by Laura Howard
They were dancing closer than before, more intimately. Their bodies pressed tightly together, moving with each other. As the music played on, they changed partners and entwined their bodies with no shame or self-consciousness. Liam told me that, by nature, the Danaans weren’t a monogamous race. Some had a bondmate, like Diarmuid and Eithne, but they considered intimacy something that wasn’t restricted to any one individual.
Aodhan and I went back to our seats, and I wondered how much more time I had to spend here before it was considered polite to go to the bedroom that awaited me. The morning couldn’t come soon enough. The panic was setting in, and I was forced to have faith in Saoirse’s visions that I would get to Ethan before any permanent damage was done.
“Perhaps a dance would take your mind off of your friend?” Deaghlan appeared at my side, startling me.
I shook my head, refusing to look up into those eyes. “I think it’s time for me to get some sleep,” I said, watching the way Niamh stared at Aodhan over the shoulder of her dance partner.
For a moment, Deaghlan didn’t respond. “Would you like an escort?” he asked, his words smooth and tantalizing like honey, but with a touch of something sharper.
Aodhan snorted softly. “It’s no trouble for me to take her to her room. I’ll be going too.”
“Very well,” Deaghlan responded.
I was more than a little afraid of the unhappiness of his tone.
Gram sits on the couch, her hair pulled back in a bun that’s coming undone. Her eyes are downcast, and she’s holding a picture of my mother in her hands, worrying the edges with her fingers.
I can see Pop is sitting in the kitchen, staring off into space as Aunt Jessie tries to talk to him. His eyes look sunken in, his skin so pale. His eyebrows knit together, and he closes his eyes tight. His hand flies to his chest and Aunt Jessie shouts at him, asking him what’s wrong. His eyes slacken, and his mouth opens as he starts to slip out of the chair.
I woke with a start. The bed was so comfortable, but I knew I wasn’t at home. Memories began flooding back to me. I was in Tír na n’Óg. Liam had been stabbed. My mother was herself, if only temporarily. And Ethan was captured by sadistic faeries who wanted to do all kinds of bad things to him.
Then, the memory of the dream hit me: my grandfather was having a heart attack.
I jumped up out of the bed, just as Niamh walked into the room. Her expression wasn’t the typical haughty one I was used to. She looked like she had something to tell me.
“I saw your dream,” she began.
“Oh?” I asked as grabbed my clothes off the table next to my bed.
“Not all of your visions will come true, you know.”
I froze after popping my shirt over my head. “That hasn’t happened?” I asked.
Niamh shook her head. A huge weight lifted off of my shoulders. That meant I might still have time.
“Now I just need to get Ethan away from the seductress fairies at Aoife’s brothel or whatever it is, we can figure out what is needed to break the geis, and we can all go home,” I said, yanking a sock onto my foot. Frustration was setting in—I was surprised I hadn’t snapped sooner.
“Don’t worry about your grandfather, Allison. My mother has sent decoys to take your place while you’re here.”
“What do you mean by decoys?” I asked, scrunching my face around the word.
“Two of my handmaidens and one of my guards are glamoured to pass as you, Ethan, and your mother.”
I stared at her for a second, unsure how to respond.
She huffed a little and waved dismissively. “We have to keep up appearances. I know it feels like you’ve only been in Tír na n’Óg for a single day, but in your world it’s been about three weeks.”
I shook my head and stood. “Aodhan mentioned the time difference. That is so bizarre.”
“Maybe, but it’s true.”
As she was speaking, I caught a glimpse of Aodhan standing just outside the doorway. Before last night I might not have picked up on the pinprick of emotion in his eyes as he watched Niamh. As it was, I wasn’t sure I was reading the whole situation correctly, but something was there.
“We should be going,” Aodhan said firmly. Any emotion I thought I’d seen burned away as fast as it had appeared. Niamh gave me a tiny nod and quietly slipped past him.
“We’ve been given provisions to last two days,” he said without another look at Niamh.
His face screwed up as he muttered under his breath, “However long that really is.”
