Grace Unchained - Phoenix Throne Book Five

by Heather Walker

  She whispered in his ear. “I love you, Jamie.”

  His face fell against her shoulder. The weight of his decision crushed his spirit. He wanted her so bad. He wanted to cling to her and never let her go. She lifted her face and kissed him on the mouth. He tasted all the pleasures of last night on her lips, along with so many dreams and fantasies of their life and future together in Urlu. None of that would happen now.

  She disengaged herself and stepped away. He could only watch her move toward the shadow. She turned back at the last moment. “Bye.”

  She slipped into the shadow and was gone.

  Chapter 21

  Grace halted on the other side of the doorway to look back. Empty woods surrounded her where Jamie once stood. The foliage was different. He was on the other side, far away on the other side of eternity.

  She turned away and headed down the hill. Her legs weighed a ton so she could barely lift them. Why did she have to fall in love with a man who did this? Why couldn’t he accept her staying with him?

  She hated to think of him facing those giants alone. He must realize he couldn’t survive another attack, especially without someone helping him. Why did he have to be so stubborn?

  The birds squawked in the Aviary when she passed. They grated on her nerves like never before. Every sound set her on edge. She didn’t want to be here. This world repelled her somehow. She didn’t belong here anymore.

  What happened? Last night happened. This might have been coming for a long time, but last night capped it. It had begun long before now. She’d started moving away from Mike in her heart a long time ago, so long ago she couldn’t even remember the exact moment it happened.

  Either way, a guy like Mike could never hold a candle to Jamie. He occupied so much space in her life she couldn’t think of any other man. She’d never really loved until now. She’d never understood what love was. She’d never considered letting someone into her heart like this.

  Now she’d lost him, just like that. She wanted to sit down against the Aviary wall and cry her eyes out, but she refused to let herself fall apart. She pushed down the hill and past the Rose Garden.

  The traffic noise on the streets clanged against her ear. How could anyone live in a world like this? How did she ever stand it all these years? She longed for the peace and tranquility of the village, even if she had to fight to the death to get it.

  She cringed when cars whizzed past at the crosswalk. She had to get out of here. She had to get somewhere quiet where she could think. She picked up the pace and turned her steps toward home.

  She found the front door open. When she walked in, Nora hopped off the couch where she sat eating a bowl of ice cream and playing on her phone. “Oh! I wasn’t expecting you back. Where have you been? I hope you don’t mind me…”

  Grace waved her hand. “Sit down. You don’t have to get up when I enter a room. Consider this your place as much as mine.”

  Nora looked both ways. “Uh, okay.”

  Grace sat down in the chair opposite. The house definitely looked lived in—a lot more lived in than it ever looked when Grace lived here with Mike. Nora brought some sense of life to the place.

  Grace could understand now why Carmen gave Lucy her house. Carmen wouldn’t need it anymore. Carmen had never really lived in it herself. She’d always worked or went out in her free time. The house was nothing but a stopping place on the way to somewhere else. Anybody could see no one loved it or made it their own.

  Nora fidgeted. She didn’t know what to do with herself, now that Grace showed up. Grace got the impression she should leave. “How are you doing, Nora?” she asked. “Have the police made any progress on figuring out what caused that fire?”

  “They figured out it wasn’t electrical and it wasn’t started by a gas leak or arson,” Nora replied. “They say it started in Ivy’s bedroom, but that makes no sense. They think it started from some incense or candles or something, but she wasn’t there. They already determined no one was in the house, and now Alexis turned up missing, too.”

  Grace’s head shot up. “Alexis! What about her?”

  “She wasn’t in the house, either. No one was.”

  “What do you know about Alexis?” Grace did her best not to shriek at the poor girl.

  “She’s Ivy’s roommate,” Nora replied. “I thought you knew that.”

  Grace’s hand flew to her forehead. “How could I know that? Tell me everything.”

  “I just did,” Nora replied. “Alexis is Ivy’s roommate—or she used to be.”

