Ozara’s face, the embodiment of evil, twisted into a hideous sneer. “This is your fault, Maebown. This will happen to everyone you love. I’m coming for you, now.”
Ozara flung the writhing girl back in the house, where the screams finally fell silent. She shifted to a white owl and raced back north across the desert, the opposite direction from her stronghold. The Alliance is on the move.
Ozara shot to the next house and set it ablaze.
“Stop or I swear to god you’ll pay.” I projected.
“There is nothing you can do to stop me, Maebown. You’ll just have to watch them die.
“Why?”
“Your species is vermin. The extermination begins now.”
She’s trying to keep you occupied. Ignore her—get to the Alliance now, they’ve never been more vulnerable. Though I wanted to try to protect each family from her, I knew my intuition was right. I’d make her pay. “You’re afraid to face me, aren’t you?” I projected.
She cackled. “There will be nothing left of Amarillo in an hour,” she said, moving north again. “You have a front row seat.”
“Bitch, there will be nothing left of the Alliance in fifteen minutes. It’s standing room only and the show starts whether you’re there or not.”
I concentrated on Zarkus and accelerated away from Ozara, though I felt her shift to Naeshura and flash forward.
I found him, and but only recognized about a third of those I expected. Where are the others? Ix-Chel was not among them. Maybe she took my warning to heart.
Zarkus and his force were travelling in a swarm, zigzagging around one another with Zarkus in the middle group. He had them wrapped in Aether. As soon as I pierced the veil, he felt me and sounded a warning. The Fae darted toward him in once mass of Fae energy. I picked off two dozen stragglers and entered the barrier inches from him. With all the concentration I could muster, I forced Aether into his body. A thousand Fae shot away when his barrier disappeared. He and I struggled for control, and though he was considerably weaker than Ozara, his connection in physical form was greater than mine. I maintained my scissor lock around his waist and as he struggled to free himself. I located as many Alliance Fae as I could and made a deadly pass. Twenty-six, twenty-seven, and three more makes thirty, I counted. Ozara materialized in the form of an owl and rallied the rest around her, strengthening her Aether barrier to the point that I could not penetrate it. While I couldn’t count them all, I sensed that only about seven hundred returned to her. Beyond the few dozen I’d killed, the rest had scattered to the wind.
I concentrated on Ix-Chel. She was a hundred miles away and heading east at incredible speed. The former Seelie Council member travelled among a force of more than a thousand, with Anuket, and the Jinn Elder, Isis. I zeroed in on Anuket and lashed out with Aether. She was incredibly fast and apparently waiting for my attack. She disappeared like Tse-xo-be did, leaving my blast of Aether to disappear into the heavens. Get closer before shooting, you idiot.
The remaining Fae dispersed, some shifting to Naeshura, some just plummeting to the ground. Composed primarily of Jinn and Ometeo, this contingent was unprotected from my attack. Had I wanted, I could have eliminated each one. I closed on Isis and Ix-Chel as they dove for the ground. “Stop.”
Isis, who’d taken the form of a hawk, channeled enormous energy and froze in place. “Do you plan to kill me here, Maebown? The sky over Kansas, this hideous patch of ground, is this where I am to meet my end?”
“I do not wish to hurt you,” I projected. “Anuket, well, she deserves whatever she gets—but I do not want to harm you or your clan.”
“Do not toy with me, human. Take me now so that I suffer no longer under the rule of a tyrant Fae or a malevolent child.”
“I’m not malevolent—if I were, you’d be dead.”
In the form of an enormous gold eagle, Ix-Chel soared around Isis and stopped a few feet away. “You mean to keep your word?”
“Yes, I meant every word of what I told you in the desert. If you take your clan and leave now, I will spare you. If you come after my friends or family, I’ll pick every one of you off.”
“Do not believe her,” screeched the disembodied voice of Anuket.
I concentrated on her, nothing but her, and made a connection, if only for a moment. She was to my right, at eleven o’clock, and a hundred yards away—too far for a clean shot, and moving so erratically, I promptly lost her.
“Heed my words. All of you. Ozara will meet her end before the sun sets—you don’t want to be on the wrong side of this conflict. I’m giving you your freedom. Take it.”
