A Glow of Stars & Dusk by Eve L. Mitchell

“Away from you,”I mumbled as I slowly got to my feet. I looked around and realised I was back in Dunnottar. “How am I here?” I looked around the large grassy area between the ruins and stared up at the old castle.

“How long have you been able to travel?” Pen asked curiously as he watched me carefully.

“I can’t, I have no idea where I went or how I got there, but I know it hurt like a bitch being brought back.” I levelled a glare at Sam, who stood impassively in front of me.

“Describe the hurt,” Pen asked as he moved closer. He slowly walked around me and then leaned forward and sniffed. I saw Sam move also, almost as if he was walking in a counter circle to Pen.

“Whoa, that is not okay,” I told Pen. “Boundaries, remember.”

“You smell different,” Pen mused as he looked over my head, at Sam I assumed, but since no one acknowledged him at all, Pen continued to watch me. “Chaz,” Pen called.

Chaz stepped up to me and very slightly leaned inwards and inhaled. He gave a quick nod to Pen, and when Der and Ros also stepped forward, I stepped back.

“Sniff-a-thon can stop now.”

One day, just one day, I’m going to be fully aware of my surroundings, so when I move to avoid someone, I don’t end up being flush against the one thing I’m definitely avoiding. I could feel his heat from behind me, and although my reflex was to jump away, the message from my brain to my feet wasn’t received.

His breath stirred my hair as he dipped his head to speak to me. “Little witch, where have you been?”

“London, to see the Queen,” I snapped irritably.

“You smell of the dead,” Sam continued as if I had never spoken at all. “Where have you been?”

I started to turn towards him when his hand shot out and stopped me. “What’s the problem now?” I asked tiredly.

“Star.” Chaz moved towards me slowly. “Star, you need to walk towards me.”

“Why?” I asked suspiciously.

“Can you just do it, and I’ll explain.” Chaz sighed with exasperation, and as I took a step forward, the hand turned vice-like on my arm.

My eyes flew to Chaz’s in alarm, and then the world winked.

I looked around frantically. I was on a large clifftop where long grass came to my knee. I could hear the water, whether sea or ocean, I didn’t know, but it was crashing against the rocks below. The landscape stretched out before me, and in the dusk of night, I couldn’t see any particular markers to indicate where I was.

The hand was still holding me, and suddenly I was pulled backwards into a chest. His arm came around my waist as I was pulled closer. His nose trailed along my jawline, and I inhaled his scent deeply—I would never make the mistake between them again. Sam’s unique smell of sandalwood and citrus laced with smoke filled my senses.

“Witch,” I heard him rumble gruffly as his arm pulled me even closer. It was a solid steel band around me, and I jerked slightly when his other hand tangled in my hair, tugging my head backwards. “Where did you go?”

“How about we start with where am I now?”

“My questions first.” I felt his smile against my neck as his head nestled into my neck. “You travelled.”

“I don’t think I did,” I argued. Why was I reacting to his touch like this, hadn’t he destroyed my bedroom, called me names and lashed out at me in anger only hours ago?

“Do you know what happened to your eyes?” he asked as his lips traced my ear.

“Are you pulling the moves on me for answers?” I tried to escape and huffed in defeat against his immovable hold.

“You think I’m flirting?” Sam laughed lowly as he held me.

“No, I think you’re seducing,” I retorted angrily. “Which, considering what you think of me, is insulting not only to my body but my intelligence.”

“Your body doesn’t mind,” Sam murmured as he moved his hand from my waist, and I daren’t breathe as he inched closer to my breast. “Your body sings for me, little witch.”

“Well, I bloody mind, demon!”

“Do you?” he asked, his voice silky and low, and as butterflies erupted within me, I wasn’t sure who I wanted to punch more: him for being a Class A dick or me for reacting to the arsehole. “Your scent tells me differently.”

“You people seriously need to stop sniffing me, I’m not a juicy bone for you to eat.”

I was spun in his arms, and my hands flew up landing on his chest as I looked up at him, startled. Sam looked down at me, the low burning green glow of his eyes strangely enticing. “Demons, not people,” he told me as his lips moved down to mine. “I do want to eat you.” His eyes pulsed slightly as if I needed the reminder that he was a demon.

“Sam?” Uncertainty coursed through me as I looked up at him. Do not lick your lips. My teeth clamped down, nothing was getting in or out. “Where are we?”

“It isn’t relevant.” His lips hovered over mine enticingly. “Where were you?”

“Sam,” I breathed as a featherlight kiss was pressed to the corner of my mouth.

“Tell me, because you smell of the dead,” Sam said as his mouth moved down the column of my throat. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were on the Plains of the Dead.”

“Why would you think I’d been there?” I asked as I moved my head back away from his touch so I could look at him.