  Grace jumped to her feet and paced around the room. “This is incredible!”

  “What’s so incredible about it?” Nora asked. “It doesn’t mean anything, except that they both disappeared at the same time. The police are trying to find out if they had some kind of lesbian relationship and ran off together. They want to know if they burned down the house to stop anybody finding out about it. Isn’t that ridiculous?”

  Grace came to a halt in front of the girl. “Do you know anything about Ivy’s aunt Lucy?”

  Nora frowned. “She might have mentioned her aunt a few times.”

  “Can you remember what she said?”

  “Only that she had an aunt named Lucy,” Nora replied. “She always loved her aunt Lucy.”

  Grace threw up her hands. “This is amazing. They must have done it together.”

  “Did what together?”

  “Never mind.” Grace raced around the room. Her mind ran a mile a minute. “I’m not sticking around Nora. You can stay here. You can stay here forever if you want to. I might be gone a long time. Don’t feel in any rush to find another place to live.”

  Nora got up off the couch. “Where are you going? Do you need me to do anything?”

  “Stay where you are,” Grace called from the kitchen. “I’m going out. You’re already doing everything you can for me by staying here. Just keep the place going while I’m gone. You don’t have to worry about the power or the property tax. All that comes out of our bank account on automatic payment, and we don’t owe anything on the place. You should be fine for a good long while.”

  Nora’s eyebrows flew up. “Are you sure about this?”

  Grace laughed. “I’m very sure. Just stay here. It puts my mind at ease to know someone’s taking care of the house while I’m gone.”

  “I don’t know about this,” Nora replied. “I don’t feel right just moving into somebody’s house. It doesn’t seem right.”

  Grace squeezed her arm. “It’s okay. Don’t think about it too much. Just enjoy yourself.”

  Grace raced down the hall to Mike’s office. She pawed through his desk drawers in search of something. She pulled out an envelope and checked inside it. Then she rummaged in the closet and pulled out two big heavy canvas duffel bags.

  “What are you doing?” Nora asked from the doorway. “Where are you going?”

  “There’s something I have to do. First, I’m going to see Lucy. Then…. well, I don’t know what I’ll do. I can’t stay here, though. I can’t sit on my hands and do nothing.”

  She ran past Nora to the kitchen. She snatched up her handbag. She hadn’t touched it since this whole thing got started. “See ya later. Don’t eat too much ice cream.”

  She burst into the garage and fired up the car while the garage door scrolled up. Grace screeched into the street and motored straight for Carmen’s house. She pounded on the door, but no one answered.

  She threw the car into reverse and drove through the town in search of…. something. Where could she go? What could she do? She couldn’t stay here. She couldn’t let Jamie fight those giants alone, no matter what he said.

  She burned down the street going way too fast until she spied a crystal shop downtown. She screeched into the nearest parking space and slammed the car door. She found Angelo standing at the counter. “You have to help me Angelo,” she blurted out.

  “Sure thing,” he replied. “What do you need?”

  “I need you t
o help me find someone—someone on the other side.”

  His eyes widened. “Over there, you mean?”

  “There are two of them—two that I know of so far,” Grace told him. “They were roommates, and they disappeared at the same time. One of them knew the spell—at least, she heard about the spell in childhood. Either she remembered it all this time and tried it out with her roommate, or she worked the spell accidentally and transported both of them over there. Something must have gone wrong, because the house they were in burned down at the same time.”

  Angelo frowned. “That’s weird. The spell makes a bright light, but I never heard of it causing any fire.”

  “Either way, one of them is over there. I saw her there, but then she disappeared. I need you to help me find her.”

  “I can find her. Getting her back is another thing.”

  “I don’t want to get her back,” Grace replied. “I want her to do something for me over there.”

  “What is it?”

  Grace fought down her mounting agitation. She had to keep calm, just a little longer. She had to make him understand so he would help her. “The curse—do you know about the curse? I thought so. Whenever anybody goes over there, it creates these curses. Hazel caused one when she sent us through, and now these women have created another one. It’s causing problems over there. Jamie is over there right now. He’s fighting incredible odds alone, and he can’t win. We need to find Alexis.”