I’d never really been able to achieve comfortable silence with anyone other than my family before. For whatever reason, people feel this innate need to fill the silence with meaningless chatter, but Aodhan led me down the hill quietly. I wasn’t sure exactly why he hadn’t offered to run, but I had a feeling it was because he needed some time to think too.
Seeing my mother the way I’d always heard her described—smiling and radiant—had been one of the best moments of my life. Leaving her so soon was hard, especially after learning that as soon as we set foot out of Tír na n’Óg she’d go back to the way I’d always known her.
The memories of Ethan with all of those women and what they could do to him burned my eyelids. I couldn’t let him become like my mother. His family would be devastated, and I still had a chance to prevent it from happening. I didn’t know how, but Saoirse’s words made me hopeful that she had seen a future in which I’d saved Ethan.
I heard chattering then as I walked past a smattering of ash trees. On a low branch, a squirrel watched me with intelligent eyes. I thought of how Aodhan had said the vines were curious about me. Apparently, this critter was also.
Aodhan walked several paces ahead, tense and alert to every sound and movement. The way he moved reminded me of a panther. I wondered if he had always been this agile, or if it was the effect of being in Tír na n’Óg for so long.
“Aodhan,” I called ahead.
He stopped and turned. “Aye?” he asked.
“I was just wondering what your gift is?” All the Danaans had some kind of ability, but he hadn’t mentioned his yet.
He snorted, turning his head away. “My gift,” he muttered as he started walking again.
“Sorry,” I said, embarrassed for having brought it up.
“I suppose the gift you speak of would be my strength. I’m stronger than most of the others, faster probably, too.” He slowed his pace so that we were walking side by side.
I nodded, but he wasn’t done.
“I can do a little of everything they can do, I think. I can use glamour to stay hidden—so that would be the mind control. And I can sometimes, but not often, move things with my thoughts. It’s sort of like singing. Anyone can sing, some just do it better than others.”
To hear him speak openly like that was surprising and wonderful. He had such a deep accent, too. I wondered what his life had been like growing up in Ireland so long ago. And what had made him decide to come with me.
“You want to know why I agreed to help you,” he said as he rubbed one hand across the fuzz growing on his chin.
I laughed nervously. “Did you read my mind?”
Enough time passed that I didn’t think he would continue, but he surprised me again.
“I had a family once,” he began, looking over at me. “Three brothers, two sisters. My father was the chieftain of our clan. I spent most of my life dreaming of ways to make the English pay for what they were doing to my country.
“We fought for our freedom, but in the end we were forced to leave our home, made to flee like thieves in the night. Once my family had made it to safety, I took one last sweep of our camp. I vaguely remember being shot in the back,” he closed his eyes, remembering. “I can still see the English scum spitting on me as I lay face-down in the mud. All I could do was lay there and wait to die.
“After the English left, I heard a voice whispering in my mind. I opened my eyes, and Niamh was there. In that moment I forgot about
pain, forgot about my family. There was only her.
“By the time I met Liam, hundreds of years had passed. Everyone I’d ever known was dead and gone.” He shook his head slowly. “It hadn’t even occurred to me to care.”
I didn’t say anything in response—no words would be enough.
“There’s a stream just ahead, we should stop for a drink.” Aodhan started off the path, and I followed, my heart aching for all that he’d lost.
Everything in Tír na n’Óg felt like it was the way nature intended: bright blue sky during the day, soft misty rain at night. The grass was a lush green carpet rolling over the hills and smoothing out over the plains. Flowers and fruit grew everywhere you looked, all bursting with color and crisp fragrance.
But when we came to a wall of twisting brambles, it didn’t feel anything like the beauty I’d seen so far. There was a sense of foreboding seeping out of the thorny vines.
“I don’t remember this being here,” Aodhan said as he paced the wall, looking for a way through. He attempted to loosen the snarled vines, but they wouldn’t budge. He pulled a dagger out of his belt and began sawing at it.
“It’s tedious,” he said. “But these vines are immovable, and I can’t see another way through.”
