Shoot the Messenger

by Pippa Dacosta

  Kellee lifted his head, dragging his hands down his face. His eyes were brighter, glassier, but he had packaged away the hurt. “All right. We trap him. How?”

  “Iron. There’s a ton of iron-based equipment just lying around. If there’s a furnace somewhere or another heat source, I want two collars forged.”

  “Two?” Talen asked, likely wondering if the second was for him.

  “It will nullify much of his magic, but he’ll still be able to warp perception. He can’t get inside my head and twist my own thoughts if I’m wearing a collar—he can’t make me dream. If I’m going to face him again, I’ll need that protection. The second collar is for him. He’ll capture you, Kellee, thinking it was his idea. He’ll tell me I have to give myself up for you and then demand I remove the tek.”

  Talen nodded. “How do we get Kellee away from him?”

  “That’s where you come in.” I smiled at the fae, knowing the grin wasn’t entirely friendly. “He doesn’t know you’re here. While I’m pretending to operate on him, you’ll find and release Kellee.”

  “You’re going to kill Eledan, right?” Kellee asked.

  “Yes.”

  Kellee gave me a pointed look, not entirely believing me. He was right to be suspicious. I would kill Eledan. I’d made him a promise, and I was going to keep it.

  “To get a collar on him,” Talen added, “you’ll have to get close.”

  “Getting close has never been a problem. And inside Arcon, we’ll be surrounded by metal. He won’t notice the iron until it’s too late.”

  They fell silent, probably considering all the things that might go wrong.

  “So, we’re going to Arcon?” Talen asked.

  Kellee sucked in a breath. “Arcon? Are you sure?”

  He was really asking if I was ready, and I wasn’t. I never would be. But the time was now. “It has to be Arcon. Natalie said—” Kellee flinched. “She said it was empty. I think he’s there. It’s familiar territory for him. I don’t want him anywhere near the people here. With this well Crater found, he could have people dancing to his tune. They’ve been through enough. Arcon is far enough away to keep them safe.”

  “And the cruiser in orbit?” the marshal asked. “If it’s his?”

  “I don’t think Eledan wants any of the fae knowing what’s going on down here. Once we’ve dealt with him, we can figure out what to do about the cruiser.” I held Kellee’s weary gaze. “I’m going to get everyone off Calicto—for Natalie.” For you.

  He nodded tightly, tearing his gaze from mine. He couldn’t know I had watched his friend die. But I knew, and the guilt was eroding my focus. I, at least, had an opportunity to honor her memory.

  Kellee strode to the door.

  “Kellee?” I started after him.

  “I just need time—”

  “Let him go,” Talen said, turning back toward the screens.

  He was already gone anyway. The door swung shut behind him with a final clunk.

  I spent the next few hours studying maps of the mines and the nearest biodome, where Arcon’s abandoned complex waited. Eledan would be inside, waiting for me.

  Talen called me to the monitors, and we watched the downtrodden people of the once-shining Calicto say their farewells to Natalie. Kellee was with them.

  “He knew her well,” Talen remarked. In the screen’s glow, his eyes shone a little brighter.

  Did Talen care, I wondered. Did he care about any of this? Or was he just going through the motions because he had nowhere else to go?

  “Kellee will attack Eledan,” the fae said, leaning back in his chair. “The first chance he gets.”

  I folded my arms and stayed quiet. There was no need to reply. We both knew it was inevitable. “Eledan would expect nothing less from the last surviving vakaru.” I dug into my pocket and handed Talen a comms. “That’s why it’s up to you to get Kellee out.”

  Talen took the little comms unit in his hand. He would have to wear it to communicate with Kellee after he was captured. The thought of wearing the device didn’t sit well with him. He was tek-resistant, but it would still hurt him.

  “He freed you,” I said. “Now you get to repay the favor.”

  He lowered his hood and pressed the comms behind his pointed ear. “You care a great deal for Kellee.”

  “I do,” I admitted, almost wishing I didn’t. “I can’t make the feelings go away just because they’re based on a lie. What about you?” I leaned a hip against the console as the fae looked up at me questioningly. “You like him too.”

