“Steady.” Mac put his arm around my waist before Rook got the chance.
The ogre’s drumbeat steps pounded the ground, carrying us closer to the frozen fortress, but my gaze kept tagging those thick, black cables. Something about them was important. Why couldn’t I…?
Oh. My. God.
Knees weak, I sank into the ogre’s palm, gaped up at the sky and remembered.
“Dragons,” I croaked.
Sleek lizards glided over our heads, metallic scales catching the light. Their heads were massive, their jewel-toned eyes faceted like gemstones. They flew in matching pairs. One set for each primary color. Enormous wings, filmy and delicate, supported bodies the size of school buses. A frilly spine made their tails flutter like streamers, and their massive heads sluiced through air currents.
Behind me Rook chuckled, and even Mac laughed as he sat beside me to steady me.
Head tilted back, he let his gaze soften. “They’re beautiful, aren’t they?”
“I can’t believe I forgot.” I shook my head. “I didn’t think I could.”
My first encounter with them came rushing back now that I was within the parameters of the forgetful spell cast over the dragons to protect the knowledge of their existence from those who might harm them.
Or free them…
Without warning, the ogre’s hand began its final descent, and I tottered, falling onto my butt. His knuckles smacked the dirt with a thump that jarred my teeth. Mac hooked his arm under mine and hefted me onto my feet. My kingdom for a Dramamine. We leapt onto the icy pavers leading up to the main gate. Daibhidh and Rook hit the stones with synchronized thuds, jogging away from the ogre when he lifted his hands to dust them together. Folding his meaty arms over his massive chest, he indicated the enormous set of double doors with a jerk of his chin. I raised a hand in thanks and squinted ahead.
The way was clear. No alarms sounded. Guards on the walls continued ignoring us.
Not good.
“This is too easy,” I mumbled within Mac’s hearing.
“She’s had time to plan,” he agreed. “This will all play out as she imagined it.”
Time? Try lifetimes. Centuries of planning was about to rise up and smack us in the face.
The dragons earned one last glance before I tore my gaze from them.
Rook stepped beside me, swinging his arm out in a formal bow. “After you.”
“Thanks,” I groused.
And they say chivalry is dead.
“Rook, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but stick close. Daibhidh, you stay with Mac.” I smiled at Mac as realization dawned and his expression turned black and fierce. “You get to watch the show.”
Green light burst from Mac’s pores in a furious rush. “I am not staying behind.”
“Yes, you are.” I squared off against him. “You’re the one she wants. I’m the one she’ll settle for. I won’t give her both of us.”
His hands clenched at his sides. “The Morrigan wants—”
“Nope. Not happening.” I went to him and stiffly embraced him. His arms rose to lock me against his chest. “She only needs one of us. Hang back. Please. I need you safe. You have to get Shaw home if…” My throat worked. “She won’t kill me outright.” Probably. “She needs me alive to bleed for her.” I breathed in the scent of tobacco and parchment off his skin. “I can do this. We can.”
“I am your father.” Jaw tight, he kissed my hair. “It is my duty to protect you.”
“Protect me by staying put,” I begged. “As long as you’re safe, I won’t have to worry—about either of you.”
His voice broke. “I would fight her for you.”
Tears blurred my vision. “I know.”
But if he picked this fight, she might end him permanently.
Breaking his hold, I stepped back and straightened my shoulders. The fortress loomed ahead, and a manic giggle caught in my throat as my boot heels crunched through ice on frozen pavers angled in a crosshatch pattern.
I tensed when Rook touched my shoulder and sang softly, “Follow the ice brick road.”
Who did that make me? The tin man? The scarecrow? The lion? Ruby slipper girl? Her dog?
Keep it together, Thierry. Don’t freak out now.
A pair of guards with dark eyes and black hair met us at the door wearing bland expressions. I scanned their faces, wary that Daire or Odhran might put in an appearance, but they were unfamiliar. Neither paid me any mind as they stepped aside and allowed us entrance.
The Morrigan was this confident she had me beat? We hadn’t even started.
