by Ann Gimpel
“Same way.” I reverted to normal speech as Ysir returned.
He settled into his chair, extracted a scroll from beneath one arm, and unrolled it. “Here.” He stabbed the map with a grimy index finger. “Or there.” He tapped a second spot. “These are the only two distant worlds that will support life. Although I fail to see why she’d remain in either place for long. Desolate as anything.” He clucked his tongue against his teeth.
“Have you been there?” Dariyah asked.
He glanced her way. “Oh my, yes. I’ve been everywhere. ’Twas I who mapped the universe. Others have come after me. Surely, they have, but I was the first.”
A pair of Sidhe trotted smartly into the small room where we sat and bowed to me. “We are here, Regent,” one said. Red wings fluttered where she’d pinned them behind her back.
“Aye, willing and ready to take care of our esteemed librarian,” the other chimed in. Her wings were a pale, gossamer blue that matched her eyes.
“Thank you for your assistance,” I told Ysir. “I will make a point of visiting more often.” I stood; so did Dariyah.
Ysir struggled to his feet. “I would like that, Regent. Please bring your friend with you. Something about her magic is…soothing. Tell Titania I miss her.”
“I will. Promise.” Tucking Dariyah’s hand in mine, I turned to leave. Behind me, I heard one of the Sidhe saying, “Let us draw you a bath, sire. While you bathe, we’ll get started cleaning, and—”
“You cannot move anything.” Ysir’s voice sounded stronger.
“Of course not. We’ll clean around everything,” the other Sidhe reassured him in a cheerful tone.
“They’ll be good for him,” Dariyah spoke low.
“I hope so,” I murmured. “We’ll return to my rooms, and then we’ll see if we can’t locate the queen.”
I could have teleported. It would have saved on questions if anyone saw us together, hand in hand, but I didn’t want to hide Dariyah from Faery. Eventually, that bird would come home to roost, and I’d have to face the disconnect between her mixed blood and our covenant. Since we were rewriting it anyway to ensure Oberon couldn’t saunter back into Faery and reclaim his throne, we could add a few other bits and pieces.
“It can’t be that simple,” Dariyah said as we crested the top of the stairs and turned down the hall toward my chambers. It proved she was still residing in my head.
“Why not?”
“Someone made that rule for a reason, the one about it being illegal for differing types of magic wielders to produce children.”
I sent magic to open my locked door. It swung inward obligingly, and I stood aside to let her enter ahead of me. Once we were within, I pushed the door shut and strengthened the warding I kept around my domain.
“I believe the person who forwarded that directive—and a whole lot of others that made little sense—was Oberon. Something about non-Fae offended him. Plus, he probably felt threatened by how robust mixed magics could turn out.”
Dariyah snorted. “Pfft. He wasn’t affronted enough by non-Fae to keep from hiring those like me to spy on you.”
“He never viewed hired help as more than part of the landscape. Besides, you didn’t live in Faery.”
She tugged a chair out from under my small table and dropped into it. “I hate to be a bother, but I need more to eat before we embark on a major journey. I can’t imagine it’s simple to get to those distant locales.”
“Not a bother at all. Let me get what we’ll need for the journey, and then we’ll stop by the casino. The kitchen can make whatever you’d like.”
She frowned. “Why not here?”
I’d been rustling through the cabinet where I keep magical accoutrements. “I’m afraid if we don’t make ourselves scarce, something else major will go wrong, and it will be that much harder to leave.”
Twisting to face her, I said, “I’ve always trusted my instincts, and they’ve been pushing me to hunt for Titania for a long while now. She’s the key to ousting Oberon. Why else would he have hidden her away?”
“How do you know she won’t support him? Don’t mind me. Just playing devil’s advocate.”
“I’m not 100 percent positive she won’t, but I’m willing to take a chance. Besides, she’s being held prisoner. It’s wrong. Regardless of her sentiments about her consort, I owe it to her to set her free if I can.”
