasn’t a nightmare?”
“Yes. It is a nightmare. But that doesn’t make it less real.” Finn shifted his grip to lift Diego into his arms and cradle him against his chest. His face hardened as he carried Diego upstairs to layhim on the bed. “An ancient nightmare. Older than anything I have met before.”
A thin, red line circled Finn’s throat. Diego lifted a hand to trace along the mark. “You look terrible.”
“My thanks, you are too kind.”
“I mean you look exhausted. You don’t even know how good it is to see you.”
“And you.” Finn caught the wandering hand and pressed Diego’s fingertips to his lips. “Might I lie down with you?”
Diego scooted over to make room and held out his arms for Finn to fall into. “Are we safe?”
“For the moment. It does not like the sun and it cannot cross the threshold uninvited. So do not, under any circumstances, no matter whom it says it is or how hard it pleads, invite anything in. Especially after dark.”
“What was it? What happened?” Diego repeated his earlier question in a more reasonable tone. “Where have you been?”
“This is a story I would rather not have to share with you.”
“You have to, Finn. I think that thing tried to eat me last night. You saved me?”
Finn’s laugh sluiced over him like desert rain, a sound Diego thought he’d lost forever. “No, my hero. I tried my level best, but you saved yourself.”
“What are you talking about? There was that rotting thing and that awful horse. I’m not sure which one scared me more. And all I did was collapse in a seizure.”
Finn’s forehead crinkled in a wounded expression. “That awful horse was me. Great mother of us all, now my day is complete. Not only did I bungle your rescue, I terrified you into a fit. I may as well fling myself into the sea and drown.”
His mournful tone was so overdone, Diego couldn’t help a laugh. “Sorry. You must have been as scared as I was.”
“Ah, to see you smile again is worth a thousand wounds to my pride.” Finn nestled closer, an arm wrapped around Diego’s waist. “I was more so, I think, for I knew what you faced and you did not. But when it touched you, the lightning storms erupted in you. I think you hurt it somehow, for it shrieked and fled. Perhaps its touch caused the fit. I can’t say.”
“I don’t suppose you’d start at the beginning for me?” Diego combed his fingers through Finn’s hair, smoothing the thick mass over his shoulder. He stopped when he felt a flinch. Dark bruises marked Finn’s wrists, and from his vantage point propped against the headboard, he could see the deep gashes across Finn’s back, as if he had been raked by bear claws. Anger sparked in his gut. “It hurt you.”
“’Tis naught but scratches.”
“I need to take care of those for you.” Diego tried to get up, prevented by Finn’s arm.
