Beguiled

by Maureen Child

  “So be it.” Culhane’s eyes went cold and dark; then he shifted and she was alone.

  There was one thing Maggie was sure of: She needed to make her next move fast. They were going to need all the help they could get to save Eileen and get rid of Mab for good.

  So no more wishy-washy stuff. No more wondering if she was doing the right thing or how the Fae might react to her decisions. They didn’t like it? Too damn bad. They could move on to a different dimension.

  Because Maggie was about to shake up Otherworld like it had never been shaken before.

  “This,” Claire said in a shocked gasp, “is completely amazing. I had no idea. I know you said that it was big, but this isn’t big. This is . . . big.”

  Maggie had known Claire would be impressed with Sanctuary. Looking at the place now, through her best friend’s stunned eyes, Maggie saw it all again as if for the first time. The white marble walls and floors with streaks of silver snaking through the stone, lending warmth to what should have been cold. Miles of bookshelves, stuffed with hundreds of thousands of books. Elegant tables boasting tall crystal vases filled with flowers no human had ever seen before. Wide windows, all of them open, allowing warm, sweet-scented breezes to waft through Sanctuary. A place out of time and space. A place where all Fae were welcome and safe. Since power was stripped from everyone the moment they entered and not returned until they left the same way they arrived, all in this place were equal.

  Well, except for Finn, the scholar/wizard who ran the place.

  Claire wandered the marble halls, her head turning from side to side as she tried to take it all in. In fact, she looked pretty much like Eileen had, on her first morning in the palace.

  And that one small thought of her young niece brought a chill to Maggie’s spine and reinforced her determination to do what she’d come here to do.

  “This is incredible,” Claire murmured in a soft hush most people reserved for libraries and hospitals.

  Maggie smiled in spite of the turmoil still roiling around inside her. Spending time with Claire was way better than being on her own at the moment. And being here, in Sanctuary, meant to Maggie that she was at the very least going to be doing something proactive.

  “I do not understand why all powers are stripped when we enter,” McCulloch grumbled in a voice just loud enough for Finn to overhear.

  Maggie threw a glance at the long shelves lining the wall and looked briefly at the whirling tornado of gold dust spinning weirdly behind a crystal screen. Her power. Strange, but for so long, she’d felt odd, carrying around that whirlwind of strength and energy. Now, she realized, she felt somehow . . . wrong without it.

  Beside her own power, a smaller cyclone of Fae power spun. McCulloch’s. Mac had accompanied Maggie and Claire to Sanctuary since a warrior guard was necessary at all times. Culhane was making himself scarce, mobilizing the warriors. Quinn was busy trying to hold Nora together, so it was left to Mac to be their escort.

  “It is the only way all are safe in Sanctuary,” Finn told him patiently, as if he’d had to explain that very rule over and over again to whichever warrior happened to be there.

  Maggie got it, though. It was why she’d chosen this place for her last fight with Mab. She’d known that the far more powerful Queen would lose her Fae powers the moment she entered Sanctuary. It was the only place Maggie had felt as though she’d had even half a chance at beating Mab.

  It had worked, of course. Maggie had won, Mab had gone out a window and they all should be living happily ever after. But, real-life Faery tales had nothing in common with the myths she’d grown up listening to.

  Instead, the proverbial shit Maggie found herself in now was every bit as deep as it had been back then. Maybe even deeper, since now she didn’t even have the illusion of Culhane to comfort her.

  Whatever. No time to worry about her love life or lack of same. Now was the time to pull it together and get Eileen back safely.

  “We need your help,” Maggie said to Finn as the tall, blond Fae stared down at her. “We’re looking for a spell.”

  He frowned and ignored the others, focusing solely on Maggie. “What kind of spell?”

  Mac spoke up quickly before Maggie could. “The gift of flight for the males, Finn. We need to find the spell Mab used to strip us of the gift so that Claire can reverse it.”

