“We’re going to want to stand it on end, and tip it so when it falls, it will fall toward the other side of the stream. We’ll have to be careful or we could knock it into the stream and all our work would be for nothing. I want you two to pick it up and help me prop it on my back. First, though, let’s tie a rope around it, so we can keep some control over it when it’s upright.”
I grimaced. My faith that we were going to be able to do this right was in short supply. Now that we were at this point, it seemed incredibly tricky to maneuver the tree across the stream. But we had no choice and it was a senseless waste of energy to move it like we had unless we were willing to give it a go.
Viktor threaded a rope around it, tying it in a tight knot about two-thirds of the way up the trunk. Then Yutani and I lifted up what had been the top of the tree as Viktor crouched beneath it, shouldering the weight on his back.
Yutani and I took hold of the ropes, one of us on either side of the tree, and held them taut, doing our best to steady it. Grunting, Viktor began to walk backward, levering the tree up off the ground. Yutani and I held the ropes as tight as we could, doing our best to take some of the weight off Viktor. When he got halfway up, he quickly spun, his massive arms pushing the tree even further.
I was doing my best to hold steady on my side, ready to let go if Viktor lost control of the tree and it launched itself toward the stream. The last thing we need was for either Yutani or me to be dragged into the water. Viktor was doing his best to adjust the tree’s position, the strain showing on his face. Finally, the tree was pointing toward the stream.
“I’m going to give it one more shove. When I do, let go of the ropes. Make sure that you’re not entangled in them. Actually, make sure that you aren’t tangled up now. You need to be able to drop them at a second’s notice.”
I glanced at the rope. It was wrapped around my forearm so I untangled it, still trying to hold on as best as I could. I made sure that it wasn’t circling around my legs or feet, and that when I let go, it would be free to fly.
“I’m ready,” I said.
“Me too,” Yutani called out from the other side.
“On the count of three I’m going to give one final shove and then jump away. When you hear me say two, let go. Understand?” Viktor glanced my way. “Ember?”
“Understood. Let go on the count of two.”
“Yutani?”
“I hear you. I’m ready.”
As Yutani and I waited, Viktor gave one final grunt.
“One.” The tree shifted and moved forward another few inches.
“Two.” It felt like the tree was beginning to waver. It was upright now, listing toward the stream. I dropped the rope and jumped away, and so did Yutani.
The next moment Viktor called out, “Three!” and gave one final shove before jumping to the side. He landed in the snow bank next to the path as the tree teetered, then fell.
I held my breath watching, hoping that it would be long enough. Sure enough, we had estimated correctly because the tree fell toward the stream, the top six feet of it landing on the other side. I let out a cheer, and so did Yutani. Viktor picked himself up from the ground, dusted the snow off, and crossed his arms with a satisfied look.
“Well, damned if that didn’t work.” He looked proud of himself.
“Sometimes it’s nice having a half-ogre on the team,” I said, clapping him on the back. “Way to go. We did it, so now I guess we have to cross the stream.”
The tree wasn’t that wide, but at its narrowest, it was still a foot in diameter. But it was wet, slick from the snow and moss that had grown on it. And the rushing stream below could be awfully mesmerizing.
“So how do we want to do this part of it? Anybody have any more rope?” I asked.
“I have plenty,” Viktor said. “The guards packed several lengths of the special rope that Brighid’s people weave. It doesn’t break easily, and it’s very lightweight.”
I eyed the rope hanging off the other end of the tree, down toward the water. “It’s not like the Elvish rope in Lord of the Rings, is it? I hate to leave that rope there.”
“I don’t think so, unfortunately. Fiction rarely mirrors reality, even when we’d like it to.” Viktor pulled out another length of rope. “Who wants to go first? Whoever does can take this rope across with them, and they can tie it off on a tree on the other side to steady the way for the other two.”