“You reek of loss,” Sam told me as he recaptured me and brought me nearer to him. Images of the dead statues flashed in my mind, and I felt a sense of sorrow for them. Sam stood back and looked down at me coldly. “You travelled to the Land of the Souls?”

“Not intentionally,” I admitted as I realised there was no point denying it. He could smell it on me, and they were, oh yeah, tele-flipping-pathic.

“You are so reckless,” he growled at me as his eyes flared.

“I’m reckless?” I demanded angrily. “At least I didn’t try to seduce someone to get them to talk to me!”

“You wouldn’t know what me seducing you would feel like,” Sam scoffed as he turned from me, his gaze wandering over the long grasslands.

“Excuse me? I’ve been on the receiving end of it, or is that something else you’re conveniently forgetting?”

Sam laughed in derision. “That wasn’t seduction, that was a clumsy fumble.”

“Well, my clumsy fumbling was enough to get you off,” I countered waspishly. “I didn’t hear any complaints.”

“I didn’t complain at your ministrations,” Sam conceded. “You spreading your legs and letting someone else feast on your pussy within two days, that I objected to.”

“Good God, how many fucking times do I need to go through this?” I yelled.

“There,” Sam said softly as he stepped forward. “The level of anger you’re at, hold onto it.”

“What?” I asked in confusion.

“Witch, I need you angry, hold onto it,” Sam warned as he reached out, and I jerked back reflexively. “That’s it. More anger, little witch.”

“I am angry, but I am also freaking out, what’s happening?” I asked through gritted teeth as I felt the swell within me. “Sam! It’s happening.” I stared at him with mounting alarm.

“I know,” he told me as he reached out tentatively. “You need to let me touch you.”

“What? Why?” I asked fearfully as the waters sloshed within me.

“Because I need to come with you this time,” Sam told me just as I winked.

We stood on the sand dunes, and I groaned as I looked around. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me!” I yelled at the white sky even as I saw the mini tornado heading straight for me.

“Are you okay?” Sam asked me distractedly as he looked around. “This is curious.”

“Well, hold on, Dorothy, we ain’t in Kansas anymore, and that cyclone has my name on it.”

Sam snapped his head in the direction I was pointing to see the cyclone, and then we were within it. “Where is it taking us?’ he asked curiously.

“Fuck knows, it moves me around like a demented transporter.”

“You control it, witch.” Sam’s lips twitched in a smile. “Tell it to stop.”

“Wind?”

We were at the waterfall. Sam looked around quickly and then at me. “Wind?” he mocked, even as he shook his head in bemusement as he headed to the waterfall.

“Have you been here before?” I asked quietly as I searched for Gran while I followed him.

“Yes, but it’s never been white.”

“What colour was it before?” I asked curiously as we both stared into the crystal-clear waters.

“Normal,” he told me as he crouched and put his hand in the water. When he pulled it out, I literally saw the colour of his skin drip into the water.

“What the actual—”

“You’re doing this,” Sam said as he stood, cutting me off. “Penemue will be begging you to take him here,” he told me dryly. “Don’t do it, he and Chaz will never leave.”

“That would be a problem,” I muttered. I looked around and then mimicked Sam and plunged my hand into the water. He didn’t try to stop me, just watched with a raised eyebrow. I withdrew my hand and was disappointed I looked normal. “Why am I different?” I asked as I looked between my hand and his, which was slowly regaining its colour.

“I’m sure your mother has been asking that question all your life.” Sam smirked at me as he headed to Gran’s boulder. He sat down on it with an easy familiarity as he looked around, his eyes taking in everything whilst he said nothing.

“How do you know this place?” I asked curiously as I followed him.

“This is called the Waterfall of Solitude,” Sam told me as he gestured to the waterfall. “I think the answer’s in the title.”

“But you’re not alone.”

“Well spotted.” Sam’s mouth hooked up in his familiar smirk. “You were here last time?”

“Yes, one of the places. I was here with Gran.” I looked away from him as I stared at the waterfall. “I wasn’t alone then either.”

“Your gran is dead. You were here with a spirit, while you are human.” He pointed at himself. “I’m a demon, you’re human.”

“So if I was here with my mum, for example, that wouldn’t be allowed?”

“Well, no, but for many reasons more than two humans,” Sam answered as he leaned back on his hands as he appraised me. “Your eyes went white, then your irises glowed blue.”

“I glowed?” I asked excitedly. “Like you do?”

“Yes, but trust me, witch. You’re nothing like me.” He stood and held his hand out. “Can you take us back, or do I need to do it?”

“I don’t know how I did this the first time, I may kill us.”

“I’m immortal.” Sam shrugged uninterestedly. “Good luck with that.”

“You’re immortal?”

“This is what you’re going to struggle with?” he asked me as he made a come here motion with his hand.

