A Sliver of Shadow

by Allison Pang

  I exchanged a glance with Talivar, exhaling softly. “Full circle,” I murmured. “What will you do, Prince?”

  “I should think it would be fairly obvious,” Phineas piped up from beside me after a few moments of silence. “Rescue the boy and we’ve got some bargaining power. If we can prove they instigated all of this through Maurice, they’ll have to back down. The moment the Queen releases the CrossRoads, it will loose the Wild Magic and you’ll have the ability chase those daemon fuckers off your lands.” The unicorn coughed as he looked at Brystion. “Present company excluded, of course.”

  “Of course.” Brystion cracked me a private smile. “Though the description is still rather apt.”

  I rolled my eyes. Incorrigible bastard. Even if it was true.

  “So what now?” I began. “We’ve only got, what? One more day until we have to give the daemons an answer … or Maurice. That’s not much time to find a kid who could be anywhere.”

  Kitsune frowned, glancing at my neck. “The Key could be used.”

  Talivar shook his head. “How? We could wander the CrossRoads for days trying to find him.”

  “The Key can do more than randomly open the Doors to the CrossRoads,” she said, eyes never leaving mine. The ginger scent grew sharper. “The wearer can direct where the Door should exit—even if they do not know exactly where that is.”

  “What are you talking about?” Talivar stared at her.

  “It’s an older power, to be certain—and not one that is widely known, but some of us have seen it used in such a way.”

  “Guess you really can simply walk into Mordor,” Melanie observed dryly.

  “Indeed. The Key can only use existing Doors, but more important, Abby could indicate where she wants to go and it would take her to the closest Door there is, thereby skipping the CrossRoads altogether. In this case, perhaps a description of the boy would suffice.”

  Brystion let out a low whistle. “No wonder they locked that shit up in the vault. Rather convenient of you to drop this information now, don’t you think?”

  She shrugged. “If we are truly going to remove the daemons from Faerie, then why not?”

  “I will not allow it.” Talivar paced about the tent. “We could end up straight in the middle of their army. There’s still a chance we can avoid war. If we get caught blitzing into their territory, that’s completely gone.”

  “But we’ve got a truce with them for the time being,” I tugged on the necklace, wishing like hell I’d known about this sooner. I could have left anytime I’d wanted.

  Brystion let out a humorless laugh. “And you think that would save you? A truce that you’ve just broken?” An exasperated grunt escaped him when he saw my look of confusion. “Right now everyone is on even terms. The CrossRoads are closed—no one is moving around easily. But if the Queen were to start using the Key to potentially launch an attack directly at the daemon camp? Even if that wasn’t your intent, you’d still be thought of as spies. I don’t think even your current elevated status would save you.” He paused, his face going flat. “Assuming they didn’t force you into working for them first.”

  Not entirely sure if I was mad or not for considering the idea, I asked Tresa for whatever detail she could provide on her son’s whereabouts. His age. What he looked like. His clothes. I tried to image it in my head. “And what if I can direct it so that it doesn’t open directly into the daemon camp?”

  “It’s a thought, but there will still be traces of the CrossRoads at the site. There’s no way around that,” Phineas said, nudging me hard. “But it may not matter in another day or so anyway.”

  My gaze fell upon Melanie. Intent was so important when it came to the OtherFolk. I worked the amulet between my fingers. “The daemons are expecting us to try. Our bargain will be null if they catch us. That’s what Nobu said.”

  “Well, that makes for an easy answer, then,” Melanie said mildly. “We don’t let them catch us.”

  The air stilled around us, sticky and hot and thick enough to choke on. The ginger scent suddenly disappeared, leaving us with only the wicking smell of candle wax. Kitsune sat up very straight, her ears flattening. “You realize that if I allow you to leave from here, I implicate myself in this?”

  “I suspect things are already past that point.” Phineas rubbed his horn on his rear hock in irritation. “After all, why suggest the idea if you didn’t want to be a part of it?”

  “Clever thing. I will require your word,” she said to Talivar, her voice abrupt and clipping. “For the love I bear you, cousin, I will allow this thing to happen, but I want assurances that you will use your influence to see our Court reinstated. Thus our debt will be settled.”

