“Yep.” Reikart moved to his phone, and with a few swipes, he turned the video function on. “You ready?”
“Oh sure. Why wouldn’t I be ready to possibly die?” Ian said, his voice tense.
Reikart closed the distance between himself and Ian, and he held the cross out to his brother. “It’s going to be okay,” he said, unsure why he’d said it when he didn’t even know if it was true. Somehow he’d felt compelled to offer the comforting words as Rhys would have done for them, as their dad and mom had at one point in time, and as Greyson had before he’d disappeared.
“Yeah, yeah,” Ian said gruffly. “You all keep saying it’s going to be okay, and then poof, someone disappears and doesn’t return.” He suddenly gripped Reikart’s forearm. “Swear to me if we’re separated, you won’t get yourself killed.”
“What?” Reikart said, surprised by the vehement look on Ian’s face.
Ian’s hold on Reikart’s arm intensified, and his eyes held a knowing look. “You were reckless before Amanda’s death—”
“Ian,” Reikart warned, but Ian waved a dismissive hand at Reikart.
“Screw your no-speaking-about-Amanda rule. I have to say this.”
Reikart clenched his teeth but nodded.
“Ever since she died, it’s like you’ve had a death wish.” Reikart opened his mouth to deny it, but Ian shook his head. “Don’t bother disagreeing. The skydiving. The motorcycle racing. The car racing. The extreme deep-sea diving. You’ve done everything you can to get yourself killed, bro, and when that didn’t work, you shut everyone out.”
It was so unlike Ian to talk so personally that Reikart was too stunned to tell him to shut up. Plus, his brother had unveiled the secret Reikart had been hiding. He’d wanted to die after Amanda’s death, wished for it, but he didn’t have the balls to actually kill himself and do that to his family. And lately, well, he’d just felt alone, even though he was surrounded by people all the time. But it was like Ian had said, he didn’t let anyone in anymore. He couldn’t. This was what he deserved for what he’d done.
“Don’t get yourself killed. Promise me,” Ian demanded. “I need to see your ugly face again.”
Reikart’s chest tightened with strong emotions he no longer felt comfortable with. It had been so long since he’d been really open with anyone that he couldn’t even form a good reply. Instead, he face palmed his brother, like he used to do when they were younger. When he released him, Ian was grinning.
“You’ll see me again. I promise.” And just like that, Reikart felt as if he’d cut a vital string that had kept him tethered to Amanda. But what choice did he have? His brothers needed him.
Taking a deep breath, he motioned to the chant that Rhys had written down still tacked to the wall. “Let’s get it done,” he said.
He gripped the cross as they began the chant.“Talamh, èadhar, teine, uisge ga thilleadh dhachaigh. Talamh, èadhar, teine, uisge ga thilleadh dhachaigh.”
The feel of wind swirling around him picked up. Air hissed in his ears, and the glow of the chandelier seemed to fade. His brother’s voice grew faint as a strong smell of flowers filled his nose and something cold and wet landed on his face. He was suddenly consumed in blackness and tumbling down a long, hot tunnel. He whizzed through the air, grasping at nothingness while a cacophony of sound pressed in on him so hard his eardrums felt as though they were going to explode. He clamped his hands over his ears, his pulse racing and blood rushing painfully through his veins. And then he was hurtled toward a pinpoint of light until he collided with something—no, hell,someone.
Unable to stop the momentum of his body, he hurtled forward, losing his balance when his foot caught on something. As he started to fall, a woman’s scream filled his ears and hands grabbed at him, right before he landed with a jarring thud on top of someone.
Chapter Five
Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “A Psalm of Life”
He lay there stunned for a moment, but when a feminine groan came from beneath him, he knew instantly he’d landed on a woman. He roused himself and rolled off her and into thick snow. Jesus, they’d done it! He scrambled to his feet, the thoughts in his head crashing into each other and his body swaying. As he looked through the moonlit night at the garden that surrounded him, disbelief slammed him in the gut and gave a sharp jab to his head.
He. Was. In. The. Past.
But where and when? And where was Ian?
He opened his mouth to call for his brother, but the blare of a loud horn filled the night. It was quickly joined by another horn, and another, until it sounded like a chorus of trumpeters surrounding him.
“The castle is under attack!” exclaimed the woman on the ground. He barely registered her words and started to bend to help her up when she let out an ear-piercing scream. “Behind ye!” she yelled.
Instincts honed from years of karate and being Rhys’s sparring partner in the boxing ring kicked in. Reikart turned around, fists up, only to have a sword swung at his head. Asword.Jesus. He dropped to a crouch, the blade whizzing above him and swiped his right arm out and forward to connect with the man’s legs to send him stumbling onto his butt. Before the man could regain focus, Reikart launched at him, landing on top of him in a half-crouched, half-kneeling position. He delivered four hard, fast jabs to the man’s face. The last one sent the man onto his back, and his sword dropped as he passed out.
