A Hollow in the Hills

by Ruth Frances Long

  And what if he was the one going under the bus? Her people, she said. That was who she was interested in. Her people. Not him. Unless he was hers.

  As gently as he dared, Dylan reached for her, turning his head slightly to avoid Clodagh’s appalled expression. But he had to say something.

  ‘Take care of me when I go under, Clo. Okay? I’ll be … I’ll be counting on you.’

  ‘Under? What do you mean?’ Her voice choked in her throat. She was freaking out.

  Dylan tried to smile, unable to tear his eyes from Silver’s. ‘You’ll know.’

  It was Ash who answered, her voice strangely assured. ‘We’ll be here.’ He might not know her, but the sound was a comfort. It was the type of voice you could trust. Older, wiser than it should have been. ‘No harm will come to you. I promise.’

  He pressed his lips to Silver’s in a kiss. For a moment it was just that, chaste and simple, but then the magic inside him built up like a wave about to break. It grew and kept on growing, a tsunami of power. Silver gave a little moan of desire that wasn’t for him alone, opening her mouth against his. Her hands seized his arms, slid to his shoulders, dragging up along the muscles of his neck and to his head where she held him, her long and elegant fingers knotting in his hair.

  The magic burst through him and with it came the music, wild and passionate, tearing through him. Dylan cried out, the sound smothered by her lips, as Silver devoured what she needed, his cry swallowed up in the maelstrom that engulfed him.

  As she let him go and he collapsed to his knees, someone else caught him and cradled him, someone he knew to whom he should be grateful. He wanted to say her name when she called him, but the music had taken his voice and his conscious thought. He was lost.

  Silver pushed by Izzy and Jinx as she left, glittering with power. Brí took a hurried step after her and then stopped, looking back at Dylan. Her own touchstone, the amber pendant at her throat, glowed like the inside of a volcano.

  ‘Izzy!’ Clodagh’s voice sounded frantic. ‘Dylan … She did something to him.’

  ‘She needed her magic and he’s the source,’ said Jinx brusquely.

  Clodagh shied back from Jinx, but didn’t say anything. Ash was trying to hold Dylan up, to get him onto the bed, but he had that dazed, spaced out look that couldn’t be good. His gaze was fixed on the ceiling and he grinned at something they couldn’t see while tears streamed down his cheeks.

  ‘Fabulous,’ Izzy muttered.

  She had no idea what the angels would make of a human touchstone. Nothing good, she was sure. Probably something very dead.

  ‘Can you help him?’ she asked Jinx. He stared at her. ‘You know Silver and her power better than anyone. Come on, Jinx. Please. How do we snap him out of it?’

  He knelt down by Dylan’s side and gazed at his beatific features. ‘I don’t know. I reckon Silver doesn’t know either. Not this time. I mean, her previous touchstone was a tree. It didn’t tend to wander off by itself. Lady Brí?’

  But Brí didn’t move. ‘I don’t know. He’s an unknown thing, altogether new. I thought there was a way to break it but now … now I’m not sure. And this is not the time. We are in great danger. There’s a whole host out there. Zadkiel and his kin.’

  Reaper stood behind her. ‘I’ll try.’

  ‘You leave him alone,’ Brí snapped. ‘Not one step nearer, understand? I saved him once. I don’t want to have to expend all that energy again for the sake of Silver’s touchstone.’

  ‘I’ve got to do something,’ said Izzy. She looked to the door as an idea began to form. ‘I’ve got to talk to them.’

  Jinx shook his head. ‘You said they hate you.’

  ‘Yes. But, Jinx … I have to. I’m a Grigori. I was born to this.’

  ‘Of course you were,’ said another voice. Her father’s voice. ‘But I was there first.’

  ‘Dad?’ She couldn’t quite get the word out. Her voice cracked as she turned and saw him there. And then she was in his arms, having somehow passed through the space between them without thinking about it, throwing herself across the tent and through the door to the place where he stood. He swept her up in strong arms, arms she could always depend on, and held her to him.

  ‘It’s okay, love,’ he whispered. ‘It’s going to be okay.’

  ‘Where’s Mum? What’s happening? Did you find—?’

  ‘Shh.’ His embrace tightened. Which told her all she needed to know. He hadn’t found her. He didn’t want anyone else to realise. He was compromised. They both were and they couldn’t risk anyone finding out. But where was she? What were Azazel and his demonspawn doing with her?

