I jolt backward in fright, my brain immediately rejecting what I’m seeing. He cheated death once before, but this time he had no eternity necklace. Nothing to save him from the blazing inferno. “You—you’re—dead. I saw you die … in the fire …”
Chase looks up at me with pleading, desperate eyes. “That never happened. She made you see everything. And now we can’t wake her up.”
CHAPTER
THIRTY-THREE
VIOLET
An illusion. Of course it was an illusion. I should have realized when Calla didn’t go racing to rescue Chase, and when he was overpowered so quickly by the witch. But it was all so real. Surely the flames that almost seared my skin with their intense heat were real. That can’t have been an imaginary fire. But if the fire was real … then who was burning within it?
I push my questions to the back of my mind as we make our hasty escape from the island. Ryn and I—and Filigree, in mouse form in my pocket—take the dragon that swoops down to join the company moments after we arrive at the edge of the island. I’m told by everyone here that dragon riding is a far smoother experience than gargoyle riding, which means Ryn’s wound is less likely to reopen. Everyone else takes a gargoyle. Chase rides with Calla, strapping the harness around both of them and holding tightly onto her unconscious form. I tell myself Calla’s just exhausted from projecting such a detailed illusion, that’s all. Nothing more sinister than that. It’s impossible not to worry, though, especially with Chase looking so concerned.
It isn’t long before we see the cliffs in the distance. As we speed through the air toward them, I keep my arms wrapped firmly around Ryn’s chest, high enough above his middle that I’m nowhere near hurting him. I almost lost him tonight, and I don’t plan on letting go of him any time soon. His hand settles over mine, and I rest my head against his back, remembering a journey from long ago that took place on a dragon named Arthur.
I don’t know where we’re headed now, but it doesn’t matter. If it’s somewhere that’s safe for Chase and his friends, then it will be safe for us too. It’s probably the same place Calla’s been staying. The secret place she wouldn’t tell us anything about in case Ryn or I were ever questioned by the Guild. The secret she no longer needs to keep from us, since it’s unlikely we’ll ever set foot inside a Guild ever again. The thought forms a hollow ache that adds itself to the well of pain residing deep within me.
I look away from the pain and focus on where we’re going. Into a giant faerie paths doorway, side by side. The elf on the gargoyle beside us stretches her hand toward me. I lean down and take hold of it as darkness surrounds us. Then we’re moving out of the paths and onto frost-covered ground devoid of life, except for the vast lake stretching out toward a snow-capped mountain. Next, we’re flying again, speeding over the water toward the mountain. And finally, we soar through an opening in the side of the mountain and into a gigantic cavern.
Chase’s gargoyle has barely touched the ground when he starts removing his harness. He climbs off the gargoyle and carefully takes Calla into his arms. Then he strides away with her, Scarlett following close behind him. No, not Scarlett. Elizabeth. That’s what everyone seems to call her now.
As I help Ryn down off the dragon, the tall woman with startlingly white hair and pale eyes stops beside us. Lumethon, if I remember correctly from the hurried introductions that took place before we left the island. “I’ll help you upstairs,” she says. “We need to get through a narrow tunnel first, which might be a little difficult, but if he can walk—”
“I can walk,” Ryn says, though how he knows this, I’m not sure. He hasn’t taken a single step since that spear went through him.
“Then it will be easier,” Lumethon says. “There are several unoccupied bedrooms upstairs, and you’re welcome to rest in one of them. Also,” she adds, “I have knowledge of certain healing magic. If you’ll let me, I’m sure I can help.”
“Thank you,” Ryn says. “I’d be very grateful for that.”
We move away from the dragon, and it turns out that Ryn can walk after all. But it causes him a considerable amount of pain, so in the end, once we’re past the narrow tunnel, I ask Filigree to carry Ryn. He climbs out of my pocket, where he’s been nestling since we left the island, and shifts into a bear once more.
