Undone Deeds cg-6

by Mark Del Franco

  He was right. It looked embarrassing. I took it out and wedged it into the inside pocket of my jacket. Joe let out an impressed whistle. I thought he was breaking my balls again, but he was looking up in the sky. Three people descended, a man and two women, their white robes fluttered in the wind. Silver light flickered from long swords in their hands. “Check it out, Connor. The High Queen’s Archdruids! I haven’t partied with those guys since—” His thrilled expression fell when he saw my face. “Oh. It’s not good they’re here, is it?”

  “Yeah, I’m not having a good day,” I said.

  38

  “Find Ceridwen for me, Joe. Tell her….” I paused. An image fluttered across my mind.

  Joe snapped his fingers. “Hello?”

  The image sharpened, and I saw Ceridwen, dressed in her Hunter garb, the red leather armor and antlered helm. “Never mind; I see her.”

  Joe sighed toward the skies. “They grow up so fast, don’t they? First they’re waving their spears around, then they’re figuring out how to use them.”

  “Follow me if you can keep up,” I said. I tapped the essence in the spear, and a tunnel spiraled open in my mind. Joe stuck his tongue out at me as I let the tunnel pull me in, essence swirling around me with a streak of pink that I knew was Joe.

  As I appeared on the street in the Tangle, Ceridwen spun, sword at the ready. She relaxed when she recognized me, turning her attention back to the scene behind her. “Well met, macGrey. I sensed the spear was in play but did not call it until I knew why.”

  A thickened essence barrier stretched across the street. On the other side, three Danann fairies were letting loose a field of essence-fire. The barrier sizzled and burned like a fireworks display. “We’ve got the Queen’s Fianna and Archdruids in the city,” I said.

  She surprised me by smiling. “Maeve knows how to bring a good battle. I look forward to her defeat.”

  “They took out the Rowes Wharf Hotel,” I said.

  Ceridwen sent a burst of essence into the barrier. “We anticipated that.”

  “We? You coordinated a response with Eorla?” I asked.

  She moved closer to the barrier. With the Hunter glamour hiding her face, it was impossible to tell what she was thinking. “The hotel was an obvious target, as is the Tangle. I am protecting access to several evacuation routes.”

  “Like the tunnel under the hotel,” I said.

  The antlered helm turned toward me. I didn’t need to see her face to feel the confident amusement in Ceridwen’s voice. “One of many. The Dananns are trained to fight the Consortium in the open air.” She clenched her fist. The buildings to either side shuddered, their façades curling into the street, closing off access. The sounds of essence-fire became muffled as the barrier merged with the masonry. Ceridwen walked away. “They also have never encountered a place like the Tangle.”

  “But what the hell is going on?” I asked.

  “Maeve and the U.S. president made a joint statement as the attacks began. They are fighting the Consortium terrorists and their allies who destroyed the Guildhouse and endangered human lives,” she said.

  She paused at the next intersection. “We are about to be cut off from my main force three blocks over. The Dananns are shifting in this direction.”

  I lifted the spear. “Where to?”

  She held out her hand. “Tide and Summer Street.”

  I closed my eyes and visualized the street corner. A transport tunnel opened in my mind, a crisp image of the location at the opposite end. I took Ceridwen’s hand. We jumped and landed in the middle of a firefight.

  An essence barrier had been erected across a side street as a bulwark along Old Northern. The barrier bowed outward, shielding solitaries and the Dead. Opposite them, Danann fairies ranged along the street, throwing an effortless stream of essence-fire at the barrier. A few hovered in the air, testing the limits of the barrier. None of them seemed particularly aggressive. “They’re not fighting very hard,” I said.

  Ceridwen stalked behind her line of defenders. “I noticed that as well. More are coming down from the hotel.”

  “That’s got to be a feint. Eorla is a primary target,” I said.

  Ceridwen nodded with a satisfied gleam in her eye. “They’ve lost her. We never intended to hold the hotel, and now the Dananns are confused.”

  “What the hell is this plan? Eorla wouldn’t tell me,” I said.

