by KJ Baker
“Is it done?”
A woman stepped out from beneath the trees. She was tall, almost as tall as Raven, willowy and graceful. She had long hair that fell to her knees and wore a figure-hugging dress that shimmered in the starlight like fish scales.
Something about her tugged at my memory. Where had I seen her before?
Dark Hair licked his lips, obviously nervous. “There was some...trouble,” he said. “Rillana is still alive.”
The woman hissed. “You are like children!” she snapped. “You cannot even do the most basic of tasks without me holding your hands! Do you know what trouble she will cause if she awakes? If she reveals what she knows—”
“She won’t,” Simeon Ash said. “She’s as good as dead anyway. She won’t wake up.”
The woman turned to him and he flinched. “Oh, you know that do you? Since when did the great Simeon Ash become a seer as well as a traitor?”
Simeon bridled at this. “I am no traitor! Everything I do I do for the good of the Fae people!”
The woman smiled, seemingly amused by Simeon’s discomfort. “Well, Taviel? I’m waiting for an explanation.”
Dark Hair grimaced. “We were interrupted. Somebody discovered us.”
“Who?”
Dark Hair pointed in my direction and the woman’s eyes snapped to me. I suddenly understood why Simeon had flinched. This woman’s gaze was like a pair of twin daggers. A sliver of recognition slithered through me. Where had I seen her before?
“Ah,” the woman said, stepping languidly forward. She seemed to flow across the ground like water. “The mortal. Now this is a little unexpected. Why have you brought her here, Taviel? You should have killed her.”
“She is worth more to us alive. Whilst we hold her, we have an advantage over Arion. He will do anything to have her back. She is a valuable hostage.”
The woman came to stand in front of me. She was taller than me but I forced myself to hold my ground, refusing to be intimidated, even though my heart was racing.
She cocked her head, examining me as if I was an insect. “So, you’re Arion Storm’s mate? Such a delicate little thing. So easy to break.”
“Not as easy as you think,” I replied. “Why don’t you try it?”
The woman laughed, a bright lovely sound that filled the clearing. “Ah, now that is a student of Princess Ffion if ever I’ve heard one! Be careful, my dear, lest I cut your defiant little tongue out.”
Dark Hair stalked to the woman’s side. “She should remain unharmed if we’re to use her against Arion. His obsession with this mortal impairs his judgment and that can only play into our hands. Even now he is no doubt going frantic trying to find her.”
The woman’s eyes narrowed, considering this. “Perhaps. It remains to be seen how this little set back will play out. But no matter. Things have been set in motion that cannot be undone. Soon all the Summerlands will rally to our cause. And when that happens...”
Dark Hair smiled suddenly, a cold cruel smile that sent a shiver right down my spine. “Then the Veil will fall.”
“And the Fae will take their rightful place at the apex of the world,” the woman added. Her smile was as cruel as Dark Hair’s.
Recognition hit me like a punch to the stomach. I suddenly remembered where I’d seen her before. It had not been in the flesh, but in a painting. A painting that hung on a wall in the Ravenhold. A painting that people left flowers beside in remembrance of the woman it depicted. A woman who was supposed to be dead. A woman whose murder had sparked the chain of events that led us here.
“You’re her!” I breathed. “You’re Eliana Rose! You’re the Spire!”
She raised an eyebrow. “Well done. Give the girl an apple.”
“But you’re supposed to be dead! Everyone thinks you were murdered! By a human!”
“Of course they do. Because that’s exactly what I want them to think.”
I stared at her, stunned. My mouth worked but I struggled to form words. The enormity of it all slowly began to sink in. The Spire wasn’t dead. She hadn’t been murdered by a mortal at all. She’d faked her own death and pinned the blame on a human.
“But...but...why?”
“Why do you think?” she snapped. “I am the Spire! I am the spiritual guardian of my people. It is my duty to see they remain strong, to see that they prosper!”
She advanced on me and I found myself backing away. Her eyes were alight with fervor, with the unbreakable conviction of a fanatic.
