The magic will continue to grow unless I stop it,
I said.
Cael managed to pull too much from the Source before you severed the connection. It s self sustaining, so we must staunch the flow.
Fine,
Lochlann bit out,
but not you. Conall will
I turned furious eyes to him.
Conall would do this for me without a second thought to himself, but I would never let him. How could I? Besides, he s not magically strong enough. The only other being who can wield that amount of power is me.
Lochlann watched, aghast, as I gently lay Cael s head down. I took the amulets from my brother s chest, and placed the leather cord around my neck.
The words of a dying mad man,
he ground out, further incensed by my tenderness, but I really didn t care.
Did Cael ever lie, Lochlann? He was bound to truth, and you know it. You felt magic answer his oath just like I did. He was many things, but not a liar.
You cannot expect me to
I spun to him, accusations of how our woeful lack of options was his fault leapt to the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed them, the blame a hard lump to digest. He already knew we were backed into a corner because of his rash actions. What good was it to throw it back in his face when he did what any ruler would do to try and save his people, the Wyld he was sworn to protect?
I exhaled sharply.
I do and you must.
He inhaled as if to bellow at me, but for all his huffing, he said nothing. His blue-green eyes blazed. Determination to have his way settled into the lines of his face.
You will not stand against me in this. He will never forgive me.
My shoulders slumped, and I was not going to hide it. The thought of Breandan learning I had chosen to stay here rather than return to him made me physically sick. Of course I wanted to leave I wanted to run to Breandan and hide, to have him hold me and protect me. I wanted his voice to be the last thing I heard. I wanted to breathe in the scent of sunlight and earth from his skin, and feel the firm smoothness of his chest as I burrowed closer. I wanted his heart to thud against mine as he kissed me.
What I wanted was not what the Wyld needed, so I would not go to him.
I would stay.
Moving closer to Lochlann, I sought the words to reason him through this, to force his hand.
And for once, I had the words the right words.
I clasped his head and tugged it down. His pale hair contrasted sharply with my tan skin, and I had to lift up onto my toes to meet him halfway. Like his brother, he was tall.
What about the Tribe?
I whispered.
Would you have our people die screaming in a river of fire? That is all that will be left if this magic is left to gather force. Already it s out of control, sucking more energy, tearing our home apart. Everything you have fought for will be gone.
I paused, ready to seal his wavering decision.
What about Daphne? You ll curse me for not doing this when you are forced to watch her burn.
Jerking violently, his teeth clenched as the thought rocked him to the core.
I
You re really going to attempt to deny what is plain to anybody who looks at the two of you?
I raised an eyebrow.
The girl climbed a tree, Lochlann. She hates heights, but when she heard you were up here with Cael, a man she s terrified of, she climbed it like one of us. I know you have a blood tie to her. She lied for you, didn t she? At the Meet she never told you to kiss me, she told you to kiss her. She compelled you.
His hands came up to cover mine on his head. His face was troubled.
She told me to press my lips to hers.
Um, say-so. You did a lot more than just press your lips to hers if I remember correctly.
I snickered.
Oh for god s sake, don t pout. I ve been there remember?
Yes, and look at how that ended.
He paused.
I m sorry that I did not stand by you at the Meet.
I m not,
I said softly.
You did what you needed to do, and it was the right thing. Don t apologize for doing what you do best.
Sighing, his eyes pressed shut as if he were in agony.
Don t ask me to do this.
He let go of my hands and clutched my shoulders.
You and I never see eye to eye, we probably never will, but you are my sister. I love you.
He paused.
Even if I don t particularly like you.
I rested my forehead on his chin and took what comfort I could from his embrace. He was a poor substitute for my Breandan, but that was not his fault. It never was. In his way, he was trying to reassure me, and I would forever be grateful.
I don t like you either,
I managed lightly. It sounded strained so I cleared my throat.
You big bully.
My face was grave as fear made my stomach roll. I had to get this out; time was too precious to waste. Suddenly, I was frantic. Heart pounding, I let go of his face and leaned back to look at him, gripping his forearms. My words came out in a jumbled rush.
Tell Conall I m sorry I couldn t keep my promise. Tell Ana she s beautiful, and to have many babies. Make sure Lex knows how much her friendship meant to me,
I frowned,
and tell Ro to go easy on the black magic.
The next one was achingly close to my heart, and to soften my command, I touched his lips gently. Eyes wide, he started at the move.
I demand you accept happiness, Lochlann. Take care of Daphne, this will be so hard on her. She tried to keep me safe, and I made it difficult for her.
I sighed and took my fingers away, rubbed my temple instead. My thoughts were dominated by the need to end the threat.
