by Conn, Claudy
“Yes … she has been quietly conversing with Rolo.”
“Send that to the queen as well, and hurry, Danté,” I told him, suddenly worried. I knew that we had to get it safely away before Gaiscioch managed to get his hands on it.
He said nothing for a moment as he concentrated, and then he whispered, “Done. Are you finished giving orders yet?”
“Hmmm, let me think …”
He kissed me then, long and sweet, and if it weren’t that we were stretched out on the damp grass beside Dunbar, who was very nearly a corpse, I think I would have blinked off Danté’s clothes …
“Dunbar,” I mentioned to him softly.
He sighed. “Right.” He turned and glanced at the warlock before his eyelids just slightly closed, and the warlock was gone as well.
“You sent him to the queen, right? Not to some hellish dimension … right?”
“Right.” He laughed, and then he had me in his arms and was shifting us through space.
I closed my eyes this time. I don’t know why. I thought I was getting away from that habit. I am a Daoine, and I shouldn’t close my eyes while I shift—that’s childish.
When I opened them again, we were in my bedroom and we were both naked. He was kissing my face, then nibbling at my ears, down my neck, and whispering words that made me shiver and groan.
“I can’t lose you,” he said almost desperately. “I can’t, Z … you have to stay safe for me. You can’t throw yourself into things helter skelter.”
“I don’t remember doing that.” I frowned.
“That’s because you don’t think—you just dive in head first and usually end up in trouble. Can’t you try and wait for me. Can’t you think first to call on me?”
“Always … I always want to wait for you when you aren’t there.”
“Then do it … try, for my sake—try and think of me as your partner. Don’t rush in without me.”
“Okay.”
“Promise?”
“I promise not to break my promises to you, so I will promise only this … that I will always try and wait for you … call on you instead of going in alone—when I can.” I sighed, because even that I knew would be a trial. I am spontaneous and usually don’t think before I act—bad, I know.
I meant to keep my promise to him, I did, but I was already worried because something deep in my gut told me I wasn’t going to be able to keep it …
* * *
“Pestale …?” Morrigu touched my face, and I allowed her a smile. I had genuine ‘feeling’ for Morrigu, but make no mistake, if I had to shut her away to obtain my goals, I would—perhaps with some regret, but I would. Do not mistake this wayward ‘feeling’ I had for Morrigu as a weakness; I am what I am, and I am proud of what I am.
My father—the so-called all-powerful Dark King—had not been able to make me totally in his image. I looked like he did before he ‘evolved’, as he called it. But I didn’t have his flaws …
I could put my feelings aside. If my son had tried to force my mate—was about to rape my mate—I would have killed him, not just turned my back. Even so, I loathed him, for somehow he’d made me … love him before all that occurred. No—love perhaps was too strong a word, perhaps … care for him would better fit.
As it turned out, I was not what you would call ‘pure’ evil like my next in line brother, Graely. He cared for nothing and no one—not even me. He feared me, but he did not love me. I am very different from them.
I have variegated shades within my character, but my opinion of what is ‘good’ and what is ‘evil’ is probably very different than the average Seelie Fae’s opinion of the same. I dwelled too often on these things … but Morrigu was calling my name again.
“Yes, lovely one?”
“When I am with you, Pestale, I almost feel … I do feel better. My thoughts come clearly. Is that some magic you do?”
I touched her exquisite cheek. She was a hundred thousand years old and still looked twenty-five. She was supremely beautiful. It was a wonder that I had never grown tired of her beauty. “There is no cure, darling, you know that, but I do what I can for you, and perhaps it helps. You do always seem ‘better’ when you are with me.”
She snuggled into me and closed her eyes. It was no wonder she had gone mad. She was not a Royal and did not have what she needed to stave off the insanity, and my so-called father never thought to let her drink from the Cauldron and preserve her sanity.
