by Megan Curd
Looking down, the wooden spear had caught all the arrows along the shaft. Somehow I had thwarted each of Memaw’s seasoned attacks so far. For the slightest moment, a smug grin found its way onto my face. Then there was another scream, which brought me back to reality.
Finding the source of the agonizing wails, Memaw was pinned to the ground. The spear I had fended off her arrows somehow, but she hadn’t been so successful in deflecting the one I had sent at her. Somehow, I had thrown it with such precision and force to knock her back, the spear lodging itself in her collarbone and then digging into the ground. Blood was soaking into her white shirt she wore, quickly turning the entire shirt crimson.
I ran forward, frightened and disgusted with myself. How had this happened? I didn’t know where to place my hands on Memaw; everywhere seemed to cause her to scream out in pain worse than the worm blade.
Roslin was by my side within seconds. “Emily, where are you hit?”
She gasped in pain. “Brachial artery, I think. You need to put pressure on it or I’m going to bleed out. I don’t want to be here until next week. Heal it now.”
Roslin put her hands on either side of the shaft in Memaw’s shoulder. “Em, I’m sorry. There’s no way to heal you until we get this out. We can’t do that here. We’re gonna have to take you to the infirmary. Reuben! Get over here!”
I reeled, collapsing to my knees. “Memaw, I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
Within minutes I was going to be a blubbering mess.
Roslin saw it coming. “Antony, take Ashlyn back to the meeting room. We’ll be there shortly.”
Antony came forward, clearly unnerved by the display I had put on. I clutched at Memaw, who winced in pain. “Ashlyn, it’ll be okay. Go with Antony.”
Antony picked me up by my elbow. Whispering in my ear, he urged me to move. “If you go now, we can avoid Rebecca and Reuben. Come on,” he begged.
That made me move. I stood up mechanically, not really thinking about moving any further. Antony was practically dragging me away from Memaw.
“Will she be okay?” I asked between choked sobs.
“Yes, she’ll be fine. Here,” Antony swept me up into his arms. It was reminiscent of when Tess had run me away from the brawl between Jamie and I in the same manner. “We need to get in the room before Rebecca and Reuben. You need to get yourself together. Showing weakness will only get you in trouble. If you want to help Emily, you need to calm down.”
I focused on breathing normally. By the time we got into the room and he dropped me in the guest chair, I was barely hiccupping. He sat down in his seat across the room. He eyed me, waiting on another round of hysterics. Still in Memaw’s form, I felt a weird sensation as her natural calm came through. It was strange. It was as if I had a glimpse into her mind. I didn’t like it; it felt like an intrusion into her space. Closing my eyes, I shifted back to normal.
When the shift was complete, Rebecca was right in front of me, not six inches away from my face. “You shift quite naturally. How long have you known?”
She didn’t seem the least bit aware of the emotional wreck I had become from impaling my own grandmother. This was frustrating, but I bit back the vile things I wanted to say to her. Answering direct questions would cause the least harm. “Since a week or so after Christmas.”
“Marvelous. That’s not even four months. You’re exceptional. Tess can’t do any of what you’ve just displayed. And your fighting skills…” she trailed off, clearly enamored.
Reuben picked up where she left off, coming in from the hidden door behind Rebecca’s chair. “Her fighting skills supersede her teacher’s.”
“Clearly. Emily has done a wonderful job teaching her, but I do believe this is a natural talent as well,” finished Rebecca. “I think we have ourselves another assassin. Do you think she’s able to learn our other trades as well?”
“I’m sure she is,” Antony said, rising from his seat. “But I hardly think this is time to test her like a guinea pig. She just injured her grandmother quite gravely. I would imagine Ashlyn would like to be with her.”
I was eternally grateful to Antony in that moment for chiming in. Rebecca pulled her face away from mine, looking back at him instead. “Of course. But first, I’d like to find one thing out.”
Antony hissed, disgusted at whatever he knew was coming. “Emily isn’t going to be okay with you playing with theories without her consent. Ashlyn is her family, after all.”
