Star could only watch in horrified fascination as the Spriggan vanished only to return dragging a man. His hair was gold, like afternoon sunlight, not bright but warm. His head was hanging forward blocking her view of the rest of him. But Ankou wasn't finished.
"Luna promised me a bride many, many years ago. Now, she wants to forget that debt and seeks to use me as a wedge. I won't be used, Princess. Come here."
Star continued to shake her head. She didn't understand what was going on here but she wasn't about to put herself into Ankou's hands freely. Not even if she was struggling to draw her last breath and he was the only one who could help. Under her hands, Centauri shuddered.
She caught the white flash of teeth under the concealing brim of his hat. “No? Oh, so protective of the Daoine Sidhe. Don't you understand yet, Princess? He brought you here. Whatever reason he gave you, he brought you here for one reason only. To give you to me."
"That's not true!"
"Oh, but it is. I have no reason to lie to you. No matter what you believe, you will be coming with me tonight."
Ankou gestured again and the blond man sprawled in the dirt as the Spriggans dropped him unceremoniously. A whip of wind set the branches overhead cracking. Ankou folded his hands with aesthetic precision.
"One more show of disobedience and he dies."
The blond man groaned and shoved to his knees, swaying unsteadily. There was no mistaking the warrior build of a Tuatha de'. The bruises that mottled his face and shoulders told a tale of hard use and abuse at the hands of the Unseelie. The Spriggans grinned, showing pointed teeth in their narrow, feral faces as they fingered their knives suggestively.
"Sol.” Centauri's croaking whisper raked Star's ears and killed her last hope in the bud.
"Take him and go,” Ankou commanded the blond man. “I will keep to my side of the bargain, but know that if I find either of you trespassing in my realm again, I will not be so lenient."
Something inside of her broke leaving only a deep, cold emptiness yawning. Star pulled away from Centauri. He tried to catch her hand but she stood, staring down at him.
"Don't,” he managed. “My oath..."
"You swore that you wouldn't let the imps take me,” she said slowly. “You didn't say you wouldn't just hand me over, did you? You swore I would be safe with you. But I won't be with you any longer, Centauri.” She stepped away, waiting for the pain to come but there was only that awful, numbing hole in her chest. “I release you from all oaths and promises. I release you of any debt in this matter.” He reached for her but she avoided him. “Don't ever let me see your face again."
The man, Sol had reached them. He knelt beside Centauri and lifted him carefully. The shimmer of his magic glowed around him and wings of fire sprouted from his back. Star turned on her heel and walked away. BBetrayed. Again.
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Chapter Fifteen
Ankou reached for her but Star avoided his gloved hands. Behind her, the rush of wings faded into the distance and she knew that Centauri and the man, Sol, were gone. She was on her own.
The Unseelie closed in around her, leering faces and glowing eyes. She ignored them. Slowly and with care, she began to rebuild her barriers. She couldn't trust the things Centauri had told her any longer.
The Spriggans led the way, peering over narrow shoulders to keep an eye on her. The imps circled the outer fringes of the group, hissing and growling. In the shadows of the trees, Star could see the hulking outline of yet another troll. Somewhere, out of sight, an ogre lurked. The rotten meat scent of him was strong and Star shuddered.
"You will ride with me,” Ankou commanded.
Winged mounts stood ready, clawed feet raking the ground where they stood. Eyes glowed red in the dark. The rest of the Slough watched impassively as Ankou herded her toward his mount, a huge black monstrosity that smelled of sulphur and smoke. The wraiths of unsanctified dead that comprised the Host watched her with blank eyes, minds enthralled by their Dark King's will. Fir Darrigs snuffled at her with rat-like faces, their fat bodies barely concealed by their tattered clothing. The Hulda keepers, who held the reins of the winged mounts, watched her with slitted dark eyes, the moonlight tracing their pointed sylvan ears as they rustled their enormous bat-like wings impatiently.
There would be no escape for her tonight.