She was the only one I had ever made love to. Here in the Dark Realm, the Dark King never created any females for us. We were created whole … and as adults … because he did not have the Wheel of Being.
Our minds were nearly empty and the learning was painful, but he was too excited with what he had accomplished to care. However, Morrigu cared.
She held a special place in my mind. My father abandoned my brothers and me, but he also abandoned her, and we shared that memory and emotional discomfort. My father once thought I was the only one who was capable of emotion or empathy, but then the incident happened … and he turned his back on me—on all of us—as he left with his mate for a new world of his making. I was full of one emotion in particular: hate.
My brothers always seemed to lack the ability to ‘feel’ strongly about anything. They followed my lead, except for now and then Graely … I saw something dangerous in his eyes and wondered. And then there was my youngest, dearest Donwith, who seemed to care for me a great deal.
Our father thought I had the most natural potential to develop gentle emotions, but somewhere along the line he grew unhappy and impatient with my progress. He took the orb he had given to Morrigu, and he showed me the Human Realm. He could only show me, for he didn’t want me to experience it first hand. He said I wasn’t ready. He never showed my brothers the Human Realm in the orb—but I did, years later when the Dark King had abandoned us to our own devices.
He allowed me to observe the human way of life and absorb what he called ‘empathy’ for what the humans suffered in their short lives—what they enjoyed—because he cared about humans … one in particular.
I did observe, but I was at an age where I needed sexual relief almost all the time. She was there—his human with her long, luxurious hair and her soulful eyes and her body that drove me wild with a heat I couldn’t turn off.
Yes, I grabbed her. Yes, I kissed her hard, long. And, yes, I hurt her as she tried to escape me because I couldn’t let go … and I suppose I would have raped her without regret.
He walked in, my father, the Dark King from whose genes I was created. He never realized that there was wickedness in him and he had passed it on to me. How could there not be? Had he not thrown Queen Bridget’s Golden Net over her first to freeze her in place? And then had he not stabbed her with the death sword? I knew the story—he had confessed it to me.
Oh, aye, then he felt immediate remorse … he tried to heal her, which only prolonged her pain for days while she slipped in and out of consciousness. The ‘Wheel of Being’ was never passed on to the next queen. It was lost with Queen Bridget, as were so many things …
He beat me off his human without touching me; he slammed me into the wall repeatedly, and then he chained me to the Cauldron and made me drink deeply. The Cauldron is where Seelie Fae go when they fear they are close to madness, one of the liabilities of immortality. We drink to forget the babble, and then our appointed teacher returns some of our memories.
He played the father, the teacher, and for months began the process of returning only my best memories, but somehow … in the process, I remembered them all—after all, I was a Royal … from his blood!
I rebelled against him for what he had done to me and my brothers. We were here in the Dark Realm, unable to seek out a female of our own. I turned to Morrigu for more than physical relief, and she gave all that she had.
The Dark King had already abandoned her years ago in her palace. He should have returned her to Tir before her madness had turned her magic black. He cou
ld have, long ago before she consumed so much black magic that it was no longer a viable option. I should have made her drink from the Cauldron before she went mad. I too didn’t realize until it was too late.
I shall escape this Realm, I vowed, but I will take Morrigu with me and protect her if I can. I knew Gais meant to kill her, but he would not. At the very least I could protect her from Gais. In the end, she would only be in danger … from me.
“What are you thinking, Pestale? You seem so serious.” Morrigu, still in my arms, snuggled and looked up at me with those lovely eyes, lucid every now and then.
I was capable of much feeling in her regard, and it always surprised me. “I was thinking about the Dark King and how he abandoned us.”
“Don’t … he was not a true father. He was as wicked as any of the abominations he created … even though he likes to think of himself as ‘saved’.”
Oh yes, she was quite sane at the moment, and she made me laugh. “Yes, love … you are quite right.” She had so much black magic in her that she didn’t realize how ruthless I could be. She was—and suddenly it hit me, I had to admit to myself—perhaps my only weakness. Even my brothers did not elicit from me the loyalty I had towards her.
