Maid of Ice

by Shona Husk

  Finley didn’t. He had his head in his hands. “You can’t do it, Dad. If people thought waking the Keepers was a good idea it would’ve been done long ago.”

  “They volunteered to sleep in case we needed them. Maybe now is that time. Most people voted to survive. Now I have to make a plan forward. I can’t be making a plan for the Albah’s survival while letting you die.”

  “Walter will gain more power.” Finley shook his head. “Magic is all he cares about.”

  “Maybe we should start caring more. We haven’t done the best job of sharing knowledge.” Quinn sighed. “I’m flying over. Archie is also on her way. We’re worried about you.”

  That news that his parents were coming over didn’t make Finley look any happier. “You don’t have to. We knew how this ends.”

  “I need to.”

  Quinn still didn’t say what Finley needed to hear. It wouldn’t be good enough to dance around the issue and let Finley assume that his father loved him. But Alina couldn’t say anything. She’d already forced Finley into a conversation he’d never wanted to have. He’d been wrong about his father, though. His father would do anything so Finley lived.

  “You will lose deniability if you’re here when it is woken.” Every word seemed to hurt Finley. She reached out to touch him, but he glared at her and she shrank back.

  “I would rather claim responsibility than let it be known I was blackmailed. Can you wait until your mother gets there before letting Walter know a deal has been struck?”

  “Yeah. See you soon.” He hung up, took a breath and turned to her. “You have no idea what you’ve done. By telling my father you put him in a weakened position. Do you have any idea how hard it is to hold such a fractured people together? He is making life-and-death decisions and this could threaten everything.”

  “You were worried he’d let you die. Now you’re worried because he wants you to live?”

  “I was doing what was needed,” he said through gritted teeth.

  “I thought you hated duty and responsibility and that’s why you didn’t speak much to your family.” Why was he so worried about what effect this would have on his family and the Albah?

  “There’s a difference between duty to your family, and destroying what is left of the Albah. I would never put my life ahead of that. But you did. You decided my life was important enough that we should wake a fucking Keeper. A creature we knew only through our stories.” Fury pulled his features tight, but pain made his eyes dull.

  “I was doing what I thought best. I don’t want you to die.”

  “I don’t want to die either, but I am and the price of living is too high.” The anger softened and his voice lost the harshness. “You’ve only known what you are for a few short weeks. You have no idea what you’ve stepped into.”

  “Then explain it.” What was she missing or not understanding?

  “No. Just leave.”

  “What?”

  “If I can’t trust you not to go behind my back, I don’t want you here. Go,” he snapped. Then he leaned back against the sofa as if the anger had sucked energy from him. “Go before I decide that killing you and becoming Albanex would be better than raising a Keeper.”

  Alina stood. “You wouldn’t.”

  He forced himself up. “Wouldn’t I?”

  Her heartbeat was loud in her ears and high in her throat. It was just his desperation talking. He wouldn’t actually hurt her and he didn’t know the magic. Or at least she didn’t think that he did. “I was trying to help. I’m sorry.”

  “Well, you didn’t.”

  She stood there, glaring at him. Unable to withstand the brutality in the blue of his eyes, she broke first. Did he love her or hate her? It was hard to tell. “I did it for you.” She knew why she’d called his father in that moment. “I love you.”

  He didn’t respond.

  She picked up her bag and walked out. She knew she would never be walking back in.

  They were over because love was more terrifying than death.

  Chapter 20

  Finley had slept on the sofa. He’d pulled the throw around himself but couldn’t get warm and couldn’t be bothered to get up and turn the heating on. He’d regretted sending Alina away the moment the door had closed. The knowledge that it was for the best was no comfort.

  He pulled the blanket tighter even though it was now daylight and he had to get up. He needed to check his e-mails and sort out the mess of his life. He didn’t want to die with rumors surrounding him. With a wrench of will he stood. Then almost fell as a wave of vertigo hit him. If his sense of balance went he was well and truly fucked. He wouldn’t be able to drive or anything. He took a couple of breaths then grabbed his laptop and sat. He’d get dressed in a minute or ten.

  The longer he waited, the more his symptoms would worsen. Nothing about this was going to get better until the iron was out of his system.

  He still didn’t get up. Wrapped in a blanket he sent an e-mail to his manager asking about what was happening about proving he didn’t use drugs. He also wanted to know what the official word on his illness was. His manager wanted to know what was actually wrong with him. Infection was the best he could offer. If only it was as easy to treat; pop these pills every four hours for the next week and make sure to finish them all. He should take another dose of silver, it could only help.

  There was a message from his mother. He scanned the heading, but didn’t open it.

  He had no idea what to say to her. He hadn’t seen her in years and spoke to her less frequently than he did his father.

  She’d left him. She could’ve taken him traveling with her. She’d done it with her daughters from her second relationship. It shouldn’t bother him but it did. He’d grown up knowing that she hadn’t really wanted him. All she’d done was gotten having that male Albah child out of the way. He’d failed her by not doing his bit and producing offspring before his death.

