The Seduced

by Cheyenne McCray

  Copper took Tiernan’s hand, where he had scraped his knuckles last night, and applied the salve to his almost healed scrapes, then let his hand go.

  She wasn’t hungry, but she didn’t want to insult any of the Fae, so she moved to their offerings and picked up a wild berry tart. Tiernan came up beside her and took one of the tarts and bit into it while he watched her.

  Copper nibbled hers and felt a burst of comfort and warmth, as if the Faeries had put into the food some kind of spell that would soothe the ache inside. Likely they had.

  Zephyr buzzed out of the shelter and onto her ear as she ate from each offering. She felt stronger with every bite, more able to face what would come next.

  The food and the sense of comfort her familiar was channeling through her made Copper feel as if she could better face the truth.

  Mother is gone.

  She ground her teeth. Somehow, she had to get them out of there and find her mother’s killers. But first she needed more information from Tiernan—yet she wasn’t sure she was ready to hear it.

  After they each finished their more than healthy breakfast, Copper settled on the wet grass at the base of the apple tree and hugged her knees.

  Zeph zipped from one brilliant flower bloom to another by the Faerie mound. The air smelled of rain, apples, and early morning sunlight. Through the leaves of the tree she could see the sun beginning its rise in the now cloudless sky.

  How could this day be beautiful when her mother was dead?

  Copper felt so, so empty inside. Moondust’s passing had created a huge void that would never be filled. She knew her mother would not want her to be sorrowful. Moondust always said to rejoice for those who went on to Summerland.

  Copper let out a deep shuddering sigh. Rejoice. Right.

  She choked back more tears and waited for Tiernan to join her. He hadn’t said a word since he had told her he felt some responsibility for Moondust’s death.

  “Tell me what happened,” she said when Tiernan sat beside her.

  He was quiet for a while before he began the story of her parents coming to aid Silver in the fight against the Fomorii. How they were kidnapped, how they refused to turn to dark sorcery to assist Darkwolf in conjuring more Fomorii.

  He didn’t go into detail when he told her that her mother had been murdered by the Fomorii queen on Samhain, and she was glad for that. She didn’t think she could take what were surely grotesque details of her mother’s death.

  He also told her why he felt some responsibility for her mother’s death.

  Silver, Hawk, Cassia, and Mackenzie had been trapped by the Fomorii during that battle on Samhain.

  Tiernan and the other D’Danann could do nothing for fear of the four of them being murdered by Darkwolf and the Fomorii. They’d had to wait until the right opportunity to strike, and that was too late for Moondust.

  Copper couldn’t find it in her to blame him for anything. It wasn’t his fault, even if he thought he could have better protected her mother.

  When he had finished explaining all that happened, Copper couldn’t speak for a long time. She leaned her head back against the damp trunk of the tree and water leaked from the leaves above to splash on her upturned face.

  She didn’t mind. It somehow made her feel more connected with the world she now lived in. The tree Dryad hadn’t punished her for hitting the tree, so maybe she understood.

  Guilt stabbed at her like angry knives. If she hadn’t been banished to this place, she would have been in San Francisco to help Silver fight the Fomorii. Between the two of them they could have saved Moondust.

  “If I had just been there,” a voice said, and then she realized it was coming from her. “I could have helped. Could have kept her from being murdered.”

  Tiernan placed his hand on her knee and squeezed. She turned her head to look at him and met his blue eyes.

  “Do not blame yourself.” His eyes held a world of caring. “You had no choice. You could not go to your family.”

  “But if I hadn’t been so stupid.” She banged the back of her head against the tree trunk. “If I hadn’t followed my dream-vision and gone to the beach that night, and if I hadn’t tried to banish that warlock, I would have been there for them.”

  Her breath caught and she stared straight ahead, seeing nothing but a memory of Moondust. “At least I could have said goodbye to my mother.”

  8

  It was afternoon and Copper leaned against the apple tree, her favorite spot. She and Tiernan had just eaten a lunch of what had been leftovers from the large breakfast the Faeries had provided.

