He snorted. "He will come back and I want you to stay away from him."
I hissed my disapproval. He ran a finger down the bridge of my nose, over my lips. I kept my face set, refusing to be distracted.
"He is vampire. It is not natural the way they are. They bring death wherever they go," he said with as much heat as an ice cube.
I thought back to the strange urge I got when I was around Tomas. It made me shudder. I could not deny he felt unnatural to me, but it didn"t mean it was right. Breandan was quiet for a long time, and eventually I knew he was not going to speak again. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep right then and there.
I dreamed I was dying. I watched my last sunset and Breandan held me close. We raced were-cats through the forest and the sun shined from within us. The moon rose and Breandan handed me to Tomas, who cried tears of blood and showed me dark things. He fed from me and called me his love.
It was the cold hand clamped over my mouth and pulsing dark that woke me.
"Wake," a voice whispered in my ear.
I peeked an eye open, remaining still. I kept my breathing even and glanced at Breandan"s face. Eyes closed and brow relaxed his breath came steady and even. I blinked up at Tomas. Had my dream called him to me? He took his hand away from my mouth and pressed a finger to his lips, then looked at Breandan. I got the message loud and clear. Stay quiet. I carefully shifted away from Breandan, rolling to my hands and knees I crawled backwards.
I stood up and smiled at my vampire-boy. I was happy to see him. Tomas led me out of the tent, and I shivered in the cold. It was quiet and everyone was sleeping, as you generally do in the middle of the night. Tomas took my hand and led me away into the trees. I tugged on his hand to get him to stop when I realized he was not going to.
"What are you doing here," I said in a low voice. "I thought you"d gone back to your nest."
"I followed you."
My heart rolled over in my chest. "Why? I mean, do you have something else to say?"
"Trouble comes."
"What kind?" I asked sharply. "The kind where I get beat up or the kind where I die?"
"In the last few hours the fairies have been negotiating the release of a human-girl. The ones that follow the white haired fairy have taken a human from the Temple. They are trying to trade her for him. The one they call Lochlann, has refused and it is only a matter of time before they attack."
"When did this happen?"
"As you, and the fairy who was supposed to be protecting you, slept. The night is fading, but we can be far away before sunrise."
I didn"t respond. It took me moments to make up my mind, but considerably longer to work up the courage to say it out loud. I couldn"t go. I felt a responsibility to stay and help the human if I could.
Tomas read the look on my face. "Now is not the time to be selfless. This will vicious."
"We can tell Breandan. He can help."
"He won"t go against his brother and you know it." He took my hand again. "Now we leave."
"But I- How- It doesn"t make any sense. Why would the tribal fairies think stealing a human would influence Lochlann in anyway?"
Conall stepped out of the shadows, his mane of hair wild and bristling. His breathing was hard and he hummed with tension.
I thought I could smell his fear.
"Because they hoped your connection with his brother would sway his mind." His chest had a shallow gash from his breastbone to the opposite end of his ribcage.
"You"re hurt," I pointed at the slash in case he missed it. "Why are you not healing?"
He rubbed at it dismissively. "My energy is diverted elsewhere. Our bodies focus on the greatest threat to our being. I am tired so my energy is saved to keep me quick and strong."
"Who did they take?" I asked, curious.
There was a wail in the far distance and an answer came a moment later.
A silky hiss that followed from Tomas slithered up my spine. "How long do we have?" he demanded. His hand slipped from mine, and I took it as a signal to stay put.
"I killed a scout moments ago. I was the messenger sent to the Tribe to decline the offer. They are to sacrifice the human under a full moon, a perfect t.i.the and war cry. The peace Lochlann is fighting for will be impossible. Devlin is trying to create confusion and fear and it will work." Conall looked at me. "Rae, we"re going to lose," he said. "You need to leave. Do you have your amulet?"
I placed a protective hand over it. "Whatever is coming we can face it together. I"m not going to hide. We have to go wake Breandan up."
Conall stared at me.
"What?"
"You have to escape. Your friend is lost."
The words rocked my world and not in a good way. I blinked slowly, breaking the stalemate, yet my body held its rigid pose. My clenched fists relaxed. I forgot all about amulets and crazy fairies fighting each other.
"Who have they taken from the Temple?"
"If you die here there is no hope. Devlin would want you alive but his consort, she knows about your bond to Breandan. To her you are a threat to her life mate, and she will not be merciful if she catches you. Running into the midst of powerful enemies is no place for a fledgling soldier. You are strong." Pride flashed across Conall"s face. "But this you must entrust to me. I will get Lochlann and Breandan out safely."
I knew, of course. I knew who the tribal fairies had taken to try and influence Lochlann through me. Just like I had known the last pure fairy, and Priestess was my mother. Just like I had known Conall was my brother. There was only one human I would risk everything for.
"Who have they taken," I repeated.
"Skin the colour of coca and hair like the sun," he said and wrinkled his nose. "Blonde."
