“By the tides, I will find a way to save you,” I said.
“Save…yourself,” he said. “No…more…time…”
Ceff’s head snapped back, and an unearthly howl ripped from his throat.
“We have to move, Princess,” Torn said. “We’ll come back for him, I promise. But we can’t help him if he eats us.”
Torn had a point. Ceff’s transformation was slower than Hendricks’ had been, but it was clear that he couldn’t hold it off much longer. Even a kelpie king has limits. By the tides…
Tides, that was it.
“Water!” I yelled. “We need water!”
“What are you going on about?” Torn asked. “I think you’ve finally lost it, Princess.”
“Like calls to like,” I said, eyes wide, waving to the nearest group of water fae. “He’s a creature of water. The barghests hate water. If we surround him with water, maybe…just maybe…”
“Do it,” Torn said.
Chapter 45
I often forget that Torn is a faerie lord. He wore his air of aloof indifference like a mask, but there is more to him than a pretty face.
The man may act like a carefree, skirt chasing, somewhat deranged buffoon, but he is lord of the cat sidhe. And unlike some of the supernatural factions, the position of cat sidhe leader wasn’t decided by birth. Torn had become the lord of the cat sidhe, the king of the Harborsmouth cats, by fighting his way to the top. That took balls, and power.
Torn pulled himself up to his full height, spine straight and shoulders back. The lack of slouching made him remarkably tall and imposing. The random bits of bone and fur tied into his hair and dangling from his tattered ears no longer made him look like an extra from a Mad Max movie. Instead, those trophies seemed to form a crown.
And when he spoke, even in the midst of a chaotic battle, people listened.
I wondered fleetingly if it was indeed that very chaos that gave Torn power. Maybe I’d ask him later, if we lived.
“Water fae,” he said, voice echoing through the night as if carried on shadows. “To your king!”
The fighting continued, many having to hold their ground, but those water fae who could break away made their way to where Ceff moaned in agony, still on his hands and knees. As they approached, Torn gestured to me with a wink, his mask once again in place.
“He’s been bitten,” I said. “He needs to be in water, for water to be brought here. He’s in no condition to be moved. And…try not to get too close.”
I had to hope they’d honor that last request. It would kill Ceff if he harmed any of his people. He cared too much about the water fae to let such a thing go.
The water fae moved closer, coming to stand in a ring around their fallen king. I stood, fingers clenching around my knives, wishing there was more that I could do. But this was in the hands of the water fae. It was my job to watch their backs, and keep them safe while they worked.
But even as a barghest approached, I kept an eye on Ceff and the water fae. I needed to know that he was safe.
Kelpies and a man with green hair began singing and swaying back and forth. I’d expected to see a mist form around Ceff, moisture being pulled from the air to surround him. Instead, a huge chunk of river water detached from the wall of water that blocked the Wild Hunt from entering the city. The water rushed toward us, and I flinched. But rather than crash over us, it swallowed Ceff whole.
He thrashed inside the murky water, but the transformation seemed to slow. Spiny fur had begun to sprout along his back in a fast moving cascade, but now each hair pushed through his flesh with agonizing slowness. The red glow hadn’t returned to his eyes.
I took that as a positive sign.
A howl rose up amongst the other hounds. Ceff’s head snapped back, but he didn’t return their call. Instead, he shook, writhing in the liquid box that had become his prison and his hope of salvation. He fought Herne’s control, and when he next met my gaze, his lips formed familiar words.
“I love you,” he mouthed.
“I love you too,” I said.
More than the moon.
More than the tides.
More than the stars.
Chapter 46
I looked numbly out over the muddy, corpse strewn patch of pavement. Somehow, Master Janus had rallied his men and managed to help us fall back. Herne continued to taunt us, but for the moment the Wild Hunt’s leader seemed content to let us lick our wounds.
I suspected he was taking the time to reassess his prey, and look for vulnerabilities. Heck, he might just be toying with us like a cat with a mouse. I didn’t care.
