Abaddon Summer

Chapter Ten

He flitted back to Theon then. The night of Trathor's spell, when he wanted to be nowhere near Amos or mages, Luk flitted back out. He settled in to watch, wrapped in a Pan cloak and invisible so long as he didn't move.

When Naena went off, he settled himself down and waited until the woman left Theon's tent. He let himself in, feeling the flickering attention of the wiccans brushing over him.

There, in that tent, he felt normal for a time. Until he realized it was just Theon in a cloud, and that was all it was—a moment. As he left, his chest tightened. He flitted back to his study and bent over, groaning from the pain. Dots of sweat appeared on his forehead, and for a moment, he feared he was having a heart attack.

He called Qual only to be handed a wort.

"Excuse me?" he demanded.

"There's nothing wrong with your heart," Qual said. "Yet. But if you take too many more attacks, it will be damaged. Feels like it is because it can be damaging. Now is best. There's time before school starts. If we determine any side effects are approaching an unacceptable level, we can taper off. Luk. Look at me. Don't let your pride get in the way. Take it."

"I like living," he said. "I'll take it. Thank you. Is it reportable?"

"To... who?" Qual asked. "Lord of the Seven, you might want to know Lord Pan had an anxiety attack when his son almost committed suicide? Then had another one when he crept about like he does and remembered how he needs his shield more than his shield needs him?"

"Fuckin' Qual," Luk protested.

"You need to talk to one of them," Qual said. "If you won't, I'll go stab one, so you have to. Your choice."

"You can't stab Theon."

"Why ever not? A little stab, a little hello, then I tell him I stabbed him because I told you I would if you didn't talk to one of them, and you didn't, so he comes to you to find out why I stabbed him because of you."

Luk swore under his breath.

"Quit complaining about it, you know I'm right," Qual said. "But... maybe tell your wife before she sees the bottle. Unless you want this bound."

"Not from her."

He thought that was the end of it. Until Theon and Naena went out and returned a second time. He was relaxing in his study, the wort finally taking hold and working properly, when Graydon came to take a strip off him about his heart. Luk only realized that Theon told Graydon about his heart by listening between the words.

Which meant the touch in the tent was because Theon felt Luk's agitation and was trying to calm him. His fury at that—that Theon would reach out like that but not actually reach out—made him see red. He threw Graydon out if only because if he saw him again, he'd hunt down Theon instead. It'd be a fight that would cause even more problems. He effectively took a step back by sending Graydon off with Naena to Riverend, where he knew the pair had travelled before.

Before the summer's start, he thought Graydon had been showing her the trails and camping areas he considered his childhood stomping grounds.

When Graydon returned, Naena and Theon went off once more, and Graydon and Luk went to a cottage Lugh kept by a creek. With the windows open, the creek could be heard all through the night, softening the edges of his nightmares. The bed was warm, but it would have been warmer with Theon there, sleeping back-to-back to keep watch.

Lugh could tell him the cottage was secure as often as they liked. Luk found it hard to sleep on the road without Theon. He had tried with Elena, which resulted in nearly sleepless nights as he tried to stay alert to protect her.