Anger warmed my belly, and I welcomed the burn. Mad worked. Pissed worked better. Anything beat the twitching in my fingers, the quiver in my thigh muscles. No. I would not run away from this.
I used to think fleeing Faerie into the mortal realm would save me, that I could duck my head and pretend I hadn’t made promises to these people. Because of me, Faerie had been left without her ruler, and the worst possible candidate had seized control in that moment of weakness. I owed them freedom from the Morrigan, a chance to make their own decisions…without Mac. It was time for me to woman up.
“Are you ready for this?” Rook’s smooth voice didn’t falter.
“Are you?” I shot back.
“I’m tired of being afraid.” His voice rasped, hand rising to touch a pocket on his sleeve. “I want to return with you, find my sister and…” He rolled his shoulders. “I don’t know what comes next.”
Prepared for his request to cross realms, I nodded. “There will be limitations placed on you.”
He chuckled softly. “There have been all my life.”
Ignoring the guards, I tugged on the thick iron ring used for pulling the door open and cracked it wide enough for us to slide through. Inside, the Halls remained unchanged. Arched doors. Black accents. Death as art. Flames licked charred logs in wide-mouthed hearths in each room we passed, thawing the mantles above them and melting the carved fireplaces. Puddles of water seeped over the polished ice floor, and no one seemed to care. Why they didn’t use elementals or spells to prevent dripping was beyond me.
We walked until the main hall ended and we stood before a familiar set of doors. I raised my hand but hesitated.
“Thierry, dear, do come in,” a throaty voice called. “I’ve been expecting you.”
That’s what I was afraid of.
Chapter 14
The Morrigan lounged on a white chaise in the center of the massive room. Furs the color of the first snow in winter covered the floor, and her bare feet dug into the strands. Her upswept hair was as black as pitch, her eyes wide and colder than the edge of the universe. Despite the lavish setting, she opted for a simple ivory pantsuit with the jacket unbuttoned, similar to the black one she favored when cleaning up bodies for marshals in the mortal realm. The rest of the room was empty and bare.
Her beauty tugged something low in my gut that made me shift uncomfortably from foot to foot. This was where Rook got his killer looks. Her ageless beauty made them siblings instead of a mother and her grown son. When she crossed to greet us with a broad smile painted on her red lips, her eyes were level with mine. Dismissing Rook with a brief scowl, she clasped my hand, pumping my arm with all the enthusiasm of a politician lining up an unregistered voter on Election Day.
Not the greeting I expected. Somehow this one was worse.
She was playing human. Her speech pattern, her appearance, all fake. Stolen from observations made while in the mortal realm.
Looping her arm through mine, the Morrigan spun me back toward the door and lugged me into the hall. “I assume Macsen told you where to find the tether?” Her laughter tinkled like rain chimes. “Well, no more sneaking around for you. I will take you there myself. This way saves us both time.”
“Mother,” Rook said quietly. “Release her.”
She pretended not to hear, her eagerness making me queasy as she kept me stumbling along.
Rook caught my opposite a
rm. “Mother.”
“I warned you.” Her sigh blew carrion breath against my cheek. “Goodbye, son.”
She flicked a delicate wrist, and crimson motes left her fingertips, flinging Rook headfirst into the opposite wall, the one that was a football field’s length away from us. He hit with a sickening crunch of bone and slid to the floor. The tang of Rook’s blood hit the air, and I breathed in his fear and pain.
“What have you done?” I dug in my heels. “He’s your son.”
“Never mind him.” She tugged on my arm. “We have pressing matters to attend to.”
Numbness tingled over my skin. She had attempted to kill her last remaining son without a hint of remorse. She was a monster. No. She was death personified. The final gasping breaths of life didn’t scare her. The blackness, the terror, it was simply a part of her identity. Too bad the rest of us weren’t so lucky.
“Honestly, Thierry.” She ushered me forward. “You didn’t even like him.”
“I—” I had liked him. Once. I just hadn’t loved him.
“See there?” She patted my cheek. “You should be thanking me, really.”
I take it back. All the times I wished I was a widow—I take them all back.
