She undulated forward, settling part of her bulk on the dock, her arms held out in supplication. ’Tis nothing, m’love, but the sea and me. Come now, the hour grows late.
My head grew heavy and clouded with a feeling like sleepiness. Melusine smiled down at me, gesturing me forward with her hands. She was so beautiful in the light, her eyes so deep, her voice so sweet. Her fingers curled with a mesmerizing slowness, beckoning me with longing and desire. Her essence wafted over me, a sweet mix of salt and water. I wanted to hold her, wanted her to hold me. Her essence slipped into mine, touching my body essence, and I shivered.
The stone in my mind flared like a punch inside my skull. I hunched forward in pain, falling out of Melusine’s embrace. I stumbled to the dock. It rocked beneath me as Melusine shifted closer. What’s wrong, m’love? Come to me. I will soothe your cares.
Nausea rippled through me, and I wretched as her true scent reached my nose in a pungent stew of decay. As I lifted my head, I saw another merrow had joined the first, their wild black hair lank around their shoulders. I shook my head, trying to make sense of things. The stone flared again, flushing Melusine’s essence away. Confused, I rolled on my back.
Melusine towered over me, her serpentine body sliding across the deck. “What the hell are you doing?” I asked.
She didn’t answer but swiped at me with a taloned hand. My body shield activated as I scrambled to my feet. A wave of her essence enveloped me. Come, m’love, I will love you forever.
My shield shimmered, deadening the effect of her spell. “Stop it.”
Please, m’love. The conflict to come has one conclusion, she sent.
“What have you done, Melusine? Who’s out there?” I asked.
She swayed in the water, her undulating motions mesmerizing. Strength always wins in the end, m’love. Save yourself and come with me.
As she shifted farther onto the dock, shards of her skin flaked off and fluttered to the surface of the water, floating like thin translucent petals. My memory sparked, my druidic recall flashing with the image of Janey Likesmith holding a small plastic bag to the light. She hadn’t recognized the skin cell from beneath the dead merrow’s fingernail. None of us had. We had never seen Melusine in her serpent form. Realization dawned. “You’re working for Maeve.”
I work for my people, m’love. I work for my life. Come, save yourself, m’love. The High Queen can have a forgiving nature for those who lose their way.
Desire welled up within me, desire to make Melusine happy. I wanted to hold her in my arms, feel her lips against mine. I pushed more body essence into my shield, and the desire faded away. “Give it up, Melusine. I’m not buying.”
She must have sensed the collapse of her spell. With a feral screech, she lunged forward. I swung over the railing to the gangway. The metal walkway shuddered and rattled beneath my feet as Melusine grabbed the lower end. She tore it from its moorings as I reached the top and leaped onto the pier.
Cars started up and raced away at the commotion. Melusine was breaking the local noise rules. I waved my arms for the last car, but the driver reversed, squealing its tires against the pavement before it spun in a tight turn and drove off. The parking area was empty.
Melusine screeched again, her head lifting over the edge of the pier. She was too large for the foot ramp and was pulling herself up the pilings. On the opposite end, three merrows climbed over the pier, their pale blue-gray bodies writhing as they fell to the ground. Their heavy tails whipped and coiled, then split. Before their legs had fully formed, they were standing. I didn’t stay to watch the final transition.
I ran for the pier’s processing building. I needed witnesses—lots of them. On the other side, streetwalkers huddled on the long stretch of loading docks. They weren’t likely to help. I made for Old Northern Avenue, the slap of wet feet coming up behind me. I hesitated on the sidewalk. I wasn’t picky about where I would find protection. The Rowes Wharf Hotel and the Tangle were equally distant.
A loud hissing drew my attention. Melusine, in her full serpentine glory, slithered down the Fish Pier. The hotel was less than a mile away. I could do a five-minute mile, faster if I put a burst of essence into it. The last place I wanted to be with a mad fey beast was in the desolate stretch of road between me and the Tangle.
