The power was sluggish at first, and I frowned. In Faerie, the very air burned with magic. Power flowed through every plant, rock, and tree. Here in Harborsmouth, I had to fight for every ounce of magic, so fight I did.
It was in that tug of war for power that a source of magic showed itself with crystal clarity. Harborsmouth sits on a nexus of ley lines, and those lines now glowed brighter than Herne’s creepy eyes.
More howls rose up in a chorus that should have made me sick with terror. But as my head filled with the cries of howling barghests, and the pounding of the hooves of Herne’s mount, I drew upon the ley lines that ran through the city I called home.
I’d never tapped into ley line power. I wasn’t even sure if it was something that faeries could actively do. That didn’t stop me. It was dangerous, perhaps even foolish, but it was our greatest chance of defeating the Wild Hunt.
Especially since with a quick two shot snap, I released my last two throwing knives. If the ley line magic didn’t work, I was screwed. I was out of ammo, and I had no delusions of winning this fight with a dagger from my boot and my machete.
“You weren’t planning on having all the fun were you, Princess?” Torn said, sauntering from the shadows.
In fact, the more ley line power I absorbed, the greater the night encroached on my sight. I’d lost my peripheral vision, allowing Torn to get the jump on me. Stifling the urge to spin around and check my flank, I nodded at Torn.
“Never doubted you’d have my back,” I said.
“Good answer,” he said.
Then we struggled to survive amidst a sea of teeth, claws, and bristling fur. It was only when the water fae joined us, repelling the nearest barghests, that I finally faced Herne.
So much had brought us to this moment, including my biological mother’s meddling. I couldn’t help but think it was such a waste. So many had fallen. So many had died. I’d only made it this far due to the support of my friends and allies, and the power that ran through the city’s ley lines.
If it hadn’t been for that power source, I’d be a shredded pile of hamburger squishing beneath barghest paws. I continued to draw on the nearest ley line, my teeth vibrating so hard, I worried I might be drinking my meals through a straw if I survived the night.
“IVY GRANGER,” Herne’s voice boomed. “NOW YOU WILL DIE.”
His war horse was a goliath of an animal, and its tons of rippling muscle raced toward me, bringing with it Herne and his wrath. The barghests too continued to fight, hemming us in. They’d sustained heavy losses, but so had we.
Their continued allegiance to Herne meant that Forneus still hadn’t found a way to destroy the horn. Or if he had, the object didn’t have the significance that I’d hoped. I held my machete in two hands before me, feet planted in a wide stance. The ground was slick, and I knew that I was about to die.
But I wouldn’t go down without a fight.
Herne was within meters of my position when I sent a line of flame arcing out along my blade to shoot into his mount. Torn raked the horse’s other side with his claws, and the beast stumbled.
Herne just leapt to the ground as if he’d planned to do so from the start. Show off. He swung his sword in a series of impressive moves, and my hands shook. I’d like to think the shaking was from holding in so much ley line power, but I was afraid.
I’d failed Ceff, and now he may never be free of the Wild Hunt. I sent up a silent prayer for forgiveness, and dove forward. I may not be able to save Ceff, but I’d do as much damage as I could before Herne tore me to pieces.
I lunged, running into a slender figure enshrouded in a cloak of living shadow. I blinked, sucking in a ragged breath to replace the one that had been knocked out of me, and the newcomer swung a glowing lantern at Herne’s head.
One of the shadowy antlers that flickered in and out of my second sight tore from Herne’s head with a terrible, wet ripping sound and hit the ground. Torn’s eyes went wide, but there was no time to fear this stranger. No matter the reason, he’d lent his aid and slowed Herne’s assault.
In fact, Herne looked rattled. That lantern swung at Herne, and once again rang his bell. Whoever this dark stranger was, his right hook with that lantern was impressive.
I drew my machete across one of Herne’s legs, just below the calf, in a spinning move that severed his Achilles tendon. Before he could grab me, I spun away just out of reach.
