“Well, well. We do have a problem. There is only one key and two of you. Which one stays and which one goes?” She gave a high, mean-spirited laugh.
Ronan gave Nadia a hand gesture. It was a signal she had been waiting to receive. Cassy wished Ronan could have told her the plan using the telepathy, like he had in her dream.
She touched the opal Cassy had placed around her neck. With a single word, she faded into nothingness.
“Baile.”
Wild, maniacal laughter filled the room, echoing off the stone walls. Queen Mab clapped her hands. She spun to face Ronan and Cassy.
“I knew she had a lioness inside her. Welcome to Avalon, Cassandra. Your new home.”
Chapter 13
David made sure Finn was secure on his back. He and Liz ran flat out following the pale ribbons tracing Seamus’s magic back to the invisible door. He heard the sounds of clumsy scrambling up the sides of the elevator shaft.
“Half-breeds can’t climb as well or as fast,” Liz said, panting lightly. She did not slow down or miss a stride as she bounded up the flight of stairs to the roof-level mechanical room.
David watched her zip through the shimmer outside the locked door without slowing down. He spared a moment to admire her faith in his instructions. Passing through the door and then the wall on the other side, he felt a tight cramping in his gut the size of a small foot.
His step faltered. He stopped, dropping Finn to the ground. He wrapped an arm around his middle and went down on one knee, doubling over. A wave of sickness and panic came and went. The magic linking Cassy to him transferred her fear and pain.
Be strong, Cassy. You promised. The feelings were pushed aside. He thought about how much he wanted to take her suffering, to make everything okay, and hoped it gave her the strength to complete her task.
“David! Are you okay?” Liz had come back to check on him.
“I’m fine. Get to that portal. It’s your ticket home. Trust no one but Cassy, Vlad, and the witches. Got that?”
“I will go with the mistress,” Finn said, taking her hand and tugging her away from David. He jumped up high enough to attach himself to her back, as he had with David.
Banging noises from inside the mechanical room drew David’s attention. He fired a couple of rounds through the magical door. Screaming told him someone was down. Unfortunately, the secret was out.
David recovered from the sick cramping in time to see two heads pop out of the brickwork. He fired two more rounds, capping each one in the temple. He took off after Liz, hoping the thugs were not vampire enough to recover.
He paused only long enough to holster his firearm, go over the roof edge, and get his grip on the building’s exterior brickwork. Scaling down the wall to the lower building’s roof, David felt drops of blood splatter on his shoulder and right arm. He looked up to see the two thugs going over the edge.
Just over halfway to the lower roof, David jumped. He landed a little off-balance, forcing him to tuck and roll to absorb the shock of the bad landing. A dread lingered underneath the adrenaline rushing through his system. Cassy was upset, but David had more pressing matters to keep his attention focused on.
He landed on his back and wasted no time in pulling his .45 free. Click. Click. The clip was empty. David knew they were coming down too fast for him to have time to reload. He got to his feet and fished out one of the charmed grenades. He pulled the pin and dropped it as he ran to leap to the next roof.
As his foot left the parapet, he felt the concussion wave shift the air. It was like being wrapped in a security blanket. The blast moved away from and around him, rather than in the circular pattern with the grenade being ground zero. The charm had worked.
For good measure, as David sprinted across the last roof, he dropped the other charmed grenade. He was almost to the alleyway below when it went off. The building under his fingers and feet shook. It was not structurally sound enough to withstand the blast. Interior columns and beams groaned and whined as they caved into the stresses. Dust plumbs shot up and rained debris down on him. The rumblings from within vibrated the whole structure. David lost his grip and fell to the alleyway below.
“David!” Liz screamed.
He was disoriented, not sure which way to go. Larger pieces of the façade were crumpling. He knew only that he had to get out of the way. The pale-ribbons were gone, buried beneath the rubble. The dust was making the portal hard to see. He tripped over a large chunk of bricks with the mortar still intact. A large piece of debris hit him in the head and nearly knocked him out.