  She swung the great helm toward me. “You should not be here. I am trying to draw the Fianna here so that they will leave Brion Mal’s headquarters with weak defenses. It will mean nothing if you are captured here.”

  “Where is Eorla?” I asked.

  “We don’t have time for this, Grey,” she said.

  “Tell me,” I said.

  Ceridwen ignored me, moving closer to the barrier. Sparks cascaded across the barrier, forming a curtain that rippled and bucked. Sections thinned under the stress, random streaks of fire breaking through. “We can hold these Dananns off, but they have numbers on their side. Where are the Fianna? I want the Fianna.”

  The barrier was threatening to collapse. Despite the skill of the solitary defenders, the Dananns had firepower to match. All my abilities were defensive at this point, except the darkness, and I didn’t want to think about unleashing it again. Already, I could feel its pressure against the inside of my skull as it sensed the intense body signatures beyond the wall. I stood helpless with my sword. It was an offensive weapon and not long-range. I clutched the spear to my chest. We needed help.

  I turned my thoughts inward, focusing on Eorla’s body signature. A tunnel spiraled open, the preternatural green glow of Eorla’s body signature dancing in the ether. The vision sharpened, and I saw her face. She lifted her head, staring at me through the tunnel. With a cutting gesture, she held out her hand. Essence flashed, and the tunnel collapsed.

  I opened my eyes in surprise. I hadn’t considered that it was possible for someone to shut down the spear. Given what I had seen the spear do, I doubted many fey could. I got the message. Eorla didn’t want me wherever she was.

  The barrier collapsed on one end, fairies pressing forward to exploit the advantage. A company of Dead surged into the gap, throwing themselves against lethal essence bolts. A ripple of essence burned along the pavement, and the street undulated as the asphalt and concrete heaved upward.

  My skin shivered as a wall of stone and tar rose. It was troll work, and I recognized the body signature. I had the same essence, a residue from a troll named Moke, who had saved my life once. I sensed him beneath my feet, like a leviathan in the deep as his passage created the wall. I doubted it would hold long, but it was buying time.

  Ceridwen rode the wave of stone. As the wall peaked, she let out a burst of essence, a spray of fire that pressed the Dananns back. They scrambled to reassemble, intent on taking her from her perch. Despite their abilities, they were facing an underQueen of the Seelie Court. In the past, I had watched Ceridwen take on ten times their number. She died only because Bergin Vize used the spear against her.

  As the Dananns focused their attention on the barrier, solitary fey threw ineffective bolts of their own. It was obvious the Dananns were not concerned. The solitaries were chaotic and disorganized. The Dananns were a trained fighting unit. They needed their overconfidence poked.

  I raised the spear and opened a short jump to the opposite side of the barrier. Landing near two Dananns, I swept their feet out from under them with the spear and jumped back. Joe danced in the air around me. “That’s flit fighting if I ever saw it. Not bad for someone so tall.”

  The Dananns shifted away from Ceridwen’s barrier and toward me. I hesitated. My shield would protect me from the brunt of an attack, but I had to get close in for the spear to be any use. Time slowed as I took in the scene, the flashing of the essence-fire, the burnt-ozone odor in the air. I already had a sheen of sweat under my jacket, and my heart was beating with adrenaline. It felt good, like a long run after a night of drinking,
the stink of alcohol oozing out of my pores. I felt alive like I hadn’t in a long time. I grinned at Joe. “Care to join me?”

  He saluted me with his sword, and we jumped through a weak spot in the essence barrier. Flashing back into sight, Joe batted his sword on the top of a Danann’s head and blinked out before she saw him. She whirled in place, angry but confused, as I was too far away to have hit her. She raised her hand to strike. I ducked under the bolt, using the move to hit another fighter behind me. This time, I didn’t play nice, and jabbed him in the hamstring with the point of the spear. I jumped back.

  The other Dananns moved in. One remained behind at the breach, drawing off Ceridwen’s forces while the rest concentrated their attack on a single point of the barrier. It crumbled, giving in to the weight of the strikes. Even Ceridwen couldn’t defend so many positions. One by one, the Dananns slipped the barrier, faster as the ones preceding them provided coverage.

