Flight (Children of the Sidhe)

by J. R. Pearse Nelson

“Thrum,” Tessa said, “Mikhail told me the tree-folk would have advice for Nathan.”

  The tree was silent for several moments, its branches waving in the breeze. “Does Nathan seek advice?”

  Tessa ducked her head. The question was as much of an admonishment as the gentle-spirited tree would ever offer. She met Nathan’s eyes, and saw the question there. He didn’t know what was going on.

  “Don’t worry, you two. I’ll start from the beginning…” and Thrum began to speak.

  Alone in the forest where he’d been staying with Tessa for the past couple of days, Nathan occupied his mind with small tests of the magic Tessa had shown him in recent days. She’d left all serious talk at the roots of her tree friend, in preference of a true escape to the wilds. Thrum had revealed much regarding the old ways of the Tuatha De Danann, and how they’d respected those of mixed blood. It was the reason the Sidhe children, the half-humans, had been called to the Well of Slaine, an ancient, sacred space that showed the Sidhe’s respect for these members of their extended family. Tessa had seemed more disturbed by these revelations than Nathan, with his complete lack of reference for the knowledge Thrum shared with them.

  Nathan still wasn’t ready to join the others at the Well of Slaine. When Tessa left the subject alone, he was grateful for the space, though they were together always. They shifted often, hunted and foraged when they were hungry, and slept when they’d exhausted each other. Nathan couldn’t remember a more carefree time. He’d rarely felt more relaxed.

  During the past two days in the wilds, Tessa finally had a chance to teach him to use the most basic of his Sidhe abilities. It turned out he had quite a hand at magic tricks. He liked it. He chose jeans and a gray Henley, exactly what he would have worn beyond the veil. Dressed, he stood in the somewhat eerie dimness of the forest when something zipped past his face fast enough he didn’t even see it. He jumped back, startled, and a moment later, Season dipped back into view from where she’d apparently been hovering above him. “Sorry about that. I’m so glad I found you.”

  “I’ve been wondering where you were. I figured you’d catch up long ago.”

  “I have my suspicions about why I couldn’t find you, Nathan. In fact, there’s something we must discuss, now, while we’re alone.”

  Nathan narrowed his eyes at the pixie’s sullen tone. “What’s so important?”

  Season’s gaze darted around, like she had to convince herself they truly were alone before she could continue. That’s how Nathan knew that whatever she wanted to say, it had to do with Tessa. He steeled himself to indulge the pixie’s ranting. She never had liked Tessa.

  “She’s gone. Said she had something she needed to attend to, and she’d be back late tonight. So tell me what you have to tell me.”

  “It’s Tessa. She knows the assassin. It appears she’s been meeting with him the whole time you’ve been under her roof.”

  Nathan blinked. He’d been prepared for some story of vaguely implicated threat, but…Tessa knew the assassin? That didn’t make any sense.

  “What makes you think that?” Nathan asked, trying to put his thoughts in order. Could this really be true? He thought he knew her better than that. Yet many things about the Sidhe and their behavior were incomprehensible to him. Maybe she was driven by some motivation he just didn’t get.

  “I saw them together. I’ve told the Morrigan, and she is sending help. When I got back to Tessa’s, I couldn’t find any trace of either of you. I believe she cloaked your trail.”

  Nathan shot the pixie a wry smile. “That’s what she was supposed to do, so I’m glad to hear it worked so well. It’s called disappearing.”

  “Don’t take this lightly, Nathan! To do so will put you in grave peril. The Morrigan agrees – obviously Tessa is still working on the wrong side of the Blood Wars. Do you want to risk yourself for so little? The Sidhe need you. Nathan, we need you on our side. The fae must pull together if we’re to withstand what’s to come.”

  Nathan had no idea what to make of that comment, but his mind was still stuck on the idea of his Sidhe lover being involved with the man who wanted to kill him. He knew she’d had problems with the idea of half-humans in Tir Nan Og. She’d identified, to some extent, with the proponents of the Blood Wars. But he’d thought that was behind her. Otherwise, why would she sleep with him? Was it that easy to satisfy the body with a lover you secretly hated for something beyond their control? And they wanted him on their side? Maybe he should have gone home.