  “I’ve known him a long time. There’s comfort in familiarity.”

  A fae far away from Faerie was hardly a fae at all. I saw some of Eledan’s need to go home in Talen’s cloud of loneliness. When all this was over, if we survived, I might ask him why he couldn’t go back.

  “I would like to give you more of my magic, but I fear he’ll notice.”

  That hadn’t gone so well last time. I squirmed at the thought of having his hand on me, pouring the delightfully maddening fae magic back into my veins. “I appreciate the offer, but I need to think clearly and you…” I circled my hand in the air between us. “You’re distracting.”

  He stood, reminding me how damn tall he was now that he was suddenly very close, and touched my chin with two fingertips. “If I may?” he asked, his politeness startling.

  For a terrifying heartbeat, I thought he meant to kiss me on the lips, and panic took a hold of my instincts, but in a blink, he planted a chaste kiss on my forehead and drew back, looking down into my eyes. “Don’t die, Kesh Lasota. I’ve become quite fond of you.”

  Will he look at me like that when he knows the truth?

  “I’ll do my best.” A smile found its way onto my lips. Only a small one, but it was real. And I could use all the real I could get.

  I entered a long, low-ceilinged space, stepping into sweltering heat. Molten metal hissed and bubbled in a cauldron-like vat. Of the four forges, only one was lit, spewing out orange flames.

  Kellee stood with a man I assumed was the metalworker. He had his back to me, but I’d recognize the solid cut of his shoulders and short, messy ponytail anywhere. His friend saw me first, nodded my way, then left us alone.

  The marshal had summoned me here, using the comms, and now that I had moved closer, I saw why. Two circles of metal lay on a table beside the forge. Each had a hinge and latch. They weren’t the crude, heavy collars saru wore. The metalworker had added a gentle ripple allowing them to sit comfortably on the collarbone—or as comfortably as iron against skin would ever be.

  Kellee killed the switch to the forge, and the fire spluttered out, plunging the room into a settling quiet. Equipment ticked as it cooled. I ran my fingers along the nearest circlet. Ignoring their purpose, they were almost beautiful.

  “What do you think?” Kellee crossed his arms. “They’re still heavy, but any less iron and his magic could seep through.”

  “They’re perfect.”

  Pride shone in his eyes.

  “You made them?” I asked.

  “Right over there.” He gestured at a row of anvils, one with a hammer resting on top. “The metal is stronger if forged and quenched, not poured. Eledan could break poured metal.”

  Looking at the marshal’s late-twenties exterior, it was easy to forget how old he really was behind all that sass. These handmade forging techniques were an art, one rarely found in Halow, and it showed in the twin circlets.

  “You really are full of surprises, Marshal.”

  He picked up a circlet and let it fall open. “May I?”

  I lifted my chin. I had been collared as a child and again under Eledan, but this was different. I’d chosen this.

  Kellee stepped closer and hesitated. Doubt crossed his face. His people had probably been collared long before the saru were conceived. He had similar memories to mine.

  I touched his arm. “I trust you.”

  His gaze lifted from the circlet, and I knew from the p
ain in his eyes that he had worn collars and bore all the scars that came with them. The pieces of my heart ached for him.

  I nodded and closed my eyes. Kellee’s heated presence burned so close I could feel him. Cool iron kissed my neck and then, with a click, the collar was on. Fluttering my eyes open, I fell into Kellee’s gaze.

  “I’ve lost everyone,” he whispered. His hand pushed into my hair, tilting my head back. “I can’t lose you.” His mouth sought mine, brushing painfully close, the promise of a kiss stoking desire. A tiny voice told me this was wrong, a mistake, but I shoved the doubts far away and pulled Kellee down, kissing him like I’d wanted to since I’d seen his out-of-place prettiness in the sinks. I was distantly aware that we’d shoved the table back, but I was even more aware of Kellee’s hand diving around my waist and down my back so he could pull me into him. The press of his thigh against mine, my leg caught between his, and his growing hardness digging into my hip—I soaked up every touch, groaning a small, treacherous sound as I threw my head back and let his mouth burn down my jaw and my neck. I wanted more. I wanted all of him, wanted the attack, knowing he wouldn’t be gentle.

