I patted her awkwardly. She didn"t smell too great. Something golden and hard knocked my hand as I stroked her hair, and I lifted a few braids curiously. On the end of one dangled a small coin sized disc. It had a single rune etched onto its surface.
"It means protection," she said her eyes misted with guilt. "I took it because I was afraid to ask Breandan for it. I"ve known where that silly burl he hides his secrets in was, since I was old enough to crawl. I was so mad at him for treating me like a child, but I was more afraid of facing a vampire alone, so I stole it." Her gaze bored into mine, pleading for understanding. "Take it. It didn"t work for me because it was always meant for you."
Then her eyes crashed closed, and she promptly fell into a deep sleep.
I sat there, her limbs entwined with mine, unsure of what to do. I didn"t push her away. She needed me, and since Breandan was not there, I needed to provide her with some comfort. Holding her soothed away the guilt of seeing her hurt by the people I had once looked up to.
Devlin brushed clumps of soil from his hands and watched us, eyes clouded, distant. His white hair shimmered brightly, and his green eyes made the vibrant colors of the forest seem washed out. It was scary someone so beautiful could wreak such carnage. He didn"t seem at all put out.
"You saved her," I said, struggling to understand him. "You saved your enemies sister."
Devlin came back to himself and smirked at me pityingly. "I saved a member of my Tribe. Don"t you see, Rae? The rebels are still part of my Tribe and they will be until the day I no longer rule, which I promise you will be many years to come. They may not agree with me or encourage Lochlann"s tantrum and defy me for a while, but so be it." He shrugged like it really didn"t bother him, but I knew otherwise. "In the end I will win because leading the Tribe is my birth-right. As is mating with a female fairy of my choice."
I clutched Maeve tighter to my chest, a wary look coming into me eye. Devlin laughed, waved his hand.
"A female fairy of mating age. Maeve is pretty but too young. And I want my mate to be from one of the older bloodlines." His eyes rested on my wings and tail then skipped over my face.
"That"s why you"re so set on having me? Because you think it"s your right to?" I shook my head. "I don"t understand you, Devlin. I don"t feel for you that way and I know for a fact you don"t like me."
"I am a practical being and so are you." He laughed heartily. "Our ancestor"s legacy flows strongly through your veins, and you could help bring us back together. Mating with you would be the right thing to do, but I won"t." He smiled softly. "There is one who holds my heart firmly in her vicious clasp." He looked down at his hands and seemed surprised to see the blood there. The softness bled from his expression. "Breandan overstepped his place. Even if you and I did not mate it would be Lochlann who would court you next. He has turned his back on tradition thousands of years old."
"He saw me first," I said, finally understanding what that statement meant. If Breandan had managed to ignore me we never would have met the way we did, and maybe we never would have bonded. I saw now our connection was largely attributed to the improbable success of our meeting and was intrinsically linked to the awakening of the demon within me.
Concerned I would wake her, I gently lay Maeve down on the mossy floor. I unhooked the amulet from her braid and tucked it into my pocket. I felt a small thrill at knowing I know had all three. I had the key that would bring Devlin and his evil h.o.a.rd down. All I had to do was escape him, and get the grimoire. How I was to do that was beyond me. Conall would be close by, but he would be focusing on freeing Lochlann. The little I knew of my brother told me he was a stickler for tradition and the right way of doing things. More importantly, Devlin had my boys and I wanted them back. I was not done with them yet, we had unfinished business.
I stood and looked Devlin in the eye, crossed my hands over my chest.
"Help me, Rae. Breandan will understand. He"ll be upset but eventually he will accept. If you join with me, take your rightful place in my Tribe we can put an end to this feud."
I stared at him and almost stuttered when I said, "No."
His hands clamped down on my shoulders and he shook me roughly. "Don"t be foolish, you have a chance to save many of our kind." He quirked an eyebrow and was amused. "I"ll even let you keep the amulet of power you stole from me. You didn"t think your casting broke through my shield all by itself did you?"
My lips pressed into a thin line. "I admit I should have known it was not my natural ability that kicked your a.s.s, but what do you mean you"ll let me keep it? I took and you can"t give something that"s not yours anymore." I looked at his hand on my shoulder, fought the urge to set it on fire to get him off me. "How did you get the amulet of power anyway? It makes sense Conall and I are guardians, the last Priestess was our mother."
