Simon dropped the chalice and his eyes bulged. His mouth opened…and he screamed. And screamed. And screamed.
I’d been ready for this. Or so I’d thought. I’d realized I couldn’t stop him, not just because of Flint’s orders, but because Simon would never give up. Somehow none of that helped. None of that made me feel any better as I watched the teenager drop to his knees, hands pressed to his mottled skin, twisted spine bowing more as he bent over. His screams melted into pathetic whimpers.
“The artifacts aren’t magic!” Peasblossom shouted. “If you destroy them, it might break the curse!”
I didn’t even realize who she was talking to until Marilyn stepped forward. Morgan pivoted to face her, her gaze torn between Marilyn and the artifacts sitting on the table. The chalice had rolled away from Simon when he dropped it, leaving all three items outside Simon’s circle. Morgan jerked forward, reaching for the artifacts, but Marilyn was faster. The blonde Unseelie bolted across the room, her speed and grace reminding me just how powerful she really was.
“Don’t you dare,” Marilyn warned, her words a seething hiss. Her eyes sparkled, glowing like sapphires hung in a sunny window. “You will pay for this, Morgan. I will make you pay for this.”
Morgan’s mouth opened, but Marilyn cut her off. “Vazkasi!” She shouted for the dragon as she stormed across the room and ripped open the door of another, smaller room. There was a large vat inside, dark and thick. A smelting pot.
I called my magic, my chest tight and my heart a sharp ache. I had my orders. When all of this was over, I’d have to stand in front of Flint and tell him the truth. I’d have to tell him I did my best, that I tried to retrieve the objects, return them to their owners. I couldn’t let Vazkasi destroy them. And I couldn’t very well ask Marilyn to let me take them. Not now.
I raised my hands, feeling the spell swelling against my palms.
For the second time that night, something struck me from the side. Again, my body hurtled through the air without touching the ground, my heart in my throat, muffling my scream of surprise. My peripheral vision showed me a large, dark shape. A feline shape.
Scath had struck me just above my hip, and my body folded painfully, slamming forward. I felt Peasblossom tighten her grip on my shirt, felt her energy flare as she began the stabilization spell that would keep me conscious after the inevitable.
I hit a blank canvas propped against the wall. My hip struck first, sending a harsh crack of pain over my bones before my head caught up, striking the canvas hard enough to split skin. I left a smear of blood behind as I slid down the canvas, head spinning, my whole body throbbing with pain.
Vazkasi gathered the artifacts from the table, then bent to grab the chalice. I tried to get to my feet, but my legs wouldn’t listen, and my brain sent another panicked message to my pain receptors. I wasn’t getting up yet. I tried to raise my hand, tried to organize my thoughts for a spell. Scath appeared in front of me, dropping something onto my lap.
Majesty.
The kitten meowed, and I flinched, waiting for something horrible to happen.
Afraid to move, I could only watch as the dragon dumped the items into the smelting pot, then Marilyn shut the door, closing him inside. I held my breath as fire erupted behind the glass, flaring white-hot. Dragon’s breath burned hotter than three thousand degrees Fahrenheit. Gold melted at just under two thousand. My eyes fluttered closed. “Thank the Goddess,” I breathed.
Alicia strode over to Marilyn, and even with one eye she did an admirable job of looking concerned for a friend. Eye on the prize, that was Alicia.
“Perhaps I can be of help,” she said, gesturing to the room where the dragon was destroying the gold. “I am a vulcanus.”
“You’re half-vulcanus, and in no way a match for a dragon’s flame,” Marilyn snapped. “Vazkasi does not need your help. Stay out of the way.”
Alicia’s smile didn’t falter. I would have thought that strange, given the notorious short temper that came with most fire abilities—nature of the flame and all that. But then again, Alicia wanted to be part of the court. I’d imagine she’d take quite a bit of abuse if she thought it would help her get the status she felt she deserved.
Finally the door opened, and Vazkasi came out. Most of his clothes had burned away, leaving a swath of bare skin patched with gold scales. He looked at Simon with hope in his eyes, a flicker of gold like a birthday candle’s delicate flame. But it died quickly as he took in the state of the young artist.