  She picked at a leaf on her vine dress while she watched Tiernan approach the barrier of their prison. Zephyr was off playing with the Faerie children in the flowers.

  The Faerie queen appeared out of nowhere and perched on Copper’s shoulder, and Copper caught the scent of roses. She glanced at Riona and saw that the Faerie had a wicked glint in her lavender eyes.

  Riona twisted a lock of her black hair with one finger and her pale purple wings opened and closed, sprinkling iridescent dust on Copper’s shoulder.

  “This should be fun,” Riona said in a small but sensual voice.

  Copper’s lips quirked as she turned to look at Tiernan. The Fae certainly had their fun laughing at Copper every time she had tried to get through the barrier.

  She glanced around the meadow and spotted the Undine poking her head above the water basin and Brownies lying in wait—no doubt to bite Tiernan’s ankles if he got too close.

  Pixies flitted about like gigantic butterflies, ready to perform some kind of mischief. The Pixies were no larger than a human hand, but their bodies were as round as Copper’s upper arm. They had tiny green eyes, green and yellow butterfly wings, pale green skin, and malicious grins.

  Of course, there was no sign of the Drow because they could not tolerate sunlight.

  Riona leaned forward, her elbow on her knee and her chin in her tiny hand as she watched the D’Danann warrior. Tiernan approached the invisible wall and stood there for a moment, studying its shimmer. His hair lifted from his shoulders in a light breeze, his features intense, as if he could will the barrier to vanish.

  He brought his hand up and placed it against the wall.

  The moment he touched it, a jolt shook his body. His hair frizzed and stood on end. He shouted a curse, snatched his hand away, and stumbled back a few steps.

  Riona burst out in a fit of Faerie giggles and Copper snorted, trying not to laugh. But when Tiernan wheeled around, his hair looking like a long Afro, she couldn’t hold back her own giggles. He wore such an angry expression.

  And his hair! Goddess, how could she not laugh?

  All around them tiny gales of laughter sang from the treetop, rocks, grass, and the bushes.

  “What?” he shouted, tossing a look from Copper to the Faerie queen, who was nearly doubled over.

  Copper bit her lip, trying to hold back one last giggle of her own. “Your, um, hair.”

  Tiernan raked his fingers through his hair and his expression grew even more furious when he touched it. He used both hands, trying to get his hair to stay down, only to have it pop up again.

  As soon as he marched back to the barrier, two Pixies flitted above his head and started weaving lattices, like connected rope ladders, in his hair, and tied little flowers on the many peaks as they stuck straight up with the rest of his hair.

  Riona managed to flit away before Copper rolled over from laughing so hard. Her stomach hurt and moisture dampened her eyes. It felt good to laugh after all the sadness she’d experienced since yesterday.

  When she could keep a straight face, Copper righted herself. “The Faeries gave me some dandelion shampoo that you’ll have to use to get it to go back to normal.”

  He glanced over his shoulder, narrowed his gaze, and she tried to look serious. “You might as well do all the checking you’re going to do with your hair the way it is,” she said. “Because touching the barrier is going to do
that every time.”

  Tiernan gave a curse that came out as a low growl. She knew that like her, he was feeling an urgent need to get back to her city—there was so much on the line.

  Goddess. Balor set free?

  Tiernan glared around the meadow as if daring any other being to laugh and growled again when little sniggers came from various parts of the meadow. When he stalked off toward another side of the invisible wall, he stooped down to draw his sword from where he had left his belt draped over a rock. Copper called after him. “You should probably leave your weapons. Metal of any kind only makes it worse.” He grumbled and set the sword belt back down. At least in that he was listening.

  She had firsthand experience. When she’d touched the end of her wand to the wall, trying to spell it away, she’d been thrown back at least ten feet from the shock of it

  A shout and a curse cut her attention back to Tiernan, who stood beside another portion of the barrier, his hair frizzier than ever with lots of flowers poking out of the mass. Muscles worked in his jaw and there was absolute fury combined with determination on his expression.

