Nessa didn’t need to check to know that Devin had placed his magic around the room to keep her in. It would be a waste of energy to try to get out at this point. She wanted to be mad at him for it, but she couldn’t. He was doing his best to protect her. Not that she wanted to admit it, but she did need help being protected. Between assassins and poison, in less than a week, there had been several attempts on her life. He was the only reason she was still alive … but it still hurt nonetheless. Nessa wanted to be able to protect herself, and letting Devin do it for her went against every idea she was raised on.
Nessa turned around the room one more time before she went to her door and opened it. Since there was a protective bubble around the room, she didn’t need to worry about anyone entering without her knowledge. Therefore, she could leave the door wide open to watch for Devin. Nessa made another loop around the room and neared the doorway again.
‘Where are you?’ Nessa finally asked Devin silently. She was doing her best to not beg him to come back, but her self-control failed. She wanted to know what he was up to.
‘Just inside of the courtyard. I’ll be back in less than a minute,’ Devin replied. He laughed a little in Nessa’s head, and he had to know how much she wanted out of the cage he had put her in.
Down the hallway, Ronan and Gemma were walking toward Nessa’s rooms. Nessa waved to her cousins. It was nice that they would come keep her company in her protective bubble. Gemma paused and rubbed her neck before she began to lightly run in her direction. Nessa never knew where Gemma got all of her energy from. Ronan shook his head and kept his leisurely pace as he walked behind her. Soon Devin caught up to Ronan and said something to her cousin to make him laugh. Nessa wanted out of her cage, to be able to walk with them, but she waited as patiently as she could for them to get to her.
‘Move now,’ Devin told Nessa mentally, with more urgency than she had ever heard him use. Nessa scrambled out of the doorway and back into the room as Gemma hit the barrier of the spell and fell forward.
“What—” Nessa began to ask as Devin and Ronan ran in behind her cousin.
Devin took Gemma and pulled her completely inside of the room while Ronan looked behind them before closing the door.
“Someone just attacked Gemma and Ronan,” Devin told Nessa. He was in full alert mode. Even though he wanted to go after the assassin who had to be close, he was concerned for her cousins first and foremost.
She glanced between her cousins, who didn’t appear hurt. She had been standing right there watching. No one had attacked anyone, unless they were invisible. Where was the assassin? No one could do an invisibility spell now because of Devin, but it made no sense. How did Devin know they were attacked and how did it happen? It was confusing, but Nessa trusted that Devin knew what was going on.
Devin rolled Gemma to her side and pulled a small dart out of her neck. It was smaller than a fly, but there was no mistaking what it was. Someone had attacked Gemma with a dart. Ronan flopped down on the couch and dropped his own dart next to Gemma’s on the table. He was still awake, but seemed to be fading fast. On the other hand, Gemma was already passed out. Nessa stared down to her younger cousin. It made no sense. Why would someone attack Gemma? She was the sweetest and most innocent person in their family.
Devin looked up to Nessa. “I think they were poisoned again. I can feel it inside of Gemma.”
Nessa turned to Ronan. If Gemma was poisoned, then so was he. Nessa became increasingly worried as she glanced between them. They were the last of her family; her father had only one brother, and he only had two children. Gemma and Ronan were it, and Nessa was about to lose them, too. Why was her life like this? She wanted to be normal and not worry about people dying. However, there was no time for a pity party; Gemma and Ronan were poisoned and would die if they didn’t act fast.
“Go find my uncle,” Nessa instructed one of the invisible guards that were standing in the corners of the room. He needed to be there for his children. The guard nodded and exited the room without opening the door.
Devin moved to Ronan and inspected him quickly, too. Nessa watched, hoping Devin knew exactly what to do as he had before with her.
“You’ve both been poisoned,” Devin told Ronan as Nessa expected.
“Take care of her first,” Ronan replied, pointing to his unconscious sister. “She obviously got more in her system. At least I am still with you here.” Ronan tapped his head before leaning back on to the couch. How long he would be with them was up for debate since the poison was also racing through his system.