“I’ll go first,” Yutani said. “I’m nimble on my feet. And I’m stronger than Ember so I can help steady it easier. I’d rather not tie it off on another tree over here, though, because we don’t want to leave another rope behind. Why don’t I go first, then Viktor, you come across. And then Ember can tie the rope around her waist and that way, if she falls, we can catch her.”
Yutani practically skipped across the log without missing a single step, or even wavering. Once on the other side, he held the rope taut, and I held the other end. Viktor didn’t want to lash himself to the rope just in case he fell. His weight could probably pull me off my feet. But he held tightly to the rope, cautiously crossing the tree step by step. For such a large man, he was graceful in his movements, and he made it to the other side without incident.
Then it was my turn. I wrapped the rope around my waist, tying it off with what I hoped would be a sturdy knot. Then, placing a foot on the trunk, I tried to avoid looking down. But I couldn’t help it. I had to see where my feet were placed, to make sure that I was stepping onto the actual trunk and not onto thin air. I turned my walking stick sideways, holding it the way a tightrope walker held a balancing rod.
Halfway across the tree, I felt myself beginning to panic. I knew that if I fell they would catch me, but that didn’t seem to help. There was something about the frothing whitecaps below my feet that kept me mesmerized. I could hear voices coming from them, whispering for me to jump, just jump.
Feeling myself starting to respond, I took a deep breath and raced ahead, praying I could cross the remainder of the tree without falling. At the very end I stumbled, but Yutani was there, and he grabbed hold of me, dragging me onto solid ground. I buckled onto my knees in the snow, seconds away from a full-blown panic attack.
“You’re safe, you’re safe now. Ember? What happened?” Yutani wrapped his arms around me, bracing me as he pulled me up to stare him in the face. His eyes were dark, glowing with the light of the Great Coyote. In an uncharacteristic move, he reached out and brushed my hair back away from my face, sliding his fingers along the curve of my cheek.
I shuddered, a chaotic whirlwind of feelings resting rushing through me.
“I… I was in the middle, and all of a sudden I couldn’t move. I heard voices whispering for me to jump. I was about to obey when I realized my only chance was to run the rest of the way, to get away from the voices.” I held Yutani’s gaze, still feeling flustered and anxious.
“You’re all right now. You’re off the tree. Can you stand?” He cupped my elbow, helping me to my feet.
I still felt winded, and suddenly embarrassed, as though he had seen me naked. I tried to look away, wanting to avoid his gaze because, if he looked me in the eye, I was afraid he might spark off feelings that I really didn’t want to explore. I had never been attracted to Yutani, although I found him a handsome man, but now, he was holding me up and I realized that I was as aroused as I was afraid. As I turned, I caught his gaze once again, and the intensity of his look suddenly shook me out of my embarrassment. I pulled away, thrusting my hands in my pockets.
“Thank you. I’m all right, I’m fine now.”
“Are you sure? Can you go on?”
I nodded, not wanting to say anymore.
Yutani gave me an odd look, then gathered up the rope and untied it from my waist. I turned away as he stood next to me, fiddling with the knot. After he wrapped up the rope and gave it back to Viktor, we headed out again. I took the lead once more, distancing myself a little from the men, trying to sort out my feelings.
Ever
since I had been with Herne, I had only had eyes for him, and I was deeply in love with him. Oh, I had flirted a little, all in fun, with Viktor and Yutani, and once in a drunken stupor, with Kipa, who had the good graces to help Angel pour me into bed. But other than that, I had never felt the pull to kiss another man.
You’re forgetting, a little voice in my head said. Don’t forget when you were using your Leannan Sidhe powers, when you were tracing down the iron bones. You tried to entice several men then.
Oh crap, I thought. That was right. My mother’s blood had risen up, before I learned to control it, attempting to trap and seduce men. I could feed off of their energy. Was there something in the woods that spurred on that side of me? Worried now, I decided I needed to tell Viktor and Yutani about what happened. A little embarrassment was worth their safety.
I turned, waiting for them to catch up with me. “We need to discuss something, and we need to discuss it now.”
Viktor looked worried. “What’s going on?”
