21. Colt

It was late when they stopped to camp. They had covered a good bit of ground on the horse, and as the snow began to fall, they set up their tent in a clearing in the woods. They didn't risk a fire, and instead ate fruits and bread from their provisions as they sat inside. The night was dreadfully cold, and Colt huffed hot breath into his hands. He thought of ways to lose Rem on the road. How had he found them so easily and snuck in to nab Owen at the inn?

"The shadow man helped me out of the woods," Owen told him, his voice soft as he dabbed salve on his cuts.

Colt furrowed his brow as he finished eating. "It did?"

"Yes. It helped guide me to the road where I found you, and it told me to go to Vanhelm. That the Hunters won't cross into that region."

Colt narrowed his eyes. "Vanhelm?"

"Yes, and I know what you're thinking—"

"Owen, I didn't say anything against it." Colt held up a hand. "It's actually… not a bad idea."

"Wait, what?"

Colt yawned, then said, "Going to Vanhelm. There's no Legion there, and maybe this spirit is right, maybe the Hunters won't follow us there."

"Then… you think we should go?"

"Yeah. It's the best thing I can think of right now. Maybe this spirit is helping us out after all."

"There's one other thing."

Colt groaned inwardly. He wasn't sure how many more troubles he could handle.

"Clove came after me after I escaped, but she let me be and left. But it doesn't mean Rem won't use her to find me. She knows my scent."

"Well, shit," Colt swore. Wielders, and now Hunters. They both wanted Owen, one to kill him, and the other?

Colt didn't want to know the reason why. The whole thing made his blood boil, and at the moment, he could only hope he didn't wake up in the morning to see that man riding down the road on his horse, with Clove—no, Gypsy—trailing alongside him. It was evident the wolf had led Rem to their location every time.

Colt looked down, his mind too full of worry to sleep, but he was exhausted after searching for Owen all night. He needed the rush in his body to slow down.

After a long moment, Owen's hand slipped into Colt's, and he laid his head over on Colt's shoulder. "I know this journey just got more dangerous. We have to be even more cautious now." He buried his face into Colt's arm, and their fingers interlaced.

Turning his head, Colt inhaled Owen's thick dark hair and muttered, "How's your mouth? Still hurt?"

"It's fine."

"Hey." Colt pulled away to look at him, and when Owen looked over, eyes tired, he said, "Let me see."

When Owen bared his teeth into a painful smile, and Colt saw the gap there where his canine tooth was missing, he took Owen's cheek gently in his hand and kissed his lips. "Still beautiful," he whispered.

Letting out a soft laugh, Owen grabbed Colt's leg and kissed him back, then winced and pulled away. "Still pretty tender."

They lay down together, pulling the blankets up to their chins, and Colt felt a moment of overwhelming gratitude to be holding Owen. He never again wanted to feel the heartbreak he'd endured after discovering Owen was missing. He was getting too used to him, too attached, to the point where Colt wasn't sure what would happen if something dire befell his lover.

"Colt," Owen whispered, his finger playing with the hairs on Colt's chest beneath his open collar.

"Hm?" Colt hummed.

"Back at Quinnby's inn, when he tried to Cleanse me and I attacked them, I heard another voice. I thought it might be the shadow man, and I did see the shadow man, but this other voice was… different. This is the third time I've heard this voice, but I'm not sure if it's a different entity trying to contact me."

Colt's arm tightened on him. "What do you mean? What did it say?"

"It spoke to me during the Cleansing ritual in Covehaven… it told me it was coming for me. And then at the masque, when I pinned Quinnby to the wall, it spoke again, telling me to unleash my fury. Then at Quinnby's inn, it told me that every soul I take bleeds back to it, and that the souls are part of a sacrifice."

Chills ran down Colt's spine. What kind of spirit was this?

"When I tried to escape, Rem had me for a moment, and he told me he could be my mentor…"

"What the hell does that mean?"

Owen shook his head, "I have no idea."