I wanted to rule the Human Realm, for I did learn something when I watched the humans: I realized they were fools who did not know how to maintain the beauteous land they owned. I had no pity for them and no empathy. I had no desire to allow them to live outside their use to me. I would allow my father’s creatures to roam and feed on them, and then I would destroy my father’s creations, his monsters, en masse before they could ruin the Human Realm as they ruined the Dark Realm.
“But we will show him … and Gais who pretends to care about us,” Morrigu said, forcefully interrupting my thoughts. “We will show them all, won’t we, Pestale?”
“You are, as ever, my discerning minx. Now roll over, and I will show you just how we will forget them all for the moment, and soon, I will take you on a journey where you will be comfortable for all the rest of your days.”
“Will you make me sane again, Pestale?”
“I will try … I promise thee that at least. I will try.”
* * *
It was non-stop now. No sooner had Danté helped heal me (my human organs heal slower than my Fae), than we were up and answering Breslyn’s call in Dublin, where he was stationed just within sight of Trinity.
“What? What is it?” Danté asked as we arrived and looked around and saw nothing untoward.
“Don’t you feel it, Danté?” Breslyn asked on a frown. “I have felt it coming for the last ten minutes, and it is getting worse by the moment.”
Both Danté and I stopped, and, yes, I suddenly realized, I did feel it. The earth beneath the asphalt, beneath my boots, absolutely trembled.
“I don’t like this,” Danté commented thoughtfully as he stepped forward, never letting go of my hand. I raised a brow but didn’t have anything to say. It was time to observe. I saw Ete holding onto Breslyn’s arm, and she looked worried.
Whoa … that worried me more than the trembling earth. Did they get earthquakes in Ireland? I didn’t think so.
Then in the midst of our doubts and as the road at our feet felt as though it was about to explode, the atmosphere before my eyes got wavy, and with a swaggering walk that conveyed he ruled everything in his path, Chancemont stepped out, leaving a swirling tunnel of air at his back. He was flanked by two of his kind—huge warriors with long hair and grizzly beards, and I might add, they were serious hunks. I was reminded of ancient Vikings. At his back five more followed, and each had a weapon of some sort in his hand. I had no doubt these weapons had been made from the dust of Danu and thus were death weapons!
I grinned because, hot damn, these boys looked ready to rumble, and as of now, there was no one to rumble with; it tickled me.
Imagine a collection of huge and, as I said, glorious Vikings … stomping out of a mist, and that was the picture they presented. I know my mouth dropped open because Dante grimaced at me and said, “Close your mouth, enfant.”
Chance came forward looking puzzled and said as much to me as to Danté and Breslyn. “We came here to this spot, as our crystal indicated this was where the disturbance was gathering force … I’ve never known it to be wrong … but …” Chance allowed his words to trail off as he scanned our surroundings.
I watched a dark frown descend over his handsome features, but then he sidled up to me and nudged my shoulder. “Aye then, beauty, is he treating ye well? Or do ye need m’comfort, for I promise ye I am, as ever, willing and able to give it.”
Danté took a menacing step his way, but I detained him with my hand and stroked his arm as I answered Chance, “You better get ready, because I think …” I indicated with my chin, and all eyes looked in the direction my chin was pointing. “We got trouble …”
At that moment, the swirling tunnel revealed itself, and another Milesian stepped out, but this was just a young girl. She was a pretty little thing and couldn’t have been more than the equivalent in human years of seventeen.
Chance saw her and hurried towards her to put a protective arm around her. “What are you doing here, Lana? You promised to stay home and watch the crystal.”
“Papa took his group to the far side of Inverness, where a small portal opened and hundreds of monsters came racing out, and I thought you would want to know,” she said with an adorable peep of a smile.
