An icy calm settled over me, and I stabbed the faerie through the neck. Blood poured out in a fountain, soaking into the doormat. The faerie choked on a laugh, causing more blood to bubble from its ruined throat.
Then it gave one final cough and its head collapsed onto its chest.
I wanted to scream, cry, and slay every faerie in sight—for all the good it’d do. Drawing in a breath, I moved away from the porch. I needed direction.
I needed Vance. I needed to tell him the truth. But once the truth came out, there was no going back.
With shaking hands, I dialled Vance’s number. “Vance—”
“They’re targeting my family.”
I gripped the phone hard. “What?”
“They took my cousin.”
“Shit. They took her, too. Isabel. They—they’re using her in their spell.”
And we had no plan. Nothing. Apart from our own strengths. Us against Faerie.
I took a deep breath. “You’re going to have to trust me, but I think I can get us over the boundary to Faerie. I’m just not so sure I can get us back.”
A long pause. Then: “I’m coming.”
Chapter 19
Vance appeared at my side in a dramatic swirl of magic I’d have made fun of if not for the look on his face. The storm kicked up by his arrival lifted the hair from my head and tugged at my clothes. His eyes were narrowed, his ordinarily combed hair dishevelled, his mouth an angry line. He didn’t even react to the dead faerie on the porch.
“He said they needed her to protect them when they open the veil.” My voice came out calm, numbed by the iciness in my veins, but it wouldn’t last. Either I’d break, or I’d kill whoever stood in my way. I couldn’t afford not to bet on the latter.
Vance looked as though he wanted to stab the already-dead faerie, but he didn’t move.
“They’ll do it where the invasion started,” I said. “They’ll open the veil. Do you know where it is?”
A nod. He turned to me again, another sharp blade of magic cutting the air. What happened when he lost control? Did he unleash a wild tornado and tear up everything in sight?
“You might want to tone that down.” I regretted speaking when his eyes, stormy grey, looked into mine.
“You promised me the truth.”
I raised my palms. “I’ll hide nothing from you, but to be honest, you’re freaking me out. If you promise you won’t kill me for this, I’ll tell you.”
Or arrest me. We were past that now. I’d mow even the Mage Lord down if it brought me closer to Isabel.
Vance stepped towards me. His cloak swirled around his ankles, but the breeze died down. I hadn’t even realised I was shivering so hard. I forced my hands to stay at my sides so he wouldn’t see me shaking. He had my life in his hands now.
“You were there during the invasion,” he said. “According to records, you’d have been six years old when that happened. That’s the only recorded time faeries have broken into our realm.”
I nodded. Facts, I could deal with. “Yeah. It’s complicated, that’s for damn sure, but I think some faeries must be exceptions to the rules. That faerie with the ash blade… I don’t know how he got here. It’s the truth. But I have been through the veil before. To Faerie.”
My heart settled in my throat like a solid weight.
“Show me.”
I shook my head. “It’s not that simple. I’ll tell you this: there’s a part of Faerie that’s cut off from everywhere else. It’s where they send exiles, and the doors to that realm opened during the invasion when Summer and Winter came here. That’s where the faerie with the ash blade—this Velkas—he came from there. Somehow, he can come through, but I’m guessing the power’s not open to everyone. Except he wants to open a permanent way through again.”
“You said you know how to get there.”
“I might.” This was a long shot, but the spiral of memories triggered by what the veil showed me made me surer than ever. “They must need Death to do it. To open a way through. I guess because the realms all overlap at the Ley Line. I can’t say how exactly. I didn’t see how it happened before.”
I’d seen how Avakis had taken me. The memory played out behind my eyes, and cold sweat gathered on my back. I wasn’t strong enough to face him again.
He’s dead. He’s dead.
I stumbled forward, and Vance came to meet me. “You lied,” he said. “You don’t have faerie blood at all. Where did you get your magic?”
