by Smith, H. D.
That’s too vague, I wouldn’t give anything up, Jayne said.
Really, not the first rodeo, remember?
Stepping back Mace locked eyes with me. I didn’t bother trying to look away. He’d see the truth in my eyes. He’d know I hadn’t forgotten a thing.
“You’re right, Aunt, she’s the same,” he said. “It’s probably Father’s doing.”
Mab’s brow cocked. “Explain.”
“A few months ago he was angry with me for making her forget something. He may have made it so she can’t.”
I raised one of my eyebrows at Mace. His version of what he’d done to me was laughable.
Mab lifted my chin. “That can be a very dangerous thing to do to someone.”
Why is it dangerous? Jayne asked. It saved us, didn’t it?
Yes, that might be the problem. It saved us.
“You will be mine soon enough,” Mab said. “I will have plenty of time to figure you out.” She turned back to Mace, as if dismissing me.
I checked my watch. Mab would eventually figure out how it worked and take it from me. I needed some of her blood. That was the only way to break the curse permanently. Without my power, I’d have no protections against her. I couldn’t be cut off from it by losing the watch.
When I looked up, she was casually laughing at something Mace said.
What are you going to do? Jayne asked.
I need her blood. I’m going to make her give it to me.
That sounds painful.
“Mab,” I called out, ignoring Jayne’s warning. “You’ll never own me like The Boss does.”
Pushing up my sleeve, I willed the mark to glow a fiery orange. I didn’t take my eyes from her, but I could feel it dancing along my arm. I left it there long enough for her to get a glimpse. Mace said I was the only one marked by The Boss. Based on Mab’s surprised look, I had to assume she hadn’t known.
Mace is pissed, Jayne said.
His arms were crossed over his chest, and his eyes were narrowed on me.
I laughed at him.
“He’s made his own claim. Did you know?” I asked her. “Maybe you should all get in line.”
Mace started toward me, but Mab shoved him back and pinned him to the wall with her will.
A snicker escaped me before I could hold it back. “I can only have one master. So far, he and The Boss have a better hand.”
What the hell are you doing? Trying to get us killed?
The Keeper said we need Winter’s blood to break the curse. I don’t have another way to get it, and you heard Mab. We’re too important to them. We’re the harbinger. She isn’t going to kill us.
This isn’t a good plan.
I ignored Jayne. If it was what I needed to do to unbind all of my powers, I had to do it. I wouldn’t survive Mab without them. Harry said there was no way to break the curse, so I assume she doesn’t know that either.
If this works at all, Jayne argued.
Mab’s wicked grin widened. “You’re mine, little one. Shall I prove it?”
“If you think you can.”
Her lips thinned while her hands balled into fists as she glowered at me.
This isn’t going to end well.
No, it’s not. I shrugged, sending Mab over the edge.
She moved so fast it was a blur. She clutched my right arm, passing her hand over it. The Boss’s mark glowed for a moment.
Holy, shit, do you see that? Jayne asked.
The Boss’s mark still showed the symbols, but now the English translation was visible too. Protected by. At least now I knew Mace hadn’t been lying.
Mab seized my left wrist and held my arm out straight. With an evil sneer, she held her right hand over my arm and started chanting; only this time I understood what she was saying.
We can read Ancient and hear it. Cool, Jayne said.
The translator understands Ancient, which makes sense, I guessed, but why now? Why not before?
Maybe Mom and Dad had the parental controls set to ‘No Ancient,’ Jayne said, sarcastically.
Maybe.
Even with the new ability to understand Ancient, Mab’s chant had lots of nonsensical sounds that must have been used for rhyming. I stopped listening when blood dripped from her hand.
I howled in pain as molten lava seared into my skin. The fiery red blood pooled on my arm before etching its excruciating way into my flesh.
My torso bowed as if a surge of electrical current ran through it. The mark radiated energy as it formed, sending pinprick pulses all over me. I closed my eyes, and my presence was practically thrown out of my body.
My body flexed under the pain of her mark, but my presence could no longer feel it. White wisps of electricity swirled around the wrist Mab held. She didn’t notice, but I was sure the power was building, just as it had before.
Tendrils of energy rode up my arm. The ghostly glow was visible to my presence, but it didn’t appear Mab could see it. The white glimmer ran over my entire body, enveloping Mace’s mark, but not The Boss’s mark, as if the magic couldn’t touch it. My body slumped to the floor when she released me. I watched as the mark faded.
Property of. No shock there.
I unsuccessfully attempted to open my eyes. My limp, seemingly lifeless, body lay there, helpless.
“You may go now,” Mab said, dropping Mace from the wall.
He rushed over to me, lowering his ear to my mouth, as if checking to see I was still breathing.
I jumped when another version of my presence wandered up to him. “Mace looks concerned doesn’t he?”
“Jayne?” I asked. “How?”
She shrugged, then faced me. That was when I noticed she held something small and glowing.
“What’s that?”
She put her hand behind her back. “Nothing to worry about.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m six degrees of crazy right now, so how about we don’t play any of these silly keeping-information-from-me-to-protect-me-games. It’s too late for that. Don’t you think?”