I returned to my assortment of herbs and powders and crystals, placing ingredients carefully into containers in a small, flat leather case. Before I was done, Dariyah had gotten up and was leaning over my shoulder. “What are all those things?”
“Mostly items to strengthen my power, make it last longer in case we run into trouble. A few bits and pieces will help if we face unexpected adversaries.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Like whom?”
“Oberon must have left underlings watching over Titania. He’d never have chanced her escaping, which she’d be tempted to do.”
“Faery seemed to think she was asleep. Does someone drug her whenever she wakes up?”
I shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. If fate smiles on us, we’ll find out, but I don’t want to go all that way unprepared.”
“I trust you, which is so rare for me I scarcely recognize what it feels like. Hope I don’t live to regret it.” She closed her teeth over her lower lip.
“You won’t.” I’d never meant anything as fervently as those two words. Calling magic, I swept us to the stairwell leading upward into Lady Luck. Dariyah’s idea about tanking up on food was a good one. It would replenish my power too, plus who knew when our next meal would be. We didn’t linger inhaling generous portions of sushi, rice, and teriyaki balls. Because we were busy eating, talk was sparse.
“You don’t have to come,” I told her as the meal wound down.
“I know. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t apprehensive. Since I left Mother, I haven’t ventured far from Earth.” She stood and stacked her dishes on the tray they’d arrived on. “This is important. You’ve said you trust your intuition. Mine is screeching I have a role to play, and I’m not going to shirk whatever it is.”
I got to my feet, patted my jacket pocket to make certain I still had the leather case, and walked to her side. “I’m not certain how long this will take.”
She nodded. “It will go faster if we join our magic.”
I felt a shock as she reached for me with her power. The same sense of rightness, of being destined to work as one, rolled through me. Faery had said much the same. That we were fated to come together. I’d thought I knew all the prophecies concerning me. Apparently, I’d been mistaken. If I was missing this one, what else didn’t I know about?
I wove a teleport spell using both our skills. My office dropped away, replaced by the gray-black of long-distance travel castings. I had an arm around Dariyah, and she leaned into me. Her eyes were shut; tiny lines scribed around them. She was probably more tired than she’d let on. No matter how careful Faery had been, hosting an entity that powerful had to have been a huge drain. I threaded calming magic around Dariyah, silently urging her to rest while she could.
In far less time than I’d thought possible, the edges of our joint spell developed a gray aspect, which meant we were nearly at our destination. Not sure what to expect, I roused Dariyah. “Almost time,” I said. My words were an understatement. The spell broke apart around us, dropping us onto a small island in the middle of a restless sea.
“This can’t be right,” Dariyah said. “Unless this place is like Waterworld.”
I recognized the name as a movie, but I’d never seen it. Stretching seeking strands as far as I could, I searched for a land mass and found one. A quick hop and we stood on a scruffy patch of dirt in the middle of a flock of long-necked golden birds. Startled, they honked and cawed, taking flight, but not going very far from us.
“I don’t sense any people here,” Dariyah said, “but I could have missed something.”
I had no idea if the birds were sentient, but it was worth a shot. Reaching for the nearest one with my mind, I said, “Forgive the intrusion. We have traveled far and seek Faery’s queen. She has been missing for a long while.”
The bird was about the size of a large goose. He turned toward me and angled his head to one side. “And you are?” he squawked.
“Cynwrigg ap Llyr.” I bowed.
“And you?” The bird aimed his beady dark eyes at Dariyah.
“My name is Dariyah.”
A storm of honking ensued. “Not your true name. Neither is it your only one,” the bird intoned. “Faery’s queen is not here. We would never be party to an abduction.”
My eyebrows shot up. “You know about it?”
“Aye. We do. May luck travel with you.” He rose into the air. After a momentary pause, the other birds took flight, tracking after him.
“Of course it’s my name,” Dariyah sputtered. “It’s the only one Mother ever called me.”
