Rise of the Magi

by Jocelyn Adams

  “Am I your enemy?”

  Silence fell like a shroud as Nix turned to me again. “Honestly, I hated what you did to me at first, but I get it now. And no, you’re not my enemy. You never were, even though I might have treated you that way when … when I found out about Donovan. And I’m sorry you lost him. One of the guards told me.”

  “Thank you.” Nothing about his defeated posture threatened me. He could have escaped the castle while I was trying to relearn how to breathe, and he hadn’t. He could have told me to go to hell and forced me to Will him into compliance, been difficult about the whole bad scenario, but he was cooperating. It would have been much easier if I could trust him to do what needed to be done. Could we could put aside our differences long enough to fight for the same cause?

  “Gallagher’s been a father to me, too, since I lost Donovan. Can we use that as a temporary bridge? Work together and trust one another long enough to survive this thing? To get him and the rest back?”

  “I want them dead.” A frigid shadow coated Nix’s stare. “For what they did to me, for what they’ve done to all of us.”

  “We can’t just up and kill the Goddess’ daughters. You have to know that. I can promise you that if I fail in our little venture, they won’t walk away from this, either, but it has to be a last resort.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  Neve’s fingers tightened on my shoulder. I patted them, hoping she’d understand that I got it. We needed to tell Nix as little as possible, just in case. I probably shouldn’t have had guilt running through my veins for that, but I did. A little.

  “A small party of us will go with you to confront them. The fewer Magi-fodder, the better. All I need you to do is get us to the right place, and the rest you can leave up to me. Do I have your oath you’ll take us to the spot where we can find this Alseides person and not screw us over by leading us everywhere but?”

  Something passed over his face, annoyance, maybe, or indignance. It didn’t remain long enough for me to decipher. “Yeah, I’ll lead you to them. But once we find them again, you’ll set me free to relay my annoyance any way short of killing them, and if whatever clever plan you come up with fails, they’re mine. If they don’t mind-fuck me again, that is, and that’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

  The intensity of his eyes, and the emotion in his voice, suggested he meant every word. He was as furious with them as he’d said. I could use that. The Goddess would just have to deal with her kids getting a little roughed up and probably scared skinny.

  “Deal.”

  He smiled, the expression making it all the way into his new powder-blue fae eyes and putting a healthy glow there. I’d missed that smile—the one he’d given me often in better times. “Are we going now, then?” He rubbed his hands together.

  “Not quite. I have to figure out who’s coming with us, so sit tight, and we’ll come back for you. Before I go, though, I need you to tell me everything you know about what we’ll find when we get to their realm.”

  Rubbing his belly, he stood there for a while staring at his ragged shoes, while I felt like a shit for not having brought something for him to eat. “There’s one main one who does most of the talking. That’s Alseides. There are two other sisters who make up the direct daughters. Karyai and Sykei. The day they put their trap in me, they were going on about the other generations, about their lines being diluted with humans, having decreasing power the farther away from the Daughters the bloodlines get.”

  “How many are a threat? Only the three? Thirteen? Three hundred?” Neve asked, taking the question before I could fire it off.

  Nix picked at a thread on the pocket of his torn jeans. That boy needed to get himself some new clothes before we took him anywhere. “I don’t know that the two sisters have the telepathic abilities Alseides has, but in their dryad forms, they’re still deadly. The ten demon spawn they produced before they were imprisoned, with some poor human sperm donors they probably slaughtered after they were done giving to their cause, can’t seem to spell anything and make it work, but they have the sociopathic tendencies of their mothers. Killing someone registers no more regret than we’d feel over stepping on a blade of grass.”

  Well, that’s just great. Murmured curses filtered through the room from Neve. “We pretty much already knew that, so it doesn’t mean much,” I said to her. “Frankly, I was expecting him to say we had thousands to contend with, not three, or even thirteen, so I can live with that.”

