“And how would he be treating me right now if I was in her place?” Evie asked. Even though her voice wasn’t hard, it felt like she’d slapped me.
The horror of the sentence was too much for me. If she was in Bayview, in Hell, she would either have been tortured to reveal secrets that she had no way of knowing, or else she and her progeny would have been killed while the Rain worked out how to destroy a phoenix forever.
The thought sent blood racing through my body, pooling in my mind to throb against my skull. Didn’t I know better than anyone in the room just what might be in store for Fiona’s daughter? Flashes of memories that I’d tried so hard to repress rushed to the surface to torment me. And that’s what they did to me, someone they wanted to return to the fold. A shudder raced through me.
Torture and agony were easily the fate of the girl. The things I imagined for Evie would easily fall on the girl’s head. Only fae didn’t resurrect. They just died. It was clear I could be agreeing to risk my life to help rescue a dead girl.
Before I could voice my concern, Evie grabbed a thermos from Aiden.
“Whatever’s in here—” she started.
“It’s chicken noodle soup,” Aiden interrupted. His tone indicated some sort of private joke between the two of them.
Jealousy surged through me as I wondered how many in-jokes they might have shared, how much of herself she’d given him, and vice versa.
“Whatever’s in here will be enchanted,” Evie started again after giving him an angered gaze with enough heat that it could have melted all the snow in Sweden.
I tried not to smile too much, but knowing that he’d caught her ire was enough to force the acrid taste of jealousy from my tongue.
“It will mean you’ll be able to see the fae world and travel with fae via the fairy rings.”
I was reluctant to accept the food. Regardless of what Evie said, I still found it hard to trust the fae—just like she found it hard to trust Eth.
In the end, it was that thought that made me willing to drink the soup she offered me. After all, she’d followed Eth’s instructions just because I’d asked for her to put her faith in me. Offering her the same benefit of the doubt was the least I could do, especially after the way I’d treated her for the better part of the day. Once she’d swallowed down a mouthful, she handed me to the thermos.
A second after I’d brought the surprisingly pleasant liquid to my lips, Evie gasped.
Before I could look at her or ask what was wrong, my head spun. The world tilted around me, and I lost all control of my vision. It was like two, three, more images all pressed against each other every time I tried to look anywhere. My first instinct was to force myself to vomit the soup back up, to purge the poison from my system, but I couldn’t even muster the strength to do that.
“After the initial kick, there’s nothing to worry about.” Those had been Evie’s words as she tried to allay my concerns, but after an initial kick, the effects grew worse. At first, vertigo robbed my sight and sent the world spinning; then my stomach recoiled, ready to purge the fluid as if it knew it was evil.
“Do you see?” Aiden asked Evie quietly.
“See what?” I asked through clenched teeth, seconds before my voice was stolen from me.
“Your aura,” Evie said. “It’s positively gl—”
I didn’t hear the last of her words because a loud buzzing filled the air—louder than a swarm of bees. As if the sound had manifested an actual swarm, the hum washed over my body, stinging and biting as it moved over my arms and legs. Each of my limbs shifted independently of my thoughts; my knees buckled and I fell forward. The swarm grew in intensity, swimming into my ears and filling my mind with the same resonating drone. My heart and lungs were invaded, stopping the beat and stealing my breath, at least momentarily.
“What’s happening?” Evie’s words sounded like they were coming from a place far away and so quiet I shouldn’t have been able to hear it over the quivering hum that cycled around me. They were almost a thought rather than a voice, and yet they echoed her concern.
Something was wrong.
Had the fae taken advantage of her in order to poison me?
With each passing second, I grew more certain we’d been double-crossed.
What more can you expect, putting any faith in those trickster bastards? It was Dad’s voice that seemed to echo to me from the past.
“It hurts!” I could barely find the words, and yet I needed to warn her. If the fae were trying to take me out, it was likely they had plans for her. “It wasn’t supposed to hurt!”