Yutani gave me a long look, then said, “It’s your Leannan Sidhe powers. They’ve come to the surface again, haven’t they?”
I nodded. “I think they have and I don’t know what set them off. How did you know?”
“You’re the boss’s woman,” he said, his eyes somber. “I seldom allow myself to think in those directions about any woman who has a partner. When I realized that my mind was wandering along roads it should not go just a few minutes ago, I knew something was wrong. And then I remembered up on the mountain, when you tried to lure me in.”
“Right. That’s what I thought of, too. You’re going to have to watch me, because I think there’s something in this woodland that stirs that side of me. I’ve heard my name called several times, then something trying to lure me into the water. There’s something out here of which I need to be wary.”
“That’s an understatement,” Viktor said. “Cernunnos wasn’t joking when he said Y’Bain is dangerous. Let’s get a move on. We should be to the lake within a few hours. But I have a feeling we’re going to have to make camp before we find the well.”
That I didn’t want to hear. The realization that something was activating a part of me that just loved to trick men to their death, that fed on life energy, was frightening enough. That I had responded to Yutani was even more frightening. If something happened that went beyond our control, Herne would probably understand, but it would throw a real wrench in all of us working together, and that was the last thing I wanted.
We were on our way again, and this time I kept up a steady chatter, trying to keep myself from falling into a trance as we walked. I knew I was most susceptible at that point. But after a while, the conversation lulled once again, and I found myself drifting in my thoughts.
We were approaching what looked like an opening in the woods—the path had narrowed and the trees were thick on each side at this point, when once again I heard my name being called. I tried to turn around, to warn Viktor and Yutani, but before I could, I felt an overwhelming urge to race forward on the path, to run through the trees into the opening ahead.
I tried to stop myself, tried to put a brake on the impulse, but I couldn’t. Someone was calling me and I had to answer. I had no choice in the matter, so my body answered for me. I dropped my bow, quiver, and pack, then broke into a run. I stumbled along the path, toward the opening in the trees. Faintly, from behind me, I could hear Yutani and Viktor calling, but their voices were faint, so distant I couldn’t even hear them anymore, and my sole focus was on what lay in the clearing ahead.
As I cleared the opening, I found myself on the shore near a lake. And by the lake were two tall, absolutely gorgeous men. They were standing there with hair the color of spun platinum coiling down their backs, and they were stark naked, gloriously muscled, and absolutely beautiful. All I could think about was needing to be with them, letting them have their way with me.
As I approached them, once again I could hear Viktor and Yutani shouting from behind me. Irritated, I ignored their calls, wanting them to back off and leave me alone.
“We’ve been waiting for you. You’re one of the Leannan Sidhe, aren’t you?” one of the men asked, in a voice so deep and resonant that it sent chills through my entire body.
A smile broke across my face as I was about to answer him.
But suddenly, they closed in on either side of me so that I couldn’t get away. The enticing looks on the faces turned into deep sneers, vicious and predatory, and their nails lengthened into talons. They looked like they were shifting, but I couldn’t tell into what.
One of them grabbed my wrists, and I realized how incredibly strong he was. He began dragging me toward the water, his brother helping him, and I suddenly realized that I had fallen into a trap. That single slice of understanding pierced through the glamour, and I knew precisely what I was facing.
I had been caught by the aughiskies, a vicious form of waterhorse shifter, and they were about to feed on me—or worse. Screaming, I tried to break free, but then they had me in the water, and the icy chill of it was seeping through my clothes as they tried to drag me under.
Chapter Nineteen
I could hold my breath quite a while, but struggling to get free made it harder to focus.
At that moment, one of the men pressed his lips against mine, and air began to flow into my body. But he was kissing me, hard, almost violently. His partner was yanking at my jeans, trying to get them off of me, and right then I realized that they weren’t just intending to feed on my energy.