I knew time was limited. I needed to locate the rest of the Alliance, and there were more of them somewhere. Anuket’s and Zarkus’ forces combined left nearly fifteen hundred Fae unaccounted for. Nevertheless, I waited to see what Isis and Ix-Chel would do. Anuket didn’t reappear, but I knew she was watching as well. Floating between the storm clouds and the soggy Kansas landscape, a few Fae transformed into Naeshura and began moving north. Good, I thought.
Ix-Chel and the Ometeo shifted to Naeshura and moved north. The remaining Fae gathered around Isis, apparently waiting for her to take the lead.
Anuket’s disembodied voice rumbled through the gray sky. “They are dead.”
“Then so are we,” Isis said. “You should come with us, Sister.”
“You fool,” Anuket barked. “I lead this clan. We’re going to the Weald.”
“You lead no one. Decide now where your loyalties lie. Will you defend your clan or do you intend to chase after Ozara’s ambition like a trained dog?”
“You will die first,” Anuket said.
“Materialize and we shall see about that.”
After a long pause, Isis transformed to Naeshura and took half the remaining Fae with her. Five hundred remained. A huge number, to be sure, but far fewer than before. I wrapped Aether around a cluster of thirty and reluctantly collapsed it. Fae darted in different directions. I pursued a dozen that flashed east, dispatching each one a few seconds apart.
The remaining Fae were miles away and my internal alarm went off. I’d spent too much time chasing stragglers. I needed to know how close Ozara’s main force was to the Weald, and I still didn’t know where the other elders were, or the massive group they were leading. While I was tempted to look for the larger group first, my gut told me to concentrate on Ozara.
The connection to her snapped me east. The miles rushed by drawing me closer to Arkansas and the Weald, increasing my trepidation. You spent too much time hunting Fae that couldn’t hurt you. Ozara set you up again—she knew what you’d do and she sent you on a wild goose chase. “Shut up,” I growled at myself.
Furious, I pressed forward and found her, Zarkus, and nearly eight hundred Fae—Seelie, Unseelie, and former Rogues—lurking in the woods a few miles from the Weald. It was good news that less than eight hundred had made it. They still outnumbered the Ohanzee by more than two to one, but it might have been worse—just a few hours ago, Zarkus had more than twelve hundred.
“She’s on the second island with the Ohanzee, Zeus, and Aphrodite,” said a diminutive brunette.
“Are all of them there?” Ozara asked.
“No, four are missing.”
“Who?” she demanded.
The dark sylph studied Ozara’s face. “I didn’t see Poseidon, Gavin, or Sara.”
“That’s only three. You said four were missing. Who else is missing?”
“The pa-thruck, Drevek. He is missing.”
“Her family?”
“Gone,” said the tiny Fae.
“Are you certain?”
“I searched the structures and the caves—they aren’t on the Weald. Their scent leads south.”
Zarkus growled. “Undoubtedly, Poseidon and the rest are hiding the chimp’s family.”
Ozara nodded. “Perhaps they are. When we finish here, I will hunt them down myself.”
“Then shall we begin?’ Zarkus asked.
“Is Lucien in place?”
“Yes,” the diminutive Fae said, nodding timidly.
“And the Maebown is awake?”
“Yes, she is shielding them with Aether.”
“Good. Draw them out just like we planned. Tell Lucien to begin—but to stick to the plan.”
“And Anuket?” Zarkus asked.
Ozara shook her head. “We have to assume the girl intercepted them. We don’t need them.”
I hovered over the tiny Fae as she circled north staying clear of the Weald. She slipped past the north border of the property and kept moving. Where are they? Fifteen minutes later, well east of Eureka, my tether yanked me when I sensed more than a thousand Fae huddled in the woods. The tiny Fae dropped to the forest floor.
“It’s time,” she said. “Level the town, stay away from the Weald.”
Oh hell no.
Lucien nodded. His narrow, deep-set brown eyes unsettled me. I knew immediately he would carry out Ozara’s plan.
I wasn’t going to let him. With a thought, I moved into the midst of them. I studied the group and concentrated. A dome of Aether formed over the group in the center. Fae darted for the collapsing edges. Some escaped, but I trapped over a hundred—including Lucien.