  “Oh, there are hundreds of the wild, tree-hugging freaks there. Just not all able to dunk you into your worst memory and keep you there until you’d do anything to make her stop. They’ve still got bows and spears that’ll skewer us well enough. That and the Unseelie, which I’d guess there are more than a couple of hundred, maybe three hundred.”

  “Correction,” I said, “They’re all threats, just in varying degrees. Shitballs.”

  “Weaknesses?” Neve asked, all business.

  “Yeah, what she said.” I thumbed at her.

  “Most of the time I was in some sort of stasis, not really asleep, but not awake, either. I remember Alseides coming to talk to me a whole bunch. She asked about you, what you were like, if you were as powerful as they hoped.”

  I caught Neve’s gaze, wondering if she was thinking the same thing as me. Our boys might be knocked out, making the extraction process a hell of a lot harder.

  “What did you tell them?” I sat forward in my seat, hoping he’d say not a damn thing.

  His gaze lowered until his lashes nearly covered all of his eyes. “Thing is … I don’t really remember. I felt safe there, like she was my protector and nothing bad could happen to me while she was around. It was dreamy and euphoric. Whatever she said to me seemed profound and important, making everything else meaningless. Shit, I could have told her anything.”

  Sighing, I grunted back to my feet. “Still doesn’t change anything.”

  “At least you know what you’re up against now, Li … I mean, Lila.”

  I nodded, finding no words to fill the emptiness for several seconds. “We need to go. I’ll have one of the guards bring you some food and new clothes.”

  “Thank you. I’m starved.” His hand went to his belly again, and he smiled, confusing me even more about the little stirrings of guilt he caused in me. “I’ll be ready to go whenever you are.”

  Neve and I left, walking toward the garden in silence. I still didn’t know what to feel about Nix. I wanted to believe everything he said, but I wasn’t ready to trust him completely. Laerni had met him and hadn’t mentioned any previous dealings with the Magi. She’d have seen it in that head of his unless the Magi had worked some magic—whatever—on Nix’s mind like they did when I was in there with him. In that case, he could have been concealing an army of zombie souls behind his mental walls, and none of us would have been the wiser.

  Before we made it to the gates of the Court, Laerni caught up with us.

  “You must sense Nix here now,” I said. “Is there anything in his head I should be worried about?”

  “Alas, whatever they’ve done to his mind is impenetrable even to me.”

  Neve sighed. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

  “You must eat before they arrive, Lila Gray.” Laerni gestured toward the castle. “It would be my pleasure to prepare something for you and your child.”

  Walking backwards, Neve said, “I’m going to check on the Dun Bray crew and my sister. You okay?”

  “Yeah, go. Thanks.” I flicked a glance at the castle before shaking my head at Laerni. “I’m not hungry right now.” My growling stomach disagreed, but I didn’t want to break the composure I had a precarious hold on by going to the last place Liam and I were together. I hoped I could, one day, look back and laugh at myself for getting teary-eyed over a room and a dead bird’s tast
y leg.

  Laerni gave a sympathetic smile. “Ah, I see reason for your reluctance. Such a tender moment, a cherished moment. Go to your garden, and I will bring something to you.”

  “Anything but turkey or chicken,” I blurted. It took a few swallows to clear the lump from my throat as I wrestled with my grief. I’d managed to outrun it for most of the day, but it nipped at the back of my mind with ravenous hunger. “And if you can have someone take some to Nix, too, that would be great.”

  Head tilted, she let a long, slow hiss of breath from her throat. “You need to release it. Acknowledging how you feel is not weakness, only your body’s way of accepting and cleansing. In unleashing it upon the wind, you may also clear your mind and find your way out of this dark night.”

