“I understand what’s at stake,” she snapped. “But as much as you might prefer it, I can’t forget the people I love.”
Admitting the rest of what had happened tonight would merely prove Leo’s point, but he needed to know. “Someone tried to kidnap me while I was away.”
Leo’s chest rose, a look of indignation crossing his face.
“What?” Derek said.
“It wasn’t Keen’s fault,” she said hurriedly. “If not for him, I wouldn’t be here.”
Derek thrust his fingers through his hair. “Christ, Elena. What were you thinking?”
She shot him an angry glare. “I was thinking of my best friend. Not that it’s any of your business.”
Leo and Keen exchanged an awkward look.
Elena took a deep breath and tried to calm down. “We have to find Reese.”
“It’s true, the girl is missing,” Keen said. “We haven’t heard from her in hours. I am following Elena’s kidnapper, but so far he’s made no move. He failed his mission and fears the one in charge. While questioning him, I confirmed Marlon St. Just commands the group of Halven. He has over ninety disciples and the list grows each day. They wish to take over Tirnan and rule as Halven.”
Leo pressed his thumb and forefinger to his brows and bowed his head, letting out a deep sigh.
“There is more,” Keen said, and glanced at Derek, whose face reddened, hands balling at his sides. “We have reason to believe Beatrice enthralled Derek.”
Leo’s head rose. He studied Keen for a moment, then peered past him to the door. “Marcus, bring Beatrice. Immediately.”
Marcus turned and exited the aircraft hangar laboratory.
“It is odd,” Keen went on, “after the other incident.”
“Yes,” Leo said. “We will withhold judgment until we speak to her. I did not wish to believe the daughter of a dear friend capable of treachery, but I cannot ignore the evidence.”
Within minutes, Marcus returned. “Beatrice is not in Emain. She left the premises seventeen minutes ago.”
“Her movements reflect this,” Keen said. “She blocks me from her thoughts, but her physical movements do not mimic the makeup of Emain. The fact that she blocks me is incriminating.”
“I saw her tonight,” Elena said, her comment catching everyone’s attention. “In front of the fraternity house. At least, I think it was her. The woman had the same hair as Beatrice, the same build and walk. I wasn’t sure at the time, but after the men attacked me… If that was her, she was talking to three men on the lawn of the fraternity house before I was attacked.”
“Marcus,” Leo said, “have security search for Beatrice. Guard all entrances into Emain. When you find her, take her to the holding cell.”
Holding cell? Emain has a prison?
“Let us convene in my office, where it is”—Leo glanced around—“private.”
They followed Leo several flights up in an elevator and entered a room that looked like a Victorian gentleman’s smoking room. Two settees faced one another in front of a huge desk. Ornate built-in bookshelves covered the walls. Tall windows with diamond-paned glass peered onto a copse of trees.
Leo gestured to one of the settees. “Please, have a seat.”
A servant brought in a tray that held tea and small cookies, and Elena stared at it. What was with the Fae using British customs?
Leo observed her expression. “It is not true, what the myths say about Fae and food. You may eat without becoming ill or beholden to us, just as you’ve eaten from our kitchen without injury.”
Wow, she wasn’t even thinking about that—didn’t even know she should fear receiving food from the Fae. If she had appeared uncomfortable, it was because the atmosphere inside Leo’s office was like stepping into another century.
Derek grabbed a handful of cookies and ate them two at a time.
Elena poured a cup of tea and tried not to look at Derek at her side. As upset as she was about seeing him with Beatrice, she couldn’t shake the instinctual comfort of having him near. Which only meant she couldn’t trust her instincts. Not until she figured out what really happened between him and the girl. Enthralled, Keen had called it.
“St. Just’s laboratory was destroyed in the explosion,” Leo began. “We searched for the ingredient you mentioned, Derek. Nothing of consequence remained of the room. You are fortunate you left when you did. Had you stood within ten feet of the walls, there would be little left of you as well. Are you certain this F-18 ingredient is needed for Elena to create the cure?”