She smiled, then held her palm open. It was a white radiant ball of light.
“What the hell is that?”
“It’s how your mind sees the baby.”
“What? Why do you have it? Why is it here?”
“I’m keeping it safe.”
“I want to hold it,” I said, reaching out my hand to take it.
“It’s better if you don’t.”
“Why? It’s mine!”
She raised one of her eyebrows at me and in a stern motherly tone, said, “It’s safer with me.”
I shook my head.
“They’re moving the body. We have to go.”
Mace was bowing one final time to Mab as the twins carried out my body. I stared right at Mab, but she didn’t sense me.
I turned. “I want to hold—”
I was alone.
“Jayne!”
~ * ~
We returned to Harry’s house in the Underworld, and they put my body in the basement. I didn’t follow it down. I was afraid the markings would trap me, and I didn’t want to be left alone with my thoughts. Jayne decided to hide and wasn't speaking to me.
Sage and Sorrel plopped down on the couch in the living room and pulled out the Xbox controllers, about to play Grand Theft Auto. They were obviously not preparing for the big showdown.
Cinnamon paced, walking between several of the posh rooms. Her brow was furrowed. She looked worried. I didn’t blame her. She had no idea what Mab really wanted. But she wasn’t going to sit around and watch the boys play video games. She left the living room and headed toward the back of the house. I followed her.
Cinnamon knocked on a door at the end of the hall.
“Enter,” Harry’s gruff voice said from within the room. He was standing in front of the window, gazing down on the street below. He faced her when she entered.
“Good afternoon, Uncle.”
He inclined his head for her to continue.
Cinnamon clasped her hands behind her, almost as if she were at parade rest. “I’m concerned about Mab’s interest in our affairs.”
I noticed she didn’t come right out and tell Harry their plans. Apparently, she couldn’t be sure he would be sympathetic to their cause. I was sure he didn’t give a rat’s ass.
“She will keep her word. Why are you concerned?” His smile was weak and his voice flat.
Cinnamon attempted to smile back, but his uncaring gaze forced her to lower her eyes. “Mace has been talking with her privately,” she said quietly. “I don’t know if he has all our best interests in mind when he deals with her.”
Harry straightened. “He can’t make a bargain with her on your behalf. You have to agree to the terms before you can be held accountable. She’s not your master.”
“I fear she has too great a hold on my brother.” Cinnamon’s voice warbled a bit.
Harry snorted, shaking his head. “He is old enough to make his own choices. He, alone, will have to live with them.”
She tightened her left hand into a fist, released it. Her head hung, but I couldn’t decide if it was from respect or fear? “I’m not so sure about that anymore.”
Harry strode forward and put his hands on her arms, rubbing them in a comforting manner. “He can’t make deals for you, my dear.” He gave her a tight smile then returned to the window.
I assumed Cinnamon would leave, but she raised her head, pressed her lips together, and took a step forward. “This business with Claire is very peculiar.”
His eyes closed. “Does he still have her?”
“Yes.”
He sighed, opening his eyes. “I see.”
“I don’t believe as my brother. I don’t believe she’s favored, but she does seem to be of some interest to the three of you.”
“She is of some interest, but not your concern,” Harry admonished.
“Of course, Uncle.” Cinnamon bowed her head. “Thank you for speaking with me.”
I stayed behind as Cinnamon left. He hadn’t appeared to sense me. He studied the street below, the cords in his neck protruding. He rolled his shoulders, as if trying to relieve some tension then rubbed his forehead, frowning.
I examined his features.
You look nothing like him, Jayne said.
I spun around, but she wasn’t there. You’re speaking to me again?
It’s impossible not to.
I bobbed my head up and down. Yeah, being crazy’s a bitch.
The phone on Harry’s desk rang. He scowled, hitting the speakerphone. “What?”
“Hey, boss, this is Moe. I work for Johnny.”
Harry grimaced. “Yes.”
“Well, you see, we picked up that kid this morning, and I thought you might want to know Johnny’s thinking about making an example of her. You know, because of the fight. To maybe enlighten the others.”
His eyebrows knitted together. “What kid?”
“The girl, Claire.”
Harry’s nostrils flared. “You have Claire now?”
“Yeah, boss.”
His face reddened and a vein in his neck pulsed. “When did you pick her up?”
“We had one of our boys on the inside drive her down here this morning.”
Harry leaned over the phone. “I want you to listen to me very carefully.” His voice was low and menacing. “I want her released. I don’t want her harmed. No lesson is to be taught. No example is to be set. She isn’t to be touched. Have I made myself clear?”
“Um...yeah, boss. Sorry, we didn’t know she was off-limits.” I could hear the worry in Moe’s voice as it quavered.
“I don’t want her touched ever again. Let her go. Now.”
“Yeah, yeah, sure boss.” Moe’s voice was strained and scared. “I’ll tell Johnny now. I’ll take care of it.”
Harry hung up the phone and disappeared.
“Claire.”
Crap. He was in the basement with my body.
“Wake,” he ordered.
My eyes shot open, and I was yanked back into my body. My arm throbbed where Mab marked me.
“Claire,” he barked.
I sat up. “Yes.”