  “Is she the one that worked the spell in the first place?” Angelo asked.

  “As far as I can tell, it was Ivy, her roommate.”

  “Then it won’t work to find the other one,” Angelo replied. “We have to find the one that worked the spell.”

  Grace shook her head. “Ivy is under the ocean somewhere. That’s what Fergus says, and I know for a fact Alexis is there. I’ve seen her and the…well, the curse is concentrating on her.”

  “If you know where she is, what do you want me to do?” he asked.

  “I know she’s nearby, but I don’t know where she is. I need to find her so she can deal with the forces of the curse. I know she has the power to do it. I just have to find her.”

  Angelo sighed. “All right. What will you do once you find her?”

  “I’ll take her where the fight is, I guess. I suppose I could bring her back here, and you could send us to the fight, but she should have the power to transport us there herself. Or maybe I could bring her and Ivy back here. That would lift the curse, and that would solve the problem.”

  “You can’t,” he told her. “If I send you to where Alexis is, you won’t be able to get back.”

  “Why not?” she asked. “I’ve been going back and forth all this time.”

  “You won’t be able to now. You won’t be able to go back and forth anymore. Is that what you want?”

  Grace stared at him. Is that what she wanted? Did she really want to go back over there and stay there? She wouldn’t be where Jamie was, either. She’d be stuck somewhere with Alexis. She really couldn’t be certain Alexis would be willing or able to transport the both of them anywhere. She could wind up trapped somewhere with no way out.

  She took a deep breath. “I don’t care. Just send me over there. I’ll deal with everything else.”

  Angelo bent down and fiddled with something under the counter. He brought out a wrapped parcel of tanned leather and spread it on the counter Inside, he took out a large crystal of amethyst and a branch from an olive tree with three dried leaves still attached.

  “What are you doing?” she asked. “This isn’t the same spell Hazel used.”

  “Everybody does it differently. That may be why the girl did it without realizing. That happens sometimes, especially when someone is Faery and doesn’t know it. Unfortunately, it happens all the time. It doesn’t happen as often now as it used to, ever since the Faery have taken steps to stop people getting taken.”

  “Taken? Taken where?” Grace asked.

  “It used to be a big problem back in the day,” he replied. “Faery children used to get switched with human children all the time. Quite a lot of Faery children were raised in the human world. It doesn’t happen so often now. The Faery live farther away from the human world now, and the Faery King—the current one—he makes it his business to bring them back whenever he can. Faery living in the human world who don’t know who and what they really are—it causes a lot of problems, as you can imagine. They go around casting spells and making weather storms without realizing it. It happens all the time.”

  “Okay. Let’s get this show on the road. Can you find Alexis from here?”

  “I don’t have to find her. I’ll cast a spell that will send you to her. No stopping on the way. Do not pass go and do not collect two hundred dollars. You ready?”

  “Just like that?” Grace asked. “You don’t have to do anything to get ready?”

  “I am ready,” he replied. “Are you?”

  She squared her shoulders at him. “Yeah. I’m ready.”

  Chapter 22

  Jamie stopped more than once on the dell to look back. Why did he bother? Grace wouldn’t be there. He’d sent her away. He hated himself, but he had to do it. He didn’t want to lose her, now that he finally got her.

  He went back to the village and stopped at Ganny’s cottage. He found the McLeans standing in the doorway. Christie tightened his belt, and Arch settled his plaid on his shoulder.

  “Ye awright, lad?” Jamie asked Christie. “Ye took a hard knock.”

  “I’m awright,” Christie replied. “I’ll no be sorry tae get home again.”

  Jamie stiffened. “Ye’re goin’ home? Ye’re no stoppin’ ’ere fer a bit?”

