“Always nine?” Hope asked.
“Usually if you need to walk around them at all, it's nine times.”
“Only during the new moon, though?”
Herron nodded. “That's right.”
“But we can't tell the phase of the moon from in here.”
Herron looked down. “When it was right-side-up and the towers were all here, you could tell the cycles of the moon from how the shadows fell from the towers.”
“The moss glows differently during different times of the month?” Shae asked. “That's kind of amazing.”
Herron shrugged. “Tough to tell now. But I guess I can try.” He flew out of the house and picked a spot in the circle to begin. He counted silently as he flew nine times around the stone monoliths. As he passed where he started for the ninth time, the ground in the center of the ring shimmered and disappeared and a shower of Void roaches poured from the opening.
The rain of insects stopped after fifteen or twenty seconds. Shae shuddered when she heard the faint sounds of the bugs hitting the floor far below. “That is so gross!” She whispered.
Herron nodded. “I guess we're on time, though,” he said. “Let's head in, quick. I thought we were way early, so my sense of time isn't really right in here. Let's do this as quick as we can.”
“Let's all go in together this time,” Gen said. “We don't know what's going to happen when we bring it back, but I'm guessing it's going to come back the way it was, not like this, and that means gravity is going to flip over. All of the stuff that's down there now will come crashing back this way.”
They flew out of the house and up into the entrance to the Chamber. They ascended up and up and finally, reached a passage. The stone of the passage was jagged and cracked. Large crevices where the stone broke apart were on all sides of the tunnel. More Void roaches swarmed along the walls, leaving one crack and crawling into another. Every now and then, some would drop off the ceiling and onto one of the fairies, who would immediately brush it off.
Hope stopped and listened. “You hear that?” She whispered. “There's a voice up ahead.” She readied her bow.
Gen, Herron, and Shae all drew their own weapons and they proceeded quietly the rest of the way to the Chamber. When they reached it, they saw a fairy, thin and bony, sitting on the floor facing them. His wings were wrinkled. The usual sheen of healthy wings was faded and the membrane was a milky white color. He was filthy and his clothes were torn. Eleven clean white fairy skeletons lay spread out in various locations on the floor.
The fairy looked at them and grinned. His eyes looked crazed and desperate. A thin thread of saliva drooled from his lip. He reached out with his hand and grabbed a Void roach that was scurrying along the floor, then he brought it to his mouth and bit into it with a wet crunch. The bug squealed for a moment before it died and he chewed it slowly, then shoved the other half in his mouth. The crunching was audible from the other side of the Chamber.
Gen tried not to gag, then shuddered and knocked more bugs off her shoulders.
“They won't eat you if you're alive,” the stranger cackled. “No matter how often I ask them.”
“Who are you?” Gen asked.
He looked at her and tilted his head. He seemed to be staring right through her. He wiped the drool from his lip and picked up another roach. He bit into it with another loud crunch and some juicy yellow goo ran down his chin. “I'm... not sure anymore.”
Herron recognized him suddenly. “Morna? Is that you?”
The fairy slowly shifted his gaze to Herron. “Morna. Right. Maybe. Maybe I'm not anymore.”
“Then the... Skies above.” He turned to Gen. “Morna was one of the councilmen. There were twelve of them. They must have holed up in here.”
“Tried to stay away before it got all of us,” Morna whispered. His voice was shaky and cracked as he spoke. “Maybe that would have been better. I couldn't get out of here. Nobody came.”
“Before what got you?” Hope asked.
“I don't know,” Morna hissed.
Hope turned to Gen. “He's crazy. He—”
Morna leaped to his feet and ran toward Hope. She tried to dodge out of his path but when she pivoted, she put her foot down into a mass of roaches and lost her balance. She tripped and Morna jumped on her. He grabbed the knife from Hope's belt and he made a move for her throat. She grabbed his arm and held it while the others pulled Morna off of her.
“No! No! You can't be here!” Morna shrieked. It took Gen a second to realize that he wasn't looking at her. Morna looked over Gen's shoulders and scrambled backwards. He tripped and fell, then scooted back until he hit the wall. His eyes were wide with terror.
