The Glass Man

by Jocelyn Adams

  “Stop attacking!” I waved at the horde above.

  Liam. My love. As I settled back into my own head, my eyes focused on the battle raging before me.

  The great snowy owl used his wings to prop himself against the floor as he lashed out at the king with his talons. Shrieks pierced the room. Parthalan sidestepped him and attacked with a speed that rendered him into a blur.

  Blood poured from Liam’s beak as he grabbed Parthalan’s arm and bit down. The bone snapped. He roared, and his Light answered with a bright flare.

  Shit.

  “Listen to me,” I commanded the Sluagh. “Break the circle if you can.”

  All at once a wall of darkness descended. They plummeted toward the barrier but passed through. Some crashed into the wall on the other side, others banked hard to avoid it. When I realized they couldn’t affect the ward, I ordered them to attack Parthalan.

  No matter how many flew at him at once, they fell into the ground in a bloody heap. He continued to battle with Liam, swatting the Sluagh away like flies. His arm had already healed.

  I ordered the Sluagh to leave. Even the undead shouldn’t meet their final end that way.

  The crackling of energy drew my attention away from the fight. Rourke stood just outside the circle. Blue fire arced between his fingers. His malicious stare locked onto Liam.

  I positioned myself in front of Mr. Psycho. “Come on you lousy shit.”

  Rourke focused on me, grinned and leapt toward the barrier.

  Roaring, Garret slammed into Rourke from the side and knocked him flat on his back. The two rolled and tangled across the tile.

  “No!” I screamed.

  Blue light flared in the room. A piteous wail deadened all other sound. As I pounded my fists against the barrier, Donovan rushed to his son. With a laugh, Rourke rolled through the ward before my father could grab him.

  Garret lay motionless. Black char marks in a star pattern adorned his chest.

  He can’t be dead. “Donovan,” I whispered.

  My father lifted Garret’s head and cradled it in his lap. Smoke swirled up in silver ribbons from the young fae’s skin.

  The pain in my father’s eyes broke something in me. Parthalan’s Light burst open in my mind, a cold fury burrowing into every corner of my being. In the grips of a hunger to see Rourke broken at my feet, I shifted my attention to the psycho piece of shit.

  “You’re a dead fae, Rourke.”

  Liam and Parthalan screeched and roared as they struck at one another again and again, but I couldn’t see them, only the murderous lunatic before me.

  He looked up as I approached, still grinning. “Are you going to hurt me again?” He turned over onto his hands and knees, batted his lashes at me.

  I shook my head. “You killed my brother.”

  “Brother?” Rourke raised an eyebrow and laughed. “You don’t have it in you, my pet.”

  A smile bloomed on my lips. I grabbed him by the throat and swung a leg over his back to straddle him. My lips pressed against his ear, and I spoke soft, even words. “Ten minutes ago, you would have been right, but your precious king just changed all that.”

  Rourke’s body stiffened beneath me before I wrapped my arms around his head and gave a sharp jerk to the side. The sound of his neck breaking sent a jolt of glee through me. I threw Rourke’s body to the ground and kicked him in the chest until pain raged up my leg.

  “Fight it, Lila,” Donovan said. He stood with his hands against the barrier beside Willa. “This isn’t you. You’re stronger than Parthalan. Don’t give in to his power.”

  Struggling to rise above the seductive lure, I returned my focus to the battle.

  Parthalan opened a wide gash on Liam’s chest. He stumbled back, gasping, his white wings flailing.

  If I couldn’t take on Parthalan with Light, that left only brute force or firepower. “Sebastian’s gun.” I pointed toward his body by the door. “Get it, Willa. Shoot Parthalan.”

  She ran back to the door and searched around the floor for the handgun. Donovan and Quinn helped her. Cas stood in the doorway, his gaze pointed to something beyond my sight. His sword dripped crimson droplets onto the floor.

  Liam squealed from his owl mouth. Blood gushed from it a moment later.

  Parthalan circled him, chuckling. “You’re too late,” he sang. “I live within her now, and she within me. She is mine, and through her, I will rule you all. Or maybe I’ll kill all the Seelie along with the humans just for the fun of it.”