When I thought that it wasn’t possible for the pain to grow any worse, it did.
When it struck my eyes, the agony was blinding. Although my eyelids were pressed tightly closed, I was certain the concoction they’d forced onto me was burning my optical nerve and permanently stealing my sight. I grabbed at my hair, tugging and trying to focus the pain anywhere else, but it wouldn’t shift. My head pounded, my tongue felt too big for my mouth, and my eyes . . . my eyes wouldn’t stop burning.
Just when I thought it couldn’t possibly get any worse—when I thought I’d be in agony until the end of my days—it ended. It all just . . . stopped. I risked opening my eyes, my heart palpitating at the idea that I must have been blind. The pain couldn’t have been so intense without some sort of lasting repercussion.
When I blinked, a beam of bright light surged through the darkness of the night, lighting everything as if it were daylight. Then the evening dimmed but still wasn’t as dark as before.
My gaze sought out Evie, and a gasp left me as soon as I laid eyes on her.
Surrounded by a halo of fire and with irises that burned a brighter purple than ever before—with various shades of violet and lavender twisting together—she was more beautiful than I’d ever seen her. It was like I was seeing into the heart of who she was, into the very core of the sunbird, rather than the partially human façade she unintentionally wore.
The image took me back to the dress I’d bought for her when I’d been preparing our escape from Salem. Then, I’d witnessed just a small taste of her inner-self. Now, I could see all of her power and majesty manifested right in front of me. There was no doubt that, if the part of herself I could see was to be revealed to the world at large, she would be loved and feared as a goddess rightfully should.
I just wished she would look me in the eye and grant me the mercy of her gaze.
She smiled and placed her hand on my cheek. Wherever she touched scorched me like it always had, only now the burn penetrated deeper than ever before, moving down beyond the sensation of skin and rushing straight into the depths of my heart—possibly even my soul. I wanted to whisk her back inside and discover the new sensations any union between us would offer as a result of the changes in me.
“I’ve never seen that happen before.” As she spoke, she lifted her chin and denied my view of her perfect face, of those mesmerizing eyes. The movement allowed the reality of the moment to sink in though. We had company—it wouldn’t be polite to steal her away for my own devious desires. I had no idea what she was talking about, but I didn’t care. If she could just stay in my field of vision forever, I would be a happy man.
“It’s because you’re linked so deeply,” Fiona murmured. “You two are meant to be.”
The words sparked something inside me, and my heart sang.
“Entwined auras,” Aiden said, his tone implying some meaning as yet lost on me.
“Look at you, Evie,” I said in wonder as I watched the fiery light around her body move and shift like flames in an open fire. It flickered around her face, coating her whole body with fire. “I never thought you could be more beautiful than you already were, but I was wrong.”
She met my gaze for the first time since I’d recovered from the agony of the enchanted food. A gasp left her lips as she traced her thumb along my lower eyelids and allowed me a moment to drown in the violent show of varying shades of purple that her bright irises offered. My
heart clenched at the image, and the urge to secret her away in the tiny cabin that had been our home grew in me again.
“It looks like he’s more fae than I ever would’ve given him credit for,” Aiden said.
My body jolted at his statement. I couldn’t be fae; I really couldn’t. Could I? I glanced up at him to argue but closed my mouth when I saw his body surrounded by a vivid blue light—similar to Evie’s but without the fiery coloring. His wings extended off his back in four asymmetrical sections. The wings were a vivid blue color that darkened to black around the edges, yet somehow they were almost translucent as the same time. A quiver raced over the surface as I watched.
My words were lost in the world of make-believe. Even though I’d seen the fae through the hagstone in Oxford, it was different seeing one with my newfound vision. It wasn’t just a small sliver of an image like it had been then—everything that surrounded me looked just a little different.
“It was just suppressed somehow,” Aiden continued, meeting my eye as if feeling the weight of my gaze.