  He held his hand out and began to run his fingers along the invisible wall, his arm jerking with the force of the electrical shock he experienced. But he didn’t stop. He kept on going, stomping through grass and bushes along the way until he had circled the entire meadow and come back to where he had started.

  By the time he got back, two Brownies clung to each boot and had shimmied up high enough to bite his knees through his leather pants.

  “Damn!” he shouted and kicked each foot so that Brownies went flying through the air, only to land safely on their little gnarled feet.

  Brownies were ugly things—brown as the bark of a tree with pointed wrinkled faces that made them look like old women eating something extremely sour. Their bodies were bare, their joints knobby, and their hands just as gnarled as their feet.

  After the last Brownie went sailing, Tiernan turned and glared at Copper. His hair was downright curly now, still standing on end, and the Pixies had made no less than six connected lattices that stuck out like thick flower stalks with bunches of blooms at each end. Copper had the hardest time not bursting into laughter again.

  In the next moment Tiernan unfurled his wings. Huge, brown wings the color of milk chocolate. Copper’s eyes went wide. She’d known he was Tuatha D’Danann, but this was the first time she’d seen the true proof of it. He flapped his wings once, twice, three times, stirring the air, and her hair fluttered around her face.

  Tiernan rose from the ground, his eyes focused above him, his face into the breeze. Copper watched in amazement as the powerful wings carried the large man up, up, up into the sky. He circled above the meadow and Copper didn’t know if she’d ever seen such an incredible sight. He was magnificent.

  Tiernan soared higher, until he looked no bigger than a bird. As he neared the barrier, Copper held her breath. None of the Fae in the meadow had ever flown so high. Could Tiernan find a place where he could break away to freedom?

  She watched him draw closer to where the wall should be. He touched it with a wing.

  He gave a loud cry as he was flung back.

  And then he was falling. Tiernan was falling. End over end.

  Copper shrieked, her heart pounding and her mouth dry. She hurried to her feet, never taking her eyes from the figure plunging through the air, getting larger and larger as it approached the ground.

  Instinctively, Copper used her witchcraft to fling up a spellshield and prayed to the goddess that it would catch Tiernan. This was the only hand-magic she’d ever performed without her wand, and she hoped it would work and she wouldn’t get squashed flat. Damn, if her wand weren’t in the shelter, it would have helped her make the shield stronger.

  She concentrated with all she had, holding her arms up high and feeling the weight of the shield on her hands. She couldn’t drop him. She couldn’t!

  The figure hurtled directly at her. She didn’t dare move for fear of breaking the spell that held the glittering gold shield above her.

  She clenched her teeth as his body grew close. When he was inches away from the spellshield she doubled the power of her magic.

  And felt him slam into the shield.

  The force of his landing knocked Copper to the ground, flat on her back. The power of the fall made her head spin and her back ache. But she kept her hands up, balancing him several feet above her. Sweat broke out on her skin and her arms trembled.

  He was unconscious, that much she could tell. He had landed facedown, his wings resting on his back. His cheek was pressed to the shield, making him look as if his face was smashed up against a window.

  Her arms trembled so badly now that she didn’t know how much longer she could hold him. She had to move him so that he wasn’t directly above her, but she was afraid she might break the spell and he’d slam into her. His bulk was so great, and she was so small.

  The pressure on her arms began to lighten. Copper turned her gaze just enough to see Riona and several of the other Faeries with their arms outstretched and Faerie dust rising up from their wings. They were helping her.

  Slowly they eased Tiernan away so that he was no longer above Copper.

  Her shield failed. Tiernan dropped a good three feet. He landed face-first into the grass with a loud thump.

  Her heart pounded a little harder as she moved to her knees and pressed her fingertips to his neck. His pulse beat, sure and strong.