“Why can’t you die?” I demanded peevishly. “That’s so unfair.”

“The sentiment for my well-being is heartfelt, thank you.”

“Shut up and take me back.” I elbowed him in the ribs for good measure.

We winked. I was back at Dunnottar Castle. The others were in the old chapel, waiting patiently.

“Fear or anger?” Pen immediately asked.

Sam huffed a laugh as he took a place beside the opposite wall. “With her? Anger.”

“Obviously,” Ros said as he beamed at me with almost…pride.

“Tea?” Chaz said with a smile as he passed me a mug.

“This is my mug,” I said accusingly.

“Would you rather it was a stranger’s?” Der asked me curiously. “Does it make you angry? Sad?”

“Okay, you have to stop all waiting for me to react,” I said as I took a drink of tea. “So, we’re just winking in and out of my cottage now?”

“You need to stop calling it winking,” Ros said good-naturedly. “Sounds weird.”

“Well, I whooshed earlier, why not wink now?” I shrugged as I looked around and decided that the floor looked clean enough. I sat down, leaning against the wall tiredly.

“Tired?” Chaz asked me softly.

“I am.” I nodded as I closed my eyes.

“So what did you say to make her lose it?” Zel asked Sam.

My eyes snapped open as I met his amused look. “Don’t you dare,” I warned him even as realisation bloomed within me. “You baited me? On purpose?”

He winked. Not as in travelling, but an actual smug, self-satisfied wink. “I referred to her indiscretions with our brother, Yeqon.”

“You were nowhere near as polite,” I growled at him. “And for the record, never refer to my lady parts as a pussy again.” Chaz choked on his tea as Ros roared with laughter.

“Will I say vagina?” Sam asked wickedly, his eyes hooded and dark, and I felt a thrill of excitement as he looked at me.

“No, because I’m not thirteen.” My face was getting redder as I pulled my attention away from him.

“Crumpet?” Der offered.

“No! Oh my God, this isn’t a suggestion box!” Would this mortification never end?

“Hairy box?” Ros offered speculatively.

“Meat taco?” Der high-fived Ros as they both grinned like idiots.

“Stench trench.”

My look was deadly. “Stench trench?” I asked sourly. “Really, Zel? Really?” I stood abruptly. “You’re all immature, small-minded little shits.” I stormed out of the chapel and made my way in the dark to the Countess’s bedroom. I could hear them laughing louder as more vulgar suggestions were bandied between them.

The castle was horrifically spooky in the dark, and I stood hesitantly at the bottom of the short stairs to the upper floor. I screamed when the hand touched my elbow.

“Well, if there are any dead sleeping here, you just woke them,” Pen said with amusement as he moved past me. “Come on, follow me.”

We climbed the short stairway, and I entered the Countess’s bedroom. Making my way to the window, I stared out over the calm North Sea. “It’s a beautiful night,” I said as I looked up at the moon. “Not ready yet?”

“No. We found the fingers,” Pen supplied as he stood at the other window. “Did you know?”

“What? That my prop rune stones were actually a Druid’s finger bones?” I gave a sarcastic snort. “Nope, have you learned nothing, demon? I know shit.”

“You know more than you think you do,” Pen said quietly as he considered me. “Your powers are growing, the spell to unbind you may actually not be needed.”

“Hamish will be delighted I don’t need to crush his bones,” I said, feeling a sense of relief.

“Well, about that…”

“He’s already dust?” I guessed with a grimace.

“Basically.”

“Well, that explains why he isn’t here.” I turned away from the view and went over to my corner from the previous night I was here. “Am I staying here?”

“We haven’t had time to fix your bedroom, but I will make sure that we do,” Pen assured me.

“Wouldn’t expect you to fix it,” I told him as I prepared to curl up in a ball on the stone.

“You’re going to freeze.” Pen caught my arm. “Did you forget the cave?”

“Was hoping for a blanket, not going to lie.” I grinned up at him, avoiding the fact I had forgotten about the cave. My brain was short-circuiting; I no longer remembered where I was the night before. I needed to sleep.

“Such a stubborn thing for being so slight.” Pen took us to the cave and then led me across the floor to the pile of blankets.

“I’m five seven,” I argued as I pulled apart the blankets and lay down.

“I’m delighted for you.”

My light laugh carried in the night. “You demons are a pain in my arse, you know that, don’t you?”

“Arse is acceptable terminology?” Pen teased.

“Oh shut up.” I closed my eyes as heat flooded my cheeks. I heard him move, and then he was lying down beside me, moving me, placing me against his side. “What are you doing?” I asked softly.

“Keeping you warm,Star, nothing more,” Pen assured me.

I closed my eyes, fighting the happy smile that threatened to spread across my face so easily. They weren’t all bad, these demons. “Thank you,” I whispered into his side. “Night.”