Vowed

by Liz de Jager

  ‘I don’t kiss,’ I say, swiping for his legs. ‘On the first date, no matter what you’ve been told.’

  He hit the floor with a bounce and as he does I launch another kick to the side of his head and he lies still. A blow to my shoulder sends me staggering. My new opponent looks only a little less like a wild man from Wild Town. He doesn’t bother engaging me in any kind of conversation and instead we have a friendly bit of banter by blade. Which is refreshing, because it’s always hard coming up with one-liners when you’re fighting for your life.

  My opponent, after managing to bash the back of my sword hand with the pommel of his, stumbles into Brixi as he straightens from skewering one of his colleagues. Brixi pushes him back towards me and I spin, using his own momentum against him, then draw my blade across his throat.

  There’s no real chance to recover and get freaked out by the blood because the opponents keep coming. I fall back to the cuts and stances I’ve practised endlessly with Jamie and Marc. My movements stay fluid and I do my best to stay out of my friends’ way as we battle the newcomers.

  Dante’s fighting with a large knife he’s picked up from someone’s body and he’s bloody good at it. From the glimpses I get I recognize a mixture of capoeira, with other martial arts thrown into the mix. It seems rather effective in laying waste to the wild Fae rushing him. I have no idea what style of fighting Aiden’s managing but it looks more like ripping, clawing and growling – and that’s okay too because he’s got a circle of prone and bleeding bodies scattered around him. The dogs have formed an outer ring and seem intent on watching him fight. It is one of the strangest things I’ve seen in my life.

  Thorn is deadly and efficient in his fighting style. Blast of energy, followed by a cut to the abdomen or throat, then maybe a kick to complete the target passing on into unconsciousness. He looks so intense that I hardly recognize him or the way he moves. I’ve seen him fight before, but now he’s less stylized and more fluid in his attacks. I sense his magic and the potential for it to rage within the limited space of the cave, and I feel my own magic hovering in response, ready to be called. I hold back, concerned that I might lose control of it and screw things up. What happened with Torsten and the rats in that alleyway is too fresh in my mind.

  Because I’m worrying about other things, rather than the small wiry Fae dancing in front of me, with his two sharp knives, he gets past my guard. I feel the bite of his blade on the back of my arm, My blood slicks his blade and I gasp in surprise as pain flares in its wake. I lash out a kick and take him full in the chest because he’s so much shorter than me and he goes flying. I run to corner him where he’s collapsed in a bundle, gasping for breath. But Brixi grips my shoulder and pulls me away.

  ‘No,’ he heaves. ‘We’re done.’

  He’s right. I’ve lost count of how many of them we fought, but there must be at least twenty, not counting the dogs. The dogs! My gaze widens when I find Aiden kneeling beside one of them. The dog makes soft growling noises in its chest before collapsing to the floor and rolling on its back.

  ‘That is just weird.’ Dante says to him, wiping his blade on his jeans. ‘You the dog whisperer too?’

  ‘It’s a wolf thing,’ Aiden answers with a grin before straightening with a grimace.

  Brixi walks towards Thorn and sinks into a low, if shaky bow. ‘Thank you.’ He casts a look over his shoulder towards the goddess and the children. ‘But you really need to go now. Before more of them come. I need to secure these rooms and I can’t do that with you here.’

  Thorn turns to me and for the longest time, I just watch him watching me. I worry about the gore on me, about the mess my hair is in, the fact that I look like a thug. But he smiles and I grin back and then I’m in his arms and he’s holding on to me as if he’s never letting me go again. I lean against him for a long time, not liking the fact that I’m pressed up against that stupid cuirass he’s wearing and it’s not the most comfortable thing to be squashed against. But I love how his arms are hugging me tight as he drops a kiss on my forehead.

  ‘Kit Blackhart, always in the middle of trouble,’ he says as he pulls away, pushing strands of unruly hair from my face. ‘This time I got to play at being the rescuer. How does It feel?’

  I push him a little, laughing. ‘Not sure I’ll get used to it,’ I say and I mean it. ‘What are you doing here, Thorn?’ I ask him. ‘How do you know about Brixi and her?’

  He grimaces. ‘It’s a long story.’

