“Quinn, you can’t. You don’t have enough access to your magic. She’ll kill you.” Beckett pulled her cutlass. “We need reinforcements.”
Before I could answer, Le Torneau’s hands clenched on Cora’s throat, and a silvery jolt zapped through Cora. She screamed. Zak threw himself forward, banging into Le Torneau and toppling the three of them.
They went down in a pile of arms and legs, Zak trying to headbutt Le Torneau. She brought up a glowing hand, and I reacted. Threw a fireball at her palm, giving away my position. Rushing toward the trio, I prepared to throw another one. It wouldn’t kill but would smart.
A wall of powerful magic blindsided me. I went flying ass over heels into a collapsed cargo container. I crashed hard against the metal struts, crumpling to the ground.
Blackness threatened, but I swallowed it down and rolled, my ribs screaming in pain. My reflex saved me from another hit. What in the deep red sea was this magic? My bracer crackled with angry energy. The war hammer wanted to come out and play. I was more than willing to let it. I struggled to a crouch as another bolt zinged my direction. It scraped my shoulder, sizzling as it passed, tearing a gash in my tunic.
Cora and Zak screamed. I glanced their way. Big mistake. Another strike, and I fell into nothingness.
I came awake, swinging at whoever held me, but the chains on my wrists tightened painfully. My cheek rested on slimy flagstone, the stench of the docks telling me we hadn’t left the warehouse district.
Citadel guards pulled me to standing, weapons drawn, and I called my magic forth, but it slammed against an invisible barrier.
“Don’t bother, Quinn. You can’t access your magic.”
A chill ran down my spine and my bracer grew hot as High Rei Hallewell stepped forward.
How had she done it? The chains didn’t feel magical, so it must originate from her. I poked at the mental barrier, but it had no give. “I didn’t kill Rei Vosen. Le Torneau’s your murderer.”
Purple-clad guards held Zak’s limp form between them. Blood trickled from his temple and his arm hung at an unnatural angle. Cora stood next to Le Torneau, tears streaking her cheeks, rubbing at her neck as angry burns snaked down and disappeared beneath her tunic. Le Torneau sported a bloody nose courtesy of my brother’s headbutt. I puffed with pride even in such a precarious situation.
I hobbled toward them, but the guards pulled me up short. Instead, Hallewell approached. “I don’t understand why you did what you did, but it stops here. First your family, and now Rei Vosen.” She made sure her voice carried so that all could hear. Sounded like a pronouncement of my sentence.
I wouldn’t go down without a fight. “I told you, I didn’t. Ask Le Torneau why she tried to kill me. Then, when Rei Vosen intervened, she murdered her. And I don’t know who killed my family, though it isn’t too hard to guess.”
Cora sucked in a breath and I met her wide eyes. She looked away, turning her attention to Le Torneau and then the High Rei.
“Eliphas, take Coraline and the boy back to the citadel. Make sure he’s not injured further. I’ll handle this.”
“Handle what?” I demanded. “I haven’t done anything wrong. But you don’t want to hear that, do you?”
The High Rei bid the guards to step back like I could spit venom at any second. Right. I could barely stand on my feet, in chains that allowed only minimal movement. Even so, if I saw a chance . . .
One guard looked like she’d argue, but after a glance at Hallewell, she released me to stand on my own. I swayed, took a shallow breath. Definitely broken ribs. Blood trickled down my injured side. I must have reopened the wound.
And what happened to Beckett? I prayed to the Goddesses that she and her crew had retreated somewhere safe. They didn’t need to become involved in this mess. She could let Twig know what happened, though. Unfortunately, he was now my best hope. Perhaps my only one.
My head ached. I watched as a brawny guard hefted the still unconscious Zak like a sack of thorn-onion over his shoulder. Cora turned to follow.
“Cora!” I called, my voice cracking. She paused, looked back. Tears streamed freely down her face. Her gaze slid back to the High Rei. “You’re absolutely sure?” she asked, her voice choked.
Hallewell’s face lost its thunderous expression for a moment for an almost gentle, pitying look. She approached Cora, put a hand on her shoulder. “Yes, Coraline. I’m sorry. His magic’s warped and will destroy all in its path. Don’t worry, we’ll get him the help he needs. I promise.”
