by Kendal Davis
She teleported us all, blindly, courting catastrophe, out of the treetops.
13
Ciara
It was magnificent. Exhilarating. When Alder had suggested that I attempt to teleport, I felt my heart clench in terror for just a moment. I saw that Rook was still suspicious of Alder, but I was not. I could no longer waste time wondering about his motives. He might have plans for all of us that went contrary to my own, but if we ever came to that impasse, I would solve that difficulty then.
There was no denying that Alder was a man of mystery. We did not know where he’d come from, or how long he’d been out here in exile in the forest. What if he had been corrupted by some evil long before he came to the Academy in search of me and our fated bond? I had no real guarantee that he was on the same side as I was when it came to protecting the fae from their conniving Queen.
We materialized, all together, in the low marsh where we’d left our winged horses. They were still tethered together, but their patience was wearing thin. The leader of the herd, obviously, was the mount Alder had chosen for himself. At least he might have thought that. His steed was a strong, deep-chested sorrel stallion, clearly used to being in charge in the stables. However, I noticed that Alder’s horse was now sending a sidelong glance at my own horse, as if waiting for instructions.
It was the way they all looked at me when they thought I wasn’t looking. I tried not to seize power among them by issuing instructions, but it was somehow implied that they would all follow me. They believed they felt an impulse to protect me because they loved me. I cherished that. However, the reality was that the strength of my magical powers would accomplish whatever I needed. As long as I remembered to moderate my temper.
That was easier said than done.
As I settled on my feet, I saw Owain watching me. I could see that he was about to warn me against being a hothead. It was a little too late, perhaps. He reached for my hand. “Ciara, you did it. Not that I think you should ever do that again.”
I licked her lips, my cheeks still hot and flushed from our lovemaking within my magical dome of energy. “Really? I was kind of thinking the exact opposite.”
Alder frowned at me, apparently unwilling to be caught in any saucy humor. He certainly didn’t look like he planned to stick around here any longer than necessary. “Ciara,” he said quietly. “We have to leave here immediately. Once we see the others, we will all need to ride like the wind.”
“Good,” I answered with determined cheerfulness. “We’ll use our air magic to do that. And then, when we get back to the castle, I’m going to expect some personal time with you. You can explain to me exactly where you came from, and why you were exiled to the treetops.” There would be no more beating around the bush on any of that.
“Exiled?” His question was too polite to sound mocking, but he clearly had no intention of answering the question. “First, come over here with me for just a moment. I want to ask you something.”
Rook looked like he might be about to protest, but I sent him a sense of reassurance along our bond, and he subsided. We only had moments, anyway, until the others arrived. There was no time to waste trying to gather personal moments now. I’d meant we’d do that later.
But what Alder wanted to say to me had nothing to do with our sexual heat, or the peak of arousal he had worked to bring me to just moments ago, so close to the clouds. Instead, his face was tense and urgent.
“Ciara. When I was holding you down, just now…”
I let my eyes lock with his, knowing that he’d enjoyed it almost as much as I had. “Yes?”
“Stop that. You can’t just send me hot feelings every time you want to avoid the hard questions.”
I couldn’t really answer that. It was true, it was something I did to the other guys as well. Nobody had ever wanted me to stop before. I swallowed, trying to regain my composure. “Ok, fine. What did you want to say about it?”
He was shaking his head with concern. “Your golden bracelet. I should have known. How could I have been such an idiot?” Just as I was about to tell him that it was a harmless gift from my political handlers in the mortal world, he sent a green light of earth magic toward it.
The slim piece of metal jewelry sparked, throwing his questing power back at him.
“That’s what I thought,” he said darkly. “When I was binding your wrists with earth magic just now, the power in this thing blocked me.”
“I remember very well what we all just did together,” I said softly. “But there’s no magic in this; don’t be silly. I would have known long ago if that was the case.”
“It’s sort of the opposite. There’s something about it that draws magic, just as the mists suck it into their blankness,” he said. “But right now, that’s not even my biggest concern.”
“What is?” I’d meant to sound flippant, but all at once, I realized what he meant. “No, not again. It can’t be…” I felt my shoulders tense as I understood that the shadow from above was closing in on me. Twice already, I’d seen darkness gather as I thought of Queen Hellebore. This time, it looked like she was actually here, after listening in for so long.
The ancient Queen of all the fae shimmered into existence in front of me and Alder where we stood, a little bit away from my other two men. When they saw her, though, they hurried to my side. She was a wrinkled shell of a painfully-aged woman, her magic no longer strong enough to keep up the facade that she was truly an immortal fae.
She was not. I knew better than that now. She was a sham, a jumped up mortal who was barely hanging on here in a place she did not belong.
Just like me.
Her voice creaked out as she raised a withered finger at me. “Ciara. I knew it was you.”
“For many reasons, I imagine,” Alder said crisply.
“Indeed,” Queen Hellebore answered, a note of familiarity ringing through that single word. She did know him.
