“This had to be, Storm Sullivan. Your dog has served his purpose well and now will pass with me into the beyond to live again.” The White Lady stroked the spine of the dog. Her voice changed as she spoke to him, “Good boy, yes, you are so good. It will all be over soon.” PacMan’s wounds healed over and his eyes opened. He looked at the White Lady and got to his feet. She ran her hand over his head once more and whispered in his ear before straightening and reaching out to Storm. “Come, Emerald, I have one more gift to give you.”
Storm took the White Lady’s hand and rose to face her. She looked around the room at the silence she hadn’t noticed before. “They are all frozen for a time. We need to speak. There is something you must understand to defeat Nuada permanently.”
“But I did, didn’t I? I mean, he was stuck here in that other form and-“ Storm was cut off by the White Lady shaking her head.
“No, Storm Sullivan. He was correct. There would have been a way out.” Her eyes flicked over to the enemy and Storm followed her gaze. The man in black was bent over the body that had come out of PacMan somehow. “He was beautiful once.”
“Who?” Storm looked back at the White Lady attentively, struggling to understand.
“Nuada. He was beautiful once. And kind.” She had a dreamy expression now, as if reminiscing. “I loved him.”
“What?” Storm’s jaw dropped.
The White Lady drew her gaze back to Storm’s face. “Have you ever heard the story of Morrigan?”
Storm thought back, it sounded familiar. “Yes, I think so but I don’t remember it well.”
“Like so many stories, the tragedy of Morrigan is based in reality.” The White Lady sighed. “I once looked very different, Storm Sullivan. And I once had a different life. Then I was visited by the original Angel of Death and my life was changed forever, I was changed forever.” The White Lady reached out and took hold of Storm’s arm. Initially, her touch was cold but then it began to warm and the visions began. Storm closed her eyes involuntarily and watched a scene unfold but before she could grasp what she was seeing, the scene changed and it continued to change, cycling rapidly through images of Nuada and a woman then images of the woman and a baby, a young girl, and finally a young woman who Storm recognized clearly. The White Lady withdrew and the images ceased. Storm opened her eyes, suddenly aware of the tears burning at her eyelids.
“It was you. You are Morrigan.” Storm breathed the words that seemed to injure the White Lady. “And the man was Nuada and you had a daughter. Morgaine is your daughter.” Understanding washed over her and a part of Storm’s heart broke. She remembered the story of Morrigan, how her love had left her when he found out she was pregnant. But he didn’t just leave her, he’d beaten her severely and left her for dead, except that she was a Goddess and could not die. Nobody knew how long she suffered or the depth of her suffering until now. Storm felt every bit of it as though she’d lived it. The horror was almost too much to handle.
The White Lady nodded slowly, silvery-blue tears streaming down her cheeks. “There is something inside of him, Storm Sullivan, something that no amount of love could drive out. I chose to save my daughter and follow the Angel of Death. I did not know what Nuada would become but I believe you can use my memories to buy time to save him.” She looked around Storm to Nuada. “I cannot hold them much longer.”
“What do I do?” Storm had hoped for more guidance, more something.
“Follow your instincts; they have always served you well.” The White Lady smiled. It was an eerie expression now that Storm saw it. “I am taking your dog to the other side, but I will see you again, Storm Sullivan.” A white light filled the room and Storm shielded her eyes from it. She was really getting tired of bright white light. Why all the white? If she never saw another flash of bright white light in all of her life it would be too soon. Once the light subsided, she blinked her eyes into focus and saw everyone had backed away from Nuada giving him wide berth with his body. Ryder’s hands were around her waist and he was pulling her into him.
A cackle rattled the walls of the room causing Storm to face the man in black, an expression of pure glee on his face. “I win. At last, I win.” The man in black crumpled to the ground leaving a plume of black smoke crackling with red lightning. Nobody moved. Storm thrust her hands forward, sending bolts of gold toward the center of the smoke but they just broke against the wall and the smoke reformed, rippling around the supine body. It shifted and flowed into a cocoon. Again, Storm sent beams of gold toward the body but they just absorbed into the crackling smoke. Dammit.