The fairies spun around. Four pixies stood in the Chamber with them: Slynn and Thirin, and two pixies Gen didn't know. One was short and stocky. The other was tall and well muscled. Something was different about him. Then Gen noticed that he didn't have the black, leathery bat wings the other pixies had. His wings were black, but folded tightly behind him. They looked more like dusty silk than shiny leather. His lips spread into a wicked grin, revealing gleaming white teeth. His fangs were elongated like a vampire's. Once Gen's eyes were on him, he spread his wings wide. They were black and white, covered in fractal patterns, shaped like moth wings.
“Genevieve,” he said. “So lovely to finally meet you.” He had a strong British accent.
She narrowed her eyes but didn't reply.
“James C. Egan, colonel in his majesty's army. Formerly, that is,” Jeegan sneered, “long, long before you were born, my sweet. Now, I am the Void Master. I am the ultimate authority in this place.”
Gen looked at Slynn. “Your boss who made us the offer, I'm guessing?”
Slynn nodded. His expression was hard and cold, giving nothing away.
“You're immortal,” Gen said.
“Quite so. And you, girl, will give up this fool quest of yours. You will not take another of my acquisitions. You'll give this up and you'll go home.”
Gen shook her head. “I'm afraid not.”
“Very quickly,” Jeegan said, “you'll see things my way.” He looked at Hope, Shae, Herron, Morna, Thirin, and Slynn, then back to Gen. “There are six of you here. You'll be responsible for the deaths of twelve souls if you refuse me, Genevieve.”
“No.”
“I assure you. I'm quite serious.” He looked to Sage, then nodded at Morna. Sage started quickly toward the filthy fairy, streaking toward him in an unnaturally fast blur of motion. Before any of the rest of them could react, he had positioned himself behind Morna, took hold of Morna's wrist and plunged the knife into his throat. Morna gurgled and gasped. Blood ran from the slit throat. Sage kicked the body aside and immediately, it was covered in Void roaches.
“Who's next?” Jeegan asked. “Your lady love? Your seer? The Realmwalker who despises you? Your mother, maybe?”
Gen noticed that Slynn stiffened slightly at this. His eyes narrowed slightly and he stood straighter. Thirin took a step closer to Slynn.
Shae's eyes were wide with fear. She looked from Sage to Slynn, then back to Gen.
“What's your game?” Gen asked. “What are you trying to do here? Why do you need me out of the way?”
“My game,” laughed Jeegan. “My game is you, dear. My armies are poised and ready. We'll invade and devastate your home if you steal this place from me.”
Gen stared at him. Something still seemed slightly off about him. She wondered whether she seemed the same way compared to normal fairies that he did compared to the pixies. “How do you propose that I leave? We can't get back to the Realms from here.”
Jeegan shrugged dismissively. “We will see you out. You've been given your ultimatum. Leave. Now. Or I will kill the rest of them.”
The roaches left the bony remains of Morna's body and spread out once again within the Chamber.
“We'll fight you,” Gen said. “You won't waltz through the Realms as easily as you think. And you won't be killing anybo
dy else.”
“No?” Jeegan asked. “Sage, the mother.”
Sage once again set off in a blur of motion.
“No!” Thirin screamed and ran in front of Slynn, pushing him out of the way. Slynn fell to the floor.
Sage slammed into Thirin, then twisted around behind him, grabbed a fistful of his hair, yanked his head back and plunged the long-bladed dagger through Thirin's stomach. The blade stuck all the way through his body. Sage twisted it and yanked it upward.
Slynn yelled and scrambled to his feet. As Slynn drew his sword, Sage pulled the knife back slightly, tipped it upward and stabbed viciously inside Thirin's chest. Blood ran from Thirin's mouth and Sage kicked the body away from him. The roaches swarmed over Thirin's corpse the instant it hit the floor.
Herron and Slynn rushed to Sage. He whirled around and started to streak through an opening between them, but in an instant, several arrows lodged into his legs and chest. He toppled forward, breaking some of the arrows and wedging some deeper into his flesh. He flipped over onto his back and hissed at Slynn. Slynn sliced down at Sage with his sword but Sage caught the blade in his hands. Blood ran down his arms.