  He stiffened. “I have no way to undo what the Queen has wrought, but should it fall into my power, I will do so.”

  “Then that will do, Prince. There is a Door beyond the edges of the Barras that you may use. I suggest you choose your companions wisely,” she added. Her dark eyes remained coolly steadfast, but I caught the sly smirk on her lips, nonetheless.

  Melanie stirred beside me. “Well, I’ll be fairly useless without the Wild Magic. And strategically speaking, if you get caught …”

  I could see in her face that she didn’t want to go. It stung, but I couldn’t blame her for being afraid. As shitty as things were, walking straight into the lion’s den held far more implications for her than it did me.

  Talivar shared a glance with me and nodded. “We don’t want to risk both of you. And should the daemons find you there, I’m not sure Nobu will be able to keep them from taking you.”

  “And Abby’s chopped liver, right?” Ion snapped. “Once again, you call upon her to do your dirty work.”

  “What other choice do we have?” The prince made a little sound of frustration, his hands balling into fists. “If I could take the Key from her and use it myself I would do so. But I can’t. So suck it up and shut up.”

  The incubus drew himself tall, eyes flashing, and for a moment I could nearly see the punches about to be thrown.

  “Fine. But I’m coming too.” His mouth twisted wryly. “After all, having an actual daemon in your party can’t hurt. A distraction, if nothing else.”

  It was said off the cuff, but I could hear the promise beneath the words. Come hell or high water, he would take me out of Faerie if things went badly. If Talivar understood the warning behind it, he said nothing.

  I crouched down to look at Phin. “And you?”

  “I’m not exactly built for covert operations, Abby. All things considered it’s probably best if I don’t know the details of what happens. If I don’t know about it, I can’t give you up. I can’t lie, you know.” He gave an equine shrug. “Open the Door to the CrossRoads proper and I’ll escort Melanie to the palace. That way she’ll be able to feign ignorance as well.”

  “Mmph. Guess that leaves the three of us.” I sighed. “I don’t want to involve anyone else from the Barras.”

  “Assuming I’d even give my permission. And I wouldn’t.” Kitsune folded her hands into her sleeves. “This is done solely on your head.”

  Tresa had remained huddled by Kitsune’s side during our conversation, her face turned down. The thread around her throat tightened, the flash of her pulse a rapid staccato. She didn’t deserve my sympathy, but still. “I would ask that the boy’s mother be allowed to choose.”

  “Gracious of you,” Kitsune murmured. “Though your trust is misplaced. She has the power to undo her bonds and, as of now, she is not worthy.”

  Talivar pulled on my sleeve, ushering the others through the tent flap. “Let’s go, Abby.”

  I spared a last glance at the two women. Kitsune made a sign of farewell with a graceful hand. And then I emerged into the relatively fresh air, the chaos of movement around us a confusing blur.

  The others waited outside, their faces sober. I sucked in a deep breath of air. “All right. Let’s do this.”

  The sparkles subsided as Melanie disappeared thro
ugh the Door and a dull ache tightened in my chest. It wasn’t in me to ask her to come with us, but I wished she would. I let out a sigh as Talivar gave my hand a squeeze. “It’s time.”

  No more stalling then. I grasped the necklace and placed my hand upon the Door. It was made of bamboo and woven reeds, but the carvings were the same, even if the whole thing had a bit of a collapsible feel to it. As escape routes went I suppose it made a lot of sense, especially given the transient properties of the Barras. But without the power of the CrossRoads to bring it to life, it lay just as motionless and dead as all the others.

  The amulet flared as I touched it, illuminating us in that same blue glow as before. Dimly I wondered if the Queen could feel me here. Did it hurt? Would it alert her to what we were doing? The thought twisted uncomfortably. Time to move.

  As the veil unraveled, I concentrated on Tresa’s boy.

