TORN: (The Fire Born Novels, Book Two)

by Laney McMann

  I sucked in a breath and grinned, finding it painfully difficult not to. “That’s what I thought.” I looked over at my mother. “I need you to make the potion.”

  She blanched. “What? No! What are you are saying?” She looked like a wild animal that’d been locked in a steel cage so it couldn’t escape.

  “Layla—” Justice shook his head. “This isn’t the way.”

  I paid him no mind, keeping my attention on my mother. “If what I saw is true—” I didn’t continue, I knew it was. “The potion—I need it.” Her expression fell, and she shook her head as if refusing to believe what I’d asked of her. “You cannot possibly do this. It will destroy you to fight MacKenzie.”

  I motioned to the miniature Raven Ogham on my neck, pulsing like a tiny heartbeat. “What do you think this is doing to me?” I glanced away, refusing to lose my nerve. “It’s in my veins, Mother.” I thrust my arms out. “I can feel her. Look at my arms! I’m already being destroyed. Max is gone. He’s someone else.” But he was mine … once. All mine. Warmth ran through my body and firmed my resolve. I shifted toward Justice again. “Those are our tombs. Max’s and mine. She killed us. In the Uprising. You couldn’t tell me. Max should’ve let me die alone that day.”

  Justice’s brow crunched, shaking his head, and he averted his eyes, not answering me.

  “And the angels … the reason they hate me—my existence is killing them. One by one. Tristan, too. I’m the curse.”

  He raised his face toward the ceiling. “It’s not that simple, Layla.”

  “Yes, it is. Kill me, kill the Morrigan. Lift the curse. You’ll be free. Tristan will be cured. The cycle will end.”

  His eyes widened further, and his mouth dropped open as though he was going to argue, but my mother squealed, and my grandmother let out a low groan, and Justice didn’t say another word.

  “Where is Cara?” My aunt rushed down the hall, her face red and sweaty. “She was with Teine before. In her infirmary room. I’ve looked everywhere.”

  “She left,” Justice said. “A few hours ago.”

  The color bled from my aunt’s face, as if it was being siphoned off with a funnel.

  “Oh, my god.” My knees gave way and crippled my balance. I reached for the wall, but found Justice already holding me up. “That’s what Elethan meant,” I said in a whisper. “He would use all means necessary to assist in my cooperation. He has Cara.”

  A terrible chocking sound escaped my aunt’s throat before she collapsed to the floor. Justice ran to her side and left me clinging to the wall. Glancing toward the table full of dead and dying gardenias, I knew everything my mother needed to make the memory washing mixture was within arm’s reach.

  “Mother, I need the potion.”

  She bowed her head. “Very well.”

  39

  I had the tiny vial in my pocket, my hand wrapped around it tightly as though it was a talisman. A memory washing potion could never be considered a good luck charm, but I found myself gripping it like a lifeline nonetheless.

  All the faces in the room were drawn, silent, solemn, and staring. My aunt had been moved into the infirmary bed I’d fled from. Skin pale, she hadn’t spoken.

  What was left of the Tuatha Dé Danaan’s Guard had maintained their positions along the Fomore gate, and two more waited to escort me to the Battle destination.

  “You will be blindfolded and traversed into the arena,” my mother said in a grave tone beside me, holding the rules of battle letter in her hand. “It is an undisclosed location. The Fomorian and Tuatha Dé Danaan people may … watch. As spectators.”

  I thought of the map I’d seen spread out between Max and Sam. The arena. Like some sick game. “Stay away. All of you. I don’t want anyone to come with me.”

  Ashen faces stared back. “But—” Justice began.

  I held up a hand. “No one. Justice, there’s a breach in the boundary lines on the high school campus we never got a chance to check. I told Benny about it before the end of school. She said she’d have Sam investigate, so that means it’s still open. I have no idea where it leads, or what difference it makes now. Can you make sure it’s sealed off?”

  He didn’t say anything, only gave a curt nod, holding my gaze intently. Like a challenge. The subject of Sam was still off limits. Not that I blamed him. He had been their leader and their friend.

