by Amy Miles
My heart started to quicken as I realised what her absence likely meant. If she wasn’t on the stage, it meant either that she had been imprisoned, or that she was no longer in the running. Prince Aed would be choosing another bride. I refused to believe it was the latter. He wouldn’t put Taryn’s neck on the line and the lives of her parents in jeopardy. Would he? We didn’t know each other that well. Maybe he was capable of such cruelty?
Aed’s eyes scanned the crowd as though looking for someone. He was scanning those gathered. Was he looking for Taryn? Had she escaped? Fled the balcony window and made a run for it? When his silver eyes landed on mine, his searching seemed to cease. The sides of his face lifted into a smile, and it made my whole body react. Damn him to hell for having that effect on me. His eyes shifted then to one of urgency, as though he wanted to tell me something of the utmost importance but couldn’t. The king signaled the crowds then to be quiet.
“My loyal subjects, I have brought you all together today to make an announcement. My son, Prince Aed, future King of Netherworld, has finally selected his princess.” A hush fell over the crowd as they all waited with bated breath for the news. Aed’s jaw flexed several times, and his hands balled into fists, but he never stopped looking at me.
“You may notice,” the king continued, “that one of the candidates is no longer here. She has withdrawn her claws—er…claim on my son’s hand.”
My gut reeled. Somehow I doubted Taryn gave up her slot on her own. She was forced out…somehow. Hearing the king speak, it was clear he hated Taryn.
“Perhaps the peasant girl realised it takes more than the batting of her eyelashes to be part of the royal family.” The king laughed, prompting the crowd to join in with him. That kind of blind dedication was a terrifying thing to witness.
“While the challenge of choosing a bride worthy of my son, Prince Aed, was a daunting one, my son has travelled the lands far and wide in search of a worthy match. I am proud to say he has selected a woman I couldn’t be more pleased with. A lady of class, dignity, and proper social standing.”
My eyes flicked towards the remaining girls who were all travelled alongside the Prince during the tour until his final choice was made. All but one seemed dejected. Hadley stood taller than Betha, who looked like she wanted nothing more than to not be on that stage. Hadley’s face gave away nothing, save for a small grin along one corner of her mouth. Oh please, don’t let Aed pick her. According to Taryn, she was a vile woman.
“It is with great pleasure,” the king said, bringing my eyes back to Aed, “that I present to you the next Princess of Netherworld. Hadley, daughter of Lord Conall!”
Hadley’s face was beaming with pride now as she stepped forward and claimed Aed’s elbow. She waved a royal hand to the cheering crowds, but all the while Aed never took his gaze off mine. His face pleaded with me, as though begging me to understand a truth he was unable to share. It was in that moment I knew this was not a choice he had wanted to make, but one he had been forced into. I couldn’t help but wonder what could be more important than saving Taryn’s life.
Against my will, tears streamed down my face seeing Hadley claiming Aed as her own. I knew it would hurt letting him go, but I hadn’t expected to feel such a physical pain in my core. My knees felt as though they would buckle at any moment, and my heart felt like it was constricting into a giant knot. All I could do was sob.
Aed took a step forward then, his eyes filled with concern as though he wanted nothing more than to come down and comfort me. Or perhaps, that was wishful thinking on my part—the irrational whims of a childish girl. After all, it made far more sense that the pleading in Aed’s expression was for me not to make a public scene. Begging me to understand he needed to wed within his station. Just because we had a small tryst, it didn’t mean he cared for me the same way I did for him. I knew that. My heart was having a harder time catching up with reality. He didn’t have to worry. I wouldn’t do anything to make a scene. In fact, I actually felt an internal shift as I watched Hadley’s grip against Aed’s arm. It was like a figurative slap across the face. A wake-up call. The tears dried and I felt myself grow rigid. Hard.
I tore my eyes off Aed and focused on my gloved hands instead. This was all that mattered. This temporary existence in Netherworld was my reality. Not lusting after some unobtainable Adonis. I didn’t belong here. Everyone knew it. Even the Universe was trying to push me out. That was why I was disappearing. Even fate knew my time was not long for this world.
Devlin’s plan to take me over the Wall was futile, reckless, and not to mention dangerous. A suicide mission for anyone dumb enough to go on it. There was no way I would allow him, or Taryn, to risk their safety for mine. Though I didn’t know the full plan, the fear that danced behind my brother’s eyes told me everything I needed to know. Entering lorcan territory was a terrifying option. I’d come in contact with them once, and it was enough for an eternity. I couldn’t allow that to happen. Not for me. I wasn’t worth it.
The king’s plan to dispose of me by letting nature take its course was the most logical and sound. The king could see what I had been blind to. I didn’t belong here. And apparently, I didn’t belong in the Isle of Glass, either. I couldn’t stay in purgatory forever.
A sudden peace washed over me then. All this time I had been anxious because I wasn’t sure what would happen to me while stuck in Netherworld. Now that I had accepted the reality, letting go was far easier than I could have imagined.
When the guards shoved me to go back to my room, I didn’t resist. I didn’t even look back as Devlin cried out for me to wait. I couldn’t say goodbye to him. Not again.