I slid the dagger out of the scabbard that hung on my hip. The vines felt like dry bones rattling together as I cut them away. The thorns bit at my skin, and the smell coming out of the vines caused black dots to blur my vision, but I kept hacking away.
Aodhan cut a small path ahead, and I struggled to keep up with him. Thorns snagged my sleeves, and I wrestled the dagger through to free them. My hands were sliced and stinging, and when I looked up Aodhan was moving farther and farther away from me.
I willed my feet to move faster and stumbled forward. I landed hard on the thorny ground. My vision swam, and I squeezed my eyes closed.
“Aodhan,” I gasped, but there was no response.
Panic blossomed in my chest. I had to keep moving forward. I needed to find Aodhan. But my joints were locking up, making it difficult to do anything more than draw ragged breaths. I tried calling out to him again, but my voice came out as little more than a croak. I couldn’t let it end like this, curled up in a web of brittle vines and thorns.
As I finished that thought, I heard a low moan come from ahead. I pushed my leaden legs up from beneath me, moving as best I could toward the sound.
When I found Aodhan, he was tangled in a mass of coiled vines. His arms and face were sliced open even worse than mine, and his bloody lips were parted. I knelt beside him, carefully cutting away the vines that ensnared him. It was like trying to cut down an oak tree with a butter knife.
I could feel him watching me as I worked, and after a few minutes, he became more coherent and wriggled his arms free.
“Get back,” he whispered. I scrambled away as he tore himself free of the net of branches and vines.
I leaned back on my elbows and inhaled the sickly sweet air. The edge of the thorny forest was only twenty feet away.
I started to tell Aodhan how close we were, but he didn’t give me a chance. “Come on,” he said, holding out his bloody hand to help me to my feet. “It’s time.”
Beyond the briars and thorns, the ground was covered in dry, brown grass that crackled when we walked over it. Trees with no leaves dotted the landscape, their limbs reaching up to the sky in a silent plea for mercy. The ground turned rockier, and the trees were replaced by stout bushes that resembled steel wool.
The sun was hot and unforgiving in the jaundiced yellow sky, but we didn’t even stop for a drink. The scent of salty sea air mixed with sulfur got stronger the farther we walked. We came to the edge of a steep cliff before Aodhan spoke again. His voice was barely audible over the crash of waves below.
“The entrance to Aoife’s house is on the face of this cliff. The path is steep, so stay alert.”
I looked over the ledge and down the narrow path, the wind whipping strands of hair in my eyes. I saw the gaping mouth of a cave halfway down to the rocky shore. Aoife had chosen the perfect place to live if she didn’t want visitors.
I followed close on Aodhan’s heels. As I walked, I leaned my body into the rocky wall.
When we reached the cave, I could only see about five feet inside before the path was swallowed up by darkness. Aodhan walked in, and after three steps, a chain of fey lights blinked on in a domino effect, lighting the cavern within.
I hurried after him. The cave entrance was charcoal gray and smooth, but as we walked deeper inside, we came to a corridor carved with intricate scrollwork, like trees with long curly-cue branches. The corridor came to an end with two crescent-shaped wooden doors. Aodhan opened one side with no trouble—we must be expected. I shivered at the thought.
Inside was a high-ceilinged entryway, lit by dozens of fey lights lining the walls. Beautiful spiral designs were carved into every surface. It didn’t smell like the sea in here; there wasn’t really a smell at all, just clean air. But it was quiet, and each step we took felt like the beat of an ominous drum.
Three doors led out of the entryway. I looked over at Aodhan for instruction, and he headed for the one directly in front of us.
A gasp escaped my lips as we entered the room. I remembered this place from my dream of Liam and Aoife. A man sat casually across the room—the same one I had dreamed of standing there with a black bird on his arm, smirking at me.
Breanh.
“Welcome, Allison. I’m so pleased you came,” he said, a wicked grin spreading across his features. His black hair was shoulder length, framing his angular face.