“I do not think that is working, dear.” Damarra whispered. “Why would she bring the body to him?”
“She said I could save him.” Storm barely moved her lips as she responded but Damarra’s head whipped around.
“The White Lady said he can be saved?” Damarra’s eyes were full of hope.
“Yes.” Before Storm could explain further, the smoky cocoon absorbed into the body. Storm watched as the body moved, sitting up awkwardly and testing its motion before clambering to its feet. The classic wool kilt left little to the imagination as he rose and flexed his muscles. Nuada and his body were whole again. Storm cringed internally and panicked just a little. Okay, a lot. It had taken everything for Nuada’s body and soul to be divided and now he was whole again. Whole and hell bent on destroying her. Dammit.
“Storm? Where is my lovely niece?” His eyes roved awkwardly around the room until they landed on her, swirling red.
Freezing her fears, Storm squared her shoulders and took a step forward, careful not to break contact with Ryder. “Hello, Uncle.” Storm eyed her uncle warily, wishing she had some sort of plan. Why was she always winging it?
“Ah, my lovely niece, you truly are a vision, aren’t you?” Nuada’s eyes trained on her, whirling crimson with smaller than normal pupils that made him seem so wrong. The other gods and goddesses that she’d met had their quirks but Nuada’s burning eyes were different. “Please tell me your manners have improved since last we met.”
Storm choked out the pleasantry as a stall tactic more than anything. “Feeling better I see. More complete?” Okay, so tossing in a little sarcasm was unnecessary but it’d worked before.
“Brave, aren’t you?” Nuada seethed but only his eyes betrayed the fury. His face still wore a pleasant grin mimicking affection.
“I like to think so.” Storm scoffed. Think, Storm, think. He wanted power. The White Lady gave you her memories to use.
“You still need a lesson in manners, though.” Nuada moved quickly, almost a blur to her eyes and she barely had time to react before the streak of red hit her. She managed to raise a golden wall before her to absorb the red bolt. Nuada laughed, an eerie rippling sound that sent a shiver down her spine. “Well, done, well done, indeed.”
“You cannot use power here.” Storm spoke firmly. How could he use power?
“Ah, but that’s where you are mistaken, niece.” Nuada shook his head. “My borrowed body could not use power here.” He paused to spit on the crumpled form behind him. “My body shares blood with you which means I can tap into my power now.”
Well, dammit. She should have known that. Not that it mattered. The minute PacMan arrived this reality became inevitable. Now, her only chance was to save Nuada, however she was going to do that. Storm clung to Ryder with one hand but gestured wildly with the other. “I’m done with this. Can we just fight and get it over with?”
Nuada’s head snapped around and his eyes narrowed; all humor and pleasantry gone from the fine contours of the once handsome face. “Is that what you really want? Are you that eager to die, Storm?”
Gritting her teeth against the fear in her core, Storm focused on the fury. She thought of everyone who’d been hurt by Nuada and his greed. The anger built up inside her, tunneling through the fog of everything else until there was nothing left in her but fury and power. Storm raised her hands to unleash her vengeance but Morgaine put a hand on her arm and s
hook her head. This is not the way. Storm dropped her hand.
“Surrendering already, niece?” Nuada tittered and thrummed his fingertips together.
“Never.” The word came out before she’d even had time to think it.
“Then what shall we do?” Nuada opened his hands in a gesture of innocence.
“Family reunion?” Storm shot back.
Nuada chuckled. “You are funny.” He acknowledged Damarra, “She is funny, sister.”
“What are you going to do, brother?” Damarra ignored the backhanded compliment.
“Oh, I don’t know. I was thinking of killing you all and finishing what I started before you betrayed me.” Nuada glared at Damarra, challenging her.
“Not going to happen.” Storm intervened.
“And how are you going to stop me? Your magicks will fail and I will run free, no more prophesied downfalls, no more legends, no more interference.” Nuada grinned greedily.