I ran the center line of Old Northern Avenue, cars wailing their horns at me. I tapped my body essence, pushing myself harder. My head sang with pain, the darkness resisting the use of my ability. A glance over my shoulder revealed Melusine gaining on me. I was halfway to the bridge. I wasn’t going to make it.
I ducked down an alley. Yggy’s bar had been a safe haven for the fey for over a century. Heydan, who ran the place, had one main rule of the place: leave animosities and conflicts outside. I doubted a crazed shape-changing serpent would respect the rules under the circumstances, but I hoped at least to find help. I reached the old steel door, dented and scratched with a large Y painted on it. I grabbed the handle and pulled so hard I almost yanked my arm from its socket. The door didn’t budge.
I stared, amazed. Yggy’s was never closed. Ever. Day or night, people knew that one place existed where they could go and take a break from the world. And now it was closed.
I banged on the door. “Heydan!”
A shiver ran over me, like a blanket of cool air. A deep and subtle essence filled the air, and Heydan appeared beside me as if he had been there all along. I didn’t understand how he did that. He was a giant of a man, a unique fey with no peers that I knew of. Bony ridges beneath his skin curled from his temples and around his ears to the back of his bald head. A light glimmered in his deep-set eyes.
“I need help, Heydan. Melusine’s gone crazy,” I said.
“I am Heydan. I watch and wait,” he said.
I had no idea what that meant. “Listen to me, Heydan, Melusine….”
The rip of metal filled the air, and a car tumbled across the end of the alley. People ran screaming along the street.
“The Watch is over. The Wait begins,” Heydan said.
He was gone. One moment he was there, the next I was alone. I ran out of the alley, intent on reaching the hotel. Melusine slithered down the pavement, her arms cast wide as if to embrace me.
I rolled into a dive between parked cars and pulled out the rune dagger. As I came up on my feet, the blade stretched to its full length, burning with cold white light. Melusine swerved to meet me, elation on her face. She dodged the blade with ease.
I needed space to maneuver, so I slid over the hood of a car and cut back into the street. Melusine swayed, her essence pouring over me. Stop this, Connor, and come with me.
If nothing else, she was persistent. Now that the faith stone had given me the heads-up, it was easy to reject her attempts to seduce me. “It’s over, Melusine. It didn’t work. I’m not going with you,” I said.
She reared up higher. Pity that, little man. I do not accept rejection. Maeve will be displeased.
She darted forward, swinging her arm. I underestimated her speed, and she swept my feet out from under me. I rolled and jabbed at her exposed side. She shrieked as the blade sliced skin, but it was a superficial cut. Translucent scales fluttered to the ground.
I was not told of your sharp little tooth. I will have a word with Maeve about that when we are done, she sent.
“Tell her I said hi,” I said. I lunged forward, thrusting toward her chest. She slid backwards, her body rolling across the pavement. Her tail came around. I ducked as it slammed the ground. I jabbed, and Melusine screamed. She yanked her tail away, wrenching the blade from my hand.
Melusine hit me from behind. My shield absorbed the blow, but the force of it pitched me hard against a car. I pulled myself up. Melusine slithered forward, stretching her body in a wide loop to cut off escape. Down the street, her merrow companions were catching up, five of them now. Things were going to get worse.
A resounding roar filled the air, a guttural animal sound that reverberated in my chest.
Melusine hissed and reared as a wild wave of primal essence rolled over us. I grabbed my sword from the ground. Something knocked me aside, something huge and dark and rank.
I stumbled backwards, blade out, as an enormous beast leaped at Melusine. She held her arms out as if to embrace it. It fell on her like a mountain, a beast flickering with indigo essence. They rolled in a tangle of fur and scales. Enormous pawlike hands battered Melusine from side to side as she screamed and clawed.
The beast bunched its neck like a great bear and bellowed as Melusine constricted her coils. Its powerful roar shivered across my skin. The monstrous bear bared its teeth, thick and long canines dripping with saliva, and bit into Melusine’s neck. Her scream went from a high-pitched note to a strangled screech as the beast shook its head. Melusine’s arms flailed across its back, clawing for purchase. The bear swung her around, slamming her down against a car.