Derek nodded. “According to Marlon’s notes, it’s the key.”
“Then we must find it.”
Elena caught Leo’s eye. “That’s not our only problem. I need knowledge of what I’m creating in order to make something. I could develop the virus using F-18, but I’d still need an antidote for it in order to save the Fae, something the notes Derek retrieved don’t contain. But I’ve thought about the Tertullian Codex—”
“No, Elena,” Derek said.
Elena had thought that by controlling her environment she would never lose anyone she loved again. But sometimes life had a way of pushing you in a new direction despite your best efforts, just as Leo had said days ago.
What if, in order to make something of herself—to make her family proud and to protect them—she needed to be what she was born to be? To embrace her Halven side with all the powers and complications that entailed?
She turned to Derek. “You have no right to tell me what to do. If I’m the only one who can help, then I will. It’s my decision.” She let out a sigh and turned to Leo. “I think—I think I need to go to Tirnan.”
The Emain Fae could be stuffy, unpredictable, and some of them—Beatrice—seemed to be working against their own, but they’d also kept her safe and had fought for her. She said her next words not simply to ensure her family’s safety, but because it was the brave thing to do—the right thing.
“According to the book, I need contact with the land, and possibly Fae of noble origins. I believe if I go to Tirnan, I’ll figure out how to transmute and create a cure.”
Leo shook his head. “Fae from Emain cannot escort you to Tirnan to ensure your safety. The risk to our soldiers of exposure would be too great. We will not chance losing more Fae lives. And if our soldiers cannot go with you, you will be unprotected.”
She didn’t like it, but what other option did they have? “I understand.”
“Do you?” Leo said gravely. “Portia left for Tirnan against my wishes yesterday to retrieve healing potions for testing. We’ve lost contact with her and fear the worst. Under normal circumstances my people would not tolerate you, but with the threat of mass death… I cannot express how extraordinary our agreement is with you as a Halven here in Emain. Even so, your presence is barely tolerated among those said to be liberal. It will not be tolerated at all in Tirnan.”
Leo let out a deep sigh. “Unfortunately, our brethren have made little progress on an antivirus. I convinced the others to take a chance with you in the beginning, believing that with your lineage lay potential. You have proven adept, you learn fast, and you are exceedingly powerful for a Halven, yet we still do not have a cure. The fact that I am willing to let you go to Tirnan, knowing you may not survive long enough to develop a solution, shows how dire our circumstances have become.”
Elena’s hands turned cold, as if all the blood had drained from her extremities. “If I go there, will I be susceptible?” Bad enough she’d have the Fae after her. If she caught the disease too… “I’m a Halven with Fae blood. Can I contract the virus?”
“Humans and Halven are immune.”
She shook her head. “You can’t know that for sure unless you’ve exposed people and tested the theory.”
He stared at her.
“You tested it… on Halven? Like guinea pigs?”
“We had no choice. We’ve assessed every possible strategy to save our people.”
Elena rose from her seat,
her knees wobbly. “I need rest. I’m going to my room… going to try and call Reese again.”
“Rest,” Leo said. “We will plan how to get you in and out of Tirnan unharmed if at all possible. I will notify you if we discover your friend’s whereabouts. Understand, however, that she is not our first priority.”
“Oh, I’m crystal clear on that point.” She reached for the back of the settee for balance. Exhaustion, Derek’s betrayal, shock at the Fae’s use of human lives to test the virus—all of it made her stomach lurch and her head spin.
Derek grabbed Elena’s elbow, but she jerked her arm away. She couldn’t stand him touching her. Not after…
She made her way unsteadily out of Leo’s office toward her room while Keen and Derek walked a few paces behind.
“Give us a minute,” Derek said to Keen when they reached her door. He followed her inside and closed it behind him.
She rubbed her eyes and sat in the chair next to the desk. Derek sat on the edge of the bed.
Seeing him on the mattress brought back images of them together. It seemed like days or weeks ago—but only hours had passed. And then he’d been with Beatrice.