“It didn’t work,” he said quietly.
“You burned them completely?” Marilyn demanded.
He nodded. “There is nothing left. Only a smear of gold in the bottom of the pot.”
I gritted my teeth and waved one arm toward the smelting pot. Detecting magic was a simple spell, one I used all the time, barely had to think about at all. Silver light fell over the large pot, and I thought I caught a hint of color burned into the side. A mark, similar to a rune. It glowed like an ember, as if from the heat of the dragon’s fire. It cooled as I watched, fading until it vanished. I tried the spell again, but found nothing. Whatever it was, it was gone.
Marilyn turned to Morgan, drawing my attention from the smelting pot. For the first time, I saw a flicker of fear in Morgan’s eyes. She held up her hands. “Listen to me, Marilyn. I have good reason for what I did. This was the only way to protect your protege, to protect Simon.”
“He does not look protected to me,” Marilyn said hoarsely.
“He killed Mr. Masters,” Morgan said, her voice a little too loud. “He killed a human. I had nothing to do with that, but I found out later. I knew Shade would turn him in. He would have been tried as an adult, he would have gone to prison. He may even have been put to death.”
She pointed at him with one shaking hand. “But now he’s Other. It’s no longer up to the human police to punish him. And the Vanguard won’t intercede because he was human when he committed the murder. Human on human crime is not in their jurisdiction.”
Marilyn turned over the new information in her head. I clenched my hands into fists and forced myself to my feet. Scath pressed against my side, lending me her support.
“He’s not in his right mind, he never would have gone to prison,” I snapped. “All he had to do was tell them about the magic fairies he wanted to please, or even the reason he wanted the bowl in the first place. He would have gotten committed. It would have been nothing for someone with Marilyn’s connections to get him transferred out, put in her care. You didn’t have to ruin his life.”
“You’re so sure you know what’s best for him,” Morgan said, genuine dismay in her voice. “Why are you so determined to keep him from the life he so clearly desires? Why doesn’t he deserve the same freedom of choice that you claim for yourself?”
I exploded. “Look at him! Look at what his choices have led him to. He’s a child, and he didn’t have the information he needed to make informed consent. It’s not a true freedom of choice if he can’t understand what he’s getting into.”
“You saw his paintings,” Morgan said. “He knows about the kelpies, knows about Grayson. That didn’t scare him off. And, yes, he’s seen the scary side of what lies beyond the veil, but he wants this life anyway.” Morgan shook her head, pity clear in her eyes. “Perhaps he’s just braver than you.”
I opened my mouth, but she continued.
“Besides, I didn’t make his choices for him. I merely saved him from the consequences.”
“Not all of them,” I bit out.
Morgan didn’t even look at him. “Who doesn’t have nightmares?” She looked at Marilyn. “And as to the impotence, there are plenty of creative ways to express passion that have nothing to do with sex. His lowly appearance only makes his art more beautiful by contrast. And besides, we all know the Unseelie are not ones to judge artists based on appearance.”
“You’re also not known for valuing the truth,” I pointed out, taking one shaky step forward. “He has to tell t
he truth now. In complete detail.”
Morgan’s smile widened. “And that’s what makes this so perfect. I have oracle blood. And Simon has already shown gifts in that area. If he inherits that power from me…”
“He’ll be an oracle who has to tell the full truth,” Marilyn said slowly.
Marilyn was starting to see the potential. I could see it in her face, hear it in the lilting tone that had crept into her voice. Morgan was going to get away with all of it.
Suddenly, Alicia screamed, the thin, shrill sound rising over Simon’s moans. I whirled in time to see the half-vulcanus dive forward, heaved into motion by a sharp shove from Devanos. The Unseelie’s eyes were wide and too bright, his lips parted in breathless anticipation. I sucked in a sharp breath as Alicia fell into the circle.
With Simon.