Alder stared at her. “This golden bracelet on her wrist is yours, isn’t it?” He did not touch it, but I suddenly wished he would grab it from me and toss it over the hills, into the woods. For whatever reason, I could not.
“Of course not. The Directors gave it to you as a gift, did they not, my dear?” She smiled at me, her cheeks crinkling like paper pages in the oldest book ever made.
“Why are you here?” I asked bluntly. “We have to leave. All of us are in great danger here. When the others come back, we will fly immediately.”
“I may travel anywhere in my own land, of course,” she reproved me. “I have come at this exact moment, though, to tell you that I need the services of an Eternal Assassin.”
“Are you serious?” I peered at her, aware that she possessed a sick sense of humor. “There’s nobody here you could possibly kill, except me. I’m the only mortal. Well, and you, of course.” Some part of me took pleasure in needling her about her human origins. I knew she was deeply worried about her continued aging.
Owain was watching her warily. “But you don’t mean here, do you, Hellebore? You wish to have one of us kill a mortal in Ciara’s own world. That may be the assigned task of the Eternal Assassins, but I decline.”
“You can’t,” she cackled. “You are all sworn to me. That means I can press any one of you into service at any time. If it means that you can’t accompany your little mortal here, always watching her to keep her safe, then so be it.”
“That’s a low trick,” I seethed. “We are sworn to you only because we wanted to stay at the Academy. Not because we actually plan to kill anybody. Ever.”
Alder sighed, his face suddenly older than it had been. “That is not how fae magic works. You swore to work for her. Now you must. There is no provision for laying a new oath over another one. All it means is that you would be forsworn.”
She cackled so hard that she hiccuped, leaning against the cane she created from her own fire magic. “That is more true than you know, man of air. Or shall I say aloud that you are an earth fae now?”
&
nbsp; Belatedly, I recalled that she had planned to steal not only my earth powers, but my earth mate. If she had wanted to take him as her own before she ever knew it was Alder, how much more might she want him now that she’d realized she already knew him? Now that she was here in the presence of his raw, sexual heat?
He did not look at her, but he could not ignore her entirely. “Don’t care. Or none of your business. Something like that.” He sent out a green haze that pressed against her like wind on a clifftop. “Just leave Ciara alone. You don’t have any power over her.”
“Don’t I, though?” she hissed.
As she spoke, I felt the cool gold of my simple bracelet begin to warm against my skin. I recalled the feeling well. There had been other times that I’d wondered if the bracelet reacted to my own dark side. When I’d had murderous thoughts in the past, the metal had heated and glowed.
Perhaps it was time to admit that I was more like Hellebore than I knew.
“How did you come to have fae powers when you are mortal, like me? And how did you rise to become Queen of the fae?” I stepped back from her, wanting to place as much distance as possible between us. “Nothing about you makes sense. If you were a Tithe, like me, you’d have more sympathy for how challenging it’s been to come to Fae Academy.”
“You love the Academy,” she sneered. “Admit it.”
“I do now, yes. But I had to unlearn everything I’d ever studied before. The Directors who trained me acted like it would be easier than this.”
“It is never easy having to give up what you love.” She sounded muted now, suddenly full of regret.
Alder stepped between us. “I know that voice, Hellebore. You think you can lull her and then attack, but you are wrong. Ciara is stronger than you in every way.”
“Yet not in this one. She has sworn an oath and she must kill. I require it.”
Before he could answer the Queen, a shouting came from the air above us. It was Evana, Lily, and Finley. They were whooping with excitement, as if they were on a javelin field, securing a contested point. In her left hand, close to her chest, Evana held a tiny light, bound with power.
“They have it,” I murmured. “Don’t you see? They have what we came for.”
Alder interrupted me. “Good. You will all take the horses back to the stables. Professor Thorn will meet you there.”
Hellebore’s shark-like eyes focused on him. She might be physically spent in this lifetime, but the force of her will was still intense. “You will let them go without you?”
Alder bowed his head, his words grating out from his lips. “They will be safe. For now, all I want is to get Ciara to safety, away from you.”
I shook my head. “That isn’t what’s important. The Queen has already tried to destroy me and failed. I’m not afraid of her. We just need to…”
I trailed off as Alder sent me a suggestion along our bond. He wanted me to hold back from mentioning the spirit. Why? It was true that I could beat the Queen right now. I had only held back from doing that last time because I believed in showing mercy to an elder.
Apparently, he did not.
He did not meet my eyes as he stepped away from me, toward her.
“If you need some help from these quarters, Hellebore, then I will step up. Show me what you want done.”
I must not have heard correctly. He’d just listened to her saying that she wanted us to take a mortal life.
Her eyes gleamed with evil as she surveyed him. “Good. You will come with me, back where you belong. And these others may return to their minor games of questing for power.”
Alder did not look back at me. For whatever reason, he was choosing her over me.
He walked away, his feet carrying him at her side until they both vanished.
When Owain urged me to mount my horse, I did. I rode Incantus without seeing, without thinking. For we had won what we came for on the quest to the treetops. We had the spirit, safely bound and ready to return to her home at the Academy.
