by Elle Lincoln
I don’t think I can do two things at once. My breathing turns into a pant as he strikes me again, this time in the leg. I buckle and fall.
“What are you doing, you fool?” Rhia pops in behind him. “End him!”
Gram kneels beside me, the scent of her vanilla perfume wafting over me like a blanket. “Fight him.”
Another strike to my leg. “I can’t do two things at once,” I grind out. I can’t call upon his death and fight him at the same time.
“Then you need to hurry.” Rhia holds her sword, and I watch as it lights up just like Flynn’s, her face twisted with fury.
I yank upon death’s strings, demanding the magic accounts for all his thwarted costs. Compounding them over and over until she finally relents.
Cian laughs maniacally as he shoots sparks of green over and over. But I don’t feel anything anymore, because his magic is dying. That, or I’m completely numb.
I pull one last time, demanding with all my will that his cost be paid threefold.
He tries again, but this time he realizes the magic has stopped. His arms no longer light up with the essence of stolen magic. He stares at his hands as my body begins to burn. Horror dawns on his face as his hands begin to shrivel. As his body begins to decay. Flushed, pink skin turns to a crackled grey. His mouth opens as a scream erupts from his throat, only to fade a moment later.
His body crumples and turns to dust, falling into a pile of ash upon the cold stone floor. Silence reigns all around me, and for a mere bitter moment, I feel the weight of my calling settle on me. The power of a goddess that courses through me. The power to call upon death when I deem in relevant. Me.
I heave out a sigh, longing for the beach. The waves as they crash upon the shore. The muted silence of reality while nature’s sounds play in the background on repeat. Seagulls begging for food and fish nibbling my legs beneath the water. I long for the weightlessness as the ocean cradles me.
“There are things you should know.” Rhia kneels beside me. Giving me a look over, she nods to herself as everything appears to be okay. Yet beneath the surface, I feel everything. The pain of the magic that Cian threw at me and the mental anguish over the fact that I just killed another man.
“What’s that, Rhia?” I lean my head against the wall, eyeing her chainmail as it shines in the lamplight. Just then, Neit walks in. His body is no longer gaunt, and his skin is flushed and rosy. “So red magic is bad, I take it?” For some fucked up reason, a tear spills from my eyes.
Neit kneels on the other side of me. His eyes no long colored by the weight of a god. Though dead, he hasn’t lost the need to strategize. “My power has been gifted to Flynn, he will need you. A God of War needs an anchor.”
“Oh, now it almost sounds like you approve of me, Neit,” I joke, but the reality of him dying is going to cause a whole lot of backlash.
“We need to talk about your parents,” Neit states.
But it’s then I realize I never needed them. Though my circumstances were anything but normal, I never lacked anything as a child, I never needed anyone other than Gramps. “Thanks, but I think I have everything I’ve ever needed.”
“Be that as it may, if you wish to know who and where they are, all you have to do is call upon me.” Neit stands and steps back. “I think I might stick around for a while.” He gifts me an odd, genuine smile that somehow looks good on him.
“Mae,” Rhia calls softly.
“Tell me something.” She nods. “That whole insane thing?”
“There are lifecycles we all must endure. By the end of a mortal life, one has learned the lessons required of him. He advances, evolves, ready for the next stage of life. Immortals have time for these lessons. They choose whether or not to learn. Now. You tell me if that makes one insane or not.” She shrugs a delicate shoulder.
“That isn’t an answer, not at all.”
“It’s answer enough.” She fades away, leaving me alone.
Cautious footsteps tap their way up the stone steps. Flynn’s face peeks around, his expression full of relief upon seeing me. “You’re okay.”
“Mostly.” I give a tentative smile. “You good?”
“He came to see you?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m okay.”
“So that power boost, you leveled up, huh?” I scrunch my face as I hear the words fall from my lips.
“Ah, yeah.” He sits beside me, tucking me into his side. “Everyone turned back to normal.”
“Wait, you checked on the others before you checked on me?” I almost feel affronted.
“I knew you’d be okay.”
“Try again.”
“My father told me you’d be okay.” He pauses. “And for the first time in my life, I believed him.”
Chapter 28
Mae
I watch as the sun slowly descends, my feet planted firmly upon the roof top. My scythe heavy in my hands as the souls desperate to move on ring in my ears. Snow flutters all around me, piling up by the hour. Soon, it will be difficult to walk. Winter arrived with December, chilling the air as the leaves turn to mush beneath the layers of flakes. Below, people move about, gathering what they can before winter locks us all in.
Far beneath the streets, the tunnels thrive with activity—cleared, cleaned, and lit with torches. An entire community paces the lengths of those tunnels, as they become our salvation in the face of a fae winter.
Rumors spill upon those streets of a lost queen, her mind diseased with magic as she hides, unwilling to step up and calm the weather. I don’t dare correct them that their beliefs may be false. That the fae are no crazier than any other immortal who faces a long life.
Though fae magic is based on the elements, they have influence over the weather. With direction, with control, they can ease the burden of a winter full of death and destruction.
Yet she hides. But again, this is all just speculation. Whisperings of a magical and non-magical community grasp at our last strings of hope as we face something we’ve never dealt with before. Nor anyone else. This world, this new name of Tír Na, holds a horizon of unknowns, of speculation and fantasy come to life, all merged with the essence and shadows of a mortal realm.
We can only wait to see if she takes place upon her throne, cooling the wilds of winter.
I don’t move from my perch. Not yet. Perhaps I’ll allow the cool wind to punish me as smoke plumes dance in the sky while fire licks the horizon from a park off in the distance. Flynn finally put his father to rest. His wake was long as many descended upon our little city to pay their respects.