Someone grabbed him by the collar and used a fireman’s lift to move him. The world faded in and out. He could have sworn he heard a man’s voice say something about not being able to hold up a barrier much longer. His rescuer cursed like a drunken sailor, dodging falling bricks and glass. A few shards scraped his back, but he did not care.
A familiar cobweb feeling coated his back and legs. They got into his face and clung to his hair. The noises disappeared and were replaced by the sounds of soft chanting.
His savior dropped him unceremoniously on the ground. Coughing, he expelled the dust that had gotten into his lungs and mouth. A series of warm hands wiped blood and grit from his face. Once his eyes were free enough to open, he looked up to see who had saved him.
Liz gave him a cheery smile and a thrilling giggle. “I can’t believe we did it!”
“Where’s Finn?” David’s mouth was so dry he could hardly speak. He tried to get up but needed a few more minutes on the ground. The world was still spinning in ways it should not. It reminded him of the night he met Cassy, when she had taken a little too much blood. It had left him like this, hungover.
Liz looked around. She seemed to be searching for something that was not there. She stood and continued to hunt for her query.
“Finn!” She kept looking as she called out.
David managed to pull himself together and get to his feet. Parts of his body he forgot he had ached. The recovery process was taking its sweet time. He fumbled with his belt, dropping the extra weight of the pouches.
Near the portal, several witches were slowing the chanting and allowing the ring of energy to collapse. David assumed they had a good reason for not just walking away. The ones who had stopped working huddled together or stooped, their backs hiding what they were looking at so intently.
David and Liz pushed through the crowd. She clapped her hand over her mouth and turned away, crying. David stared at the broken body heaped on the ground, limbs twisted in unnatural ways. The clothes were the only familiar thing about the scene.
“What happened?” David asked without taking his eyes off the leprechaun.
Mills put a hand on his shoulder, looking down at the mess, and shook his head. “After Liz brought you through, we saw him drop his force field. The building was coming down around him. There was nothing we could do to help him. None of us can go through the fae portals.” Mills paused, drawing in a slow breath.
David jumped in. “So this is my fault. I tried to keep them from following us and brought the building down by accident.”
“No. You didn’t let me finish. He was coming through when a woman grabbed him from behind. She did this to him in seconds. She threw him into the portal and screamed at us. None of us understood a word she said. Then, she caught sight of Vlad,” Mills finished reporting.
“What did Vlad do?” It was the only thing that came to David’s mind.
“He sneered at her, said something that sounded a lot like the language she used, and smiled at her. That’s when she took off,” Mills replied. “If he ever smiles at you that way, dude, you’re on your own.”
David pulled the coin the leprechaun gave him from his pocket. The bright, shiny gold had lost its glimmer and was losing its substance. Soon, it vanished completely. Finn’s body vanished, too, breaking down into a glittery pile of gold-toned dust. The only thing left was a skate key poking out of the sparkling remains of his vest. David pick
ed it up, blew on it, and put it back in his pocket.
David found Vlad off by himself talking on his cell phone. It seemed strange to see someone so old using something so modern. When Vlad was born, the Ottoman Empire was still in full swing. Indoor plumbing would not be accessible to the masses until more than three hundred years after his birth. He had adapted and evolved countless times to maintain current with the changing world. Maybe seeing him use technology was not so strange after all.
“New York. That’s right. Start searching for buildings that have collapsed vithin the last hour. I vant the areas mapped. Include the owners’ names and if the spaces are leased. Remember, Josephine Corvinus is highly dangerous,” the prince said with authority.
David heard the man on the other end of the line give a sharp, “Yes, sir!” and hang up.
Vlad pursed his lips and tapped his chin with his phone. He seemed to be pondering something. After a moment, a dark, stormy look crossed his face. He looked up at David.