Tell the Tribe to never stop fighting, to never give in, and to love each other. And tell Breandan &.
Here at the last hurdle, my words failed me. I shrugged helplessly. How did you condense the depth of what I felt into words? My throat constricted, and my heart & it hurt & it bled. I fought past it, and managed a few shaky words, uttered on half breaths,
Tell him & that I &.
Lochlann s gaze drifted over my shoulder, unable to deal with my pain. His eyes filled with tears, but he blinked them back. He was a High fairy, after all. Lord of all fairykind, and though he had succumbed to tears once he would not be caught again.
The thought brought me a strange sense of relief. He would take care of them all. He was strong enough.
Lochlann pressed a kiss to my forehead. I was collecting kisses, it seemed.
I m sorry,
he rasped.
It was the way he said it, as if he wasn t losing me, but a larger part of his world, that set me on guard. His grip tightened on my arms, and I knew he didn t intend to let me go. Breandan had always said he was right to a fault.
Stubborn man.
Lochlann s weight shifted, about to jump with me in his arms.
With swiftness and dexterity innate to my kind, I broke his hold.
He staggered back. Raising his head, he caught my eyes and saw my final goodbye.
No!
he bellowed.
Pushing my arms forward, I summoned a burst of power to push him away. A gust of wind rushed past me and slammed into us, except its power flowed over and around me.
Lifted off his feet, Lochlann reeled back and disappeared through the wall of blue fire and black smoke.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Running away had never seemed such a splendid idea. Positively virtuoso, I d have said, if that moment you d asked me.
Gods of valor, hearken to me,
I murmured, trying the chant out for myself. They held power, those words.
Gift me the strength of my ancestors. Lend me the honor and bravery of my kind.
My voice lowered to a timid whisper, a shamed confession I could only voice with hushed breath.
I
think on my own I ll fail.
Eyes scrunched shut, I waited for an answer of some kind. I wiggled my nose and peeked an eye open. Nothing. No surge of courage filled me, no sprit lifting sense of being protected washed over me.
Huffing in impatience and ditching the formal words I tried my own.
Fine. I get it. No sympathy for my bloodline huh? You know, this nightmare wasn t my fault.
I tapped my chest.
I was a victim, torn from my life and tossed into the middle of this. Yet here I stand, and believe me when I say I really don t want to be here.
I narrowed my eyes.
I get you re busy, and all important, and that I curse you with every other breath, but a little help wouldn t go amiss.
That nobody was answered me was exasperating. I bit my lip, shrugged. It had been worth a try.
Gods, where are you when you re needed?
I muttered. There was a convenient and distant rumbling of thunder.
Good enough,
I laughed.
Straightening my shoulders, I took off the amulets and closed my eyes. There was no point the key staying here with me. The next Priestess would need them to keep the grimoire safely locked.
My eyelids fluttered open, and I gasped as my spell took form. The amulets glowed red hot, broke apart, and then shot up into the sky to disappear from sight.
Smiling, I released a shaky breath, and the winds died. It was done. The fairy High Lord was alive and well, and the future of all kinds a step closer to being safe.
The leaves of ClanTree sheltering the heart of the Wyld were aflame. The bark and boughs edged with blue and purple fire. Snakelike tendrils of power seeped through the forest understory, an overflow of magic from the storm.
Now I was alone there was a moment of doubt. Okay, so maybe not so much a moment, but a full minute of arguing the benefit of between being a hero versus being a coward.
A final tremor of fear rippled through my body and I was myself again, afraid, but resolved to see this through.
The trick was not to hide from my fear, but to embrace it. That was real courage. To be fearless was foolish, but to be afraid and stand firm in the face of what scared you & that was bravery. The people I had come to know so well in so short a time had shown me what true bravery was, and they were confident I had plenty.
But was I strong enough?
From the distance sounds, fairy, vampire, shifter, and human fled. They ran screaming from the tower of death growing into the night sky. The dark was alive with pain. I closed my eyes and downed out the sounds of fright.
Primeval power rooted deep in the earth spewed into the heavens. Ropes of magic coiled in black and silver streaks. The tower swayed as it climbed, glowing and crackling with dark energy.
It was magnificent this evil innocence, a wickedness too potent to blame.
I reached out a hand and the hairs on my arms lifted. The magic called to me. Stiffening, I snatched my hand back, rubbed it jerkily on my hip. Peace and a sense of calm bloomed in my chest as I watched the beauty of the magic I never would have had the creativity to conjure.
