by Rhys Ford
“Fuck you.” I strained against the binding. My limbs tugged free, and I jerked forward, bringing my fist up to hit Valin’s chin. He easily moved aside, laughing as he ran one hand over the female’s broad head.
“Let’s finish this, little brother, and then I can take you home. I can always come back for the girls. They won’t be going anywhere,” Valin said. “Father will be so very happy to see you again.”
“Adar llwch gwin….” The binding curled, snapping around me. The words licked and bit, sinking down into my bones. Valin continued, spooling out the names given to me in the depths of our father’s dungeons. “Madra… arracht… gan iarraid….” Valin nicked my chest and ground out the final phrase to bind me. “Cheannsa.”
The words ignited my marrow, splintering my bones with pain. A tingle raged along my body, working under every inch of skin. The sensation bit and scraped along my nerves until I wanted to walk through a fire for relief. I waited for the tightening against my mind, bracing for the lessening of my self until there was nothing but a whimpering animal left behind my face.
Then it whispered away, leaving me empty and numb. Ryder’s grandmother did worse to me in her chamber of horrors.
His spell shriveled away, leaving me untouched and unbound.
“You’ve got a problem,” I said softly, taking a step forward. “Your binding didn’t work, brother. I don’t think your names work for me anymore.”
The ground under my feet rumbled with the sound of the dogs’ fighting, and I tasted blood before I felt the pain of Valin’s hand across my face. He hit me hard and fast, one punch after another, until my vision blurred. Swallowing, I bent over, curling into a ball and reaching for my rig. My Ka-Bar slid out of its sheath with a hitch. The damp leather was tight around the blade, but a yank on its hilt jerked it free.
I wasn’t surprised when he unsheathed his second dagger. He’d never been one for a fair fight. Valin had the ainmhí dubh and magic; why not add two knives to the mix?
“Are you going to stab me, arracht?” Valin mocked me, grabbing a handful of my shredded T-shirt to drag me to my feet. The edge of his dagger skipped over my throat, beading a line of pain on my skin, and I went limp, letting him pull me close. “Is that what you’re going to do with your tiny knife?”
“Damned going to try.” I gritted my teeth and stabbed up into Valin’s ribs. The angle was wrong to gut him, but the knife nicked something bony under his skin, probably a rib. Valin let me go, holding his side as blood crept out between his fingers.
“You’re going to pay for that, arracht.” My brother hawked, and the wet hit my face. I half expected it to burn like ainmhí dubh spit. “I’m going to make you….”
“Talk too damned much, brother,” I grunted, digging the knife in again. He stumbled, gasping for breath. I heard the wheeze of his lungs working to pull in air with the delicate off-balance shushing noise of a gaping wound. I tried to go in again, but he dodged, bringing his fist up to hook me across the jaw.
The punch rattled my eyes and teeth, and I staggered back, trying to shake off the bells ringing in my ears.
Tickles of fear edged into my mind. Valin was stronger than I was. He had the advantage of better food and not being hung up by his wrists after being grown out like an avocado pit. For all the stretching they did to my body, it didn’t make me as tall as he was or give me his reach. My mistake was thinking that because we shared the same face, we shared the same body. I’d need more distance between strikes. I told my terror to go suck itself.
“You’re quick.” He grinned, and I felt a sting of pride at the blood turning his teeth red. “Maybe when I get you home, I’ll have to spend more time with you loose. It’s a welcome change.”
“Only way you’re dragging me back to Tanic is dead.” Valin tilted his head, staring at me with a bemused smile on his face. “Even then, it’ll be in pieces.”
“I think you are serious, deartháir,” he purred, stepping around me until his back was to the river.
“I’m very serious, brother,” I said, smiling back at him. The dogs’ fighting was dropping to a low rumbling, and a quick glance toward the remains of the pack gave me a little hope.