  Finn actually looked shocked.

  Maggie nearly laughed. She hadn’t thought surprising the wizard was even possible. But then, the males of Otherworld hadn’t exactly been treated well over the last couple of millennia.

  “Is this true?” Finn asked.

  “Yes.” Maggie looked him square in the eye. “We need to do this and we don’t have a lot of time. So can you help us or not?”

  “I can.” He didn’t ask any further questions, just turned on his heel and hurried off down the long, wide hallway, clearly expecting them to follow. Which they did.

  Their footsteps echoed off the high ceilings and smooth walls and sounded like the rapid clatter of heartbeats. Which, Maggie thought, made sense, since her own heart was pounding hard in tandem with her steps. They had to hurry. They had to find the spell. Make it work. Then find Eileen and deal with Mab.

  After that, she told herself, we’ll relax and take the rest of the day off.

  Culhane rallied the Warriors.

  The males he’d led for more than two hundred years sprang into action at his command, and he could only wish that his Queen had done the same. She was as stubborn as she was beautiful. As prideful as she was strong. And he loved her for it, despite the fact that she made him want to rage in frustration.

  Still. His fury at Maggie notwithstanding, he had no intention of dying to prove his loyalty to her. He would help her win this battle. Save her family. Save Otherworld from a mad queen; then he would kidnap Maggie, take her to Inia and keep her naked and filled with him until she saw the truth. Until she accepted that he, Culhane, had been born to love her. Until she admitted that she loved him as he did her.

  Then they would return to the palace and she would be the greatest Fae Queen of all time. And he would proudly serve at her side.

  Grimly, Culhane smiled and started issuing the orders that would prepare his warriors for the coming battle.

  The spell was finally located in one of the oldest tomes in Sanctuary. The book was leather bound and encased with gold. The language was indecipherable until Finn waved his hands across the thick, creamy pages and the letters rearranged themselves into English.

  “Impressive,” Claire murmured, then quickly read the list of supplies. What wasn’t on hand, Maggie had sent Finn to find and in less than an hour, they’d been ready.

  “You can do this, right?”

  “Oh, and now’s a fine time to ask, thanks,” Claire told Maggie wryly.

  “Uh-huh, you can, right?”

  “Aye, I can.” Claire smiled, shrugged and said, “Just another reason it pays to have a witch around.”

  Maggie grinned. “Just what I’ve always thought.”

  “What do we do?” Mac asked, watching Claire as if he were both eager for her to begin and worried for her safety.

  Claire looked at him. “Stand back and hold your breath.”

  He did.

  She laughed. “I didn’t mean that literally, you big goof.”

  Mac blew out his breath and sent a disgusted look toward Maggie as her laughter joined Claire’s.

  Finn ignored them all and looked at the witch. “Is there anything else you need?”

  “No. Just a little space.” Claire centered herself, closed her eyes and began to chant beneath her breath in Latin. The ancient language sounded melodious, rising and falling with a steady precision, almost like music.

  Maggie watched her best friend and though she knew she didn’t have to, she found herself holding her breath just as Mac had. Seconds ticked past and the silence in the room was broken only by Claire’s soft chant. Over and over and over again, the Latin words rushe
d from her friend’s mouth in a steady stream that seemed to fill the room with power.

  Lights sparkled around Claire’s still form. She knelt on the marble floor in a circle of herbs and crystals and she seemed to glow from within as power coiled and built deep within her.

  Later, Maggie wasn’t sure just how much time passed while Claire’s invocation continued unceasingly. All she knew for sure was that finally, Claire’s head fell back, the crystals surrounding her lit up like tiny neon lights and Claire’s long black hair twisted in a wind that touched no one else in the room.

  Tension mounted.

  Mac shifted from foot to foot.

  Finn never took his eyes off Claire.

  Maggie held on to her hat, so to speak, and waited for whatever was coming next. And still she was surprised.