“I have served for centuries! Centuries of watching my people fall into decline! Of seeing them become so much less than they were, of what they should be! Falling into lethargy and indolence. Becoming little better than the mortals we once ruled. I could stand it no longer. Something had to be done before our culture, our way of life, was lost forever. But what could I do? My people have ever been divided. The Unseelie and the Seelie, two irreconcilable viewpoints with humanity at the center of it. I had to unite my people but I knew the Seelie would never ally with the Unseelie. They would always stand by humanity. Unless, that is, humanity did something so unspeakable that the Seelie would be led to question everything they believed.”
“So you faked your own death?” I said incredulously. “You set this whole thing up? You set your own people against each other?”
“I am trying to unite them!”
“Oh really? Tell that to the people of the Moon Court! Tell that to the families who’ll never see their loved ones again! Tell that to the refugees who’ve been forced to flee their homes!”
Eliana’s eyes flashed. “Everyone must make sacrifices for the greater good.”
“Sure. Keep telling yourself that.” I was suddenly furious. Who the hell did she think she was? The woman’s arrogance was staggering. “And what about the human who supposedly killed you? Let me guess: you used your glamor on him, didn’t you? Made him your slave so he’d do whatever you wanted?”
“Foolish girl!” she snapped. “Do not presume to judge me. You have no idea the responsibility that rests on my shoulders.”
“Oh, I’m the foolish one, am I? You’re the one who let one of your own priestesses discover what you’d done. That’s what happened isn’t it? Rillana found out, didn’t she? That’s why she fled to the Moon Court. That’s why you tried to kill her. Twice. Because you were terrified that she would reveal the truth.”
Eliana’s eyes flashed. “You know what? You’re really starting to irritate me. Taviel says we should keep you alive but I’m beginning to disagree.” She raised a hand and a white glow enveloped it.
I swallowed thickly and backed away. My eyes darted around the clearing, looking for a means of escape but Simeon and Dark Hair were standing behind me, blocking my path.
“Humanity will be taught its proper place,” Eliana grated. “It will bow before the might of the Fae, even if we have to teach them the lesson one human at a time. Starting with you.”
She pointed her finger at me and fire bloomed. I threw up my hands to protect myself just as she began to speak in the Fae language.
But she never finished the sentence. Something silver suddenly flashed through the clearing. There was a sound like tearing flesh, a scream, and I lowered my hand to see a knife lying on the ground by Eliana’s feet—along with two of the woman’s fingers.
She grunted in pain and clamped her hand over the bloody stumps. My eyes flew to the other side of the clearing. Figures stepped out of the trees.
Ffion smiled viciously at Eliana. “That,” she said, “was just a friendly warning.”
Hawk stood on Ffion’s other side, and to my surprise, Rillana, the Spire priestess, stood on the other. She looked pale and shaky, but her eyes blazed with an inner power as she glared at Eliana.
“It’s over,” said a voice from behind me. I turned to see another figure step into the glade, dressed all in black, twin blades held in either hand.
It was Raven, and he looked ready to kill.
Chapter 11
It was a scene I never thought I would see. Not even in my darkest nightmares had I expected to witness my mate in such mortal danger, a danger that came not from the Unseelie, but from the Spire. The Spire! The spiritual leader of my people. Our guide, our teacher, the mother of us all.
Yet here it was, unfolding in front of me like some garish horror story dredged from the depths of my worst imaginings.
My instincts were screaming at me to kill. These three people: Taviel, Simeon and the Spire were threatening my mate. They had to die. An almost uncontrollable rage coursed through my veins, not hot like fire, but as cold as ice.
“Are you all right?” I spoke to Asha but I didn’t take my eyes off Eliana. If the woman made any move towards my mate, my blade would be across her throat in an instant.
I felt rather than saw Asha nod. I stalked forward, putting her behind me, and faced the woman who had once been the center of Fae society. The woman who, it turned out, had lied to us all. Simeon Ash and Taviel did not move, knowing that if they did, Hawk and Ffion would skewer them both, but their eyes tracked me as I faced the Spire.
