By Blood and Magic

by Jamie A. Waters

  “Sabine, stop!” he shouted, scrambling back to his feet. “Dammit. It’s me. We’re allies! You have to stop attacking me. I’m trying to help you find the Merfolk woman, remember?”

  Sabine paused again and blinked at him. “Malek? Merfolk? How are you in the Silver Forest? Where’s Blossom?”

  He held up his hands and cautiously approached her, aware any second she might succumb again to her hallucinations. “Blossom will be here any minute. She’s trying to find the antidote flower to help you. We’re not in the Silver Forest. Look around. It’s the desert. There are no trees around here. Do you remember your hand hurting? An insect stinging you?”

  “My hand?” Sabine frowned, and she looked down at her hands. One of them was red and swollen, a sign of the venom at work. She swayed. Falling to her knees, she held out her hands and whispered, “So much blood. Why is there so much blood? I couldn’t save her.”

  “Shhh.” Malek knelt beside her. Grasping her hand gently, he searched, but there was no sign of any blood. He wrapped his arms around her, and she buried her head against his chest. “There’s no blood, sweetheart. Who couldn’t you save?”

  “My mother,” she whispered, curling her fingers into his shirt. He ran his hand down her back, mentally willing Blossom to hurry.

  Stroking her hair, he murmured, “Your mother isn’t here, Sabine. It’s not real. You’re safe.”

  “Do you hear that? He knows I’m here.” Sabine tensed in his arms, and she lifted her head. Her eyes widened in fear as she stared at something only she could see. Pushing Malek away, she urged, “He’s almost here! Go! I can’t protect you from him.”

  Malek frowned and gripped her arms. “Sabine, stop. It’s not real. No one is here but us. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  She clutched her head and winced. In a strained voice, she whispered, “What’s happening to me?”

  “You have to fight it,” he urged, still holding on to her. “Look at me, Sabine.”

  Sabine lifted her head to meet his gaze, but she kept blinking as though she was having trouble focusing on him. She pressed her hand against his chest and asked, “You’re real? Not an illusion?”

  He nodded. “No illusions. Just keep looking at me.”

  “I found it!” Blossom shrieked, carrying what appeared to be a small white stone.

  “No!” Sabine yelled and lifted her hand as though preparing to attack. Malek tackled Sabine, knocking her to the ground. Silver sparks cascaded into the air from her thwarted attack.

  “Dammit, Sabine,” he growled, holding her down as she fought against him. Her magic pulsed up his arms like thousands of tiny pinpricks. If he hadn’t been bound to her with a connection of her own making, the pain would have been excruciating. “It’s Blossom. You don’t want to hurt her.”

  “Sabine, it’s really me. I’m your friend,” Blossom said, landing beside Malek and dropping the pod beside him.

  “It’s a trick,” Sabine managed to say, still fighting with him. He winced as she managed to land a particularly brutal blow. “Where’s Blossom? What have you done to her? I’ll kill you if you hurt her!”

  “She’s confused and thinks you’re someone else,” he said to the pixie, still struggling with Sabine. She was stronger than she looked and didn’t mind playing dirty. Now that she realized her magic wasn’t affecting him, she was trying to reach for her weapons. Without sparing the pixie a glance, he yelled, “Get out of here, Blossom. Leave the pod and stay back.”

  “Malek, you can’t trust him. That’s not Blossom,” Sabine whispered and grabbed one of her knives. “That’s how he fooled my mother. He’s the master of illusions.”

  “It’s not a trick. Blossom’s safe. I swear it.” Malek snatched the weapon out of her hands and tossed it safely out of reach. With Blossom hiding, Sabine had stopped fighting him so much. He suspected the pixie was still hovering nearby and shrouded in her glamour. “Sabine, listen to me. We have the antidote. If I let you go, will you help me?”

  “We have to kill him, Malek,” she pleaded, her lavender eyes shimmering with tears. “He’ll destroy everyone I care about if we don’t. I can’t lose you. I can’t lose Blossom. Please, help me find her.”