Her arms went slack with the blow. The beast found its feet, backing out of the nest of coils with Melusine’s limp torso in its mouth. When it was free of her scales, it tore out her neck and threw her body to the ground.
Rearing onto its hind legs, the beast stood over a dozen feet high and roared in victory. It dropped to all fours and lumbered toward the merrows, thrusting its huge round head forward with a snarl. They fled without a fight. The beast growled and retreated, maneuvering its bulk around toward me.
I held my sword out as it approached. As it closed on me, it became smaller, its bulk shifting and contracting. The fur receded and the bearish muzzle flowed inward, exposing thick rolls of skin. When it was a few feet away, long, pointed ears slid through greasy hair, and a thick sagging gut grazed the ground.
I stared slack-jawed as Belgor stared up at me. He leaned on the car, struggling to bring his girth off the ground. He leaned heavily against the fender, his chin and bare chest smeared with black viscous blood. “I do not care for snakes,” he said.
“I had no idea you could do that,” I said.
Still catching his breath, he shrugged. “I have not lasted these many years on my wits alone, Mr. Grey. I trust this settles my debt to you?”
Dumbfounded, I nodded. “Yeah, I think that covers it.”
Belgor waddled off like he had stopped by to chat and had to be going.
36
I didn’t stick around for the police after-party. Leaving the scene of a crime was a crime, but I wasn’t worried about it. Being attacked by a giant snake-woman and four or five of her semiaquatic friends was probably justification in most people’s eyes to go into hiding for a bit. Enough witnesses were available to report that a crazy guy with a sword was the victim. Some people might even consider it a typical night down in the Weird. Besides, I wasn’t about to discuss Belgor, not after what he did. He might be an underhanded slimebag who would sell his own mother to keep himself out of jail, but the man had saved my life.
When I reached the Old Northern Avenue bridge, vitniri swarmed down the steel struts and surrounded me. The man-wolves huddled close, snapping at anyone who showed the least curiosity in me. They escorted me all the way to Rowes Wharf Hotel, pacing along the building’s shield barrier until they were sure that Eorla’s people detached another bodyguard for me.
Elven warriors from the Kruge clan, their bows notched with glowing elf-shot, ushered me inside and up to a suite overlooking the harbor. Eorla arrived after, and, for the first time, she let herself show uncertain upset, grabbing me by the arms when she entered. “Are you all right?”
“A little banged-up, and my boots got wet, but not bad considering,” I said.
She relaxed though her worry remained. “Why did she attack you?”
I filled her in on the conversation, such as it was. “I think Melusine was doing what she’s always done: playing both ends against the middle. She thought she would have better luck allying with Maeve in the long run.”
Eorla pursed her lips. “My main concern now is that she was aware of several defense strategies I have in place. I wonder how much of that has reached Maeve?”
I shrugged. “She managed to cut off information on Maeve’s troop movements by assassinating your spies. I’d worry about any strategic vulnerabilities you know about.”
Eorla wandered to the window. Down in the harbor, the mist wall shimmered with complex swirls of essence. Threads of blue and orange coiled through and around each other as they moved in a flowing course across the face of the wall. “Your relationship with Ceridwen and me made you a target, Connor. I think it’s time you went underground. I have places to offer you in Germany. Ceridwen has hinted she’s offered you a similar proposal.”
“That sounds a lot like giving up,” I said.
She smiled and turned slightly to look at me. “Caution isn’t giving up, Connor. Choosing your moment is always to your advantage. It took me a hundred years to get to this point.”
Amused, I flexed an eyebrow. “You have a slight advantage over me in the time department.”
She released an exasperated sigh. “I know you see my point.”
I moved behind her. “I do. I honestly do. But after everything that’s happened, I can’t walk away. I’ve lost so much, Eorla. I don’t want to lose my home, too.”