  “Tell me exactly what you overheard,” Nathan growled in the pixie’s direction. He would sort this out. If necessary, he would confront Tessa tonight.

  EIGHTEEN

  Tessa meandered along the forest trail, lost in thought. She’d learned a lot this afternoon, but little that would help her defeat Abarta. She had to figure out some way to thwart him, without risking Nathan or any of the other Sidhe children. She felt like she was close to a breakthrough, but she just couldn’t fathom the solution she needed. It was just outside her reach.

  Maybe she should just reach out to the Authority, and they could find a solution together. Tessa wasn’t one to ask for help. This was her dilemma, and she should handle it on her own. But she nearly bounded out of her skin at the thought of Nathan dying at Abarta’s hands before she found the elusive solution she sought.

  Her pride was not worth his life, no matter what she’d thought before knowing the hawk shifter. She thought of his amber eyes with their gold flecks, of the way his gaze grew hawkish, intense, in lust as well as anger. She knew his expressions, knew every line of his body, knew the way his skin heated hers as they thrust against each other in the forest night, knew the way his muscles felt when they flexed and leapt beneath her fingers as he lost himself in her. How could she risk him for her pride?

  She’d chosen not to risk him, even for her family. She could only hope Mikhail had found the child and her mother. If something happened to them, Mikhail would never forgive himself. He’d never forgive her.

  It had been two days – by now Mikhail probably had the child in a safe place, although from what Tessa had heard, Rosa wasn’t an easy woman to sway, and getting her to leave her home would probably prove a hard sell. But she had to believe Mikhail’s family was safe.

  In a few short hours, she must meet Abarta for the last time.

  Tessa sighed as she reached the portal she would use to reach the section of Tir Nan Og where she’d been staying with Nathan. The wilds were only so far removed – portals connected everything if you knew where to find them. Still, Tessa didn’t fear Abarta would find them out here, unless he managed to follow her as she came and went, and she’d cloaked her trail effectively each and every time, she was sure of it.

  Tessa stepped across the small creek, stooping under the low branch of a willow, whose leaf-laden branches drooped nearly to the water, touching it occasionally as the soft breeze blew. Her stomach gave the familiar lurch, and the willow was lost to a thick copse of holly. Not the most pleasant of exits, and Tessa had to pluck her sleeve from the grasp of one particularly abusive plant. She stroked a hand over her arm and the scratches faded instantly. A small magic, healing this way. Small magic for a small wound.

  Her long stride ate away the trail as her impatience simmered. She had to see Nathan and convince herself he was still safe, and then she’d feel more comfortable. As she entered the deeply wooded glade where she’d left him, she could see him seated cross-legged by the large felt tent. The book she’d gotten him was open on his lap.

  It was the look in his eyes that made her veins run with ice. He didn’t say anything at first, just watched her like she was a rodent whose bones he’d later be picking. A hawk’s gaze.

  “You didn’t get out today?” she asked in a lame attempt to stall.

  “I went for a short hunt, and a longer walk. I’ve had a lot to think about.”

  His hostile tone confirmed her fear. He was angry with her. She just didn’t know why. “Do you want to fi
ll me in?”

  “Season was here. And she filled me in.”

  “What do you mean? News from the Morrigan? Is everything okay, Nathan?” Tessa couldn’t help the string of questions. His near silence was making her nervous.

  “Tessa, you need to come clean with me. Season says she saw you with Abarta, and it was apparent the two of you know each other. She thinks you’ve been meeting with him – the assassin – the whole time I’ve been in Tir Nan Og. It’s not true, is it?”

  Oh, no. This was not the way she wanted him to find out. “She made it sound simple, did she? It is true, Nathan. Abarta blackmailed me – I’m supposed to provide information on the half-humans, including you. Except that he found out we’ve grown close, and gave me an ultimatum. That’s why we’re out here.” Tessa covered her face with her hands.

  “Blackmail? Why? What does he have on you?”

