Stone and Crow (Veiled Kingdoms: The Lost Fae Book 1)

by Stella Snow

  Catherine’s face pinched up like she’d just bitten down on a lemon. “Neither of you belong here.”

  Melodie turned and walked away. Her magic was firmly under control, but there was no point in standing around fighting with someone she would hopefully never see again. Salathia followed her.

  “Alright, everyone gather around, I want to go over this one more time,” Ms. Nancy announced. She reviewed the plan with everyone again. After much nodding, and even Esther looking a bit exasperated with the rehashing of the plans, everyone moved to where they needed to be.

  Ms. Nancy pulled out the godstone reverently. The combined magic emanating from both the godstone and the gate threatened to overwhelm her.

  The group was spread out around the gate in a circle as Ms. Nancy read from the scroll with a clear, steady voice. It was a chant of sorts; each sentence was spoken in a hypnotic rhythm. One by one each person in the circle lifted their hands.

  Gavriel had explained earlier that Ms. Nancy could direct their magic if they focused on her words and cooperated. Together they could do something that would be impossible for just one person. Ms. Nancy would also be drawing on the power of the godstone to direct the magic that they were weaving together. Melodie watched in awe even though there wasn’t nearly as much to see as there was to feel.

  As Ms. Nancy continued chanting, her tone took on a singsong lilt. The words fluttered around Melodie’s head, touching her here and there as though they were a tangible thing. A glow bloomed out of the godstone. Bright, blue lines extended from it to everyone in the room––Melodie included. Invigorating magic splashed over her like cold water, bringing every sense into focus.

  The movement of the magic reversed in an instant. Magic flowed out of everyone that was chanting, bright and clear. It surrounded the gate, then sunk into it all at once. The gate hummed and the twisting slowed. Then, it was still. There was a clear view of trees and grass on the other side. The magic emanating from the gate increased and it pulled her in.

  She started walking as Gavriel raced toward it until he was barely a breath away from lunging through it. He looked back at Melodie and held out his hand. She jogged after him, a smile breaking across her face. The view blurred and the gate twisted abruptly.

  The hum of the chant turned to screaming. A black wave of magic exploded outward, stinging Melodie’s skin. She staggered back, shielding her face from the worst of it. Everyone closer to the gate hit the ground and slid back across the grass.

  Chapter 23

  The gate twisted and flickered even worse than it had been. Gavriel cursed and turned away, raking his fingers through his hair.

  Ms. Nancy took a step back, hands on her hips. She didn’t seem frustrated, just thoughtful. Melodie stood at the fringes of the group as Gavriel stalked over near her and sat down heavily on the ground with his back against the wall.

  “Everyone saw that right? That darkness in the magic?” Ms. Nancy asked.

  There were murmurs of agreement from the entire group.

  “Balor,” Gavriel looked up at the sky, his shoulders slumped in despair. “I have felt that before from a servant of Balor.”

  “Interesting,” Ms. Nancy said as she pulled her notebook out and began writing. “Very interesting. This changes everything. Many of our assumptions were wrong. I suspect this isn’t being done by a relic.” She looked back at the gate, then whirled around to face Esther. “They cursed it. That must be it, one of the old curses. And that means it cannot last forever!”

  Gavriel stood. “How long?”

  “A couple of weeks from the day it was cursed at most, unless they were to curse it again. But the power and resources needed to do that should be impossible to recover in that amount of time.”

  “If they have cursed it, and they know that it has a time limit, then whatever they are doing here they planned on being done with it in that time,” Esther said grimly. “So far they have been unsuccessful, but if time is running out for them, they might be getting desperate.”

  “Can you find out exactly how much time is left before the gate reopens?” Gavriel asked as he paced.

  “I can make an educated guess, nothing more.” Ms. Nancy shook her head. “Perhaps three days, at most.” An alarm twanged and she pulled a scroll out of her pocket, unfurling it with a flick of her wrist. It was an old map that looked hand-drawn. A black dot pulsed on the map near the subdivision where the Forgotten lived and Ms. Nancy’s face hardened. “They are attempting to breach the Veil once again. Three days left or not, it looks like they may be attacking tonight.”