He laughed and flicked her nose. “And you know very well that I know that already as Papa sent me a mind link message.”
“Please, can’t I stay?”
“Home—now,” he ordered affectionately but firmly.
She turned around towards the still swirling tunnel, and then her eyes met mine and she smiled. I smiled back at her, liking her immediately, and she was gone. I also now saw Chance in a different light.
He noticed me looking at him and seemed almost embarrassed to have been caught displaying this other side to his personality. However, all hell was about to break loose, and we knew it. None of us knew what to expect as the sky turned charcoal and the clouds gathered into a swirling funnel and headed our way.
All we could do was spread out across the street and watch the tornado of black magic come at us. I heard Danté say on a hushed note, “Aye, Bres, are you ready then?”
“I’m always ready!” Breslyn grinned at him, and I shook my head at them.
Ete leaned into my shoulder and shouted over the rising noise of the tornado, “It is going to be bad … stay close.”
Storm clouds and winds started blowing street garbage all around, and we had to raise our arms to guard against the sand and grit flying about. People were racing about the street, unaware of us in our spell of concealment, as they tried to take shelter.
The sound of the wind was like nothing I had ever heard before; thunder bellowed so loudly it felt as though the sky was going to crack open—and then it did. With a creaking sound that could be heard (I was sure) across Ireland, the largest monolith portal I have ever seen came down on the asphalt with a heavy thump of a landing that cracked the street and divided it in half.
We all had to take sides and steady our footing as we saw almost immediately a horde of spidery Dark Fae coming at us at full charge. They had no weapons, and they weren’t interested in engaging us in battle. They were chasing people … catching them and devouring them almost whole even as they lumbered into an awkward run. People were being consumed right before my eyes, and for a moment I froze in horror.
“What the hell …?” I breathed out loud as I shook myself free and into action. Halloween was tomorrow, and if Gais could do this today, what could we expect when Samhain arrived?
“No time for thought,” Chance yelled to his men. “Just go for broke and kill ’em, lads … cut ’em down two by two!” And he was after the beasts, swinging and slashing like a man possessed.
Danté and Breslyn were already back to back taking on more Dark m
onsters than I had ever seen in one place. Ete took my hand and shifted to the side of the road with me, and we began doing the same. We had to hold them back. We couldn’t let them run amok in Dublin …
“Nuad!” I shouted out a thankful greeting as he arrived with fifty of his Royal Trackers only a few feet from where Ete and I stood.
“Radzia, my Princess.” He inclined his head of white hair, but then there was little time for more as our numbers couldn’t compare to the steaming flow of insect-like creatures emerging from the portal.
Gais had done this for no other reason than to create chaos, and he had succeeded!
* * *
I didn’t need the invisibility of Féth Fiada as I stepped out in front of Trinity, but I had invoked it so I could kill some of the young students undetected by them. They would never know how or why they were dying, for I would allow them to die slowly, bleeding out on the grass …
I chose a group of students innocently standing together in happy conversation and slashed at them—mortal wounds—and heard their cries of terror. It was most satisfying and alleviated some of my built-up frustrations.
I watched them writhe in agony on the blood-soaked grass, and it lifted my spirits. I turned my back on them, on their calls for help, and stared at the university walls. I would make this my palace very soon … when Dublin was mine.
Throttled moans and anguished screams of the beasts being cut down only a street away interrupted my musings—the Dark Fae were being slaughtered by the Seelie Fae.
The sky had blackened, but the tornado of winds that had brought my very special portal, the one I had been grooming for centuries, and set it in place was gone. The Seelie would be occupied with the wave of grotesque abominations it had unleashed on the city.
But as I knew she would, Queen Aaibhe would be at the portal. She was the only one with the power to close this particular portal. I would have to distract her guards—no easy task—but I had that planned as well.
No one would notice, as they would be busy keeping the Dark Fae from devouring the city’s inhabitants … no one would realize until it was too late.