The female’s mouth was loose, but as she growled the remaining males into submission, her yawning maw was speckled with bloody drool, and one of her long canines was broken off nearly down to the root. The two males weren’t doing much better. Long gashes marred fur and skin along one’s rump, and the bigger male’s throat was punctured through, the flesh around the bite marks blackened from the other male’s acidic saliva. The larger male limped slowly, reluctant to put weight on his front paw, but the smaller, sleeker male moved even slower, his molting wings tucked tight against his rib cage. The unevenness of his gait could have been another foot injury, but I was betting he’d been bitten across the spine. Neither one of the males would be up for an intense fight.
Dempsey’s shotgun was a lost cause. It lay in a crumpled pretzel of wood and metal on the ground, not far from the fallen male, and the female stalked back and forth. Her mouth had to be causing her intense pain, but Tanic’s training held her firm. Valin took a few steps away from me, motioning the female black dog forward. The ainmhí dubh moved in behind me, blocking an escape into the woods, and the males collapsed into ebony sphinxes, their dark red eyes slitted and watchful. The female remained standing. She’d not let me get past her unless it was over her dead body.
I’d be happy to help her out with that if given the chance.
The river’s mist was cool on my bare skin, rising up from the ravine and beading on my face. Standing close to the rock shelf’s edge, Valin quickly came forward a few steps to give himself distance from the cliff. I let the Ka-Bar drop and drew my Glocks, aiming at Valin’s face and chest.
“You took a bath in the river, little arracht.” He sneered. “Did you forget that your little metal toys won’t work now?”
The guns felt good in my hands, their familiar weight fitting into my palms. I loved the feel of metal against my skin, at the moment, even more than I loved the sound of a full-throated engine on an open road.
“Yeah, that’s a myth, Valin.” I grinned, teeth bared and threatening. “Just like you’re going to be in a few seconds.”
The right Glock jammed, beaten too hard when I’d hit the rocks below, but the left shot fine. I aimed and fired, moving quickly as Valin’s arms came up, either to defend himself or throw his daggers. Red streams burst across his chest, and he stumbled back, arms flailing with the force of the bullets cutting through him.
Snarling, the ainmhí dubh were on me, and I emptied the rest of my clip into their rushing black bodies. Curled in a tight spin, the smaller male caught my leg, taking me down with his weight. Nearly crushed under his chest, I rolled, using his body as cover while I ejected the other gun’s clip and scrambled to reload the working Glock. Teeth caught my shoulder, and my right arm went numb before my nerves caught on fire as the dog’s saliva entered my bloodstream. The stink of his skin made me retch, but I swallowed hard, concentrating on what I had to do. I was too far away from his head to do a kill shot, and firing into the thing’s belly would be a waste of a bullet, but he gave me enough shelter to reload and come back up shooting.
Tucking my elbow against my stomach, I fired at Valin again, catching his shoulder. He jerked, and blood bubbled out of his mouth. Screaming the names our father gave me, he caught his foot on the edge of the cliff and he tumbled back, punching a hole in the mists rising from the river below. Valin reached out, and his fingers caught the rocky edge. Then they too disappeared from view, pulling down a fall of pebbles.
I couldn’t hear the splash of his body hitting the water. The ravine was too far up for the sound to carry, but the males bounded up, snarling and snapping at one another as they looked to the female for direction. The large black dog stared me down, mantling her wings and puffing up her spine.
She didn’t need to make herself larger to intimidate
me. I was already plenty scared down to my ankles as the ainmhí dubh wove around one another on the cliff flat. Her gaze rolled over me, taking every inch into her memory. Her bright crimson eyes burned with intelligence, and the warning in her stiff, angry shape was clear: the next time she saw me, I’d be meat she would leave for the scavengers to pick through.
With a shake of her wings and bloodied fur, the ainmhí dubh launched herself up, catching air before cutting down into the mists. She left swirls of droplets behind her and disappeared into the ravine after her master. The males hesitated, torn between having me for an easy meal or following their alpha.
A piercing scream from downriver helped them make up their minds. The tinier male dug into the rocky precipice and strained to leap as high as his weight would allow, spreading his span taut before taking a beat to lift him higher. The larger, older male took a running leap and went aloft with a few flaps, gouging the rock face as he ran. The furrows he left behind were nearly an inch deep, dragging marks turning a patch of moss black where his poisonous claws scored down through to stone.