  His heart broke at her words, but he needed to be careful or she might confuse him too. Her awareness seemed to flicker back and forth. One moment he was her ally, and the next, her enemy. He reached over and grabbed the pod Blossom had dropped onto the ground.

  Deciding it would be best to play along, he replied, “I know. We’ll find Blossom together. But first, you need to eat this. It’ll make everything better.”

  “Are you trying to trick me?” Sabine frowned and her eyes narrowed. “How do I know you’re really Malek?”

  He hesitated, trying to figure out a way to prove himself to her. Shifting forms again that quickly would be too dangerous. Not only that, but he couldn’t communicate with her in dragon form. There was one way to convince her, but he wasn’t sure it would work.

  Holding her down, he lowered his head and kissed her. She started to struggle, but he refused to release her. Finally, her body relaxed against his and she kissed him back. He released her hands, and she immediately wound her arms around his neck. At least he’d found a way to fracture her hallucination.

  He broke their kiss and pressed his forehead against hers. “I swear this isn’t a trick, Sabine. It’s me, but I need you to take the antidote. Everything will make sense once you do. Will you trust me? Please?”

  Sabine stared at him and slowly nodded. He sighed in relief and handed her the pod. She hesitated, so he gripped the wrist holding the antidote and said, “It’s safe. I swear it.”

  She nodded and put it in her mouth. Her nose wrinkled as though it tasted bad, but she swallowed it down. He sat back, watching for any indication the hallucination was taking hold again.

  Sabine blinked several times and then sat up. Malek waited, prepared to tackle her again if necessary.

  Sabine frowned and looked around them. She rubbed her temples and whispered, “I don’t understand. We’re still in the desert. It was so real. I could have sworn…” She shook her head and studied her hands. “There’s no blood. My hands were covered in it.”

  He took the hand which had been red from the insect sting and turned it over. Her skin was once again smooth and unblemished. Whatever was contained in that pod acted faster than he’d expected. “How do you feel?”

  She frowned and looked across the desert landscape. “Strange, like I’m still not completely here. I thought I was back in the Silver Forest. I saw my father kill my mother again. I tried to save her just like I did then, but…” Her voice trailed off, and a tear slid down her cheek.

  “Will you tell me what happened?” He sat beside her and put his arm around her shoulders. The moon was rising overhead, and the temperature was already cooling. The thin material of her dress wouldn’t offer much as far as warmth was concerned.

  Sabine leaned against him. “I told you before about my parents not being a love match. It was simply a way to further their family lines.”

  Malek nodded. “Yes, you mentioned the Elders had pushed them into it.”

  Sabine was quiet for so long, he thought she might have changed her mind about confiding in him. He was reluctant to push her too much, but if anything like this ever happened again, it might make a difference. If he’d taken a little longer to get to her, he might have lost her. That possibility was unfathomable.

  His arms tightened around her, and he said, “Sabine, I need you to talk to me. What happened with your father?”

  She pulled away from him and frowned. “He killed her and blamed me for it.”

  He turned her to face him and gripped her shoulders firmly. “No. There’s something more you’re not telling me. Why were your hands covered in blood? Why were you convinced it was a trick?”

  Sabine pushed him away and stood. “Enough, Malek.”

  “Dammit, Sabine,” he snapped and rose to
his feet, aware his fear for her was overshadowing his judgment. “If something like this happens again, knowing the truth might be the only way to reach you! I almost lost you just now. You could have killed Blossom. What more has to happen for you to open up to me?”

  “Knowing the truth wouldn’t have changed anything,” she retorted, her hands curling into fists. The silvery marks on her skin pulsed with her power, a sign of her temper taking hold.

  “Then tell me and let me be the judge! You’ve trusted Bane and Dax with your secrets. What else do I need to do for you to trust me?”

  She squeezed her eyes shut. “Dax doesn’t know either. Bane only knows a small part of it.”

  He froze, his anger and frustration dissipating and leaving him bemused. “What?”