My brain struggled to comprehend what my eyes were seeing. Eliana Rose, the Spire, a woman thought dead, a woman thought murdered by a human, standing right in front of me, glaring at me with a cold, haughty gaze.
“How would you like to die?” I said quietly.
There was a slight tightening around her eyes but she betrayed no other reaction. “You think you have the power to best me? I am the Spire.”
“Were the Spire,” I corrected her. “But you gave up the right to call yourself that when you allied yourself with darkness. And you gave up the right to live when you threatened my mate.”
She smiled. “Your mate? A pitiful mortal? You bring shame upon your people by sullying yourself with such creatures. You could have been so much more, Arion Storm. I had such plans for you. You were to rule by my side, over all the Summerlands and the mortal realm together.”
“If you think I would ever have agreed to that then you truly are insane.”
She shook her head, a small, disbelieving smile on her face, like a mother disappointed in her child’s behavior. “Oh, Arion. Have you really not figured it out yet? I don’t need your agreement. Not when I have this.”
She held out her hand and Taviel handed her the Orb of Tir.
My eyes flicked to Taviel. He had been sent to the mortal realm to find the Orb of Tir, sent by the Unseelie. Or so I had believed. Now, it turned out, he’d been sent by the Spire.
The Orb’s metal surface gleamed dully in the darkness, its ugly runes catching the meager light from the moon. It looked uninspiring. Ugly, sure, but not something to strike fear into the hearts of anyone who saw it. But I knew looks could be deceiving. The orb was a weapon unlike any other. It had the power to tear the Veil between the Summerlands and the mortal realm.
“You recognize this, I see,” said Eliana. “Taviel tells me that you had the Orb in your grasp and you gave it up. All to save your little mortal bitch.”
“And I would do the same again in an instant. Enough talking. Give me the Orb. Now.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” she replied, wagging her finger at me as though I’d been a naughty boy.
Why did she seem so confident? Why did she seem more amused than alarmed by me, Hawk and Ffion’s appearance? She was the Spire, yes, and had formidable magic but I was the king of the Shadow Court and had formidable magic of my own. Hawk and Ffion were both better warriors than Taviel and Simeon. She was outmatched. So why could I not see the slightest hint of concern in her face?
Something didn’t feel right. I glanced at Ffion and Hawk, but their gazes were fixed on our adversaries and didn’t seem to have noticed anything. Simeon kept looking between myself and the Spire, trying to figure out what was going on but Taviel shared the Spire’s cool confidence.
No matter. None of them were leaving this clearing alive.
I burst into motion. My silver blades flashed as they cut through the air, one aiming high for the woman’s throat, the other stabbing lower, at her heart. At the same time, Ffion whirled towards Simeon and Hawk threw himself at Taviel.
The Spire’s grip on the Orb of Tir tightened and she spoke one word.
“Stop.”
My muscles contracted and I lurched to an abrupt halt, one of my blades coming to rest mere inches from her throat. Swiveling my eyes, I saw that Hawk and Ffion were similarly frozen.
What the—?
I tried to move, willing my arm to shift, trying to rake my blade across the woman’s jugular. But nothing happened. My body would not obey.
Eliana smiled, ducked under my blade, and then walked right up to me, putting her face close to mine. “Didn’t I tell you that I didn’t need your consent? You should have listened to me. You could have stood by my side through your own choice and together we would have elevated the Fae to their proper place. We’ll still do that, of course. But this time, you’ll have no choice in the matter.”
I managed to move my jaw just enough to grind out the words, “What are you talking about?”
Her smile was predatory. “Have you forgotten what the Orb of Tir can be used for?”
She held out the Orb and the runes along it flared with golden light. It speared into my brain, almost blinding me and I was powerless to close my eyes to block out the light. With it came...images.