  … a lad of about fourteen years … small boned and delicate … a half-breed with slanted eyes and olive skin … a scar upon his forearm from when he was a child …

  “Timan,” I whispered, the veil shuddering in response as I tried to formulate what I wanted. Close, but not too close … preferably without walking directly into danger …

  A vibration ran through me, the Door uttering a chord that saturated into my bones as I willed it to open. Likely exits flipped through my consciousness, even as myriad possibilities of potential outcomes skittered across my mind. But which one to take?

  “There,” I gasped, trying to hold them still. “This is the one.”

  “You are sure?” Ion spoke it as less of a question than a comment, but I gestured at him and he took my hand to lead us through … and into a grove of tall trees thick with golden-veined leaves, glowing with their own soft hue.

  Talivar blinked in surprise. “The Halcyon Forest. These are sacred trees. The daemons should never have made it this far.” Beneath my skin, the magic continued to thrum faintly.

  “I can reopen it,” I said. “It’s almost like I’m tethered.”

  “All right.” Talivar adjusted his quiver, loosening the bow so that it was within easy reach. Beside me, Brystion shook himself, shapeshifting into that of his antlered form. Here, in this place, he appeared like a godling of the woods, his cloven hooves sharp and glittering.

  “Harder to track.” He stamped a hoof as though to make the point. “Besides, if they see me first, they may decide I’m one of them.”

  Talivar gave him an odd look, taking in his appearance with a curious bent before straightening. “I leave her in your care,” he said formally. “Should anything ill toward befall me, you are to get Abby back to the castle.”

  The incubus bared his teeth. “Should anything happen to you, I’ll get her out of here, but I’ll be damned if I return her to your hellish little kingdom.”

  “Fair enough,” the prince said in a chilly voice. “All I can ask for. I will have to trust that Abby will prevail upon you to do the right thing.”

  “Let’s get this over with. And stop worrying about my virtue, okay?” My gaze flicked between both men. “We’ve got big enough problems.” I put one hand out on Ion’s arm half to steady myself and half to calm him down. The incubus could be downright testy even at the best of times, but we needed to work together.

  Talivar gave us a curt nod. “Wait here and I’ll scout it out. If there’s an outpost here it shouldn’t be too hard to find. Sulfur has a way of coating the air.” The elf slipped into a nearby thicket, moving quietly in his thin-soled boots. He’d dressed for the part, his clothes dark and tight fitting. His jaggedly cut hair was doing its best to escape from his attempt at pulling it back, and his pointed ears showed pale and stark.

  A crooked half smile turned up the corners of his mouth, piercing me with a thousand things left unsaid, but there was no time now in which to say them. And then he was gone, swallowed up in a cluster of golden leaves and watery sunlight. I slumped against the bark of the tree that framed one edge of the Door. The thought of moving too far away made me nervous. No sense tempting fate, after all. On the other hand, if Talivar got stuck in a bind I wasn’t going to leave him here either.

  I spared a sideways glance at Ion, but he remained steadfast, his ears twitching and cupping the sound of the woods. At the moment I could only hear the leaves as they dropped from the branches to flutter to the ground with a soft hiss. My heart ached to be surrounded by such a wild beauty, and deeper still at the mess I was currently in.

  There was no question I still had feelings for Brystion. Hell, the moment he touched me, I was his all over again. The fact that he obviously knew this and didn’t press the issue was disconcerting. Before, I couldn’t have said he wouldn’t have tried something, but either his respect for Talivar ran deeper than I knew, or he’d truly decided to let me come to my own conclusion.

  The question hovered on my tongue, but now was not the right time to ask it. Later, perhaps, when the world was not crashing down upon us.

  Beside me, Ion suddenly froze, his hand snagging my wrist an iron grip. Before I could say a word, he shoved me against the tree, kissing me hard. I mumbled a protest against his mouth, but he was already lifting my skirts, fingers biting at my thighs, the cloth ripping under his claws. “What the fuck—” I hissed, the words cut off as his tongue thrust deep into my mouth.

  Panic flooded my brain, even as my body decided it kind of liked it. He trapped my arms above my head, his mouth nipping hot and hard down my neck. Betrayer! My inner voice shrieked at me, ignoring the way my hips began to sway beneath him. I blinked, realizing he was using that particular seductive power of an incubus, my skin burning with a fierce hunger in return.

