by Laney McMann
The surface of the agitated water below converged to a peak, like a tongue protruding from a giant mouth waiting to consume needed prey. My body hit with a crippling blow, swallowed by the churning froth, knocking my breath away—lungs filling, suffocating.
Sinking.
The water shuddered around me, tiny bubbles of air filling my nose as pressure akin to an undertow pushed beneath me, and my body rebounded back to the surface with a lurch.
Bloodied arms cradled my body on the calm surface of the pool, and I scrambled, choking and gasping for air.
“Layla?” Max’s words charged out. He tilted my head back, treading water, his color gone, shirt red, blood feeding the pool and leaving a tainted reflection across the surface.
My heart’s frantic beat increased as I tried to regain my breath. “Oh, my god … you’re hurt.” Flesh, ripped free from bone, lay across my chest, his forearm torn apart.
“It’s not that bad.” He started to swim to the shore with my body resting back on his.
I pressed a hand over the gash to stop the bleeding, my injured shoulder hanging limp under the surface on my other side, and freed myself from his hold. “It’s bad.”
He winced as I scrambled to keep his arm and my head above water while paddling us both back to the bank.
“I’m okay, Layla.” He pushed away from my grasp and re-secured his good arm back around me, cringing. “I just hit that cluster of rocks over there on the way down. It’s you I’m worried about. “
“I’m fine.” I coughed and loosened his uninjured arm from around my waist. “You’re the one … who’s hurt. Let me help.”
“I can swim with one arm.” He grasped me again.
“You’re covered … in blood!”
“You’re the one who almost drowned!”
“You need … a doctor!” I hacked.
“So do you!”
I glanced down, realizing I treaded water with both arms while still trying to pull him along against his will, and witnessed his gashes fade before my eyes, sealing and repairing themselves.
“What—Lay?”
“I’m not doing anything.” I shook my head as the pain in my shoulder disappeared, and my lungs cleared.
“Healing powers.”
Our heads shot up in unison.
My aunt stood on the bank.
Heat fed into my palms. My aunt. My family. Where were you?
She smiled. “I was beginning to wonder if you were both going to drown each other.”
Pebbles cascaded down to the basin from the sink’s rim. “Teine?” Cara’s voice lilted.
“Back up, Cara.” I made my way to where she stood on the bank, Max right at my side.
She inched her feet back. “What are you doing down there? The castle is the other way.” She pointed past the waterfall and her mother standing down the bank. “I thought you were staying for a while?” Creases took over her forehead.
“We can’t. I’m sorry.”
“But …” She glanced briefly toward her mother and back again. “What happened? Did someone hurt you, Max?”
My stomach dropped.
“Are you okay?” she asked, attention flicking between the blood clearly visible on Max’s arm and across the surface of the water.
“I’m okay.” He coughed, too, steadying himself on the bank next to me.
“Then, stay!”
“Cara, dear, please do not continue to pester Teine,” my aunt said. “Run along and play.”
“Yes, Mother.” She bowed and ran off.
“You are upset with me.” The queen meandered closer.
“Yes.” I glared at her. “You saw that. You let it happen.”
“I am sorry to have disappointed you. Please understand—I would not have allowed any real harm to come to either of you. MacKenzie, I trust you are all right?”
“Yes, My Lady.” He bowed.
“Real harm? Are you kidding me? Your little trap, or whatever, could have killed one of us! Both of us!”
She tilted her head and sighed. “I have disappointed you, then. I do apologize. The cave is a safeguard, as is the waterfall. Both have existed for centuries. They react of their own accord when a threat is near.” She glanced toward Max.
“Your blood is ancestral, Lay,” Max said. “They were testing mine.” His gaze veered to my aunt.
“Very good.” My aunt nodded. “Yes, that is correct. Your bloodlines are very strong. Very strong indeed, but you see, we have … concerns.”
I grasped Max’s hand. “I don’t give a damn about his blood. I want no part of this world if maiming people is the custom. Who do you think you are?”
