Sea Fae Trilogy

by C. N. Crawford

  I was nearly suffocating in rage. When she rushed for me through the air, I grabbed her throat in a lightning-fast motion. If I could render her unconscious, I could rip the magic from her body. I’d return it to her only when she promised to heal Aenor.

  But even as I pressed against her throat, closing her windpipe, her lips moved and twitched. It looked like the death spasms of a beheaded Gorgon—and it took me a moment to realize that she was whispering. Even with her throat crushed, she was still whispering. Her icy power rippled over my body, and I caught some of her words in the fae language, chilling words carried out over the sea.

  Mate… death… curse…

  Now, her claws of ice were in my chest, spreading frost through my blood. It was like glaciers moving in my veins.

  She was winning.

  Disappointment split me open. I’d have to kill this witch now, and that meant I was no closer to finding a cure for Aenor’s hex.

  I let heat burst from my body, the fire of Vesuvius. But it was too late. Already, my body was crystalizing, shot through with ice. The cold was splintering me. Was this how I’d turn to dust? Cold horror crept over my mind. First, I’d be frozen, then shattered into a million tiny pieces. She’d have her minions crush me into the dirt… My soul would stay here.

  But that wasn’t the worst part. No, the worst part was the knowledge that I’d failed Aenor.

  This was how it ended, how it would always end. Destroyed by the woman who’d cursed me long ago.

  I felt a portal opening beneath me. And with the final crack of my body into shards of ice, her words rang in my mind:

  You have made your choice. We will grind your remains into the dirt.

  Aenor will die in excruciating torment, and you have only yourself to blame.

  Aenor

  I dragged myself out of the water, muscles battered with exhaustion. On the rocky shore, I caught my breath. My eyes were on Ossian’s cottage, nestled on the little rocky hill between plum and elm trees. Warm lights beamed out from the windows. I sighed with relief.

  My limbs shook as I straightened, rubbing my biceps. Clearly, my strength still wasn’t what it once was, and I was moving sluggishly across the rocks. When I looked down at my arms, my stomach churned at the sight of that dark magic winding all the way up to my shoulders. Seemed it had accelerated.

  Nausea rose in my gut. The weaker I felt, the worse this got. That swim through the ocean had sped it all up.

  Without my magic, the cold went right down to my bones. My teeth chattered, and I cast a glance behind me, hoping to see Salem. But I only saw the stars gleaming in the sky. At that absence, my heart constricted.

  Why did I feel like something was wrong?

  I frowned. It was that feeling again—that the bond had snapped between us. The one I didn’t tend to notice until it was gone.

  I shook my head, trying to clear the dark thoughts. Maybe it was just my nerves. Salem had just said he was an immortal king with infinite firepower, that no one could hurt him. In fact, I’d felt the heat of his explosion through the waves. It had seared my skin a bit—like the Fomorians ripping open the earth. There was no way the witches had withstood his power.

  I could hear Gina singing “Suspicious Minds” through the window, and I smiled. That’s my girl.

  But as I drew closer to the door, the back of my neck prickled, and I got the sense that I was being watched. Maybe that was the source of the dark feeling. I whirled, searching the darkness for any signs of witches, but I found only the empty seashore. The waves crashed against the rocks, water gleaming in the moonlight.

  Nothing there. Still, my heart started beating faster.

  I reached for the cottage’s doorknob. Maybe I’d check in with Gina first—

  The sound of stones rubbing together behind me froze me in my tracks. I pulled my dagger, still covered in Richelle’s blood, from its bag and slowly turned to look behind me.

  I gritted my teeth, scanning the shore. I saw nothing but Ossian’s plum trees and the gleaming water.

  Then I sniffed the air. It took a moment for the scent to register, but then I realized what it was. Almonds and sea-swept stones…

  Lyr was here.

  “Lyr?” I whispered.

  No response. Just me, the plum trees, and the silence. Gina’s singing rang out again, this time an Elvis Hawaiian Christmas song. I think she missed me.