“Time is pressing,” Fiona said.
I was almost afraid to look at her, but when I did, I saw the face from my dreams. Only now, a soft purple light pulsated around her body rather than the blue I’d envisaged during the night. Or remembered, my mind offered unhelpfully. Her wings were a similar shape to Aiden’s, but were a rich purple that blended to silver at the edges.
I found myself willing to go along with her, willing to put my trust in Evie, and in the way my body felt stronger, more powerful, ever since the ache had burned away.
Evie’s gaze met mine, and I nodded to let her know I was ready. I stood and took a moment to assess the new potency radiating through me.
When I offered Evie my hand, I saw a blue light, similar to the one that surrounded Aiden, emanating from me. Despite the initial shock of the sight, I tried to ignore it because of the seriousness of our conversation. Evie reached for my hand, and the instant our fingers met, her flame-like aura twisted around my blue one, forming purple flames that sparked and shifted. Wherever we touched, the sensation sank deep into me. Worried about what it all meant, I pulled her body against mine and drew the support I needed from her touch.
Once I’d gathered myself enough to find my voice properly, I asked the obvious question. “How do you know that she’s even still alive?”
“We have a way of keeping track of our loved ones,” Fiona explained. “I believe humans would refer to it as a sixth sense. It is not a precise art for most of us, and I cannot know for sure where she is or whether she is hurt, but I am certain she is alive. You can feel it too, even now. You might not be fully fae, but you have been blessed with some of our gifts—especially with our enchantments coursing through your veins. You are aware of Evelyn, are you not?”
“Of course I am,” I said in confusion as I tightened my hold on Evie. “She’s right here.”
Fiona stepped closer to me. I wanted to flee from her; it still didn’t feel right to be having such a detailed conversation with a fae, especially under the influence of their enchantments, but I held my ground. Deep inside me, a giddiness brewed. It was like I couldn’t cling to hatred or anger, like my emotions were barely my own to control.
“I do not mean here.” She waved a hand toward Evie. “I mean here.” She pressed her hand against my chest, lightly touching the area of my heart. “You can feel her in there, can you not? And I would venture to guess that you always have, ever since your first meeting.”
Although I didn’t understand it, I couldn’t deny it either. There had been times when I’d been in Europe when I had feared for Evie’s life, but something inside me had been so certain she was alive. The certainty had been enough to stop me from rushing back to the States to investigate.
The epiphany I’d had on the yacht came to my mind as I met Fiona’s gaze. There was a knowing there that confirmed for me something I’d never expected. Never dreamed. The connection I’d thought Evie had inspired within me wasn’t all one way. The fae part of me, buried deep inside as it might have been, had recognized my true pair.
Swallowing down the thought, I closed my eyes to break away from the intensity of Fiona’s gaze. It was like she was willing me to understand, but it couldn’t be right. It was impossible, wasn’t it?
“Mackenzie is alive. For now,” Fiona said with certainty once the moment between us was broken. “The question remains, are you willing to come with us and hear me out so we can keep her that way?”
I nodded even as I looked to Evie to confirm she was happy with that decision. I figured she would be, considering that she was the one who’d been so desperate to help the fae, but I needed to be certain.
“Thank you,” Fiona said as Evie confirmed we would go with them.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
THEY TURNED TO give us some privacy to collect our things. Evie gave me a little look that questioned whether I was okay. I couldn’t say whether I was or I wasn’t. The agony inflicted by the fae enchantment had worn off, but more than that, something in the food had taken the edge off the angst I’d been feeling since Fiona crashed into our shack.
After we’d each grabbed our bags, I reached for Evie’s hand to let her know that whatever happened, we would face it together.
“You ready for this?” she asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
Fiona and Aiden moved toward the forest the moment we joined them. It was only when we stepped off the steps and into the snow that I had any thought of the shadow. Walking into the darkness was almost asking for him to attack us, only I noticed that it wasn’t quite as dark as it had been every other time I’d ventured out past the light offered by our house. The fae enchantments seemed to have enhanced my eyesight beyond just being able to see auras. It was certainly a unique experience.