  “I didn’t want to say this before—to alarm anyone, but when I saw Max—I think he was helping Sam plan an attack on the Light World. I don’t know how the Battle fits in to their plan, but you need to be prepared. In case they pull it off. Warn the Dryads. I promised them our help. Queen Asrai of the Fae, too. She may not consider her realm allied to us, but she needs to know there’s a threat. And warn the Merrows. Even though they’d probably rather see me and Max dead.” A slight numbness traveled through my body as I tried to think of everyone—everything I would be leaving. Everything I wanted to protect and save. Like a silent killer lying in wait to take control as soon I showed any weakness, the loss of feeling spread.

  Justice shook his head. “No way what you saw was real, Layla. Not Max. He wouldn’t.”

  I wrapped my hand around my bare wrist, unconsciously, unable to answer. Unable to tell him he was wrong. The Max we knew was gone. I knew what I saw was real, even if no one else believed it.

  “I’m not letting you go alone,” he said. “It’s not gonna happen.”

  “I’m not giving you a choice.” My words weren’t unkind or harsh, only true.

  His blue eyes widened as if I’d startled him. “Layla—”

  I grinned slightly. “Thanks, Justice. For … sticking with me. You and Tristan.” I turned toward the infirmary door. “So, you never did watch over the night skies and protect humans from the evils that lurked there?” I said, repeating the words Max had told me when I’d first asked about Fallen Angels.

  He shrugged. “I protected you. It was the human part that wasn’t exactly accurate.”

  Right. What kind of life is that? Constantly protecting me? I sighed and glanced toward my grandmother, but I couldn’t find the words.

  “You can do this, Kindred.” She squeezed my hand.

  What exactly am I doing? Walking willingly to my own death?

  “It is the only way,” she said, and with a jolt, I realized her voice was coming from inside my head. She could hear my thoughts. Always could. Just like Max could. I’d been so caught up in finding him, losing him, I’d forgotten.

  “Why didn’t you remind me?”

  She gave a small shrug. “I thought you had enough to contend with.” She patted my cheek. “And now you remember who you are—who you have always been. I could not be prouder.”

  “An Ancient. MacCoinnich’s fiancée, who was heir to the throne. Fire Born.Twin Soul.” Saying the words, even in my head, gave me a freeing feeling, while adding an immense weight at the same time. Reincarnation wasn’t something I’d ever given any thought to, and certainly not something I believed in.

  “Perhaps not in this life, Kindred, but reincarnation is something most of the Irish believe in. You are the reason we believe. You are here. Returned to us, from thousands of years ago. And it is time to change your future. And MacKenzie’s.”

  I nodded and looked away, unable to bear the choke in my throat. How am I going to do this?

  “Remember your Oghams, Kindred.”

  I furrowed my brow, not understanding, and turned to my mother. “I’m sorry, Mother. For not listening to you. I wish you would have explained what was happening to me. Maybe we could have ended this sooner. It’s your turn to carry the Light.” I gave her a weak smile.

  She shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. “Only one may carry the Light. And that one is you.” She put her head in her hands and didn’t look back up.

  “But—” I glanced at my grandmother.

  “You will find a way.”

  How?

  “Tell Aunt Flidais I’ll send Cara home.” I wanted to
say I’d send Benny, too, but something stopped me.

  “Layla—” Justice hesitated, shaking his head, eyes downcast. “I can’t let you do this. It goes against everything I am to let you leave alone. I took an oath.”

  I saw the same expression in his face that I’d seen the night in the cliffs. When he’d come to find me. Desperation. Panic. He’d begged me to let him protect me and help find Max. It was a relief to finally understand the true reason why.

  “You’re not letting me.” I held his hand, rough and callused. “I couldn’t have figured this out without you.”

  He held my hand in his, the first time he’d ever willingly touched me without cringing.

  “You won’t come back.” A slight sheen glittered on his cheek.

  “I’m not supposed to, right?” I wrapped my other hand around the tiny vial in my pocket again and withdrew it. “That’s how it works.”

  He looked away.

