One Blood Ruby
Page 24
Zephyr’s sword hung loosely in his grip. There was nothing here he could do, no enemy to battle. “She’s hurt.”
The king stared at the earthen mound, at his daughter on it, and he yelled, “Endellion! What are you doing? Get up here, woman. Do you hear me?”
For a moment, faeries paused, glancing at their king. Zephyr wasn’t sure if he truly thought it would work or not. It didn’t.
“Eilidh,” Zephyr began, walking toward his aunt and father. “Can you hear me?”
The broken princess didn’t respond.
“Go after Nacton, Rhys,” the king barked. “Don’t kill him though. Your mother will be in a snit if he’s dead when she gets out.”
As much as Zephyr appreciated the optimism in the king’s voice, he wasn’t sure it was warranted. There was only so long anyone could go without air, and from the sounds of Lily’s voice, they didn’t have much longer. That wasn’t even taking into consideration whatever injuries made them take to ground.
Rhys went after Nacton, and the king’s cheerful tone vanished as he said, “Can you reach them?”
Zephyr tried to talk to the earth, but it ignored him.
“No one can get an answer,” Creed said. He nodded toward the fae digging next to him. “They all tried.”
So Zephyr tried to read Lily or Endellion instead. “Lily? Your majesty? Can either of you hear?”
All he heard was silence.
The faeries were scraping away. The king was alternating yelling for his wife and trying to talk to Eilidh. Creed was clawing at the ground frantically, undoubtedly realizing that Zephyr not answering was bad.
Zephyr debated using his sword for a shovel. He didn’t know what else to do. He jabbed it into the mound and started to pull back dirt, and he heard the queen, “Family. Blade.”
“Yes!” Zephyr answered. “Family. Blade. Our blade.”
The sword had the ability to find the ones whose blood was fed to it. Zephyr had taken that literally, but it was more than that. It could find her. With it in his hand, Zephyr said, “Let me reach you. Please!”
The queen didn’t answer, but Eilidh walked to him. She looked like clarity was returning to her. Whatever had driven her was releasing.
“Your mother needs us. Lily needs us,” Zephyr told her.
“Safe.”
Torquil walked up to them and reached out as if he’d embrace her. “They are not safe, Patches. Not under the earth.”
For an instant, she stared at him. There was something alien in her expression that was receding. Then she started to cry as she flung her arms open. At her gesture, soil and plant and serpent were tossed aside in a veritable explosion.
The earthen tomb was unsealed, and Zephyr could see its inhabitants.
The queen and Lily were there, both mud and blood covered. Eilidh dropped to the ground between them and gripped one of each fallen woman’s hands. The earth bubbled around them. Fire danced from Eilidh’s body to theirs. Water surged through the ground from the not-so-distant sea, and breezes battered them.
As Zephyr watched, both the queen and Lily opened their eyes at once. They seemed to be healing. Lily was breathing, and arrows were being plucked from the queen’s body as if by invisible hands.
Eilidh smiled and then all three women closed their eyes simultaneously. They were alive. All three were alive.
Zephyr watched in a mix of relief and pain as each of the three had someone to pick them up and carry them to safety. He glanced at the assorted fae who were watching the trio of fae royal women being pulled from the ground.
“Come,” he ordered. “We will guard them.”
This was his future now. His duty was to these women, to guard them as they ushered in a new era of safety. It was enough.
forty-seven
LILY
Lily woke in a room that looked like neither her bedroom at home or at St. Columba’s. Her father was sleeping in a bed on one side of her, and the queen was propped up watching them both in a bed on the other side.
“What happened?”
“We were attacked,” Endellion said simply.
“Daidí?”
“Was attacked in the other world, visiting your . . . Creed.” Endellion looked as though she wanted to wipe something unpleasant from her hands.
“What?”
The Queen of Blood and Rage sighed. “He was useful. I do not approve of a Seelie-born with you, especially as it appears that your father is also fae-blood with Seelie associations. My great-grandchild will already be more Seelie than Unseelie.”
“Great . . . grand . . .” Lily blinked at her. “Not pregnant.”
The queen waved her hand dismissively. “You will be eventually. The point of a unified throne was balance.”
Lily wisely decided not to point out that anyone she wed in the far distant future would be more one court or the other. She suspected her grandmother knew that, but was simply objecting to which court had more blood on the ruling throne. “I think there are plenty of years to sort that out.”
“Or,” said a cheerful voice from the doorway. “We could let your grandson marry Violet? Seelie and Unseelie. Fae and human. There’s potential there, Dell.”
Lily looked around quickly to make sure Zephyr wasn’t there. She couldn’t imagine him ever being ready to move on, but she was, at least, relieved to hear him mentioned. That meant he was alive. She shook her head at her grandfather and then glanced at her bruised friends behind him. “What happened to everyone?”
“Shot,” Will said.
“Snake bites,” Creed said in an equally mild tone as he came over to her side. He leaned down and kissed her.
“I see you,” Daidí muttered in a raspy voice.
Lily glanced his way. “Shot, Daidí?”
He shrugged and then winced. “It’s healing.”
“Zephyr is fine. He’s with Eilidh,” Creed said quietly. “Everyone’s fine.”
“Who attacked us?”
Endellion folded her arms and glared at Leith. “Tell her.”
The King of Fire and Truth sighed. “I was wrong, Dell. I should’ve listened, but I’m telling you, he’s sorry.”
“Nacton?” Lily asked. “But . . . why? Okay, he doesn’t want me on the throne, but he shot the queen?”
The queen snorted. “He never liked me. Hated me before the courts were unified, and afterward . . .” She narrowed her eyes and stared at her husband as she said, “Do you know that petty fool started all those stories of wicked stepmothers in the human world?”
Lily laughed, despite herself.