“It seems like your proper name, but such things can be hidden for the best of reasons,” I murmured soothingly and added, “Let’s attack one riddle at a time.” Marshaling our power, I set coordinates for the other world Ysir had flagged. If we struck out there too, this might be a much shorter trip than I’d anticipated.
The second world was close. It didn’t take five minutes before an expanse of violet sky took shape above us. Probably because the other world had been so benign, I’d dropped my guard.
Before the rest of this place finished materializing, we faced a circle of male Fae. I counted five, but others could have been warded and out of sight. I waited until my feet were firmly planted on sandy ground before I said, “I know all of you. You should be in the Dreaming.”
“The king required our services.” The nearest Fae tossed a mane of red hair out of the way.
“Oberon said you’d show up.” Another man, this one sporting unevenly trimmed brown curls, displayed a mouthful of teeth. “You’re just as poor an excuse for a regent as he said. If you’d been on your toes, you’d have traveled here long ago.”
“If you leave now,” a third said, “we’ll allow it.”
“And if we don’t?” I kept my tone deceptively mild.
“Plenty of room in the pit with the queen.” He chortled, amused by his own joke.
The first Fae rounded on him. “Shut up.”
“Why? Numb-nuts here figured things out.”
I exchanged a brief glance with Dariyah before testing the waters with this bunch. “All right. We’ll clear out as soon as our magic has had a bit of time to recover.”
The one who’d labeled me “numb-nuts” thumped my chest with an index finger. “No one said shit about the Witch leaving, mate. We could do with a spot of entertainment. Gets dull around here.”
“Oh really, boys?” Dariyah took a step away from my side and then another. “You think you want me. Come and get me. This should be a hoot.”
I’d planned on something more subtle. Sneaking about under the guise of needing time to rebuild my magic. Dariyah was more of an in-your-face mage. It was one of many things I was coming to love about her.
“Cyn?” she jabbed me with magic.
That’s the thing about working with a partner. You back their plays. “We got this,” I told her and tossed my magic wide open.
15
Chapter Fifteen, Dariyah
So I was the entertainment committee, huh? We’d see about that, and not in a way this crew of jokers would appreciate. Even without Cyn’s magic, I could eat them for breakfast and spit them into the wind. Together, we’d make the horny upstarts sorry they’d gotten out of bed this morning.
I’d done a cursory search and hadn’t turned up any more Fae, but neither had I found Titania. If her presence was that closely guarded, others could be in hiding as well. Best not take anything for granted. I had no idea what all the powders and potions in Cyn’s pouch were about. I’d always done my magic au naturel, using the gifts living within me. Except for the occasions I resorted to a knife.
It was how Mother had taught me. If I’d been raised in Faery, I might have learned differently.
No. If I’d grown up in Faery, the growing up part never would have happened. Anger at the injustice of it added fuel to my willingness to flatten the Fae who thought they’d dick with me. No one laid a hand on me without my permission. No one.
“Come and get you, darling?” The red-haired Fae leered at me. “With pleasure.”
“Feel free to give it a shot.” I added honey to my words, and the stupid twit fell for it.
I waited until he was close enough the bulge in his pants was almost touching me before loosing a stream of magic at his crotch. Not only mine, but the mingled power Cyn and I produced. The Fae screeched as if he’d been skinned alive and grabbed his distended cock as he hopped from foot to foot.
“What did you do?” he howled.
I dusted my hands together. “Nothing much. You never needed that body part, so you won’t mind watching it wither and rot away.”
“He won’t live that long,” Cynwrigg snarled, his hands a blur as he pounded power into a noose that wound around the Fae’s neck like a homing pigeon.
“Creative.” I gave Cyn a thumbs up and instructed the rope to tighten, but oh so slowly. The bastard had been ready to rape me. He deserved to suffer before his pathetic excuse for a life was snuffed out.
The other four leapt toward us. I’m sure they made a bunch of bad assumptions, the first being that my supposed Witchy powers were inferior. Too bad for them Oberon’s whole ethnic superiority propaganda gig had been woefully shortsighted. I’d met some extremely strong Witches in my time.
