“I don’t presume to know anything about you.”
“Well, you know more than most, not that I’m all that complicated. Or at least I didn’t used to be complicated. Now that we have the sword, what will you do with it?” I asked quietly, hoping to move our discussion into more neutral waters.
Without opening his eyes, he spoke through his fatigue. “I’ll make certain the Hunt has no more traitors in our midst, and if we can find another individual who was involved in the portals, we can use it to interrogate them for answers.” His injury was rapidly depleting his energy stores and he needed to rest.
Hoping he would sleep, I moved to a chair across the way and pulled my knees into my chest. We got the sword but at the expense of the Hunt learning about the druids. Not only that but Lochlan seemed more convinced than ever that I was some type of mutant Fae. Was it not enough that I was becoming Fae? I was the mule of Fae, a cross-breed in every way. What would Guin do if she found out I was different than other Fae?
The night sky out the small oval window was brilliant with twinkling stars and I concentrated on them to help quiet my mind during the short flight home. Two of Lochlan’s fellow huntsmen, Michael and Liam, met us at the airport. I had met both previously on my first visit to the Huntsman, although I spent more time talking with Liam because of his outgoing personality. Michael was more reserved and from what I had gathered since that time, Lochlan was closer to Michael than any of the other guys. Liam took Lochlan back to the club for treatment and Michael escorted me home.
When I walked up to my front steps, I found Knight lounging placidly behind the garden wall in almost the exact same place I’d last seen him.
“Come on, boy, let’s go to bed,” I called to him softly.
As if he understood, he got to his feet and followed me inside. On my way up the stairs to my bedroom, I texted Ashley again. She had never responded to my previous text but I was too tired to put much energy into worrying. I showered quickly to rinse the blood and grime off me and fell into bed exhausted.
8
Saturday came and went in a series of naps, only to be broken up with periodic raids on the refrigerator. My batteries were in a desperate need of recharge and mindless television between bouts of sleep was exactly what the doctor ordered.
I texted Ashley again and yet again received no reply. It wasn’t totally unheard of for one of us to have a packed schedule and not check in, but it wasn’t our normal protocol so I was growing more worried.
On Sunday I decided a phone call to Ashley was in order. Her phone rang seven times before voicemail picked up. It felt like an eternity between each ring, my stomach growing more and more sour with each unanswered tone.
Neither of us had any family in New York and aside from a few friends, we had been on our own. I texted the few people who might have seen Ashley but none of them had heard from her in the last several days. Her office was closed but I planned to call in the following day in the hope that I could track her down and settle my overactive imagination. I hated to go straight to the police if she had simply broken her phone and not had a chance to buy a new one so I would see what Monday brought and go from there.
With that decided and nothing more I could do for the moment, I turned on my laptop to try to distract myself. Lochlan had said that the symbol on my necklace indicated ties to both the light magic of the Seelie and the dark magic of the Shadow Fae. I had gathered basic information about the Seelie and Unseelie, but I knew very little about the Shadow Fae. If my magic had its roots in Shadow magic, it would be smart to learn what I could about the Shadow Fae as well.
What I found was less than reassuring. Back when Ronan was still pretending to be a well-adjusted person, he had told me a few tidbits about the Shadow Court. He had said they were a savage caste of Fae who had dark magic and couldn’t bear to be touched by light. I scoured the internet for almost an hour, each bit of information more depressing than the next.
Everything I read made out the Shadow Fae to be vile creatures—would taking on their dark magic warp me such that I became evil? Was that why I had the dreams of the shadow man? I had so many questions and they planted seeds of fear and doubt in me, but that had been the same train of thought that had led me to take off my necklace and rendered me totally helpless against Ronan’s exploits. I couldn’t let fear make my decisions.
I would have to hope that Merlin knew what he was doing when he gave me the necklace because I couldn’t fathom how turning me evil would help his cause. Resentment toward the old Fae man bubbled up inside me. Would it have killed him to stick around and explain a few things before he took off? I may have learned the basics of what was happening to me, but what was I supposed to do with this new power? We still didn’t even know who the enemy was, let alone how to stop them.
Before my frustrations overwhelmed me, I closed the laptop and marched myself to bed.
“Cat, is Fergus in already?” I asked her tersely as I walked into the museum the following morning.
“Yeah, he’s in his office I believe. Is something wrong?” Her features were pinched with concern and a frown marred her freckled face. While I hated to accuse my friend of anything, I had to know what had happened at the London museum.
“Can you please come up with me to the offices?—I’d like to talk to you both.”
She gave a small nod and followed me toward the elevator. Endless seconds ticked by as we rode up to the top floor shrouded in a tense silence. We found Fergus working at his desk, a fast-tempo piano piece playing softly on the radio.
“Good morning, ladies,” he offered congenially as we entered the office. “What can I do for you this morning?”
I gave him a tight smile as I closed the office door and he sat forward in concern. Cat and I sat across from Fergus, the strain in the room palpable. “This weekend I came across some trouble at the British Museum in London.” My eyes met Cat’s and my friend dropped her gaze to her lap. “Three druids were there attempting to beat us to the sword and Lochlan was shot with an iron bullet, we had to fight them to get out of there alive.”