  Esther met John’s eyes. Something passed between them then she faced the group. “Everyone in the cars now, we’re going to my house. Call your families and make sure no one leaves their house,” Esther shouted over the conversations that had erupted. “We have to brace for an attack.”

  “I’m staying here,” Ms. Nancy said.

  Esther looked pained but nodded and kept moving.

  “Go with Gavriel.” Salathia pushed Melodie toward him.

  “Why? Where are you going?” Melodie asked.

  “To help Dale, his team is out on patrol right now. I need to warn them.”

  Gavriel dragged Melodie back to the car. Her eyes were glued to Salathia as she ran in the opposite direction. Toward danger. She wanted nothing more than to stop her, but there was nothing she could do.

  John peeled out of the driveway. The ten-minute drive home felt like thirty. Melodie clutched her violin between her legs and watched the setting sun with trepidation.

  John parked behind two other cars in the driveway. They all ran inside. Melodie dropped her things in a corner and stood out of the way. She wished Salathia were here instead of out there fighting. She’d already been hurt once before.

  Ethan appeared at the end of the hallway. “You’re back. Did it not work?”

  Joy peeped around from behind him.

  “No, it definitely didn’t work. They said it was a curse this time,” Melodie said.

  “A curse? Does that mean you’re staying forever?” Joy shoved past Ethan to grab Melodie’s arm.

  “The curse won’t last forever. We’re still trying to leave as soon as possible.”

  “Ethan, Joy, I want both of you in the study. Stay there until I come get you,” Esther said from across the room. Ethan dragged Joy back to the study over her protests.

  Melodie lingered in the hallway and watched everyone interact. They cared about each other deeply, even the ones that hated her. Esther’s shoulders were tight and had been since Melodie arrived. She had dark circles under her eyes. All of this was wearing her down. She might regret telling Gavriel about the Stone tomorrow when Salathia was angry with her, but right now Melodie hoped that they’d be able to leave and let the Forgotten get back to their lives.

  “Do you have a minute?” Gavriel asked just loud enough for Melodie to hear. She followed Gavriel to her bedroom and they stepped inside, leaving the door cracked open. “The Stone. We need it now. It can’t wait until tomorrow.”

  “Are you thinking of using it?” she asked incredulously.

  “Only to try to open the gate,” Gavriel said. “I don’t think we should wait for the curse to run out, not if we have another choice.”

  “Using the Stone could be dangerous, and we have zero guarantee that it will even work.”

  “We have to try,” Gavriel insisted. “The longer we wait, the more likely there will be an attack. Do you really want to put all of the Forgotten at risk like that?”

  Melodie glanced at Joy. She was grinning up at Ethan, caught up in the excitement with no real understanding of the danger.

  “If we’re going to do that, then we’re telling Salathia, and making her come with us to the Sidhe.”

  “Alright. Where is the Stone?”

  “I’ll take you there.”

  “It’ll be dangerous to retrieve it. I don’t want—”

  “No,” she insisted. “I’ll take you there an
d then we find Salathia.”

  Gavriel’s hands were balled into fists, but he nodded jerkily. He pressed a knife in a slender sheath into her hand. “Keep this on you, just in case.”

  She tucked it into her waistband, pulling her shirt over the knife to hide it, then stepped back into the hallway and almost ran into Esther. Her face was twisted in a mix of disbelief and anger. Esther must have heard them talking. She knew that Melodie and Salathia had lied to her.

  Melodie opened her mouth to explain or apologize, she wasn’t sure which. There was a resounding clang that she felt down to her bones, then another, and another. Light flared up around every window and the pictures rattled on the walls.

  “Dammit, I thought we’d have more time. They must know we tried to fix the gate.” Esther scrambled for her phone.