At first I couldn’t think of anything to say. I just stared at him until I sensed how much he enjoyed my discomfort. I looked up at Aodhan, but he just stared blankly at Breanh.
“Where’s Ethan?” I asked, my voice as firm as I could make it.
“Oh, Ethan is fine. More than fine, you might say.” The look of delight on his face increased as he spoke. Breanh took a step toward us, and I shrunk back, which only seemed to add to his pleasure.
“I must tell you…I’m impressed you made it through those nasty vines. They tend to be such a problem,” he said with mock sincerity. “It’s just too bad Aodhan wasn’t so lucky.”
Before I could say aloud that this guy was a total lunatic, Aodhan’s form wavered beside me. I came close to screaming when I realized the man by my side was not Aodhan at all, but a complete stranger wearing a glamour.
Icy cold panic ran through me as Breanh looked on with another cruel smirk.
“What have you done with him?” I whispered.
He leaned forward on the balls of his feet, as though he was savoring my fear. “Aodhan took a terrible fall into a pit below the vines. I do hope he’ll make it out soon. I’d love to see him.”
“You’re a monster.” I took a deep breath, forcing myself to focus on the fact that Aodhan was still alive. I needed to find Ethan before he was completely enthralled by any of those women, then I would somehow find Aodhan in the thorny vines.
“This doesn’t have to be painful, Allison,” he said, speaking each word slowly.
“I just want to bring Ethan home,” I said, hating the way my voice sounded so small.
“Of course you do.” His words dripped with false sympathy. “And you will have him just as soon as Aoife is returned here.”
“You think I know where Aoife is? Last I knew, Liam and Niamh captured her in a fey globe and gave it to Deaghlan.”
With a flick of Breanh’s wrist a curtain at the opposite end of the room lifted. “I believe you can be persuaded to find out more.”
Behind the curtain, my nightmare came to life. On a low bed covered with silky sheets lay Ethan. Tangled up in his limbs were the women from my dream. They all ran their hands along his naked body, making sounds of lust and longing. His eyes were closed, and his lips were parted as they kissed his arms and stroked his thighs.
The girl who had been glamoured as me ran her
tongue from his navel to his clavicle and turned her head to smirk at me.
My knees went weak, and I held onto the wall to keep my balance. If he slept with one of them—I shuddered at the thought—he’d end up addicted to her, the way my mother was addicted to my father. He could end up schizophrenic, too, or worse. The room grew hotter as I struggled to breathe.
“As you can see, Ethan is a bit preoccupied. I’m sure while we wait, you and I can come to an arrangement of some sort.”
“Ethan!” I shouted, my chest starting to heave in panic. “Ethan, look at me!”
Breanh laughed, slowly clapping his hands. Ethan didn’t open his eyes but rolled his head back as the women continued nipping and tasting his skin.
Unable to watch anymore, I ran toward the bed. “Ethan, listen to me!”
Before I made it halfway, Breanh grabbed me. He chuckled in my ear as he gripped my neck. “You actually think Ethan would prefer you?” He laughed. “I can be very patient, Allison. And you have no idea how much I will enjoy getting you to cooperate.”
The sound of footsteps behind us surprised Breanh. He turned around, taking me with him.
“Just what do you have in mind, Breanh?” The woman standing there had her eyebrow arched up over one of her bright azure eyes as she waited for a response. Her black hair was loose and cascaded over the shoulders of her deep navy gown. At the base of her throat was a silver amulet on a delicate silver chain.
Breanh’s hold on me loosened, and I sucked in a deep breath.
“Aoife. You’re here at last,” he crooned to her.
“Answer the question,” she said, not moving.
“I would do anything to get you back where you belong, of course.”
“I see,” she said coldly. “Then let her go.”
Breanh’s arms fell to his sides. Without pausing to consider what was happening, I ran to Ethan. He lay alone on the bed now—the females had apparently scattered when Aoife arrived. His head was on a pillow, and his eyes were closed. Fingers trembling, I pulled the sheet up to cover his body before turning back to Breanh and Aoife.