It was too soon after the ritual. Curses were the wild, untamed cousin of other magic spells, feral and unpredictable. Alicia hit her knees on the ground next to Simon, and I saw the moment she realized what was about to happen. Morgan cursed and stomped down on the circle, biting out a word to re-activate it before the curse could roll over the room and claim more victims.
She didn’t even try to pull Alicia out first.
“Did you murder my wife?” Devanos screamed.
Alicia’s eyes bulged and she clapped a hand over her mouth. She shoved herself to her feet, squeezing her eyes shut, looking away from Devanos. Anything to try and stop what was about to happen, anything to escape the insidious grasp of the curse still seething inside the circle.
Catherine stared at her, horror in her eyes. “Aunt Alicia?” she whispered.
Alicia twisted around as if dragged by some invisible force, and the hand over her mouth trembled. She dug her fingers into her skin, trying to keep her hand over her lips. Her nails clawed bloody furrows in her skin, but she still fought.
“She won’t be able to hold out against the curse for long,” Peasblossom said.
Alicia seemed to realize it at the same time. She clawed at her throat. Bile splashed the back of my throat and I swallowed hard. She was trying to destroy her windpipe, willing to rip it out just to keep herself from speaking. But Peasblossom was right. She couldn’t resist the curse.
“She was my sister,” Alicia choked. “How dare you… I only did what I had to do… It’s all your fault, you would have left me behind. You would have taken her and Catherine with you to court… My mother and sister poisoned our bloodline by sleeping with worthless humans, and I deserved to have the life they stole from me!” Her face turned bright red, the veins in her temples throbbing as if they’d burst under the effort of holding in the next sentence. Her confession. “Yes, I killed her!”
Devanos ran to Catherine and enveloped her in a hug. He stroked her hair as she sobbed into his arms, offering her comfort even as he leaned on her for support. He’d finally gotten justice for his wife. I wondered if it would help him move on.
Alicia continued to babble, despite her best efforts to stop. The curse made her confess her crime in detail, spilling her guts about the murder of Catherine’s mother. Devanos covered his daughter’s ears, sparing her the worst of it and gently herding her out of the room.
My attention was torn away from them when Simon began to laugh. It was a maniacal sound that made the hair on my arms stand up, sent an unpleasant shiver down my spine. He looked at me, and there was nothing human in the face that leered from inside the circle.
“You did this to him,” Vazkasi said in a low, dangerous voice.
Morgan whirled to face him. The excuse she would have offered was cut off when she snapped her mouth shut, driven back a step when the dragon flowed forward, clawed hands tense at his sides, his eyes burning into hers.
“The witch is right,” he said. “Simon does not have the temperament for visions. What you’ve done will destroy his mind.”
He swung three large sharp claws at Morgan’s face. The sidhe slid out of the way. With equal speed, her hand morphed, fingers turning to scaled avian appendages tipped in razor sharp talons. She evaded the dragon’s strike, then dove forward with one of her own. Her talons tore through the muscles of his chest, prying off a handful of scales in the process. Vazkasi roared and the temperature in the room rose a few degrees. Sweat broke out on my forehead.
Devanos grabbed Catherine and ran from the battle brewing between the dragonkin and the sidhe. Or maybe he knew what Marilyn would do in response.
“Shade!” Morgan shouted. She turned to me, her eyes wide, desperation making the black orbs brighter, less human. “I swear to you, some day you will understand. Someday you’ll see why I had to do this. You’ll understand!”
“Enough,” Marilyn snarled.
Her eyes glowed, turned to glittering blue crystals. I recognized the look of a leannan sidhe about to pour her power through the room, and I had no intention of getting caught up in it. I grabbed Majesty and ran for the door, faster than I’d run from the beach, faster than I’d ever run. I dove out the door with Scath on my heels, scrambling to a halt in time to slam the heavy door to the room closed.
I gathered Scath close to me, with Majesty in my lap and Peasblossom hugging my neck. I wore my ring on my right hand, and I pressed it to my mouth as I exhaled my magic, giving the ring an extra boost before the shield snapped into place. The shield spell shimmered blue around us as I waited for Marilyn to let loose.
I waited for several full minutes before standing up. With the shield spell still held firmly in place, I risked a peek into the room through the window in the door.