  Kellee’s warm hands found my face and held me still. “We finish this…” he growled, the beast sharpening the trick of hazel and greens in his eyes.

  Nearby voices drifted through the sounds of our panting, making me aware that we were pushed up against a table in a public place. I lunged in and nipped at his mouth, darting my tongue in, teasing him quickly and delighting in the warning growl that trembled through his body.

  He pushed away, swallowed and drew in a deep breath.

  Running my tongue over my top teeth, I smiled crookedly as his gaze tracked the suggestion.

  If the two miners hadn’t wandered into the room, he might have taken me up on my offer to run my tongue over him. Instead, he chuckled and picked up the second circlet. Handing it out, he nodded. “Later.”

  A stab of guilt struck fast and deep. “Later.” I forced a smile through the pain, knowing there likely wouldn’t be a later, not for us, and took the second circlet.

  Chapter 27

  Kellee ventured into Arcon ahead of me. With instructions from me, Talen had already split off to seek a good vantage point among the abandoned buildings inside Arcon’s shadow. The three of us were linked by comms. I sought out the same seat by the window in the eatery opposite Arcon’s main entrance. The silence was thick. Nothing moved, no wind stirred the air, no crowds chattered. I didn’t hear any of the typical metallic Calicto sounds. The place was a metal corpse and so very different from the bustling brightness of nine months ago.

  I slept through the death of a world.

  This silence awaited the rest of the human systems if the fae weren’t stopped. I couldn’t stop them all—just one.

  I’d found a long coat in the mines, torn and covered in dust, but it had a few pockets I could use, and it concealed my new magnetic whip.

  Now that I was alone, I wished I’d taken Talen’s offer of magic, but it wouldn’t be enough to stop Eledan and would only reveal the fact I had a fae at my disposal. It would have spooked Eledan, and I needed him to feel in control.

  “I’m in and I’ve got company approaching,” Kellee said through the comms.

  “Understood.” I touched the thin iron circlet clasped around my neck. As protection went, it was better than nothing. Eledan couldn’t pull me into any dreams with him, but that didn’t stop me from swallowing too much saliva as it pooled in my mouth or stop my heart from racing. I had to do this.

  “Hello, Messenger.” Eledan’s sweet voice spilled from Kellee’s comms and coiled around my confidence, chipping off the edges. I closed my eyes and listened to the pause, listened to the moment before it all began—and ended. There was no going back.

  “I have something of yours,” the fae prince said.

  Kellee. He would be okay. The marshal knew what he was dealing with now. This wasn’t like before. He would have been careful. Eledan was mine.

  “Something you’ll want back.” There was laughter in the Dreamweaver’s voice, laughter I had relished in. I shoved those memories away.

  “What?” I whispered. “What gift do you have for me, Prince?”

  The marshal was stubborn and brash, but he wouldn’t risk this for blind revenge. He was too clever for that.

  “K-Kesh?” a woman’s voice stammered.

  It took me a moment to unwrap the past few months and find the memory of that voice.

  “Don’t come, Kesh!” she screamed. “Don—”

  A resounding crack cut her off.

  No!

  I shot to my feet, burst from the eatery and dashed across the abandoned street and up Arcon’s steps. “Hulia, hold on!”

  Eledan’s laughter filled my head, and when I shoved through Arcon’s cracked doors, the liquid laughter rolled through the abandoned foyer and echoed far into the empty building.

  Chapter 28

  Tree roots as thick as my arm had grown along Arcon’s glass corridors, sending spider-web cracks through the glass walls. I jogged the floors and climbed the stairwell, knowing exactly where he had her.

  Was Kellee there too? I couldn’t risk calling to the marshal, and I would find out soon enough anyway.

  Sota’s data held information on Hulia. After everything that had happened, I’d forgotten about Kesh Lasota’s old friends, her old life, but Eledan hadn’t.

