The Goodnight Kiss

by Gwen Rivers

  His eyes go wide. “Then…?”

  “Besides, as strongly as you might feel for me, I know for a fact there’s a heart that loves me even more.”

  Dawning realization creeps across his face and for the first time he takes in the environment outside the truck. The flat land, the darkened farmhouse. His gaze slides to the dashboard, to the time. 11:58

  “You can’t—”

  “Stay here for ten minutes. Do not step outside the truck unless you feel your own life is in danger.” It’s not a request. “If you feel the bond break, you’re to take the truck and leave. Never return to the Unseelie Court.”

  “Nic—”

  I cut him off with a final kiss, then pull away, open the driver’s side door. “I’m sorry to do it this way, that I have to order you but you’re so stubbornly loyal and as much as I want to, I still don’t trust anyone at my back.”

  In the dashboard light, his hands clench and unclench, every muscle bulging with strain as he fights my order. “Don’t do this.”

  “No matter what you believe, I did love you while I was a queen. I didn’t really know how until you came into my life. But I do now.” I shut the door on his roar of fury and stride across the street, up the rickety steps and through the hanging screen door at the stroke of midnight.

  There is no living room, no ratty couch or pictures on the wall. The house is an In-Between, a large one at that and midnight made it accessible. Before me lies a stone bridge all one solid piece, no railing just a hand-hewn arch. Above me, the souls of the worlds shoot across the sky, ever in limbo between Midgard and Underhill, between life and death. Laufey claimed many of the souls were from trees and animals, but according to Hel, there are people up there, too. Knowing what they are makes them no less beautiful. Can they sense my presence?

  The snakebite on my arm throbs painfully, the sensation spreading up to my elbow. Time’s running out.

  “Is it done?”

  I turn and see her, the familiar figure swathed in a robe to conceal her face.

  A small smile curves my lips. “Hello, Brigit.”

  Showdown

  “I wondered if you were on to me.” Her hands, both normal now that she’s let her glamour fade, reach up and push back the cowl of the cloak to reveal her perfect face. “How did you figure it out?”

  “I always suspected there was something off about you,” I admit. “You look nothing like Aiden, no family resemblance and Laufey’s genes are strong. I imagine even his monstrous half-siblings have similar eye color. But I wasn’t sure who you were until I remembered my death. When I saw your face.”

  She smirks. “Arrogant, I know. I should have donned a glamour. But I wanted you to see me.”

  “Why kill me though? We ruled the Unseelie Court well together. What made you turn on me?”

  Her lip curls in revulsion. “Is that what you think? That we ruled well together? You, who could leave the court and ride with the Wild Hunt, cross the Veil and kill at random. You received all the glory, all the fear struck into the hearts of men and fairy alike. Do you hear how mortals talk about me? Mistress of the Mantel, patroness of healing, of smithcraft and poetry. Someone even turned me into a saint! Meanwhile, I was the one keeping up the traditions of our court while you were off gallivanting with your wolf. Like the rules never applied to you.”

  I shake my head in disgust. “That’s the reason you sacked the palace and killed all the fey there? Petty fucking jealousy?”

  “Where’s the wolf’s heart?” she snaps. “If you want to bring your precious Sarah back, you need the sacrifice to take her place.”

  “I have what I need. But you don’t need the heart to bring her back.” My voice is quiet. “You can do it with a kiss, the Kiss of Awakening. In fact, you already did, didn’t you?”

  “You are smarter this time, I’ll give you that.” Brigit snaps her fingers and then Sarah is there, standing before me. Only it’s not Sarah. Her eyes are vacant, unseeing. The stone in my palm throbs with life.

  Brigit walks in a deliberate circle around Sarah’s body. “It took a few attempts to perfect the technique, separating the soul from the body once life was restored. How much of who we are burns within our souls? And what is left after that fire dies? Still, considering the barbaric way mortals treat their dead, I think I restored her rather well.”

  A chill goes through me. “The graves that were defiled. That was you practicing, to create this…?” I wave at the empty shell that had been my best friend.