Nessa knelt beside her younger cousin. Gently, she cupped her face in her hands; Gemma looked like she was sleeping. This was a quick-acting poison, and had to be something different than before. Did that mean there were more assassins running around now?
“Gems,” Nessa said quietly, tapping her face gently. Unfortunately, Gemma didn’t respond. Nessa wanted her to wake and pretend like it was a game and everything was fine … but it wasn’t. Gemma was dying.
“Lay her on her back,” Devin instructed.
Nessa rolled Gemma over, and when he placed his hands on her, Nessa felt the magic grow. How could Gemma get that sick in seconds? It took Nessa more than ten minutes before the poison took over. Nessa held on to her cousin’s head, not watching as Devin cut her younger cousin. Devin began to pull the poison from her, and it couldn’t have been pleasant for Gemma with how hard he was working. Gemma was one of the most innocent sidhe out there. She’d never been trained in combat, like Nessa had been, and she’d been kept away from all of the politics. Gemma was all that was sweet in the sidhe world. It made no sense. Why would someone target her?
Devin placed the poison into an empty vial that was sitting on the table. He had been collecting the poisons, but Nessa had no clue why … nor did she care at that point. He was able to save Gemma and she would live, which was what mattered the most.
“Ronan,” Devin said, bringing Nessa’s attention back to her older cousin, “how are you doing?”
“Better than she was,” Ronan replied. He was now lying down on the couch.
At that moment, Rolf burst through the doorway with Nessa’s invisible guard.
“What happened?” he demanded, looking between his unconscious daughter and dying son. Rolf ran to Ronan’s side and reached for his hand.
However, Nessa jumped up and stopped her uncle from touching Ronan. Devin was already working on trying to get the poison out of him, and Nessa didn’t want him to stop. She needed her older cousin saved as well.
“I’m not sure,” Nessa told her uncle, pulling him back a few steps. “They were walking this way, and suddenly Gemma collapsed. Devin found those darts on each of them. It appears someone poisoned them. Devin already got it out of Gemma, but he is still working on Ronan.”
Rolf calmed down a little bit as he knelt at his son’s side. There was nothing the older sidhe could do. There was nothing Nessa could do. They had to depend on Devin and hope that he could get it out in time.
Devin concentrated on the poison. This time, Nessa watched as Devin made a small cut just near Ronan’s ribcage. Devin tugged and the poison began to leave Ronan’s body. However, as Devin pulled on the string of poison, it suddenly snapped and went back into Ronan’s body through the still-open cut.
“What was that?” Nessa asked. She had seen Devin remove poison from several people already, and that had never happened. This was different.
“I don’t know,” Devin replied as he began to remove the poison again. Less came out this time, and again it snapped back into Ronan. Devin stared at Ronan like he was a mystery. The poison felt the same but was acting differently.
“But you can’t just leave it in him,” Nessa argued as Ronan began to close his eyes, either from the poison or the pain.
“Why doesn’t it come out?” Devin asked Rolf. He’d had no training in sidhe poisons and was just doing what came naturally. Rolf was the only one that they could turn to, as Nessa didn’t
know much about sidhe poisons, either.
“It came out of Gemma?” Rolf asked, taking his son’s hand the moment Devin wasn’t working.
“Yes,” Nessa replied. It didn’t make any sense at all. The darts looked the same, the poison was the same amber color … everything seemed the same. Why did it come out of one and not the other? Were there two assassins?
Rolf stared at his son, thinking. He had a lot of knowledge in his years beside his brother and nephew when they were kings. This was completely Rolf’s world, in every sense of the word, and he needed to search his mind for an answer. His son’s life depended on it. Suddenly, his face fell when he realized the answer.
“It’s clauthau poison,” Rolf finally told them.
“Which is?” Devin prompted. Talking would get them nowhere unless he could do something to save Ronan.