Morgan and Vazkasi groveled at Marilyn’s feet, kissing the tops of her shoes, begging her forgiveness. Marilyn hurled out an arm and said something to Morgan. The sidhe cried, tears streaming down her face. She looked devastated, like a child whose mother has told her what an ungrateful wretch she is. Morgan grabbed a piece of iron from Simon’s workbench and I felt dizzy with revulsion as I watched her skin immediately blistering.
Peasblossom whimpered and covered her eyes. I turned away, but not before Morgan put the iron to her own cheek and slashed down, opening a deep cut that spurted blood over the front of her dress. I turned and ran with Peasblossom, ran until I reached the main room again. Scath followed on silent paws, Majesty held tight in her mouth.
I wanted to go home. Not to the apartment. To Dresden. I wanted to go home and sit in a hot bath, and forget about the sidhe. Forget about all of them.
But I wasn’t done here. So I found a seat in the room where I’d met with the other guests earlier. I sat down and stared out the window at Lake Erie. Thinking.
It felt like hours passed, but I suspected it wasn’t as long as that. It just felt that way because I wanted to leave. Because Andy still wouldn’t answer his phone. Because I still didn’t know if the blood on the rocks was his. If he were dead or alive. And I couldn’t leave to find out. Not when I had one last thing to do here.
When Marilyn finally entered the room, she seemed unsurprised to find me waiting.
“Mother Renard,” she said calmly.
Even though she wasn’t actively flexing her power now, her eyes still glowed, and I could feel the throb of power around her. She could compel pure unadulterated adoration, the greatest gift a leannan sidhe could possess. If I didn’t hate her so much, it might have swayed me.
“Morgan broke your toy,” I said flatly.
Marilyn came to stand next to my chair. She looked out at the lake, then raised one smooth shoulder in a shrug. “She gave me a new one.”
“He’s broken. His mind can’t handle what she’s done to him.”
“You continue to underestimate Simon,” Marilyn chastised me. “Morgan was right, he did show some oracle potential before. And if he has oracle blood, however thin, he will survive this.”
“Did he have this potential before he got that bracelet?” I asked.
Marilyn frowned. “Bracelet?”
I heaved myself out of the chair and stood to face her. “The on
e on his wrist. I assume he had it when he showed up?”
I could tell the answer was yes.
“And he hasn’t taken it off?” I continued.
Now that I was standing directly in front of her, I realized Marilyn’s front was dotted with droplets of blood. Morgan’s blood. Probably Vazkasi’s too.
“What is your point?” she asked, her voice sharper than before.
“My point is, the bracelet is made of ametrine. Dream stones. And it would be a very simple matter for someone with the power to send Simon specific dreams to then make it appear those dreams were coming true. To fake an oracle’s gift.”
Marilyn’s face shut down. I think she knew I wasn’t bluffing.
I shook my head. “Flint’s always trying to convince me that the relationship between a leannan sidhe and their protege is symbiotic. That both sides benefit, both sides care for one another. If that’s true, then you’ll give me that bracelet. Maybe I can find out who did this to Simon. Who started this whole mess. And you will find someone to remove the curses—especially the one that gives him nightmares to go with his visions.”
I stood. “Or you can prove me right and watch him die.”
Chapter 26
My whole body shook as I walked out of Marilyn’s, Simon’s bracelet clutched in my fist. It wasn’t just adrenaline. It wasn’t just the fact that I was leaving behind a cursed teenager. Marilyn’s sparkling blue eyes still hovered in my mind, my heart aching to turn around and go back to her. She wasn’t happy with me. I needed her to be happy with me.
“I hate leannan sidhe,” I whispered.
Scath pressed against me, using her large black-furred body to keep me on a straight path back to my car. Peasblossom burrowed under my shirt to press herself against the bare skin of my shoulder, and the compulsion to run back to Marilyn faded a little more.
“Flint is going to be angry.” I said the words out loud as much to distract myself as anything else. “I didn’t just fail to get the artifacts back. I watched them get destroyed.”
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