I was ready to let time take me.
That’s when the screaming began from behind. I turned my head around to see what was happening. The internal peace I once had shifted. Though I had only ever seen them once, I had no doubt what the black shadows overtaking the crowd were. Shouting began and then the shoving of bodies. Chaos was all around. Even my guards had scattered to protect the royals.
Paralyzed, I watched in fear as the shadows descended.
“Alana!”
Devlin’s arms grabbed hold of me as he pulled us away from the stampeding crowd.
Just then Taryn leapt up from the crowd. She pulled out her dagger and placed herself in front of the prince. I knew she had to be here somewhere. She wouldn’t give in so easily. She had a plan. My eyes followed to where she was staring. Through the insanity, I could see what she did. It was coming from the Wall of Hollow Earth. The one that had been breached. The lorcan were here.
Chapter 23
Taryn
The sound came first like the rushing of wind blowing through the city streets. The exhale of death rolled over all those in attendance for the king’s party. Vibrations rattled up through the soles of my boots as the sections of the stage creaked at their hinges.
Several heads turned to look behind them, searching through the thick patches of fog for the source of the ruckus. I already knew what was coming. From my vantage point on the platform, I could see everything.
“Aed,” I said, reaching for his hand and not giving a damn if his ma didn’t approve of me touching him. When the world around me was being turned upside down, I needed to feel grounded.
I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the sight of hundreds of lorcan crawling over the top of the Wall. They were spilling into our land like the very mists that poured off the Bannow Sea. Their claws sank deep into the stone, chipping away at its surface with ease. As soon as they crested the top, they headed face-first towards the ground and vanished into the mists. Only to rise up again as dark shapes. I had worried about how close Odran was to the Wall before, but now I was terrified. It would take them only minutes to reach us.
Those that arrived on the ground first sprinted towards the first row of homes. I rose onto my toes to try to see, but the beasts were soon lost from sight. I knew what was coming even before the screams took to the air. Within seconds t
he shrill shrieks of terror cut off.
“We can’t just stand here.” I lowered my gaze towards the hundreds of people standing before us, defenseless and unaware of the dangers heading our way. Chaos would soon fall around us when the people caught sight of the first white eye of a lorcan hybrid in their town.
None of them were prepared to fight. They were without weapons. The men might know how to wrestle with a lorcan, but it would do little good for long. The women and children would fall by their claws or lay trampled underfoot in a mob this size. These mutated monsters would burn and shred everything in their path. The few brave souls protecting the town could do nothing to stop this tide of death.
“Shite.” I glanced back at the manor house. What few of the king’s guards Morrigan had assigned to us were busy preparing inside instead of standing out here with us. “We have to call the guard.”
“If we do, you will lose any chance to escape,” Aed warned.
I glanced back at the Wall. “It’s too late for that. We have to stand and fight.”
“What is the meaning of this?” King Baylor rose to his feet in a flurry of silken robes. His crown perched at an awkward angle on his head and a deep flush of anger darkened his cheeks. If not for the rain of death about to be unleashed on us, I might have enjoyed watching him flap around like a distressed chicken for all to see.
“Aed, come here. And you,” Morrigan hissed, tugging on her husband’s arm. “Sit down. You don’t want to create a panic.”
“It’s a wee bit late for that,” I muttered.
Aed’s lips pulled into a tight smile beside me. That was when I realised he hadn’t made a move towards his parents. Not to protect them. Not to obey either.
“Are ya gonna be callin’ for your guards anytime soon, King, or should I?”
Brilliant red leached into the king’s face at my words, but Aed stepped between us.
“Taryn is right. You have to summon every able-bodied man to fight.”
“And women.” I took hold of the lacing that held my bodice together and ran my dagger straight down it. Morrigan looked aghast, though I wasn’t sure if she cared more about the expensive dress I’d ruined or the fact I was wearing my leathers beneath it. No doubt a good deal of both.
“I will not stand for this. No woman is going to fight to save my life,” Baylor raged.
“Not to worry then,” I shouted as I leapt off the platform, turning back to glare at him as I took up a defensive stance. “I won’t be liftin’ a finger to help ya today, or any day for that matter.”
Aed splashed down into the puddle beside me. A coating of cold mud splattered my legs and trickled down into my boots, but I ignored it all. Nothing mattered beyond the hoard heading our way. I could tell by the near-constant vibration in the ground that they were getting closer. There wasn’t time to hide. Not that it would do us any good if we tried. Those lorcan were on a mission.
As I held my dagger in my fist, I wondered if today might be the day the king’s reign fell. Would he die by a lorcan’s kiss? By the raking of claws or the snapping of his neck? Surely, he would know if this was his time. As the keeper of death, he should have foreseen this attack and known to prepare for it.
“That’s it. He didn’t know,” I whispered.
“What did you say?” Aed turned towards me.
“Aed, he didn’t know about the attack.” Thoughts filtered through my mind at such a fast pace that I withheld answering Aed for almost a full minute as he shook me. I could tell by the pinch of his brow that he was trying to see if I’d lost it. “Don’t you see? Your da would never place ’imself in danger. Especially not in danger of this magnitude. He values his own life far too much for that.”