Hallewell’s words sounded so genuine and . . . caring. Cora’s hand reached up and covered the High Rei’s for the barest second. If I wasn’t watching so intently, I’d have missed the gesture. Burn me, Cora hadn’t been involved with Vosen.
After a moment Cora nodded, then sent me an anguished stare.
“Cora, no! I didn’t kill my parents. And I didn’t kill Rei Vosen either. You know me. I’d never hurt them. She’s lying. My magic isn’t—”
“We’ll help you, Quinn. The High Rei’s promised. You’ll get well.”
“I’m not sick. My magic’s fine. She’s lying, Cora. Come on, this is me.”
Cora flinched like I slapped her, then she shook her head slowly. How had Hallewell so thoroughly convinced her of my guilt? The betrayal hurt more than my broken ribs and those ached like a son of a banshee.
“I love you, Quinn. Remember that.”
She spared a tremulous smile for Hallewell, then turned her back on me.
“Cora! What about Zak? He’s a kid. Why would you think this is okay?” I shuffled forward a couple inches. She disappeared into the night. “Cora,” I called again. Fruitlessly.
Hallewell stepped right up to me, and I turned to her. Cora really believed my magic corrupted me enough to kill innocent people. That Hallewell successfully turned my best friend against me spoke to her talents. A more dangerous foe than I’d given her credit for.
She surrounded the two of us in a cascade of sparks. All street noises fell away, until I could only hear my harsh breathing and Hallewell’s hands as they came together in a small clap, sealing us within a magical bubble.
“Have you guessed why?” Hallewell kept her face expression grave, but her tone ran to gloating.
The pieces rapidly came together. “You know I didn’t kill anyone. And you know my magic isn’t corrupt.”
“It is. Men don’t have magic, Quinn. Just you.” Her tone dripped with loathing and rage.
“You’re glad Rei Vosen’s dead. She wanted to integrate me into the Council, but you don’t really want that. You don’t want me at all.”
“You’re wrong there, Quinn.” Her eyes flashed an eerie violet before going back to their natural color. “I want you dead.”
“Why? I’ve shown no interest in returning to the Hominus. Why take the trouble to pretend to court me, if you simply wanted to destroy me?”
“Watch fools as the conquest begins, hammer in hand.” She glanced at my wrist. “It never said whose hand, did it?”
How could she possibly know about the bracer? Only Twig and a few others knew it held Scrodbun the Derelict’s war hammer. Or that it even existed. Would it work for someone else, since it seemingly chose me? Maybe it wasn’t all that picky? At heart, the war hammer remained a weapon, after all.
“So why not kill me now?” Because as much as I could feel her desire to do so, she hadn’t. Not yet.
Her eyes flashed again. “I wish I could. However, I didn’t get in my position by accident. Sometimes the payoff is worth the wait. Eliphas wasn’t supposed to kill you. I need you alive. At least for a little while. But a rabid dog, while useful, can’t be trusted with delicate details. Though it can be trained.”
“Vosen saved me.”
“Yes, poor Simone. Always the do-gooder. And look what it got her. Coraline’s a crusader, too. Wants to help you. Won’t she be so sad when the Council unanimously urges me to put you to death? Poor Coraline will mourn you, but it’s important that the High Rei
listen to her advisors.”
I pushed against the barrier that cut me off from my magic. I’d never heard of any spell that could do that, but my bracer tingled every time I tried to call my magic forth. Old magic. An artifact? And the bracer didn’t become the hammer. I sensed it wanted to but couldn’t.
“You can’t break through. Besides, I like the feel of your magic. It should never have been yours. An unfortunate mistake.” She licked her bottom lip like she could taste it.
I didn’t know exactly what she meant, but her eyes glowed as she said it, as did the ring on her finger. My bracer grew hot. Angry. The ring? The war hammer recognized it. What was it, and how did she end up in possession of it? It must be what restrained my magic and the hammer. If I could get her close enough . . .
“Twig will come for me,” I said boldly. “He’ll burn this realm to the ground.”
The smile she bestowed on me made panic curl in my stomach. “I’m counting on it, Quinn. I need him close.”