“Why, I am the queen and your elder. Please do not forget that. It is my duty to protect my people.”
“We are your people!”
“You are very angry. Like your mother or perhaps like your grandmother, fire runs deep within your veins. Her fire ran very deep as well. Her temper too.” The queen’s eyes narrowed. “You have great strength, my niece, but strength must be controlled.” She began a slow walk back and forth along the bank. “MacKenzie, we must be sure that you remain … in control. Loyal to our cause. Loyal to Teine … even if that means risking your own life for hers.” She gestured to the remaining blood. “There are those who would attempt to sway you from us.”
“Your cause?” My fists clenched.
“I am impressed by your courage today,” she said, clearly, ignoring my question. “As well as the courage you have displayed protecting my sweet niece. Our world continues to be indebted to you.” She smiled at him. “Our cause, sweet niece, is a simple one. We have been at war with the Fomorians for centuries. They want what we have.” She gestured toward the land, the trees. “Our world. It is nothing new. For thousands of years we have kept them at bay.” She hesitated. “Your parents, Teine, were hunted, for they were our protectors here.” Her hands rose to the heavens. “In this realm, they alone held back the strength of the Fomore.”
Whatever air remained in my lungs evaporated.
“When your father was killed, the Fomore were cast into Shadow by a powerful Queen. She renounced her position, fled our world with her only child and the light that keeps our realm alive. That child ——stands before me.” She inclined her head. “Your duty waits in front of you—all around you.” She raised her arms to her world.
My eyes closed of their own accord, the shock of reality sinking in. “That’s why I’m being hunted. They killed my father, so my mother cursed them, and now they want revenge.”
“Yes, and no,” my aunt said. “Your power is far greater than all those who walked before you. Your gifts breathe life into our world. One must always continue the life source here.”
“My mother.” I nodded, understanding.
“Until you were born, that was so. One light replaces another, but your power surpasses that of your mother. If the Fomore are able to destroy you, they destroy our world. They had hoped your father was the light bearer. They were wrong.”
My head dropped. No wonder my mother hid me. I turned to Max.
“You knew that’s why I’m being protected.”
He nodded. “It was the reason. In the beginning.”
“All these lies. I’m being hunted by killers. Threatened. Expected to protect an entire race? Ludicrous. They made me believe I was losing my mind. For years!”
The pores on my arms twitched. Max pulled me into his grasp, running his hands down my arms, leaving a cooling sensation seeping into my skin. “Calm down, Lay.”
“Watch your temper, niece.”
I glared at my aunt, heat shooting through my limbs, too upset to speak. I wanted to leave, to disappear from the madness of the Otherworld.
“I am sorry if you wished for kinder words.” She raised her chin. “We are in crisis. Every day, we are steps closer to being destroyed. We are your people. This is your destiny. Anger will not erase the truth of who you are—or your purpose here.”
“My
destiny? What destiny? I have no idea what I’m doing! I was shut out of this Realm. Hunted for reasons I’ve had no knowledge of. I owe nothing to you!” I yanked out of Max’s arms.
“Do you care nothing of our people? Your people?” My aunt whipped her robes around her body, thrusting her arms in the air. “Families and children? Are we so different than those who live and breathe on Earth? What of your cousin? What of Cara? Do you owe her nothing, as well?”
I clenched my fists, nails digging into skin. “I remembered nothing of this world until recently, and what I remember now seems to belong to someone else. I’ve been deceived for years.” My hands ached. “Lied to by everyone who meant anything to me. And now I am supposed to risk my life for you? This is not my fight!”
My aunt squared her shoulders and straightened her robes. “I understand you are upset, child. You have reason, but please know that you were raised away from this realm for your protection and nothing more. I have spoken to you through your dreams all your life. It was never my intention for you to be so unaware. These were your mother’s choices, not mine. You have had a home here since your birth.”