“I don’t want you here, Derek.” She swallowed the lump in the back of her throat. “Please go.”
He leaned forward. “Elena, I don’t know what happened earlier, but it wasn’t within my power to control it. I have never wanted Beatrice. I’m sorry if what you saw hurt you. You’re the only person I think about. I want you.”
They were the words she yearned to hear. Beatrice might have done something to influence Derek—enthralled him. Leo and Keen seemed to think so. It didn’t erase the images of Derek with another woman.
The knot in her stomach tightened and she bent forward. “I need to be alone.”
Derek stayed a moment longer. He shifted his feet. When she didn’t move or say another word, he stood and walked out, slamming the door behind him.
Elena spent the next hour calling and texting Reese, without success.
Unable to push aside her exhaustion any longer, she pulled her father’s leather jacket over her shoulders like a blanket and crawled across the bed. With dried tears on her cheeks, she fell into a fitful sleep.
29
Red stars sparkled in a black sky like pale rubies. Elena walked along the river’s edge, staring up, her feet and the rest of her body clad in the comfortable Fae clothes. The sound of leaves rustling and water trickling were the only signs of life.
She looked down and stars and moons reflected in the river beside her.
Moons? She peered up again, and tracked not one, but three white moons in different lunar phases.
A gentle breeze swept a lock of hair against her face and she wrapped her arms around her torso, but this time the breeze didn’t penetrate her clothes. She remained warm, the Fae material, like a thin, stretchy wetsuit, molding to her, as if the clothes were protecting her from the cooler Tirnan climate.
Just ahead, she made out the arch of the bridge from her last dream. As she neared, a familiar female shape appeared.
“Remember what I told you,” Deirdre said as Elena reached the bridge. “You must never cross the Fates. Danger resides on the other side. More danger than simply entering this realm.”
How did Deirdre know Elena planned to go to Tirnan?
“I remember. But why do you only visit me in my dreams now?”
Deirdre looked down at the water, flowing steadily south. “It is safer this way. No one observes you here.”
“But you do.”
Deirdre smiled. “Yes. That is my special gift. Not many have the ability to enter dreams. A dreamwalker may only enter the dreams of someone they know.”
Deirdre had entered her dreams twice now, bestowing knowledge about Tirnan. Maybe she’d have advice about traveling there. “After reading the Tertullian Codex, I think I need to travel here to build my powers.” Elena glanced around. “It seems Fae of noble blood can enrich their powers through the land.”
“It is possible.” A forlorn look crossed Deirdre’s face. “The only other Fae with your ability was a nobleman. Connecting with his descendants may help in your search as well. They are a part of New Kingdom.” She paused a moment and sighed. “I feared you would end up in Tirnan. You must speak to Leo and learn all you can before traveling here. Great danger awaits you.”
“Leo mentioned that, but if I’m the Fae’s only hope, why wouldn’t they help me?”
“Long-held beliefs are difficult to extinguish. Fae believe Halven are an abnormality. Like the mother of a deformed pup smothers it to spare suffering, our people will sense your energy level and end your life before they listen to reason.”
“Can’t Keen telepath a message and let people in Tirnan know that I’m coming to help?”
“Keen’s telepathy works in one direction. He may listen to others, but they cannot hear inside his mind. And his ability does not work across realms.
“Even if he could communicate with our brethren, they would not listen. It would take time we do not have to convince them to put aside prejudices about the Halven. Most know Halven are responsible for the deaths of their loved ones, and they are not in a charitable mood toward your kind.”
“If that’s the case, how will I survive long enough to create a cure?”
Deirdre gently squeezed Elena’s arm. “Protect yourself through your ability. Use it to defend as much as to create. For now, Derek is on your side. If traveling to Tirnan is the correct course, Derek’s power will help you enter unsuspected. There is always the risk that…” She trailed off, concern crossing her face.
“What?”
“Trust your instincts. They will guide you well.” Deirdre’s figure flickered.