There was a hitch in my breathing. Alex. They had my best friend. How, I didn"t know, but she had been taken because of me. At what point did I condemn her to this fate? The first time I went beyond the Wall. The first touch between Breandan and I, or was it when I refused to give Devlin what he wanted? Devlin, he must have told them who she was and where to find her. He"d seemed mighty interested in her all of a sudden. He had even touched her with fingers infused with light.
He had marked her.
"This ritual what will they do to her?"
"They will tie her down to revel in her flesh. Slit her throat and drink the blood."
Everything became painful. The realization I was about to lose my friend made the air filling my lungs feel heavy. I tried to imagine her bound and tortured, but my mind shied from the image. My throat closed up.
"You heard the fairy," Tomas said. "They are going to lose. We must go."
The pressure of the day"s issues, and all the decisions I had not made weighed down on me. "Wait," I said and tried to figure out the right action. There was nothing but panic and fear. "I can"t think straight." I pressed my fingers onto my eye sockets to relive some pressure. "I need a minute."
"The longer we wait the greater risk Wasp will catch you."
Someone shouted behind us, and a flash of light in the distance lit the trees.
Conall darted away. "Take her," he yelled over his shoulder at Tomas then was lost to my sight.
Before he could stop me, I turned and raced back the way we came. I was faster than him now I"d had a chance to sleep. My vampire-boy had two choices, leave or follow. He chose to follow. We broke into the clearing and it was chaos. Fairies wrestled each other to the ground, hissing and snarling. The shouts were everywhere.
I raced back into the tent but Breandan was gone.
The women and children walked through the camp terrified, but unharmed. They were surrounded by a handful of fairy-men who cut down any tribal fairy that got too close.
Which way did I go? I tried to feel through the bond but only got a vague impression that Breandan was close. My panic kept throwing my concentration and I couldn"t pin down a direction.
"Calm it down girl," I told myself. "Now is not the time to fall apart."
I breathed in and out several times to steady my thought. He was close, so close and in front of me? My eyes popped open and I searched through the dark. I spotted him in the middle of the fray back to back with Lochlann, fighting Devlin and Wasp.
She had come for her life-mate.
Conall skidded to a stop in front of me with a face of thunder. "Will you never listen," he hissed and threw me at Tomas. "I told you to take her.
"We have to help them," I shouted. "Breand-!"
Conall clamped a hand over my mouth. He shoved me toward Tomas. "Make yourself useful and get her out-"
A knife to his throat had him stopping mid flow. Wasp smiled and jerked her head.
"Come this way. Easy now," she said sharply when Conall reached for the sword pommel on his hip. "A little nick with this blade and your legacy ends. It would be a shame Conall." Her eyes twitched to me. "So much fuss over Sorcha"s daughter and you seem less than nothing to me. You remind me of her, the last Priestess. She was less than nothing too." Her eyes settled on Tomas. "Though even she wouldn"t lower herself to the base level you"re sc.r.a.ping. Come now, our lord waits."
When I didn"t move she dug the blade deeper into Conall"s neck and drew a thin line of blood. I glared at her and started to walk, Tomas close behind me.
Lochlann stood beside Devlin. Breandan was held at knife-point by two fairies that looked vaguely familiar. It was the grey beard and copper Mohawk from the day before. The wind whipped my hair into my face as my eyes locked with my fairy-boys.
His body jolted and his hands flew to his chest. Pain, sharp and hot at the back of my neck. I touched the spot and felt something cold, thin and k.n.o.bby. A twig? My eyes drifted down. Breandan yanked a stubby twig out of his chest, pointed and tipped with something that gleamed wetly in the low light. He reached for me as he keeled over face first. My own legs weakened and crumpled.
I could hear Tomas going mad nearby. I was frightened for him. They would kill him, and I would never see him again.
Lying on the cold floor I watched as Breandan"s eyes flickered closed. I could feel the drug like relaxation of whatever they had shot me with flowing through my body. Willing my own open was not enough.
My lids slid closed and I slept.
The world rocked. Breandan was carrying me. Uh, why was he carrying me? Memories rushed back in a panicked jumble and my eyes flickered open. Devlin grinned down at me impishly. I screamed. I tore at his face and back, but he kept moving, steady and sure. I kicked my legs so hard he jerked to a stop and set me down. I turned to sprint away, but he grabbed my arm and rooted his feet.
"Let go," I demanded and wriggled in his grasp. "What have you done with him?"
"With who? Your brother, your life-mate or your vampire?"
I was stumped. I honestly didn"t know which one to say. "All three," I said and continued to try and break his hold on me.
"Breandan and the vampire are alive. They"re being taken to Orchard as we speak. Your brother escaped a moment after you became unconscious, the vampire made a pest of himself and he slipped away in the commotion." Hearing this I stopped struggling, relieved everyone was alive. Devlin relaxed his hold on me some. "It would be cruel to kill them before they got to see our ceremony. The offering is the most beautiful human I have ever seen."
"Don"t you dare," I shouted and pummeled him on the chest. Tears of frustration sprang in my eyes. "Don"t you hurt her, she"s innocent."