I was numb.
I had nothing left to lose. Nothing left to fear. My greatest nightmare was playing out, and unless we thought of something soon, I’d have to kill the one person I loved more than anything in all the worlds.
The water fae worked non-stop to keep Ceff wrapped inside the ball of water, but that only helped to slow his transformation. There was no known cure. No man had ever been bitten by the Wild Hunt and been returned to himself, I’d checked. Not even Kaye’s or Father Michael’s books had any helpful information.
Fern Greatoak had promised to ask the network of Circle members and said she would continue searching through the rubble of Kaye’s arcane library, and Father Michael had babbled on about immature demons. In the end, I’d tuned them out, and hung up.
Ceff was continuing to change, albeit slowly. He lifted pleading eyes to me, and my lip trembled.
“You need anything?” Jinx asked. “Food? Water?”
She’d remained out of the fray during the fight, but my friend hadn’t wasted a second coming to my side when we fell back to our position near the warehouses.
I sniffed, and shook my head.
“No, I’m not hungry,” I said.
She put her hands on her hips, and might have chewed me out if tears hadn’t started to flow down my cheeks. So much for the gift of numbness. If I was feeling grief, the shock must be wearing off.
“Oh, hun,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I said, even though nothing would ever be okay again, not unless we found a cure for Ceff. “But do you mind giving us a moment?”
“Sure,” she said, eyes flicking worriedly between me and Ceff. “I’ll go grab some grub. For a bunch of people obsessive about their muscles, the Hunters are surprisingly well stocked with sugary sweets. I’ll find us something good.
“Thanks,” I mumbled.
She cast one more worried glance, and stumbled off toward a group of Hunters handing out packaged snacks and bottled water. Jinx would give us the space I’d asked for, though I did notice that Torn lingered nearby. I ignored him, and turned my full attention to Ceff suspended in the ball of water.
“Ceff, you fight this and I will love you forever,” I whispered. “If you survive this, I will marry you, and fight beside you, and someday we will have a child together.”
I couldn’t be sure, but a tear seemed to fall down his face. It could have been the water, but I didn’t think so. I knew that nothing could ever replace the sons that Ceff had lost, but he loved children. He longed for a child of his own, of our own.
It was the one promise that might help him hold on.
A heavy weight settled on my shoulders, and Torn came to stand at my side.
“Careful with those promises, Princess,” he said.
“It’s not a hard one to make,” I said. “Not anymore.”
“No,” he said with a sigh. “I suppose not. You’ve changed since we first met.”
“Didn’t think I was mother material?” I asked.
“You weren’t fit to keep a house plant,” he said.
I snorted.
“Thanks a lot,” I said.
But it was true. I’d changed. I’d grown up, and I’d met someone I wanted to spend eternity with. I just hoped we were given that chance.
“You think the water will call to him?” he asked. “Keep him from becoming on
e of them?”
“I hope so,” I said. “But I’m not relying on the water alone. I’ve put in calls to anyone who might have information about a cure. Fern Greatoak is putting feelers out to the Circle, and Father Michael said he’d ask some his contacts in Rome. Even Master Janus said he’d get the Guild scholars searching their libraries.”
Torn let out a low whistle.
“The Circle, the Vatican, the Hunters’ Guild,” he said, eyebrows lifting. “Those are some powerful groups to owe a favor to.”
I shrugged. I didn’t care who I owed or what kind of insane bargain I had to make. We had to find a cure. There was too much at stake.
“If this doesn’t work, I have to kill him,” I said, meeting Ceff’s eyes through the water barrier between us.
Ceff nodded, a sad smile on his lips. Torn walked away, and the tears I’d been holding back began to fall.
Chapter 47
I was arguing with Master Janus about our next line of attack when the Scotsman went rigid. I looked over my shoulder to see Forneus and Gaius striding toward us.