“You threatened to drown him,” Leith said lightly.
“He stabbed my son!”
Leith shook his head, but he was smiling at the queen. “He’s been sentenced to work toward peace in the human world. If he fails, he’ll die.”
“Die?” Lily echoed.
“Treason results in exile. He attacked the queen and the heir.” The King of Fire and Truth sighed deeply.
It made a certain sort of sense, really. Nacton wanted the peace accord to fail. He wanted the courts divided. He thought himself safe from retribution because he was the king’s son.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t a recipe for the sort of peace she’d traded her freedom to buy. “So we’re trusting Nacton to move forward in peace negotiations?”
Leith laughed. It wasn’t as disconcerting that he was jocular in the face of her temper now that Lily realized that it was likely that a few centuries with Endellion as a wife and Nacton as a son and . . . well, ruling faeries meant that he could either find amusement or be surly. The queen had opted for that approach. She ruled with fear, whereas the king ruled with smiles. Lily had begun to suspect both were somewhat feigned.
“The humans want a diplomatic liaison,” Daidí said.
Lily glanced at him.
“Apparently, being raised by an amoral criminal means that you would be able to understand the fae,” he continued.
The queen snorted.
Daidí kept explaining. “And the media is charmed by your romance with the rock star.” He paused to look at Creed. “So if you two are willing to take the task . . . Your friends Violet and Erik are already there, and both are sworn to keep you safe.”
“As is Nacton,” Leith added.
Endellion laughed again.
“Dell, he’ll die if anything happens to her,” Leith said in a tone that was painfully patient. “Do you think he wants to stay in the human world forever or die? Those are the results if LilyDark is injured or the peace process doesn’t go well. He hates it there.”
At that, Endellion smiled contentedly. “There is that.”
Through almost all of the discussion up to this point, Creed was silent. Finally, he said, “I’m in. If you want to go back, I’m in. I’d like to sing, but I’m sure I can sing here too. It’s not the same, but . . .” He shrugged.
She could hear it though. It was what he wanted. It was what she wanted too. Not forever, but to move freely in the world, to be able to be in charge of working on the peace negotiations and fae-human relations. That all sounded far more appealing than being a figurehead here for court events. She glanced at her father.
Daidí shrugged with visible effort. “I agreed to be one of the human liaisons. There are others, but I said I would do it since I am not as likely to get killed because of my connection to the newly crowned faery princess.”
“And I could still spend time here?” Lily asked her father and grandparents. “I can do that, but I don’t want to not be able to come here. I want to see you, and the others.” She frowned. “What about Will? With the senator, isn’t he going to be a good choice to help?”
“He and Roan want to stay here,” Creed said. “Zephyr is undecided.”
Lily thought about it, all of them having a choice to do what they wanted. It was what she’d wanted, what they’d all wanted. She’d been willing to sacrifice her own choices so the rest of them had theirs. She wasn’t going to begrudge them that now, especially as she’d unexpectedly received a fair degree of control over her own life too. It was good, not perfect, but certainly far more than she’d dared to hope possible.
There was still a lot wrong in both worlds, and she didn’t trust that everything would go perfectly. That was life though. It was messy and complicated. She squeezed Creed’s hand and said, “I’m in.”
Creed kissed her. “My clever, deadly girl.”
Her family and friends were safe right now, and they were at the start of a peace between the worlds. They’d figure the rest out as they went.
Acknowledgments
All books require a lot of support, even when the support is simply to keep the author from crippling self-doubt or fits of mad research. Sometimes it’s a few people who are always there, and other times, new voices arrive. In no particular order, the support team for this book is:
Bill Grandy, for being such a patient and talented longsword coach. Thank you for lessons and answering a thousand questions.
Tera Latendresse, you’re somewhere between a bad influence and a great influence. Thank you for both sides.
Jeannette and Asia, thank you for reading and shredding this and for moral support when I’m struggling.
Neil, you really are my faery godfather sometimes. So much love to you and yours.
Kelley, from books to cons to travels, you’ve been an awesome coconspirator. Thank you for the plotting and for the steadiness.
Youval, thanks for the longsword . . . and everything else.
Rachael, after twenty-four years, I still think you’re perfect—and more essential than air. I’d have been broken in a corner a long time ago without you on my side.
And to my family, it’s been a rough year. I’m grateful you’re rowing this boat with me.
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About the Author
MELISSA MARR is the New York Times bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series as well as the adult fantasy novels Graveminder and The Arrivals. When not traveling, Melissa can be found in Phoenix or online at www.melissamarrbooks.com.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Books by Melissa Marr
Wicked Lovely
Wicked Lovely with Bonus Material
Ink Exchange
Fragile Eternity
Radiant Shadows
Darkest Mercy
Stopping Time
Old Habits
Stopping Time and Old Habits
Wicked Lovely: Desert Tales
(Art by Xian Nu Studio)
Volume 1: Sanctuary
Volume 2: Challenge
Volume 3: Resolve
Faery Tales & Nightmares
Made for You
Graveminder
The Arrivals
Bunny Roo (illustrated by Teagan White)
Writing as M. A. Marr, Coauthored with K. L. Armstrong
Loki’s Wolves
Odin’s Ravens
Thor’s Serpents
Untamed City: Carnival of Secrets
Untamed City: Carnival of Lies
Love Struck
Seven Black Diamonds
One Blood Ruby
Credits
Hand lettering by Sean Freeman
Cover photographs by Shutterstock.com
Photograph manipulation by Sebastien Hue and Tyler Huff
Copyright
ONE BLOOD RUBY. Copyright © 2017 by Melissa Marr. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.epicreads.com
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2016938977
ISBN 978-0-06-208416-3
EPub Edition © February 2017 ISBN 9780062084187
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FIRST EDITION
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