As we follow Lumethon upstairs, I say, “Please explain to me what happened back on the island. With the illusion, I mean. What was real and what wasn’t? It’s … unsettling not knowing the difference.”
“Of course,” she says with a smile. “Let’s see. When the battle with the prisoners was over, we took the gargoyles around the side of the island and landed in the trees. We reached Calla’s side just as Chase was being restrained. We were ready to rush in and fight every guardian to get him out, but Calla stopped us. She said the Guild would never stop hunting him and that the world would live in fear of his return, and that the best way to end this would be with the world believing he had died.
“So while you were seeing whatever Calla wanted you to see, we forced every guardian holding onto Chase back into the crowd. They couldn’t see us, so they weren’t expecting to have to fight anyone off. Then three of us created a shield layer. I think Calla imagined it silver, so everyone would think it was from the witches. Darius and Kobe then brought the body of one of the dead prisoners. Elizabeth started the fire. It was the same as the fire Calla imagined. Powerful, enchanted witch flames that would consume a body quickly. Easy enough for Elizabeth to do, since she’s familiar with witch magic. Then we all ran into the trees to hide, planning to get away as soon as we could. That’s when Calla collapsed.”
“From overuse of magic?”
Lumethon looks away as we reach a hallway and continue going up. “I don’t know. Hopefully that’s all it is.”
“So when I ran at the witch to try and stop her from doing that fire spell and her magic threw me back … how did that happen if it was an illusion?”
“That was Gaius, actually,” Lumethon says, her voice taking on an apologetic tone. “His magic threw you back. We couldn’t risk you interfering.”
“But … okay.” I shake my head. “How did you pull this off if you were seeing the same illusion everyone else was seeing? That must have been tremendously confusing.”
“We weren’t seeing the same thing you were seeing. At least … Calla was trying not to show it to us. But she hasn’t yet perfected that particular technique, so we saw a fuzzy, translucent version of what you saw. Which was actually quite helpful,” she adds. “At least we knew what everyone else was seeing.”
We finally reach the top of the stairs and head along a carpeted passageway. We pass a room with books and plants, and then a bedroom on the right—Calla’s bedroom, judging from the fact that Chase and Elizabeth are standing by the bed. “Do you think …” I lean back as we pass the door, trying to see more of what’s going on. My voice edged with fear, I say, “What if there’s something else wrong with her?”
“Go and find out,” Ryn says from Filigree’s arms. “Please. I need to know if she’s okay.”
I reach for his hand as we turn into another bedroom. “I don’t want to leave you.”
“I’m fine,” Ryn insists. “I’m a faerie. A hole in the stomach is nothing.”
“It’s definitely not nothing.”
Lumethon lights the lamp hovering in the corner while Filigree lowers Ryn onto the bed. I don’t let go of his hand. As he settles back against the pillows, relief passes over his features. He squeezes my fingers. “Please. Please just go check on her. I’m not going anywhere. You can come straight back here and tell me what’s going on.” After a pause, I nod. I turn to leave, but he tightens his grip and says, “Wait.” He pulls me down toward him and presses a kiss to my lips, and then his cheek against my cheek. “I love you,” he whispers. “Thank you for coming back to me.”
I can’t speak all of a sudden, so I nod and swallow and finally manage to whisper, “I love you too.”
&nb
sp; The sound of raised voices reaches my ears as I turn back down the corridor toward Calla’s room. I reach her doorway as Chase shouts, “You should have said something! You should have told the rest of the team.”
“It was her choice not to say anything,” Elizabeth replies.
“About what?” I ask as I walk in. “What’s going on?”
Chase drops his hands to his sides and shakes his head. “Ask Elizabeth,” he says, his tone hard.
As I walk to the side of the bed, toward the still, golden haired girl I love as much as if she were my own sister, Elizabeth speaks. She tells me of a witch’s curse that would drain Calla of her power every time she used her Griffin Ability. She would grow steadily weaker until her core magic was depleted and life vanished from her body. Then her Griffin Ability would become the witch’s.