Eliana shimmered before my eyes. She suddenly looked radiant. Her eyes sparkled, her lips were rosy red, her hair glistened like a curtain of starlight. She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. I was lucky, so lucky, to be in the presence of something so beautiful. So perfect.
Wait. That wasn’t right. Eliana wasn’t beautiful, she was a liar and a murderer. Somebody else’s face flashed into my mind, a woman with red hair and green eyes but just as quickly, the image vanished.
I didn’t seem to be able to think straight. My mind was suddenly filled with fog and I desperately tried to cling onto my thoughts but they slipped out of reach as though they’d been coated with oil.
No, I thought desperately. This isn’t right. What’s happening to me?
I summoned an image of the woman’s face, the woman with red hair and green eyes, and the image pushed the fog back a bit. As my thoughts momentarily cleared, a terrifying realization ripped through me. The Orb of Tir! It allowed the holder to use their glamor on a Fae. How could I have forgotten that?
Desperately, I scrabbled to recall a name. Asha. She was the woman with red hair and green eyes. My mate. The woman I loved more than life itself. A growl built in my throat. With a supreme effort of will, I forced my screaming muscles to move. I took one step towards Eliana and then another.
It was as far as I got. The Orb flared again and the fog rushed in to fill my mind, obliterating all thought. Then a command flared, written across my mind like blazing fire. Two words, clear and compelling.
Kill her.
The lethargy vanished and I could move again. As my mistress commanded, I spun on my heel, hefted my blades.
And rushed at the woman with red hair and green eyes.
ASHA
Horror. Absolute horror. That is the only word I could use to describe the sensation that washed through me as Raven turned to me with a look of blank unrecognition on his face. There was no expression, just emptiness, as though he didn’t see me at all.
“Raven?”
He did not reply. He rushed towards me, his movements stiff and jerky, like a puppet on strings. I backed away.
“What are you doing?”
He bared his teeth, the tendons in his neck suddenly taut with effort. I glanced around desperately. The Spire, Simeon and Dark Hair hadn’t moved but Ffion and Hawk were advancing on Rillana, their weapons drawn, moving with the same jerky movement as Raven. Rillana was backing off warily, one hand held out in front of her as though to keep them away.
What the hell was going on?
I took a st
ep to go to Rillana’s aid, but as quick as thought, one of Raven’s blades came swinging for my neck. Only Ffion’s training saved my life. Instinctively, I ducked under the blade and rolled, coming back to my feet. My heart pounded with fear and shock. Raven had just tried to kill me!
His other blade jabbed at me and I scrambled back, putting a tree trunk between us.
“Raven!” I cried desperately. “I don’t know what she’s done to you but you have to listen to me! Stop this! Fight it!”
Was that a flicker of recognition I saw in his eyes? Or was I only imagining it? His blade hammered into the tree trunk right by my head and stuck there. Without missing a beat, he came at me with the other one. Once, twice, three times, he swung at me, and each time I managed to evade his blows by the barest millimeter. Without Ffion’s training I would have been dead already. Never in my deepest, darkest nightmares had I thought I’d be using it to defend myself against Raven.
I was drenched with sweat, even though my veins were full of ice. Fear coursed through my blood, making my heart race and turning my legs to water.
“Raven!” I yelled, backing further into the woods, trying to keep him at bay.
Wood chips flew as his blade hacked into a branch by my feet. Leaves crunched underfoot as I scrambled away.
Run! A voice in my head screamed at me. Get away from him! He’s going to kill you!
But I couldn’t. This was Raven. Raven. The man I’d given up everything for. The man who’d vowed to stand by my side for the rest of my life. The man who’s love for me pulsed through the bond every moment of every day.
The bond.
I realized suddenly that I could no longer feel it. Or rather, I could feel it, but it had become muted somehow. I could still sense Raven—barely—but it felt like he’d been buried beneath an avalanche.
“What have you done to him?” I screamed at Eliana.
It was Dark Hair who answered. “Don’t you recognize it? Don’t you remember Gracie?”