  “You’ll always be my favorite guardian angel. I’m sorry I didn’t remember that before now.” I let go of his hand, my only true constant over the last few weeks, the only real reliance I had, even if he drove me crazy in the process, and walked out the infirmary doors, away from all of them.

  Guided by two guards in pristine white uniforms, the World of Light crest sewn in green thread over their chests, I continued toward the destiny that had been waiting for me for thousands of years, and uncorked the vial in my hand.

  Without looking back, I drank the potion.

  40

  Max

  “I bet you can’t catch me!” Layla took off through the tall sea grass.

  “Wanna bet?” I raced after her.

  The cliff ledge was close to where we were in the forest, running almost semi-circular, before dropping off without warning onto the jagged rocks and freezing sea below.

  Layla’s steps quickened in front of me, her blonde hair flying like a kite trying to gain altitude, leaves and twigs snagging at it as she ran through the Wood. She laughed, high and light on the wind, smiling back at me as she slowed her speed near the edge we knew so well, and came to a stop with a wide, gleeful expression. “I told you I’m faster than you!” She laughed again and held her arms open.

  I pulled her into me, off the ground, so we were eye level. “You cheated.” I grinned, kissing her mouth. “You always do.”

  She wrapped her hands around my neck, and pulled her fingers through my hair, tugging me close. “Maybe next time, I’ll let you win,” she said, before her lips grazed mine, causing me to shiver.

  The sensation wracked my body like a violent onslaught of a sudden illness, and caused me to lurch forward, releasing my hold on her. A ripping sound crowded my ears, and my grip tightened around the knife in my hand.

  Layla’s eyes widened, as blood seeped from a wound in the center of her chest, coating her shirt red. She screamed, and my grasp loosened around the hilt of the silver dagger, arms falling back to my sides. Layla stumbled backward, and I reached out with blood-covered hands, but her fingers slipped from mine. The ground reared up, and we fell off the cliff.

  I drew in a breath, inhaling too quickly, the smoky air choking me. My body pitched upright, jolting me out of sleep, and my eyelids flew open.

  “Aren’t you listening?” Sam’s voice rose over my pulse knocking in my veins.

  Pulse knocking in my veins, I glanced over from the armchair I’d obviously fallen asleep in. “Not you again.” I groaned and re-closed my eyes. “I keep hoping I’ll wake up, and you’ll be gone. I’ll be gone.”

  “I’ve been talking to you … and you were sleeping all this time?” Sam sounded incredulous.

  I sighed, sitting up. “Apparently.”

  He stabbed the map spread over the large wooden table with his knife. It made a loud thump. “Here.” He pointed, clearly trying to get my attention. “This is the only weak spot in the boundary line. Anywhere else we try to get in will block us. Ryan’s sure he can pull the World of Light’s defenses down.” Sam was adamant. As usual. “We’ll go in, lower the rest of the barriers, and call the Fomore guards. The Tuatha Dé will send in what’s left of their own Guard, which is close to nothing, to defend their lands, and once they realize there’s been a breach, it will be too late. We’ll be able to attack while their attention is elsewhere. Without the Light, it’ll be too easy.”

  “Fine.” I put my feet up on the ottoman in front of me, knocking dried mud off my boots onto the chamber floor. “I’m exhausted and tired of talking about it. All you ever do is talk.”

  Sam glared at me for a second before softening his features. “We’ve been planning this for days, Max. You don’t have to act so nonchalant about your part in it all.”

  “No one is acting nonchalant. I just don’t see why you keep going over the same plan day after day. The damn cat knows the plan by now.” I gestured toward the tabby winding around my chair legs.

  “Why is that thing still here?”

  “The thing is my pet. She was begging at the door for food again.”

  “Boys, boys.” Elethan came into the room looking overly tired and badly shaven, his dark grey robes shabby and disheveled. “Must you continue to annoy me with your constant bickering? It is as though I have two young children I must discipline.” His eyes shifted toward me. “Have you finished your conditioning for the day? Surveyed all the weapons at your disposal?” He sat opposite me in an identical wooden armchair.

  “I don’t need any weapons.”