  Claire lifted both hands toward the ceiling, opened her eyes and shouted, “Incipio!”

  A thunderclap of sound rattled through Sanctuary and every hair on the back of Maggie’s neck stood straight up. She flinched at the deafening noise and had to shake her head when Claire spoke to her. “What?”

  “Sorry about the noise,” her friend said, standing and stepping carefully out of the circle. She looked from Maggie to the males watching her. “The spell’s done.”

  “What was that you shouted at the end?” Maggie asked.

  Claire shrugged. “Latin for ‘commence’ or ‘begin’ or . . . basically, I was saying, ‘Get this show on the road already.’ ”

  “Ah.” Maggie looked at the guys, too. “So, did it work?”

  Mac tried to fly, then apparently remembered that he had no power in Sanctuary. Glancing at Finn, he said, “You’ll have to test it.”

  Finn nodded, closed his eyes for focus and then slowly levitated. A few feet off the floor, he seemed to realize what was happening and he opened his eyes and grinned; then he flew to the ceiling, touched the murals painted there and zoomed back down to the floor.

  Still smiling like crazy, he gave Claire a half bow. “My thanks, daughter of the MacDonald. And to you, my Queen, for rectifying a wrong done to the males of Otherworld far too long ago.”

  “You’re welcome,” Maggie said, and Claire smiled.

  “I was glad to help,” Claire added.

  “And so you have!” Mac grabbed Claire, pulled her in for a hard, quick kiss, then gave her a brilliant smile. “Thanks to you, lass, the Warriors won’t need the female guard. And it’s long past time for Fae females to—how do the humans say it?—Take a backseat for a change?”

  Claire went absolutely rigid with anger. Her features went cold and tight and her eyes were blazing with fury. “You . . . Neanderthal!”

  “Aw, crap,” Maggie muttered.

  Mac and Finn gave each other confused stares before Mac finally looked at Claire again. “I don’t understand. Why’re you angry?”

  Claire kicked him. Hard. “You don’t see, do you? You unbelievably stupid male! I was trying to undo an injustice!”

  “As you have!” Mac shouted.

  “Uh . . . ,” Maggie tried to interrupt, but they ignored her.

  “No, you big idiot. I haven’t. All I’ve done is make it possible for you to get revenge on women who had nothing to do with taking away your powers in the first place!” She fumed silently for a moment, clearly trying to gather her patience, and just as clearly, she failed. “I feel as though I’ve undermined my own gender!”

  “Claire,” Maggie said quietly just as her friend turned on her.

  “Get me out of here, Maggie. I want to be back at the palace.”

  “Done,” Finn said, and an instant later, Claire was gone.

  Which left Maggie alone with two males who didn’t have a clue why Claire had been so angry. She was happy to explain.

  She looked from Mac to Finn and back again, because she knew she had to make this point firmly to the warriors, most of all.

  “I’m gonna say this just once and you make sure you tell all the boys back at the Conclave exactly what I tell you.”

  Mac nodded.

  “All of this infighting with the men and women, it’s over.”

  “But—” Mac tried to interrupt.

  “No.” Maggie shut him up by holding her hand up for silence. Sometimes it really was good to be Queen. “It’s done. The Warriors and the female guard will fight together, or I promise you, I will disband the Warriors and start over with the females.”

  He looked horrified at the prospect.

  Good.

  “It’s time for you guys to get over yourselves,” Maggie told him, walking closely enough that Mac was forced to look directly into her eyes and read her determination for himself. “You’re not the only game in town. The women are capable of fighting, too, remember. But if we all fight together, we’re stronger than we are separately. So bag the attitude and tell the other guys, it’s fight together or don’t fight at all. Understand?”

  He gritted his teeth; then he nodded.

  Maggie gave him a fierce smile. “Good. Now let’s get this party started.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  By the next afternoon, the warriors were all flying and training with the female guards. Maggie was itching to go free Eileen herself. Immediately. But the two she’d sent to do the rescue were already moving on Casia. And once Eileen was safe, the battle with Mab would get started.