“An ancient poison I didn’t even know existed anymore,” Rolf replied. “Once it enters the body, it gets a hold of you and can’t be pulled out using the rare magic you possess.”
“Then what do we do?” Nessa asked. Ronan’s life was on the line. She turned to Devin, pleading with her eyes to save Ronan.
Devin glanced back down at Ronan. What could they do with a poison that couldn’t be removed? Nessa watched Devin circle the poison through Ronan again. He could move it, just couldn’t move it out of his body.
“Nessa, remove his shoes,” Devin instructed her, and Nessa immediately did as he’d asked. She had no clue what Devin wanted to do, but she trusted him … she always trusted him.
Rolf looked at Devin. He had begun saying his good-byes to his son, but stopped when Nessa took off Ronan’s shoes.
“What are you doing?” Rolf asked as Devin’s magic heated up, causing the poison to once again move through Ronan’s body.
“Hold him down,” Devin told the older man. Rolf hesitated, and Devin stared at him. “Do you want your son to live?” This time there was no hesitation as he pinned his son’s upper body down.
“Heat the sharpest blade we have in the fire,” Devin told Nessa.
She ran over to the weapons and did exactly as he’d asked, watching Devin as she stood by the fire waiting for his next command. The blade in her hand was already red in color. Devin had worked the poison through Ronan’s body and he writhed in pain, but Rolf continued to hold him down. They would do anything to save Ronan, and Nessa and her uncle hoped that Devin could do a miracle.
“I may not be able to pull the poison out,” Devin finally explained, “but I can still move it. All of the poison is in his last two toes.”
Rolf stared at Devin, understanding what he meant. Nessa understood also as she held the hot blade. Devin was going to remove the poison by removing Ronan’s toes. It was a small sacrifice to pay to stay alive. Rolf wouldn’t object, and neither would Ronan if he were still awake. Nessa had no clue how Devin came up with the plan, but she was sure it was the right thing to do.
“I’m not sure this will work, but I hope it will. Do I have permission to do it?” Devin asked Rolf.
Nessa was shocked. She had never seen him ask permission before. Devin always did what he thought was right… and he obviously thought it was right to remove Ronan’s toes in order to save his life. However, Devin wasn’t from the sidhe world, and was just working with what knowledge he had.
“Yes, do it before it spreads,” Rolf replied, placing his full weight on Ronan’s upper body. It was going to hurt terribly.
Devin held out his hand, and Nessa brought him the knife. She didn’t want to watch, but she had to. She had to see if this could save Ronan’s life no matter how much pain it would cause him. Devin didn’t hesitate with the hot blade and cut down into the flesh at the top of Ronan’s toes. Still not awake, Ronan screamed in his sleeping state. The smell of burned flesh was overwhelming.
“Heat it again,” Devin directed Nessa, handing her back the blade. She hurried over and made the blade glow once more.
Devin pressed the blade to the still seeping foot. Nessa heard the sizzle and had to look away. Ronan didn’t scream this time because he had completely passed out. Devin took the bandage one of Nessa’s guards had brought, and gently wrapped up the foot. There was nothing more that they could do. If Devin’s guess was correct, the poison would be in the detached toes and Ronan would be safe.
“Is it …” Rolf finally asked as Devin stood up.
“All right?” Devin added to the question, and quickly searched Ronan’s body. “Yes, the poison is in the toes I cut off. He is poison-free now. Ronan will be fine.”
CHAPTER 6
After Ronan was attacked, Nessa insisted that Ronan and Gemma stay in her protected wing of the palace. Devin couldn’t disagree. He had put both of them to sleep after he’d saved their lives, and they would be out of it for at least another day. Too much had happened too quickly. Devin needed time to sort out everything. Someone was still on the loose attacking people. He needed to find out who it was and soon. More sidhe would be arriving the next day for Nessa’s coronation, and he couldn’t risk an assassin causing war between the sidhe villages, let alone allow Nessa to stand in front as a big bulls-eye to whoever was trying to kill off everyone.