  ‘What are the angels doing here?’ she asked.

  ‘I guess they found out what happened. Holly has raised the Fear and loosened them on the city. But that’s just a distraction. She’s trying to raise the Shining Ones and she’s going to use Jinx to do it. If they get out, the war in heaven will look like a playground brawl. Not even the angels can stand against them. The time for reticence is over.’ He looked in the room, straight at Ash. ‘Someone reported in.’

  The dark-haired girl rose to her feet, her eyes darker than ever and her face defiant. ‘Grigori,’ she said with a curt bow.

  Izzy’s chest squeezed in as her new ‘friend’ seemed to transform in front of her eyes. The girl was gone. This was something else, something tall and imposing, something as old as time. But Ash had helped her on Bray Head. How could she deceive them this way?

  ‘What the hell?’ Clodagh growled. She backed away, her eyes wide with rage.

  ‘Not hell,’ said Dad. ‘Never hell, isn’t that right, Ashira?’

  Ash smiled then, a slow knowing smile, her teeth very white against her lips. ‘Never Hell, Grigori.’

  ‘Did you betray them?’

  She cocked her head to one side, as if questioning him with a look. It was too quick a moment, unearthly. ‘They are Sídhe. There is no betraying them. They are the betrayers, not I. It has always been this way.’

  ‘Ash?’ Izzy took a step away from Dad, towards her. ‘What’s going on? What – what are you?’

  ‘She’s an angel,’ said Jinx. She’d never heard his voice sound so bleak and lost. Not even when Holly had him. ‘And she must have told them everything.’

  ‘I did my duty,’ said Ash. ‘I also saved your life. Another part of my duty. Both your life and Jinx’s.’

  ‘And you brought Zadkiel here? Why?’

  Ash shook back her dark hair from her face and shoulders. ‘I think you know why, Izzy. You remember what Sorath was like. Jinx is a vessel. He’s dangerous. Far too dangerous. His body could hold a Shining One, and Holly has the means to control him. We deal with him now, before it’s too late.’

  Jinx. She was looking straight at Jinx.

  ‘No. No way.’ Izzy moved back towards him, as quickly as she dared, reaching out for him and no longer caring if Dad saw. He didn’t seem to react, though his gaze followed her every movement. When she reached Jinx, she stretched out for his hands, wrapping his arms around her, holding him as close as she could.

  Dad’s jaw tightened. She was pretty sure a vein in his head was about to explode, but he didn’t react in any other outside way.

  She could hear Jinx breathing, could feel the warmth of him, and the answering warmth that lingered in the tattoo on her neck whenever he was near. Comfort. Safety. Like coming home.

  ‘Enough,’ said Dad. ‘Come with me, Ashira, and we’ll see if there is a way to negotiate our way through this. You aren’t so reckless. I take it Zadkiel is alone behind this ill-thought-out incursion. You haven’t done anything yet, nothing to tip us into war at least, nothing that cannot be repaired. There’s still time. And you lot—’ He glared at each of them, ‘—stay here. Stay out of sight. No matter what. Understand?’

  Figures surrounded the Long Stone, great and small, all those fae who hadn’t already fled, which wasn’t many. They parted as David Gregory approached, Ash his shadow. They didn�
��t close the gap again. The fae didn’t dare step where he had stepped. So they formed a gap through which Izzy could see the Stone and the lawn around it. Silver stood there, glittering with power. And on the lawn behind her, Izzy could see the other angels.

  The brightness that came with them made everything sharper. It hurt to look for too long, but she forced her eyes to adjust. Through her tears, she made herself watch as Ash joined Zadkiel and stood there. They spoke only briefly, a curt exchange and Ash frowned, biting her lower lip.

  A host of angels stood in the wrecked encampment. They’d lost some of the pleasant disguise with which they presented themselves in the mortal world. They weren’t here as guides and guardians. This was all about threat.

  Jinx muttered an expletive or two and tightened his grip on her as Silver joined Izzy’s Dad. She walked carefully, with dignity, head erect, shoulders back. She glowed, almost as brightly as they did.

  ‘She’s channelling her magic,’ said Brí as she joined them. ‘Nearly all of it, if I’m any judge.’ The calculating tone of her voice made Izzy glance at her but Brí didn’t seem to notice. Her eyes had turned avaricious and dangerous. They weren’t fixed on Silver either. Her gaze was full of David Gregory.