But I no longer had Alder.
Just as I was beginning to understand how much I needed him, he’d left me. He followed the Queen now. And he was willing to kill my people for her.
14
Owain
We all tried not to watch as Ciara’s hopes were dashed. It didn’t make any sense. Among fae, the bond of a fated mate was always right. Always true. It was so rare as to be almost impossible for both partners to feel the attraction of an elemental connection and then for one to shun it.
Somehow, we were all beginning to understand that everything about Alder was unexpected. And that was not a good thing. Sure, some people liked excitement or unpredictability in their relationships. This was not that.
I reined in my horse as we approached the stables of Fae Academy. He was a proud stallion, not wanting to show any break in his training, but he also knew he was home. He would have galloped through the air for the last few miles if I’d let him. When I dismounted, I strode immediately to Ciara, taking her in my arms.
She leaned against me for just a moment before she took a deep breath and straightened. I knew well that she had spent the long ride processing what had happened. Alder had truly turned away from their bond. His actions went directly against what Ciara wanted and what she stood for. But she was not going to weep, not here.
“I’m fine, Owain,” she said with an attempt at a chuckle. “I have felt you worrying about me for the entire journey. You can stop, really. Alder made his choice. He works for the Queen.”
As we all left the stables to make our way to the castle, we clustered around Evana. She still held the tiny light of the spirit against her. We had all reinforced the bonds that held the spirit where we wanted her, making sure there would be no early freedom for the creature.
“It feels so odd to hold such a powerful force,” Evana said as we walked. “How can it be that a magical being strong enough to hold elements in perpetual balance could be unknown to us in these times?”
Rook elbowed me. “I can’t believe that Owain, here, thought it was just a stupid legend. If we’d kept on with that kind of thinking, the castle would be in ruins right now.”
I pushed him with one hand, wishing we could be jovial enough to distract Ciara from her loss. I knew we couldn’t. “That’s right, Rook. Except that the reason the Academy is still standing is that Ciara has personally been holding it together. That spell is slipping now, I think.” I’d meant to say something supportive to her, but as I spoke, I realized that we had arrived at the last possible second.
Ciara lifted her chin and met my eyes. “Yes. I can’t hold things together much longer.” She looked at the bright light of the spirit, then at the gray, stone walls we were approaching. “Where are we supposed to release her?”
“I don’t think it matters at this point,” I answered. “She is home. Can you feel it from her? This is the only place she has ever wanted to be, since the castle was raised. The confusion of the mists is gone from her now.”
Evana was now using both hands to try to contain the magical creature she held. We were still twenty feet or so from the wide, stone stairs that comprised the entrance to the Academy. Where there had once been only jagged rock, now there were green vines and luxurious flowers surrounding the place. Ciara’s earth magic had brought that when we were first-years.
She looked sadder now than I’d ever seen her. “If I hadn’t brought the earth magic with me in my gifts, then the castle would never have become destabilized like this. I would never risk this place, not knowingly.”
“Not even to bring back something so important to the fae?” I wanted her to know how valuable she was. “Your bravery in coming to our land, and to the Academy, is what restored the fourth element to our powers.”
“But it changed Alder from an air fae to an earth fae, somehow. And I know that is why he was caught in the mists, and then why the spirit of the castle was too, when she went to free him.” Her eyes were dark with regret.
Evana held the spirit in her palms, outstretched toward the entrance stairs. Thankfully, we had arrived at the dinner hour, when everybody was surely in the Great Hall. I’d seen nobody at all in our walk from the stables. Each of us, without asking, knew we would be needed to help peel our own element from the cage that surrounded the spirit. As we did, her glow became brighter until it hurt my eyes to look.
In an instant, when we’d removed all the elements that bound her, the tiny spark of a spirit sped through the air to the nearest stone in the walls. Then, with no more fuss at all, she vanished, melting into the gray surface.
“I don’t think we’ll ever see her again,” said Evana sadly
“But she will be here nonetheless,” I said.
Ciara looked around us all in wonder. “Can you feel it? She is shifting everything back into alignment. She is balancing all the elements that run through this place. I can finally let my own spell drop.” For the first time since we’d flown from the marshes, her lips curved into a real, relaxed smile.
“We did it,” Lily said jubilantly. “You should have seen the way the mists cleared away, when we were trying to catch her. We were trapping her for her own good, of course. But the way the mist went for you, Ciara, was fun to watch.”
“Thanks,” Ciara said drily, with a tiny smile. “I had fun, too.”
Lily narrowed her eyes at her new suitemate. “Do you know who else we’ll never see again?” She licked her lips as if she wanted to taste her sharp words. “Alder, that’s who. I mean, Professor Alder. I guess we’ll need to get a replacement at the Academy for his classes.”
Ciara spoke evenly. “There is no possible replacement.”
An amused drawl from behind made us all turn around. “I’m glad to hear you say that, Ciara. I’m back now, of course. I wish I’d been able to tell you that I’d be following you so soon. It was just a matter of doing the Queen a quick favor.”