"Sorcha, your mother gave it to me. Oh, don"t look so shocked. Her husband was my uncle, and after his death I was the next male in line to rule."
I digested this, painfully slow. "My father was royal?"
Devlin tipped his head back and laughed so uproariously I began to feel hot.
"Your farther was High Lord until his wife sheathed a dagger in his heart. After she broke it of course, lying with a human." He snorted. "I always liked Sorcha and she me, but she was a foolish woman."
"Was?" I whispered. No one had confirmed my mother was dead, but then I knew in the core of me, she had not survived the horror of her own making.
He stared at me, pitiful once more. "She killed my uncle and the High lord, Rae. You expected her to live?"
Chapter Ten.
It was cold. Noisy. Feeling returned in increments. First I could wiggle my fingers, toes then my legs. I moaned at the thumping at my temple and tried to bring my hands down to my face. My eyes groggily slid half-open when I realized I could not move them to obey. I looked down my body, now clad in a flimsy black sheath, and saw my legs drawn apart and held down by rough rope. I tried to remember, but the fog was still heavy over me and it was dark. I could smell trees, dirt, and fresh air heavy with smoke and something else, metallic and weird. I recognized this smell was wrong, bad, and yet so familiar. I tried to pull my legs, my arms, but I could do nothing but flail. Gasping, I drew deep and gritted my teeth. I opened my eyes fully and took in my surroundings.
All around me were leaves, thick purple leaves with sharp silver thorns.
Slowly, my mind struggled to piece it together. I shivered, and shook my head as it hit me in flashes. Breandan had been dragged to the centre of the camp and cruelly beaten. Lochlann had been held back, and Maeve had been thrust into his arms, sobbing.
Tomas had been brought forward, snarling and fighting as they bound him.
Wasp had enjoyed slapping the chains around my neck a little too much. I"d been hoisted up to hang from a thick tree bough, and was bound so tightly I"d lost feeling in my limbs. The smell of iron made me retch and heave. Then the pretty fairy had smiled wickedly before she punched me, and I"d lost consciousness.
I was awake now, and wishing she"d hit me harder.
Directly opposite me, my vampire-boy was suffering. Bound with silver, skin red raw where it rubbed against his wrists, he looked furious.
"Next time you listen to me," he said.
I gave him a wobbly smile. "You think there"ll be a next time?" A chain slid against my wrist and I winced.
If such a thing was possible, his eyes darkened as he looked over my shoulder. I craned my neck around to see Breandan on his knees, bound in wreathes of iron chains. Maeve had woken and was in front of him, trying to hug him and crying and apologizing. Lochlann stood protectively near them, statue still and head held high. I guessed he could do nothing since he had been defeated. He had no choice but to let Devlin continue with this madness, unless he was rescued.
I decided then that fairy rules were stupid and melodramatic.
I whispered a wish that Conall would be nearby, and that he would save us before anything bad happened.
Devlin shouted something, and his voice drew my eyes to where he stood. Beautiful fairies were gathered around me chanting. The orange glow of a roaring, smoky fire flickered across exposed skins. Creatures with ears pointed and teeth fanged, swayed to a throbbing pulse I could feel vibrating my skeleton. They were like me, my kind. The side of my head throbbed, and I clung to consciousness. Oh G.o.ds this was bad. Feet clawed and scaled pounded the ground in a tribal rhythm. The beating of chest, feathered and armored blended into a melodic clamor. Fingers sunk into the earth to scoop bracken from the floor, and heave it into the air with flourish, letting it sprinkle over them like polluted rain. Clothes thin, transparent as the smoke that snaked around them, billowed and streamed in the wind as they gyrated and preened around my bound body. Every beady eye, fluttery lash and arced eyebrow was directed at me, yet the mouths and bodies whined a tune I was too dizzy to recognize. They shrieked and hissed. Leaping and dancing they groped and kissed, smiled and bit. Blood was drawn with screeches of rancor and their l.u.s.ty whimpers whipped up a hungered frenzy.
I blinked, and focused hard on the centre of the commotion. They danced around something wide, flat and gray, raised from the floor. An alter. The human lying on the stone slab moaned and writhed.
"Alex," I whispered.
She moaned again, and twitched. She was coming too. I wished she would stay under so that she could be spared the horror.
