“And if I die,” Jonathan said, “Katherine will be visible.”
I felt like I should say something to that. I wasn’t worth dying for.
Before I could utter a word, the howlers halted their advance. They inched back, still snarling, heads lowered. Brokk clambered down the tree and ran to Jonathan’s leg where he climbed upon his shoulder.
Both Jonathan and Chris took the respite to catch their breath and waited. Moments later a pale woman draped in black gossamer slipped from the shadows. Her hair was golden. Her lips were like ripe berries, and her feet were bare upon the earth.
She glided across the ground.
I sat for a moment in the tree, wondering if she could see me, but she searched the tree and the shadows and never appeared to look in my direction. I breathed a sigh of relief, and then inched down the tree, careful not to make noise.
“Where is she?” the golden-haired woman asked. “I know she’s here.”
Jonathan and Chris said nothing. They stood ready.
I crept down the tree until I reached one of the lowest branches. Her gaze continued to dart about, searching. She sniffed the air. She inched closer to Chris, smelling the space around him.
“You reek of her fornication,” she said and took another whiff. “Does she know you, Changeling? Does she know the other half? Has she seen the Troll that is your other side?” She swiped at him with her nails. He backed up before she struck. “Does she know the temper that pulses in your veins?”
She looked at Jonathan, sizing him up. “Nymph. And one of my own Court,” she said, tsking. She waved a finger at him. “Do you think helping her will win you favor among the Summer Court? That they will take you in as one of their own?” She laughed. “I was once one of them. It will never happen.”
Jonathan’s grip tightened on the blade.
“I can smell your desire for her,” she said. She ran her finger along his chest. He remained still. “But I could get you in good standing among our own Court. The Queen overlooks you, as if you don’t exist. I could change that.” She looked at him with a cocked head. “Get rid of the half-blood and you can have the girl. I will let her live, and she will be yours until you’ve had your fill of her. It’s in your nature to make her succumb to your charms.”
I saw Chris glance at Jonathan. His muscles bulged a little larger.
“She’s not here,” Jonathan said.
The woman laughed. “Oh, come now. No lies to Morgana. We’re like family, you and I. Don’t think I don’t know that you’ve been helping that human woman, Marigold, all these years. She died, you know?” She shook her head. “Shame it took so long, but the tea finally did it.”
Jonathan’s face betrayed his surprise.
“Foxglove,” she said. “It’s a lovely tea, perfect for such uses.” She slid her finger across her neck. “Being cooped up in that house left the old woman at the mercy of the delivery boy when the little Nymph wasn’t around. He would leave her groceries outside the iron gates.” She cackled. “I wish I had thought of it earlier, but, alas, it is finally done. And when I have this little minx my work will be complete.”
“Leave her alone,” Chris muttered.
“So, the half-blood knows how to speak?” she said, turning her attention to Chris. “I’ve had your kind before — Troll. Strong, virile, rough in bed, but dumb as a stump. Can’t see what’s right in front of their noses until it’s too late.”
Chris said nothing, but his fisted hands betrayed his thoughts.
“Oh,” she said, and almost laughed, “you seem to care for her. Oh, that’s quaint.” She stalked around him, circling. “You know,” she said. “I think I might be willing to make a trade.”
“A trade?” Chris asked. I leaned closer, listening. What could he possibly trade that she’d want?
She looked at Jonathan. “You will make the trade. In two days — at her ancestors’ home.”
Jonathan’s iron gaze turned to one of confusion. “What trade?”
She snatched Chris’s arm. “The Troll’s life for hers!”
Then Chris and Morgana were gone.
I almost screamed, but then clamped my mouth shut. The howlers were still there.
As soon as Morgana disappeared they started in again. I clambered back up the tree, with Brokk skittering past me. When I reached the branch I was on before, Jonathan slipped from the shadows beside me.
“Where did she take him?” I asked. “What will she do to him?” I hoped he would tell me something I wanted to hear.
“Not sure,” he said. “Imprison him, torture him, have her way with him, who knows.” He pulled out his blade, then disappeared. I heard a yelp from one of the howlers.
He reappeared. “Either way, we need to find him without her knowing, or we need to appease her. Handing you over to her in place of him isn’t really an option.”
He seemed so cavalier about it I wanted to scream at him. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything happened to Chris. I would sooner hand myself over to her. Whether I met an early end or not, if she hurt Chris I’d take the regret with me to my grave.
I felt Jonathan’s hand on my arm. He looked sullen. “I’m sorry, Katherine. Although I’m not big on Chris, he doesn’t deserve this.” His thumb rubbed my arm. “We’ll get him back. Don’t worry.”
He looked pretty sure of himself.
I nodded. “So now what?” I asked. The howlers circled the tree. There were still dozens of them.
Jonathan flicked his thumbnail on his blade, thinking. Brokk crawled into his lap.
I looked to where Chris had been standing. Morgana had sensed his feelings for me. So she had taken him in my place. I closed my eyes. This was exactly what I had wanted to avoid. My heart ached. My stomach wrenched.
Jonathan stirred beside me, putting his curved blade away.