Fuck…

It was all Colt could think, as he blinked and tried to come up with something to say. But what could he say to comfort him? He was as frightened as Owen was. And considering that the spirits weren't even talking to Colt, he knew the burden on Owen was much greater. If a spirit ever tried talking to him, or he heard something talking about sacrifices, he'd be terrified.

"Owen…" Colt started grabbing Owen's hand. "It's going to be alright."

"Is it? Rem has some sadistic will to hunt me… not you, Colt. You could still walk away from all this unharmed. I wouldn't blame you if you did."

Baffled, Colt pulled away from Owen and held him out, looking at him in the darkness and finding only his faint outline.

That's what he's afraid of? Not of hearing some demonic voice, but afraid for me?

"Owen, look at me. I am staying with you, until something fucking kills me. And even then, I can't be certain that if I'm able to turn into some deranged entity myself, that I won't come back and try to find you."

Owen let out a little laugh, as if relieved, and Colt's heart broke over the fact that Owen still put his safety before his own. He embraced him and hoped that Owen could feel him silently assuring him that he would never leave. And if Rem showed his face again, he'd wring his fucking neck.

The next morning, they rose early and packed their bags onto the saddle holds on the horse. Hopefully, Rem wouldn't catch on to them traveling with the animal, but it was possible he knew they were, especially if he'd found their abandoned getaway cart in the woods. At least Owen could ride for a while and conserve his energy after the beating he'd endured.

Colt took out their map and looked at it. He wasn't exactly sure of their location, but if they found a village or town soon, hopefully it would allow them to get their bearings.

Owen leaned against Colt's arm and pointed at a cluster of trees drawn on the map. "I'd say we're about here."

"Right." Colt looked up and nodded to their left. "Sun's coming up that way, so south should be the way we're going. Once we find the main road, we'll know we're on the right track, but we need to stay off it."

"Let's get going, then." Owen folded the map and put it away, then gestured for Colt to climb the horse, but Colt shook his head.

"No, you're riding."

Owen's face fell. "Says who?"

"Me. Now get on." Colt grabbed the saddle and waved Owen forward. "Come on, you're not getting out of this. Not after what Rem and Quinnby did to you."

Sighing, Owen put his foot up into the stirrup and lifted himself up on the horse. "I hate riding horses," he muttered. "One threw me off years ago, and riding rubs my legs raw."

Colt only smiled as he took the reins and moved the animal forward. "Guess I'll have to rub some salve on you later, then." He winked up at Owen, and those cheeks went pink amid the frosty air.

The dusting of snow on the trees was beautiful. Luckily, the only signs of life nearby were the few cardinals and finches flying to and from the branches, and squirrels as they clamored up the trees. As they walked through the morning, Colt glanced up often to see Owen writing in the journal he'd given him. This made him smile, glad that Owen felt in high spirits enough to write or draw.

"What have you got there?" Colt asked, peeking over, and Owen drew the book back so he couldn't see.

"You can look at it tonight," Owen said pointedly.

Colt chuckled, then held his breath when he spotted a deer in the distance. He stopped the horse and pointed out, and Owen looked along with him.

It was a doe, leaning down and eating something from the ground. A fawn walked through her legs, and Colt's lips twitched up. When he looked over at Owen, he saw him quickly sketching the scene in his book.

A moment later, the horse made a disgruntled noise, and the doe leapt away with her young.

Owen let out a breath, his eyes following them. "They stood long enough for me to draw them."

"Maybe I'll whittle some deer later too," Colt said. "We can be in a… high arts village club or something."

Owen laughed and nudged Colt's shoulder gently with his hand.

The rest of the day was peaceful, and before long, night fell again. They hadn't found the main road yet, but Colt had a feeling they were going in the right direction. There were trails through this wood, but they were narrow, and he wasn't sure how long they'd be able to travel along them with the horse. He also hoped no clans lived here, ready to ambush them at any moment. He and Owen had had their fair share of coming face-to-face thieves and bandits before.

While Owen set up their tent for the night, Colt hunted nearby, catching them a few squirrels. They lit a fire to cook the animals and boil water they found nearby, but they would need to stamp it out soon so as not to draw anyone near. Much to Colt's surprise, Owen ate one of the squirrels down to the bone. Hunger did that, but Colt had promised himself he wouldn't let Owen go hungry again after they'd traveled through Milarc with very little food after Amias's capture.