Time for taunting and sarcasm, it always seemed to work on him. “The magicks will never fail, Uncle.” Storm looked at Ryder, leaned in and kissed him with all of the love she felt for him seeping through their kiss. Then she let go. Ryder reached for her but she pulled away. The pain on his face would stay with Storm forever, she knew that but there was no other choice. She knew now that he was always with her. Damarra reached for her but Storm pushed her off. She too was always with Storm. The girls, Roane, Lucian and Sophia, Angeline, Dan and Shane – all of them stuck by her and fought for her because they loved her. That’s what she had to learn. That’s what Nuada didn’t have. Storm peered at Nuada, trying hard to see the version of him from Morrigan’s vision. She understood Morrigan’s choice. There really wasn’t a choice when your own sanity hung in the balance. Nuada had loved Morrigan but lacked the ability to put her wants and needs first. In the end he lost her and nearly destroyed everything to replace the hole Morrigan left behind. And now, Storm held that piece within her. If she could just put it back, maybe she could save him. “Nuada, I know what you seek. I know why you traveled the realms and why you sought to control your people. I have the answers you seek. I can fill in the missing pieces.”
Nuada faltered. “You lie.”
“No, no I don’t.” Storm took a step toward him. “You have a gnawing emptiness inside of you, a hole you cannot fill no matter how much power you gain, no matter where you travel or what pain you cause. They took her from you after you nearly destroyed her.” Storm stepped right up to him so they were nearly touching. He looked away from her. “I know, Nuada, I can give her back. You were not always cruel, not always selfish. You knew love once.” Storm whispered and reached out to touch him lightly on the arm.
Nuada’s head whipped up, his eyes flashing with hatred. “Stop that!” He growled at her and threw her arm off of his.
“What? Stop making you feel? Stop answering your questions?” Storm yelled at him, her frustration taking over. “No, I don’t think I will.” Storm pulled all of her power into her hands and leeched onto Nuada’s wrists sending all of Morrigan’s memories into him. Storm felt the memories siphon out of her until she felt light, almost dizzy and then everything went black.
Angeline
“It’s about time I get to fight.” Angeline complained to Olivia.
“You’ve only been out of it for a few hours.” Olivia chided. “We have to wait for the signal. You are here to be the equalizer, Ang. Remember that.”
They stood on the edge of the fray, completely unnoticed. “Yes, yes. I understand.” Angeline was chomping at the bit, her body twitched with excitement. Two massive bears were swiping hybrids into piles on the far side of the field and she knew they were Fred and Jordan. Kell and Pollux had bounded about the fight, their token warhammers whirling and glinting in the sunlight. She even saw Dorian at one point, his icy eyes glinting with delight as he fought and fed. Angeline watched, searching out her friends as they carried on without her. Then, a body landed a few feet in front of her. The head was twisted grotesquely, mouth agape and eyes unseeing. There it was. Angeline looked to her sister. Olivia nodded. Angeline retracted her wings since she wasn’t comfortable enough with them yet, not for this. She leapt into the fray, knives blazing as she decapitated a were-hybrid before it could bite the young wood sprite in its claws. It felt wonderful. She was truly alive, flying around the battle to dispatch enemies.
“Angeline?”
She spun, withdrawing her blades from the gut of a fire sprite and found herself face to face with Kell. He had a long gash down the side of his face and blood spattered across the front of him. But, Angeline didn’t care. She flung her arms about his neck. “We’ll catch up later when I stitch up your face back at Willow Wood.” There was no time to talk now.
Angeline sprinted into a concentrated mess of hybrids, dispatching two at once to the gratitude of a shifter in the form of a mountain lion. Then she was off again, jumping from battle to battle, the equalizer. Now and then, Angeline glanced over at her sister, perched on a hill engrossed in the battle but with the saddest expression on her face.
A fire sprite tried to touch her, his hand hot on her arm, but Angeline just laughed at him. The sprite’s eyes flared with shock. “Oh, that won’t work on me, friend.” Angeline shook her head, “run along now, I’m feeling generous. Leave the fight and you can have your life.” The sprite sprinted away from the battle without looking back. Angeline chuckled to herself. Ah, to be alive.