My voice cracked. “I stole it. I stole it from the Sidhe Lord Avakis, after I cut his throat and escaped his prison.”
For a long, long few seconds, I thought the blade would appear and finish me off. He watched me, not speaking. His eyes were like dark pits.
Then he lowered his hands, and the tension crept away from me like he’d removed a sword from pointing at my neck.
“You aren’t going to ask for my story?”
“No.”
I blinked. “Is that it?”
I’d expected an interrogation at the very least. Unless he wanted to save it until after this was over.
“You’ve told me what I needed to know.”
I’d worry what that meant later. I’d left out the key part… my magic was the crux. They needed it to open the way into Faerie. By going to them, I’d be giving them exactly what they wanted.
“Except…” He studied me. “You’re human. Why would they target you in the first place?”
“I don’t know.”
I told the truth. Faeries didn’t need a reason to screw with humans. Avakis had been drunk on power during the invasion. He’d taken dozens of us. Everyone assumed us amongst the dead. Nobody could confirm otherwise.
“Why your family?” I asked. “You said your parents were dead.”
“They are. My father’s brother survived. His daughter’s part shifter. They took her.” A faint current went through the air, simmering with anger.
“And you didn’t guess she’d be a target?”
“That side of the family never got along with my parents. I thought…”
She wouldn’t be targeted. Why? Because she was a mage. Because she lived in a fancy house surrounded by protection and servants?
I didn’t say any of this aloud. His dangerous expression alone told me he cared about his cousin, and if the faeries took her…
Goddammit, we needed to stop them.
“I’m taking a wild guess the faerie came into this realm through the veil, somehow,” I said. “I think the hellhounds came through that way, too. But… he’s immortal. If we do the same, we might die.”
“That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
My breath stopped. I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out.
“If you’re wrong,” he said, moving closer, “there’s more than our lives on the line.”
“I know,” I whispered. “God, I know. You aren’t going to arrest me or—”
He gave me a grim smile, shaking his head. “No. I’m not. I’ll have to order every mage to meet near the place where the invasion started. I might be sending them to their deaths.”
I swallowed. “I know. Believe me. But it’s true—that has to be the place. And Isabel… she’s barely recovering from being poisoned. She can’t fight. I’ll have to get her out of there first.”
“I know.” He looked down at his phone, which had appeared in his hand without my noticing. “One team’s already on the way.”
“Guess we have our own transport.” My heart skittered as his hand brushed my arm, the skin stinging a little. He frowned at the scratch marks—where he’d grabbed me with his clawed hand, and torn through the sleeve. For a moment, we looked at one another. He didn’t need to say it aloud—the apology was written on his face. “Vance. What happened back there?”
He shook his head. “If I shift again, stay away from me. Please.”
I blinked. “Can’t—can’t you control it?” Shifter powers were volatile, I knew, but he seemed to
have a handle on them pretty well. The way he controlled the shifting scales on his hand was far from the uncontrolled outbursts that frequently occurred over in shifter territory. I’d never really thought about the level of self-control it must take to do that.
“I can,” he said. “But only if I’m aware of my own actions. The magic of the veil—it blinded me. And I can’t guarantee it won’t happen again.”
Wow. The Mage Lord actually admitted he couldn’t do something. This must be a first. His sincerity warmed the icy sensation inside me a little. His hand moved up my arm, brushed against my neck.
I shivered. “You’re quarter-blooded. You can’t shift all the way, can you? What’s your form look like?”
“Quarter-blooded shifters usually don’t have the ability to shift,” he said. “What you saw is the furthest I’ve ever gone. I don’t have a full shifter form.”
“It’d be something scaly and horrible, right?” My filter had gone walkabout again. He stood close, and smelled so good, even with the dangerous aura still hovering around him. The hint of a storm, ready to sweep me away in its embrace. That’s what he smelled like, too—the air before a thunderstorm. An electrical charge. A warning. A promise.