“You should not have come.”
“You intend to kill my clan?” he cried.
“You brought them here—you’re responsible for this, not me,” I projected as he crouched and snarled. “If you want to save your clan…you will leave now.”
“And if we do not?” he growled.
“There is no place you can hide. I will hunt every last one of you down.”
“All the more reason to see this finished,” he said to the dismay of those around him.
“I should kill you now—I have every right. You threaten my clan—Eureka is my hometown.”
Lucien tensed, his eyes searching for the foe he couldn’t see. “Reckless killing machine. You would kill an entire clan—you’re worse than Ozara.”
“She wiped out the Kabouter—I saw it with my own eyes.”
“Liar,” he barked. “You blame Fae for human treachery. You are not worthy of inhabiting this place.”
“I don’t lie. Ask Freya. She survived the attack.”
“Freya is dead,” he growled, his voice booming off the Aether barrier.
“Freya is alive—she is my ally. She is my friend.”
“I do not believe you.”
“You will see she is alive. I saved her from Ozara.”
“Auuckk, filthy human lies.”
“Freya said you were uncommonly dense.”
Lucien squinted, making his eyes all but disappear.
A tall dark Fae laughed.
“Carlan, choose your next words carefully.” Lucien said.
“Oh, and are you going to kill me?” he asked. “You know as well as I do that Freya would say exactly that.”
Lucien grumbled. “That proves nothing.”
“She is alive. So are two others—the only survivors of her clan. I could kill you now, but that isn’t what I want.”
“Assuming what you say is true, nothing has changed. You will be dead soon. If Caorann could not defeat them, you and the Ohanzee are doomed.”
“You have a choice. You must know Ozara will kill you when this is over—she’s been slowly wiping out the elders for weeks, leaving nothing but the weakest. She’s eliminating everyone who stands in the way of complete domination. You can help me and together we will forge a new future.”
He rolled his eyes.
“I don’t know what that future is, yet, but it can be one where Fae and human coexist.”
“We’ve been living that lie already,” Carlan said, quickly changing demeanor.
“You’ve been living in the world she created. All of this is orchestrated—every rule has been set in place for this moment. I am a Maebown—I’m here to make sure that balance is restored. We, humans I mean, can learn a great deal from you. We can coexist. This is our world, make no mistake, and I will do whatever is necessary to preserve my species, but I also know that there is room for your kind as well.”
“We have tried that before.”
“And we will try again. The only question for you is whether you want to be a part of that world, or a memory—a bedtime story human parents tell their children.”
“There is a third option,” Lucien said with a smug tone.
“Yes, a third option—for those of you she chooses to spare, you can be immortal slaves—at least until you grow too powerful. The decision is yours.”
“The benevolent human is going to show mercy?” Lucien said.
“No, the human is counting on Freya being wrong about you. But know this, if one person is harmed today, if one brick is cracked, and if I do survive, I will have no mercy. And if you haven’t figured it out, I can find you anywhere in my world…or yours.”
“She expects us to raze the little burg, to leave no survivors.”
“Yeah, I know, to draw me out. You’re Fae, right? Create a diversion, a convincing one.”
The tether attaching my mind to my body snapped and pulled me back to the Weald. Something was happening.
Thunder cracked overhead and echoed off the lake and flat-topped mountains. Lightning struck the Aether barrier where my allies took refuge and the ground shook beneath our feet. I spread my senses wide but didn’t find Ozara. This was just the first wave, comprised of weaker Unseelie and Seelie Fae. A decoy. I spread my mind deep under the island and found more powerful beings seeping up through the limestone. I projected again, forcing my mind deep in the earth. The first Fae flashed deep underground. The next, a few seconds later. The remaining Fae retreated from their subterranean attack. I projected to the surface and hovered close to Billy’s Aether barrier. Make it convincing.