Oh crap. A brief memory flickered into mind, from some entry I had read in a bestiary somewhere. All aughiskies were male, but they could mate with several forms of water Fae. They captured human women to feed on, luring them into their deaths. But nixies and naiads, undines and the Leannan Sidhe—all of these could interbreed with the violent waterhorse shifters. Female children would follow their mother’s blood, but the males would become aughiskies and return to their brethren, no matter how long it took them.
They obviously didn’t realize I wasn’t full-blooded. If they found out, they’d just kill me right there. I pushed against the one who was holding me tight and tried to kick the other. But they were incredibly strong, and I realized that I was running through my air supply by trying to escape. As long as my attacker was kissing me, I could breathe. So, even through my revulsion, I relaxed into the kiss long enough to throw them off guard.
As I tried to calm myself, I remembered what Morgana had said.
I focused on the lake, searching for any water elementals that might be nearby.
There were several, one who was sending out an alarm, and it occurred to me that the water elementals might not like the aughiskies. The one I had tuned into seemed anxious, and I forced all of my will into contacting it, projecting feelings of danger, that I needed help. I focused the energy of my magic into my thoughts, trying to establish a connection that might save my life. Even if Viktor and Yutani made it into the lake, they weren’t equipped to fight on the aughiskies’ home turf, so if I was going to survive, it was up to me.
The aughisky who was kissing me slid his hands over my naked butt. My other attacker had managed to yank my jeans off.
I started to panic. I had to get away now. I appealed to the water elementals once more, focusing all my panic and fear into my thoughts.
The next moment a great swell of water rose beneath us, pushing us up and out of the lake. Startled, my attacker let go of me, and I dove away from him, back into the lake where I began to swim like mad as I tried to reach the shore. I couldn’t even glance over my shoulder—that would take too much time—but I kept imagining them behind me, catching up to me. Aughiskies were excellent swimmers. Water was their home turf.
As I raised my head, I saw I was reaching the shallows of the lake, and Viktor and Yutani were there waiting for me. They waded out and grabbed me under the arms, dragging me out of the water.
I glanced over my shoulder to see that the water
elemental had swept the wave high into the air and it was still holding the aughiskies over the lake. They were fighting to free themselves but the water elemental coiled around them, tendrils of lake water holding them captive.
I let out a cry, furious. I wanted them dead. I must have been projecting my thoughts, because the water elemental rose even farther, looking like a massive wave, and it slammed the aughiskies far onto the shore, near us.
“Give me Serafina!” I held up my hand. Viktor slammed the crossbow into my grip and I swung around, seeing that he had nocked an arrow for me. I aimed directly at the one who’d been kissing me and pulled the trigger, feeling a delicious victory as the arrow lodged into his chest. The other aughisky was running, trying to reach the lake, but Viktor handed me another arrow and I smoothly fitted it into Serafina, swinging my aim to target the remaining shifter.
Without an ounce of hesitation, I pulled the trigger, and the arrow flew swift and true, hitting my target. He, too, dropped to the ground without a sound. I stood there, naked—all my clothes had been pulled from me—panting as the bloodlust that had thundered through my body began to fade.
After a moment, Yutani quietly began to dig through my pack.
“You’d better get dressed,” he said, handing me underwear, a spare pair of jeans, a bra, and a shirt. Viktor headed over to check on the aughiskies. I silently accepted the clothes, shimmying into them. I didn’t have another coat with me, but Yutani stripped off his parka and handed it to me. Beneath his coat he was wearing a denim jacket.
“Won’t you be cold?” I asked.
He shrugged. “We can take turns if we need to. I should be all right. And if worse comes to worst, we can cut up one of the sleeping bags and make a cape out of it.” He paused, looking at me with those dark eyes of his. “Are you all right?”
I nodded, still angry. “Yeah, I am. But I lost my dagger.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. The blood was still raging through my veins, and I wasn’t sure whether my drive for vengeance was spurred on by my mother’s blood, my father’s blood, or just me in general. After a moment, I said, “They didn’t manage to do anything.”
A Sacred Magic Page 19