“I don’t want to harm you.” His voice moved in tandem with his fingertips, sending a shiver through me that was as far from cold as possible.
“I can handle myself, in case you hadn’t noticed,” I breathed. Somehow he’d moved so his face was above mine, near enough the faint stubble on his chin brushed against my cheek. Enough that his scent overwhelmed my senses. The spark in his eyes ignited.
Then he closed the distance between us, his mouth coming down on mine, and his tongue swept into my mouth in a single possessive motion. All other thoughts left my mind—all thought of the battle ahead, the danger, even the faeries. Even the fact that he could have killed me a minute ago. My heart quickened, my pulse fluttering in my wrists as they twined around the back of his head. His hair was soft as his hands were rough with the hint of the scales he’d worn not long ago.
He stepped away, his forehead resting against mine. “No turning back now,” he murmured.
No kidding, I thought, lightheadedness passing over me. I sucked in a breath, inhaling his scent. His grip on my arms tightened.
A gust of wind swept us up, knocking me back to my senses, and a second later, we reappeared in a field I didn’t recognise—at least, not at first. Vance released me and I took a couple of steps, looking around. The grass was mostly burned away, the blackened remains of tree trunks surrounding us. It was only when my eyes found the road running parallel, visible now there were no trees in the way, that the familiarity slammed into me.
I knew this place.
I’d lived here.
Chapter 20
This park had once been within walking distance of my own house. The house itself, I knew, now lay in blackened ruins along with the entire neighbourhood. The newly re-grown trees masked the ruins, but I remembered everything.
I remembered running down the road to the park, away from the screaming. I remembered a tempest sweeping up the world. Icy blasts interspersed with explosions that rocked the ground underneath my feet. Strange, horrible creatures materialised in the streets. I pressed my hands to my eyes, trying to stem the flow of images. What with the horrors that had happened after leaving, I’d blocked out the memories of the day the faeries came.
The roads had buckled as giants pulled themselves out of the earth. Fire-throwing imps ran down the streets, hurling balls of flame at houses. Crawling, spindly faeries smashed windows, long fingers gouging at eyes and tearing at throats. Kelpies crawled from lakes and ponds and trampled people beneath hooves like iron.
Nobody could have been prepared. They’d flooded the streets in a devastating wave, chasing everyone away. My parents were out at work. I’d been at school when they came, and fled to the doors when the emergency alarms went off. The road outside had been torn to pieces, and the sight of a giant rampaging into nearby houses had flipped on the survival instinct buried deep inside me.
I ran, so fast my feet might have grown wings. I had no memory of running to the park, but I must have ended up there, because that’s where I’d collapsed, breathless, desperate tears flowing down my face.
And then… he’d appeared. A knight in shining armour. A hand in the dark, reaching to save me.
“Ivy.” Vance didn’t look too happy, either. His mouth pulled into a thin line, his eyes cold and sharp. Had he seen the invasion, too? He’d lost most of his family in it. I took a steadying breath. I’m not alone. I’m not that girl anymore.
Then my eyes fell on the field. A glowing point marked the grass, like a post on a sports field, illuminated. Several other glowing lights shone at intervals.
Shit. This was a giant summoning circle.
And someone lay in the centre. A woman, unconscious, too far away to make out her features. But I knew her.
“Isabel!”
Goddammit. To get to her, I’d need to walk into the circle itself. Exactly where they wanted me to. If this circle was meant to open a way to Faerie, and they needed my magic. I couldn’t risk it.
I turned to Vance. “Can you displace her?”
He hesitated. “There’s a lot of energy stirring up around here. If I use magic, I might trigger whatever this circle’s intended to do.”
Crap. He had a point. What if the trap was meant for both of us? It was the sort of underhanded shit I’d expect from the faeries.
“Give me a minute,” he said, stepping forward. “I’m going to try to break it.”
I opened my mouth to warn him off, and hands closed around my throat.