  “Watch and learn,” Joe said, and blipped out. In quick succession, he flashed in and out of sight behind the Dananns, hitting and stabbing. He reappeared by my shoulder, his face glowing with excitement. “Ready?”

  I jumped. We crisscrossed our way through the attackers, hitting and swinging swords. They fought back hard, their deep training showing in the instant reactions to my appearance beside them. My head rang with sound, the clash of sword blades, the deflection of essence, and the whirring of jumping. I wasn’t Joe. I was tiring, my body no match for the constant jumps even with a shield protecting me from exposure. At least I wasn’t bleeding to death this time.

  The dark mass in my head struggled against the faith stone as essence heightened around us. Pain flashed on and off, blotches of red and black appearing in my vision. The dark mass sensed the intense living essence. The stone bowl in my jacket flushed heat against my chest as it amplified the energies. It was becoming too much. The combined sensory input was overwhelming—the faith stone, the dark mass, the stone bowl, and the spear all activating at the same time. A balance existed—I could sense that—but the middle of a fight was not the time to learn. I jumped away and landed alone farther up Tide Street.

  Joe popped in next to me. “You okay?”

  I nodded. “Taking a breather. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.”

  He hovered toward the fighting. “Kicking ass is what you’re doing. Nice moves for a glow bee.”

  Several Dananns swooped through the air along the street, keeping low on the roofline. They were setting up some kind of formation but didn’t seem to be advancing. “I don’t get what they’re doing. What do they care about the Tangle?”

  Joe swiveled in place, watching as they alighted on the buildings. They weren’t firing. “Purging, m’friend, oldest game in the book. Don’t like the neighbors? Purge ’em. Don’t like the next town? Purge it. Don’t like the next county? Purge it. Damned Dananns never did know how to make friends with anybody.”

  “But why the Tangle? I can see the beef Maeve has with the Consortium, but the Tangle? It doesn’t care about international crap,” I said.

  Joe glanced at me slyly. “Well, it does tend to hide rogues and thieves that do.”

  The Dananns lined the sides of the street. I had a few more jumps in me before I gave up to exhaustion, but that moment was getting close. “But Maeve doesn’t know about Ceridwen.”

  “Speakin’ of, here she comes,” said Joe.

  Ceridwen reached the end of Tide. Get out of here, Grey. It’s you they want. If you leave, I can delay them.

  I didn’t understand what she was talking about. I wasn’t a favorite of Maeve’s, but taking down an entire neighborhood to get at me didn’t make much sense.

  The spear shuddered in my hand. Annoyed, I frowned. Now wasn’t the time for Ceridwen to try her hand with it. I pulled back, clamped my mind on the spear’s essence, and held it in place. It shook away from me, pulling my arm up. I struggled as the spear dragged and pulled away from me. “Knock it off, Ceridwen,” I shouted to her.

  Dananns dropped into the street and faced Ceridwen. If she heard me, she ignored me. The spear bounced and leaped in my hand like an animal on a leash. I decided to give in and do what she wanted and leave. I visualized Meryl’s office, tapped the spear—and was knocked on my ass. A surge of essence flashed back at me, shutting down the jump. The spear burned hot in my hand and vanished.

  Furious, I faced Ceridwen. She didn’t have the spear. As one, the remaining Dananns dropped onto the street. I circled with my sword, keeping an eye on Ceridwen. She wasn’t as close as I’d like. The Dananns didn’t fire. They faced me on all sides, cutting off any escape. “That was a stupid mistake,” I muttered.

  Joe hovered in close behind me. “What happened? Where’s the spear?”

  The Dananns raised their hands in unison, golden essence sparkling across their palms.

  “It’s gone. It had to be Bergen Vize. He’s the only other person I know who can use the spear like that. He’s alive. The bastard’s alive,” I said.

  Joe’s wings brushed against the back of my head. “Well, that’s rude.”

  I had no hope of fighting off dozens of Dananns. I shrugged off my jacket and held it out. “Get this out of here, Joe. There’s no way I’m letting them get it.”

  He swooped in front of me. “Geez, Connor, we can get you another jacket. Let it go.”

  “It’s what’s inside,” I said.