“You are too human for your own good.” She tsked. “Come on. The tether is this way.”
“Why are we…?” I shut my eyes. It didn’t help. I still saw Rook’s crumpled body painted on the backs of my eyelids. The Morrigan didn’t seem to notice, that or she didn’t care. “Why take me to the tether?”
“Why, so you can cut it, silly. It is the last one, after all.” She sounded far too reasonable. “Well, except for Autumn, of course, but we’ll have another use for that one soon enough, now won’t we?”
Struggling got me nowhere with her iron strength. “You want me to sever Winter’s tether?”
“Dear child, if I didn’t want the tethers cut, I would never have allowed you to make it this far.”
Stunned, I let her drag me. “You want Faerie cut off from the mortal realm?”
Cherry lips curved. “It solves so many problems, don’t you think?”
Yes, it did. For us. Not for her. “I don’t get it.”
“I want what you want. Faerie cut off from the mortal realm. Permanently. Just think, with your blood at my disposal—” she squeezed me in a one-armed hug as we walked, “—I can finally make it happen. I can reinforce the threshold from the mortal realm, and no one will be able to cross.” Mouth pursing, she shrugged. “Except for your father, of course, but Macsen ought to be dead by now.”
“What do you mean?” I yanked my arm out of her grip with a force that stunned both of us. “What have you done?”
“I had to kill him.” She justified her crazy. “I only needed one of you. I chose you. Aren’t you lucky?”
Black seeped into the edges of my vision. “You’re wrong. Mac is fine.”
“No. He was fine. When you left him.” She pursed her lips. “Daibhidh eliminated Macsen after you came inside. Witnessing such matters is traumatic to half-bloods. Your psyches are so…fragile.”
“Daibhidh?” My mouth ran dry. “That’s not possible.”
He wouldn’t dare. I had his Name. Magic spun through my brain when I thought of it. I reached out tendrils of awareness, brushing against nothing. Either the Name wasn’t his, or he had fled too far for me to summon him with it.
Doubt swirled through my fingertips, making them burn as magic pulsed in my runes. The consul was on our side. He wanted out. Didn’t he? Mac would know if we had been lied to, wouldn’t he? Even if Daibhidh had turned on him, Mac could take care of himself, right? He was the freaking Black Dog of Faerie. One frumpy consul couldn’t put Mac down. He couldn’t die. It was impossible.
A calming breath sifted through me as reason trickled in past the frantic burst of panic.
Mac couldn’t die. Not for real. Not in any permanent way. It was impossible. He had been killed dozens of times, and he rose after each. Even if Daibhidh succeeded, Mac’s death wasn’t permanent.
It couldn’t be.
I wouldn’t let it be.
“Who else would I mean? Honestly, Thierry, it’s like you’re not even trying.”
The Morrigan was the voice of reason yanking me back from the edge of hysteria.
“I don’t believe you.” Fear coated the back of my throat. “You’re lying.”
“See?” She threw up her hands. “This is exactly what I mean.”
Ten minutes max. I had been inside for ten minutes, and already our plan was shot to hell.
Sniffling at the insult, she fastened one of the buttons on her jacket. “Would you like to see proof?”
My head bobbled on my neck. “Take me to him.” I had to see this for myself.
“First, I must insist you sever Winter’s tether.” She flashed a grin. “Then, sure, why not?”
Heat sizzled in my palm. “I want to see my father now.”
“I was afraid you’d be difficult, but I was hoping you might surprise me. Oh well.” She tapped a fingernail against the center of my forehead. “You can come back when you’re willing to play nice.”
My eyes rolled up into my head. Blackness descended, and I fell.
“There she is,” the Morrigan cooed. “How are you feeling?”
My mouth tasted like rotten fruit and old blood. I had bitten my tongue. “Where is Mac?”
“Not this again.” Her buoyant mood shattered. “He is dead.”
Blinking away the haze covering my vision, I sat up and took stock of my surroundings. I was in the same hall where I’d collapsed. How long had I been out? Minutes? Hours? I shoved onto my feet.