"Of course she is, and that is why she will make a good sacrifice." He brushed strands of hair, wet with tears, from my face and smiled. "I see you wish to save her and I have an idea. Give me your amulet and I"ll-"
His head snapped round.
My voice was loud and tremulous. "I"ll never give you-"
Devlin clamped a hand over my mouth and commanded with his eyes that I shut up. He c.o.c.ked his head, listening. His eyes narrowed and he dropped into a low crouch, taking me with him. The G.o.ds be dammed, what now?
Letting me go he pointed ahead and to the left then held up six fingers. Then pointed at me and held up one finger. I stared at him blankly and he scowled, repeated the motions. I nodded, slowly. He was telling me up ahead there was one fairy, a female since he pointed at me and not himself. And six others. Uh, other what? I was not used to his sign language and it was taking me a while. He meant six humans. This close to the Wall the only humans that would wander outside were Oh G.o.ds. My mouth went dry, but I nodded again, firmer this time and followed as he slinked forward.
There was no time to argue, or get fussy about our allegiances. We were both in trouble if the Clerics saw us. I broke into a cold sweat, remembering what I had seen the last time I had crawled through the undergrowth in these woods.
Devlin stopped, caught my shoulder and pointed again.
As he did Clerics pushed through a thicket of branches and stomped into view. They moved in a tight and square formation. All six had their hoods pulled up and covering their faces to the nose. Hand clasped about their waists, their funneled sleeves concealed their hands, and the white-eye sigils on their breast pockets seemed to shimmer against the crimson colour of the blazers.
The air left my lungs as I caught sight of the demon stumbling behind the marching column, a fairy with a black sack over her head, and iron chains about her neck, hands and ankles. Slashes of blood stood out on her green skin, and her body - glistening with sweat - was a navy colour along the knees and torso, probably deep muscle bruises.
Devlin hissed, a low and primal sound. He glanced at me and I saw murder in his eye. I knew then these Clerics were dead, and no words I said would convince him to show mercy. Devlin was a fairy purist. He would never let any of our kind be treated this way.
I pointed at myself then at the fairy, a simple communication. He scanned the trees and nodded; satisfied I could get the job done without getting in his way. He slinked off to the side and disappeared from my sight behind a tree. I waited alone, tense, and terrified of the quickening of my heart from a rising excitement. The column was directly opposite me now. I sunk lower, scared even in the dark and they would see me.
There was a sharp crack, and the sound of a snapping branch to the west. They all spun, guns and knives appearing in their hands as they did. The column halted and was still. Another noise, this time a tree shaking to the north and the column spun again, another snap back to the west then another to the south. Devlin was distracting them, but never did he draw their gaze my way. There was a flash of white and a scream that choked off mid flow. The column was now five. The Clerics swelled out into a defensive formation, not knowing nothing could save them now.
Sensing my queue, I crawled around to the back where the fairy was standing. Her knees were bent and she was alert, knowing her time to escape had come.
The clerics were shouting now, fighting. Though the fairy-lord would be able to handle himself, I spared a look for Devlin to check he was doing okay. The vision of necks snapping, a knife in the eye and sight of a Cleric going limp as the bones of his body shattered when it connected with a tree trunk, was not something I wanted to see or get a look at in more detail.
I reached the fairy-girl, and put my hands on the shackles at her ankles. The immediate burn was unexpected and I yelped. Iron. At my yell, she shrieked and kicked, hitting me in the side and toppling herself over. She thrashed around and I scrambled over to clamp my hands on her arms.
"Stop fighting me, I"m not going to hurt you."
She became still under my hands.
"Rae?" Her voice was a whimper and I remembered the light chime of it instantly. I dragged the hood off her head and released a fiery cascade of hair. Her scarlet eyes were wide and wet. "It"s you," she sobbed and started to cry. "I"m saved, you saved me."
I hushed her; anxious the Clerics would hear us. "Calm, Maeve, it"s okay now. I"m going to get these binds off you."
I looked over her chains. A familiar nausea rose in my throat at the odor and look of the iron. Her skin was backend, blistering where it touched her.
"They were moving me somewhere else because there were demons in the compound. One of us has killed one of them, and the humans are furious. They were going to take me away so you couldn"t save me. I think there"s another secret place they hide the demons they catch." She was babbling, and her eyes darted around wildly. "They asked me questions. Who I was, how many fairies I lived with and where I lived. I couldn"t get away from them. They kept me dosed with iron, all the time. I"m weak."
To placate her I nodded sympathetically and made commiserating noises. I fumbled over the chains, but couldn"t break them. I tried covering my hands with mud then using leaves as make shift covers, but they tore the moment I exerted any strength and the mud did nothing. There was a tap at my shoulder. Devlin held out a blood soaked hand to me. I recoiled then realized there was a small key between his slick fingertips. I s.n.a.t.c.hed it from him in my haste to get Maeve free. As the chains fell away, she clambered on top of me and hugged me tightly.
Devlin started to bury the chains. Shame he didn"t have the same inclination about the human bodies he"d dismembered. I glared at him with disgust.
"You found me," Maeve cried and buried her small head in the crook of my shoulder.