What game did she play? Would she use me to control Twig? A dragon in her arsenal would make her incredibly powerful. “You don’t want to mess with a dragon—”
“After your dragon breaks the Cairnsdaught Accord—and we both know he will—I’ll have the sympathy of the other realms’ leaders. If he survives—and without you, I very much doubt that—he’ll be hunted.”
A cold trickle of fear settled at the base of my spine at the thought of Twig on the run. She didn’t want him under her thumb. But then, what did she want? The prophesy also said the time of the dragon is upon us. Did she not know that part? “If you harm me, Twig won’t stop until he kills you.”
“Perhaps. But I’ll take that chance. Besides, I need the dragon.” Hallewell glanced at my bracer again before reaching out to brush a lock of hair from my forehead in the parody of a caress. “He’s the key to returning the magic you stole from me.”
How did I steal Scrodbun’s war hammer from her? And what did Twig have to do with it? Not only power hungry but crazy. Just my luck. “I didn’t steal it. It chose me.”
She gave me an enigmatic twist of her lips, then glanced to the night sky. “Soon, Quinn. He comes.”
Who—
A furious bellow reverberated through the humid night air. Twig! I knew his roar anywhere.
“Dragon!” a guard called, as one huge cargo container went up in a ball of flame. The large wooden crates and pallets also caught fire, ringing us in. Guards screamed as the flames streaked their way, causing them to scatter.
“Shield us,” Hallewell called to her personal guards, after dropping the bubble from around us. “Hold him off.”
Her guards formed a semi-circle. A large magical barrier suddenly covered us all. Twig’s roar was deafening as he torched their defense, his fire not penetrating.
“You can’t hold him off for long.” Twig’s fire wouldn’t hurt me. We’d already experimented, and it seemed a dragon couldn’t torch his mate. Or perhaps a familiar couldn’t torch his wizard. Either way, I was safe. Couldn’t say the same for the rest.
“I don’t need to.” Hallewell’s eyes glowed an eerie violet again as she reached into a small pouch and pulled out a handful of white powder.
Candied hydra-bone powder, CHB.
Fuck no! Seeing my chance, I clenched my fists together and swung. Crack! I connected with her jaw. She flew backward against the barrier but didn’t break through, the powder scattering.
Ha! That’s what you get for trying to hurt my dragon.
I needed this barrier down! Hallewell’s guards were too busy reinforcing the shield as Twig raked his claws along the top, dissolving it. However Hallewell managed to seal off my magic, she’d also made it so I couldn’t feel or hear Twig. I needed to get where he could reach me.
The chains provided little give, but I shuffled toward one end of the barrier, and Twig unsurprisingly corrected course for his next pass. He understood. As he prepared to dive again, arrows and bolts of magic struck him. City Patrol had arrived. The morons thought their offensive spells would fell him. I didn’t bother to watch as the spells rebounded back on the casters.
Instead, I hurried, banging into the guard closest to the end. The shield wavered a little as I broke the guard’s concentration. She staggered, her eyes huge, as I swung my manacled wrists at her temple. Thump! She went down in a heap. I bit my lip to keep from crying out. My ribs needed work. But at least Hallewell’s defenses weakened further.
Come on, Twig. Come get me.
Twig lunged toward us again. I whooped when he turned sideways at the last moment and raked his claws along the side of the barrier. His fairy wings were often the bane of his existence, but unlike other dragons’ cumbersome wings, his allowed him to maneuver in ways impossible for others of his kind. Came in handy in situations like this.
The magic tore apart with a screech of what sounded like metal on metal. I hobbled to escape before they could reform the barrier with me inside. My ribs made going fast difficult, but I pushed past the pain.
Twig shot back in my direction. I raised my arms, knowing he’d never hurt me. His talons lowered preparing to scoop me up. Freedom!
A hand slammed into my back making me stagger, as Twig reached for me. Agony exploded in my skull, so raw I screamed. Twig roared in pain and careened away, crashing into a warehouse and collapsing the structure.
I fought to move away from the searing pain, but my muscles locked. The thread that connected us as wizard and familiar shone behind my eyelids. It glittered an iridescent gold before violet crystalline threads wrapped around it. A moment later, they tightened, and our golden thread shattered.
