Hooked [Complete]

66. Beltane Part 12: The Horned God Plans His Final Hunt

Author's Note: Cernunnos has a plan--he always has a plan, but this particular plan may not be one his followers like very much...

Song for the Chapter: I Will Follow You Into The Dark by Death Cab For Cutie

Dru's POV

Sean and I stand in the clearing the gods had made for the Beltane Rites. Earlier, as we entered with Cerridwen's body, Sucellus summoned an altar and lined the circle with torches. When Cernunnos laid her body upon the altar, he had a bit of break down. He started wretching and he couldn't stop. It's her blood. The smell of it going cold is nauseating him. He would let no one attend him. He went down to the lake to wash alone, while we remove the blood from Cerridwen's body and bind her horrific wound and dress her.

For that, Cerridwen needs her Priestess. Sean and I are keeping vigil until Lana has a little time to rest from her ordeal, and for Finn to heal her.

Sean is nowhere nearly as bad off as Cernunnos, but grief is wearing on him as well. He kneels beside the altar, and he's praying. To Cerridwen. She's no longer his goddess, but I guess it comforts him. I have no feeling of jealousy; I understand his feelings for her perfectly, because my own heart is breaking for Cernunnos.

Maeve and the Coven and half the Huntsmen were left to guard Apollo and Diana. Finn will negotiate their release, once the Cernunnos business with Mercury is done, but if Jupiter refuses peace because of what Cernunnos intends to do, then we will simply close the bubble and leave all Roman concerns outside the ward. Which means all of us will be living inside the wards indefinitely, or until Roman-Celt relations ease. Which could be a mortal lifetime, or more, I suppose. But I really can't think about that, right now.

There is too much pain. I move slowly to Sean and kneel beside him. I say a silent prayer. He reaches for my hand. We spend some time like this. Finally, he rises, turning from the altar and pulling me with him. Some feet away from Cerridwen, he searches my face. There is confusion in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he says hoarsely. "I know its not right...to make you watch how I feel right now...I--" he breaks off, shaking his head. "I don't want you to think I don't know what it real, Dru. You and I are real. I meant what I said to you." I embrace him, and he sinks his head to my shoulder.

I soothe his long messy hair, and I tell him. "We will be now. It's okay. You have to grieve her. And in case you are wondering, I love you, too," I tell him. "I really do. I love you." I say it over and over until he believes me.

Finn and Lana arrive. Finn is carrying a large basket of linens and herbs in one hand and bucket of water in the other. Lana is wearing her Priestess robes and she looks surprisingly well, considering. Her aura is glowing with the remnants of Greenspark. I guess she and Finn took comfort in one another, which explains her dramatic restoration. His divinity is already flowing to her in each act of tenderness.

Lana moves to Cerridwen and Sean joins her. They pray together.

Finn sets down his burdens and embraces me silently. His new presence is...strangely comforting, and when he pulls back, he touches my ear. "Hurt?" he asks. In fact, my burst eardrums do hurt, but I had forgotten the dull ache of my ears in the bigger heart ache of the moment. I nod.

"May I?" he asks, and I nod again. A light touch to both ears and he has healed them both.

"I don't know why mine burst when Cernunnos roared, and no one else's" I murmur.

"You were his lover," he whispers. "You're more attuned to his divine energy." Oh. Makes sense, I guess. Apparently Lord Finn has a broader understanding of things than yesterday. "Hey," he says. "Sorry about that Schiz-Witch stuff. Really. You're a good person, Dru." He gestures to my aura. "I can see that now."