“Get on with it and then leave,” the older woman snapped.
Her-Lang exchanged a glance with her and she clamped her bow-shaped lips shut. I was growing exasperated, and fear—fear for them—was taking a toll.
“The Alliance didn’t come to Ireland—that was just a small group. They are here in China—if that is where we are—coming through a Seoladán.”
“If that’s where we are?” the woman mocked me. “Of course that is where we are. Why take the word of a foolish human who doesn’t even know where she is?”
“You’ve seen this?” Her-Lang asked, cutting off the woman before she could continue.
“Yes, just a few miles from a three-tiered pagoda near a lake. Very close to here.”
“Troubling,” Her-Lang mused.
“Perhaps not. They may be here for negotiations,” the woman said.
“Hsein-ku may be right,” said the younger, more muscular male.
“Maggie,” Her-Lang whispered, “How many did you see?”
“Several hundred were already through, and more were on the way.”
My words affected them like a slap in the face.
“Hundreds?” Hsein-ku said. Even she didn’t seem to be quite as feisty.
“We must leave immediately—Xao, Cao, Han, protect the flank.” Her-Lang belted telepathically. “Li,” he said aloud.
The human woman I’d seen on the periphery bounded to the top of a stone plinth on a cushion of air, and then like in a kung fu movie, she leapt impossible distances from one rock formation to the next, her feet barely making contact. She was Air inclined and very talented. Li, if that was her name, stopped a few feet from the eight elders and bowed. Her-Lang explained something to her in what I guessed was Chinese. Her brown eyes widened and grew wet. Just as quickly, she gained her composure and bowed again before turning to the west.
All around him, the Ancient Ones shifted to Naeshura and shot away to the northeast. Hsein-ku began to argue with Her-Lang, when both twisted their heads to the southwest. Almost instantly they also transformed and disappeared, leaving the human woman, Li, standing alone in the stones. Along the horizon, three Ancient Ones, guards, channeled energy and fought with the leading elements of the Alliance force. They bought the rest of the clan time to escape before they died in a torrent of Aether. Li shuddered, but stood her ground. Behind me, I sensed the last of the Ancient Ones moving away.
The first Alliance Fae landed only yards from the human, who sighed and spread her feet apart on the ground, crouching, with her left knee cocked forward. Li crossed her arms in a flowing, elegant motion and twisted her upper body to face the Fae—an African-looking male. He transformed into a jackal and leapt at her. She flicked her wrist and blasted him with Air into a rock face. Then with another movement, thrusting her hand palm out, she blew the side of his head off. The Fae flashed out of existence. Oh my god, she’s a badass.
Ozara and the main force were still two miles away, but they were closing fast. Another Fae alighted on the ground behind Li. She twisted her head slightly, and then in a flourish, blocked an Air attack. The Fae, a tanned woman with bronze hair and brown eyes, bore fangs and hissed. Li hissed back at her, and attacked with a pinpoint channel of Air that missed the agile Fae by millimeters. Oh, get out of there.
The Fae leapt in one direction, but jutted back the other in an almost imperceptible move, flashing behind her human prey. The Fae swung at Li’s head, but missed. Li flipped, riding air, and countered with another blast. The Fae was simply too fast, and slid out of the way as the air cut a slice out of the stone surface. Before Li landed, the Fae seized her in the air. Li sliced downward with her hand, directing Air and severing the Fae’s invisible hold. She had a chance to move to a less vulnerable position, but she stood her ground, trying to slice at the Fae. It was useless. Li had amazing control of the Air element, but the Fae was too strong, probably on the same level as Sara. Li’s attack glanced off the Fae, sucking dirt and debris from the ground and blowing it into a plume thirty feet in the air.
With another lightning-fast strike, the Fae anticipated Li’s next move, and broke her neck. When I sensed her vertebrae turn to flakes and felt the life slip from Li’s body, my tether yanked me back to the east. Li was like me, just not as powerful. She bought the Ancient Ones the time they needed.
