Through the dark night he strolled, eyes flicking left and right, every sense alert to what might be close by, alive or dead or in-between. Occasionally the faint glow of a tavern light illuminated the pavement as a patron entered or exited.
Midnight, the witching hour, and All Hallows’ Eve, the time when the veil between the living and the dead is at it’s thinnest. The time when, if he so wished, he could return to the vale of the dead sinners.
He did not wish it however. He only needed this day, this hour, to transition through the vale to a more modern time. His work here was finished.
* * * * *
Thom sighed in relief as the last of the trick-or-treaters walked down the path to the sidewalk. He wondered why their parents allowed them out so late in the evening. On the other hand though, they had been teens so presumably their parents either didn’t care, or didn’t know, or both.
“Modern parents are too distracted with their own lives to care about those of their children,” a low voice commented scathingly from behind Thom.
He whirled around, momentarily startled, and then smiled broadly. “Stay out of my mind, Keegan.”
“Why? It is such an interesting place, full of wild and untamed thoughts. Especially—” Keegan paused, grinning wickedly as he picked up on one of them. “Exactly what I had in mind, mo fear daor.”
“I don’t know,” Thom replied, putting a teasing tone into his voice. “It has been a year. Perhaps I’ve moved on. I might have someone up there,” he pointed to the stairs leading to the second floor, “keeping my bed warm for me.”
Keegan gave a soft snort of disbelief as he paced towards Thom. “If there is, I shall have to send him off, with his tail between his legs as he will be lacking anything else there when I’ve finished with him.”
“Ahh, you’re in your ‘tough guy’ mode this evening I see,” Thom replied with a laugh.
“When it comes to you, Thom Mulloy, I will do everything within my power to make certain I am the only man who graces your bed. As for the women,” Keegan shrugged, “if you need them for release I understand, as always.”
Thom turned serious, moving to close the space between them. “You know that you are the only one who means anything to me. You are my life, then, now, and forever.”
“Mar a bhfuil tú, a dom.” Keegan stood very still as he looked at the man he loved. “I know it hasn’t been easy for you. If there were a way to change things, I would.”
“Hush.” Thom placed a finger against Keegan’s lips, chuckling when Keegan nipped it lightly. “I knew what I was getting into almost from the day you rescued me. I wouldn’t change one moment of the time we’ve had together.”
“Nor would I. You are the one who keeps me grounded. Knowing that you are here, waiting, gives my life a purpose beyond the one granted to me when I died.”
“At the moment, I don’t want you grounded; I want you soaring in rapture.”
“With you, always.” Keegan pulled his lover to him, kissing him with a passion born of too long a time apart. As he ravaged Thom’s mouth he carried him up to their waiting bed.
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