Reuben waved a hand dismissively in Antony’s direction. “I can fix it, if need be. Go ahead, Rebecca.”
Rebecca nodded toward Reuben appreciatively, smiling. “Thank you, love.”
Turning back toward me, she extended her hand. “Would you be ever so kind, Ashlyn, and allow us to do a simple test? I’m morbidly curious.”
Understanding there wasn’t an option to decline, I nodded. There was no way to know what was going to happen by agreeing, but I hoped it wasn’t anything too gruesome. I put my hand in hers, allowing her to then turn mine over, palm facing up.
“I apologize in advance,” she said, her expression on her face being anything but sorry. “This may hurt a bit.”
Feeling a flash of pain, I looked down at my wrist. Blood was pouring out freely where she had serrated the artery. I swayed in the seat, shock numbing my ability to speak.
Antony was beside me in a flash, yelling at Rebecca. “What are you thinking? She’s a MORTAL, for the love of Adaire!”
Rebecca was unfazed by his tirade. Slinking forward, her eyes were hungry. “Don’t worry, little one. Reuben will be able to put you back together. Probably.”
She smiled, then took the blade she had used on my wrist and put it against my neck. “Let’s see how truthful Emily has been with us.”
THIRTY
I woke up in an enormous waterbed, covered in a down quilt. Everything in the room was ivory in color. This had to be heaven. I must be dead.
Someone squeezed my hand and I looked over. It was Memaw, which was confusing. If Memaw was immortal, why was she in heaven? Had there been so much damage from the attack that I managed to kill an immortal? Man, I was a genetic atomic bomb.
“Ashlyn, how are you feeling?”
“Okay, I suppose,” I pondered this for a moment, but then freaked out. “Oh, crap! Who’s going to tell mom that we’re dead?”
“If only it was that easy to get rid of Emily,” Antony joked from somewhere. He hadn’t been injured, so how did he get here? Had Rebecca turned on him after killing me?
Memaw laughed. “You made your play for me two hundred years ago, Antony. Don’t try too hard with the new McVean. She has good taste, too.”
Antony harrumphed. “I think I’m a pretty good catch, really.” He sidled into view and sat down at the foot of the bed, causing waves to slosh underneath me.
Playing catch up while tuning out the creepy flirting happening between Antony and Memaw was hard. Immortally twenty or not, my first impression of Memaw would always be the hobbling seventy year old. Watching her banter with a man not much older than me was beyond gross. “Wait, so we’re not dead?”
Chuckling, Antony grabbed my toes. “No, you’re not dead. Reuben kept good on his promise and managed to heal you right before you went to the other side.”
Memaw growled under her breath. “I can’t believe you let them do that, Antony. I had more faith in you than that.”
Antony was defensive. “There wasn’t much of anything that could be done to stop them. Rebecca would have ripped my throat out if I tried to interfere more.”
“I just don’t understand why they thought she could be immortal,” Memaw said, still irritated. “I told them she wasn’t.”
“Well, her performance in the pit didn’t help. No mortal in history has ever been able to fight like that. Actually, I haven’t even seen an immortal fight so flawlessly. That includes you, Em. You’ve got her in experience, but compare her ability to your eons of experience, and well, it’s kind of scary.�
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Memaw agreed. “I know. She’s a frightening little creature.”
“You know they’ll offer her immortality before you leave,” Antony murmured.
Memaw sighed at the same time I did. We both knew what that would mean. Choosing immortality would kill Liam. That was something I couldn’t do to my worst enemy, let alone Liam. Hurting him was impossible. Immortality wouldn’t just take him away from me; it would effectively destroy Tess as well. There was no way to take the committee up on the offer if they extended it.
“Is there any way that Liam could become immortal?” I asked.
“Does he do something impressive like you?” Asked Antony, genuinely curious.
“Well, no.”
Antony smiled sadly. “Then no, he couldn’t. We only offer immortality to those who would lend something useful to our society.”
“Liam isn’t just a household appliance,” I said coldly.