"Here." Colt cut up an apple for them to share, and Owen took a few slices. If they came across a town tomorrow, they'd have to stock up on more food to keep journeying the backroads.

"Alright," Owen started, flipping open his journal. In the firelight, he showed Colt what he'd done that day. "Want to see?"

Colt chewed his apple slowly as he looked over a drawing of the birds in the trees, and of the doe with her fawn. And then Colt saw his own face drawn on the next page, and his brow rose high.

"That's really detailed, Owen," he said. "You drew me much more good looking than I actually am, too."

"No, you're really just that handsome." Owen lightly scratched the back of Colt's neck, running his fingers through his hair. It felt good enough to put him to sleep.

"Mm," Colt hummed. When he looked back down at Owen's drawings, he asked, "Wherever we end up, you should put these drawings up on the wall, like you did back at your home."

Owen smiled and pulled his hand away from Colt's hair so he could grab his hand instead. "Oh, so you liked them in my home too?"

"I always liked them."

"But you teased me about them."

Colt laughed softly and leaned back on his free arm, cocking his head as he took Owen in. "I enjoy teasing you. Have from day one."

"I knew it." Owen shook his head. "Makes me wonder when you started having feelings for me."

"Since I saw your pretty face."

"Oh, sure." Owen looked away, but Colt caught his crooked smile.

Sighing, Colt leaned towards Owen and pulled him close against him. "I don't know, to be honest. I liked teasing you, but you also brought out the good in me, and that kinda scared me. I think I tried to push you away, but you broke me every time, like in Edgewater, when I got on you about losing the money."

"Hm." Owen looked over and took Colt's hand. "Which is funny, because when I first let you into my house…" He came close to Colt's face. "I was afraid to leave you alone in the guest room because I was afraid you might steal my coin purse."

Colt's brows shot up, and then he laughed so loud, he looked around and hoped no one heard it. Then the air stilled, and as Colt looked over at Owen, he felt at home. They stared at each other, lost for a moment, and then Owen smiled.

Closing his book, Owen winced as he shifted on his spot on the ground. "My mouth still hurts some. I'm so tired."

"Let's get some sleep, then." Colt grabbed Owen's hand and pulled him up, but Owen stood for a moment, quiet, as if sensing.

"Something out there?" Colt whispered.

"No… I don't think so." Owen took a deep breath, and then he stamped out the fire, which had died down anyways. "I sometimes still get a whiff of Elian, but then it goes away. Cinnamon, out of all things. Usually, with people like him who are just bad people, their energies reflect who they are. Everyone I've ever known who was up to no good always had… awful energies." He shook his head. "I know that doesn't make much sense."

"No, I get it. Even those who aren't Astran can get those feelings about others. I'm honestly surprised you didn't feel that way about me."

"Well, the lemon." Owen shrugged and smiled sheepishly.

"Ah… so I was sour at first."

"Yes, but then you ran sweet as honey." Owen held Colt's hands and kissed his jaw. "And if my legs weren't so sore right now, I'd show you how much I like sweet things."

"Oh, love, I know. But you've got that salve, and I told you I'd take care of your legs later. I meant every word."

Owen let out a laugh and came close to Colt's neck, grazing his lips against his throat. "Then you'd better get in the tent. I want you to take care of me tonight."

Colt's heart picked up, and he wasted no time in picking Owen up and carrying him to the tent, but when he tried to lower Owen inside, he tripped instead and they both fell, causing half the tent to come down on them.

Owen broke out in a fit of laughter, and when Colt looked up to see tears of joy in his eyes, he laughed too.

"Very romantic, I loved every minute of it." Owen propped his hand behind his head and smiled up at Colt, looking devilishly handsome.

"Well, I aim to please by doing things differently." Colt shrugged, his lips curving up. He looked around and said, "So, my sweet, should we do this right here, or should I repair our lodging?"

"Just get the damn tent up," Owen muttered, laughing as he pushed Colt off him.