More Alliance streaked in from the east and moments later from the south and north. By the time Ozara settled in the rocky outcropping with Anuket, the Ancient Ones had disappeared beyond my range. I despised Anuket. She was the Jinn turned Seelie who always opposed me on the Seelie Council. Curiously, Zarkus was not with them.
Four dead was a tragedy, but had Her-Lang waited a moment longer, the entire clan would have been trapped.
The orange sun inched closer to the mountainous horizon when Ozara finally spoke.
“You see, my friends, the Ancient Ones are aiding and abetting the Rogues. We came in peace, yet they attack us and then flee like roaches.”
“That would seem to be the case,” said a light-skinned Fae I didn’t recognize.
“Hunt them down,” Anuket said. “Kill every last one of them now, or later we will have to face them in greater numbers.”
“Daji,” Ozara said, staring at a Fae with Asian features, “The Hulijing know these lands better than any. Where would your old adversaries go?”
The slender Fae didn’t appear older than fifteen, but I knew better. “They went northeast. Mount Buzhou lies in that direction. It is a place they consider sacred and keep hidden from mortals. I suggest we begin there.”
“Very well.”
Like a plague of locusts, the Alliance set off in pursuit. I projected ahead to Her-Lang.
He raced across the countryside in Naeshura with the rest of his clan. I didn’t know whether he could hear my projected thoughts, but I gave it a shot. “Her-Lang,” I said.
He kept moving.
“Her-Lang, please stop.”
He slowed and shifted to physical form, hovering a mile above the rugged surface.
“They are going to look for you at Mount Bushu or Buzzou, something like that.”
His face seemed to thaw as he smiled. “Mount Buzhue, you say?”
“Yes. A Fae named Daji told them to search there—said it was sacred.”
“Daji is Hulijing—an elder from the clan that once neighbored our territory to the north. She is leading them away from us. Mount Buzhou is not important to us—it is an old name for unremarkable rock.”
“I don’t understand?”
“Of course not. Buzhue is, as humans would say, an inside joke among my clan. It is Shangri-la, Valhalla, Avalon, Asgard, El Dorado—all practical jokes, if you will, told at the expense of human naivety. Apparently, it is now a joke on the Alliance. Daji is giving us time to escape.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Maebown, for the warning, I am grateful.”
“You’re welcome. I’m sorry about your friends.”
His thin lips pulled down at the edges. “And Li?”
“She fought bravely, but no.”
He closed his eyes, pressing the lids together tightly.
“Was she your steward?”
He nodded twice. “Yes, but she was much more than that. Li also was my pupil and my friend. She was uncommonly talented among humans, yourself excluded.”
“I’m sorry.”
He opened his eyes and nodded again. “Her loss wounds me—all their losses do, but two hundred ninety-one survived because of them—and because of you. I must return to my clan, and you to yours. Tell Bastien we will decide soon.”
Before I could ask what he meant, or say goodbye, he was back in motion.
ELEVEN
UNDERSTANDING
“We don’t have much time,” I said when my eyes opened to the bright sun of early afternoon.
A thousand Fae gathered around the cottage—Kobold, Sidhe, Ohanzee, Alfar, Olympians, and many others. Dull and worn, the cottage looked exac
tly as it did before the attack. Dana, or one of them, repaired the damage as though nothing had happened. Four of the attackers remained. They were in Quint and Plasma bindings, held several hundred yards from where I stood.
“Maggie, please explain,” Caorann said in a whisper.
I cast an Air barrier around the closest one hundred Fae. They were the eldest—the decision makers.
“Ozara has been watching us—listening in. We may not have long before she’s listening again.”
“How is this possible?” Volimar asked, worry lines appearing on his deceptively youthful face.
Tse-xo-be lowered his square jaw to his massive chest. “She has a human who can project.”
Volimar’s big green eyes slowly shifted from Tse-xo-be’s russet face to mine, the worry lines deepening on his face.
“It’s true, she has a human who can astral project like I can. I felt the consciousness when…” I paused, my gut telling me to keep Chloe’s identity a secret. “…when all of you were facing the Ancient Ones over the ocean.”
“And not before?” Dana asked. She stared at me with a quizzical expression.