Torn lunged in for a swipe with his claws, and the stranger grabbed Herne’s remaining antler. They harried Herne in a deadly, graceful dance as if they had fought together for centuries. It was almost as if they could read each other’s minds, always moving into the exact position the other needed for maximum effectiveness.
Then the stranger began to glow. Upon closer examination, his cloak was not made up of shadows but of tormented souls. I swallowed hard, but some instinct told me to trust this man. We all carried around our demons, some just more literally than others.
Fireballs shot from the fingertips of his empty hand, their light nearly as bright as the lantern he held in the other. The fireballs were tiny, but flew with amazing speed and accuracy. Each ball of flame found its target, burning a scorching path through Herne’s mouth and out the back of his head.
I gaped at the lifeless husk that fell to the ground, the once great man now nothing more than a smoking corpse. Herne had deflected all of my magic, always managing to anticipate my move or cause the flame to bounce away from the more vital parts of his body.
“You okay, Princess,” Torn asked, moving to my side.
“He’s really dead,” I said, staring at Herne’s body, my eyes unblinking.
“I don’t think he’s the one you should be focusing on,” he said. When I didn’t lift my head, he sighed. But I was tired, so tired. The barghests were no longer attacking, but neither had they become allies upon Herne’s death. I just needed a moment to catch my breath. “May I introduce to you my friend, Willem.”
Willem?
“Hello, baby girl,” Willem said.
He pulled the cloak of tormented souls from his head with gloved hands, revealing shocking red hair and a familiar face.
“Daddy?” I asked, eyes going wide.
My father, Will-o’-the-Wisp, had come home.
Chapter 53
My father had come home. He’d traveled halfway around the world to heed my distress call, one I hadn’t even known I’d sent when I sang the wisp song in my battle against Kaye. I wanted nothing more than to sit with him and ask for answers to the multitude of questions I had. But getting answers to my questions and spending time with my father would have to wait.
Ceff’s transformation was slowed, not cured, and the remaining barghests might be without a leader, but they still tried to eat our faces off when we approached. The best bet for saving them was destroying Herne’s horn.
Forneus had attempted a variety of ways to destroy the horn, some maniacally creative, but none had damaged the thing, not even a dent. It was my turn.
No one argued when I declared that I wanted the horn. That might have something to do with the scary faeries, Torn and Willem, who strode along beside me. They hadn’t left my side, and once again I was left with the impression that these two had fought countless battles together.
But that was a story for another time.
I reached out to the ley lines, power rushing in to flood my veins. Heat pulsed through my body, and I sent wave after wave of flame into the horn. It spun and bounced, but when the fire ceased, the damned horn was just as shiny and new looking as when I started.
Stomping on it also didn’t work. I just ended up with a bruised foot, and red cheeks. I tried again with my magic, hitting it in unison with my machete, but to no avail.
Even drawing upon the ley lines until my teeth shook, I didn’t have enough power to destroy the horn. My mouth filled with the taste of salt, and I spit blood, swaying on my feet.
“Mind if I lend a hand, Princess?” Torn asked.
&
nbsp; He winked and lifted his hands, sending a stream of flickering shadows into the horn. Darkness combined with my fire, dancing along the surface of the horn, and I could feel Mab’s magic begin to fray, her hold on the Wild Hunt weakening.
I kept the fire coming, and nodded.
“More,” I gasped.
A kelpie I recognized from Ceff’s personal guard lifted his hands, and began to sing in burbling tones. Water magic joined our fire and shadow.
My body shook, racked by spasms, but I widened my stance, and held on to the ley line, sending wisp fire into the horn.
“Air,” I gasped. “We need air magic.”
A siren tilted her head back, joining her voice to the kelpie’s song. My ears popped, air pressure shifting, but it wasn’t enough.
“More,” I said, though I’m not sure anyone could hear me now.