Her eyes flew back up to mine, horror on her face. “Rebecca, you have to believe that I had no idea any of that would happen! I told my mum that you were going to get the sword, just so they would know you had it, not to stop you from getting it.”
Fergus cleared his throat before cutting in. “I didn’t know anything about your trip to London prior to Saturday,” he offered slowly, fingers steepled in front of him. “However, after the events at the museum unfolded, there was quite the stir. From what I was told, either that necklace of yours has more powers than simply allowing you to see the Fae, or you yourself are Fae.” He leaned back in his desk chair, hands still pressed together in front of him. “Is there something you need to tell us, Rebecca?”
The dynamic in the room quickly shifted as Cat gasped and Fergus assessed me with curious eyes. After everything that had happened that night, I had completely forgotten about outing myself to the druids. When I turned to Cat, she looked at me like I had just kicked her new puppy.
“Has everything you’ve said been a lie?” she asked.
“No, Cat. What I told you and the others is the truth—the necklace I was given as a child has magic. I didn’t find out until a few days ago that the power was turning me into a Fae. I didn’t know how to tell you. You all have so much fear and hatred for the Fae, I didn’t want you to feel that way toward me. I’m still me, and I’m still trying to stop a war from coming.”
“You’re going to be like them?”
“We don’t know how I’ll be. I’ve been training with Lochlan to learn how to fight but even he doesn’t know how this happened or how to control my powers. My necklace somehow has both light and dark magic combined so my powers are unlike any other Fae.” I paused for a moment and looked at both of them earnestly. “I promised that I wouldn’t put you and your families in danger and I won’t. Please believe me.”
Fergus let ou
t a long sigh as he leaned forward, elbows now resting on the desk. “I don’t think any of it matters now. With that damn Deaglan O’Connor going off to steal the sword without approval of the elders, now our existence has been exposed. One idiot goes off half-cocked and centuries of secrecy are washed down the toilet. We’ll just have to wait to see what happens.”
“The elders didn’t send those three to get the sword?” I asked in confusion.
“No. Just like any large group, within it a number of factions develop. Daeglan and his followers have always hated that we hid our abilities, but until now, they have respected the elders’ wishes and maintained our secrecy. At the first mention of the sword, he was off to London—I never heard about any of it until after the fact.”
Cat cut in saying, “Deaglan and my mum are the same age, they went to school together. I can’t believe she’d tell him—she’d have known he was a hot head and would do something stupid.”
“I’m extremely confident that you aren’t in danger. I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you wouldn’t be happy about me bringing up the druids, but I had asked Lochlan if they had been real and what happened to them. I never gave any indication that they still existed or that I was asking for anything but curiosity. He said the order to kill the druids wasn’t given by Guin and that when she found out, she killed the Erkling Odin for his actions. Odin claimed she had ordered the deaths but it seems she didn’t. Regardless of what happened back then, I don’t believe anyone wishes you dead at this point.”
We all sat quietly for moment, each mulling over the new information we’d received until Fergus’ office phone startled all three of us. With a nervous laugh, Fergus answered and Cat and I quietly dismissed ourselves from the office. Instead of turning toward the elevator, she paused and I could tell she had something on her mind.
“You know, I joked about my family being a cult, but there is some truth to it. I’ve been told all my life to fear the Fae, that they were capable of terrible things.” Her sad eyes met mine, her mouth pulled down in a frown. “Everything’s changing now and I don’t know what to think or how to feel.”
I reached out and pulled Cat into a tight hug. “I know exactly how you feel, honey.”
We stood that way for a while until she pulled back and wiped at her eyes. “I know you’re not evil, Becca. And I’m sorry that me opening my mouth got you attacked.”
“You couldn’t have known it would happen, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the whole truth about me. It’s been a lot to process in a very short amount of time.”
“We’ll figure it out together. No more secrets?”
I smiled warmly at her and agreed, “No more secrets.”
That afternoon, once it was late enough in New York for businesses to be open, I called Ashley’s office hoping to track her down. The receptionist answered and informed me that Ashley was working from home because of her broken arm and was not expected back in the office for another week.
I was immensely disappointed that I still hadn’t gotten through to her. She hadn’t returned any of my recent texts and it had been days since I’d heard from her. There was little I could do from an ocean away and the helplessness and frustration gnawed at me.
Pulling out my burner phone, I texted Lochlan telling him about Ashley and received a surprisingly quick text back that he would look into it. While I hadn’t specifically asked for his help, I had to admit that I had hoped there was something he could do and I appreciated that he was quick to offer me help.
9
That evening I fed Knight and took him for a quick walk before getting ready to train with Lochlan.
“All right buddy, time for you to go outside for a bit.”
The giant lump of fur didn’t budge and instead blinked his sad doggy eyes at me from where he lay sprawled out on the couch.
“I know you’re used to being outside, don’t look at me like that.”
He sighed and rolled farther onto his side in protest.