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  After going through their pockets, we move the bodies to one side of the room and those who’ve been injured to the other side. Aiden sets the dogs to guard the Fae, who seem completely taken aback by the change of events, especially the fact that their own dogs are being used against them. One tried luring his dog towards him, but was rewarded with a sharp snarl a mere hair’s breadth from his vulnerable neck. He sat back in a hurry, looking queasier than warranted by a broken nose alone.

  Aiden shows Thorn something they’ve taken from one of the bodies and they form a small huddle to discuss it. I consider joining them but my arm’s hurting too much to bother.

  I move to the side to see what I can do to stem the bleeding. I shrug out of my leather jacket and, after wrestling fruitlessly with my long-sleeved thermal vest, decide just to take it off. I am wearing a sports bra anyway so, even though there’ll be a bit of pale belly skin showing, it won’t mean the end of modesty as we know it.

  Brixi’s touch on my shoulder makes me jerk with fright but he offers a smile. ‘I can help.’

  He produces a large first-aid kit from a cunningly hidden crevice and makes me sit down so he can check my arm. The cut is wide but not deep. He disinfects it quickly and expertly. I hiss in pain. His breath is warm as he blows lightly across the wound.

  ‘If you open yourself to the songlines it will help you heal,’ he says. ‘Look, Thorn’s cut has stopped bleeding and even the wolf boy looks fine.’

  I glance over to them both and, yes, Thorn’s cut is already healing and he’s no longer bleeding from the wound in his side. Aiden’s shaking his arms out, flexing his fingers and chatting as if he’s not just been a devastating dervish of destruction. Dante doesn’t look to be doing too well. He’s standing to the side, staring at the heap of bodies and swallowing repeatedly. Even from where I’m sitting I can see how pale he’s looking.

  ‘Dante doesn’t look good,’ I say and he glances over briefly.

  ‘A lot has happened for him today,’ he says. ‘Be kind to him.’

  I grimace, feeling chastised. ‘Are the kids okay? Is she okay?’ I ask and nod towards the sleeping goddess, with the attendant small bodies lying on their tiny beds.

  ‘Yes, they are all unharmed. The spell reacts to the intentions of those who approach. Had any of the other Fae run into the wardings, they would have been turned to dust.’

  I gulp and look over at the soft haze. ‘And you let me prod it and walk around touching it? I could have been killed.’

  ‘Yes. But it was interesting seeing how it reacted to you. You were curious, not malicious.’

  ‘Yes, but I could have been killed,’ I repeat for emphasis, letting my true horror show. ‘You really could have warned me.’

  Brixi’s shrug is far more casual and whatever than I would have liked and I feel like punching him. But then Thorn walks over, just as Brixi finishes placing a series of small butterfly plasters across the cut on my arm.

  ‘Kit,’ he says and then seems unable to say anything else. He looks down at me, before dropping to crouch next to Brixi. ‘We have to go. You have to leave the Otherwhere as soon as you can. You can’t ever tell anyone what you’ve found here.’

  ‘What?’ I hiss. ‘Are you crazy? What about those children? We have to figure out a way to get them away from here.’

  He shakes his head. ‘There is no way.’

  Brixi excuses himself to go and check on Dante. We wait until he’s out of earshot before I question Thorn furthe
r.

  ‘How do you know about her, the goddess and the kids, anyway? Does everyone know?’

  He shakes his head. ‘I only know because Istvan told me during one of his crazy rambles, when he held me captive on the island. The geas he cast effectively prevented me from talking about it to anyone, including you, even in my dreams.’ He touches my wrist lightly. ‘I have tried for so long to tell you about her, to make you aware of her. I was terrified of the danger you’d be in if you continued your search for the children.’

  ‘This? You knew what I was going through? Knew it would lead me here?’ I ask him incredulously. ‘How?’

  The look he levels at me expresses so many things – annoyance, tenderness and amusement. ‘Kit. It’s what I do. I am pretty much aware of all the threats aimed at our realms.’

  ‘And me? I was a threat?’

  ‘You are a threat. The biggest threat this realm has seen since Istvan.’

  My breath catches because he’s not even joking. ‘Okay. Now what do I do?’

  ‘We get you to safety. You walk away from this, all of this, and we wait for it to die down.’