  Rage chewed at me again, my body a glowing mass of energy, my mind still. My Light had darkened to bronze with my anger. As I thought about what to do with it, Parthalan siphoned it away through the link he’d formed with me.

  This isn’t fucking happening.

  I considered attacking him physically, but I knew nothing of hand-to-hand combat.

  Willa came back a moment later with the handgun. The other three came after her.

  “Are you sure the bullets will penetrate the ward?” Donovan asked.

  None of us knew.

  Liam fell back with a crash, his breaths panting from his beak. Ruby splotches decorated his white feathers.

  Parthalan let out a deep growl. He fell to his knees, howling, his body bucking. A moment later his limbs broke and reformed, casting flashes of deep blue light into the room. Black fur sprouted as he writhed on the floor. When he rose again, a giant wolf stood before us, a rumble vibrating low in his throat. It took me a moment to realize he was laughing.

  Oh, hell.

  I threw myself on the floor when feathers, teeth, talons and fur exploded within the circle. The sound was enough to shatter the mind.

  “Shoot him!” I screamed at Willa.

  She held the gun up, adjusted her aim as the two of them destroyed the bed while they tore at one another.

  “Can’t. They’re movin’ too fast,” Willa shouted. “I might hit yer fae.”

  A new idea dawned. Parthalan drained my Light and my will—that means he can feel my pain, too. I stood and cast a determined stare at Willa. “Shoot me.”

  “What?” Donovan’s eyes grew to giant moons. “No.” He pounded on the barrier, as impassable to him as it was to me. My father stood so close, but I couldn’t comfort him. I could only watch the realization take the shine from his wet eyes.

  I placed my fingers against the invisible wall. He placed his hand on the other side. A sob shook him as he leaned his forehead down beside his hand.

  “Trust me now.” I didn’t linger to see if he responded. The longer I gazed at my father, the more chance my nerve might crack. Instead, I turned my attention back to Willa. “Shoot me, before it’s too late. I can feed him my pain through our link. It will give Liam a chance.”

  Willa’s hands trembled. Her eyes darted around the room as if looking for a way out of the terrible task.

  “I wish I didn’t have to ask you, but you need to hurry.”

  The snarling and screaming continued behind me, feathers flying, flesh ripping. I winced and brought my hands to my ears. Each sound dug deeper into my mind, threatening to break it.

  Willa took a few steps back and tried three times to aim the gun at me but kept dropping her arm. “I’m sorry.” She sobbed.

  Quinn grabbed the gun from her and pointed it at me, not a doubt to sway him, only a determined stare and a nod of encouragement. I tried to keep the fear off of my face but didn’t think I succeeded. I drew in a breath and held it. My hands shook.

  His eyes darkened. His body went still. He hesitated for a moment before he squeezed the trigger.

  The room disappeared behind a white flash. I didn’t even hear the shot before fire spread through my belly.

  “Search for his darkness.” My mother’s voice echoed in my thoughts. “He caused you nothing but pain. Return it to him.”

  I wandered through my mind in search of the place where he’d bored into my head with the enthusiasm of a thirsty tick. So dark here, now. So cold. When I found the f
rigid tunnel that tasted of his power, the intensity of his Light filled me with pleasure, confusion and doubt. Every time I tried to breach the link, I fell into a daze.

  “Use your Light, Lilabear.”

  Light to conquer the darkness. I gathered up my pain into a concentrated bundle in my center and wrapped Light around my consciousness. With a cleansing breath, I forced my way through the bewildering sensations and projected my suffering across the link to Parthalan.

  He wailed in agony, stumbled, but he didn’t go down. Liam tore a deep gash along his side and knocked him sideways before Parthalan shook himself out and attacked again with renewed ferocity.

  I sat up in the full throes of the burn tormenting my abdomen. “Again, Quinn. In the chest.” The metallic taste of blood saturated my mouth. Fighting off my gag reflex, I coughed, a terrible, wet sound.

  “No!” Donovan roared. “We can find another way.”

  I smiled at my father. “No, this is the only way.” I turned to Quinn. “Finish it.”