Aed nodded but remained silent.
“That means he was caught unaware by all of this.”
I turned my gaze as the first lorcan slammed into the closed manor gates. The wood would not hold long, either by force or sharpened claw, but the metal bars that stood beyond that would hold them a little longer. At least, until they realised they could scale these walls, too. I prayed to the gods that the adrenaline pumping through the beasts would dull their logic long enough to come up with a plan. I gripped Aed’s hand. “The king has lost complete control over the lorcan, Aed. That means he no longer has the power to command death in this realm or beyond. No one is safe now.”
A dullness entered Aed’s eyes as he swept his gaze over the panicked crowd. He knew, as I did, that every soul in this space would be dead within minutes.
“Alana,” he whispered. When his gaze locked onto Alana’s slight form, tucked under Devlin’s protective arm, I saw a change come over him. Fear gripped him. I knew that fear all too well because it was trying to stake my feet to the ground at this very moment. I couldn’t let anything happen to Devlin, either. No matter what it took, I would save him and Alana.
Then I saw Tris and Seamus cowering behind them. Could we really save four people? I didn’t know if it would be possible, but I’d give my dying breath to see that they at least had a chance.
“She can’t be here,” Aed groaned.
“Aye. Nor Devlin and the others. So let’s figure this out and get them the hell out of here.”
Hysteria had reached new heights at the first crack that appeared on the wooden garden door that sealed us in. Hundreds of people clawed at the walls that were far too high for them to escape. What few handholds there might have been in the uneven blocks of stone were rendered useless as desperation drove people to baser survival ploys, yanking down anyone who got too high so that they could attempt the same feat. Even if they had managed to reach the top, it would have only sent them falling straight to the beasts waiting below. That didn’t stop them from trying.
Logic had fled in the face of certain death.
“The stables,” Aed whipped around, nearly yanking me off my feet. He must have forgotten that we were still connected by the hands. “We can’t slow the lorcan for long, but it might give our friends a chance to reach the road. They have to head south, as fast as they can. The horses might be able to give them the advantage…”
We both knew that south was the wrong direction for Alana. She had to cross over into Hollow Earth and reach the seaport if she stood any chance of surviving. If she didn’t make it through today, though, none of that would matter.
“Devlin will protect her. I swear it.” I pulled my hand out of Aed’s grasp so I could pick up a sword that had fallen from a terrified guard. Splinters of wood flew past my face then. The lorcan had breached the first level of defense on the door. Despite my best attempts to sound brave, a quaking had begun in my legs that left me feeling unsettled. I had trained with my cousin Eivin for this very moment, but now that it was upon me, I was afraid. Not of death, but of seeing those I loved fall. “We have to give them time. Tris can lead Devlin back to the sea and head for the Wall by another route as soon as they are safe.”
“Aye.” Aed shoved a man out of the way who was tripping over his own boots as he fled. Instead of bowling me over, he took out three chairs and face planted in the mud. “Guards! See to your king.”
I followed behind Aed, letting him carve a path through the hysteria. It took a full minute for us to reach the four of them. The span of that time felt like an eternity, one I had to live in while crushed by the reality of what lay before us. Devlin may survive this, but Aed and I would not. Neither of us would run. Neither would fall until we had given it our all. It was a death we were both willing to accept for those we loved. As the hoard broke over the walls of this manor house like a tsunami, we would do whatever it took.
“Taryn!” Strong hands tugged me into a fierce embrace. I pressed against Devlin’s rock-hard chest, clasping my arms around him while trying not to think of how this would be my last time with him. I breathed him in, the scent of leather that was so foreign to him but achingly familiar to me. The swords crisscrossed at his back would be of little use to him. He wasn’t trained in the art of war,
but I knew he would take care of himself. He was smart and good with his hands. He would find a way. He had to.
“I’m fine,” I spoke against his chest, unable to bear to look up at him until I got my emotions in check. As it was, I knew he could hear the thickness in my voice. “But ya have to get goin’ now.”
“Go?” His brow was knit with confusion when he pulled me back. I was sure he was trying to contemplate where in the realms he would go and why I wouldn’t be following behind him. One glance down at the swords held tight in my hands told him everything he needed to know. “No. I’m not leaving you.”
The chaos around me faded away as I lost myself to the desperation filling his eyes. I hadn’t taken the time to notice how beautiful the green of his irises was, flecked with bits of brown. They reminded me of the trees that surrounded his home back on the human realm. What I wouldn’t give to go back to that day we first spoke in his sculpting shop. To a simpler time when all I worried about was the fact he could see me.
How silly I’d been to think that one small fact had upended my world. It hadn’t. Devlin had. In every way possible, he had changed me and set me on a path I could have never seen coming.
Why hadn’t I told him any of that before? When there had been time. That was in short supply now. There was no way I could express in a few short words what he had come to mean to me over the months. The security I felt in his arms frightened me because I knew if I lingered any longer I might choose to go with him.
The creaking of the metal hinges on the gate, almost ready to give way, began to filter back in. The bodies that ricocheted off us jostled me back to reality. Death and blood would soon be at my feet and Devlin could not be here for that.