  It was possible, I supposed, that I was becoming a bit paranoid. I heaved a long breath, then turned back to Ossian’s door. When I opened it, the warmth of the place immediately greeted me. A fire burned in the hearth, and the place smelled of tomato soup.

  “Aenor!” Gina shouted, jumping up from the sofa. She ran for me, arms outstretched.

  But as she took a step closer, her face fell.

  “Behind you!”

  Icy claws raked my back, making my spine arch. Horrified, I whirled, the dagger still in my hand. The blade was in the witch’s neck before she had a chance to get her claws any further into me, before I even had a chance to register what was happening.

  I nearly missed the other one—the one flying into the room. Ice-cold magic rippled over me. She landed on Ossian’s table, a strange-looking knife in her hand. Its hilt was ivory, gleaming in the light. Her eyes burned with pale light, and a rictus grin split her face in two. White hair coiled into the air above her head, shimmering a faint blue.

  I threw my dagger, but she dodged with alarming speed. “Plans have changed,” she said. “You killed our monster, our serpent, and now we will kill you.”

  My fingers twitched. I was all out of weapons, and she wasn’t.

  “Gina,” I whispered. “Get out of the way.”

  Just beyond the witch, I saw Lyr’s pale hair, and he was moving for her. But the witch wound back her arm and threw the knife for me, aiming directly for my heart. I froze for a moment—but Gina did not.

  She threw herself in front of me, slamming into me, and we both knocked into the cabinets.

  The warm light illuminated her dark eyes. “I saved you. Not bad—” Then she took a sharp breath, her words stuttering to a halt as her pupils dilated.

  Oh, shit.

  I peered over her shoulder and felt the world spin at the sight of a knife sticking out from behind her.

  “Gina!” I shrieked.

  The knife had caught her in the back, just by the shoulder blade. And now that the pain was registering with her, she was gasping. She slumped into me, gripping me with fear. My heart was a wild beast, pure panic pounding through my blood.

  “It’s okay, Gina.” I tried to keep my voice calm. “I don’t think it hit any organs. I think you picked a good spot to get stabbed.”

  I looked up, searching for signs of the witch coming to finish the job. But what I found was Lyr carving a knife through her throat.

  I tried to clear my thoughts, peering over Gina’s shoulder at the entry wound. It wasn’t an ordinary knife, and no blood flowed. Instead, something like frost was spreading from the wound. I had to get it out of her.

  “Brace yourself, Gina,” I whispered.

  I gritted my teeth and, with shaking hands, pulled out the blade. I’d expected to see blood coating it, but there was none, only a frosty sheen. It was an odd-looking blade—ivory and misshapen. Like a giant tooth, really.

  I sniffed the air, taking in an acrid scent, and a bitterness that coated my tongue.

  “What happened?” Lyr was standing over me, his shadow darkening the space around us.

  “Ice witches broke in, and Gina got hit with the knife.” My voice shook as I spoke.

  “It hurts,” Gina said.

  I looked under her shirt to find that the strange ice-blue magic was still there, like blooms of frost on a window. “It’s some sort of spell.” I could hardly think. “Lyr, is the witch dead?”

  “I cut her head off and threw it into a hell world, so yes,” he said.

  I pressed my hand against Gina’s back as though to stop the bl
ood flow, even though it didn’t make sense. This was a magical wound, not a normal stabbing. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

  “How much does it hurt?” I asked.

  She inched away from me and shook her head. She looked stunned, unable to speak.

  Aenor. Think clearly. Think logically.

  Lyr crouched down. “Let me try to heal it.”

  I still had Gina in my arms. Lyr pressed his hand against her back. His body glowed with golden light, and I could feel his magic tingling over my skin. Gina was craning her neck, trying to look at it. I felt such an insane sense of panic that the only thing I could think of was that I wanted to turn back time and take the hit myself.

  “What’s happening to it?” Gina rasped. “My back feels numb. Like it’s dying.”

  Lyr shook his head. “My magic isn’t doing anything.” He glanced at the knife. “What is that? A tooth?”

  The decapitated witch’s body lay sprawled on the table, bleeding a dark blue blood. The firelight wavered over her gnarled limbs.