  While Maggie watched her warriors at the training field, she tried to keep from looking at Culhane.

  But how could she?

  He was the fiercest, the strongest, the most amazing man she’d ever known and she loved him desperately.

  He must have felt her gaze on him, because he turned in midair to look at her. From a distance, his expression was unreadable, but she felt the power of his stare right down to her bones.

  So, she thought, still angry.

  Well, couldn’t really blame him. But in spite of his fury, he was uniting two fighting forces into a team that Maggie sincerely hoped was unbeatable.

  Now all she needed was for the rest of her plan to work.

  Eileen held on to the wall to keep from floating to the ceiling. She’d been telling Aunt Maggie for weeks that she wanted to be all Fae, but she hadn’t really understood before how hard having powers was going to be. It took a lot of concentration just to stand still.

  Of course, it was hard to concentrate when you were so scared, your throat kept closing up. She’d been in that tiny room for like forever. Why hadn’t they found her yet? Why weren’t they coming for her?

  Maybe they were looking and just couldn’t find her.

  “Oh, wow . . .” Her stomach twisted into tiny little knots and she swallowed back the urge to cry. She hadn’t cried since that first night. She’d been tough and strong, and now she’d had enough and she really wanted to go home.

  Floating again.

  This time, though, Eileen didn’t fight it. She allowed herself to rise slowly to the window so she could look outside at least. It was really dark out there. And with the woods so close and the trees so tall, she almost couldn’t see the stars.

  “Where are you guys?” she whispered.

  An explosion of sound rocked the tavern and the night sky lit up like a million lamps were all turned on at once. Eileen squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears. On the other side of the locked door, she heard people shouting, screaming, and then more explosions happened and the walls of her room shuddered and shook like they were about to fall down.

  What if the building was on fire? What if no one let her out? What if—

  The door to her room swung open and slammed into the wall behind it with a crack of noise that was covered up beneath all of the booming outside. Eileen spun around in midair, terrified of who might be coming. But an instant later, she shouted, “Bezel!”

  The pixie hurried into the room, and Devon was right behind him, a huge grin on his face. She’d never been so happy to see anybody before in her whole life.

  “Get down here, kid,” Bezel
ordered. “We gotta get outta here.”

  “I can’t,” Eileen said, floating helplessly and so happy she could hardly see straight. They’d found her. They’d come for her.

  Bezel shot a look at the boy. “Well, go on. Get her down!”

  Devon flew to her and Eileen shrieked, “You can fly!”

  “I can and I can show you how, too!”

  “Not now!” Bezel commanded as the young warrior dragged Eileen to the floor. Once she was on her own two feet again, she dropped to her knees and threw her arms around the pixie.

  “You came. You came for me. Thank you, Bezel.”

  “Course we came,” he muttered gruffly, giving her an awkward pat on the back. “And we got about a hundred pixies running around in the forest like trolls with the trots.”

  “Really?” Okay, Eileen thought, she just might cry again.

  Bezel gave her one last pat and let her go. “Yep, my cousins are blowing things up and making things crazy so we can get you out. Which is why you should shut up now and keep low. Maggie sent us to get you while she and the others fight Mab.”

  “They’re fighting now?”

  “About to and you gotta be safe before it starts.” He led the way, one small pixie in a torn, dirty, green velvet suit.

  And none of Eileen’s imaginary heroes had ever looked as brave.

  The battle was horrific.

  Maggie had thought she was prepared, but there was no way she could have been. The Warriors and the female guard were working together, which was good. They were flying in and out of the tumult, raining destruction down on the rogue Fae who’d chosen to bet their lives and freedom on Mab’s promises.

  Many of their enemies had broken ranks and run at the first sight of flying warriors. Their terror and sense of self-preservation had won out over their greed, which cut down on the numbers substantially.