I lower myself onto the edge of the bed, my hands pressed over my mouth.
“She didn’t want to tell anyone,” Elizabeth says. “She knew Gaius and the others would try to keep her from using her ability, and without her, we had no way into the Seelie Palace to rescue Chase. I made her a tonic to keep the curse’s effects at bay, but there was no way of knowing how long it would work.”
“Well now we know,” Chase says quietly, stopping beside me and taking Calla’s hand gently in his. “That last illusion tonight was too much.”
“How do we heal her?” I ask. “Or is it too—” My voice breaks. “It is too late?”
“If the witch won’t lift the curse, then she must be killed.” Elizabeth turns her gaze to Chase. “And we know how you feel about killing.”
A flicker of hope burns within me as I remember Filigree coming to my rescue in a form more ferocious than any I’ve ever seen him in. “One of the witches is dead.”
Elizabeth’s eye snap back to me. “How? Which one?”
I wonder how none of them saw this, but they must have been back in the trees by then, with their attention focused on Calla. “I don’t know which one. Filigree—uh, my shape-shifting pet—transformed into a dragon when one of the witches tried to attack me. He … well, the witch ended up between his jaws. He flung her around and tossed her away. I didn’t see her after that, but … his fangs punctured through her body, and her neck must surely have been broken from being shaken around like that. I don’t believe she could possibly have survived.”
Elizabeth’s expression is grim. “You don’t know what a witch can survive,” she says as she stares at Calla.
“If it was the right witch,” I say, “and she did die, then what does that mean for Calla?”
Elizabeth gives a slight shake of her head and lifts her shoulders. “Hopefully it means the curse ended just in time.” She moves to the other side of the room and leans against the wall with her arms crossed.
I turn to Chase and quietly ask, “Will you stay with her?”
“I won’t leave her side,” he says, which is pretty much what I expected.
My heart is heavy as I walk back to the other bedroom. I don’t want to tell Ryn what’s happened. I don’t want him to have to consider losing his sister so soon after losing … Victoria. And the way I last spoke to Calla … I shouted at her. Blamed her. But I didn’t mean any of it, and I may never get to tell her that.
I breathe in a deep shaky breath as I enter the bedroom. Relief fills me when I see Ryn’s closed eyes and his gently rising chest. “Is he asleep?” I ask Lumethon, who’s quietly packing bottles back into a bag.
“Yes. I’m sorry. I gave him something for the pain, and drowsiness is a side effect. Since all his body’s energy is going into healing him right now, it didn’t take long before he fell asleep.”
“That’s fine. No need to apologize. I’m glad he’s resting properly now.”
She takes her bag and stops beside me on her way out, giving me a reassuring smile. “Gaius and I will be around if you need anything.”
“Thank you.”
She shuts the door.
Silence.
Before I let everything come crashing down, I remove my shoes. I take my jacket off. I gently move Filigree, sleeping in curled up cat form, to the bottom of the bed and climb beneath the covers. I get as close to Ryn as possible, placing my head beside his on his pillow and wrapping my arm around him. He mumbles, half-asleep, and reaches for my hand. His fingers wrap around mine before relaxing again.
I breathe out slowly as everything, everything, washes over me. Our baby is gone. Calla is cursed and possibly dying. Our names are on the Griffin List. We’ll never again work for the Guild. We’ll be on the run forever if we don’t want to be tagged and tracked.
But I still have Ryn.
My tears soak the pillow as I drift gradually toward sleep, filled again with that odd combination of pain and peace.
CHAPTER
THIRTY-FOUR
CALLA
I knew I’d reached the end of my strength with that final illusion. I knelt on the ground, my fingers digging into the earth as I poured every bit of my remaining magic and focus into that illusion. And not only projecting the illusion itself as far across the island as possible, but trying to keep it from my team so they wouldn’t be horribly confused. My body begged me to let go, but I refused until I felt hands on me, heard voices saying we’d done it. We saved Chase while everyone thought he was burning. Only then did I let go of the illusion and allow my teammates to become visible around me. Only then did I fall into the welcoming arms of darkness and rest.