  Again Alina popped unwelcome into his head. He was missing her already. She was the one girlfriend who’d known the truth about what he was and what he could do. He liked that as much as he feared it. He should marry an Albah woman and have little Albah babies, but not wanting to accept the responsibility of being the first in line, he’d done everything he could to avoid that. Then Alina had appeared right in front of him, and he was busy trying to self-sacrifice for the good of his people.

  If he died, Walter would just wait for a change in leadership. He’d keep searching for a Keeper and eventually Walter would get what he wanted.

  Once the Keeper was awake his father, and the Albah people, could figure out what to do next. Finley still thought they shouldn’t be woken. Learning what had happened all those centuries ago would change nothing. But if a Keeper had to be woken, it was better that it be woken by someone not obsessed with magic like Walter.

  Unless was his mother was coming to protect her precious Keeper and make sure Finely didn’t wake it. He should probably read her e-mail.

  He opened her message, it was short and to the point as usual. She would arrive today. He hunched over his laptop. Of all the people in world, she was the last one he wanted to see. He doubted very much that she’d make him chicken soup or attempt to make him feel better. She’d never been that kind of mother to him, not that he could remember anyway. He wanted his stepmum. He hadn’t missed her with such acute rawness in years. His eyes burned and it took several breaths before the pain in his chest eased enough for him to think.

  His mother couldn’t make him feel any worse. He’d rather be in ten car accidents than have iron poisoning. The bandage on his hand was stained with blood. The wound had been stitched but it was still weeping. It would never heal. His body couldn’t even start to make the most basic of repairs with the iron in his system. Bit by bit his body was literally falling apart. His cells were no longer dividing and self-healing. He was dying
on a cellular level. That was why everything was hurting. If his body couldn’t repair itself did that make him a living corpse, was he truly a zombie?

  It wasn’t brains he craved. He wanted coffee and something to eat, then he could down some more pain meds, but if the idea of moving was taxing the actual moving part was going to kill him.

  He drew in a breath and groaned. Even though his body couldn’t do much it would be better to keep it hydrated. He wouldn’t take his health for granted again. Or his magic. Usually if he was hung over or ill he could use the air to get what he wanted from the kitchen.

  Not this time.

  Being virtually human sucked.

  After psyching himself up he shuffled like an old man to the kitchen. The dishes were all washed and stacked. Alina had cleaned up. There was no trace of her, but when he opened the fridge for some cold water there was a bowl of leftover pasta. All he had to do was heat it up. It wasn’t even macaroni. She’d used the spirals that he’d had in the cupboard. Was it even mac and cheese if the pasta was wrong?

  He was trying to find fault where there was none. He knew it, and it didn’t make the loss of her hurt less. But he did not want to admit she’d done the right thing and called his father. He’d have gotten around to calling, but he would’ve left out Walter’s request. Or would he have crumbled?

  He leaned against the door, the fridge beeping at him.

  Julian would find another way, or maybe there was another vampire out there that wouldn’t make such heavy demands. While he didn’t trust Walter, he’d trust another vampire less.

  Walter was a doctor and appeared to be a man of his word. He’d been calm and helpful. He’d also known exactly who Finley’s father was. He couldn’t be that out of the loop which meant that some Albah who were in also spoke to those that were out. Were they planning a coup? One where the Albah tried to resurrect their past with Walter as king?

  Maybe not Walter, he’d admitted to loving magic and magic wasn’t the same as power.

  Finley put the pasta in the microwave to heat and made himself a coffee. His intercom buzzed.

  “Whoever you are, you can fuck off,” he said to himself, but he shuffled over to speak to them.

  The hope that it was Alina realizing that he was a dick and giving him a second chance was the only reason he made the effort. If she didn’t come back he was going to have to call her, but he still didn’t want her around until this was done. While he’d meant most of what he’d said last night, he still needed to apologize, it wasn’t her fault she was new to the Albah. He pressed the button. “Yeah.”

  “It’s Archie Venn.” Her voice crackled.

  Finley closed his eyes and rested his forehead on the wall. His mother had arrived and he was wearing a blanket and nothing else. Did he need clothes or coffee more?

  * * * *

  Alina had gotten home late and gone straight to her room before her mother could pounce. Now she was lingering in bed, waiting for her to go out so she didn’t have to face the “I told you so” talk.

  She wasn’t ready for that. She may never be ready. Somehow her fun fling with a soapie celebrity had become more. Finley had shown her a world that she should be part of and yet had never known existed. Now she had no idea how to access it without him holding the door open.

  She needed to learn.

  But she wanted him.

  When she thought of him a bubble of dread swelled in her chest. She was too scared to even attempt looking into his future and he hadn’t asked her to look for him. Maybe it made her a bad person, but she still didn’t regret breaking his trust and calling his father. Finley was in no state to be making big calls.

  She picked up her phone to text him but stopped. Last night it had felt like they were over. This morning with the sun streaming through the window—she’d forgotten to close the curtains—it felt more like a glitch.