  Tires screeched in the front yard. Esther ran to the front door. She opened it just a sliver at first, then slung it open. “John, I need your help.”

  “What’s—?” Melodie began.

  “The wards have been triggered. The mercenaries are trying to come on the property, there is dark magic being used,” Gavriel said, his sword already drawn. He ran to the front of the house and positioned himself near a window, standing guard.

  The front door swung open again. John and Esther staggered in, Dale between them, his arms draped over their shoulders. Peter ran forward and replaced Esther on Dale’s right side. A trail of blood followed the injured man’s progress into the dining room. Peter unhooked Dale’s arm from around him and lifted Dale onto the table with a grunt.

  “Getting the first aid kit,” John said before running down the hall.

  Esther grabbed Dale’s hand, gripping it tightly. “What happened?”

  “Ambush. Split us up. Took Salathia. I got to the car. But they followed me,” Dale said through pants of pain. His voice was weak, and his skin was deathly pale.

  “What do you mean they took Salathia?” Melodie demanded, rushing around the side of the table. She gasped at the sight of his leg. His jeans were shredded and blackened with blood despite the belt he’d used as a tourniquet. A gash ran from the top of his thigh to his knee. Blood dripped onto the table, pooling beneath him.

  “We tried to help her, but we were outnumbered. I just know they had her bound somehow. The one that seemed like the leader was taking— taking her somewhere,” Dale said.

  “But she was alive?” Melodie begged.

  Dale managed a nod.

  John rushed back and dropped an armful of gauze and bandages next to Dale’s head.

  “You ready, brother?” Peter asked.

  Dale screwed his face up and nodded.

  Peter held down Dale’s legs, leaning over his stomach so that he wouldn’t be able to see what was happening. John pressed a bundle of gauze into the wound. Dale let out a long, low groan of pain.

  There was a twisting, sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She didn’t know if she was going to be sick or pass out. Her hands shook and the pungent scent of blood was just as overwhelming as it had been the first time she had smelled it in the forest.

  Dale’s face was pasty, his beard matted to his face with sweat and his eyes were unfocused. It felt like he was staring at her. This was her fault.

  “We have to get him to the doctor, and with the way the wards are going off, I’d say we can’t stay in the house much longer at all,” John said as he wrapped a long bandage around Dale’s thigh.

  “I know,” Esther said, as she stared out the window. “Gavriel and I might be able to create a distraction long enough for you to get Dale and the kids out of here.”

  John froze. “I don’t think we should split up, Esther.”

  “We are out of options,” Esther snapped. “I can’t get a hold of the other patrol. Half the community aren’t answering their phones.”

  “They’re after me, right?” Melodie said loudly.

  Esther whipped around to face her. “Yes, as you’ve known since the beginning.”

  “If you want to create a distraction so you can get Dale and the kids to the somewhere safer, then I’m your best bet.”

  Gavriel stared at her, his face incredulous. “Absolutely not.”

  “It’s not up to you,” she said through gritted teeth. “I’m not asking to walk out there and sacrifice myself and I’m not planning on dying. I’m saying that I can be used as bait, just long enough to get the kids to safety.”

  Esther glanced back at John, her lips pressed so tightly together they had gone white, then nodded in agreement.

  “John, you will go with Dale and the kids through the tunnels.”

  “The tunnels only go halfway,” John objected. “We’d have to walk another mile to get to a safe house.”

  “I know. Gavriel, Melodie, and I will draw them away. It’s our only option. They outnumber us this time and no one can get to us safely. We’ll never make it through if we try to face them head-on with this few people,” Esther said. “There is another safe house in the opposite direction. We’ll be able to make it there.”

  “This is insane,” Gavriel said. “You can’t put Melodie at risk like this.”

  “We can’t wait here indefinitely. They will get through the wards eventually, or they will pick off the rest of my people one by one. I know you don’t care,” Esther snapped. “But enough is enough. She and Salathia brought this attack down on our heads.”

  Gavriel curled his hands into fists turned away.