Jinx ran up to Forneus, arms going around his neck, and I looked away. I was happy for them, I really was, but their reunion was a harsh reminder of what had happened on the battlefield and what I stood to lose. The barghest that bit Ceff might as well have torn my heart from my chest, and handed it over to Herne.
“Things are looking up, Lass,” Janus said. “Though it’s an odd day when the appearance of those two is a happy sight.”
It was true. If Forneus and Gaius were here, then Forneus and Benmore must have succeeded in stopping the rogue vampire uprising.
“I can do with some good news,” I said as Forneus and Gaius approached. “We’re attacking again in one hour, if I have anything to say about it, but if you took down the rogue vampires, you can use the next fifteen minutes to tell us about it.”
Janus nodded grudgingly, allowing the delay. He’d wanted to move out now, but I had a possible ace up my sleeve that hadn’t arrived yet. We couldn’t wait much longer, but he’d give me my hour.
“Always in such a hurry, Corpse Candle,” Gaius said.
“Actually, that’s the longest I can get the Guild to wait,” I said. “If Janus had his way, we’d strike now.”
“If we wait too long, Herne might try to bring his hunt to the city,” Janus said. “We cannot risk that.”
Janus and I had been arguing over our timetable and our best method of attack, but we did agree that we couldn’t wait much longer.
“Plus, the water fae can’t keep that wall of river water aloft indefinitely,” Torn said. “They’ve been working in shifts, but it can’t hold forever.”
“I know,” I muttered.
I knew they were right, but I needed more time. And if I was honest, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Ceff. Not in his current state.
“Yes, your water wall gave us some trouble in reaching you,” Gaius said. “I would very much like to hear how you came up with such a strategy, but I fear now is not the time.”
Yeah, I’m sure the vampire master would love to hear all about how we moved an entire river. Vampires aren’t fond of running water, since crossing over it saps them of most of their power. If they knew how to move rivers, it would be a real game changer.
I made a mental note to ask the water fae not to spill their secrets to the vamps. Since the two supernatural groups rarely intermingled, it was a small risk. But it was better to be safe than sorry.
“We do have some good news for you,” Forneus said, a smug smile on his lips. “Gaius?”
“Yes, of course,” Gauis said. He paused dramatically, and I tapped my foot. I had no patience for vampire theatrics. “I will lend my vampires to the fight.”
I blinked at Gaius, and looked behind him at the handful of vampires standing as still as statues at his back. It was then I realized how few had come with him. Gaius rarely left the underground protection of vampire headquarters, but Forneus had set the underground warren ablaze.
Vampires are the dried out husks of long dead humans, their magically animated bodies a horrific mockery of the living. Unless newly raised, their dry skin is pulled taught over bones. Everything that required moisture in life—eyes, organs, and fleshy tissue—were the first to go. Old vampires weren’t much more than bags of kindling.
Gaius was very, very old. He wouldn’t be able to return to vampire headquarters until the fires there were fully extinguished. He was more vulnerable than he’d been in centuries, which made the small number of guards at his back so surprising.
“Is this all that’s left of your vampires?” I asked. “Are you the only member of the vampire council to survive?”
A shred of worry crept inside the walls I’d erected, gnawing at the numbness that swallowed my head and my heart.
“Already trying to size us up, Little Corpse Candle?” he asked.
“We’ve earned your trust, Gaius,” Forneus said. “Or have you so quickly forgotten that I just saved you from true death?”
“I do not forget our debt, demon,” he said, turning the glowing empty pits of his gaze on Forneus. The eye sockets were one of the many things I hated about dealing with vampires. I almost wished I could turn off my second sight and be fooled by their glamour. Almost. “Your assistance in the matter of Yue Fei and his rogues is the only reason we are here. But I do not trust easily, and there is still the matter of our enemy’s escape.”
“I had nothing to do with Yue Fei’s escape, and you know it,” Forneus said, narrowing his eyes.