Almost immediately I realized that she was in the cottage when I told Candace to talk to her mother like she was in the room with us. Damn, she recognized that. Think, Maggie.
“No, I found Ozara with a middle aged woman I didn’t recognize. The woman was in a trance of sorts. When I came here I felt the woman’s consciousness,” I deflected, avoiding Candace’s eyes. “I figured she was a mom—there were toys in the house—so I tried to play to her maternal instincts by having Candace talk about her mother. I thought it would buy us some time, keeping Ozara waiting for answers.” I lied. It was an awful lie and I didn’t think any of them would buy into it.
Dana nodded. I didn’t think for a second she believed me, but to my relief, she didn’t press the issue. I didn’t want any of them to delve deeper and learn it was Chloe, so I changed the subject. “Her-Lang said they would decide soon.”
It worked like magic. “Decide what?” Volimar asked.
“Decide whether to join us,” Bastien answered. “We spoke briefly when the rest of you left for the Seoladán. They are…hesitant.”
“Typical.” Volimar rolled his eyes.
Bastien shook his head. “Oh, but they have agreed to keep an eye on the Chinese Government and sooth frayed nerves.”
“What happened, Maggie?” Caorann asked.
“Well, when I recognized the consciousness disappear, I figured Ozara would come here and try to eliminate me, so I projected back—and you know all of that—we stopped them,” I said, nodding to the Alliance Fae being held a few hundred yards away. “But something was wrong.”
“Too few,” Caorann offered, nodding in agreement.
“There are many reasons they might have sent a smaller force here,” Ostara said.
“Give me a minute to tell you what happened, please,” I said, more frustration in my voice than I intended. My emotions were still running wild.
Tse-xo-be nodded and telepathically asked for the rest of them to be patient.
“When I realized that a consciousness was among us, I focused on Ozara. I found her leading a huge force through a Seoladán, but I didn’t know where. I searched around the Seoladán they were using until I realized I was in a mountainous area of China, or so I thought. I realized that the attack here was a diversion. Ozara could have come here when you were away—she could have killed all of us while my mind was projected. She didn’t—honestly I don’t know why, but anyway, back to what I saw. So I’m in this place, and realize that the Alliance may be targeting the Ancient Ones, so I concentrated on Her-Lang. I found him and the entire clan in an area of rough rock pillars—rocks for miles.”
“Shilin—the stone forest,” Tse-xo-be said.
The name made sense. The rocks did look like limestone conifers.
Tse-xo-be fixed his light brown eyes on mine, relaxing his posture just slightly. “It is the council area for the Ancient Ones—I last visited ten millennia ago.”
“So, when I got there, I tried to warn them that the Alliance was going to attack, but two of them were offended by the intrusion—thought Bastien had sent me to spy.”
Volimar shook his head and exhaled loudly in disgust, muttering, “Clumsy and stupid.”
I ignored him. “Those two refused to let me speak, but Guanyin was there. She’s a former Seelie—”
“We know who she is,” Ostara interrupted.
This is exasperating. “Anyway, she told them she trusted me, and eventually I convinced them to flee—just before the Alliance attacked.”
“The Alliance attacked the Ancient Ones?” Volimar said, exchanging excited looks with Zeus.
“Yes, they did, and—“
“Did the clan escape?” Dana interjected.
The continuous interruptions wore on my last nerve, but I took a deep breath and continued. “Yes.” I snapped. “Three Ancient Ones died, and so did Li, the human steward, but not before she took out a scout who would have given the Ancient Ones away.”
Bastien winced, dropping his chin to his chest. “What is it, brother?” Caorann asked.
“I have watched her family for generations. They are quite gifted, like Maggie’s. Li didn’t know me as Bastien, but I’ve had tea with her and her children on many occasions.” Volimar shook his head and Bastien snapped. “Volimar, never again will you brush aside the value of a life in my presence—not Fae life, nor human.”
“I apologize, brother. I was out of place. I am sure she was remarkable.”