  She looked at Riona. All the other Faeries had vanished. “Why did you let him fall the rest of the way?” Copper asked.

  The Faerie grinned. “Deserved it, didn’t he?”

  Copper frowned. “How?”

  Riona waved her hand around their prison. “He shows no respect for the Fae as he stomped around our home.”

  “He’s Fae, too.” With an exasperated sigh, Copper shook her head. “He was just trying to help us.”

  The Faerie flitted so that she was above Tiernan. “But he’s arrogant and so awfully grouchy.” She gave a little shiver of her wings, and Faerie dust sprinkled onto his face.

  Immediately Tiernan groaned and stirred. “You will have your hands full with him. Yes, that you will,” Riona said before disappearing in a flash.

  Copper stroked Tiernan’s frizzed hair and part of a lattice as he groaned again. He smelled of sunshine, wind, and leather, and of the flowers twined in his hair. His wings began to fold away and she watched in fascination as they disappeared behind the leather of his shirt as if they had never been.

  He pushed her hand away, then slowly got to his knees to sit on his haunches. “What happened?” he said in a voice so gruff it surprised her.

  “You blacked out and fell.” She glanced in the direction Riona had disappeared to. “I threw up a spellshield to keep you from hitting the ground, and the Faeries helped me get you safely down.”

  “Thank you,” he said, but he didn’t sound pleased. More like pissed. Probably from his failure to get out of their prison.

  His chest rose and fell as he took a deep breath. Grass stuck to his cheek and his clothing, dirt smudged his face and sleeveless shirt, and his forehead glistened with sweat.

  As if reading her mind, he jerked his black shirt over his head and wiped the sweat and dirt from his face. Copper watched in fascination as the muscles in his arms flexed. Her gaze traveled over his well-defined chest and abdomen. Wow.

  He flung the shirt aside and glared at Copper. He looked as if he was furious with her.

  She blinked. “What’d I do?”

  “You brought us to this damnable place and there’s no way out.” He pushed himself to stand and continued to glare at her.

  Heat crept over Copper’s face and her stomach clenched. “Do you think I did this on purpose?”

  “You’re a witch.” He waved his hand as if to encompass the meadow. “Get us the hells out of here.”

  She got to her feet and balled her hands into fists. “I’ve tried and tri
ed and tried.”

  “Try harder.” He turned away and strode to the stream.

  For a moment Copper just stared at him as he stomped away from her. She wanted to blast his butt with spellfire so badly she could taste it. Damn. Where was her wand when she needed it?

  But then her stomach sank. It was her fault he was here. The weight of everything crashed down on her so hard that her shoulders ached with it. Copper moved to the other side of the great apple tree, away from Tiernan, where she could no longer see him and where he couldn’t see her. Goddess, she needed some space.

  She slid down the apple tree’s trunk with her knees bent nearly to her chest. She leaned forward and buried her face in her hands.

  The range of emotions made her feel like she was in a vortex, spiraling out of control. Grief from her mother’s death; the brief respite of laughter as she and Riona watched Tiernan; fear when he plunged to the ground; anger at him for what he’d just said; and sadness beyond sadness again at the thought of her mother’s death. She wanted to throw up, scream, and cry all at the same time.

  And she wanted to punch Tiernan so, so, so bad. It didn’t matter that he’d told the truth, that it had been her fault he was trapped here. She wanted to lash out at something—someone.

  She barely noticed Zephyr racing past her with an angry buzz.

  * * *

  Tiernan stomped to the small stream at the rock outcropping. Just as he started to bend over to slip his hands in the trickling stream, he heard a loud buzzing.

  A sharp pain buried itself into one side of his ass and he shouted.

  Heat burned through his entire backside.

  It took only a moment for him to realize what had happened. Zephyr zoomed around his head, around and around, with a furious buzz.

  “Damned bee,” Tiernan started to say, but cut himself off. No doubt the thing would attack him again if he didn’t watch it. He sucked in a breath of relief when the familiar zipped away.