Page 49 of All That Has Flown Beyond
Kaiyo stuffed the grocery bags into the trunk before shutting the lid. He leaned against the car for a moment.
He’d masked his scent, his heartbeat, and his presence as he entered Garrow land, but they would soon know of his arrival. He had to prepare for the possibility of seeing them. He had to prepare for the chance that they wouldn’t even bother to show their faces.
He had to prepare for anything. He had to survive.
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Kaiyo walked through the forest. The land’s familiar Ousía seemed to swell underneath his feet, around him. The trees and earth were filled with memories. The phantoms of his past ran around him, cast in the silver of full-moon nights. The black and brown shapes of Thea and Ahmik’s wolf forms, the freedom of the air as he let his body be guided by them. The worn memories of the rest of his long-lost pack. The foundation of his family’s history there, generations of Amanatis with their roots deep in the earth, unearthed and dead now by his feet.
He knew this land so well that it was easy to spot the oily feeling of corruption woven through it. There was a creature which did not belong there. It was taking without giving anything back.
He stopped a moment to collect himself before tilting his head to the side.
“Are you going to watch me from the shadows all night?” Kaiyo said into the darkness. There was a moment of stillness before a figure stepped out. Kaiyo turned to face it fully.
Ahmik. Kaiyo had known who it was, but the sight of him was still a blow. The ten years that had passed since Kaiyo had last seen him was etched into Ahmik’s body. It had broadened his shoulders, his chest, the arms hanging loosely by his side. His eyes were inscrutable, but they were the same shade of green from Kaiyo’s past. He’d seen every expression in the forest that was now shadow, but the man was practically a stranger now.
“What’s wrong with your scent?” Ahmik said in lieu of a greeting. Kaiyo raised his eyebrows.
“Hello to you too, Kephale of the Garrow Pack. I’m wearing a charm.” Kaiyo was glad for it. He couldn’t let his body betray him here. These were not safe pastures anymore.
“If formality is what you wanted, then you should have announced your arrival,” Ahmik shot back. Kaiyo tilted his head in acknowledgment.
“This was my home, once. I’m hoping you’ll allow me a little leeway.”
The silence that fell was intolerably heavy. Ahmik watched him back, cataloguing the changes of Kaiyo’s own body. He probably looked like a stranger to him now, too.
“What are you doing here?” Ahmik asked finally. Kaiyo tamped down his emotions. He would deal with them later.
“Mom told me about the deaths. The children. I’ve come to see if there’s something I can do to help,” Kaiyo explained. Ahmik’s brow furrowed.
“We can handle it,” he grunted. Kaiyo frowned back.
“Ahmik. As Kephale, you should be thinking of the people under your protection, not old grudges,” Kaiyo couldn’t help but admonish. He saw a muscle in Ahmik’s jaw jump. The forest-quiet tensed even further before it broke slightly, Ahmik’s shoulders slumping a fraction.
“Fine. But you can’t—this is my land. You can’t just go off on your own on this one.”
“Understood,” Kaiyo said. He’d been foolish to think anything else. “I still have some ground to cover tonight.”
“I’ll stay with you,” Ahmik said. Kaiyo nodded. He could recognize a losing fight.
Kaiyo set off into the shadows again, trying to concentrate on anything that wasn’t Ahmik. His presence, however, was a beacon in the dark. Kaiyo kept imagining he could feel him. The scent and warmth and touch of him. His memory played tricks on him, as cruel as it had ever been. His Ousía focused on the rustle of Ahmik’s feet across the leaves, the price to pay for Kaiyo’s own hidden scent and heartbeat.
Just as they reached the periphery of the Garrow land, Kaiyo stopped abruptly. There, in the wards, a hole like a gaping wound. It bled across the territory line—a cut with intent.
Kaiyo didn’t realize he was hunched over until a hand on his shoulder startled him. He stepped away instinctively and the hand fell away, but Ahmik stayed close.
“What’s wrong?” Ahmik asked, concern seeping through his voice.
“There’s—the wards. They’ve been tampered with. There’s a hole,” Kaiyo explained. “I’m going to have to redo these. They’re—how long since they were renewed?”
“A year, maybe.”
“A—” Kaiyo bit back his surprise. They should be redone every equinox. “I’ll have to take them down and set them up again. Unless you want someone else to do them. Do you have a witch or a shaman in your pack?”
“No.”
Kaiyo didn’t let himself feel relief at that. “Well, if you don’t want me to do them myself, you need to call someone, or I can recommend somebody nearby.”