  Tessa stiffened. She couldn’t divulge Mikhail’s secret, even if Nathan needed to know. She could only hope he would understand. “I can’t tell you the specifics, only that it’s a family secret. I’ve done everything I can to make sure it doesn’t ruin us.”

  “And that meant lying to me the entire time I stayed with you, as you came and went with the assassin who is hunting me?”

  “Yes. I’m sorry. I know it looks bad, but please believe me. I have prioritized your safety as well. I told him no, and now the secret may get out anyway,” her voice cracked.

  He stared her down. “Season warned me. She told me you’d had trouble, that you were on the wrong side of the Blood Wars. You were wronged, but still, your heart wasn’t in the right place. I wouldn’t believe her. You’d shown me none of that. And now I find you exactly as she said. Cunning. Heartless.”

  Tessa was silent. He was right, of course. When she’d welcomed him into her home, she still hadn’t decided if she would hand him over to meet his death. Then she took him as a lover, despite her unresolved feelings about his presence in her world. Nothing could justify her actions, and right now, she wouldn’t dare.

  “You will not trust me with the truth?” Nathan scowled, but his words were soft, as if he still wanted to believe she was the woman he’d thought she was.

  “I can’t,” she whispered. It wasn’t her secret to tell.

  Nathan promptly turned his back, and shifted in the next heartbeat. His hawk winged its way into the forest, disappearing into the shadows.

  NINETEEN

  Hawk spotted prey, branches moving far below him. Nathan knew it for a rabbit, and swooped down for the kill. The killing felt right, the quick and brutal crunch of the creature’s neck between his talons, sating his hunger with fresh blood and flesh.

  Later, Hawk sat, restful, on a high limb. As the wind buffeted the evergreen forest, he swayed with the tree and let the motion lull him nearly to sleep. A part of him knew he was avoiding his humanity, gaining a blissful respite from worries like Tessa. He flapped his wings in agitation at the thought of her, and dropped down out of the tree to change on the forest floor.

  Nathan rose and brushed himself off. Next, he waved a hand and was dressed in faded jeans and a black t-shirt, with a black pair of his customary hiking boots. Black seemed key today. Dark as his mood.

  He was as angry with himself as he was with Tessa. When had he decided to trust her? He’d had no reason to. She’d never given assurances of her honor or intent. When he looked back, he realized he was as much to blame as she – he’d pressed her for sex when they’d become lovers. His own intentions hadn’t been honorable. She was a beautiful, exotic creature, and he’d only just found the part of himself that he saw in her. He’d taken his first Sidhe lover knowingly, and it wasn’t her personality that drew him. But they’d grown closer. He understood her now, in ways he guessed no one before him had been close enough to experience.

  With his thoughts going nowhere fast, Nathan shoved them to the back of his mind. He had to decide what to do next.

  Ever since meeting a talking tree, he’d been trying to avoid thinking through all that wise being had said. And one thing had been clear, the tree-folk were in agreement that the half-humans were needed for some reason, and the sacred Well of Slaine was the best place for them.

  Thrum had given him a perfectly plausible next step. Trouble was, Tessa also knew of that step – the Well of Slaine, where the other half-humans were gathering to wait for the Sidhe to end the threat to their lives. She’d expect him to go there, because she knew another key piece of information as well: he didn’t know of any portals that would take him beyond the veil. The chances of stumbling onto one seemed too slim to count on, and Nathan wouldn’t know where to start. Given all that, what other choice did he have?

  Blip. Season stared at him, hovering a few feet away. “Are you alright now?”

  “Sure. I’m fine,” he lied.

  The pixie tilted her head to one side, still regarding him with a woeful expression.

  “What are you so sad about?” Nathan asked. “Isn’t this exactly what you wanted?”

  “Well, yes,” Season agreed. “But I didn’t realize you were actually in love with her.”

  Nathan coughed to cover the ache in his throat, and turned to start down the trail to the only destination that had come to mind in this strange world. At least there would be others like him there. If anyone could understand how odd the last few weeks had been, it would be the half-humans awaiting their fate at the Well of Slaine.