It was hard to stand, so I let myself fall. Now alone, the fear hit full force and crimped me into a ball. My lungs ached, and I took shuddering breaths, forcing my body to respond to the most basic of things. Cold, acid burned, and frightened, I wanted to crawl under a rock and stay there until the world forgot I existed.
“Pity it doesn’t work like that,” I mumbled, shaking some sense into my thoughts. “Too much shit to do, Kai. Get up and get moving.”
I stumbled as I got to my feet, nearly falling flat on my face again. My cut-open shirt flapped as I walked, the rig holding it in place. Stopping to pick up my knife from the ground, I looked over at the ainmhí dubh lying near the forest’s edge. Shimmying my T-shirt off around my harness, I sliced it in two, wrapping the pieces around my hands as much as I could and leaving my fingers free. The leather straps of my rig rubbed against my bruised skin, but it wasn’t a bad pain. It was enough of a sting to let me know I was alive.
Crouching was painful but necessary. I picked up the black dog’s back leg and made the first cut, sliding my wrapped hand under its skin, separating the meat from its hide.
“Screw it. I killed it. I’m taking it,” I muttered, wincing at the burn to my fingers and wrists. “And if Ryder wants the meat out, the bastard can come get it.”
EPILOGUE
I LIT a kretek, inhaling the sweet sting of cloves. My lungs hurt, despite Ryder’s healer fixing a puncture I’d gotten from one of my broken ribs. She had to be coaxed into it, nearly defying her High Lord’s command, but I understood. She could barely stand to touch me and did the minimum before fleeing the room. The woman left me with my tapestry of bruises but removed the breaks. It was more than I’d hoped for. I pretended to think it was because I stank of the river and ainmhí dubh blood, but I’m sure she felt Tanic on me. She’d have been a fool not to.
Standing on the roof of my warehouse, I watched the lights of the boats move around the bay as people took advantage of the pleasant evening air for a nighttime sail. I’d left the rooftop door open, listening to the others laugh below. Cari’s voice carried up, bringing with it a story about an Arizona run.
Alexa’s questions stalled the tale, but the sidhe liked the idea of earning money outside the Court, and even against Ryder’s protests, she wondered aloud about becoming a Stalker. Ryder’s snarls became growling threats when Cari offered to show her the ropes. I left them to argue about it, needing some air to clear the tangle in my head.
“I thought I’d find you up here,” Ryder said, stepping onto the roof. I turned from my sailboat watching and waited for him to join me. Sniffing at the fragrant smoke, he wrinkled his nose slightly, smiling unevenly at me. “Those smell like you taste.”
“I like them better than other cigarettes,” I replied, taking a small puff. Motioning him closer, I leaned in and breathed into his mouth, brushing my lips against his. Ryder choked and then gulped, rapping his own chest to stop from coughing, but he steadied his breathing and shook his head at me.
“That’s a very dangerous thing to do, Kai,” he said in between small gasps. “You’re tempting my control.”
“Yeah, probably.” I shrugged and turned around to lean my elbows on the high ledge. “But according to Dalia, I’ve got a death wish.”
He took the kretek from my fingers and drew a small sip from its filter, handing it back to me as he entered another fit. I tried not to smile when he gave me a dirty look. Catching his voice, Ryder choked out, “Nope, don’t like it.”
“Good. They’re bad for you.”
“I cut Dempsey a payment,” he said when I turned to look at him. “Even if I wanted to kill him for leaving you behind, he got the girls out. I’d pay you if I didn’t think you’d shoot me.”
“You’re right,” I agreed. “I’d shoot you. Or maybe let Alexa gut you. Either would work.”
“You are always threatening to shoot me.” Ryder laughed. It echoed a bit, then faded, lost in the sounds of the ocean and the tolling bells on the bay buoys. “That ainmhí dubh was the largest I’ve ever seen. I heard they had wings, but I always imagined them differently.”