  ‘Why must it die down?’ I ask him. ‘Those children belong with their parents, Thorn. This isn’t fair on them.’

  ‘You realize that if the children are taken from her, both our worlds will shake themselves apart?’ His eyes are very serious. ‘I can’t allow that to happen.’

  His fingers find mine as he talks and I have a really difficult time concentrating on what he’s saying. I seriously have to get over this boy or I’ll be ruined forever more, I quietly vow to myself, before leaning closer to hear his hushed tones.

  ‘I spent months researching her and I hardly slept. Kit, the library where I’m studying is vast. It makes my father’s library look understocked. One day, I must take you there and show you the ancient treaties that were signed by the Fae – you can actually see how they divided the Otherwhere up into territories. It’s incredible.’ He sees the expression of disbelief on my face and laughs. He’s obviously remembering that I’m more a smacking and stabbing kind of girl than a hiding in a library kind of girl. ‘Anyway, I stumbled across a spell to wake the spirit of one of the old librarians. I asked for help to find more on the goddess, and she took me to the right shelves without a moment’s hesitation. I smuggled the books to my room and hid them. Then, whenever I knew I’d be left alone, I’d study them. I’ve lived with knowing that she was real and not just a madman’s dream for about two months.’

  ‘The dream,’ I say, leaning towards him. ‘I started dreaming about this place months ago. You were always here, or on your way here. Sometimes those men and their dogs too.’

  ‘I threw all my magic into pulling you into my dreams. I had to see you, tell you to be careful.’

  ‘I thought I was, you know . . . dreaming about you because I missed you so much.’ My hand claps over my mouth. That was so not what I meant to blurt out, yet I just did, much to my horror. Thorn’s eyes soften and he brushes his lips across the knuckles of my bruised hand.

  ‘I dreamed about you every night.’

  Who has lashes like this in real life? They’re thick and heavy against his cheeks as he leans even closer to press his lips against mine. It’s a small chaste kiss, really, barely a whisper of a thing, but so full of promise that I feel like passing out. Oh my soul. He has to hear the sound of my heart thudding against my ribs. A flush has crept up my neck and I feel my ears blaze and my cheeks radiate heat.

  ‘You need to breathe, Kit,’ he says, his lips against my burning ear. ‘Don’t pass out.’

  I find my brain, scoop it back into my head and lean back a bit to look at him. ‘I can’t think with you this close to me. You’re very distracting.’

  ‘I can barely keep my hands off you, Blackhart. You’re the one who’s only partially dressed.’

  His grin is brazen and far more Aiden than I like. It jolts me a bit and I burst out laughing.

  ‘Cheeky. Help me up. Let’s go talk to the others.’

  Aiden wraps an arm around both Thorn and me and hugs us hard. ‘Look at us, back together again. Like the old days.’

  I fight free of his grip and scowl at him. ‘Less celebrating the “old days” and more figuring out what we’re doing now,’ I say to him.

  ‘Kit’s right. All of you, including Dante, need to leave here immediately. It’s not safe here.’ Thorn nods to the remaining handful of Fae who’ve been tied up. ‘I need to figure out what to do with them sooner rather than later. My father will be expecting reports of goings on around the fortress, as he will have already heard about the three of you entering the Otherwhere.’

  ‘What will you do?’ Dante asks him curiously. ‘He’ll know that you’ve been here too, that you’ve been talking to Brixi. It’s obvious that you’ve been here before and Brixi isn’t much of a liar, I’ll be honest.’

  Thorn grins at his cousin and claps him on the shoulder. ‘My father does well when confronted with truth, Dante. He ignores it and makes up a version of events that suits him better.’

  I’m surprised by Thorn’s cynical tone; it’s very different to his deferential behaviour towards his father in the past.

  ‘You need to be leaving,’ Brixi says.’ I’ve not scried for them but I know more are coming.’

  Thorn nods brusquely and stands up to go and speak to Brixi. They seem to be talking about the captives.

  ‘I don’t want to leave the kids,’ I say to Aiden and Dante. ‘We promised we’d bring them home.’