  He wouldn’t answer Season’s assertion. He couldn’t even bring himself to ponder the question right now. Love? If this was it, he was better off without.

  “I don’t know how I let myself be used again and again. Bertran. Abarta. Even Nathan has wanted something from me almost from the beginning.” Tessa stifled a sniff, and straightened her posture. She had her dignity. It might be all she had left, before long.

  “To be fair, it seemed to me you wanted the same from him. And it wasn’t just sex with the two of you.” Thrum’s branches waggled a bit, so Tessa knew the tenor of the conversation agitated the treewoman. The tree-folk were a calm sort by nature, who were accustomed to a rather narrow range of emotional states. The extremes could really throw them off.

  “You’re right, Thrum. I almost started to think of Nathan as…”

  “Yes?”

  “Oh, never mind. He did prove a decent distraction, which I needed sorely. And that is enough about that.” Tessa scowled into the trees. She wondered how close Nathan was to the Well of Slaine at this point. She’d thought about going after him, but held back. They didn’t have anything to say to each other at the moment. Maybe after he calmed down a little…but she wouldn’t waste her time thinking about that. Nathan was going to the sacred well, she was almost certain of it, and he would be safe there.

  Tessa was free to pursue Abarta using whatever crazy plan she could come up with, and Nathan would be far away from the crossfire.

  “Thrum, will you listen for word of my brother, Mikhail? He’s beyond the veil, and when he returns, I need you to tell him we spoke today. I am not returning home.”

  “You are worried about your brother?” Thrum spoke with all the concern such a staid being could muster. She’d known them since they were children running amuck in the forest, and Tessa knew she cared for them.

  “I’m worried for his heart. I may as well tell you, since it will all be out before long,” Tessa drew a deep breath. “Mikhail has a small daughter, and her mother is not Sidhe.”

  “Yes.” Was Thrum waiting for her to go on?

  “Did he tell you?”

  “His decisions have troubled him. He needed an impartial ear.”

  Tessa knew Thrum wouldn’t intend the condemnation she heard in those words, so she didn’t tell the treewoman how that statement made her feel. Of course she couldn’t be Mikhail’s impartial ear. She was too far on his side.

  Thrum seemed to shudder. “The world rumbles just below our roots, Tessa. Changes are afoot, and they run deep. You are right t
o worry about the child.”

  Tessa’s head shot up and she stared incredulously at the treewoman. “What are you talking about?”

  “Your niece. She is the Guardian’s only weakness. And it is the Guardian the Fomorii want.”

  Tessa’s head spun. “The Guardian? Are you talking about the woman, Rosa?” Mikhail had alluded to the woman’s power, but Tessa had refused to believe she could be important.

  “They must never trap her. That one guards old secrets. Abarta is using her as bait so the Fomorii do his will. He must be stopped.”

  “But what do the Fomorii have to do with anything? They’re having their own civil war, and they were cast out of Tir Nan Og just minutes after they came here. It was Midir who aided them–” Thoughts of Bertran suddenly filled Tessa’s mind, and bile rose in her throat. Bertran had been the front line, and behind him stood Abarta. Could it be it was the same with Midir and his apparent involvement with the Fomorii months ago? Was Midir only the front line?

  “You see? It goes back to that point. That’s the split. And that’s the answer. The Sidhe have not heard the last of the Fomorii.” Thrum’s voice seemed to echo in the sudden stillness of the Middleworld forest.

  Tessa was suddenly sure she wasn’t the only one who’d heard this pronouncement, though she didn’t know whether the other listeners had been friendly or not. She just knew they weren’t alone. Suddenly, she couldn’t wait to escape. If only she had somewhere to be. She had hours left before her meeting with Abarta, and still no solid plan.

  “How do you know all of this?” Tessa finally asked in a small voice. Her blood practically vibrated with the need to shift, to fly. She would have to do so before she met Abarta – it would settle her mind.

  “Ah.” The elder tree gave her a small, crooked smile. “We tree-folk are good listeners. Don’t forget it.”

  “I still don’t know what to do about Abarta, and I’m running out of time,” Tessa whispered.