Ryder
He could not move. What had she done? His heart ached for her. Storm had seemed so sure of herself. An earsplitting scream shook the floor beneath his feet and suddenly he could move a little. Ryder lowered his arms and turned his head in time to see Storm fall at the enemy’s feet. Her auburn hair cascaded to the ground in slow motion and Ryder bolted to her side. He skidded to a halt and grabbed her body away from Nuada before realizing that the shrieks of pain were coming from the enemy. Ryder wrapped Storm in his arms and fell back to where Damarra and Roane were still standing.
“Help me!” Ryder screamed at them but neither acknowledged his presence. They were both looking at Nuada, tears streaming down Damarra’s cheeks. Storm’s head lolled to the side and her breathing was shallow. The shrieking continued around them but Ryder’s only concern was for his mate. Then Storm’s eyes fluttered open and she tried to say something. “Sh, my love, just rest.” She shook her head and tried again. This time he understood, “Look? You want me to look?” She half nodded and her eyes closed again.
Ryder hugged her close and did as she asked. Nuada was on his knees with his hands to his temples, writhing in apparent pain. Wisps of smoke or vapor whirled about him, occasionally entering his open mouth only to be spit out with another scream of agony. What the hell?
“She will be alright, Immortal.”
Ryder looked up to see Morgaine standing over him. Hell. “What is happening?”
“Storm returned Nuada’s memories as well as some that occurred after he left his lover.” Morgaine shook her head. “It is very difficult for one such as he to accept what he is seeing right now.” She knelt beside them and stroked Storm’s hair lightly whispering something in the ancient language.
“What is he seeing?” Ryder glanced at Nuada, still writhing and moaning.
“He is watching his relationship with Morrigan unfold and fall apart. Soon, he will see the birth of his daughter and the real pain will begin.” Morgaine’s eyes brimmed with tears as she watched Nuada. “Storm will have to wake and finish what she started before his wails cease.
“How? How can she? Look at her!” Ryder practically growled. “Why are you even here? Haven’t you done enough damage?”
Morgaine’s head jerked up at that, her eyes blazing with fury. “You know not of what you speak, Immortal. Calm yourself and I will wake your mate.” Morgaine continued to stroke Storm’s hair, almost affectionately. She bowed her head slightly and began muttering again. Ryder set back on his heels completely shocked. Storm’s eyes flutt
ered open again, golden rims blazing around her usual emerald green. Morgaine helped her up and then released her. Ryder reached out but Storm pushed him off.
“I can do this.”
“Do what, my love?” Ryder reached for her again but she gave him a warning look and pushed off the floor on her own. Storm stepped forward. Morgaine handed her the green leather bound book. Ryder tried to protest but both women glared at him. No. Not that book. He shook his head. “No, Storm. Do not do this.”
Storms expression changed; exhaustion evident on her determined face. “I love you, Ryder. Always.”
Tears welled in his eyes, a sharp pain split through his chest and Ryder realized she was saying good-bye. “Do not leave me, Storm.”
“I have to finish this, Ry, or we will never be safe. He will hunt our girls until the end of time if I do not end this now.” Storm smiled but it did not reach her eyes.
Ryder turned on Morgaine, “Do you know what is going to happen?”
“She will win or she will lose. It has not been determined for certain yet.” Morgaine nodded to Storm. “It is time. He is almost there.”
Storm nodded in response and spun on her heel, walking past Damarra and Roane toward Nuada.
Morgaine held his arm, preventing him from following Storm. “Shield your eyes, Immortal.”
“Why?” Before she could answer, an emerald glow filled the entire room. Damarra and Roane shielded their eyes and stepped backward until they were beside him. Ryder’s breath caught in his throat and the tears finally came as he stood there unable to turn away from what surely meant the death of his mate.
Storm
The light flowing from the book was emerald green and it spread up her arms and over her entire body. She opened it and held the pages toward Nuada until he fell still. His eyes went wide as he looked upon the book. Shock was followed by fear and then recognition.
“Touch the book, Uncle.” Storm spoke gently.
Nuada recoiled quickly as if bitten. “I am not that foolish, niece.”
The Storm Sullivan Saga: The Emerald Seer Series Box Set Page 72