  “Do not fool yourself into believing you are stronger than Teine. She will be prepared, and you must be ready.”

  I laid my head against the back of the chair with a low thud. “I am stronger than her. There’s no fooling myself about it. It’s a fact.”

  My father smiled. “You will be blindfolded upon arrival to the arena. You and the girl will face off on opposite sides. If the girl refuses to battle against you, we will use the Fae as bait.”

  Sam’s glance flicked in my direction for a second before he looked back down.

  “This must go smoothly, Son.” Elethan continued. “We have several … lures in place if—”

  “I know, I know.” I interrupted him. “Blindfolded, face off, fight to the death. Just get Teine there, and I’ll do the rest. You’re worse than Sam. Can we eat lunch now? I’m starving.”

  He shook his head. “I hope that you do, indeed, understand. Otherwise, we will have quite a larger mess to contend with.” He gestured toward Sam, who continued crouching over the map sprawled out on the table. “Samuel. You are sure that Ryan and all the Fallen will be in place? No mishaps? You remember our arrangement?”

  Sam nodded in a distracted way, tracing lines across the map with the tip of his finger.

  “Samuel?”

  Sam lifted his head. “Yes, everything is in place.”

  “And Ryan will lead the angels, as promised?”

  “If it means his freedom, yeah, he wouldn’t miss it.”

  “Make sure. Your insubordination will not be tolerated again.”

  “Yeah. And if you don’t have that map memorized by now, there’s something infecting your brain.” I leaned forward. The heel of one of my leather boots digging painfully into the side of my foot.

  “MacKenzie, Son, let us play nicely.”

  “Yes, Father.” I tried to dislodge whatever had wheedled its way down into my shoe.

  Elethan glanced toward my propped up feet, and down to where the thick mud splattered the floor. He shook his head and pushed to stand. “I must check in with our guards. MacKenzie, please see to it that one of the servants cleans the mess you have made.”

  I wedged my foot out of the boot completely and wiggled my toes. The cool air was an instant relief. “Can you please remind the kitchen that I’ve been waiting? They’re trying to starve me to death.”

  Elethan made a quick nod with his head, like he was annoyed. “And please dispose of that … animal.” He thrust a hand toward the cat as it jumped into my lap, before
he left the room.

  “All you ever want to do is eat.” Sam tossed the pencil he was using onto the table. “Maybe the medical staff needs to check you for tapeworms.” He strode around the table and sat down in the chair Elethan had risen from. “So, you good?” he asked in a low voice. “Other than the obvious?”

  I exhaled, shifted Layla’s cat, Kaevnor, over, still having no clue how’d she’d found me in the Shadow Realm of all place, and leaned forward, dragging my hands through my hair. “I still look that bad?”

  “Like a guy who had his chest slashed open and his blood filled with poison.” He smirked. “Oh, wait—that did happen.”

  “It’s not funny. I feel like I’m gonna be sick.” I swallowed, but that only made it worse.

  All of my Oghams had lengthened, stretched, and wrapped around my entire body, like protective armor. In the mirror in my quarters, I’d noticed a multitude of broad lines ringing my throat. They’d continued getting darker and darker—an evil green that seemed to be trying to win out over the deep red Fomorian coat of arms. As if trying to conceal it.

  I kept the sleeves of my robes pulled down, so as not to leave the skin exposed on my arms, but some of the Etchings winding around my throat had escaped the high neck of my collar, and traveled up my jaw-line like vines. I hoped they blended in with all the unhealed bruises.

  On the high side, my Oghams were doing exactly what I hoped they were capable of doing—fighting for me. Of their own accord. Preventing the toxins Elethan had administered from poisoning my blood, my body, and my mind. Saving my life.

  “I’m not laughing,” Sam said. “But I … I don’t know what I expected. I thought Elethan had you—that you were done.”

  “So did I.”

  “Stronger than I gave you credit for.” He glanced toward the fire. “Than any of us did.”

  I gave a short humorless laugh, massaging my temples. “Why are you doing this?”

  He held my gaze for a few beats, a look of guilt and shame shadowing his brow. “I remembered where my loyalties lie.”