  Sabine lifted her head to meet his gaze, the pain in her eyes wounding him almost as much as her tears. “I don’t know everything that happened that night, Malek. What I do know, I wish I didn’t.”

  He frowned and closed the distance between them. “Tell me, sweetheart. Help me to understand.”

  She hung her head. “My mother could be… cruel. When it came to the Unseelie, no one could match her in the shadow magics. Maybe she was different at one time, but not in her later years. She had no qualms about using people to suit her purposes. She was arrogant in her power, and many of the Fae resented her. My father was one of them.”

  Malek’s brow furrowed. Sabine was more unlike that description than anyone he’d ever met. “Go on.”

  “When my mother realized I possessed both the magic of the Unseelie and Seelie, she began plotting. She believed she could force the two courts into one and then rule all of Faerie by acting as regent until I came of age.”

  His eyes widened. “Your mother wanted you to rule all of Faerie?”

  “No.” Sabine stared out at the desolate landscape and wrapped her arms around herself. “Balkin overheard something that made him believe my mother planned to kill me. She had to wait until after she began ruling Faerie on my behalf, but the plans were already in place.”

  “Wait,” Malek said, trying to get his head around what she was suggesting. The politics in Faerie were even more convoluted than he’d realized. He hadn’t thought anything could be more twisted and diabolical than his people’s machinations and scheming, but he’d been wrong. They were more similar than he’d realized. “I thought your father wanted you dead. You’re saying your mother did too?”

  Sabine looked up at him and nodded. “Balkin was sworn to protect my mother’s line, but it went beyond that; he loves me like a daughter. When he realized what my mother was planning, he left Faerie for almost a year under the guise of brokering a trade agreement with the humans. It was during that time he forged the blood debt with Dax and installed him in Akros. Balkin knew I’d eventually need to leave Faerie and go into hiding.”

  Malek blew out a breath. “I’m guessing you were forced to leave earlier than you thought?”

  Sabine nodded again. “I wasn’t aware of these plans at the time. Balkin thought we would have years before I’d need to leave, so he sought to protect me by keeping me ignorant. Should his plans be discovered, I would remain innocent of any wrongdoing. He kept waiting and watching, but Faerie plots can sometimes take decades to come to fruition. All we know is my mother was lured out of our home in the middle of the night by my father.”

  “Do you know why he wanted to meet with her?”

  Sabine shook her head. “No. By that point, they hated each other. My mother’s magic was always stronger at night, when the shadows are deepest. It must have been why she felt confident enough to meet with him.”

  Malek rubbed the back of his neck, trying to figure out what would entice Sabine to meet with one of her enemies. “Maybe he lured her out by claiming he wanted to talk about you or your brother. If he knew she was strongest at night and wanted to get her alone, he could have intentionally chosen that time to take advantage of her confidence.”

  “Possibly, but I don’t think we’ll ever know the truth. I’m not sure it even matters anymore.” Sabine rubbed her arms as though to ward away the chill. He was tempted to reach out to her again, but she’d already pulled away from him twice. It pained him to do it, but he needed to give her some space.

  He nodded. “All right. Tell me the rest.”

  “Something woke me in the night,” she said softly, her eyes taking on a faraway cast as though she were reliving the nightmare. “I thought it was a friend of mine, Averia. She was also Unseelie, and it wasn’t unusual for us to sneak out into the forest after dark. But when I looked outside, I saw my mother disappear into the forest. Balkin believes it was actually my father projecting an illusion to trick me.”

  His brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

  She turned back toward him. “Among other things, my father is referred to as the King of Illusions. No one is his equal when it comes to glamour. He can even project illusions at a great distance or manipulate large groups of people at once. It’s possible my mother was already dead by the time I was awakened.”

  “You’re saying your father lured you out of the house after he killed your mother?”

  “I wish I knew,” she whispered and lowered her head. “I can’t seem to sort out the reality from the illusions. I went into my brother’s room to see if he’d seen or heard anything. By that point, Rhys didn’t stay with us often. He usually stayed with my father in his court, but he hadn’t yet denounced his ties to my mother’s line. He was asleep when I went into his room.”