  Just when you thought you might be able to trust them, Izzy thought … But then she couldn’t trust anyone now. She knew that.

  ‘A brave man,’ said Reaper. His skin took on even darker tones in the brightness. When he smiled, his teeth were so very white. ‘Maybe we should join them and show our support.’

  But Brí raised a hand to stop him. ‘Not just yet. Let’s see how this plays out first.’

  ‘Typical,’ Jinx muttered. ‘Abandon everyone at the first sign of trouble.’

  ‘I didn’t bring this trouble upon us,’ Brí told him sharply. ‘That would have been … oh, yes, you. You and your friends, walking in here with an angel in disguise. Now shut up and listen.’ Then her voice caught in her throat. ‘Oh, David—’

  Dad was talking fast, trying to negotiate, but they could see on Zadkiel’s face that nothing was going to placate him.

  ‘What do we do?’ Izzy asked Jinx, torn between following them and staying, unable to abandon her Dad. She wanted to run to him, but was too afraid. Supposing she distracted him, or said the wrong thing? She knew Zadkiel loathed her and blamed her for everything. He’d all but told her that her association with Jinx tainted her, and yet here she was with his arms around her. She tightened her own grip on him. She wasn’t letting go. Their contact might have been all that was holding the two of them up.

  Zadkiel held up his hands. Anger crossed his face and he turned away from Izzy’s dad and pointed up. The huge glass and metal structure shook, as if the building was being rocked by an unseen force and the ground bucked beneath them.

  Silver glanced over her shoulder and the light in her seemed to brighten still further. She glowed. Even her eyes were filled with incandescence. She opened her mouth in a gasp of surprise.

  ‘What’s happening to her?’ Jinx whispered. ‘Look at her.’

  Izzy couldn’t tear her gaze from her. Silver pushed past Izzy’s father and faced Zadkiel with something like murder in every line of her body.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Izzy whispered. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘She isn’t a diplomat any more. That’s my job, and one at which I am failing. But still, she’s playing with fire. Heavenly fire.’

  Her voice shook the air, louder than the muttered exchange of before so they could all hear her clearly. She was projecting it on purpose no doubt, for the sake of everyone inside. ‘You are here without leave, archangel, come unbidden to our place of peace against all our accords. There must be a reason or there will be retribution.’

  Zadkiel cast her a contemptuous and dismissive look, but ignored her. When he spoke, his voice was as loud as hers. But he directed it elsewhere.

  ‘David Gregory, rein in the Sídhe bitch. Why are you standing with her?’

  ‘I stand here as the Grigori,’ Dad replied. ‘And as Lady Silver rightly points out this is a grievous breach in the Grand Compact. My role is to see this situation does not degenerate further. You should not be here, Zadkiel, so kindly answer the question.’

  All pretence of courtesy and respect bled from the angel’s voice. His voice was cold with loathing and disgust. ‘You overstep your bounds, mortal.’

  Dad took a deliberate step forwards, his every nerve tense. His voice was thunderous, his glare like murder. ‘No, Zadkiel. You overstep your bounds. This is an invasion of sovereign space. The Sídhe have not invited you here, but they invited me to safeguard them. Answer her. Why are you here?’

  ‘This stands far outside the Grand Compact. It overrides every agreement made then or since. This is a matter of divine order and nothing stands higher. It concerns the Shining Ones, the Seraphim.’ He pointed right at Silver. ‘Your dam would release them. She has already let the Fear out among the mortals. They revealed themselves in many places tonight, causing chaos and panic, feeding and killing. Indiscriminate carnage. The more they feed on terror, the stronger and more dangerous they become.’

  ‘This is nothing to do with us,’ said Silver. ‘Holly has been cast out. You know this.’

  ‘And yet you harbour the vessel she created, into which she would pour the most terrible power. Where is the Cú Sídhe called Jinx?’

  Ash stiffened, glancing towards Izzy, and leaned in close, saying something to her superior. Was she trying to help them now? Was she trying to defend them? Not that it mattered. Zadkiel didn’t listen, but waved her aside.

  Jinx tensed and Izzy pushed backwards in case he got some mad idea about going out there. She all but dragged him into the tent.

  ‘Brí!’ Izzy shouted over her shoulder.