“Thank you for retrieving Liz for me. I need you to tell me everything. Leave out no details, no matter how slight you think they may be,” Vlad said. There was no accusation or malice in his tone. He held the storm in check behind those silver-gray eyes.
“I think we need to go someplace private. Ladies Helena and Ursula need to hear this as well,” David said.
“David, if I need to be hunting someone else, I need to know now. The night is almost over. Ve need to act quickly.” He was firm but not forceful in his request.
David looked down at the ground and then, back up at the High Prince, his High Prince. For the first time, he realized Finn had been right. His father-in-law was a king. What he was called did not change his role, and his king had demanded information.
“She mentioned Max,” David admitted.
* * * *
Ronan propping Cassy up was the only reason she did not slump to the floor. She was stranded in Avalon. Her only hope was if Ronan had another opal to send her home.
Mab kicked the shattered pieces of the soft stone across the floor and giggled like a delighted child. She lifted her overlong skirt enough to walk. Without as much as a glance in Cassy’s crestfallen direction, Mab danced and hummed her way out of the throne room.
Cassy began to cry. She had no idea how she was going to get back. The magic gave an unhappy flutter and settled back down. She was alone without a food source, without a home, and most importantly, without David. Her heart beat in time with his. She concentrated on hearing it for a moment, just to have something of his to comfort her. Lub-dub. Lub-dub.
“Come with me, Cassandra, to my home. We have much to discuss, and you will want to get out of those clothes and into something clean and dry,” Ronan said, offering her a smile to match his kindness. He guided her through the fortress.
“I don’t suppose you have another opal to send me home, do you?” She was sure she already knew the answer to her question, but it never hurt to ask, just in case.
“No. Those are not common items. We use them to focus the magic we already possess. You do not have that magic in the same way we do. Using an enchanted item can only be done by someone of fae heritage, but you need strong fae magic and a great deal of time to make one. There are no more left. It will take nearly a century of your time to make more. The portal you came through closed on this side after your passage. The side in your world is nothing more than a window,” he explained.
“Of my time? I don’t understand.” Cassy was on information overload. The shock of being left behind coupled with Ronan’s revelations. The result was a fuzzy haze inside her brain.
“Time in Avalon is almost at a standstill. We are at a magical crossroads between the realms. To one side of us is the world you know. The other side is home to the ethereal plane. It is why we do not age or get sick or die. We go out into the world to learn and explore, to experience change,” Ronan replied.
“If time is at a standstill, why are your numbers dropping? If no one dies here, there should be plenty of you,” Cassy said, trying to reason. She followed him outside and across a lush, green courtyard filled with vibrant flowers in full bloom. It was winter at home.
“Some choose not to come back. Some are killed by some mundane means. Still, others chose to transform themselves into other creatures and leave Avalon behind forever,” he told her.
“Can’t you just make a portal and send me home?”
“I cannot. That power lies with Mab. She created the portal to your world, and she alone can do so again,” he admitted.
“But there was a portal between places in our world,” Cassy protested. “She wasn’t there, was she?”
“No. The fae can create portals only within a single realm of reality. Only Mab can create one between the two. It was meant to be a safeguard to keep the unwanted out of Avalon. The medallions allow a single user passage, not an invading force,” he explained.
“Your room is ready,” a gleeful voice sang. Cassy spun on the spot to see Mab dancing her way back into the room.
The elf queen grinned in a mischievous way. Her eyes held a delighted contempt. Then, she threw her head back and laughed.
“You stole a valuable prize from under me. While not exactly what I had in mind, you will, at least, be an asset. She stays with me, Ronan,” Mab said.
Ronan gave Mab a hard stare. “No, Mab. I think not.”
“Might I remind you, Ronan, that this is my fortress? I rule here. She broke into my home, stole from me. She is forfeit, and I shall do as I please with my property,” Mab said. Her eye turned from amethyst to a stormy, dark purple. Sparks flew from her fingertips. It seemed to take her a few moments to regain control of herself.