"I call you fairies here to partake in this delight. The night is our master." Devlin"s voice, raspy and thick cried out. His words were carried away on the wind into the darkness. He stood at the foot of the dais, handsome and magnetic. His hair flowed like golden corn. Eyes wide and clear as the sky in summer. Face luminous, pale and stunningly angelic. He held a simple curved blade in hands, too perfect to be human. Beneath his ebony robe he was naked, and the moonlight reflected off his pearlescent skin. A terrifyingly evil aura pulsed from within him.
"Our master," murmured the beautiful voices.
"She is pure. We offer her to the night with glee in our hearts, and blood in our mouths."
Devlin took a deep drink from a silver chalice then spilled the rest of the contents over Alex"s body. The metallic scent from before reached my nose. A few splashes dripped into Alex"s mouth and terror gripped her so hard she screamed, arcing her back. The skin under her bindings tore.
"We offer this human child. We give thanks to the night that blesses us with s.e.x, blood and death."
"This is not happening," I said loudly.
"Rae?" Alex choked and squinted, trying to make me out in the low light. Her eyes went wide and she started to thrash around. "Help me, oh G.o.ds, what"s happening?"
Devlin slapped her across the face. Alex kept shouting for me and pulled harder on the rope that bound her. I had nothing to help her. I didn"t even have any words to soothe her. I tried to reach to the Source; I could feel it all around me, calling to me. All I had to do was touch it. I panted, and grunted, and tried to extend my influence past my own body, but the iron was overwhelming.
A cloaked figure stood in the melee, utterly silent and composed. A deep cowl was drawn over his head, and I could see nothing but the gleam of calm and cold eyes peering at me. I got the greatest sense of danger from him, so I looked away and struggled harder. My wrists burned and chafed, but I kept writhing.
"My brothers, sisters. The Tribe protects you and pleases you with fresh meat." Panting, I continued to struggle. I just needed one arm free, just one leg. "A body to drink revel and break." Devlin"s voice clotted with l.u.s.t.
A new fear shot through me hot and hard.
He wouldn"t dare.
His mouth trawled over Alex, and she convulsed in disgust as his clawed fingers dragged leisurely across her skin. Wasp was beside him and laughed throatily. My eyes stung, and the salt in my tears tasted bitter as it slipped into my mouth.
"The night is our master, our lover our warrior. The night is our master." Over and over and over they chanted, rising and falling in tempo.
Hair red as blood, a female threw back her head and shrieked at the moon. A bare-chested male with yellow jewels for eyes rocked on his heels and bared his teeth. Snarly razors filled my vision. He was smiling at me, and those eyes, those glowing eyes snuck into my mind and stoked the fires of my hysteria. I stared back in mute horror as he jumped onto the altar by Alex"s head, and let out an undulating cry.
I looked up into the sky, through the dark shadow of trees and succ.u.mbed to fear. I stopped struggling.
"She can"t die like this."
Wasp"s hand slid down Alex"s chest and cupped her breast, squeezed.
"Please," I begged, clamping my eyes shut as Alex"s screams increased as her dress was pushed up her torso, and the wailing from the fairies got louder.
"Look at me Rae." Tomas" voice was urgent. I tore my eyes away from Alex to him. "Don"t watch," he whispered.
"Do something," I sobbed.
He looked stricken and tried to free himself. Like me was held by chains that drained his strength and mental abilities, and there was nothing he could do. The clear dark that followed him around was a frazzled gray.
"Rae," Alex said quietly, so calm and collected it reached me through the chaos.
"Don"t look away, I want to see your face."
My tears streamed as I turned to her. "You"re going to die."
"I love you." She smiled and the blue runes on her check crinkled. "You my best friend. I don"t know what you are or who you are, but that don"t change the way I feel, y"know?"
I nodded frantically and braced myself. "I love you too." It was the first time and last I would ever say those words. They were hers and hers alone.
Another hand, smaller with razors for nails trailed down her stomach, across her hip. Alex cried out in pain as the cries of antic.i.p.ation shattered the night. The noise and clamor reached peak as Wasp fisted her hand in Alex"s hair, drawing her head back, almost in tenderness. Devlin lifted the blade high above his head, and the wicked sharp edge flickered with light. Then he Another scream erupted from me so loud a blood vessel burst in my eye. My scream cut off, no more air in my lungs to carry the sound.