I wanted him gone, I admit that, but I didn’t wish death to take hold of him so soon. Yet in death, he found peace. With it, he and Rhia have become inseparable, no longer playing an endless game of chess because the outcome has already come to pass. Death holds the finality of that game.
With clear minds, the two ghosts have become priceless advisors. I snort to myself, realizing how valuable their wisdom has been.
With Cian’s death, his stolen magic filtered back into the world, seeking a host to fulfil its purpose. And perhaps, with it, essentially fulfilling Cian’s dream anyway. His desire for immortality failed him and yet, in some regard, comes true as the immortal magic finds a way without selfish purpose. His clones fading to dust with him. There are still forces in this world full of unknown quantities.
And there are somethings you don’t mess with.
That’s where we come in now. I kneel, watching as the smoke dies with the wind. My eyes focused on the streets below. My gift, my curse, scans everyone’s purpose. If they intend to kill, I’ll know it. And with it, I will act.
See, the gods and the fae were never held accountable for their actions in the Realm. But those days have long since passed. Now, me and my ragtag crew hold each accountable for their actions if the price of magic hasn’t already dealt her blow.
Argos still mourns, his cries haunt me as they echo through the halls. I catch him looking out the
window, his eyes misty as they watch and wait. He has time, though, before Marrok returns. However, he will return. Until then, all I can provide is distraction and my love for my best friend as he waits. His heart is too pure for the universe to fail him in this. Besides, Morrigan is on his side.
The sneaky goddess stops in, checking on me often, dressing me and teaching me. Her guidance, and dare I admit her company, have become something I look forward to. As odd as it is, she’s become the mother I never had. Though I know my biological mom is out there somewhere doing Morrigan’s bidding, I haven’t yet had the desire to look for her. Maybe one day I will.
Alloysius left, taking any secrets he possessed and promised to tell me with him. I can’t say I’m surprised. Though I often think of him, I know some day our paths will cross again, and I’ll pry everything out of my rogue grandfather.
I think what hurts me the most is knowing that Gramps’s mortality is finite. His years shortened to the length of a human. Yet he lives each day with purpose and love that he shares with the brownie, Maryann. Gram isn’t impressed, but she also knows one day he will be hers again.
Perhaps that’s why death no longer holds the pain it once did for me. I know now that even though the body dies, the spirit lives on and on. I almost look forward to figuring out who Marrok reincarnates as.
“I thought I’d find you up here.” Flynn’s voice slides over me like a caress. My body lighting up as I peek over my shoulder at him. This man, this god who has come to mean so much to me.
Our lives these past couple of months have been a study in us, as we relearn everything we love about each other, and all the things that drive us crazy. But I wouldn’t change it, I’m too involved now. My heart is gone, stolen by a god with can light the world on fire.
“I wanted to watch from here. The end to the beginning.” I turn back to the fire as the crowd roars as drinks and poured. A celebration of a life lived.
“I don’t know about that. It feels more like life is just beginning.” He stands behind me, his heat radiating against my back.
I stand on the ledge, allowing me the height to look down on him, and into those chestnut eyes full of fire. There are moments that every little girl dreams of. One of those is finding that one partner, perfect for them in every way. As I stare at the god before me, I realize I’ve definitely found that person. Secrets and all.
“What’s on the agenda tonight?” I lean into him, feeling his warmth in the crisp air.
His hands slide up my back, tugging me closer. “I hear there’s a rogue witch we need to catch.” His eyes dip down to my lips.
“And where has this goddess been spotted?” I know exactly who he’s referring to. The woman Cian spoke of, the one who taught him all he knew. Which was basically murder and vengeance.
“Ireland, I believe.”
I run my hands up his body, hooking them behind his head. “Know what?” I smile. “I think that perhaps that’s a hunt for someone else.”
“Growing roots?” he teases.
“I’ve become fond of the area.” I shrug. “We’re needed here. Speaking of, how are the enforcers?”
“Pissed.” He frowns. “I’m not sure they are thrilled with my new rules.”
“Well, your father allowed them to run free, and now they need to act on the behalf of everyone.” I twirl a rogue hair of his around my finger.
“There are many areas feeling the fall of society. I wish I could help them all.”
“Have hope—” Oh, the irony “—that there are others out there willing to do the right thing.”
He laughs at that. “Have you forgotten what immortals are like?”
“Oh, not at all, they are egotistical, arrogant, self-centered—”
“Okay, okay, I get the point.” He steps back, holding his hand out to me. “Ready?”
“For what?”
His lips fall on mine with a passion only a flame could ignite. He pulls back all too quickly before grabbing me around the waist and flinging us both off the roof. Together, we free fall into the veil.
About the Author
Elle Lincoln is a newbie in the author world, even though she has been writing out her dreams and even nightmares for over a decade. She believes in magic in all forms, and oftentimes you’ll find her daydreaming in the oddest of places. Her passion is Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance, where the men are a little bit real and a dash of mythical.
When Elle isn’t writing she’s probably chasing around her four children, child-like husband, and a rambunctious Australian Shepherd. All who keep her on her toes. Nice try with the distractions, but mommy still got those books written and published. She resides in the beautiful state of Pennsylvania with lore and legends, and a whole lot of cornfields.
You can find her on Facebook under Elle Lincoln, sign up for her Newsletter, or check out her blog on WordPress, under The Publishing Parlor.
Elle Lincoln’s Bookshelf
The Raven Trilogy
Nameless Darkness
Doubtful Dreaming
Sainted Demon
Depraved Gods Series
Immortal Lies
Immortal Secrets
Immortal Desires