  I flung open the meeting room door and walked in, head up, shoulders back. The prince sat on his oak throne, only now the throne had speared its roots through the floors and walls. Atop his braided black hair, he had fashioned himself an oak crown. And Hulia lay sprawled on the long oak table, writhing. She clawed at her clothes, twisting off fabric strips in her fists. Her back arched, and her eyes rolled back.

  “Stop it,” I snapped.

  Eledan leisurely rose from his throne. “But her mind is such a delightful place to be. She is nama, did you know?”

  Hulia let out a pleasure-laden groan.

  “Eledan, stop.”

  The corner of his mouth twitched. “Nama were one of our first creations. We made them out of the spirit of the wild meadows. Can’t you tell?” He beamed at her, so pleased as she twisted and clawed at herself. “We made them sing for us. Won’t you sing, dear Hulia?”

  She screamed, so loud and so shrill, that I thought it might shatter my skull.

  I lunged for Eledan. He whirled away, caught my wrist and yanked me hard against him. Bucking, I tried to unravel myself from his grip, but he clamped his arms around me tighter.

  “We made them dance for us,” he purred, then flung me away and turned on the spot, hips rocking to the music in his head.

  “You’re insane,” I hissed. I had known, but I hadn’t really seen it, not like this.

  “Oh, they danced for years and years, until we grew bored, and so we made them pleasure us.” He snatched Hulia from the edge of the table, hauling her into his arms, and kissed her like he had kissed me, like he’d been starved of what she was giving him. Hulia lifted her legs and hooked them around his waist, grinding against him. She fell back, letting him cradle her as he trailed his mouth and tongue down her neck to the rise of her breasts. Her eyes were clouded over with what looked like frost. And I knew she was dreaming—dreaming like I had. Had I behaved like that? Clawing at myself, drenched with madness and need? Somewhere in all the terrible memories, in all that fantasy he had poured into my head, I knew I had.

  “I’ll do it,” I blurted. “Just let her go.”

  Eledan turned his head. Hulia clawed at his shoulder and sank her hands into his hair. He pushed her off and regarded me with a new hunger. “You will?”

  As though I had a choice. “Let her go, okay? Let her go, and I’ll fix your heart, just like you wanted.”

  “Hmm…” He clicked his tongue. “If only it were that easy to trust the worthless word of a saru.” Lifting his hand, he clicked his finger and thumb together. “Ah-ha! S
ota, bring him in.”

  Kellee marched into the room, his hands held at shoulder height. Behind him, Sota hovered. The drone had his weapons drawn and sights locked on the back of Kellee’s skull.

  Oh, Sota… no.

  Kellee…

  Sota wouldn’t miss.

  The marshal’s face remained firmly neutral, as though this was nothing more than an inconvenience. It was a good act, but one neither I nor Eledan bought.

  “Well.” Eledan clapped his hands together once. “Sota, if the marshal moves without a direct order from me, kill him.” Eledan pointed at me. “If she harms me, kill Hulia and then kill him.”

  “Received,” Sota’s neutral voice confirmed.

  I clenched my jaw. “Even without the tek, the fae won’t ever take you back. You’re an embarrassment. The tek exposure has twisted your mind.”

  “Mmm…” Eledan tore open his jacket, his movements jerky with frustration. He pulled his shirt over his head, revealing the pattern of marks running over his abs and up his chest. And there, just to the left, the ugly tek scar and its metal veins clawed at the fae’s otherwise perfect body.

  He sprang, too fast for me to counter, and pulled me by the wrist to the table with him. I tried to yank free, only for his fingers to tighten around my arm.

  “Come now, Messenger,” he hissed through his bared teeth. “You won’t risk your friends’ lives, will you?”

  I shoved against his chest, against him. “Let go.”

  The blow came out of nowhere. His hand struck my face so damn hard I didn’t feel it until I’d hit the tabletop and almost dropped to my knees. Hulia’s giggles sounded alongside the marshal’s low growls.

  Pain thumped through my head, blurring my vision.

  And then his steely grip was on my arm again, yanking me upright. He shook me. “Come on, saru. Admit how much you want to touch me. Admit how you’ve desired my kind since that human body of yours aged enough to know what true desire means.”