  Brigit smirks. “Sarah was such a good little spy for me. She brought me so much information about your activities. I had to make sure I did everything I could to restore her properly.”

  There is a roaring in my ears. “Sarah wouldn’t spy on me.”

  “Have you forgotten what it’s like to be one of us? To know that everyone has their price? Sarah would have agreed to anything to get away from her stepfather. Even befriending the strange girl in school. The one that I suspected was my dearly departed sister queen, brought back to life. Find out her secrets.”

  I stare at Brigit and the stone seems to pulse faster in my white-knuckled grip. That day in the cafeteria, when Sarah plopped down next to me. I’d thought it had been random, that she just wanted to get a reaction out of me.

  “It was a simple bargain. Sarah would watch you and let me know if anything unusual happened. And in return, I would get her away from her stepfather for good. Mortals never see the variety of possibilities.” Her smile is pure evil. “Death is the ultimate escape.”

  I’m barely listening to Brigit, my mind in the past, down by the lake.

  You’re different than I thought you’d be.

  It’s an effort to remain standing. She’d been onto me the entire time. Sarah had played me, and I hadn’t seen it coming.

  Just like I’d done to Aiden.

  “How does it feel?” Brigit asks, victory coating her voice. “Knowing you sacrificed your loyal wolf for a traitor? How does it feel to know none of it was real?”

  My gaze falls to the stone and then back to Sarah’s expressionless face. It had been real. Riding in the car, music blaring with the wind in our hair. Dancing at the clubs while I eyeballed my prey, and she flirted. Those moments were pure, honest.

  God Nic. Can we just leave this freaking place already?

  Maybe she’d regretted her deal with Brigit once she’d gotten to know me. Maybe she’d been searching for a way out.

  I look up and my gaze lands on the streaks of color there, the souls of the Veil. “How did you separate her soul?”

  “With Seelenverkäufer. It’s a complicated spell to remove a soul from the blade once it’s been absorbed, but I was determined. As much as I’m enjoying our pleasant little chat, Nicneven, time is almost up. Either make the trade or go back to the mortal world. Forever. Now that I see you I know you’re no queen.”

  I step closer to her, the woman who’d hunted me without my knowledge. Who now possessed control over the dead of the Wild Hunt. She’d set my best friend up for a zombielike purgatory. “You made one mistake, Brigit. Aiden’s isn’t the heart that loves me the most. Mine is.”

  Her perfect eyebrows go up in delighted surprise. “So, it’s you for Sarah, is it? Oh, I’m dying to see how this turns out. Will the selfish Ice Bitch sacrifice herself for the traitor she once called friend?”

  “No.” One more step and I’m there, within striking distance. “But I will sacrifice you.”

  I lunge, grabbing her by the shoulders so she can’t pull away and seal my mouth over hers. She struggles but even with a few inches and several pounds on me, she doesn’t have my strength or my experience in hunting.

  Sparks arc out from between our lips as her Kiss of Awakening meets the Goodnight Kiss. Miniature bolts of energy zigzag every which way. A whiff of ozone surrounds us. She beats on me with closed fists. The arm where the snake bit me is on fire—literally. Her fire magic is nothing compared to Aiden’s though, a mosquito bite next
to one from a Pit Bull.

  I feel her weakening and bring the stone, Sarah’s stone, up to the place over her chest where her heart—shriveled blackened husk that it is—resides. There is a thin line between love and hate. I just hope it’s thin enough.

  The crackling energy forks through the sky, disrupting the shooting starlight, making the colors fade next to its blinding intensity. The lightning reflects in Brigit’s eyes, a desperate light, the final rally. She is a cornered animal, responding to the instinct of self-preservation.

  I feel the knife go in, just below my rib cage. She twists the dagger and her lips in a vicious sneer. No idea whether she conjured the weapon or had it on her. She pulls the dagger out and then strikes again, two inches below the first. And though I want to hold on, my strength oozes out with my lifeblood.

  I let her go and fall backward onto the bridge. Though I still clutch the stone. Pressing one arm over the blood, I bring the stone to my own chest. If I’m destined to die anyway, at least it won’t be in vain.