  He took the jacket as the Dananns released their essence. Streaks of burning light arced through the air. They tangled into each other, weaving in and out.

  “Where should I take it?” he asked.

  I swept my sword at the forming net. Strands broke and frayed, but more took their place. “Anywhere but here.”

  He flew level with my face. “You’re asking me to leave you again.”

  “They’re not going to kill me, Joe. They would have by now. Go, before it’s too late,” I said.

  He hovered up. “I’ll be back with reinforcements.”

  With a shout, he swept in a circle around me, brandishing his sword into the faces of the Dananns. He popped out as the net fell. Essence bindings draped over me, searing my flesh. I fought against them with the sword, but there were too many. The net brought me to my knees. I cut a swath through, managing to free my head and my sword arm. The Dananns moved closer, replacing the destroyed strands. The bindings became heavier, forcing me to the ground.

  Three dark figures appeared in the air over me, and I recognized the archdruids from the Common. They dropped with the slow precision of levitation spells. I swore under my breath as they held their right palms out and, as one, shouted, “Codlah.”

  My eyelids drooped as the command to sleep fell over me.

  39

  The sleep spell lingered like a fog. Awareness tickled at me as it faded. The dark mass pulsed in my head, a mild warmth against the cool light of the faith stone. My eyelids lifted with gritty slowness. Essence bindings held my arms and legs to a chair, immobilizing tethers that didn’t constrict but had no give. I sensed someone in the room. I stared at an empty chair facing me. My vision blurred, then focused on a man to the right. He wore a white robe trimmed with a blue-and-gold knot pattern, the uniform of office of an archdruid.

  Archdruids achieved the highest rank in a druid grove. They advised kings and queens, and their knowledge could turn war into victory or defeat. I had been taken down by a druid-triad, three people working together whose combined abilities were more than the sum of their parts.

  “How long have I been out?” I asked.

  He didn’t answer, his eyes half-closed as he maintained the vestige of the sleeping spell on me. The sound of a door opening broke the silence. A gust of essence rolled over me, a female Danann fairy whose signature was more pronounced than anything I had ever sensed. The archdruid glanced over my head, nodded, and excused himself. The woman didn’t move or speak, and I assumed she was one of the Fianna taking over guard duty.

  When I had reached the poi
nt where I wasn’t thinking about her anymore, she moved, striding across the room to the empty chair. The sleep spell deadened my full reaction, but I’m sure she saw it in my face.

  “I am Maeve,” she said, as if she needed an introduction.

  The freaking High Queen of the Seelie Court at Tara was sitting four feet away from me. Dressed in black leather battle armor with silver filigree shaped in ancient Celtic swirls designs, the woman who ruled all the Celtic fey, who challenged the Elven King and changed the political landscape of an entire hemisphere by existing, reclined in the chair like she was taking afternoon tea with friends. Her wings rippled and undulated to either side, layer upon layer of gossamer membranes lifting and lowering in a mesmerizing display of color. She didn’t have her helm on, allowing her long black hair to fall and pool at her waist. I couldn’t look away from that face—expressionless yet sharp-featured, and pale, almost pearlescent. Hypnotizing was the word. Even at a glance, it was easy to see how she had captivated the world. In her right hand, she held the spear.

  I flexed my wrists in their bindings. “I’d shake, but I’m a little indisposed.”

  She flicked her fingers. A ball of essence puffed through the air, and the bindings vanished. I rubbed my wrists and stretched my legs. Both my daggers were gone. I nodded at the spear. “I believe that’s mine.”

  Maeve looked at the spear as if she had only then realized she held it. “This? Take it.”

  The streak of essence that registered my access to the spear glowed in my mind. I summoned the spear with a mental command. It glided upright across the room and into my hand. The dark mass jumped in my head as if jostled awake. A small smile creased Maeve’s lips, and the sleep spell amplified. She clenched her fingers, and the spear jumped back to her. I didn’t feel it leave my hand. “Before you held the spear, it was Ceridwen underQueen’s. Before her, it was mine. No one owns the spear, and anyone it chooses remains chosen.”

  I stood, unsteady on my feet. “Thanks for the info. I’ll be going now.”