Ronan remained calm. Once the sparks ceased, he pulled Cassy behind him, like a mother hiding a small child. “You do not need to remind me of anything. I remember all too well, in detail. She came to rescue kidnapped members of her own kind. You usurped freewill, Mab. It is one of our most sacred laws. Would you break it again to satisfy your wounded pride?”
“We are dying! What would you have us do? Mate with animals?”
“I have made my opinions known in the past. Humans are not animals. They have always been the key, one we’ve used many times. If anyone needs reminding, Mab, it’s you. This fortress and those who choose to reside here are yours to rule, but the realm belongs to another. You remain in Avalon at another’s allowance. She will be leaving with me,” Ronan said. His voice had taken on a dangerous edge.
Mab snarled at him. She raised one curled hand in a clawlike motion and swiped at the air in front of her. Red marks streaked across Ronan’s face as she did. They healed instantly, but he held still for a few moments with his eyes closed, presumably to help maintain his control.
“Cassy, please follow me. Our audience is over,” Ronan advised her and walked out of the throne room.
The doors closed behind them. Ronan led her outside. She trailed behind him, all the while looking around her in anticipation of being ambushed.
“Why did she let me go?”
“She may be a queen, but she wasn’t born one. Sometimes she forgets her place in the grand scheme of things. You are quite safe with me. No one will attack us,” he reassured her.
Ronan was telling her something in a roundabout way, she was certain. They walked in silence out of the fortress through a heavy gate on the opposite side of the courtyard. She thought carefully on what he had said, giving each word equal consideration. Elves were well known to tell only part of the truth, when it served their purposes.
What she saw outside the fortress walls stopped her contemplations. On the side of the island Cassy could not see from the lake shore was a vast forest. Scattered among the treetops were footbridges connecting structures Cassy assumed were homes. Wooden, spiral staircases wrapped around the massive trunks.
Pinpoints of different-colored light darted to and fro in the dimming light. One lingered over a fern frond long enough for Cassy to recogniz
e the creature as a fairy. She remembered the flitting lights in Devine Fields. The other lights had to be sprites and brownies.
Ronan watched her with a smile and said nothing as she marveled at the city. He took her hand and placed it on his elbow, as was the custom of human gentlemen long ago. He walked with her to the bottom of a set of spiral stairs.
“We will need to climb quickly. The canopy will offer you some protection from the changing light, but you will need to get inside soon,” he warned her.
Cassy hated ask, but she did not understand. The golden-pink light was like soft daylight after the evening rains. If it had not harmed her, what else could?
“What is happening to the light? Why will it become a problem?” She made steady progress toward the top.
“Our days and nights are reversed from those of your world. This is technically night. The day is approaching, and I’m not entirely sure what will happen. It is better to err on the conservative side,” Ronan admitted. He gestured to the wood bridge with rope railing and walked ahead, showing her the way.
“You mean you’ll help me get home tomorrow night?”
A bubble of hope inflated in her chest. She had been so consumed with sadness, she had not paid attention to how much of what she felt was her and much came from David. The potential shift of fate let her see David’s pain. He was deeply saddened by something. There was a thread of justice being served strung through the emotions. The ever-present detective she fell in love with was on the job.
Cassy smiled at the thought of seeing him again. The magic in her core fluttered with joy. She rubbed the spot and said, “I know. I can’t wait, either.”
Chapter 14
Vlad’s nostrils flared as his rage built. A vein by his temple began throbbing. Fangs extended past his lips. His eyes grew wild as a snarl overtook his face.
David knew the look. Three years ago, the fury targeted him. Taking a few steps back, he removed himself from Vlad’s reach. The presence of danger caused his fangs to drop, too. A sweltering burn filled his throat. In the excitement, he forgot he had not fed enough during the night. This only made the fight-or-flight response worst.
Scion's Avalon [House of Dracul 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 11