Armed and ready, I returned to Anunit. She materialized fully, and I threaded my fingers through her fur. I catalogued the experience to hone my understanding of teleportation. Theburial ground was a familiar location, and with my bond to the Alcheyvaha, it made tracking how Anunit navigated that much easier.
Located near Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, which straddled the line between Georgia and South Carolina, the local burial ground was tucked away in the woods off the road near Limehouse, South Carolina. Once upon a time, the area had been remote, but urban development threatened to uncover the divine secrets hidden deep in the earth. I could only hope the wards that blazed to life when I became an official guardian, the same ones that barred gods from all the burial grounds, would work the same way for humans who got too close to powers beyond their understanding.
“Here goes nothing.”
Except it wasn’t nothing. It waseverything. Everything hinged on this going off without a hitch.
Before I could decide how to summon Dis Pater, he appeared before me in a rush of brilliant light.
“I was starting to get impatient.” He walked a slow circle around me. “You took your time getting here.”
“I told you my plans.” I pointed to the sky. “You had eyes on me the whole time.”
No Ankou, but the omen perched in a tree, watching the spectacle unfold.
“I have to protect my investments, and Kierce is in no shape to monitor you yet.”
An echo of his screams as I heard them through the phone rang in my ears with sobering clarity.
“How do you want to do this?” I held still, kept my posture relaxed. “Do you draw from the earth or…?”
Still pacing laps around me, Dis Pater widened his circuit of the perimeter to include the entire clearing. I wasn’t surprisedhe expected betrayal. I was a little insulted he thought I would be so obvious about it.
“That would be ideal,” he said eventually, never looking at me but continuing to scan the area. “You’re a risk, and I detest risks at my age. I’ll take what I need from the bones in the earth, and if you prove you can be trusted, in time, I will link with you as my conduit.” He nodded to himself, satisfied with his search or his terms, I wasn’t sure. “I must be cautious and only take small amounts until I’ve built up strength to fight off anyone who comes for either of us. By the time the others notice I’m flush, it will be too late for them to stand against me.”
“Sounds like you’ve got it all figured out.”
“I do what I can.” He popped his knuckles. “I’ll email you a schedule as soon as I get a chance to sit down and write one. I have a deadline coming up fast, so it’ll be a day or two. This isn’t far for you to travel, and I see Anunit has no problem teleporting. Once a month ought to do it. At least to start. We’ll go up in frequency until I begin drawing from you.”
“Great.” I turned to Anunit.“Do I need to do anything special to grant him access through the wards?”
From what Anunit had told me, the wards sprang to life on their own whenever a new guardian bonded to the land. The power must be drawn from them or through them, since the wards collapsed upon their deaths, but we hadn’t had time to get into the specifics. I would have to remedy that, and soon.
“You must be in contact with him to guide him across the divide.”
“Okay.”Loathe as I was to touch Dis Pater, I relayed the information. “I’ll have to touch you for this next part. I’ll put my hand on your shoulder and walk you in with me. Then I’ll wait inside with you, let you do your thing, and escort you out.”
“All right.” He rolled his shoulders, as unhappy with the requisite physical contact as me. “I’m ready.”
Skin crawling, I set my palm on his shoulder, wishing more than his thin dress shirt separated us.
Allowing my eyes to slide out of focus, I brought the wards protecting the burial ground into view. After I mapped them with my eyes, I blinked to clear my vision, allowing a shadow of their outline to remain on my periphery to guide me.
Sparking brighter than the echoes of the dead, I spied two luminescent souls drifting closer through the trees, heading right for us.
Phew.
Right on time.
Warm tingles prickled my arms as I crossed the ward, flaring to a deep heat that settled into my bones. His sharp intake of breath hinted his experience wasn’t as welcoming as mine, but oh well. I promised I would get him here. I never promised I would make it good for him.
The moment he lifted his foot to enter the burial ground fully, I noticed motion behind us and used my grip to shove him stumbling backward. He staggered at the unexpected push, tripped over a rock, and caught himself against a tree.
On the wrong side of the ward.
“Sorry I’m late.” Matty held up his hands, four vials of Dream Sweet tucked between the fingers on each. “Traffic was terrible.” He flung them at the startled god, and they exploded at Dis Pater’s feet in a cloud of pink and purple smoke. “Hope I didn’t miss anything important.”
Plumes engulfed Dis Pater, rushing down his nose and throat, causing his eyes to water. He flung an arm out toward Matty, but a familiar thorny vine wrapped his wrist to his elbow and wrenched it down at his side before he could summon lightning or worse.