I concentrated on two Fae closest to the island. They were former Seelie guards—I didn’t know their names, but I did recognize them. A bit of sadness crept through my emotions as I directed green bolts of Aether from the surface of the barrier into the sky. Two flashes and the lightning stopped. In the lake I sense a few more—they were hiding behind a Water energy barrier. They learned my trick. Unfortunately for them, they hadn’t quite mastered how to blend in. To my senses, they practically glowed. Aether parted the rough surface of the lake in steaming columns, spreading out like fingers grasping for keys. Flashes briefly lighted the surface as each tendril found its mark.
I expected the quick dispatch of Alliance Fae would bring a moment of peace, but there was no calm. Within moments, the next wave of furious attacks began. They came from old Unseelie who had been hiding in the nooks and crannies of the Ozarks that wrapped around the Weald like a rumpled blanket. Weak earthquakes shook the island, lightning strikes struck the woods around us, and Fae masked by Clóca dipped in and out of the roiling black clouds as they directed assaults. They weren’t causing any damage, but they were annoying as hell. They were staying far enough back to make it impossible to hit. Each of my assaults was nearly instantaneous, but the split second it took for Aether to reach their positions was enough time for them to dodge.
Amadahy turned her head spastically, focusing on each incursion. She kept her hands, my hands, out in front of her, twisting her body as though she was directing each charge of energy. She was playing me expertly—she…I…looked frantic and pissed. I was angry and I was tired. Thirty minutes passed with two more underground attacks, half a dozen from the lake, and hundreds from the Air. They could wear me out. That’s the plan, isn’t it? To exhaust me? “We’ve got to use that to our advantage.” How? “Shut up, I’ll figure it out.”
The storm grew more intense as the Fae pulled more energy. Inside the barrier, Wakinyan remained stoic, energy boiling on his hands. I compelled myself inside. “They’re waiting until I grow fatigued. Amadahy, can you play with that?”
She nodded.
“I think some of us might venture away from the shield—inflict a little d
amage and try to draw Ozara and Zarkus into the fray,” Wakinyan said.
Before I answered, an enormous flash lit the stormy sky, washing the color out of everything. It was followed by several others, causing my tether to yank me back to the barrier. Billy’s gray eyes scanned the eastern horizon, his teeth grinding.
“It’s nothing,” I projected. “Lucien and the main force are east of here. Ozara gave orders to destroy Eureka. They’re trying to draw us away.”
“They will expect you to go, Maggie.”
“I know, you need to restrain me—make it convincing.”
The Aether barrier surged as Amadahy made a mad dash for the edge of the bluff. Wakinyan lifted her by the arms and held on as she kicked and screamed. The intensity and frequency of the attacks increased as Billy played with the intensity of the Aether barrier. Through the green energy, I felt several of the Unseelie draw closer than they had—much closer than they should have come. I drifted through the barrier and annihilated six before they could escape. A thunderous explosion on the top of the shield rocked the island and filled the damp air with residual energy. I felt the source just briefly. Anuket had made it to Arkansas. That meant that a few hundred more Fae had just entered the brawl. Lightning, Air, Quint, and Plasma crisscrossed the outcropping, sheering off trees and gouging out chunks of limestone bluff. Shit, my family—my body.
A small bubble of Aether separated from the rest with Sinopa, Wakinyan, and Enapay inside. In an instant it dispersed and the three disappeared. Lightning bolts redirected in the sky, skewing at a hundred and eighty degrees and flashing back into the clouds. It made me nervous that three of the Ohanzee elders were exposed, but it was awe-inspiring to watch them fight unbridled. Wakinyan drew first blood, swooping out of the sky on massive black wings to drop the halves of an Unseelie. It flashed before touching the ground.
Over the first island, Sinopa materialized as a white eagle just long enough to bisect an attack swarm of Seelie with Quint. Plasma shot into the darkened sky where she’d been, and I felt Anuket for a second. Sinopa was one of the original ten, and more powerful, but I knew Anuket was lethal. Plasma and Quint lit up the second island as I tried to get my bearings on the Egyptian goddess. She was elusive. Plasma struck something in the air a hundred yards above the second island, and the white eagle reappeared. Dozens of Fae converged, directing attack after attack at Sinopa. I concentrated on Anuket, compelling myself to her. My mind raced to a position behind Sinopa. I watched her deflect each volley, and at this distance, she appeared to be wounded. I knew Anuket was close, but I couldn’t target her.