Reluctantly, Star mounted the winged beast and Ankou swung up behind her. He gathered his reins and the Hulda took to the air, leading the way. With a harsh cry, the beast launched itself skyward and the Slough followed closely behind. Star clung to the saddle as the ground dropped away beneath them until there was only the vast black carpet of the Meanduraug spreading around them in all directions. Briefly, she caught a glimpse of a vast bowl of mist, glimmering pale and then it, too, vanished.
The night wind rushed past, a cold wailing counterpoint to the arctic desolation of her heart. Above her, the stars hung clear and bright, just out of reach. Around her, the cackling laughter of the Slough whipped and gibbered.
It wasn't long before Ankou drove his beast toward the ground. The creature tossed its head, screeling defiantly, but the Unseelie King's will overrode it. They landed with a jerk and the Slough drifted in to close around them once more. The Hulda came to take possession of their mounts as Ankou waved his dismissal and the wraiths faded away.
The gates to the Unseelie court gaped before them. Star dismounted, looking around her in dismay. The darkness here was deeper than the night sky above, starless and void. The gray stone gates had been ripped from the ground, stone shattered to reveal the dank path to the underworld. Fog drifted in dim fingers across the ground. And where the rock had been torn apart, fantastic shapes had been formed—faces of apes, men and gargoyles. There were creatures of myth and magic all writhing, frozen forever in a rictus of agony. The black and gray striations screamed silently of the violation.
Star felt Ankou just behind her. His breath stirred her hair as he leaned closer.
"As long as you are under my care, Princess, no one here will dare harm you. If you choose to try to leave, to run from me as you have others, that protection will no longer exist. And the ogre has been rather grumpy of late and the imps are always ready for a good chase and kill. Do we understand one another?"
Star glanced over her shoulder, meeting his dark eyes, unflinching. “Yes,” she said clearly. “You are an asshole with asshole friends. Not much there to argue about."
His thin lips twisted in a snarl. “Keep a civil tongue in your head or I'll let them have you anyway."
"You snatch me from my life and expect me to play nice?” Scorn dripped from her voice. Tucking her fingers in her pockets, Star matched him sneer for snarl. “Get a life, idjet. It's not going to happen."
It was easy to be brave when she simply couldn't dredge up enough energy to care what happened to her now. She wouldn't give in and she wasn't strong enough to fight him. She would do as she had always done—wait until an opportunity presented itself.
Ankou stripped off a glove with deliberate movements. Reaching out, he touched her cheek with a single finger. Star gasped, feeling the scream building up from her toes but it couldn't break through the strange dull shadow of his touch. As he caressed her face, she felt death linger in his wake. The gray pall soaked into her skin, stealing her strength, absorbing the magic of her essence. He saw her horror and smiled.
"I am King here,” he crooned. “You will learn what that means soon enough."
* * * *
Damien woke with a start, his heart pounding. He stared at the ceiling, trying to figure out what had awakened him. Outside, the incessant sounds of traffic were muted in the distance. The studio lay silent around him. There was a sinking, empty fear gnawing around the edges of his mind, a residue from whatever dream he had been wandering in. He rubbed at his chest and sat up. The ache refused to subside but deepened, making him faintly nauseous.
Something, somewhere was just not right.
&nbs
p; He rose and padded into the cave, cursing when his toes caught on the stool by the fridge. He had been meaning to move it back into the corner since Star had used it that night but hadn't gotten around to it.
Star...?
The ache in his chest tightened painfully. Star was in trouble. He didn't know how he knew, he simply did. But where was she?
In the past week, he had gone to her apartment every day only to be told that she still hadn't come home. Her boss had mumbled something about extended leave and made vague references to a trip to Hawaii.
But Damien knew better. She wasn't in New York. She wasn't in Hawaii. She wasn't in LA, Dallas, Las Vegas or Miami. He knew because his mother had already checked those places and no one had a nose for hunting like his mother. He kept telling himself that his show was in two weeks. She had promised to be there and Star never broke her promises. But the way his guts clenched wouldn't let him ignore this.