  Peter and John lifted Dale, who was only half-conscious now, up from the table. They draped his arms over their shoulders and started slowly toward the living room.

  “John, go ahead and leave now, we will—”

  A piercing sound reverberated through the room, interrupting Esther. Melodie pressed her palms over her ears and stumbled back. Glass shattered as a ball of fire hurtled through the windows at the front of the house, enveloping the table they had all just been standing around.

  Gavriel lifted his left hand. Light too bright to look at exploded from his palm and burst through the gaping holes left by the initial attack. The ground shook as he advanced. Melodie dove behind the couch, not sure where to run.

  The front door exploded inward. Through the smoke, glowing red eyes shone in the doorway. The unmistakable scent of sulfur filled the room. Esther slammed her palm down on the floor, sending a shock wave toward the door that cracked open the floor and flung pieces of the hardwood into the air. The barghest yelped and the glow of eyes disappeared.

  “To the study!” Esther shouted as John, Peter and Dale stumbled past her into the hallway. Sierra’s mother obeyed, running to the study with tears streaming down her face, but Catherine pulled a gun from her waistband and ran to one of the windows. She fired out into the front yard, the noise making Melodie’s ears ring.

  Melodie darted from behind the couch, following after Esther, but she didn’t make it to the hallway before a fireball hit the ground in front of her. Heat blasted her entire body and she threw herself backward to avoid sliding into it. Flames ate through the floor and licked at the ceiling, the fire growing unnaturally fast. She crawled back as the heat overwhelmed her.

  Esther stood in the doorway of the study looking back at Melodie and the fire between them.

  “Just go!” Melodie shouted, her heart thumping wildly. With a nod, Esther stepped through and pulled the door shut with a heavy thud. Magic poured out of the door as the ancient safeguards fell into place.

  Laughter drifted toward her as a man approached.

  “Left behind so callously. Are you surrendering?” he taunted, a grin that was all teeth splitting his face.

  “Shit.” She scrambled to her feet and sidestepped toward the living room as the man watched her, his hand twitching closer to the sword at his side.

  Help wasn’t going to come. Those that remained were fighting their own battles. Gavriel was still at the front of the house, faelight swirling around him, sword flashing in the light as he pressed forward against t
wo mercenaries. Catherine was crouched behind the upended dining room table reloading and cursing.

  Melodie darted toward the back door. The mercenary ran after her with a barghest following close behind. So much for any kind of plan to get out of this alive.

  She flung the door open and sprinted outside as Gavriel shouted for her to keep running. As if she was going to stop now.

  Chapter 24

  Melodie raced past the garden, her long legs flying over the ground. As soon as she was in the forest, she regretted it. It felt too much like her dreams and it was harder to run, but there was no turning back now.

  A howl cut through the air, shaking her down to her bones. She knew that sound from the dream she’d had every night since the first attack. He was here. Magic crackled along her skin as anger rushed through her.

  “You’re much faster in your dreams,” he shouted from somewhere behind her. “You think you’ll actually be able to get away?”

  She ignored him, focusing on the pump of her legs and the low-hanging branches she was trying to dodge. He could talk all he wanted.

  “Maybe you think Salathia will show up to help you,” he continued. “Did they tell you that we took her?”

  Magic skittered down her arm and she was sorely tempted to turn around and try to do something, but she knew she’d lose that fight. Gavriel had told her to keep running. She just needed to buy herself some time.

  “This is no fun,” he said. Magic rushed around her, and someone appeared in her path, though they were more of a shape than a person. All black with no face and too tall to be human. She leaped to the right, unable to stop the scream. Nothing grabbed her, but she stumbled.

  “Almost had you there, didn’t I?”

  “Go to hell!” she shouted back. She had no idea what that black thing had been, and she didn’t want to find out.

  “You can’t run forever,” he taunted. She didn’t stop to look at him, even though she could see him in her peripheral, to her left and just a couple of steps behind her. “You’re already breathing so hard. Your legs must be getting tired.”