Chapter 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

MIKO

I t was the best feeling in the world having my mate's arms around me. He might not be as safe as I'd like, but he was here. He was with me again.

God, I loved him so much.

Having my pack with me, less than half a mile behind, was the rainbow sprinkles on the ice cream. I missed rainbow sprinkles and ice cream and wondered if I might get to eat it again in the future. Share a bowl or twelve with my beautiful man.

Dawn tried summoning the dead to life again and again, the bodies around us never quite managing a full rise. Clearly, it'd fucked itself over by sending the horde into Faery. But that didn't mean it wouldn't recover at some point.

I just hope it stayed that way long enough.

We came off the motorway at Junction 9, navigating country roads and heavy rain, the storm now in full force. It raged around us, the wind trying its best to throw us off the bike, to impede my vision.

This weather would not stop me.

We had the honey in Ori's bag and fire in our bellies. We were on our way to change the world.

Damn, that felt good, yet strange. Even though two years were barely a dent in my thirty years of life, they seemed longer. Much longer. Like life in the apocalypse was all I ever knew.

This is for you, Mum.

This is for you, Dad.

And you, Carmelita and Tala.

I only wished my family could see the end of Dawn, meet Orion, be a part of my life again.

I shut down my thinking, banking it for later. Because, yeah, I was sure all the emotional trauma would come back and fuck me up for many long years after this. Finally released to drown me, always held off the side for a rainier day.

Orion's warmth kept me strong. I reveled in his cherry scent, everything about him. Holding onto the wonder of him.

Eventually, at the end of a long road called Buckwood Road, becoming Buckwood Lane for the final stretch, we made a right turn and crossed a roundabout.

We passed under trees, swaying in the wind like a bunch of enthusiastic concert goers. The sky darkened, more rain clouds washing the light away.

Poor Ori shivered against me, pushing himself harder into me to soak up my warmth.

"You alright back there?" I checked.

"Fine." He rubbed his cheek on my back.

After a winding ride amongst the trees, they gave way to more open space. The sky lightened to a murky gray, sunlight trying to break through, revealing a spectacular sight.

"Wow…" Orion said.

The road curved around a sloping ridge of chalky grasslands, a vista of rolling fields beyond it. What a great spot for kite flying and picnics, for wolf runs and long walks.

"You got that right," I responded to my mate.

"What a view," he added.

I approached what looked to be a carpark with two rusted cars, weeds growing around them up to the windows.

I pulled in, bringing the fae bike to a stop. Now that had been one smooth ride, a million times better than any Earthly bikes.

"Right. What are we dealing with here?" I said, scanning the area.

On my left stood a grayish modern silver building, every one of its glass windows broken.

"Doesn't look like an old café."

To find the heart of Dawn, I had to find a bench beside the old café.

The heart of Dawn lies deep within the Chiltern Hills. Dunstable Downs, Bedfordshire. The bench marked with the name of Rose Dale beside the old café is the door to the secret depths. Open the door, step into the heart.

I didn't see any benches over by that building, but there were plenty in the distance to my right near a smaller, stone box building.

Ori leaned against me as he climbed off the bike.

"Maybe that way," I said.

"What for?"

"That bench." My poor cute-as-fuck mate was dripping wet. "We need to get you inside."

"I'm fine. Let's find the bench first."

My pack arrived, joining the search, all of us with one eye on the corpses littering the downs.

I found the bench next to the stone building—the old café. A dead rabbit rotted beside it, a brass plaque on the bowed wood read:

In loving memory of Rose Dale (1972 – 2013)

Mother. Daughter. Wife.

Have one for us up there!

"Who do you think she was?" Paige asked, back in human form.

"I don't know," I answered. "Can you see a switch?"

James found one in the plaque—a tiny button barely visible to the eye. Nothing happened on the first pressing, other than a click. It took my beta/engineer ten seconds to find the second button under the bench, the third on one of its legs, then fourth and final one on the ground.

With a rumble, the bench sank into the ground, taking a perfect square of ground with it into the darkness. I watched it slide off to the side, revealing a spiral metal staircase.

Ori gagged, covering his mouth and nose with his hand.

A hot, vile stink wafted out. A combination of sweet decay and rotten eggs, this place clearly hadn't been aired out in a long time.

I listened for biters, but no sounds came from the depths.

"Right. Let's do this. Ori?"

He opened the sack, holding the balls of honey out at me in offering.

Beep, beep!

I paused, fingers brushing a sticky orb. What the hell?

Ori looked at me, then dove into his pocket for Wendy.

A bee shouldn't be beeping.

"Oh my stars…" Orion paled, holding Wendy by her gold chain, her egg-shaped body of orange plastic returned.

"Wendy…" Ori whispered. "What… What…" He swallowed, throat bobbing. "What's happening?"

Fuck.