  Quinn shook his head, his nostrils flaring. It took him a few tries to raise the gun. “The Selkie will never forget your sacrifice. Forgive me.”

  Excruciating heat burned through the right side of my chest. Before the waiting darkness could consume me, I fed my pain to Parthalan again. Laughter bubbled in my throat. I would find peace where my mother waited within the eternal light above Dun Bray. Somehow, the whole time, she’d been watching out for me beyond the grave. She lived within me, would lead me back to her tender embrace. I stared up at the ceiling, unwilling and unable to move from where I lay. Blood filled my lung. I coughed as I began to drown.

  A deep base scream pierced my thoughts. White wings beat against the air, carrying a bleeding fae in his talons. They went up and up until they crashed through the glass ceiling. Shards tinkled to the floor around me. I closed my eyes. Numbness climbed down my limbs and erased them from my knowledge.

  My body jerked as if I were falling. So far down, the wind blowing my hair, fear so ferocious I waited for it to consume me with jagged teeth. A scream echoed in my ears when more pain engulfed me.

  His pain.

  Fear eased out of my mind. Though weary, I knew we had climbed the mountain. My people would mend the human world eventually, and the Courts would have to remain separate. Even prophesies didn’t always get it right. I smiled.

  Then nothing.

  28

  “Follow me.” The mellow voice came from a distance.

  I opened my eyes a crack to a liquid sky above. A cacophony of concerned shouts rose—some near, others far away.

  “In here.”

  I gazed up to Liam, his jaw clenched, his blue eyes frantic. He carried me across the city. Why? I’m dead. I should be with the spirit of my mother, not in this godless place.

  The sky disappeared behind a crimson shade.

  “Set her on the floor.” I recognized Cas’s voice.

  I tried to speak, but a gurgle escaped, instead.

  Liam set me down. My body below my neck didn’t register with my brain. Tears streamed down his face and landed on my cheeks.

  “Don’t you dare give up on me,” he said.

  I didn’t think I had a choice in the matter. He raised my hand to his lips, but I couldn’t feel his kiss.

  “It’s starting.” Donovan crouched down beside Liam, put his cold palm against my forehead. “Do you feel anything, Lila?”

  Blood filled my lung, splashed into my throat when I tried to breathe. I broke into a gurgling coughing fit.

  Pain roared through me all at once. A wet scream burst out of me unbidden. I tensed as my back tried to arch, but something pinned me to the floor. Wet tendrils crept through my wounds, burrowing into my flesh from below.

  Liam leaned forward and rested his forehead against mine, his uneven breaths fanning across my lips. “I’m sorry. We can’t do anything about the pain. I’m here. We’re all here.”

  My body seized, and uncontrollable trembles rattled through me. I caught a glimpse of Willa pacing back and forth at my feet. Tears drew a wet line down her cheek. I struggled to sit up, but Liam threw his body over mine. Pain raged to unbearable agony. Quinn stood to my right, his head hung, shoulders slumped.

  My lungs drained of liquid. Drawing in short, shallow breaths. I recognized where I lay—on the floor of one of the shifters. The pain receded as flesh grew inside me, repairing the damage made by the bullets. My back stung as the tendrils retreated below.

  The shifter groaned and rumbled. Black blood dripped from the ceiling, then poured out of the walls.

  “Shit.” Liam jumped to his feet. “We have to get out of here, now!”

  “What’s happening?” My voice rasped.

  He scooped me off the floor and dashed out the door. The rest followed behind us.

  The house caved in, punctuated with a mournful cry.

  I coughed and raised my hand to the rawness of my throat. “What happened to the shifter?”

  “It took your wounds into itself,” Donovan said. “Cas thought maybe you could heal it once you were stronger, but the injuries were too severe.”

  I had nothing left in me. “Where is Garrett now?”

  Donovan raised his face to the sky. “I don’t sense his spirit here in the Black City.”

  “Then he’s with Mother in the sky above Dun Bray.” The pain in my heart eased a little. “He’s dead, isn’t he? Parthalan? I felt him die.”

  “When you fed him your pain, he shifted back.” Liam cradled me close. “I crushed him and dropped him from the top of the Court tower. I watched him hit the ground.”