“They get bigger. The wings and the dogs.” My shoulder blades itched, and Ryder’s face was touched with a fleeting sadness. I didn’t need to tell him about wearing Tanic’s mark on my back. He’d seen the winged pelt I dragged out of Balboa. “If I was going to make you pay for something, it would be for going into that damned river. That water was cold.”
“You didn’t have to jump in. I know you felt like you needed to, but you didn’t.”
“I did,” I said quietly, watching the clove’s tip flare red when I took another hit. “And you’re welcome.”
His laugh was as sweet as the smoke in my lungs. “Thank you. My mother would be appalled at my manners.”
“Valin, the girls’ father? You should know that he’s my… brother.” It weighed on me, settling hard in my chest, and I needed to tell him, even if it cracked what I had with Ryder. “We share a father…. Tanic. Well, our bodies share a father.”
He let that sink in, saying nothing as he watched me intently. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, and when he shifted his hip to lean against the roof wall, my nerves chewed themselves apart.
“That’s all you share,” he said gently. “It doesn’t change anything, not for us, maybe for the girls, but not us. I still want you, Kai. I’m honest about that. That hasn’t changed. I don’t think that is ever going to change. There’s something about you that makes me want you, and I like getting what I want.”
I snorted. “That sounds like a threat.”
“It sounds like a promise to me,” he replied.
“They’re not going to stop coming, you know,” I said. I tried not to let fear into my voice, but I heard the tremble and shut it down as quickly as I could. “They’ll send someone else, or Valin will come back.”
“Are you so certain he’s alive? You shot him in the chest.”
“We’re hard to kill, remember?” I was grateful he didn’t say brother. “And if he’d died, his black dogs would have attacked me. There’d be nothing to hold them. No, the female was still bound to him. That’s why she went into the river.”
“So he’ll come back for you and the girls,” Ryder said. His face was hard to read in the shadows, but I heard the weariness in his voice. “And maybe with others.”
“It all depends on if he tells Tanic. He’d be stupid to say anything about what happened. Our… his father doesn’t like failure.”
“I won’t let him touch you,” he murmured. “I’ll kill anyone who comes for you. Maybe one day you’ll believe that.”
“I’d die before I’d let him take those kids. I know what Tanic would do to them. I’m not letting that happen,” I said, staring off into nothing. “Hell, I’d kill myself before I let him touch me again.”
“Mind if I touch you?” Ryder asked, and I looked at him sharpl
y. Laughing, he grinned at me. “So they’re your nieces as much as they are mine?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Guess so.”
We left it there, not speaking for a while. Then he shifted against the ledge, drawing up close to my shoulder until we touched. The tingle of his closeness ran up my battered side, and I closed my eyes, wishing the clove would numb more than my lips.
“Ciarla is claiming I conned her into providing eggs for Shannon to carry,” Ryder whispered. “She’s refusing to raise them, says they’re abominations. Alexa’s pissed and is taking the girls.”
“Scarily enough, Alexa seems like a good mother.”
“She is. No one will be able to come near the girls without crossing her first.”
“We don’t know if Valin’s telling the truth. No one’s done any genetic testing on the elfin, but we might find out for sure,” I said. “Ciarla’s your sister. This really all could be a lie.”
“I believe it because she is my sister,” he said bitterly. “I agreed to this because she came to me. Those little girls deserve better than Ciarla for a mother, even if she wanted them. Alexa can give that to them unless you want to.”
“Raise them?” I rasped. “Are you crazy? I’m surprised I haven’t accidently killed my cat. Besides, look around you. Do you really think this is any way a kid should be brought up?”
“You turned out okay.” He poked my ribs, and I winced when he found a bruise. “Except for that stubborn streak and maybe the lack of common sense.”
“No, I didn’t. Not really,” I replied. “Dempsey tried his best, you know?”
“I wouldn’t give that man credit for how you turned out.”
“You’ve got to. He’s all I had.” Keeping my face turned to the ocean, I let the clove smolder.
“I’m here now, and the others. Dempsey isn’t the only person you have,” Ryder suggested, sliding his palm over my side, cupping my rib cage. “Besides, would you let Dempsey do this?”