Eorla held her hand up, her brow furrowed. “Something’s happening.”
Outside the window, the mist wall had become agitated, streaks of white and red slicing through the other colors. The streaks surged across the face of the wall like storm patterns, cyclones forming and breaking apart, thick bands of color marching through everything in their paths. The essence brightened, the colors muting as the surrounding areas became white with heat. “It’s building in strength. Has someone attacked it?”
“I’m not getting any reports,” Eorla said.
The army helicopters danced in the energy currents and pulled higher to stabilize themselves. I directed Eorla’s attention to the airport. The army units stationed near the end of the tarmac were scrambling into trucks and more helicopters. “That doesn’t look good.”
Someone knocked and opened the door. Rand—Dylan, actually—joined us by the window. “The facility is on full alert, Your Majesty.”
“Brion Mal is head of Maeve’s forces. Get him online and explain our stance in case this isn’t the Guild’s doing, Rand,” she said.
Dylan peered at the mist wall. Now that I knew he wore a glamour, I couldn’t look at him and call him Rand. At the same time, it was odd calling him Dylan when he looked like an elf. “Our calls to the Guild are unanswered.”
“I guess that answers its own question,” I said.
“Where’s Bastian? He’s not answering my sendings,” she said.
“Our reports indicate he is en route to the airport,” Dylan said.
“Something about rats and ships is tickling at my memory,” I said.
“No, if Bastian knew something, he would not have waited this long. I’ll wager he’s as confused by this as we are,” Eorla said.
The mist wall had lost all color, becoming a sheet of solid white light. The top rose and shredded, great spires of essence spewing upward. “I don’t like this. We should….”
The wall exploded. Essence billowed across the water in a towering white wall of heat twenty stories high. Dylan and I dragged Eorla away from the window as she gathered essence in her hands. We grappled, trying to see out the window and get out of each other’s way until we tumbled to the floor. The building trembled as the essence surge hit. Glass shattered with a concussive roar, shards flying everywhere, sparkling against our body shields as they slid away. Ceiling tiles scattered with the wind as cabling pulled free.
It was over in a cloud of dust. Dylan sat up coughing, a fine film of white grit covering his red uniform. Eorla was on her feet already, staring out the gaping hole that had been the window. I pushed ceiling tiles off me and joined her. The mist wall was gone.
“Danu’s blood,” I said.
Ships filled the inner harbor, hundreds of fey ships, low-hulled
and shining with amber, their masts a forest across the water. The air rippled and glimmered with the light of Celtic warriors, rank upon rank of fairy clans spread across the sky in an uncountable host. Across their leading edge, a dozen Danann fairies hovered, their body signatures burning with an intensity that outshone everything. Brion Mal had not come to the U.S. alone. The entire Queen’s Fianna was with him.
A deep rumble echoed through the air and the building shuddered. “That’s artillery fire,” I said.
“The National Guard is firing on the front of the building,” Dylan said.
Eorla crossed her arms. “So they have thrown in with Maeve at last. I shouldn’t be surprised. Donor played his hand wrong from the beginning.”
The building shuddered again. Over the harbor, the army helicopters had turned and faced the city. I took Eorla by the elbow. “We need to get out of here.”
“The evacuation is already in progress. Show Connor to the tunnel. I will join you at the bunker in thirty minutes,” she said.
“What are you going to do?” I asked.
She smiled. “This is not an unforeseen contingency. Follow our friend, please. I do not have time for you right now.”
She gave me her back, scanning the skies with her dark eyes. So many sendings rippled in the air that someone with the slightest ability would sense them. I stared, struck once again at the steel in Eorla. She knew how to commit to her goals. “Good luck, Eorla,” I said.
She acknowledged me with a slight nod but didn’t turn. “Be well, Connor.”
37
The building shook with multiple hits of artillery fire. Thick dust filled the air as Dylan led me down a back stairwell. “What is she going to do, Dyl?”
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