I caught a flash of purple to my left, so quickly that I couldn’t be sure if Arachne was truly there in the crowd, but a breeze began to flow in the direction of the horn.
The horn shook harder, and started to spin in rapid circles, so fast its movement was a blur.
“Fire, shadow, water, air,” I said, frowning. “What are we missing?”
“Blood,” Gaius said, making me jump as his voice whispered in my ear.
The vampire strode past me, Forneus at his side. They were an odd pair, the short, Roman vampire with his wispy, blond hair and dry, husk of a body wearing leather armor and sandals, beside the tall, dark-haired demon in his expensive suit. I might have laughed if I wasn’t on the verge of passing out.
Gaius held his arm over Herne’s horn and, with a quick slash of his hand, tore open his wrist. Blood dripped onto the horn and began to sizzle. Oily, black smoke writhed like tentacles around the horn, joining with my wisp fire, Torn’s shadows, the kelpie’s water, and the siren’s air. The wound on Gaius’ wrist was already closing, slowing the blood’s flow, but I could sense the horn weakening, the blood magic doing its part.
Forneus tugged at his gloves, and lifted a hand toward the horn, but I tilted my head.
“Already got fire,” I said.
Not that I could keep my fire burning much longer. Forneus sent flame arcing into the horn, and smiled.
“You will find that hellfire is a different magic entirely,” he said.
“I agree,” Willem said, reaching to open his lantern and directing its heat at the horn.
They were right. The horn spun faster, wobbling and spinning until it shot into the sky. My head snapped around as a bowstring twanged to my left, but Jinx just shrugged.
“Everyone else was joining in,” she said. “It just felt right.”
I nodded, and turned back to the horn spinning in the sky. Her wooden arrow moved as if through molasses as it neared the horn, shooting through the waves of magic, but it continued to fly true. I channeled the power of the ley line, sending more wisp fire at the horn with my left hand. I shifted my stance, reached for the iron and silver dagger I kept in my boot, and threw it at the horn.
I held my breath, the salty taste of blood on my lips, as my blade and Jinx’s holy water-dipped arrow moved toward their common target. A second later, the horn imploded with a flash of blinding light.
An opening, a tear in the fabric of this world, sucked the light and our waves of magic into its maw, and snapped shut. It was as if I’d been bungee jumping, and when I was at the furthest point of stretch, someone had cut the cord.
I fell back, tumbling head over heels, and everything went black.
Chapter 54
I blinked rapidly, lifting my head from the mud-spattered pavement. Warm liquid ran down my face, and I winced. I wiped an arm across my nose to keep from sneezing, and it came away slick with blood. I forced myself to breathe through my mouth, and pulled myself to my knees.
“Give her a moment,” Torn whispered, holding my father back.
Willem glanced at my gloved hands, and nodded. I blinked, trying to make sense of everything around me. Even my dreams weren’t this weird. They were scary, yes, but not weird.
Forneus shook his head, catching my attention, and groaned. His gloves had burned away, and Jinx was bandaging his blistered hands. I hadn’t known that demons could even get burns, not until now. Father Michael would probably want a look at those injuries when we went to pick up Sparky.
These thoughts and more raced through my head as I dragged myself to my feet, turning slowly, my eyes searching through the crowd for one familiar face. There would be time to check on my friends later. Right now, I needed to know if destroying the horn had finally freed the members of the Wild Hunt from Mab’s twisted magic.
My chest tightened, and my limbs grew heavy, stopping me dead in my tracks.
Herne and the horn were gone, but Ceff and the others weren’t free. They stood stock still, gazing blankly into space.
“Ceff?” I asked. “Can you hear me?”
I stumbled toward Ceff.
He gazed ahead, eyes unfocused, and I let out a choking sob.
“Ceff,” I gasped.
It couldn’t be. It had to have worked. The spell should have been broken. But here he was unresponsive, his eyes glazed over.