  “Yeah, I’ll get right on that,” I muttered as I walked down the sloped aisle to the center mound, hating the utter silence there. Gallagher should have been pacing, or muttering to himself about philosophy or the stars or ancient history that could bore me to death. Andrew should have been making wise cracks or grouching about security protocol, or driving me nuts in whatever daily flavor he chose. I missed Cas’ warm smile. Was Liam as hungry as I was? What would he have said about everything Laerni had told me about the Magi’s methods? About Garret having a part to play in it? Something wicked and full of profanity, no doubt. Was he scared, too? Was he hurt?

  Let it out, she’d said. Set it free upon the wind. Clear the mind. Yeah, right. Old habits tried to force it back down. It was weakness. The more I loved, the more I had to lose and the worse it hurt. Still, I should have been stronger than that. I had to be.

  Never let the monsters see you cry, Lila, I used to tell myself. They’d use it against me, exploit it, feed my fears until they consumed and broke me. I’d survived some terrible stuff and had never cried before meeting Liam. My nagging little voice told me that was before I gave a crap about anyone, before I knew what happiness really meant. There were no monsters in my city. They were my people. My friends. My family. None of them would hold my grief against me.

  I broke into a run in an attempt to outrace the tears, but the pressure built and swelled until I thought my head might come off if I didn’t release it. As the first dribble crested my lashes, I collapsed to the grass on my knees and hugged myself.

  This isn’t fair! Liam should have been with me. What if the baby came early? What if he never got to see Garret grow up? How would I take care of him alone if we even survived the next few days? How would my heart survive the loss of what made it beat?

  A wail let loose from my lips and thundered around the bowl-shaped theatre, giving way to sobs that shook my bones. As my soul emptied of its darkness, I accepted that none of it would matter if I couldn’t find the Magi, figure out what they wanted and deny it to them without losing anyone, especially not myself. But how?

  As a tendril of mist descended and swirled around me, carrying a soft melody in my mother’s voice, I let Laerni’s words scroll through my mind. Clear my heart of grief, and I’d find answers. The dawn to the darkest night I’d know was there somewhere. I just had to look in the right place to help it arrive, concentrate on only that, or all the other worries on my mind would crush me.

  The need to get Liam back, to return them all, filled me with something fierce and burning. A single-minded purpose. Everyone who would come to the Court needed to see it in my face. They had to be infected by it, to want to live as much as I wanted them to. As much as I needed my son to have a world to grow up in and the mother and father I never had. I would give it to him, so help me Goddess.

  Still on my knees, I remained on the mound for a long time, listening to my mother’s voice, inviting it in to drive out the remaining doubt.

  “We will see the dawn, Liam. It will be bright and pink, and once it breaks, no shadow will fall on us again.” I came to my feet. Empty. Ready. “Hear it. Remember it. Write it in a fucking book, because that is the future I’m starting us on right this second.”

  “That almost sounds prophetic,” Brígh said. When she’d arrived beside me, I didn’t know.

  “Believing it can be done is half the battle, or some crap. Isn’t that what Gallagher says?”

  She snorted and looped her arm through mine, resting her head on my shoulder. “I miss the old fuddy-duddy.”

  “Yeah, me too. We’ll get them back.”

  “I believe in you.”

  It was my turn to laugh a little. “A little corny, but thanks.” I reached up to wipe the tears away, but Brígh caught my arm.

  “Leave them.” She fished a tissue out of her pocket and handed it to me. “Mop up the snots, but leave the tears. Everyone needs to see them.”

  I turned and stared at her serious face in search of the punch line. “Why? It should be apparent enough in my eyes that I’ll do anything to fix this. Why does anyone need to know I’ve actually been crying?”

  “Because you told them you’re hurting, but you didn’t show them, and they don’t trust you. They need to see evidence they can’t deny. They need to know it’s okay for them to cry, too.” At my frown, she folded her arms together, eyes challenging. “You made me your aide, and this is me aiding, so stop being a horse’s ass, and listen to me for once.”

  I blew my nose to cover my growing smile. “When did you get smart and so damned pushy?”