Her shoulders tensed in expectation of a strike. I didn’t give her the satisfaction of attacking. For one thing, it wouldn’t do any good. She had knocked me unconscious with a touch. I shivered to think of what she was capable of when she set her mind to it. For another, my nap had done a fantastic job of clearing away the cobwebs. Mac was okay, even if he wasn’t. Rook… I couldn’t help him. He had known the risks and still chosen to swagger into the room next to me and put her threat to the test. It wouldn’t help the guilt, wouldn’t stop the nightmares—nothing did—but I knew what I had to do now.
This mission had cost us all too much to fail. I was going to see it through, and then I was going to pick up the broken pieces and pray that I could put Mac and Rook back together again once this was all over.
I dusted my hands and ran a palm over my hair to smooth it down. “Where is the tether?”
Her eyes widened. “Well, well, I should have knocked you unconscious sooner.”
My lips bent in a brittle smile with jagged edges. “The tether?”
Hers warmed with genuine amusement as she strode past me. “Right this way.”
The whole way there, she never once glanced back. I was trapped, and she knew it. So far below her concern, she had turned her back on me without hesitation. It was an insult, and my pride stung.
“Here we are.” The Morrigan spun on her heel and stopped at the mouth of a new hall identical to all the others we had traipsed through.
I raised my second sight, and sure enough, the ambient glow of magic suffused a blue-green net. The mesh tube appeared anchored to a particularly ornate row of ice blocks inlaid into the floor. I let my vision go unfocused as hazy numbers floated in a slowly drifting string. I lifted my hand, and a pang hit me. Mac had done the spell to bleed me. It required finesse I lacked, but I had committed the Words to memory and had seen him do it so often I knew I could replicate the process. Even though I really, really didn’t want to, I had no choice. The tethers had to go. It put us one step closer to penning the Morrigan in this realm and protecting mine.
The fact that she wanted it too was troubling, but I would burn that bridge when I got there.
Murmuring the Word, I braced for the spell as it ripped through my skin. Freaking monkeys, that hurt. Woozy from the shock of pain, I wobbled toward the tether’s sh
immering threshold and sank to my knees in the center of the hall. Hand dripping, I leaned forward, and a tarnished silver disc slipped from my armor to hang loose around my neck. The amulet. Crap on toast. I had forgotten all about it.
Rook was unconscious, I hoped. Mac was…I didn’t know. All I knew for sure was the Morrigan wanted my blood, which meant staying here was a Very Bad Idea.
Pushing out a tight breath, I smeared the threshold with my blood while the Morrigan kept watch with interest. Clutching the amulet, I soaked it in crimson to tune it to my aura. Under my breath, I spoke the Word to cut the tether in the same breath as I thought, Take me to Mac and lunged forward into the warped reality of the tether.
A bloodcurdling scream lifted behind me, and taloned fingertips dug into my shoulder. Magic swirled, sucking me down, disintegrating me as it struggled to fulfill its purpose and my will. My fingers and hands were misted nothings. The tether was collapsing with me inside it. Fear shivered through my insubstantial limbs. Twisting my head, I sank my teeth deep into the top of her hand until rancid blood coated my mouth and her shrieks muted to nothing as I vanished.
With a hard shove, the tether spat me out onto snow-covered ground. I backpedalled as a hand shot toward me. Magic pooled in my left hand, lighting my runes and making the ice glisten.
“Stop.”
The power in the word choked the magic out of me. “H-Huntsman?”
Green light spilled over the brawny man’s skin and glinted off metal beads woven into his bird’s nest of a beard. He stood bare-chested and furious against the cold. Ice trimmed the cuffs of his leather pants, and snow dusted the tops of his boots. Leaves rustled and twigs fell from his hair when he shoved a wide palm at me. This time I accepted it, let him yank me onto my feet before I shouldered past him. “Where is he?”
The Huntsman caught my arm, but not before a drift of crimson snow drew my attention, and not before my gaze swept over Mac’s lifeless body, soaking in the gaping slice across his throat with dread carving my soul hollow.
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