  “No, you don’t.” Brigit’s foot lashes out and kicks the hand holding the stone just above my elbow. The blow strikes my funny bone, causing my hand to go numb. The stone falls, strikes the bridge then bounces off into the ether.

  Sarah’s body crumples to the ground.

  “No,” I wheeze. Reaching for it though I know it’s too late. That it’s gone, and Sarah has been lost forever this time.

  “Don’t worry, Nic. You won’t be parted for long,” Brigit’s eyes are wild. She raises the dagger up, my blood still slicking its black blade, poised for the killing blow. Her face is streaked with lines of black and red bulges from protruding veins as my poison races through her system. She’s dying, more slowly than a mortal but she will die.

  Just not before she kills me, too.

  Roaring fills my ears, unearthly wind tugs at my hair. The galloping of hooves and great thunderous war cries accompany the howling of hounds and the screeching of falcons. In the air above our heads, the Wild Hunt forms, a tempest of unearthly power swirling like a vortex around us.

  “What are you doing?” Brigit gasps. “You can’t turn on me! I’m your queen.”

  The eerie melee continues to circle, though they come no closer. I fear she is correct. She turns back to me and bares her teeth in a self-righteous smirk. The Wild Hunt can’t harm her, even if she is seconds away from murdering me.

  Again.

  A loud growl comes from behind me. I try to turn, but the wounds in my midsection prevent the motion. I see Brigit’s eyes go wide, see the protest forming on her lips a second before the body of a huge black wolf crashes into her. Sending both tumbling off the side.

  “Aiden,” I reach out a hand, gasping. He can’t be gone. He can’t. I can’t lose him and Sarah in one night.

  Above me, I hear voices calling my name and then the clip-clopping of hooves as the mounts alight onto the stone.

  “Nic,” Nahini reaches me first, with Freda a heartbeat behind.

  I can only stare over the side, to where he disappeared. A tear slips down my cheek as blood pools around me, warming my body from the outside. “Come back. Please. Come back.”

  A moment later sparks drift upwards from the dark, collecting into a familiar shape. His hand forms in mine and the last thing I see is the green fire of his eyes before the world goes dark.

  The noise pulls me back to consciousness. Familiar voices arguing over who knows what this time. Addy and Chloe. At least they haven’t started throwing things yet.

  I shift, and pain burns through my midsection. A gasp escapes and my eyes fly open as I recall all that happened. “Aiden.”

  A moment later he’s there, green eyes intent. “Nic? Are you in pain?”

  “Yeah.” I frown and glance around the unfamiliar surroundings. “Where am I?”

  “The mortal hospital.” Days’ worth of stubble coats his chin and shadows haunt his face. “I wanted to bring you to Laufey for healing, but your aunts insisted you remain on this side of the Veil. They had to operate on you.”

  That explains the padding around my midsection. I feel it beneath the coarse fabric of my hospital Johnny.

  Aiden is practically quivering by my bedside. “What can I get you?”

  “Water.” My lips are cracked, my throat parched. I struggle to sit up and reach for a glass of water. He leaps to my side, to assist in raising the bed and plumping the pillows before pouring me a cupful of water and aiming a straw at my lips.

  I suck gratefully until the cup is empty and then request more. He pours another cup. I note that he is wearing the same clothing I spied on him the first day he appeared at school. T-shirt jeans, work boots. “You lose your sweats?”

  “Your aunts insisted I change into something more appropriate for the sake of the hospital patrons and staff. I’m fairly certain Addy burned them while I was in the shower.”

  “Thank the gods for that.” I study his face. “How did you break free?”

  “The Hunt found me. You said I could leave the truck if I perceived a threat and there is no greater threat than the Wild Hunt.”

  “Tricksy wolf,” I smile.

  He doesn’t return it. “Were you really going to sacrifice yourself for Sarah?”

  I nod, then wince. “If I had to, though I wasn’t going to let Brigit live either. I figured if her feelings were so intense, it might be enough to bring Sarah back. That was plan A, anyway.”

  “Why?” There’s a plea in his voice. I’m not sure what he’s asking for. An explanation?