  That acrid smell, bitterness I could taste… “I think it’s a tooth from the Ollephest.” I sniffed the air again. “You smell that bitter scent? That’s how the Ollephest smelled. And the witch said, ‘You killed our monster.’ I think the blade was meant for my heart, and the witch probably knows I’m all out of my magic.”

  Lyr pulled his hand away from Gina and locked his piercing gaze on me. “I can’t combat the Ollephest’s magic. Only someone from the Meriadoc line can do that. You killed the Ollephest. You were the only one who could hurt it. You need to use your magic.”

  “But I don’t have it, Lyr!” It occurred to me that he didn’t know what had happened. “I didn’t get the chance to tell you. I didn’t get my magic back. I had to kill Richelle.”

  Lyr rose, then cursed in Ancient Fae, and the sound hissed over the room. “I knew Salem’s plan was a waste of time. And now you and your human are both dying.”

  Gina rasped, and the sound curdled my blood. “I don’t think I can breathe normally.”

  My own breath was coming in short, sharp bursts, and I was still pressing against the frosted wound. It didn’t seem to be helping her at all. Instead, it seemed like I was just turning my fingers to ice.

  “Why did you jump in front of that knife, Gina?” Seeing her hurt was somehow worse than being hurt myself. I healed fast. “You’re human. You break easily.”

  She inched away from me, trying to sit up on her own. She looked so scared that I wanted to hug her again. “You always took care of me. Honestly, I didn’t really think this through…” She closed her eyes, grimacing. “If I’d thought it through, I would have maybe blocked it with a chair instead of my own body.”

  “Let’s get you somewhere more comfortable, at least.” Lyr leaned down and gathered her in his arms, then carried her over to the sofa. He laid her down on the mossy green velvet—on her front, so it wouldn’t hurt as much—and gently wrapped a blanket round her.

  I covered my mouth with my hands, adrenaline still flooding my body. I surveyed the room, drawing a blank on what to do next. If only I had my magic, I could fix this… I could fight the Ollephest magic.

  The door swung open, and I whirled, ready to murder someone. But it was Ossian and Shahar. Ossian carried a paper bag of what smelled like Chinese food. “Aenor’s back! We should’ve gotten more.”

  It took him a moment before he noticed the witch corpse at his feet, and the second one draped over his kitchen table, spilling blood.

  “Okay, what the fuck?”

  I threaded my fingers into my hair.

  Shahar’s eyes widened. “Where is my brother?”

  I took a deep breath. “Okay, here’s the summary. Richelle is dead. I don’t have my magic back. I don’t know what happened to Salem, and one of these witches stabbed Gina with an Ollephest tooth. I can heal her, but I need my magic back to do that.”

  Shahar crouched by Gina, staring at the wound in her back. She brushed her fingertips over the girl’s neck. “You’d better act fast. I think you have a few hours to fix this before… you know.”

  Panic crept up my neck, and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to think.

  Lyr touched my arm. “We can get your magic back within minutes. Beira has promised to return your magic to you. You would be able to heal Gina.”

  “You want me to trust another ice witch? After all this?”

  I noticed that Shahar was sidling up to him, looking at him with keen interest.

  “Beira has been isolated for thousands of years,” he said. “She’s done nothing but issue prophecies. She promised me she would cure you. And if you let her, you can heal Gina.”

  My eyes were on Gina, who was resting her head on her arms, watching us from the sofa.

  “She really wants to return my magic to me?” I asked. It was tempting, but… “Before, she wanted to take my magic from me. Remember the binding collar situation?”

  His brow furrowed. “Yes. She foresaw what would come to pass, that Salem would unleash the fire. That you would struggle to control your power. These things did happen. But she knows that your heart is pure, and that you can now master your magic. Do you remember, when I first sent you to Beira as a test, she said that you were true of heart? It was her decree, and it still is. If she had ill intensions, she would have killed you then. It wouldn’t have been hard. She is on your side, Aenor.”

  I shot a look at Gina on the sofa. Was it just me or had her lips taken on a bluish hue?

  I was running out of time.

