Peace came as if the earth had gone quiet for a beautiful, full moment. The waters were full too. It had swallowed me, pressing on my chest, my head. Pressure collapsed my chest, and I thrashed one last time in the deep.
Tiny bubbles rose in front of me toward the surface.
And I closed my eyes to sink, sink, sink.
Then I was lifted at my waist, yanked up under the water until a mouth clutched onto mine, fierce and desperate, breathing warm life back into me and thawing my lungs. For a brief moment, I felt weightless in his arms like snow in the summer, and my entire being awoke when my mind registered—Julian.
I could see nothing within the somber black waters, yet the hands digging into my waist, the lips grasping mine, and long legs kicking us to the surface let me know I had nothing to fear.
Our heads finally broke through the surface, and he reached behind my head and pulled me into his neck. He kicked out from under us as he swam with one arm to shore, the other locked around my back. His muffled deep voice reached me, but in another world, a forgotten time. I pinned my eyes to the constellations, tears frozen at the corners and the frostbite slicing through my flesh. I hadn’t breathed. I couldn’t breathe. I felt myself slipping but could still see the stars, and I focused on them.
I focused on Sirius, the brightest star in the sky.
Julian
“F-F-Fallon,” my words broke apart after wrestling her to shore.
Her wet limbs laid limp in my arms as I rocked her in the sand. My muscles jolted under my skin, desperate to raise my body temperature as she lay over me like a deadweight. I didn’t know if it was the waters or if she’d seen my face. I didn’t know, as my thoughts were panicked. I pressed my finger against her throat, my heart on hiatus for that single thump that could allow me to breathe again.
“P-p-please,” I chanted, my other hand rubbing up and down her back at a horrible attempt to bring her warmth or pull life back into her. “Breathe.”
Then there it was—the thump. I felt it. Proof. She was okay.
Fallon lurched forward as the sea expelled from her mouth and onto the beach.
I dropped my head back in the sand, taking her with me, exhaling heavily with my hand pressed to the back of her head to keep her face in my neck, to prevent her from seeing me without my mask.
Our bodies shivered under the crescent moon when I heard a voice carry with the wind.
“There she is!” someone shouted. I turned my head to the side to see a group of them in the distance, and my heart slammed against my chest.
“I’m s-s-sorry, Fallon.” I pressed my lips to her cold cheek before scurrying out from under her. I ran to the mouth of the cliff, the tunnel entrance hidden under Benny’s house.
I watched from the shadows as the gust of wind carried a chill that trapped ice in my bones. The girls cried as Kane picked up Fallon in his arms and carried her across the beach. I stayed there within the rocks long after their shadows disappeared over the shore, shivering and wet and hiding in the darkness.
Lunaticus
“No one believed Bellamy when he said the woods spoke to him. “The gentle midnight winds lulled in his ears in a fairytale hush. The branches twisted and reared their ends to the safest places. Black birds of the woods flapped their restless wings in a warning when danger drew near.
“But, in this night, under a paper lantern sky, where stars dotted the black canvas above, the only sounds in the woods were the orchestra of breaths of Bellamy and Siri. He laid her down on the forest floor and loved her in the way the night loved the moon—eternal and in all phases—and afterward, he lay beside her a long while.
“Siri drew constellations over his skin, connecting his sparse freckles with her fingertips, as Bellamy fell into a contentment. In the heart of the Norse woods, he floated and swirled in the ardent fever as if it was all he tasted and breathed. ‘I cannot continue as we are,’ blurted Bellamy, turning over to face Siri. ‘I may as well be a monster by day—an all-suffering monster—in constant mourning, longing for these short intervals of peace. My days are spent without a purpose, no longer having a heart when I am without you, walking without direction, lost and confused until nightfall, and you, the one who has me entirely, revives me only to repeat this agony all over again. How is it, my days are cold, my dark nights warm? Tell me, Siri, do you feel the same as I? Because, if so, let us walk under the sun together. Let us confront our families, my coven. Become mine, Siri. At all times and always.’
“Though her heart was happy, Siri frowned and brushed her knuckles across his cheek. She had seen what the other women looked like, everyone much different than she. Annitah, her beloved friend, was different too. She had yet to come across someone other than her mother of the same pale skin color, the same clarity in her eyes. ‘They would not understand me.’
“‘Ah, moon girl,’ said Bellamy, a grin gracing his pain-stricken face. ‘You are misunderstood and therefore a depth of brilliance.’ He rolled on top of her until she was all he saw and kissed her raw. ‘If no one can see that, we shall leave them all behind, as they have rejected us, forced our hand. I will take you far away from here, the sun and the moon, leaving their nights empty and their days cold as they made ours. What’s worth fighting for if not love?’
“‘You’re a shameless Heathen, I could never ask you to abandon your coven,’ said Siri, her smile undeniable.
“‘You never did, and you would never have to. My wretched soul would choose yours in this life and each one hereafter––because, without you, I am certain a monster is what would become of me.’
“Sirius leaned over and reached into her dress pocket, pulled out a silver chain with a pendant attached. ‘Until forever,’ whispered she, slipping the necklace around his neck.
“Words were lost on Bellamy as he clutched the pendant in his fist, promising to treasure it and sealed her smile with a kiss. ‘Until forever,’ he repeated.
“A raven perched over a tree branch above, a disturbance in the wicked woods. Bellamy snapped his head to the sounds, listening to what cautions the trees had to tell. ‘They are coming,’ his naked form pounced to his feet, ‘all four of them!’ In the distance, torches lit a path in a synchronized march toward them. ‘Something isn’t right, you must hurry!’
“‘Who’s coming?’ asked Siri, pulling her dress over her shoulders.
“‘The Heathens of the Norse woods. My father!”
Chapter 25
Julian
Two days had passed. The morning fog thickened as I stood on my back porch, looking out into the forest in the middle of night. The fog rose to the branches. Once there, its mist broke apart, twisting into thin gray claws, summoning me toward the deep woods.
And the Norse woods was like a single, beating heart. A breathing organ that wanted me, and there was no name for what I was. A Hollow Heathen? A witch? A son of the woods? A murderer? I was all these things but never a hero.
Yet I had dived into the midnight waters from the sea cliff and yanked Fallon from the grip of the deep. I had pulled her to shore, rocked her wet limbs in my arms. I had done these things without a single hesitation. My chest buckled at the memory of her drifting amongst the waves, her white hair flowing all around her as she sunk to the ocean floor. Memories of her. Memories of Johnny. I slammed my eyes closed.