  My eyes kept closing. What I didn’t say was that a shadow of his power lurked in the dark place he’d left behind in my head, tainted with rage, hungry for freedom inside its new host. And I’d never let him free.

  “Do you think you can hold on to Liam well enough to fly?” Donovan hovered over me.

  On a blink of awareness, Liam’s scent swirled around me, his white feathers cushioning my body as Donovan tied me to the giant owl with rope. “Get Lila back to her people.”

  Liam took flight. His muscles rolled beneath me, filled me with a sense of home, of belonging.

  My consciousness slipped into the void.

  • • •

  A warm hand rested against my cheek. Light painted colors behind my closed eyelids, but I couldn’t find the strength to open them.

  “Come back to me, my child.” Donovan’s voice pulled me the rest of the way to consciousness.

  I forced my eyes open. The light stung them as I searched for my father. His hand moved up to brush hair back from my face. The smile arranged on his pleasant face stole my confusion and unease.

  My heart sang at the sight of him. “Where am I?” I croaked.

  “You’re safe now. This is your room, in the Seelie castle.”

  I nodded but didn’t believe. “I can’t believe you’re alive. I thought maybe I’d dreamed all of that. Or I guess nightmare would be more appropriate.”

  Donovan handed me a glass of water and helped me sit up. I drank it down, slopping half of it on the satin nightgown I wore.

  “Where are the others?” Memories of Garret’s last cries returned, tearing at my heart. I’m so sorry, brother. I’ll finish what we started. I promise you.

  “Liam is waiting for you in the garden. The powers here won’t let him back inside the castle. I disguised myself, which is the only reason I’m sitting here.” Donovan glanced over his shoulder at the door. “I’m sure Nix knew I wasn’t who I claimed to be, but he’s perceptive, that one. I think he knew I meant you no harm. He’s standing outside your door and hasn’t left your side since we brought you here two days ago.”

  “Two days.” I shook my head. “I’ll talk to Gallagher, though it’s probably Neasa who doesn’t want him here. Where are those two? I’m surprised they’re not hopping all over me by now.”

  “I think Nix has convinced them you need some time to heal.”

/>   “Garret’s body …” Instant grief stole the air from my lungs again.

  “I tended to him myself. His spirit is happy here, Lila. He holds no regret over what happened.”

  I nodded but couldn’t accept it. “What about the selkies?”

  “Quinn and Willa have returned home.”

  “Only two made it out?” I put my hands over my eyes. Tears crested my lashes.

  “They number in the thousands. The ones who came volunteered knowing they had little chance of returning, and now that you’ve shown your worth to their clans, all of them will gladly align themselves with you. You offered the Goddess your life to save us all, and she didn’t take it.” His hands grasped mine. “That has immeasurable significance to all who are faithful to her, to all who want to see the world and all its creatures returned to peace. The selkies consider their part a small sacrifice for the greater good, and so should you.”

  In theory, I understood the significance of that and the sentiment behind it, but I couldn’t get the sight of Althea’s broken body out of my mind. “I need to see Liam.”

  Donovan kissed me on the head. “I thought you might. Have a shower. I’ll arrange food and some Lila-approved clothing for you to wear.” He smiled, his eyes shining with that same pride he always wore when he looked at me. “Your mother’s music box is on your bedside table.”

  I jumped out of bed and ran to the table, picked up the wooden box and opened the lid. I closed my eyes while the haunting melody played. My voice filled in the words, then my father’s in harmony. The sound injected me with mirth that couldn’t find a way to escape. I laughed through my tears. The only physical connection I had to my mother, back in my hands. I couldn’t believe it, either.

  “I’m so glad you’re here—Father.” I put the music box down and wrapped my arms around him. My father. The words still sounded foreign to me but surrounded me with peace. He gathered me into his arms and swung me around.

  I giggled despite the protests from my empty stomach.

  When he put me down, I lingered in front of him. “She speaks to me sometimes.”

  He took my hands. “Death doesn’t truly separate the fae from the ones we love. Just as she once carried you within her, part of her flesh and blood, part of her soul, now she is a part of you. She has never left you, my child.” He caught a tear on my lashes, turned and went out the door.