“Wait,” I said. My mind was sluggish with fatigue and grief, but I wasn’t completely comatose. “Yue Fei escaped?”
“Yesss,” Gaius said, the word dragging out in a dry, rattling hiss that raised the hair on my neck. “And he wants your blood, Corpse Candle.”
“And why would he want that?” I asked. “Was that part of Mab’s deal for helping with this distraction of hers?”
I waved a hand toward Herne and his hounds.
“That and the fact that I made sure to tell him of your involvement in the burning of his men, as he made his escape,” he said. “Consider it motivation to take out our shared enemy.”
Gaius tipped back his head, and let out a long, wheezy, movie villain laugh. His vampires, who had until now stood stock still, did the same.
For this battle, Gaius and his men were our allies, but it didn’t change their nature. Vampires were now, and always would be, the creepiest damn creatures on the planet.
Chapter 48
Master Janus and I were finally in agreement. We would attack within the hour. I walked to the writhing mass of water that encapsulated Ceff, stopping to check in with one of the kelpies who stood guard beside his king.
“How is he?” I asked. “Any change in his condition?”
“A bit more of the black fur, M’lady,” he said, averting his eyes. “And there is the paw.”
“Paw?” I asked, blanching.
“His right foot,” he said.
“Thank you,” I said.
I swallowed hard, a hand going to my stomach. I took a deep breath, and forced a smile on my face. It wouldn’t help to go over there crying and wringing my hands. I’d shed enough tears.
I walked up to Ceff’s watery prison, and waved. He lifted his head, and I had to fight not to show my fear. The fur had spread to cover his ears in spiny tufts. The thought of that fur soon sprouting from his handsome face broke my heart.
“I had an idea,” I said, knowing he could hear me. He tilted his head, but didn’t look hopeful. I suppose, at this point, I couldn’t blame him. “What if you change into your horse form?”
He raised an eyebrow, but nodded.
“Just…if it feels like you’re losing control, change back,” I said. I didn’t voice the words, but “if you can” seemed to hang in the air between us. There was no guarantee that he would have control over his change. He may not even be able to shift into his horse form. The only form that mi
ght be in his future was that of a hound of the Wild Hunt. I shook off that maudlin line of thinking, and forced hope into my voice. “I have a plan, but we need to buy you as much time as possible.”
He nodded again, and lowered himself onto all fours. The water writhed and shifted to accommodate his new posture.
“Do you think this will work?” Torn asked, his voice in my ear.
This time, I didn’t even jump.
“You need to stop doing that,” I said. “It isn’t smart sneaking up on me. One of these days, I’m going to stab you.”
“You’re avoiding the question,” he said.
“That’s because I don’t have an answer,” I said. “I don’t know if this will work, but it has to. I can’t live without him.”
“There are other suitors,” he said, staring at his fingernails, smooth crescents that I knew could become sharp claws within seconds if needed. “Some of us have grown to tolerate your royal grumpiness. You do keep life interesting.”
“Are you hitting on me, Torn?” I asked, frowning.
I didn’t think the night could get any more awful, but Torn hitting on me while I stood over Ceff’s failing body was low, even for the flirtatious cat sidhe.
“It worked,” he said, waving a hand at the column of water.
At first, I thought he meant that he’d succeeded in distracting me. Had that been his intention all along? If so, I owed him my thanks and an apology. I could be grumpy at the best of times, and tonight was the worst.
I was about to thank him, which would have been an epic error in judgement and was an example of my current mental state, when movement caught my eye from within the water.
A sleek, gray stallion stomped its hoofed feet, and shook its head. Water rippled, swirling around Ceff, but I could see him clearly. I gasped, a gloved hand flying to my mouth.
The paw, and all but one patch of black fur, was gone.
Chapter 49
Ceff wasn’t out of the woods, I knew that. The black, spiny fur was once again beginning to sprout along his spine. We hadn’t cured him, but we had bought him more time. With this battle, I hoped to do more than that.