  ‘Kit, you heard what both Brixi and Dante said. If we move the kids, the Veil tears. This is bigger than us rescuing some kids. Far bigger. This is crazy business.’ Aiden’s face is serious as he looks over the sleeping children and the immobile goddess. ‘Besides, I’m sure you thought about this yourself, but what if your parents died because of what they found out about her?’ His voice dropped even lower. ‘You have to admit it makes sense, Kit. We’ve seen how screwed up things get when the Fae are involved.’

  I curse and nod at him, missing Thorn to lean against. ‘I know. This is an even bigger mess than I’d first thought. I’d like to resign from this job now. I’m tired. I’m tired of the mess, the fuss, the blood, the fighting, the getting hurt.’ I’m whining and I just don’t care. ‘All of it, really.’

  Aiden gives me a quick hug. ‘Sorry, matey. This isn’t just a job. It’s family.’

  I rest my forehead briefly against his shoulder before nodding.

  I push away from him and find the bloody shirt I’d discarded. Using my knife, I cut the right arm off at the elbow, so the fabric won’t touch my wound. Next I shrug into my jacket, wincing as it scratches against the cut. But as it’s the only warm thing I have, it will have to do.

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Brixi looks stoic as we leave him standing in the doorway to the goddess’s chamber. I keep checking over my shoulder until he’s completely out of sight. Thorn rests a comforting hand on my shoulder as we move as silently as possible back through the tunnels. There are echoes of voices from somewhere and dogs barking but Thorn moves swiftly and surely, leading us further into the fortress.

  ‘This doesn’t feel right,’ I say for the umpteenth time. ‘We can’t just leave the goddess and those kids behind.’

  Thorn catches hold of my hand and pushes me ahead of him. ‘Come on, this is bad enough, don’t make it worse.’

  ‘How are you going to keep this hidden from your father?’ This comes from Dante. He’s less pale now we’ve left the cave. I think the fact that we’re all armed probably helps too. I know I feel better for it. Holding onto a sword, even if you can’t really use it, goes a long way to giving you courage.

  ‘I’m not going to bother keeping it from him, I’ve decided.’ Thorn’s expression is dark. ‘It’s time my father admitted some of his secrets.’ He takes out a gold coin that’s maybe the size of a fifty-pence piece. ‘The Fae who attacked us all had these coins in their possession. They’r
e from my father’s personal treasury.’

  I roll my eyes because of course Aelfric of Alba would have his own personal treasury and coins – why not?

  ‘Will the coins be proof enough to confront him about the goddess and the children?’ Aiden asks. ‘He can always say they were taken without his say-so.’

  ‘I doubt it.’ Thorn flips the coin in the air, catches it and hides it away on his person. ‘Even the king is not above being questioned by his ministers if they find out that one of the Faceless has been breaking covenants to supply an Elder God with children. An Elder God everyone thinks was banished . . .’ He grimaces. ‘Imagine the outcry. And if it’s revealed that my father was guarding the fortress in which the goddess was housed . . . there would be a lot of questions.’

  ‘What would it mean for your family, though?’ Aiden asks him. ‘Won’t there be problems?’

  Thorn shrugs. ‘Yes. My father would rage and he’d be forced to deal with the repercussions of lying to allies. It would be a good look on him. The outrage levelled against him would be considerable.’

  ‘You sound dangerously like you’re looking forward to this,’ Dante points out. ‘It could all go very badly wrong for you.’

  Thorn’s expression is resolute. ‘I’m prepared to take the chance. There has to be another way to keep the Otherwhere safe and the Veil protected. We can’t rely on a goddess that’s been trapped against her will and whose magic might fail anyway.’

  We fall silent for a while, Aiden and Dante leading the way while Thorn and I hang back a little.

  ‘What do we do when we leave here?’ I ask Thorn, feeling a bit forlorn.

  ‘We stay in touch,’ he replies without a moment’s hesitation. His voice is low, keeping our conversation private. ‘I can’t not talk to you. Or hear what you’re doing. Sometimes, when I scry, I sense you and wonder if you’re sad. I want nothing more than to make you smile.’

  He’s so honest about this it makes my heart ache.

  ‘Thorn, we can’t do this,’ I say, lagging behind so the others pull ahead of us even more. ‘Things are going to get bad in the next few weeks when we try and figure out where to go next with these secrets. We can’t have this, this thing we have.’ What the hell am I doing? ‘You know it’s not allowed, us being together. It’s your law.’