“Be that as it may, a human with no particular gifts is of no use to the faeries. Glaistigs are only allowed to grant immortality once a century, so we choose wisely. I doubt your grandmother is offering Liam that gift and leaving you to die.”
Memaw refused to look in my direction. “Ashlyn, let’s meet with the committee and head home. Liam will be worried sick by now.”
I asked the question I prayed had a positive answer. “Can Liam ever be relieved of his protector status?”
Antony opened his mouth to speak. “Well, technically – ”
Memaw cut him off. “No, he can’t.”
The two of them fought a silent battle in front of me. Antony sighed, then smiled evilly. All of a sudden he ripped the quilt off of the bed, causing me to shriek in protest of the immediate cold. “You’re awful, Antony!”
He laughed, proud of himself. “I already knew that. If I can’t beat out the mortal kid, though, I might as well give you a hard time.”
Memaw laughed at his comment. “Ashlyn, you’re a hot commodity.”
“Let’s get this stinking meeting over with,” I said, rolling out of bed. “You faeries are terrible in large quantities.”
Antony sprang up, flashing to the door. “I’ll let everyone know it’s time.” Disappearing, Memaw shut the door behind him.
I put my hand on Memaw’s shoulder. It felt as good as new; there were no stitches or even a scar. “Are you the only committee member able to offer immortality?”
Again Memaw refused to meet my gaze. “Yes, and no,” she said, hedging.
“No? Who else can grant it?”
“Well, no one on the committee has granted Glaistig status to anyone since me. They all have the power to grant mortals the honor of becoming a Glaistig. Antony said it nicely; none of them will waste their grant on a human they feel has nothing to offer. It’s cruel, I know, but that’s how they work. Even if they would, it must be passed by the committee.”
“I hate the committee. Except for you, I mean.”
Memaw smiled sadly. I wondered what was going on in her head. “I’m glad you don’t hate me, Ashlyn.”
“Is there anyone else who has the ability? Tess can cross over, does she have the ability to give immortality?”
Memaw paused to think. “You know, I’m not sure. Probably not, though, just because she’s a Changeling if anything other than human.”
Frustrated, I didn’t want to talk about the impossible choice that loomed ahead any more. Instead, I decided to change the subject. “How’s your shoulder?”
Pulling the collar of her white cotton shirt to the side, she showed me a shoulder that looked as though nothing had ever happened. “Good as new. I heal almost immediately while in Adaire. The trick was getting your blasted spear out of the wound. How’s your wrist and neck?”
I flipped my wrist over to find nothing. Looking at the other one to make sure I hadn’t accidentally chosen the wrong wrist, nothing was there, either. “Wow. How did they do that?”
“Reuben is the hunter and healer. He was a surgeon in his mortal days and his ability bordered on miraculous then. Now that he has all the advancements of the faeries, he literally can work miracles.”
A wave of terror washed through me. “Oh no, what about Liam?”
Memaw smiled. “He will be just fine, too. You’re bonded both in injury and in healing. I’m sure he’s curious as to what happened though, to put it mildly. Ready to go?”
Opting to change out of the pajamas someone had dressed me in while on death’s door, I grabbed a pair of dark blue jeans not unlike Memaw’s and yanked them on. Pulling a black cotton t-shirt over my head, I pulled the door open. “Let’s go.”
We wound our way through the maze of hallways and turrets, each one more amazing than the next. When we reached the marble doorway that led into the committee’s meeting room, Memaw pushed me behind her as she touched the cold stone door. No matter how many times she allowed the inanimate object to leech some of her life, there was no way I would ever be able to think of it as normal.
We walked in, taking our places in the room. The rest of the chairs were filled, save for Memaw’s, who was settling into hers now. They all were wearing their black overcoats again. It must have been customary to wear them to the meetings.
Rebecca’s eyes were excited; she could barely stay seated on her miniature throne. Her knuckles were white from the exertion it took to keep herself sitting. “Ashlyn, you’re truly an incredible half-breed. Even as a mortal, you already surpass your grandmother in combat. I’d love to see you attempt to master the abilities that the rest of us possess.”