Gen turned to Jeegan and advanced on him. Jeegan didn't move. Instead, he laughed at her. Hope fired an arrow at Jeegan, aimed right at his throat. He didn't dodge out of the way. The arrow flew through him like he wasn't even there. Gen swung her sword at his midsection and there was no hit, no resistance. Jeegan's projection vanished.
Herron was about to bring his sword down across Sage's throat but Slynn shouted, “No! Stop!” Sage and Slynn struggled with Slynn's blade for another moment, then Sage's strength gave out. His hands were sliced open to the bone. The roaches started to crawl up his arms. Sage screamed.
Slynn kicked Sage in the ribs and flipped him over onto his stomach with his foot. He grabbed one of Sage's wings and hacked it off, then the other. Sage screamed in pain. Slynn dropped his sword and grabbed Sage by his hair and by the stump of a wing. He dragged Sage to his feet and yanked him roughly down the passageway. He brought Sage to the edge of the tunnel where it opened up beneath them. The floor of the cavern was far, far below. Sage was still crying out in pain. His legs buckled but Slynn held him up. He whispered something into Sage's ear then shoved him over the edge. Sage screamed all the way down as he plummeted to the ground, putting an abrupt stop to the hoarse cry.
He walked slowly back to the Chamber. He was covered in blood. His face was streaked with tears. He looked at Gen.
“I'm so sorry,” Gen said. She was beginning to cry. “My tears are what brings the Heart back. You'd better get out of here.”
Slynn shook his head. “No. Jeegan has to be stopped.”
“And you're going to try to stop him?” Hope yelled. “You're a pixie! You're with him!” She aimed her bow at Slynn's chest.
Slynn shook his head and looked at Gen again. “No. I realized I wasn't about to go along with this plan of his while you were still in the settlement. That's why I directed you toward this place. That's why I sent the turtles to help you.”
“You sent the turtles?” Shae asked. “But I thought you were a bad guy!”
“No,” Gen said. “He's not. I believe him. Jeegan was going to kill him just to make a point to me. He was going to kill Slynn to kill my mother.” A sob racked her chest. Hope lowered her bow and Herron guided Gen to the center of the Chamber. Gen was crying.
The tears fell from Gen's eyes and hung in midair in front of her. They came together and grew into a gleaming, faceted gem. It was a deep bronzy topaz color, shiny and clear. It flashed a blinding white light and the ground rumbled around them. The roaches fled through the crevices as the cracks began to close. The ground shook violently, and suddenly, each of them was falling. They landed on the ceiling - now, once again the floor - of the Chamber. The brown gemstone rotated in midair, righting itself as The Caverns turned over and shifted back into the Realms. Above them, they felt as well as heard several tons of stone debris crash to the ground.
They got to their feet and brushed the stone dust off of themselves.
“We'd better get out of here.” Herron's voice was urgent. “We don't know what time it is. We might not have long.”
Slynn looked at the heap of bones that was Thirin's skeleton until it crashed to the floor. Gen walked up to him and put her hand on his elbow.
“Come on,” she said. “It's time to go.”
Slynn cried but he nodded and followed.
Gen held her hand out to Hope. “Come on. Let's go home.”
When they reached the surface, they saw that The Caverns were in ruins. The devastation was immense. Shattered stone lay everywhere. Some buildings seemed to be intact, but most of the city was cracked and smashed. Herron led them up to one of the ledges that overlooked the city. He turned back and gazed over Firemoss.
“I guess we were too late,” he said. “We didn't save anybody.”
“We saved him,” Shae pointed her chin at Slynn. “And we saved the turtles.”
“I guess that's something,” Herron said. He led them through the tunnels and into the cool night air. The ravine spread to either side of them. “Just where we're supposed to be,” he said.
Gen sniffed and wiped her eyes. She sat down and looked out at the ravine. Hope sat next to her and brushed dirt and stone chips out of Gen's hair and off of her clothes. Gen started to cry again. Slynn slumped against the wall and looked at Gen. He was crying, too.