  “You didn’t wake him?”

  Sabine shook her head. “Maybe things would have been different if I had, but I decided to let him sleep. Rhys and I were already divided by that point, with him following my father and me following my mother. In my mind, I was Mother’s heir. I believed I had a right to know what she was doing. So I decided to leave him and follow my mother into the forest.”

  Malek let out a low whistle. “Okay. Gutsy move, but I probably would have done the same.”

  “Perhaps. But looking back, I’d say I was more foolish than gutsy.” Sabine gave him a small smile. “Since my mother was already out of the house, I didn’t bother staying quiet. Rhys always slept soundly. One of my tutors saw me leaving, which was the only reason I survived that night. It wasn’t the first time I’d snuck out, and she thought I was planning on meeting Averia. She probably planned on catching and punishing us both.”

  Malek’s lips twitched in a smile, trying to imagine Sabine as a young and headstrong teenager. He would have loved to have known her back then, before all the horrors had touched her life. “What happened when you followed your mother into the forest?”

  Her smile faded. “I couldn’t catch her. I kept seeing flashes of her cloak through the trees, and I went deeper and deeper into the forest. Finally, I came to a place where I’d never been. There was something on the ground in the clearing, but it looked like a wounded animal. I started to go in to check on it, but my tutor stopped me.”

  “How?”

  Sabine frowned. “This is where everything gets confusing. Giannia, my tutor, grabbed my arm. She did something to me to make me unable to move or talk. She cut my hand, smeared my blood over her face and then changed her image to look like me.”

  Malek stared at Sabine uncomprehending. “She did what?”

  Sabine sighed and shook her head. “My mother had sworn Giannia to blood service when I was born. It’s not unusual for those who serve any of the royal families. Giannia used my magic against me, just like Balkin did back in Akros. Using my blood, she sent out a telepathic call to Balkin, summoning him to my side. I was forced to stand there, unable to move, and she changed my image to hide me from sight. Then she went out into the clearing. I couldn’t stop her.”

  “What happened then?”

  Sabine’s eyes filled with tears, and her voice was ragged as she whispered, “I don’t know. I only remember bits and pieces, and I can’t be sure what was real or not.
I saw flashes of light. I heard my father’s voice and several others I didn’t recognize. It could have just been my father or dozens of people. They kept changing appearance so I couldn’t focus on any of them. I’m not sure if they were even Fae.”

  Sabine took a shaky breath and continued, “The wounded animal in the clearing was really my mother. The images kept flickering until I was certain of it. They’d bound her with cold iron and she’d been cut into pieces, bleeding on the ground.”

  “No,” he whispered, shocked and horrified by her father’s actions. Cold iron was incredibly rare on this world. During the war, his people had brought over large quantities through the portal while it was still open. It was one of the things that could kill a Fae, and they’d forged thousands of weapons to weaken the gods’ hold on this world.

  Sabine nodded, her expression pained. “When Gianna entered the clearing, they attacked her too. They bound her, stripped her, and then started torturing her. They laughed, Malek. They laughed as she lay there bleeding and helpless. She screamed so much. I never thought it would end, but I couldn’t move or do anything to save her.” She took a steadying breath and said, “It felt like forever until Balkin found me and released me from the binding.”

  “Sabine,” he whispered, pulling her into her arms. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. You don’t need to say anything more.”

  She buried her head against his chest, and he stroked her hair, trying to get ahold of his tumultuous emotions. It took everything in him not to fly to Faerie and burn those damned silver trees to the ground to get his hands on Sabine’s father. It was astonishing she wasn’t more jaded, given her history. Instead, the woman in his arms had a remarkable resiliency. Her warm, giving nature and compassion was inspiring.

  Sabine wiped away her tears and managed a half-hearted smile. “I’m sorry. I’m a mess. It was more than a decade ago, but—”

  He arched his brow. “What the hell are you talking about? Anyone else who had gone through what you did would be curled up in a ball right now. I’m so damned sorry you had to live through that, and I’m sorry for making you relive it.”