  And that hurt worst of all.

  Blearily, I climbed out of the lust-induced fog sweltering over my brain that commanded me to submit before him. The urge to slide to my knees, take his cock into my mouth, to open myself wide to his pleasure thrummed sharp and urgent. Would we TouchStone again? The thought nearly made me laugh, but instead I let out a groan, arching toward him.

  His own breath came in soft gasps, and the erection trapped between the folds of my skirt wasn’t any sort of Glamour. I uttered a low cry when he mouthed my breast, chafing between his lips and the linen chemise.

  “Goddess, I’ve missed this,” he muttered. “So fucking hungry.”

  Lust wrapped itself over my flesh like a ribbon. His doing? Mine? “I can’t do this, Ion. Not here. Not like this.”

  “I know.” He gritted his teeth as though he fought his own inner battle. “Struggle for me and make it look real.”

  A harsh laugh split the quiet of the forest, jerking me out of my hazed thoughts before I could answer. I stiffened, trying to peer over Brystion’s shoulder. The incubus held me back, one hand upon my neck, ignoring my protest. His ears flattened as he turned around, a chilly smile gracing his features. The gold of his eyes had damped down to an obsidian darkness.

  I caught the glimpse of a shadowed face and slick scales past the ebony fall of Ion’s hair.

  Daemons. A shitload of them.

  A hysterical shriek bubbled up in my throat and I actually tried to pull away in earnest, my ardor slamming like a pit of oil into my belly. Where was Talivar?

  “Do you mind?” Brystion’s voice dropped into growling purr, his tail lashing from side to side. “I’m not in the habit of sharing.”

  “Who said anything about sharing?” The one in front gave me an appreciative leer. “We’ll watch you shag her and when you’re done, we’ll take her off your hands.” The daemon bared his teeth. “And in return we let you go. Seems fair, doesn’t it?” His voice became sly. “Unless, of course, you were to know anything about this Door here. Odd that it seems to be active when the rest of them aren’t.”

  Brystion’s hand pressed across my mouth to muffle my cry of alarm.

  “Frankly, I don’t give a shit why the hell you think we’re here.” He was stalling and the realization hit me like a slap to the face. How well had t
hose ears heard them coming? He hadn’t even thought to warn me and I could only assume that was to make his seduction of me look at real as possible. The fact that I had apparently given into him with barely a thought flooded me with shame.

  The daemons snarled something rude, but Brystion turned his back on them as though he truly didn’t care, warning in his eyes. The thick, meaty hand of a daemon snatched at his shoulder. “And I don’t think you realize the situation you’re in. This here area is off limits.” His eyes wandered over me again. “And we’re taking you into custody.”

  Anger coursed through me. “You’re not even supposed to be here. Last I checked, this was Faerie … not Hell. Though it certainly smells like it,” I sniffed, waving my hand in front of my nose, ignoring Ion’s warning grunt.

  I ducked when I saw the clawed hand aiming for my face, half expecting it. Not quite fast enough. The claws snarled my hair and yanked me back.

  “Well, now,” the daemon rumbled, staring at my breasts. “Isn’t that interesting?” A sharp tug on my neck and I realized he’d found the Key, still glowing with its recent use.

  Beside me, Brystion lowered his head, the glittering points of his antlers eye level with the daemon. “I suggest you let her go,” he said softly.

  “Or what?” The daemon’s hand strolled down my shoulders with a lazy motion, even as he gestured with his head at the others to flank him. “I suggest you move along. If this is what I think it is, then my job suddenly got much easier.” A ripping sound and I realized he’d shredded the front of my gown. I ground my teeth even as I flushed, my breasts suddenly exposed to their leers. “Think she’ll service my men first, though. After all, we need her alive … not in one piece.”

  “Freeze,” Brystion barked. Dimly I became aware of a high-pitched whistle. A fleshy thud and the daemon let out a low wheeze, his hands slacking upon my waist. I ducked behind the incubus as two more arrows sledged into the daemon’s head.

  “Talivar,” I shouted, unthinking. Had he seen the incubus and me?