In the forest, not much deeper than where Evie and I had stopped for our archery lesson earlier in the day, I saw a faintly glowing ring.
“What’s that?” I asked Evie, pointing toward the sight.
“What’s what?”
“Can’t you see that?”
She frowned at me.
“Never mind.” I couldn’t understand why she couldn’t see it, after all, she was being affected by the same enchantments I was. A potential explanation built in the back of my mind, but I pushed it down because I definitely wasn’t in any fit state to examine the possibility that my apparent heritage offered me a better insight into the fae world than enchantments alone ever could.
Aiden led the way and headed straight toward the illuminated circle. “Our expressway to New York,” he said, pointing toward the circle of raised ground. “Just step inside.”
I waited and watched as Fiona and then Aiden disappeared into the ring.
“Ready?” Evie asked again, offering me her hand.
Without words, I took her hand and we stepped inside together. The forest around us brightened with a flash of lights. Keeping my eyes open wide, I saw a rainbow of colors rush past us, and I could feel the passage of every mile that we traveled, even though we covered the distance from Sweden to New York in next to no time. It had taken us almost three weeks to get from the US to our little hideaway, and we’d returned in a little under three seconds. Not quite instantaneous travel, but close enough to not matter a lick. Evie’s fingers tightened around mine as our progress slowed and the light became steady once more.
Of all of the things I’d experienced since Aiden had surprised us in the forest, traveling through the fairy rings was certainly one of the most pleasurable—more exciting than any thrill ride I’d ever been on. Evie gave me a questioning look when she opened her eyes, probably because of the large, shit-eating grin on my lips.
“That was fun,” I whispered to her. “I never knew the fae had such fun things.”
Her lips had twitched with amusement before she knocked her shoulder against mine playfully. “At least try to remember why we’re here.”
Her statem
ent sobered me a little but not enough to wipe the smile completely off my face. The giddiness that had been slowly building in me had burst into life as we’d traveled through the rings. “I’m sorry, I just . . . I feel really good. I don’t know what it is.”
“I think I do,” she said, glancing ahead before turning back to me. “It’s the enchantment; it can affect your mood. You get used to it after a while.”
Her words seemed to suggest that you could fight through the blissful euphoria that had taken the place of the sense of hurt and betrayal I’d felt for the better part of the day.
“Why would you want to?” I asked. It was the first time since Fiona’s bombshell that I actually felt normal. Happy.
We were led through the court, which was almost exactly as Evie had described it to me in her story about her memories. A self-contained village—almost a city—with separate areas for living and working. Even at the late hour of our arrival, there were fae walking the halls, their wings of various colors fluttering lightly as we passed. I didn’t miss the deference each one of them offered to Fiona, either with a bow, curtsey, or nod.
Through the exterior walls, which were translucent, I could see the lights of New York and realized we were in Central Park. It seemed impossible that the court could be in such a prominent place and yet no one knew where it was.
We were led into a large sitting room, which centered around two oversized sofas of a mottled gray material. The seats were positioned such that they were facing each other, with only an arm’s reach of distance between them, almost a conference room of sorts. I wasn’t sure whether it was their usual configuration or if they’d been rearranged with our upcoming discussion in mind.
Aiden indicated that I should sit, so I led Evie over to one and pulled her down beside me before anyone could even suggest that she shouldn’t be by my side. If I was going to hear the “truth,” I wanted her beside me to help me deal with it.
Fiona sat on the empty sofa across from us, and Aiden left the room almost the second she was settled. For a moment, everything was quiet, and the only movements were the quivers that ran through Fiona’s wings. The momentary pause was enough to give me a chance to really study her.
Court the Fire (Son of Rain #3) Page 17