  But there were no messages from him. Was he even conscious?

  She should never have left no matter how angry he’d been. What kind of a person walked out on a dying man?

  She was definitely a bad person. And a bad girlfriend, not that she’d had much of a chance to ever practice being a girlfriend.

  There was a knock on her bedroom door. She froze. Of course her mother knew she was home, but she didn’t know that she was awake. There was going to be a talk. It was simply a matter of when. It might as well be now. Then it was over.

  Maybe her mother could answer a few questions.

  “I’m awake.” She put down the phone and sat up.

  Her mother opened the door and came in. She didn’t say anything about Alina being home for the first night in over a week, the way Alina expected her to.

  For a moment, her mother stood there before saying anything. “You want to rejoin the Albah community.”

  “Yes. But I understand why you hid me. Did you know Walter has become a vampire?”

  Her mother was quiet for a few seconds before nodding. “I suspected when Mom died.”

  “You know how it’s done?” How much magic did her mother know?

  Her mother shook her head and sat on the chair that was never quite tucked under the desk the way it should be. But then her room was never quite tidy either. It was just the right side of chaos. “No. He’d never share that. But I know where the books were kept and I listened a lot. I knew what he wanted me to find when we went camping or hiking. Have you heard of the Keepers of the Law? They were around before our world collapsed and we fled to live among the humans.”

  “Walter wants to wake one in exchange for saving Finley’s life.” She gave her mother a quick account of what had happened. Talking to someone else didn’t make it any better. She’d been hoping that it would, or that maybe her mother would soothe her fears. Instead her mother only became more concerned.

  “Raising old magic won’t help us now. I know that’s what my father believes, what that faction wants, but we need to find another way. The humans will not tolerate the waking of the Keepers. They will hunt us down or lock us up for studying and experimentation.”

  “Then why does Walter think it’s a good idea?” Finley didn’t want the Keeper woken either, even to save his life. She was still on the fence. Walter’s blood must run thick in her veins.

  “Magic…that’s all he ever cared about. He had four kids hoping to get one of each element. He didn’t.”

  “Finley’s father agreed to wake the Keeper.” It was going to happen no matter what the rest of them wanted. Would the rest of the Albah community judge Quinn harshly for saving his son’s life, or were there those in the community who were curious like her? Who wanted to learn what had happened and rediscover lost magic? “Maybe it won’t wake because it’s been too long?”

  “Or maybe it will be a disaster, and hundreds of humans will die as it tries to wake. Albanex can’t drink our blood because of the silver. If it starts feeding on humans, people will ask questions. They will want to know what is going on. This time around there is science, but it will still be a witch hunt against those of us who are different. It’s happened all through history. We need to get there first and kill it, so my father can’t get it.”

  “No, then Finley will die.” She stared at her mother as she suddenly realized what her mother wasn’t saying. “You know where it is.”

  “I haven’t been there for a long time, but I think I can still find it. My father doesn’t know how close he got. I won’t let him succeed.”

  “We should leave it up to the king.” She’d thought her mother would help, instead her mother wanted to make sure Finley died.

  “He isn’t my king, Alina. And one Albah isn’t more important than the survival of the rest of us. Waking the Keeper will damn us all.”

  “Did you know that we are dying out and that there was a vote? There are so few men now that they are trying to bring in some kind o
f matchmaking program. It was that or let us go the way of the dodo, hunted to extinction by the Guardians.”

  “It’s not that bad. They’re lying to you to draw you back in.”

  She stared at her mother for a moment. Did her mother really believe that it was all okay? Or was she trying to stop Alina from siding with Finley? Her mother had never told her the truth—although Alina believed that Mom did know where the Keeper was buried—so why should she be telling the truth about how many Albah were left. That she’d never met another one indicated that there weren’t many.

  “It is that bad. All of you who fell away and didn’t keep in touch. You didn’t marry Albah, I know that both parents have to be Albah to have sons. Did you know that we are down to one fire-using woman? One. If something happens to her then for the first time in history the elements will be unbalanced. Did you think that by walking away no one would notice or that it wouldn’t matter? Maybe there is another fire user but she dropped out and is doing her own thing. We are weakened because we aren’t staying in contact.” And now she knew there was another faction working to bring magic out into the open, determined to wake the Keepers.

  “Magic ruined my life. I will not go back.”

  “So don’t, but you know more about this pro-magic faction than anyone else.” What if there were pro-magic members in the community keeping their views quiet and feeding them back to their leader? “You could help bring in other people who fell away.”

  “Why would I do that? They don’t want any part of the Albah and the danger that brings. If the Keeper is woken, then that is an even better reason to stay hidden.”

  “We are stronger as a whole.”

  “You’ve been suckered in by Finley. I’m sure he told you everything you wanted to hear.” Her mother stood. “Forget about magic. It only brings trouble.”

  “I was hoping you’d show me how magic worked, how to look into the future.”

  “You found magic on your own and you can learn it on your own.” Her mother sounded disgusted at the idea of having anything to do with magic.