  “Oh, thanks!” She shot me an indignant look and shook her head. “I’ve always been smart, thank you very much. And as for pushy, I’ve been learning from the master, so deal with it.”

  I threw my arms around her as she squeaked. “Don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  Her giggle bounced her slender body. “When did Miss Hands-off start getting touchy-feely, anyway? And saying shit like that to me, for that matter.”

  I snickered and squeezed her tighter. “Since I met you, I think. And Laerni. I seem to recall you invading my personal space a whole bunch when we rode the transport together that first time. You’re just so damned adorable; I guess I couldn’t help myself.”

  Face flushed, she moved back and shrugged. Her sandal-clad toe gouged into the grass. “Yeah, well, I waited for, like, ever, for you to come, and your Light is just so … I don’t know, warm and nice and stuff. What’d you expect me to do, just stand over there and not touch?”

  My stomach gave a howl as I realized Laerni hadn’t yet brought food. A glance at the gate revealed a body standing there, but not the one I wanted. “Nice to see you haven’t been snatched up like every other guy around here.”

  Parthalan bowed as he always did before striding toward me, wearing black slacks and an ice blue button down the same color as his star-bright eyes. His dark wings lay flat against his back and brushed the ground as he walked. “Mistress. I am grieved of your loss. We, too, have lost all males who remained in Cargun, and the females who went in search have been … they are no longer here.” He touched his temple. “Those in the air at the time of the attack, a hundred, maybe more, are all who are spared.”

  The royal we. The Sluagh were of a single mind linked to all of the undead former fae, so they moved and thought as one unit. Handy, but it had downsides, too. To lose so many would have been devastating to them—mind and body. Although I still had command of them when I needed to, I’d been able to lock that link up tight in a corner of my mind, or I’d have mourned right along with them.

  “I’m sorry.” I meant it wholeheartedly. “Where are the others now?”

  “They wish to hear what our queen would do about this threat with their own ears. They soar the skies above your gates.”

  I didn’t have an issue with that, but I knew of one or two who might. “I don’t have all the answers, but I hope between those of us left, we can come up with some. The Host has every right to be here. The only problem is that I have two humans coming who’ve never been inside a fae city before, a
nd one in particular doesn’t do well with anything he doesn’t understand.”

  “Richard? The Federal agent.”

  “Yep. That’s the one. Can you ask the Host to mix in with the rest of the fae when they get here so a whole flock of beaked bird men won’t be descending on them all at once?” If James and Richard hadn’t been snatched up along with the rest. I hadn’t even considered the humans might have taken a hit to their testosterone brigade, too.

  Stopping a few feet away from Brígh and me, Parthalan gave another bow. “We wish to convey our gratitude.” Head tilted in his weird bird stance, he cocked his head, still staring at me. “Your eyes are wet.” He tilted left, right and craned his neck around the Court before returning to me. “But there is no destruction. No fury. No cursing. Are you well, Mistress?”

  Brígh burst out laughing, earning my elbow in her side.

  “That’s not funny. I’m not like that anymore.” I shrugged. “Most of the time.” I’d blown up the infirmary door, but that was an emergency. Moving on to more important matters, I said, “Do you remember anything more about your former life than you did when you crawled out of the ground?”

  His head tipped in the other direction. “Flashes. Faces. Sounds. Places I have no names for or perspective to tell me where they are. What is it you seek in my past?”

  “The Magi?” I was reaching, but when a girl’s got nothing, what else could I do?

  A hammer-to-the-forehead expression faced me. “What are you suggesting?”

  “Oh, hell. I don’t know. Anything. Nothing. Only hoping you might have run across them since you’ve been around so damn long.”

  The crackle of electricity sounded an instant before a dripping-wet James and one of the transporters blinked into existence in front of the dais. Lisa, I thought Neve had called her.

  Yelping, the Canadian Mountie covered his junk with his hands. “Jesus, Lila. What the hell?”