“You can’t just leave us,” Nessa complained after Devin had told her that he was going away again. She had followed him to the courtyard where he paused.
“I need to know what this is,” Devin said, pointing to the vials of poison he carried. “I need to know if there is an antidote, and what it’s made of. Rolf was sure no one had access to it when it was destroyed over five decades ago, but he doesn’t even know what it was. He said it was a poison people spoke of but very few knew how to make it, and obviously someone kept the secret alive. We need to know what clauthau is and where to look for it. That just might be the clue we need to find out who’s doing this.”
“I get that, but you can’t leave us here,” Nessa complained.
Devin understood what she was saying. It wasn’t that he was leaving that was the problem; it was that he was leaving her behind. He didn’t want to, and he would have taken her with him in an instant, but she needed to stay and take care of the sidhe.
“Nessa,” Devin took her hands in his, “I’d take you with in a heartbeat, but you have to remain here. Someone has to stay to make the decisions.”
“But you said you’d only be gone for fifteen minutes.” She pouted. Yes, she wanted to go with him. Maybe she wasn’t as disgusted by the outside world as she pretended.
“And if something comes up in those fifteen minutes? You need to stay here to tell people what to do,” Devin replied as gently as he could.
“Let Rolf take care of it,” Nessa replied. She really wanted to go with him.
Devin shook his head. Normally Rolf would be a good person to leave in charge, but he was completely useless at this point. He was still too worried over his children. Devin couldn’t ask him to step away and be a leader at that point. He needed to be a father until his children woke up feeling okay again.
“Fine, he can’t take care of anything right now,” Nessa admitted. She, too, saw her uncle was devastated by the poisoning of his children. “But what if something really comes up? What if someone else is poisoned? I can’t do anything about it. You should stay and let me go.”
Devin smiled. She wasn’t making it easy. More than anything he wanted to scoop her into his arms and take her everyplace with him. He didn’t feel safe leaving her alone, especially not now that the assassin had switched poisons, but he needed to get the samples to Mori to analyze. The computer tech and lab scientist at the dearg-dul estate Devin was raised at would be able to tell Devin exactly what the poison was, and that was crucial information they needed now.
Before setting off, Devin pulled Nessa close and hugged her tightly. It would only be a few minutes and she would be fine. Logically he knew that, but his heart didn’t want to listen. It was hard to deal with his new feelings. Logic had always won easily, but now it wasn’t that ea
sy to walk away from her.
“I’ll do everything in my power be back quickly. I can’t stand to be away from you, so please stop worrying. I have to do this, and I’ll be back soon. I’m not running away, I promise. I need to keep you safe, and this is me keeping you safe,” Devin explained. Nessa melted in his arms. He could feel some of the fear run off of her.
“It’s just that—” Nessa began to protest.
Devin put his lips to hers, abruptly ending her sentence. Her complaining stopped and her arms moved around him to hold on to his back. Her lips moved against his, too. She needed this kiss as much as Devin did. As he pulled back all too soon, the pout returned to Nessa’s lips. Smiling, Devin quickly kissed her once more. She didn’t like what he was doing, but she understood what needed to be done.
“I promise to be back soon,” he told her.
“But,” Nessa finally went to complain again, “you can’t leave from here. Just let me go with you, I can help you.” Devin loved her tenacity.
Devin planned to travel using the trees as Nessa had shown him once. He had no clue how to actually do it, but he was sure—like everything else—it would come naturally to him. Spotting the tree he was looking for, he took Nessa’s hand and walked her to the bench beside it, sitting her down.
“I’ll go to Mori and be back as soon as I can. I promise to come back,” Devin repeated to her once again, and gently kissed her forehead. Instantly the bubble formed around her, just as he knew it would.
Hurrying to the tree, he placed his hand against it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nessa stand and hit her head on the bubble. Good-bye to their peaceful moment. What would be coming next were not so kind words from her, so Devin pushed his hand into the tree as quickly as he could and the coldness of the tree took him.