“Wait! I don’t trust my instincts. That’s the problem.”
Deirdre was gone.
30
Derek went to Elena’s room a few hours later, but Keen wasn’t out front and Elena didn’t answer the door. A brief moment of panic washed over him, before he remembered that Leo had wanted Elena to put in one last defense training session before traveling to Tirnan. Derek jogged to the Emain gym, and found Elena crouched and facing Keen.
Keen lunged for her, and Derek’s entire body tensed. But in the next instant, Elena hit Keen in the throat with the side of her wrist and elbowed him in the solar plexus. Keen faltered and Elena mimicked kneeing him in the groin.
Keen stepped back and nodded, still recovering from the throat blow.
Derek clapped. “Not bad. Thanks for waiting for me this morning.”
Elena grabbed her water bottle, her tanned skin pale, eyes rimmed with red. She walked to the side of the room and proceeded to stare at the wall.
He hated to see her like this. Felt helpless to fix things, since he was the cause. Wisps of what had occurred the night before rendered a hazy, disjointed image in his mind, but one thing was clear. He hadn’t wanted to be with Beatrice.
The thought of being with the Fae female made bile rise in his throat. He had scrubbed his skin raw last night trying to erase lingering memories of her touch. He was a guy; of course he’d hooked up with girls he didn’t have strong feelings for, but never against his will. Call him crazy, but he liked to choose his partners.
After spending time with Elena, he had no interest in anyone else. The knowledge that he’d hurt her after what they’d shared tore at his insides, and Elena’s cold shoulder made him itch to punch something. Preferably a Fae something.
Derek strode to where she stood and addressed Keen. “What’s the plan?”
“Weapons training for you, more hand-to-hand combat for Elena before she meets with Leo for final preparations.”
“Why aren’t you teaching me how to use weapons?” Elena glared at Derek as though she wanted to shiv him—for last night, for being the one who received the weapons training, for everything.
And maybe he deserved it. He’d been an ass to her in the beginning when she’d caused an explosion in Ma
rlon’s lab, redeemed himself somewhat by helping her with the Fae, and then he’d kissed another girl right in front of her. It didn’t look good.
“We need to teach you more defense skills,” Keen said. “You put up no fight against the Halven at the party.”
Elena threw up her hands. “It was two against one, and the one guy clocked me in the head. How am I supposed to respond under those conditions?”
Keen pinned her with a glare. “Do you think you will find yourself in a padded, air-conditioned room the next time someone attacks you? You will be given no warning, likely under impossible circumstances. You must be able to defend yourself in the worst of conditions, and I don’t have time to properly train you. Derek has proven his combat skills are sufficient for him to advance to weaponry.”
“His skills haven’t been tested in a real-life situation. How do you know how he’ll fight when the chips are stacked against him?”
“Enough.” Keen waved his hand and walked to the edge of the mat. “I will not argue with you, Elena. Do as I say and you may survive the next time someone tries to kill you.”
“Don’t sound so smug,” she grumbled, and turned her back. “If I don’t survive, you won’t either.” Elena chopped the dummy bag with the move she’d practiced on Keen’s throat moments before.
Keen moved to the weapons wall and pulled knives and guns down. He checked the chamber of a handgun and raised it to Derek. “Have you used one before?”
Derek shook his head, most of his attention on Elena chopping the hell out of the dummy bag. “Only a Benelli shotgun and a Magnum .22.”
Elena landed one last punch on the bag. “Great. He kills Bambis.”
Derek dropped his hands low on his hips and turned to her. “We have a large property back home. I’ve shot birds, but most of my experience is limited to tin cans.” He nodded at Keen. “I have good aim, though.”
Keen handed him a Magnum .22 and ammunition, then pulled several small knives from the wall. He sheathed them, and pointed to where they fit along Derek’s belt. Once Derek had the items secured, Keen reached inside a drawer and handed him two more belts, both of them small and made of the same rubberlike material as the belt at his waist.
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