  “No, mon,” Christie replied. “That’s me message tae ye from Lachlan. Those flyin’ things as came out o’ the north the other night—they attacked us down at the Tower Hoose. Lachlan’s up tae his neck in ’em e’en now. He could ainly spare us tae come and tell ye he cinnae help ye any lainger. He mun’ defend his own land, though he wishes he could stop these giants tae protect ye. He cinnae spare any more men, and now Alec’s gone as weel. We mun’ return tae the Isle. That’s all the message. I’m sorry, mon. We’d like tae help ye, but we cinnae. Ye understand.”

  “Aye,” Jamie murmured. “I understand.”

  Christie approached him. He laid his hands on Jamie’s shoulders. “I wish we were ta’en ye back wi’ us. I dinnae like tae face those things withoot ye.”

  Jamie pulled him into a hug. He tried to laugh it off, but he never felt worse in his life. “I feel the same way aboot ye lot. Gang ye on yer way, ye dogs. I ha’e no more use fer ye. Go and tend tae yer own hoose and leave me tae mine.”

  “Let me tell Lachlan the alliance still stands,” Christie begged. “Let me tell him our Clans are still united o’er this, and ye’ll no turn aside o’ us because o’ it.”

  “Our Clans’ll ne’er turn aside o’ the alliance,” Jamie told him. “Ye ha’e done more fer us than anyone could ask. Gang ye alaing home, and dinnae let me see yer faces on me land again.”

  Christie gave him a strained laugh. Arch nodded to him on the way out the door, but he couldn’t smile. The McLeans passed outside, and a moment later, the wolf pack galloped up the dell and disappeared from view among the dense trees heading south.

  Jamie let out a deep sigh. So that was it. The McLeans were gone. Now he stood alone between his Clan and the giants. No one would come to help him, now that he’d sent Grace away.

  He couldn’t do this. He didn’t want to admit he needed help, but now he couldn’t deny it. The giants would trample him into the dust and march right over the top of his reeking corpse. They would destroy the villagers, with him defending them or without.

  Only one course of action remained. He had to get help. He had to fly home to Urlu and roust the Guard. Angus would send Ewan and the others to protect the Clan.

  He took a step out of the cottage. The clear morning rang high into the deep blue firmament. It
was a perfect morning to go flying over mountains and trackless wilderness, a perfect morning to come flying into Urlu where the other dragons played.

  Grace was right all along. He should have taken her on his back and flown there as soon as they woke up this morning. He shouldn’t have wasted all these hours arguing with her and sending her away. He could have been back with a hundred dragons by now instead of dragging his sorry backside around this village.

  He kicked up his heels and ran toward the planter. He landed one foot on it to launch himself into the air when he saw it. A giant broke over the far mountaintop. It shook the Earth stomping toward Piper’s wing.

  Another appeared, followed by another. Jamie fell back onto the ground. While he stood there wondering, another five poked their heads above the trees. In seconds, they covered the landscape. They appeared in a wide circle encompassing the whole mountain range.

  Jamie didn’t stop to count them. He vaulted onto the planter and took wing. He couldn’t leave now. He didn’t care if he wound up dead. He would do what he could and take the consequences. He could do nothing more.

  He raced up the brae on a bee line for the villagers’ camp. The giants didn’t notice him. They kept their eyes fixed on the ground in search of their prey. They hunted around until they saw tiny people far below. They moved in with their clubs.

  Women and children screamed and scattered. Even the armed men ran for the hills. Whatever plan Jock devised to defend these people went right out the window. Ten giants surrounded the camp. They raised their clubs and smashed down on the clearing, but the people had already darted between their legs and bolted into the trees.

  The giants spun around to chase them down. They tromped over hills and up gullies, pounding their clubs against the ground all the way. They came to the mountain where high granite walls cut off their path. They started to scale it to the peak when Jamie came zooming past their noses.

  He let out a hot breath of fire, but he didn’t aim for their faces or their clothes. He shot it into the air where it sizzled next to their heads. The next instant, he raced away into the mountain air. He didn’t want to kill them—not just yet. He only wanted to distract them, to draw them away from the villagers.