I shattered.
Everything went blessedly black.
30
“I think that’s the last shard. There’s just so many.”
Zak? Sounded like Zak. Though his voice seemed a little . . . shaky. And who sang? Cookie? Why were we rocking?
“Put the bowl on the chest, kid. He’s gonna be okay.”
Definitely Twig’s voice. Why was it threaded with worry? My eyelids felt glued together, but after several tries, I managed to crack one open. A strange room with large circular windows and thick wooden crossbeams overhead festooned with colorful hanging lanterns came into focus. Where was I?
Cookie’s healing song abruptly cut off. She chirped happily and rolled up against my neck, nuzzling me, her fur warm and smelling of Twig.
I almost smiled before everything came crashing back. Instead, I grimaced. Closed my eye and searched for my link with Twig. Nothing.
No link, no magic. Instead, a crater in my soul that felt ragged and raw. Torn. What had Hallewell done? How could she sever our link? Impossible, yet she had. My stomach heaved, and I rolled to the bunk edge and retched.
“Shhh, Quinn, I’ve got you.” Twig held a bucket under my chin as I emptied what little I had in my stomach, his other hand rubbing my back.
When I’d finished, I lay back, exhausted. Sweat slid down my temples and into my hair, my body shaking. “It’s gone, Twig. She severed our link.” And my magic. I wasn’t simply cut off from it anymore. It didn’t exist.
“I know, wizard.” Pressing a cool cloth to my forehead, Twig leaned in and placed a kiss on the top of my head. “Cookie did what she could to heal you. You’ll probably be sore. You had a lot of glass embedded in you, especially your side. It’s a miracle you didn’t have internal bleeding. She had to work overtime. And you weren’t the only casualty.”
I blinked. I heard his words, but it took time to process what he said. “You were hurt?”
“Meh, dragons have tough hides.”
“He’s talking about me.” Zak’s voice startled me. He lingered in a corner of the room, looking unsure and so, so young. “I don’t know what kind of creature Cookie is, but she’s incredible. She healed my shoulder and a dozen other injuries like nothing. Through a song. A song.” He shook his head. “Her music pushed the glass out of your skin, so we could collect it.” He plac
ed a metal bowl with what looked like slivers of broken, blackened gedodrite on a small wooden chest.
Cookie chirped and fluffed herself. She had to be exhausted.
“It’s not glass. It’s gedodrite.”
Twig frowned. “Can’t be. Unless there’s another type.” He inhaled. “Feels like glass.”
“It’s gedodrite.” I didn’t have the energy to argue. I took a pained breath. “What happened after I blacked out?”
“I scooped you up and we fled. I couldn’t risk you.” Twig sounded defensive.
“Hallewell’s alive?”
Twig’s jaw hardened. He nodded once.
“Damn.” Wasn’t what I wanted to hear. “I’m glad you saved Zak.”
“That wasn’t me.” Twig looked to Zak. My brother took a step closer, but still didn’t approach.
“Beckett, um, I mean, Captain Yardley. She ambushed the guards.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Cora?”
Zak scowled. “Damn traitor. She injured several of Captain Yardley’s crew and ran off with Le Torneau and the remaining guards.”
I nodded numbly. Wow. I couldn’t begin to process that right now, so I shoved that pain down with the rest of it. I held out a hand.
Zak acted like a skittish centaur colt moving in jerky steps. “It’s my fault. If not for me, you’d be back in the Elder—”
“Kid.” Twig swore under his breath.
I shook my head. “I said I’d never leave you again.”
When Zak came close enough, I gripped his fingers, then squeezed.
“You should have.” His voice caught.
“I’m not that guy.” And look what it cost me, a horrid voice murmured in my head. My own. Twig’s no longer resided there.
He couldn’t meet my eyes. “I know. Now.”
“I’ve already told him all this.” Twig ran a gentle hand over my back.
That’s when I noticed the gentle rocking again. “We’re on a ship?”
Twig pushed a lock of hair off my forehead. “Yeah. Once I freed you, Pie led me to Beckett. She’d already rescued Zak. Gotta say, that girl looks good as a pirate captain. She’s fierce. Runs in the family, apparently.”
His Fairy Share Page 21