  “I felt like I owed it to her.”

  “Your life?”

  “I’m a teenage serial killer, Aiden. What sort of a future does that have?”

  His lips part but the door to the room bursts open.

  “I told you I heard her voice,” Chloe snaps. She shoves Aiden aside and takes my hand. Cinnamon and cloves waft from her and my stomach growls. “Nic, how are you feeling?”

  “Like death warmed over,” I say, though my eyes are still on Aiden. “Like I’ve been stabbed repeatedly.”

  Addy moves to the other side of the bed and takes my other hand. “I’m glad I didn’t have to cut your thread.”

  “That makes two of us.”

  Other people are filing through the door. Freda, Nahini and Jasmine, all wearing normal clothes instead of armor, along with a few people in scrubs who I assume are the medical professionals.

  “You’re one lucky young lady.” An older woman with salt and pepper hair cut to her chin says. Her name badge reads Dr. Tyson. “How are you feeling?”

  Other than getting sick of that question? “Okay, I guess.”

  “Did you see the face of your attacker?” This comes from a man over by the door who I hadn’t noticed. He’s wearing a sheriff’s uniform.

  “My attacker?” I glance at Chloe with a scowl.

  “You were mugged. Outside Club Yours,” she supplies, her bright blue eyes sending me a just go with it look.

  Message received. I put on a vapid helpless expression that I normally reserve for prey. “It’s all so fuzzy.”

  “Were any of you with her?”

  “I was.” Aiden steps forward and hands the man a piece of paper. “I did a sketch of his face, so I wouldn’t forget.”

  “Hmm, I know this guy. Joe Larkin.”

  I cough to cover my surprised gasp. Aiden’s setting Sarah’s stepfather up for my fictional mugging?

  The sheriff’s eyes narrow. “You know him?”

  I nod. “I was friends with his daughter. She died a few months ago.” The pang goes through me, the loss still fresh.

  “I’ll check it out.” The cop folds the sketch and puts it in his pocket.

  “Yes, and I need everyone else out of the room now, too.” Doctor Tyson announces. “She needs her vitals checked, her bandages changed and most of all, peace and quiet.”

  “Five more minutes.” I still have questions and don’t want to wait to have them answered. I paste my best inn
ocent lamb smile and look at the doctor, big doe eyes pleading.

  She caves, as I knew she would. “Not a second longer.”

  Once the room is emptied of mortals, other than myself, Nahini and Freda kneel. “My queen.”

  “Get up, fools,” I hiss, sounding and feeling a bit like Laufey. “Before someone sees.”

  They do, though I can tell it’s with the utmost reluctance.

  “What happened to Sarah’s body?”

  It’s Aiden who answers. “It’s at the farm, awaiting your instructions. We would have returned her to her original plot, but it would arouse suspicion.”

  I swallow and nod. “Thank you. We’ll bury her by the lake after I get out.”

  My next question is for Nahini. “The dead of the Hunt?” Including her brother.

  Her expression is regretful. “Gone.”

  “Gone where?”

  She shakes her head, shoulders slumping inwards. “I can’t say for certain.”

  I suck in a deep breath. “It’s my fault. Brigit had Sarah’s soul and she offered me a trade. I should have realized who she was then. She was trying to strip the Hunt all along, strip power from me. Taking the souls tethered to the Hunt was just another way to slice into me.”

  Nahini’s eyes are round and filled with fear. “What would she do with them?”

  “My best guess is that she traded them, for power. Brigit could lie, she had to in order to carry out her deception. The dead tied to the Hunt were probably a bargaining chip with some powerful entity.” I look to Freda. “Do you know where Seelenverkäufer is?”

  She appears puzzled. “I left her in my tent as I always do when she is not at my side. Why do you ask?”

  “Because Brigit said she was using Seelenverkäufer to separate the souls from her revenants. She must have had some way to get her hands on it.”

  “There’s a traitor in our midst.” Freda’s jaw clenches. “Fear not, my queen, I will flush the snake out of the weeds.”

  And it wouldn’t be an easy or a painless process either. Damn you, Brigit. “Is everyone else all right?”