* * *
Soft light caresses my eyelids. I open them and find the first hints of sunrise appearing in my enchanted painted windows. I rub my eyes and slowly push myself up, and for the first time in days, I feel rested. A single, simple thought comes to mind: I’m not dead. I smile as I let the thought sink in properly. I’m not dead, despite the fact that I was convinced the witch’s curse was about to consume me. I’m not dead—but I am horribly thirsty. I reach for the glass of water beside my bed and down it. Then I notice the second glass. A glass filled with layers of green and gold. I don’t remember telling anyone here at the mountain that I like honey apple, but I must have. I take a few sips before returning the glass to the table.
I push my hair away from my face, noticing that it’s blonde and gold, no longer black. Someone must have bathed me. As awkward a thought as that is, it’s probably a good thing considering how long ago my previous shower was. I look around—and find someone lying beside me. Chase. So quiet I wasn’t aware of him there. A slight frown creases his brow despite the fact that he’s asleep. His face is clean-shaven, and his hair is properly free of the blood and dirt that caked it when I first found him at the Seelie Palace. His hand is stretched out toward me, as if perhaps he was holding mine before he fell asleep.
I place my fingers over his. As his eyelids flutter and open, I push every worrying thought aside—the tear in the sky, Ryn’s spear wound, Mom and Dad in prison; my ever-present guilt—and appreciate this moment: we’re both alive, safe and together. His frown vanishes the moment he sees me. He sits up, moves closer, and pulls me into his arms. “I thought the curse had taken you,” he murmurs.
My arms come up around his body. I press my head against his chest. “So did I,” I whisper. “Why didn’t it?”
“One of the witches was killed in the fight yesterday. Gaius confirmed it with someone from the Guild. But we had no way of knowing if it was the witch who cursed you. The fact that you weren’t gone yet gave me hope, though. And now that you’re awake … well, it must have been her.”
“I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I just wanted to be able to help.”
He kisses the top of my head. “I know.”
I pull back suddenly. “Is Ryn—”
“He’s fine.”
“And the tear in the sky? It was getting bigger when—”
“It stopped when it met the monument.”
My eyes slide shut and my shoulders droop beneath the relief. “Thank goodness.”
“From what I’ve heard, guardians have been trying to seal the gap, but they’ve had no luck. It sounds like there’s a group of them guarding it with a glamour, keeping humans away. Not a permanent solution, but it’ll work for now. What’s interesting is that Velazar Island has stopped moving.”
“Oh. I suppose the monument and the tear are keeping it in place.”
“Yes.” Chase lifts his hand to my face, and his thumb caresses my cheek. “Do you remember everything else that happened?”
My smile returns. “I remember you telling me you love me.” As his lips stretch into a smile wider than mine, I add, “But you ran away before I could respond.”
He tilts forward and kisses my nose. “What would you have responded with?”
I lean past him and whisper into his ear, “I love you too. Just as fiercely and desperately and with everything inside me.”
His lips brush my jaw, but I push him gently back. “Wait. Tell me what you meant just before that. When you said, ‘That was it.’”
His eyes crinkle at the edges as he grins. “I think you know.”
“I think I know too. But tell me anyway.”
Chase pulls me toward him. I shift around so that my back is pressed against his chest. He wraps his arms around me, and our fingers lace together. “This is what Luna said to me: ‘I see you with a woman in gold. The background is filled with one of your storms. She doesn’t say it, but I can see in her eyes that she loves you. She loves you so much that she doesn’t want you to go. But because she has faith in you, she tells you to go. She tells you to go and save the world so that everyone will know what she knows: that you’re fighting for the right side now.’”
A Faerie's Curse (Creepy Hollow #6) Page 27