“Dibs on them.” I sprang through the air toward the two nearest me. Their magic collided with mine forming a crackling mess of a blaze. I hacked through it and kicked one in the nuts. He dropped like a stone, screeching.
Sheesh. Men. They were such a bunch of pussies.
I caught glimpses of Cynwrigg out of the corners of my eyes. A blade had materialized from somewhere, glowing with power as he leapt and swung and parried. It shouldn’t have surprised me he’d been well-trained in military arts, but it did. I’d figured everyone in Faery only fought with magic.
I know better than to divert my attention—for anything. Knowing and doing aren’t the same, though. While I was admiring Cyn’s skills, my other selected victim circled round behind me and grabbed my arms. Something like an executioner’s hood dropped over my head. It smelled musty and reeked of fear. I felt sorry for the person who’d worn it last. Power oozed from it. If I’d been anything other than what I am, it might have slowed me down. A quick assessment gave me what I needed to defeat its insidious folds.
Meanwhile, the dick who’d snatched my arms had moved a hand to one of my breasts. His hard-on prodded my ass. I’d been humoring him while I built a spell to rip the stupid hood to shreds. No more. Kicking my head back, I rammed his face hard enough to break his nose. Bones shattered with a satisfying crack.
It had the desired effect. He dropped his hold on me as if I’d suddenly become too hot to handle. The analogy amused me—and gave me an idea. I fed earth and fire to the hood. I knew better than to try to rip it off. He’d spelled it to remain in place, but he couldn’t do much about me destroying it. Smoke rose, along with the stench of burning hair. My hair, but it was a small price. I added water to my casting, instructing it to beat back the flames.
“Damn it, Dariyah.” I heard Cyn as if from a great distance away.
Ripping and tearing battered my ears as the enchanted hood was gutted from the crown of my head downward. Blackened shards fluttered to the ground all around me. Spinning, I nailed my assailant with more than enough magic to flatten him, and then I pinned him to the earth with burning cords designed to erode his flesh.
Two could play this game, and he’d pissed me off. Cyn was tucking a glowing blade back into the pouch he’d put together back in Faery. Magical to its
core, the length of glowing metal was capable of many forms, from the longsword he’d fought with to whatever he’d used to slice the hood open. Handy it got small enough to tuck away.
I wanted one just like it. Even though I relied on magic, I was clever with knives.
“We concede,” the one I’d booted in the nuts croaked. “Free us, and we’ll return to the Dreaming and—”
“The fuck you will,” Cyn snarled. “Where is Titania?”
A sly look stole over his twisted features. “After I show you, then you’ll release me to the Dreaming.”
“Perhaps.”
I opened my mouth to lodge a protest, but snapped it shut. Cyn was hedging. We could find the queen on our own, but it would be simpler if we didn’t have to waste time hunting. A quick glance confirmed the greeting party weren’t a threat any longer. The one with the noose around his neck lay comatose and twitching. Cop-a-Feel dude was slowly turning into a smoldering sacrifice. The two Cynwrigg had worked over had a dazed look, as if their minds were gone. The only one on his feet was the one whose nose I’d broken, and he’d shifted his focus from everyone being released to saving his own hide.
No loyalty among blackguards and thieves.
The earth beneath my feet began to hum. “Cyn!” I shouted and stamped the packed dirt. Alarm sluiced through me. Fighting people was one thing, but this felt like an assault from the heart of this world. A long, jagged crack formed amid hissing and popping as the earth pulled apart.
It was a lot like the rift I’d healed for Faery, but that one had been static, not reshaping itself by the minute. I experimented with a thin strip of the same mix of power I’d used before. Something snatched it and chucked it back in my face, a giant hand reaching out and slapping me. My ears rang, my eyes watered, and I thanked my common sense for starting small. A gutsier exploratory sequence could have seriously injured me.
Cyn vaulted to my side and grabbed a hand. “On my count of three,” he said.
“What are we doing?”
“Jumping.” He jerked his chin at the widening gap.