“So now, as payment for that protection, I’m supposed to fight for something I have nothing do to with? Protect myself from enemies I can’t even recognize? Everyone’s used me. For their own purpose. Their own gain. Raised me up like a fighting dog.”
“That is not so.” She turned to walk away. “Without you … we die.”
“You’re telling me I have to protect an entire race from destruction and bring peace to the realms. How? By killing Max? Is that the deal? Are you insane?” I screamed into the heavens, birds scuttling from treetops, and dropped my head, trying hard to rein in my anger.
My aunt stopped and bowed her head. “Your mother told you of the Legend?”
“She did. But not enough.”
She sighed and turned to face me. “Very well. It is your right to know. The Legend of the Fire Born is an ancient one, tied to an ancient belief. The last of the race, driven mad by the Raven residing inside her, placed a curse upon her death. It was believed that, one day, the Fire Born would rise again and reclaim the greatest power known to the gods, rekindling a millennia-old alignment of the worlds and ending the war among races.”
I glared at her. “I’ve heard that part.”
“You know the rhyme, then?”
I nodded. “From the ashes of old,
They shall rise.
The last of the Ancients,
Foe and Ally.
The Legend lies in wait,
And bides its time.
Until at last the day comes,
For the children Born of Fire.”
Her mouth fell into a frown. “The Legend says a curse was placed upon the warring races, dooming them in order to punish the Kings and Queens for their hostile ways. The curse would awaken the Fire Born from the ashes of old and unleash the Raven. Children of the elementals, it was said. One infant child would hold the magic of fire, while the other would wield the power of wind.”
I glanced at Max. His mouth tightened into a straight line, and he reached for my hand, our bracelets touching.
The Queen’s gaze swept over our wrists, and she sighed. “Twin Souls, they say, of equal strength and power, whose love for each other, stronger than any, would be cursed to destroy one another, thereby restoring the peace. A terrible punishment. A terrible loss.” She let out a deep breath, her eyes closing. “You were supposed to meet only on the fateful day of battle, upon which time, each of you would recognize your soul in the other.” Her head bowed. “My great aunt’s way of avenging her love lost to battle.” She gave a forced smile. “You are the other’s sworn enemy.”
Enemy?
The punch of reality stole all my air.
Max stood at my side, rigid and pale, jaw clenched. I couldn’t even tell if he breathed. Our wet clothes dripped onto our feet, and time seemed to cease to exist.
I could set fire to the forest. I could run, fly away and never look back. Steal Max and leave forever. It’s an option.
“Teine, child, the anger you feel must be controlled. Many before you have been driven mad by the magic of fire. It will consume you, if you allow it, and the Raven will take over. You must control her, or she will bend you to her control.”
Max squeezed our entwined fingers, staring toward my aunt. “We’ll choose our own path from here.”
23
Two days left of the school year, and I resembled a zombie walking across campus. After searching the hallways, I’d made my way outside and spotted Devon’s truck parked but empty. Besides end-of-year finals, which I’d barely studied for, he was the only reason I’d come to school. No one would’ve missed me if it weren’t for testing. Since dance classes ended for the year after the Spring Show, Ms. Trudy wouldn’t have been looking for me either.
Benny marched toward me from across the lawn, and I plowed back through the front entrance, away from her questioning glare.
I noticed Devon immediately, standing alone in the hallway by the lockers, and stopped in front of him, breathless. “You’re breaking up with Dena.”
“What?” He rolled his eyes.
“Are you insane? What are you thinking dating her?” I needed to impress upon him the urgency of the situation without telling him his new girlfriend wasn’t Dena at all, but a demon from the Irish Underworld. Other students gave me a wide berth as they passed by.
“Damn, Layla.” Devon lowered his voice. “If I knew I could get a rise like this out of you, I’d have paid a little more attention to Dena when you and I were still dating.”
I ground my teeth.
“Kidding!” He laughed. “You know I’m kidding—well, sort of.” He grinned, clearly seeming much more smug about our breakup.