“Yes, but no more so than the three who stand less than twenty feet from you. Perhaps you should engage them, learn about them. I believe it will expand your mind to the point I may find your company tolerable. That goes for the vast majority of you,” Bastien grumbled, before composing himself. “Maggie, please continue.”
“Like I said, Li, she fought off the first two, the scouts, I guess—anyway, she sacrificed herself so that the clan could get away. Had she not fought the scouts, the Alliance would have tracked the Ancient Ones. I spoke with Her-Lang just seconds ago, and that is when he said to tell you, Bastien, that they would decide in time.”
“They got away, but for how long?” Dana asked, looking to Caorann.
“Not long at all, I suspect, now that Ozara has a human who can project,” Caorann lamented.
“We should eliminate the human,” Zeus said. “That would blind Ozara.”
“Ozara will only compel another to project, and then another. Are you going to kill them all?” Sara asked with an impassioned voice.
It was a sound point, but despite being grateful, I was still miffed at her and refused to make eye contact.
“I believe the Ancient Ones will be fine,” Bastien said. “Her-Lang is quite clever. Sara is correct, of course. Killing the human is pointless. Ozara would replace her with another soon enough.”
Candace cleared her throat. “Maybe we can use it to our advantage.”
The Fae slowly turned to stare at her. A few were eager to hear what she had to say, but most seemed annoyed.
“How so?” Caorann asked.
“Mags, you know when the consciousness is near, don’t you?”
Not knowing where she was going, I stammered, “Um, yeah. I do.”
“Feed them false information,” she said.
Caorann smiled. “At least until Ozara figures out we are on to her, that will work to our advantage. Bickering, in-fighting, she will be expecting it.”
Tse-xo-be nodded, winking at Candace.
“It will not take much effort,” Zeus said. “I will just stay close to Dana and Volimar.”
There was a brief and very awkward silence before Zeus began laughing. In a few moments, they were all laughing.
* * *
Tse-xo-be and Bastien wanted to free the captive Alliance Fae. They argued it would be a show of good faith to the rest of the Alliance and might help disintegrate the
ir support for Ozara. Volimar, Zeus, Ostara, and Dana wanted them eliminated. They believed, if freed, we would only have to face our captives again. Caorann was silent, and the remaining clan Councils debated. Most of those who attacked us were young by Fae standards, and not much of a danger. One, however, posed a big problem. Hathor, the dark-skinned Fae that Sinopa defeated, was a four-million-year-old Jinn. Sinopa prevented her from shifting back to Naeshura, but she was still lethal and seemed to hold a grudge against every Fae in the Coalition, especially the Olympians. After meeting Aphrodite, I understood. Gavin warned me Aphrodite was proud and accustomed to getting whatever she wanted, but he failed to tell me she was still completely enamored with him and not afraid to show it. Ronnie referred to her as the world’s first hussy.
Aphrodite and Hathor loathed each other. When the former wasn’t twisting seductively each time Gavin was close, she exchanged caustic barbs with the latter. I thought they would come to blows several times. The debate over the Alliance Fae’s fate stretched into the evening. Exasperated by the civil tone of the debate, and Gavin’s indifference, Aphrodite spoke her mind.
“We cannot let Hathor live—nor does she deserve it. Need I remind you that she murdered Thanatos while that lecherous filth, Sekhmut, negotiated peace with you, Athena, and Apollo,” she said to Zeus.
“I remember, sister. Thanatos should be avenged.”
“Thanatos? Are you still angry about that?” Hathor said, before throwing her head back in laugher. “Really, Zeus, I have done much worse—killed more important and regal beings that Thanatos—why just yesterday I killed a deer tick. If you’re going to strike me down, king of the gods,” she mocked him, “at least find a more worthy crime.”
A drop of glowing orange Quint dripped from Aphrodite’s slender white fingers. She twisted her square, sculpted jaw over her shoulder, bunching chestnut curls on her cheek, and pursed her full lips at Hathor. She turned and moved like a housecat, leisurely twisting her curvaceous body underneath a sheer white gown, the Quint rolling in front of her sandaled feet, like a ball of glowing silly putty on a steep surface.