Reluctantly, he dug for his phone and dialed. He waited. The call rang twice and then beeped as the call was forwarded. He frowned. When had his mother learned how to do that? Finally, she answered.
"I'm not going to ask where you are because you'd tell me, wouldn't you?” He tried for levity but it fell flat. Damien rubbed at the tight muscles in his neck. “I had a bad dream about Star. I don't like this at all. It's not like her to just take off. Have you found any sign of her yet?” He went still, listening intently. Frowning, he shook his head. “No freaking way. She wouldn't. Not in this lifetime.” As his mother continued, Damien's disquiet deepened. When she finished, he closed his eyes, wishing he could believe she was wrong.
"Mom, I have to find her.” There was a snarl of denial from the other end but Damien was already digging for a semi-clean pair of jeans and hunting for socks, clean or otherwise. “There's no other way. You can't do it and I can't just sit on my thumbs and do nothing.” He straightened, a grim smile curving his mouth. “Oh, don't get your hopes up. She's a friend. She doesn't see me for breathing. And, Mom?” He took a deep breath. “I love you."
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Chapter Sixteen
The stone pressed in around her. The damp air was cold and heavy, laying over her like a dark, wet quilt. A hazy red light crept out of the stone, offering faint illumination to the small room they had locked her in. Star closed her eyes and tried to think. The Minotaurs on either side of her door kept wary eyes on her. As if she would run, she thought darkly. With the moon gone dark, the Unseelie court reigned supreme for the next few days. To make a dash for it now would be the height of stupidity and she wasn't stupid.
Her heart twinged. She was a trusting fool and that was worse than stupid. She knew better than to trust anything that came from Luna's hand but she hadn't been able to see past Centauri's pretty face. It was her own fault she was here.
To avoid thinking about that, Star stood, stretching her arms over her head to ease the crick in her shoulders from sitting so long. The room she had been locked in was not what she would have called a guest room. The narrow, flat bed and the bars on the door were a clear indication she wasn't exactly a guest of honor. Other than the single rickety chair, the bed and the corner that had been walled off as a sort of water closet, the room was simply four bare stone walls and stone floor. A cave with a door.
Star wandered to the door and peered through the barred window. A Naga hissed at her from her perch on the arch above the gate into what would have been an open courtyard had they been above ground. Here, it was a large cavern, filled with all manner of creatures. A troll sat to one side sleeping, his club leaning against the wall within reach should he need it. Across the way, Star could see a cluster of imps devouring the remains of a deer carcass. A Hulda shifted his wings and resumed his sleep, hanging upside down from the ceiling. She wrapped her fingers around the bars and tried to get a better look of the lower side of the courtyard. The Minotaur to the right of the door snorted in warning.
"Calm down, bollock brains,” she muttered. “It's not like I'm going anywhere.” But the baleful glare drove her back into the room to stare at the walls around her. This stunk. She glowered at the cold stone. Suddenly, she threw back her head and shouted.
"I want coffee and I want it now!"
The echoes bounced crazily around her and finally fell flat. Nothing. Not even a grumble or a growl in response. Her shoulders slumped. So much for conversation. In desperation, Star retreated to the water closet and closed the door behind her.
The darkness was absolute. Experimentally, Star waved her hand in front of her nose. The disturbed air brushed her skin but there was nothing but a view of the backside of the moon registering in her eyes. She sighed. Groping around her, she found the cold draft that wafted up from the hole in a wooden bench. Feeling for the edge, she sat gingerly and tucked her hands under her legs. As far as privacy went, this wouldn't have been her first choice but it would have to do.
If Ankou thought her cowed, he was in for a big surprise. This was no different than any other time she had been forced into a vacation not of her choosing. Like before, she would find a way out. All she had to do was figure out what she was dealing with and make the most of the weaknesses. Oh, yeah. Nothing to it. Star tried desperately to believe that but was failing miserably.