She had sensed his feelings for me as well.
“When daylight comes,” he said, “they’ll leave. Then we’ll make for your ancestors’ home.”
“So we sleep in the tree?”
He shrugged. “Not a lot of choice.”
I wasn’t sure I could sleep in a tree, but at the very least, I decided to settle into a large crook that would be somewhat secure. Falling asleep here would at least reduce the chances of plummeting to my death. Brokk crawled onto my stomach where he curled up in a ball. I put my hands around him and looked up at the night sky.
“Why my ancestors’ home? What’s so special about it?” I asked.
He followed my gaze skywards. “That’s what’s really odd. It’s surrounded by yew trees. She shouldn’t want to go anywhere near it.” He gave me one of those matter-of-fact looks. “Unless there’s something there she wants.”
“Huh?”
“She can’t get into it unless the owner of that home invites her.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense,” I said. “Why was she killing off my relatives if all she wanted was for them to let her in to some house?”
“You must have something they didn’t.”
I thought about the earrings, but my grandfather had been given a cufflink as a child. That couldn’t be it.
I was the only girl, but surely that couldn’t be it.
Jonathan waited for me to answer.
I didn’t know what to tell him.
“You haven’t born a child yet, have you?” he asked.
I shook my head. Not the last time I checked.
“All of your ancestors died after they got someone with child. But you haven’t had a child yet. I wonder if you were to get pregnant, would she spare your life long enough for you to give birth.”
I had no intentions of getting with child anytime soon.
“And that would help me how? Then I run the risk of an abandoned child after she kills me. And that doesn’t really answer the question of what’s different about me or what she could want.”
He stared down below. The howlers continued to pace about the tree. “I wonder if she
tried to get each of your ancestors to let her into that house. Maybe when each one refused, she killed them after there was another one to fill their shoes — the next in line to inherit it.”
I wasn’t sure I agreed with his logic. It wasn’t like I’d been given the chance to let her in up to now. If this was her way of asking, it needed some refining.
He disappeared then, but I didn’t hear a yelping. I settled further into the crook and closed my eyes with Brokk nestled on my belly.
Then came the dreams.
Chapter 19
I found myself back in the little forest. I was draped in puffy green hideousness again. Along the stream the Faeries were frolicking once more. I wasn’t sure which way to go. Looking for Chris down by the water was an option, or I could go on a blind search for Morgana. I decided to go after Morgana. Seeing Chris making out with everyone and their brother wasn’t going to help me, nor did it have anything to do with what was going on in the real world. Or, at least, that’s what I tried to convince myself of.
I plodded towards the waterfall. Once again, the ground was soft beneath my feet, the tree bark covered in green velvet.
I paused at the spot I’d seen Brokk before. He was nowhere to be found. That saddened me a little. I could’ve used with the company. I wasn’t sure he could do much to help me, but his presence would’ve been comforting.
Time to put on my big girl pants.
I inched up the rocky wall, pausing after each move to listen. My insides were like jelly. I didn’t want to get caught by this woman alone. Who knew what she would do to me.
I clambered over the top with as much stealth as the dress would allow. If I was in more control of this dream, I’d be wearing something a whole lot more sensible.
I tiptoed over to where I’d last seen the golden-haired woman and sure enough she was there in the clearing once more. She was with the man from the last time.
I paused as I approached, feeling a gob of spit stuck in my throat. Her dress was pulled down, her breasts bared. She was straddling the man and moving with a slow, rhythmic movement. He was cupping her breasts in his hands. It was obvious what was happening.
I wasn’t sure what to do. I felt awful just hiding there and peeping at the two of them. I decided to circle about and see what I could find. Any kind of clue, perhaps something lying on the ground, anything that would be of help. I wasn’t sure what I should be looking for — a magical stone, a wand with a big, tacky star on the end of it, or maybe a wooden stake to drive through her heart. I didn’t know if Faery people died like vampires, but I’d try anything right now.
The two of them went at it, grunting like animals, while I circled about them. His trousers were down around his knees and his shirt was unbuttoned. So there were no clothes lying about the clearing.
I weaved through the trees, pausing every now and then to make sure I wasn’t being seen. The two of them were so far into each other, almost literally, I probably could’ve been dancing around them and they wouldn’t have noticed me.
I continued stalking through the clearing. They rolled over, the man now on top. He slowly thrust into her, and I decided to keep moving. I couldn’t help but observe, though, that he had a really nice butt.
That made me think of Chris. Then I wondered if she was charming this man into having sex. Did all Faery creatures do that?
I stalked further, inching my way in closer. I searched, but found nothing.
Damn.
There had to be something, anything I could use against her. I walked in from behind them. They had rolled back over again, the man now being ridden once more. Except this time, their movements were more urgent. I figured I’d better act quick before they finished.
“Oh, lord, I love you,” moaned the man.
“And, I, you,” Morgana groaned back.
I noticed a green scarf lying on the ground. I grabbed it and then inched back. I don’t know why I took it, but something of hers, anything of hers, might be of some help. Since there was nothing else obvious to take, I went with it.
I slipped back into the trees as their moaning got louder.