Bizarrely, I d known this would happen, and had an
I told you so
moment with nobody to share it with. I wasn t meant to lead fairykind as the Priestess. Breandan, Conall, everybody I had met had tried to persuade me otherwise, but I knew. I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. I was merely a small thing in the grand scheme of things, a spark about to be snuffed. Had my destiny ever been different? Maybe if I had grown up around others of my kind, as Lady Rae, daughter of Sorcha, I might have ended up on the path that would have allowed me to be such a person. As it was, fate decided differently. Huh. I was okay with that, how could I not be? This life I had been given was about to end, but I would not have changed it. I would never regret being reunited with Conall. I would never regret meeting Breandan, and even knowing Tomas made a part of me rejoice. I had known true happiness in the presence of these people.
Small, and insignificant my actions may be perceived in future &
But in this moment, at this time and place, I am worth something.
I was going to save my family and friends. I was going to give them a chance to right so many wrongs. There were so many powerful forces of good striving for peace there was no way that could not be the outcome of my sacrifice.
How could I not be thankful and happy about that?
I tipped my head back so the ends of my hair brushed my lower back and looked straight up into the clouds. They were wispy in the eye of the firestorm. I could see the stars, diamonds sprinkled on black velvet. A few specks of snow fell on my cheeks, and I sighed, wiped the trickle of water they left from my face with my tears. It was so beautiful, almost as if the heavens cried for me. Surrounding me was fire; the forest burned and smelt like smoke, but when I looked up past the ring of flames, there was the night sky, and it wept.
Magics expanded, growing in power and force. The tunnel I stood in the centre of bloated and rose higher. If the magic climbed any higher Cael s mission would be accomplished the sky would burn, we would all burn.
I drew on the Source, and so little of it came I was shocked.
All magics rushed to this place, to this horror created to destroy.
Cael truly had been the most powerful being to grace this earth. My brother, misguided, and filled with hate for a family who had loved him, but had somehow isolated, and pushed him into insanity bred from centuries of loneliness.
Shaking off my wandering thoughts, I pulled deeper on the Source, demanding it come to me, making it heed me and the legacy present my blood to control it. Gathering enough calm to focus, my mind became fixed on tapping into the magics feeding the fire. These flames were magical and could be extinguished; I had to find my way past the magical barriers into the slipstreams to be able to dam it.
I shuddered, attention wavering. Pain. Love. Hope. The warmth of the bond flared, crammed with emotion, and tears came to my eyes.
Breandan was close.
Stanch weirs of enchanted flames quivered. The barrier bloated and split, the edges of the crack ripping away as a solid fist of magic punched through.
I gasped; stunned someone had breached the barrier, something even I had struggled to do.
Had Lochlann found a way back?
In a chaotic blur of limbs, a body dived through the opening, and crashed into a heap.
The melted edges of the barrier clogged, mending the puncture, locking me, and the recent arrival inside.
Dark head bowed, backed hunched over he swayed on all fours. His pointed ears twitched. Translucent stems of power crackled on his skin, and silver wings fluttered heavily before jackknifing out into a glorious spread of iridescent skin. Tail whipping jerkily from side to side, he trembled, moving too much effort.
He gathered himself, the intensity in the air increasing.
Grunting, shaking his head, he lurched up. His legs wobbled and he staggered before standing solidly on two booted feet.
His armor, leather plates covering his thighs and shins was cracked and gouged in some places. Newly healed scars slashed across his chest, and streaks of blood and gore spattered his torso. Powerfully spread wings curled to rest snugly on his back, and his tail now cracked smoothly from side to side, irritated.
Brow lowered, his mouth was a furious cut etched into a proud face. Jaw working, body rigid, he looked mad as hell. Silver eyes bored into me, but when they flickered, and rested on the blood spattered all over me they softened.
After everything, all the times it seemed hopeless, like I wouldn t make it to you in time, did you really think I would let you face this alone?
Breandan asked quietly.
That I wouldn t keep my word and come for you.
Sobbing, I covered my face with my hands, my composure crumbling to dust.
He came for me.
My knees gave out, but I never hit the ground because he was already with me, gathering me i
nto his arms.
I relaxed into his tight embrace, letting his strength comfort me. He was my constant, the one thing I could depend on without fail. Nothing could be allowed to harm him.
The urgency of my task was thrust on me again. I pushed him away, unable to vocalize my demand that he leave. He held me closer and ignored my struggles.
You can t be here,
I mumbled numbly, panic stabbing me all over.
You have to leave. Now. When I start to pull the power to me
His lips caught mine. He kissed me gently, achingly sweet. I felt so much, too much. I would not be able to do this if I could not bear to be parted form him. How was I supposed to be able to give this up? How could the world be so cruel to me! To give me something so precious only to demand I sacrifice it to save a Wyld that was at odds with me.