  Lyr touched my arm again, gently. “You’ll be back here in ten minutes. Your divine hex will be gone, and Gina will be okay. Beira is the most powerful healer among the fae. More powerful than Richelle, even. She said she would send you back to me as soon as you are healed. You’ll be back in the portal again.”

  My heart was beating so loud that I thought I could hear it echoing off the walls. It seemed I had to try this, for Gina’s sake. What other options were there?

  I looked deep into Lyr’s pale eyes. His body glowed with that faint, golden magic, and as he held my gaze, I felt certain of one thing: he was trying to help me. We’d had our differences, but he cared about me.

  It was a gut instinct, and it was enough of a push to get me moving. “Okay. Let’s go to Beira.”

  Relief crossed his face, and he turned, leading me outside. “I’ll open the portal. This will be over soon. All of it. You can return to your life as it was.”

  Gods, I wanted to believe it. I followed Lyr outside, onto the shore, desperately scanning the sky for Salem. Where was he? He should be back by now. Once again, it was that sharp feeling of absence—the bond between us broken. The worry was eating at me.

  Lyr frowned. “What are you looking for?”

  “Salem.”

  He heaved a sigh. “He’s immortal. He’ll be fine. Gina is the one you need to worry about.”

  I rubbed a knot in my forehead. “Fine. I’ll find him when I get back. And if anyone hurt him, I’ll use the sea to crush them against the rocks.”

  Lyr stared at me, and I realized I sounded a bit like Salem. “Okay. Listen, I’m leaving the portal open. When Beira has fixed you, she will return you to me. I’ll look after Gina here.”

  He turned away from me again, and I felt dark magic ripple out from his body as he spoke the words for the portal spell. His pale hair whipped around his head, caught in the sea breeze. Amber light beamed from his broad shoulders. He took a step closer to the shore, and a portal spun open before him—ice-cold water, shimmering under the starlight. I hugged myself as I looked at it.

  Lyr gestured for me to jump in, and I held my breath and leapt. Then I sank under the frozen surface.

  As I drifted deeper, I stared up at the portal, and the last rays of Lyr’s magical light disappeared. When the light finally faded, one question whirled around my head like churning ocean waters.

  Was this a mistake?

  Aenor

  I sli
pped deeper under the water until I felt sure my muscles were freezing, cells bursting.

  When I finally saw the rays of milky white light, I had just enough energy to kick my legs. My head breached the surface, and icy air clouded around my face. My teeth were chattering so hard that I was about to bite my tongue off.

  I looked around me, searching for signs of Beira, but my muscles were so rigid that I didn’t have a wide range of movement. I saw only the whorls of snow in the air and the distant naked trees of her forest. They jutted from the snow, dark skeletons spearing the white landscape.

  “B-Beira?” I stammered.

  She came out of nowhere, and I felt her claws raking against my scalp as she lifted me from the frigid water. The Ancient Witch of Winter threw me down on the snow, and I rolled over to look at her. My dress was freezing, ice against my skin.

  Gods, I needed a freaking wetsuit.

  I looked up at her, hopeful. I’d forgotten how tall she was, though—that she towered over me at ten feet. Delicate blooms of frost spread over her blue skin, and long white braids draped over her bony shoulders. She wore white ragged clothes.

  I rose, hugging myself. “Thank you for seeing me. Lyr said you could help me”—I held out my contaminated arms—“with my divine hex.” The hex was moving over my collarbone now, inching closer to my heart.

  Grinning, Beira beckoned me toward her with a purplish-gray fingernail. Her single bloodshot eye blinked.

  I took a step closer, still looking up at her. Would she draw this out for long? I wanted warmth again. I wanted to be out of here.

  Then she spoke in her strange, halting speech, and the sound echoed off the icy landscape. “Punishment.”

  I took a deep breath, the cold air freezing in my lungs. “Yes, that might be what this was. A punishment for a man I killed long ago. Can you help?” My teeth chattered. “I’m running out of time.”

  Grinning, she nodded. Then she licked her long, yellowed teeth. Her tongue was pointed, sharp.