I lowered myself back down the ledge as the sound of the waterfall drowned out their climax.
When I reached the little area where I’d once found Brokk, I paused. I looked at the scarf. It was silk and embroidered with an intricate golden weave along its edges. There was no writing, or anything that looked legible. Yet, I felt as if I had something, a small victory perhaps. I had taken something from her for once. Maybe next time I’d find a big rock and hit her with it. I wasn’t sure that would help, since this was dreaming rather than the type of trip I took before with the earrings. And even then, I wasn’t sure how much of what happened on those trips affected the real world.
I gripped the scarf. Since I didn’t seem to be waking, I decided it was time to see if I could find Chris.
I followed the stream to where I’d seen the little Faeries travel before. I kept my ears open for any sign of Morgana or her lover, but I heard nothing.
I arrived at the pond — it was filled once more with fey folk of various kinds. Some were hairy, most had different tattooed symbols, and they were all naked. Chris was there, as was Jonathan. I was taken a little aback when I saw the two of them kissing each other. Based on what I was seeing, you wouldn’t know they didn’t seem to get along very well in the real world. I took a close note of Jonathan’s body. His stomach was ripped and his chest was better built than what his shirt revealed. So were his arms, which were now wrapped around Chris. My feet gravitated towards the water, and it took every ounce of control I had not to get in and join them.
There was a carnality to the air, a primal urge permeating everything. I inhaled it and stepped closer. The others went about their business. A few interrupted Chris and Jonathan, but then let them embrace each other once more. A part of me was strangely aroused.
I stepped to the waters’ edge, letting the dress slip from my body like it was nothing more than a mere robe. The scarf drifted to the forest floor. The fey creatures let me pass without so much as a word or glance. They seemed to slip out of the way merely because their own pursuit of pleasure required it.
I approached Chris and Jonathan. They continued to kiss, but as I got closer they stopped. Then they took me between them, pressing their bodies against mine. They were both hard and wanting.
That was when I woke up.
I could have cursed my wretched luck. Instead of Jonathan’s hardened body pressing against my back, there was the tree trunk.
I inhaled the early morning air — crisp and light. The birds were doing their thing, fortunately not too close to my ears.
Jonathan was back, staring at me with those dark eyes of his. I gulped, not only because of the intense look he was giving me, but because he was holding the green scarf in his hand.
Chapter 20
I sat up, looking at the scarf. Brokk was jumping up and down trying to take it from Jonathan’s hand.
“Where did you get that?” I asked.
“I might ask you the same question. This is embroidered with the thread of the Summer Court. You dropped it a few moments ago. One moment, there was nothing in your hand, the next it was there.” He crept towards me. “Have any strange dreams?”
I couldn’t really back away. And as much as what had happened in the dream had been really intriguing, I didn’t really want Jonathan in my space right now. I had to think.
I had pulled the scarf into the real world from out of my dream? What did that mean?
Could I bring something into the dream then?
Of course, I couldn’t help but wonder what I would bring and what I would do with it.
A knife? A sword? A big frickin’ laser-guided bazooka? The latter seemed so crass, but if it came to it, would I need to kill her?Could I?
While Jonathan waited on my answer, Brokk snatched the scarf and brought it to me.
“I took it from her in my dream,” I said. I
didn’t tell him how I was still pining for his hardened body pressing against my back. I took a deep breath.
“Did you know you could do that?” he asked.
“No,” I said, studying the intricate weave. It was odd feeling it between my fingers. It was real. “I don’t know why I took it, but I had no idea I could drag it back here.”
“Come on,” he said, offering his hand. “We need to get to the Goblin Market if we’re going to get you another set of earrings.”
“The what?” I asked, taking it. He pulled me towards him. I thought he was going to kiss me. Instead he wiped a couple of leaves from my hair, and then started to climb down.
“The Goblin Market,” he said as he descended. “It’s like a flea market, but for the fey creatures.”
I climbed down after him and then paused to scour the forest. The howlers were gone, and there was no sign of their prints. Brokk climbed onto my shoulder and sat.
As we walked at Jonathan’s brisk pace, I wondered about the earrings. “When I wear the earrings she can see me in the visions, and she’s attacked me. In my dreams, she didn’t see me.”
He slowed enough to allow me to catch up. “It’s because I’m here and you’re wearing the broach. I think she can’t see you in the visions just like in the real world. And the dreams are a side-effect of using the earrings. Looks like you can make similar trips in your dreams.”
That made sense, actually. If Chris was able to protect my dreams, that would explain why she had tried to drown me when he’d gone to the bathroom on the plane. It wasn’t until he returned that I woke.
I nodded my head, still a little nervous about this. I didn’t savor being drowned or meeting any other untimely end, but I supposed if I was going to figure this out, the dreams were the best chance I had.
We continued through the woods until we hit open farmland once more. The sun had only just risen, so it was still quite early. There was little human movement about.
Jonathan seemed in a lighter mood as we marched in the sun. We talked about my life after my visit to England. I filled him in on the meds, the doctors, and my mother.
Broken: A Paranormal Romance Page 11