I reached out, tearing off my gloves. I had to find my way to him, even if it meant losing my own freedom. I wasn’t willing to leave him trapped in this hell of my mother’s making. I would not leave him to suffer this alone. We’d vowed to be together forever.
“Ivy, no!” Willem screamed.
But his voice was already tumbling and fading away, becoming less real as I cupped Ceff’s face with my bare hands. I fell into the visions of Ceff’s past, rushing at first through the familiar visions leading up to before the summer solstice. The time of Ceff’s captivity at the hands of my uncle was tortuously slow, but every second he was enslaved by the Wild Hunt was shear, endless agony.
But that agony ended with an explosion of light and a tearing of reality that sucked away the painful, icy tendrils of Mab’s spell. Icy talons slowly retracted from my skull, but I couldn’t move, not until I felt the touch of my beloved.
I’d feared that I might have harmed her in the battle, but she felt whole as she cupped my face with bare hands. Wait, what? Oberon’s eyes, I was seeing me through Ceff’s eyes, now after the spell had been broken.
The spell had been broken.
“Ivy,” Ceff said.
I blinked, and moved to pull away, but Ceff arms enfolded me, holding me close. Was this real? Or was this some new kind of trickery, a magical booby-trap set by Mab to ensnare my mind with wishful thinking made to seem real?
“Ceff?” I asked, my hands shaking as I traced the line of his jaw.
“You saved me,” he said. “You brought me back.”
Chapter 55
It took over an hour before we made it home. Some of the faeries were celebrating our victory, while the Hunters cleaned up and tended their dead.
Surprisingly, some of the lost had returned, though the haunted look in their eyes gave me chills. Hendricks had been one of those to return, his body shifting from beast to man sometime after the horn was destroyed. Dark circles ringed his eyes, and he flinched at every loud noise, but he’d had it easy compared to some of the former members of the Wild Hunt. Some had been in hound form for so long, they could no longer speak. They howled with human and faerie throats, and more than one took his own life.
After what some of those men had seen and done under Herne’s command, it wasn’t surprising. The Guild’s medics did their best for them, but time would tell if the rest made it.
I thought of Kaye and the hurdles she would face in the coming months. I had a feeling I’d be visiting a lot of patients and praying for their progress.
Master Janus had barked out a series of cuss words when I told him about Kaye’s situation, but in the end he’d grudgingly admitted that he’d have done the same. We can’t let someone with that kind of power threaten the city, not even if they’re our friends.
&n
bsp; It was a point worth remembering, and one that Janus had repeated in earshot of my father. I guess demon lanterns and creepy cloaks of tortured souls don’t make a good first impression.
Not that it kept the vampires from staring at both longingly. It fit with their flair for the overly dramatic.
Gaius promised to scour the area before sunrise, making sure that any human who’d ventured into the industrial district had their memories wiped.
That left a bad taste in my mouth, but it was a necessary evil. And I had to admit that the vampire master’s willingness to help was refreshing. I still didn’t trust the man, but he’d kept his word and backed us up tonight.
It was a start.
Ceff finally said his goodbyes to the water fae, but only after promising that tomorrow he’d attend a welcome home feast in his honor. He’d be returning to the ocean soon, but we had today and what was left of the night.
We walked hand in hand, a fact that Torn pointed out mercilessly.
“Willem, have they asked your permission yet?” he asked, lips twitching.
“Torn,” I growled.
The damn cat was enjoying this. My father had only just arrived, and during an epic battle at that. Of course we hadn’t asked his permission to marry. We hadn’t even had a chance to tell him about our engagement.
“Permission for what?” Willem asked. “Ivy?”
“Um, well, Ceff and I are engaged,” I said.
Willem’s eyes narrowed.
“Sir, I know this is not the best timing,” Ceff said. We were still holding hands and I gave his hand a reassuring grip. “But would you allow me your daughter’s hand in marriage.”