Heart of Ashes

Immortal Heart

"Caine!" Freya shouted.

She was kneeling beside him with her hands on his shoulders. She looked panicked. He sat up, taking her face in his hands. She was ice-cold but when he touched her, colour flooded back into his hands. His healthy tan was restored and his blood lust was gone. She reached up and placed her hands over his. A single tear rolled down her snow-white cheek and over his thumb. He wiped it away. She leaned forward to rest her forehead against his.

"I've missed you, Mist Walker," he whispered, "so very much."

"How long will this last?" she asked, "Your death."

"I will leave you when the sun sets," he replied, "then I have important matters to attend to."

"Like what?"

"Dmitri's managed to lose Vlad's armour," Caine replied as he pulled away, "you wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

Freya frowned, "I didn't even know it was missing. Is that a bad thing?"

"Potentially."

"Why? Who do you think has it?"

"At first we suspected that the Blood Witches might have had a hand in that but now, I'm starting to believe otherwise. You say you have no knowledge whatsoever of it?"

Freya shook it head, "Not a peep."

Caine smiled, he'd missed hearing her say that, no one else did, "Well, dear Freya, it did not simply go, as you say, poof," she stifled a laugh and he continued, "so I fear that there may be another immortal walking about the Earth."

"Well that's inevitable, there are quite a few back in the Castle aren't there?"

Caine shook his head, "True immortals. Like Mercedes and myself. We are somewhat adept at secreting our affairs away, even from the prying eyes of the dead. Tell me, have you seen Alastair where you are?"

Freya laughed dryly, "You're the first I've seen in weeks and besides, you destroyed a piece of his soul. He's gone."

Caine nodded, "Indeed, I did." He stared past her.

"Caine, I don't like it when you look like that."

"What? Grey and lined?"

"No, I... oddly enough, I actually like that. I mean the other look."

"You have strange interests. To which look are you referring?"

"The far off, dangerous one you get in your eyes."

"I thought you like daydreaming and danger."

"No... I mean, yes, but that's not the point. The point is, you're thinking and it scares me when you think."

"Freya, I am always thinking. I can't not think. All I have is thought. If I don't think, I fear, I'll go mad."

Caine saw the corner of Freya's mouth turn up in a smile, "You are mad. Or you're going there anyway."

He smiled back at her, "Am I? Have you ever thought that, perhaps, I am becoming sane and everyone else is going mad? I've thought that, often."

Freya laughed, "And that's how you know you're going mad."

Caine grimaced, "Quite. I don't like the scenery, let's go somewhere else."

Caine thought about the beach that he'd made to visit Freya in a dream and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were there. The blue ocean was calm and gentle. The waves lapped on the golden shore and the cries of sea birds surrounded him along with the salty smell of the ocean air. That was all lovely but the thing that satisfied him most, was that Freya was happy with his choice of destination.

"Back to the issue of me being mad," he said, "I'm not mad. Not yet, but I'm going that way. I can feel it. Freya, do you know what it's like to feel yourself slipping?"

She shook her head.

"It's bloody awful," Caine thought about what had happened with Morwenna, "I have moments of brilliant clarity and then I go straight back to fogginess. I have things to do, Freya, things to do before I leave but I fear I might not be able to do them in time. The other night..."

"I know," she said, "I know what happened. You lost control of yourself."

He nodded, "I could have killed her. It's a good thing Evelyn was there."

"Caine, I have a question about the wolfsbane. Is it really effective?"

"To a degree, but it clouds things. It makes things distant and all I can do is feel."

"So what were you thinking about?"

"When?"

"Just now, when we were talking in the bathroom, about Alastair."

"Nothing in particular."

"Yes you were."

"Are you a mind reader now?"

"No but you were thinking something. Damn it Caine, answer me."

"I was thinking about how he betrayed me. How he lied to me."

He looked at her and there was a playful light in her eyes, "I wonder where he learned that? The lying bit, I mean."

He smiled, "As do I, Freya, as do I. Now onto matters of the utmost importance."

"What could be more important than armour that can make anyone who wears it invincible going missing?"

Caine looked at her with mock seriousness, "The reason I came here."

He kicked off his boots and stood up, grabbing her hand as he went. He hauled her up rather gracelessly and pulled her into his chest. Her eyes were filled with something wild and burning and he was sure that, should he have been able to see himself, it could be seen in his own eyes. He bowed his head and kissed her. She kissed him back, her soft, cold fingers trailing his jaw. He wrapped his arms around her waist and broke the kiss. He gave her his best attempt at a wild smile.

Her eyes narrowed quizically but the smile did not leave her face, "Caine, what are you th..." he picked her up and hoisted her over his shoulder.

She squealed loudly and made half hearted attempts at fighting him off. He tightened his grip around her legs and walked into the waves. She struggled, playfully, and giggled through orders for him to put her down. He did put her down, once he was waist deep in water.

The water was pleasantly warm but despite that, Freya gasped as she landed in it. Water rushed up the skirt of her flowing, white frock and it billowed up around her waist. He stepped forward to move closer to her as she frantically tried to smooth her dress. His advance was met by a small, Freya-made wave crashing into his face. He blinked the salt out of his eyes and splashed her back. She ducked underwater and when she came back up, she was no longer fighting with her dress. She placed her hands on Caine's chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.