Her largest obstacle was the fact that the Unseelie court wasn't made up of a single race like the Sidhe at Lough Lean or the Tuatha de’ at Tir Nan Og. The Seelie court was so obsessed with its pleasures that it had simply been a matter of out-waiting them. The gnomes had been terminally stupid and the imps ... She shuddered. As solitary packs, imps were ruled by their stomachs and their violent natures. As part of a court, however, they would follow the King. That gave the Unseelie court a vaster resource of talent hunting her when she got around to bolting.
Ankou was neither stupid nor distractible. He was cold, methodical and merciless. The Slough hunted the skies while his packs of imps, trolls and Spriggan hunted the ground. Since she was of the air and not the earth, making her way through these caves would be difficult at best. The stone wouldn't answer to her. She had to be careful and patient.
Star leaned her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her hands. She hated being patient but it wasn't like she had any choice. Her barriers were far from complete. There were only so many fingers she could stick in that leaky dike and, with the magic from dancing filling her, the tide was coming in high.
She sighed. Somewhere, high above her, there had to be a star still shining. Closing her eyes, she cast her wish, knowing the futility of it even as she did so. She could grant any silly wish any other person could think of but she could not grant her own. She could turn a pixie purple or put a wheel back on a plastic truck, but she couldn't wish herself free. She couldn't wish Maria well again.
It wasn't fair. Anger rose in a viscous swell. Others had far better gifts and did nothing with them. Why was she stuck granting wishes? As Centauri had said, everything he needed he could earn with his own two hands. Her gift was frivolous and absolutely useless to her.
A faint light crept out, a mere sparkle against the absolute dark. Caught up in her angry thoughts, she didn't notice it at first. The tiny dusting of light flurried around her, hazing the dark into retreat and the swirl caught her eye. Startled, Star raised a hand and wiggled her fingers. She could see them. She laughed, trying not to notice the note of hysteria that edged the sound.
The light was coming from her.
Star concentrated on the light and it brightened slightly. She let out her breath as her anger faded into wonder and the shimmer dimmed. What in the world was going on? She tried to bring the light back but nothing happened. Was it tied to all the magic whirling around in her guts since the dance? She concentrated on harnessing that power but it slipped beyond her and the room remained dark.
Damn it! Why couldn't even this simple thing work for her? Star lashed out in frustration, cracking her knuckles on the wall. Sparks danced momentarily until pain eclipsed her
anger. She sucked on her scraped knuckles and tried to think. Something had triggered that glow. Not pain, she thought ruefully. Otherwise she'd be looking like a neon sign right now. Fear? She had been afraid before and this had never happened.
Anger. Star sat up straighter, her mind whirling.
As a child, Luna had restricted her dancing to barest minimum, claiming that Star only disrupted those of true power with her odd gifts. Once Luna had begun bartering her off for favors, Star could remember being frightened, hurt and determined. All three times she had been sent away, she had been denied the dance. She had been frightened, not angry. She had believed it when they told her that she deserved no better than gnomes or imps.
In the past one hundred and twenty years, Star had come to the conclusion that Luna's cruelty was only equaled by her lies. With her magic kept purposefully at low ebb, Star had been forced to rely on her wits.
For the first time in her life, Star deliberately let her anger loose. Her anger over Luna's harsh cruelties flowed, closely followed and fueled by her fury at her own cowardice. She let the rage pour from her in an all-consuming wave.
The walls glittered in the diamond shine as her magic lit the air.
With a grim smile, Star tamped her rage back inside of her and the glow faded. Whether Centauri had known it or not, he had done her a favor by encouraging her to dance, to open herself to the magic.
Feeling more in control of herself, Star let herself out of the water closet and flopped on the bed. There was nothing to amuse herself with in here and, even had there been, it wouldn't serve her to let her captors know of her new found confidence. So, she sprawled loose limbed on the flat cushion with an arm thrown across her eyes. Time passed and she finally slept.
When Star woke, she could feel the sun setting. Somewhere. Somewhere there was sky. She sat up, stretching the muscles of her back that were protesting the hard mattress. She caught a faint whiff of food and her stomach growled. Turning, she found that a tray had been shoved through the door while she was sleeping and was now emitting that mouth-watering aroma.
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