“It's okay,” she told him.
“I know I don't deserve it,” Slynn said, “but I really need to hear it.”
Gen reached out her hand and Slynn took it. “I'll always hold you when you cry.”
chapter 37
Geoff and Gabby almost didn't make their dinner reservation. They hadn't spent this much time in bed together since long before the kids were born. Now, they couldn't keep their hands off of each other. They felt young again when they were together. They hadn't felt that way in a long time.
They ate dinner at an exclusive, romantic French restaurant that had a good view of the Chicago skyline. Their talk was light and flirty, but comfortable and deeply familiar.
“I feel like I can take you a bit for granted again,” Geoff said.
“Take me for granted?”
“Not like I'm demanding you to do anything or I expect your servitude or anything like that! I just mean that I've finally gotten back to a place where I know that when I come home from work every day, you'll be still be there.”
Gabby squeezed Geoff's hand. “I'll always be here. I'm not going anywhere. Never again.”
Geoff smiled at her, the crooked, yearning, content smile that made Gabby melt for him. “Good.”
They talked about their son's wedding. They talked about their in-laws to-be. Geoff talked about work. Gabby talked about going back to work. After being out of the work force for so long, she was nervous about what she could start doing again.
“And I talked to Vi this afternoon,” Geoff said.
Gabby was about to take a drink but she paused, holding her wine glass in front of her.
“She apologized. I did, too. We talked about Greg and about you. We caught up a bit.”
Gabby took a sip of her wine and put her glass down. “About me?”
Geoff nodded. “After twenty five years, she explained it all again. And this time, I was open and willing to listen. I can see why you two needed each other back then, and why you miss her now. And you know what? It sounds a little crazy, but it's okay. I'm sorry I kept you apart for all this time. As long as I still get to have you and get to spend time with you, as long as we still get to go out like this, and we still love each other,” he took a deep breath, “then I guess I'm okay with letting her back into our lives.”
“Really?”
“As long as I don't lose out on anything because of it,” he said, “Yeah.”
“I love you,” she said.
“I love you, too.”
“I
won't make you go without. I promise. I don't know what's going to happen. But stuff's happened before. Are you okay if...” She swallowed nervously, “You know, if stuff happens?”
He turned and looked out the windows at the sunset. He didn't say anything for a while. Then he turned back to Gabby. “Is that something you need?”
“I have everything I need right here.”
“Then, there you go.”
“That's not really answering the question,” Gabby said.
“I think it is.”
Gabby nodded. “Okay. I understand. Hands off. And I'm sorry about what I did. I'm sorry I hurt you so much.”
“I know. We're past all that. We can't look back. We just have to move forward.”
She smiled at him. “Okay. I won't bring it up anymore, except one more time to say that I really am sorry.”
He picked up her hand and kissed it. “Thank you. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she said.
“Gabrielle?”
She looked slightly surprised at his tone and her full name. “Geoffrey?”
Geoff slid off his chair and got on one knee. He took a small, black velvet box out of his pocket.
“Um,” she looked around the restaurant. People were glancing in their direction. “Honey, I don't know if you know this, but we're already married.”
“We are,” Geoff said. He opened the box, revealing a simple platinum band. “Gabrielle, would you do me the tremendous honor of renewing our vows with me?”
Gabby's eyes welled up with tears. “Oh, Geoff. Of course I would.”
Geoff took the ring from the box and slipped it onto Gabby's right index finger. She leaned forward and kissed him. There was clapping from some of the other tables. Geoff blushed and sat back in his seat.
“You're so romantic,” Gabby sighed. She looked at her new ring and smiled.
-
When they got home, they didn't even make it to the bedroom before they had pulled each other's clothes off. They made love on the living room sofa and fell asleep there, curled up together.
Some time in the middle of the night, the phone rang, startling Geoff awake. Gabby was still sleeping. She could sleep through anything, Geoff chuckled to himself. He slid out from under her and tucked the afghan tightly around her. He padded off quickly to the phone.
The Void Hunters (Realmwalker Book 2) Page 27