“You are such a lazy bum! What did you do before you found me to mooch off? Yeah, I’m talking to you, which is really just talking to myself. Ugh! Fine, but you better not tear anything up while I’m gone or I’m going to make me a new dog-skin rug.” I slammed the door and hurried over to my car—I wasn’t sure if it was technically my car, but that’s what I was calling it.
The street in front of the Huntsman building was lined with parked cars. Seeing as I was not hugely comfortable parallel parking where the driver’s side and the streets were all backward from the States, I had to go farther than I would have liked to find a spot large enough for me to be comfortable parking.
I hadn’t expected such a long walk so I had only grabbed a hoodie instead of a warmer coat. Tucking my hands inside the long sleeves, I wrapped my arms around my body and began to jog toward the building.
Only about two buildings away from my destination, I heard a muffled wail come from nearby and I slowed to listen for the sound again. I had no idea what I planned to do if someone was in distress, but it was one of those reactionary behaviors, like staring at a car wreck after it’s happened, something you can’t simply ignore.
I stood still for a solid minute listening to the sounds of the active city, but nothing struck me as out of the ordinary. Assuming it had probably been a stray cat, I ducked my head against the cold and hurried down the sidewalk but I didn’t make it far before the noise came again, just behind me this time. I came to a stuttering halt as the blood in my veins turned to ice—this time the wail had been followed by my name. Even more terrifying, I recognized the voice.
It was Ashley. I would know her voice anywhere, and she was in distress. Without hesitation I raced in the direction of her screams.
When I rounded the corner to the nearest alley I stumbled to a stop and gasped out a horrified ‘No.’ Twenty feet away in the shadows of the narrow alley Ronan stood with Ashley held to him, a knife at her throat. Tears streamed down her battered face, one of her eyes already swollen nearly shut and her busted lip quivered in fear. Her arm was still in its cast from when we were attacked by a Draug in an alley strikingly similar to the one we were in now.
If I made it out of this alive, I swore I would never go near another alley again.
A swarm of intense emotions fought for dominance inside me—anger at myself for putting Ashley in this situation, frustration that I didn’t know what to do to get her out, and blinding rage at Ronan for more reasons than I could count. I could feel my power surge and my eyes shift to black as leaves and debris in the alley swirled in a cyclone of air stirred up by my magic.
Ashley’s jaw dropped in astonishment as she took in my Fae eyes. I hated that she was seeing me like that for the first time without any warning but there was nothing I could do about it.
“You should know by now, Rebecca, that it’s not wise to be out walking in the dark all alone. You and Ashley both have that little problem in common, that’s where I found this one—walking all alone at night on the streets of New York.” Ronan tisked and then goaded me with a twisted grin.
“Let her go she has nothing to do with this,” I growled in return.
“She has everything to do with this—you wouldn’t give me what I wanted so now I have something you want. You forced me to use Ashley as leverage, what happens here tonight is on your shoulders.”
“That’s bullshit, Ronan. You didn’t have to do anything and you could still let her go—she’s innocent and you’re hurting her.”
“Oh no, she’s entirely too valuable to release. She’s my collateral, I had to go all the way to New York to find her, and you’re going to do what I say or she will end up in much worse shape than she’s in now.”
“Then tell me what you want.” My voice rose to nearly a shout in frustration.
“You know what I wanted. I wanted you to pick me,” Ronan snarled at me, spittle flying from his mouth. “You said there were no sides, but that’s wrong. There’s always been sides and you ch
ose wrong.”
He was deranged, and he was furious with me.
“I get that you’re upset with me, so take me, but leave her out of this. She has nothing to do with us.” Despite a slight crack in my voice, I managed to sound firm and controlled. My heart was pounding at the confines of my rib cage and adrenaline had primed my body to fight but I desperately hoped it didn’t come to that.
“I don’t want you, been there, done that. Now I want the necklace—you come take her place, hand over the necklace, and we’ll talk about letter her go.” His eyes sparked with insanity and he no longer attempted to tame his curls, which now scattered in all directions and added to his look of madness.
“I can’t simply take off the necklace, it’s spelled onto me,” I calmly explained, hoping if I could keep our exchange from becoming emotional, Ash and I both stood a better chance.
Unfortunately my words had the opposite effect as he screamed, “Bullshit! You had it off before, take it off now before I kill her.” He squeezed Ashley’s good arm, making her cry out in pain and blood began to drip down her neck where the blade had pierced her skin.
“I’m so sorry Ashley,” I whispered as a tear ran down my cheek. Seeing her panting for air, her body bloody and broken, tore a sob from my chest as frustration eroded my composure. “Please, leave her out of this! I’ll try to take it off, just give me a second and I’ll try.” I closed my eyes and raised my shaking hands to the back of my neck. I worked at the clasp and begged it to open but there was no heat or power like there had been the last time when I managed to open the clasp.
If I couldn’t get the necklace off or find a way to stop him, Ronan was going to kill Ashley. More sobs ripped from me and my chest heaved up and down as I tried over and over. “Please,” I whispered. “I can’t get it off, please don’t hurt her.”
Twilight Siege: A Dark Fantasy Novel (The Fae Games Book 2) Page 9