The figure cloaked in black threw back his hood.
Conall.
My heart crashed in my chest as screams, sounds of death and violence surround me. I was too terrified to open my eyes. All I could see was Devlin"s dagger sinking into Alex"s throat and the gush of blood. The bonds at my hands went slack. My feet were free and I kicked for all I was worth. Screaming. Too far gone to fight properly, I lashed out like a wild animal. Firm, but gentle hands lifted me up and held me close. I kept my eyes pressed shut in defense against whatever torture I was to be subjected to.
"Be still Rae, I will not harm you," a calm voice commanded.
The voice was singsong, not raspy and seductive. It hinted of magic and light. Still, I pushed, and shoved, and bit with my teeth. I yelled and screamed.
"She can take no more, Lochlann," Maeve"s high chine sounded sad. "Leave her."
"No," I said hoa.r.s.ely. "I won"t be fooled. You"re all evil. Demon monsters!" I thrashed about, hoping to drag an eye out and to my grave with me.
"Watch. Your brother avenges your friend as you bawl like a baby."
My yelling stopped and my eyes popped open.
Conall had become a phantom figure, ma.s.sacring the bewildered fairies prancing in the inner circle. A blur, he ripped and tore the beasts to pieces like crepe paper. There was nothing but a whisper of sound as death claimed those who"d held us captive. He disposed of any lingering survivors with a snap of the spine, or blade through flesh. Headless bodies tottered and fell as hot guts spilled onto the cold ground. Then it was done and he was still.
Clad in snugly fitted pants, and soft boots he was tall and sinewy. His dark hair was ponytailed, resting loosely across board shoulders. His skin glowed like a beacon and his ears had the distinctive point of fairy. With competent ease, he wielded his sword in one hand, and saluted to Lochlann with the other. Leather hilted the shiny steel of his sword was drenched in what looked like red paint. Chest splattered in blood and gore, clutched in his other hand was the dismembered head of a fairy. Savagely lifting it high, he laughed boomingly and blood dribbled from the ragged hole where the neck used to join to the body. He tossed it indifferently and it landed with a squelch to roll and gather the pine leaves on the forest floor.
Orchard, the fairy wyld was littered with mutilated fairy bodies and I felt nothing but bone deep satisfaction.
I scrambled over to the dais, and sank to my knees over Alex"s body. Her eyes were wide and starring, mouth slightly parted. Rocking back and forth, I wound my fingers into my hair and wailed. She was dead. Gone. I could never laugh or joke with my friend again. She had lost her life for my mistakes, my foolishness. I couldn"t bear it, and nor would I have to.
I placed both my hands on her eyes and called magic to me. It came reluctantly, already forming into something dark and unnatural. As I stood in the way of natural order, my nature rumbled with discontent. I was meant to bring balance, not perversion. I didn"t care, so I ignored my instincts.
I did not have time to think of the ramifications of what I was doing. I couldn"t let her go, and I hoped in time she would forgive me, and understand why I did what I did. I muttered the name of one who might take pity on her.
Her body twitched beneath my hands as if I had zapped her, and I said it again, louder this time.
"What is she doing?" someone asked sharply behind me.
"Loa!"
Her eyelids fluttered.
If this could work, if I could call on the voodoo deity and call back someone from the grave, it would be Alex. She was the daughter of powerful mambo, a voodoo Sorceress who ran wild in demon territory, and battled against witchcraft before the Clerics hunted her down. But Alex had been spared. The Clerics had taken her to the Priests for judgment as a child and they had declared her human, believing the spark had missed her. I could sense something within her. A glimmer of the magic her mother could touch and manipulate. I had never taken her roots seriously the few times she had spoken of it, and all that time I"d known her, in her own way she had been asking me to believe in her.
There. I had it under control. Her life force was trying to depart, but I tethered it to her body.
"Forgive me," I whispered in her ear. All I had to do was lock her soul within her body and she would wake.
A heavy pressure at the base of my neck shocked me still.
Mercifully, it went black.
Before I opened my eyes, I smelt him. His mineral and damp earth smell. I opened my eyes and concluded it had all gone to h.e.l.l. Tomas was burning. Whorls of smoke rose from his skin, and his head drooped forward. The silver hung him from a tree and bit into his skin cruelly.
It felt like a sack of bricks weighted down each of my eyelids, and my bones slid around inside me.