“I would stop while you’re ahead.” Benny worked her combination a few lockers down. “Layla’s been a bit … fiery as of late.”
“Shut up, Benny.”
“Don’t go directing your anger towards me, Lay.” She shoved some books in her backpack and shut her locker. “You coming, or are you going to stand here and blow a fuse?” She raised her eyebrow, blue eyes darkening.
“I’m coming.” Teeth still gritted, I left Devon and his gloating smile.
“Layla, you can’t lose it around normal people,” Benny said as she ducked through the door ahead of me. “You need to get some control.”
“I’m in control.” I stomped around a cluster of students standing on the steps.
Benny smiled at me over her shoulder. “Really?”
Sort of. No, not really.
I followed her across campus toward the parking lot, a combination of sulkiness, rage and jealousy embedding in my gut. “Are we going to talk about this?”
“Which part?” She didn’t stop or look back as she hoofed the grassy hill a few feet in front of me. “The fact that your anger has awakened the Raven, or that the Leanaan Sidhe almost killed Max? Or are you still jealous that Devon is dating someone else?”
I stopped walking. “You forgot the part about me protecting the Otherworld and being cursed to kill or be killed—or worse, Max and I will just kill each other, to end the war between races. A war I know almost nothing about. Not that it matters.”
She turned around. “He’s only dating her to get under your skin.”
“I don’t care. He’s dating a demon! An unhinged Vampyre demon!”
“Yeah, he is.”
“Why are you being so nonchalant? She will kill him.” My words stung, stabbing at my heart. “He can’t fight back!” I sank down into the grass, my weight suddenly becoming more than my legs could bear. “It’s my fault, too. I did this.” The reality of the situation fell over me like toppling bricks. “He will never be able to fight her. Max couldn’t.” My head dropped like a weight into my hands.
Benny exhaled and sat next to me.
“I did a bad thing, Ben. And now Devon’s in danger.”
“Don�
�t beat yourself up.” She patted me on the back. “You did the right thing, and sometimes it’s the hardest thing to do, but it isn’t bad. We’ll deal with all of this. And the Leanaan Sidhe, well … if we’re lucky she’ll just … disappear. No one has seen her.”
I glanced over. “If she just disappears—she could take the real Dena with her.”
Benny rose to her feet. “Not that I care or anything, but you hate Dena.”
“That doesn’t mean I want her dead.”
She shrugged and pulled me to my feet. “Fair enough. This should make you feel a little better then—”
“What?”
“Dena was seen wandering the beach near your mom’s house mumbling to herself. No one is supposed to know—but, she’s in the hospital.”
“The hospital? People are falling like flies because of me. Mr. Jones? That’s my fault, too, right?”
“None of this is your fault, Lay, stop. Mr. Jones was under the possession of the Leanaan Sidhe when you met with him about extra math help, yes, but he’s recovering now. And we know Dena’s safe.” She bent down and picked up my backpack off the ground. “It’ll be okay. Let’s get out of here.”
“Wait.” I stopped, my hand in mid-reach for my backpack. “I thought the boundary lines had been set around the school?” My eyes unfocused, and focused past her into the tree line.
“Well, yeah. They are.”
My head shook. “They aren’t.” I took off toward the trees.
“Where are you going?” She hurried up beside me.
“The oaks. Doesn’t it seem a little strange to anyone else that the Leanaan Sidhe got to Devon and Dena? And to Mr. Jones? She came through the forest. There’s a breach somewhere.”
“Lay, stop.” She reached for my arm, but I pulled it away and continued walking. “Stop!” She grabbed me again. “Maybe there is a breach. I don’t know, but we’re not going in there to find out. I’ll ask Sam to check it out.”
“We’re right here.” I pointed at the few extra yards it would take us to reach the tree line. “What are you afraid of?”
She raised her eyebrow and tilted her head to the side with a grin. “I’m not afraid of anything. It’s my job to keep you safe, and safe is what I plan to keep you. Sam will check it out.” She tugged on my elbow.