Roslin looked at me excitedly, nodding in agreement. Reuben was guarded and something told me he wasn’t as thrilled as anyone else was about this idea. Memaw maintained her poker face. Antony, as usual, looked as though he would rather be anywhere but here.
Rebecca continued her speech. “I’d love to offer you immortality. You’d be a great asset to our race. I’m also prepared to offer you a place among the committee.”
At this comment, the rest of them stirred. It was obvious that none of them had expected for Rebecca to offer such a prestigious honor. She apparently wanted to acquire me very badly, very quickly.
Reuben was unhappy with this passing of events. He was now on the edge of his seat. “Rebecca, we don’t even know what she’s capable of.”
Rebecca mused, leaning back into her chair and crossing her legs. “Precisely. For that reason alone, why wouldn’t we offer her immortality? She’s already mastered combat beyond what her grandmother is capable. Why wouldn’t she be able to surpass us all? May we vote? Roslin?”
Roslin smiled her brightest smile. “Of course I want her on the committee! I can’t wait to have her with us. Antony, what do you think?”
She motioned to Antony for his vote. Unaware it was his turn to talk, the others began to cough under their breath to bring him back to the conversation. Visibly becoming irritated, Rebecca and Roslin punched him roughly on either shoulder.
Jumping, Antony shook his head and smiled. “Sorry, what did you want?”
Memaw shook her head. “You opinion on the matter at hand?”
Antony looked around, blushing crimson. “Sorry, I must have dozed off. What matter?”
Reuben rolled his eyes. “Ashlyn being granted immortality and being on the committee, you space case.”
“Oh, right. That. I would say yes. That way I have eternity to win her hand.” It was my turn to roll my eyes.
Rebecca looked to the left side of her and motioned to the seat furthest away. “Reuben?”
Leaning into the corner of his seat, he began chewing on the inside of his cheek. He was apparently trying very hard to keep from saying what was exactly on his mind. His weathered hands gripped the arms of his seat tightly. He was almost cutting through the fabric by squeezing so tightly. “I don’t see why the little one would be helpful if she brings nothing new to the table. She can mimic us like a little parrot from what has been displayed, but what new does she offer? There’s no
purpose in keeping her.” He spoke as though I was nothing more than a potential pet.
Rebecca leaned forward and faced him, hands in a praying position over her lips. She spoke softly, seductively. It was a dangerous tone for her. “Dearest Reuben, have you ever seen another shifter that can shift simply from imagining their target in their mind? Never touching the target, never seeing the target themselves?”
He looked down and away, gripping the seat of chair tightly. “No, I suppose not.”
Rebecca was choosing her words carefully. “Wouldn’t you think that to be a useful tool? Seeing as if she can mimic our abilities perfectly and shift…well, that would make her quite impressive. As it is, you can only shift to things you’ve touched. Emily can shift to people only. Ashlyn is bound by no rules, it seems.”
Memaw’s face turned an ugly color of puce, but she managed to bite her bottom lip and refrain from commenting. I could practically see the cogs working behind Memaw’s eyes, connecting invisible dots behind Rebecca’s words.
Reuben closed his eyes briefly and then reopened them, looking my direction. “I still disagree with this decision.”
“Well it doesn’t matter anyway, because I vote yes. That’s three, no matter what you think, Reuben.” Rebecca jumped from her seat and in a flash was in front of me, hands on either armrest of the chair. “Emily, where would you like to do the ceremony? Here, or in the traditional room reserved for these special moments?”
Memaw shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “Rebecca, aren’t you forgetting that Ashlyn must make the final decision in the matter?”
Rebecca looked offended at the comment; as though no one in their right mind would ever turn down such an irresistible offer from her. “Ashlyn, would you really not want immortality? To live forever with your grandmother and us?”
The situation was quickly becoming dangerous. It was also becoming clear how desirable I was to all sides of the party lines. Ankou wanted to find out how to duplicate me. Rebecca wanted to create a powerhouse no one could contend with. Memaw seemed to want me to remain human and ultimately stay with Liam. It was beginning to seem like there was no way to stay neutral, but there was no good choice in the situation.