  ‘Stay where you are!’ her birth mother yelled. She and Reaper crouched on either side of Dylan, their hands pressed to his chest. He was aglow with power, as was Silver. They were channelling their power through him and into Silver.

  ‘You can’t have Jinx,’ said Silver. Her voice wreathed with anger, ringing out around the Liberty. ‘He is my emissary. He is protected.’

  ‘He is an abomination. Give him to us, Grigori. Make her comply. Or we will burn the ground of Dubh Linn. We will destroy every hollow and leave the Sídhe who survive wanderers forever.’

  ‘This was not the plan,’ Ash shouted suddenly, trying to pull Zadkiel back. ‘Isabel Gregory is my charge. You promised protection. Our role is to protect the innocent, at all costs. We cannot attack the Sídhe. It would break the compact, Lord Zadkiel.’

  ‘Be silent,’ said the archangel.

  ‘I’m silent too often. If he is a vessel, perhaps we can make him not a vessel—’

  He raised his arm and struck her, sending her sprawling backwards and down to the ground.

  ‘Enough,’ he growled.

  The light in the rest of the angels grew even brighter and Silver and Dad made pitiful shadows against it. But that didn’t stop them. They didn’t back down or even appear dazzled. They held their ground, black rocks against a sea of light.

  ‘No,’ said Dad. Izzy couldn’t believe it. She loved him for it, but the words didn’t sound like her dad at all. Not when it came to Jinx. But at the same time, it was. It was every inch her father. ‘You won’t be taking anyone anywhere. Jinx by Jasper is protected, as are all his kind.’

  ‘Enough of this,’ Zadkiel roared. ‘Give him to us now.’

  ‘No one should be handed over like that.’ Her dad stood his ground. ‘Ashira is right, Zadkiel. We can find a way. We can undo this spell. There has to be a way.’ Izzy could not have loved him more in that moment.

  ‘He’s wrong,’ said Jinx, which made anger flare inside her. ‘They’ll kill you all. Let me go, Izzy.’ She pushed him back inside again, looking frantically to Brí for help.

  ‘Jinx by Jasper,’ Brí shouted. ‘You stay exactly where you are. Don’t make me restrain you. Watch them, Isabel. We need to kn
ow what they’re doing.’

  She pulled the door open again just in time to see Zadkiel try another tactic. He smiled and somehow that was even more frightening.

  ‘Come, Lady Silver,’ he said, all charm again. ‘If we are to negotiate, then let us negotiate. You have something we want, namely Jinx by Jasper.’

  ‘My kin and my kith. If you think I’ll bargain him away—’

  ‘And we can restore something lost to you. Something important.’

  ‘What?’ Disbelief dripped from her voice.

  Behind them, Dylan cried out, sobbed and lurched to his feet. ‘Silver, no,’ he said, staggering towards them while Reaper and Clodagh struggled to hold him back. ‘Silver, please. You can’t.’ He dropped to his knees and his gaze fell on Izzy and Jinx. His voice grated in his throat. ‘You have to get out of here.’

  ‘Silver won’t let them take him,’ said Brí. ‘She’s too noble by far.’

  ‘There’s a weakness,’ said Dylan. ‘Something she wants more than anything. More than any of us.’

  Zadkiel reached out his hand, unarmed and elegantly unfurled his fingers. Light swelled there and Silver’s eyes widened. Everyone stared, captivated by the light blossoming in his hand. Even Silver seemed hypnotised by it. Zadkiel touched her throat and her eyes widened as the light blended with her own, bright and beautiful. Her hands flew up to her neck as if to touch the gift and assure herself that it was real.

  Dylan collapsed, like a marionette with severed strings.

  ‘What is it?’ asked Clodagh. ‘What did he do?’

  ‘Her voice,’ whispered Dylan. ‘He’s given her back her voice. The only thing she wants.’

  ‘He can’t do that,’ snarled Brí. ‘That’s mine! I bought it. I traded it fair and square. Damn them. Damn them all. They need me out there. And Reaper, if this goes pear-shaped, get them out of here. All of them. These two, my daughter and Jinx by Jasper as well. Understand?’

  He nodded. ‘Yes, Lady Brí.’

  She faltered and wrapped his hands with her own. Her voice dropped low and solemn, her eyes fixed on his determinedly. ‘You have my debt then.’