I shoved my elbows back, hitting something solid. Human or not, it didn’t matter. My sword swung around and would have decapitated the guy behind me, had he not turned into smoke.
What the hell?
The faerie smiled faintly. His ears were pointed, his hair black and glossy, though transparent. Not a pure faerie. Another half-blooded ghost.
Vance swore beside me as another spirit appeared. His sword flashed out, but the half-faerie’s body turned transparent.
A hand grabbed at my arm—a solid one. I stabbed the half-faerie with Irene, only for its body to turn transparent again.
Oh, shit.
“The walls are breaking down,” I said, circling the half-faerie. I’d have to wait for it to become solid again before I could strike it. “Must be. They’re ghosts, but they can take on solid form…”
Still, they couldn’t use magic. Sure, nothing could actually harm a spirit—that I knew of—but they sure as hell could harm us, if they turned solid. I slashed with my blade and met only air. Magic swirled around me in a blue cloud. Looked like spirit faeries could trigger my magic even when they couldn’t use it themselves.
Vance wore a murderous expression, his hands faintly darkening where I assumed his shifter blood reacted to his rage. He couldn’t land a hit on a creature without a solid body, no matter how he tried. He struck out with attacks that would have torn apart a solid opponent. Then he lowered the blade.
The air pulsed around him and the spirits reeled back, caught in a blast of wind. The hairs lifted from my head even as the wind sent the spirits the other way, driving them further back until they’d melted into grey smoke.
“Displaced the air,” he said. “Thought it was worth a try.”
“Good job.” I twisted to make sure nothing else was behind us, and the ground tilted under my feet.
“What—?”
“I’m trying to move the earth,” said Vance, moving to stand at my side. Oh. Clever idea. If he collapsed the ground underneath the glowing lights on the circle, it’d break the spell and I’d be able to get to Isabel.
Though cracks appeared in the once-green field, the circle remained intact. “Defensive spell?”
“Must be protected,” he said. “Damn.”
“Where are the necromancers when you need them?”
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The spirit chose that moment to punch me in the face.
I reeled back, thrown off by how much getting hit by a dead person hurt. Vance snarled and stabbed at the half-faerie, but as the enemy had turned transparent again, it had no effect.
Another transparent figure lunged at me. I swiped and stabbed, my sword useless against the dead.
“Back to hiding again?” I taunted it. “Too much of a coward to face me like a man?”
The spirit’s teeth pulled back in a snarl. “You’re her, aren’t you? The girl who crawled out of Faerie alive.”
A trickle of fear ran down my spine. “How do you know who I am?”
“Everyone does.” The spirit grinned. “Now Velkas is after you. You were a fool to come here. Even Velkas didn’t expect you to run so easily into his trap.”
The circle. “I had no idea I was so important,” I said, trying to ignore my pounding heart. “Pissed off I killed Avakis? He deserved what he got.”
“I agree.”
Huh? “You think it was a good thing I killed him?”
“Avakis took power that wasn’t his. In killing him, you did us all a favour.”
“Good for you.” I jabbed at him. “Any reason you’re trying to kill me?”
I thought you needed me. I didn’t voice the words aloud, but he caught the implied meaning.
“We’re having fun with your mage friend before Velkas makes his move.”
“So you’re just lackeys,” I said. “Figures. How does it feel, not being able to use magic? I was told you’re nothing without it.” I grinned, feeling my own magic come to life around me in tendrils of swirling blue.
A furious expression crossed his face.
“Nothing,” I goaded him. “You’re less than the lowest mortal, faerie scum.” Blue light flowed down my arms, and my smile widened.
The faerie lunged for my throat, hands turning solid, and I caught one and twisted. The half-faerie screamed in pain, the rest of his body solidifying, and I took the opportunity to stab him through the neck. I looked up to see Vance kick away the body of his own opponent.
“Nicely done.” He scanned me as though checking for injuries. “So you have a reputation.”
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