“Why did Mab send you back with Mace?”
I just stared at him.
Harry narrowed his eyes. His face was still red. His pulse was still trying to beat its way out of his neck.
I smiled. “He asked her to.”
“Why?”
“I told you why earlier. You don’t care, remember?”
His voice lowered. “Why would Mab change her mind?”
I sighed. “I’d love to tell you.”
He raised one of his eyebrows. “Don’t assume I won’t make you.” He was serious.
I’m not sure we’ll survive him trying to make us talk, Jayne said.
He won’t kill us.
I opened my mouth to say, Junior is being manipulated by Mab, and as expected, my throat closed up painfully.
Can’t you get rid of the spell?
I don’t know.
The curse is broken now. Try.
I held up my index finger. “Give me a minute.”
I thought about all the other times I’d reversed a spell, and the one time I’d let Death’s spell back in. I remembered how I’d inverted the power of the hell shackles and zapped Mace, and how the same energy formed again on the watchband when I thought he’d hurt my mother. Emotion had been a trigger.
Digging deep, I felt for the power within me and focused on the marks on each arm and the tattoo Mace left on me. I could sense the power of the blood used to mark me, as well as the potential within my own blood. Pulling those sensations together, and mingling their auras with the essence connected to my inner strength, I began to see the web of potency I held within me. Following the tendrils of power that coursed through me, I could visualize the places in my body where they connected. It was as if the foreign power was wrapped in a layer of my own.
I counted seven disturbances in the flow of my power. Some I recognized, like the one that was open for Death. And the ones closed from Purgatory—the whammy and Charles’s love spell. They were still within me, which must have been how I could affect others.
As I searched for the right one, another came into view. I’d have to figure out what they all meant later. For now, I just needed to find Mab’s spell and close it.
I ignored the spells that were already closed. More continued to surface as I looked for her spell. A lot of those were open. I’d have to worry about that later.
I heard Harry’s weight shift, but I maintained focus on my hunt. He would just have to wait.
I visualized my search as if I were picking up rocks on the ground to see which ones were geodes. After finding three others that weren’t her spell—or spells I recognized—I finally found the one I wanted. To my mind’s eye, her spell’s geode had an aquamarine and amethyst hue, and about a six-inch diameter. At first, I wasn’t sure how to close it, until my mind’s eye caught sight of a glowing geode with the same colors. I scooped it up and mentally slammed the two halves together.
My throat loosened and a heavy weight I hadn’t even realized was there, lifted from my shoulders.
Harry cleared his throat.
“Your sister’s a bitch,” I said. “She spelled me not to speak of the future.”
His expression didn’t change. Clearly, he wasn’t surprised.
“Mab wants Junior dead.”
“Do you have proof?”
“Do I need it? She sent me back to help Mace do it, but I think he needs Cinnamon’s help too, and she doesn’t really want to do it. He has them all spelled.”
Harry nodded, then steepled his fingers as if he was considering something. “Will they succeed in killing him?”
“I hope not. You can make sure they don’t.”
“I cannot interfere. It’s the law.”
“You can help fix things. He doesn’t have to die.”
His lips pre
ssed into a flat line. “There may be nothing to fix.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but stopped short. He’d listen, but he wouldn’t help. I’d already mentioned Junior—he did nothing. “Is Junior’s death so insignificant?”
Harry shrugged. “As I said, I’m not permitted to interfere. They must make their own decisions.”
I jumped off the cot. “Even though your sister is manipulating everyone?”
He stared blankly at me.
“She put a love spell on Junior—pretending to be me! She had him trap the quads, so they would be angry enough to work together and kill him. Does none of this count as interfering?”
“It’s complicated.”
Complicated! The hairs on the back of my neck lifted. “In case you haven’t figured it out yet, by everyone, I also mean you—the all-powerful Druid King—and The Boss. She counts on you both to follow your damn rules, while she’s out running amok.” I took a deep breath. Harry had to know the truth. He had to know I might be the one to pull the trigger. “Junior is going to die.”
Don’t tell him. You can’t trust him as you once did, Jayne warned.
“Fine,” I yelled at Jayne and threw myself back down on the cot. I crossed my arms and faced him. Waiting for him to speak.
Harry’s brow creased, and I realized I’d just spoken to Jayne in front of him. “It’s more complicated than you think,” he said. “She can only be formally charged during an official meeting of the royal powers. I would have to convene a special session just to discuss it with them.”
I threw up my hands. “Oh my god, no wonder you people winded up destroying yourselves. It’s a miracle any of the realms survived.”
Harry’s eyes widened. He used his will to slide the cot to the bars, trapping my legs.
You shouldn’t have said that, Jayne said.
No shit.
He leaned down and white-knuckled the bars near my head. “What do you know, Claire?” His voice was calm, but he wasn’t.
I swallowed. “I overheard Mab telling Mace about the fourth realm,” I confessed. “She said the blacksmith was a child of all realms, and I had fourth realm blood.”
He arched a disbelieving eyebrow. “She discussed the fourth realm with Mace?”
“Yes, but she made him forget. She didn’t know I was listening.”
“She would have sensed you.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know how, but Cinnamon hid me from her.”