Catch & Hold-Legend (Legend series)

by Conn, Claudy

  Annoyed, Hordly hovered, waiting his turn, but he could not wait, and so he took her hand and put it around his dick, and she worked him … and we worked her … and worked her and took turns working her on the hard cement path, with people walking around us …

  She would die; in the next few moments her heart would give out from the level of hormones our bodies induced her to experience. She would die like the ones we’d left in the hotel room not so far away.

  I had no pity for her … yet, I meant to temper myself in the future and perhaps keep a human of my choice alive for this exceptional pleasure.

  And as we screwed her to death, I could see her eyes go blank … What was that I felt? Regret? I didn’t wish to feel that—regret was a weakness I wouldn’t allow.

  My brothers and I had never had any female other than Morrigu, and this new experience with female humans was very much to my liking. I liked the scent they gave off when they were in the midst of their heat …

  My brother moved away as he thought himself clean and back in human Glamour. He said softly, “She has expired … shall we get another?”

  “No, we have other things to do,” I answered them. “We have other matters to attend to.” Theory and reality had collided at Dravo, and they were slightly unsure how to proceed. My brothers looked to me for all their answers, and although I was happy to lead as always, I found myself just a bit shaky still from the loss of my youngest brother, as well as from the sudden dawning that my brothers could be killed far more easily than I …

  I didn’t want to lose them. Until that point I had thought them all as invincible as I.

  “We will rule this earth, and now the Seelie Queen, Aaibhe, can do naught against us. Gaiscioch has her trapped,” I told them, but I wasn’t sure. “We have pleasured ourselves, and now we will release the Flapper caste and allow them to run amongst the human and feed. We want chaos. Perhaps then the humans will thank us when we bring order.”

  “And the Dark King—will he allow us this freedom? Does he not like humans? His woman is a human,” Hordly asked on a note of concern.

  “He cares for no other—only her, his precious Crystal,” I snapped and felt the old bitterness line every word. “He is off with her no doubt, oblivious to all, save her needs. When he finally notices, it will be too late. The world will be hours. The Isle of Tir will be ours, Aaibhe will be dead, Queen Mab will be secreted away in exile, and we will rule.”

  “But the Seelie warriors … will they not be able to stop us? They are mighty—and the Daoine even mightier.”

  “They will try, but we will be ready for them,” I answered and felt the grimness in my tone.

  “They have the power to send us back and repair the fissure in the Prison Wall.” Hordly was still not convinced. “I don’t want to go back.”

  “We shall not go back. We will gain control and remove that power from them. Besides, as long as the queen remains a captive, they will not be able to use that power. It is hers alone.”

  “Gaiscioch must kill her,” my other brother said with a shake of his handsome head. “He must do it soon.”

  “If he does not, we will find her and do it for him, and then … we will dispose of him as well. In the meantime, I am sorry to say, I believe we still need him. We cannot destroy him until she is found and put to death.”

  “Agreed,” both of my brothers said as one. We lifted the spell of concealment and watched as humans screamed and surrounded the dead and naked woman lying on the sidewalk.

  * * *

  “Queen Aaibhe cannot stop you from finding the dimension Monlow. That is a given … isn’t it?” I asked Rysdale, as nearly half an hour of precious time had slipped by without any results.

  “Monlow, the land of green and yellow with two moons,” Danté said to Rysdale. “Find it, and we will do the rest.”

  “I know exactly where Monlow lies, but even as I probed the queen’s whereabouts she spoke to me and asked me to stop. I feel I must honor her wish,” Rysdale said sadly. “And we must remember—she is very wise.” He shook his head, and his pointed wizard’s hat went askew. I felt like giggling as I reached over and set it right for him. He smiled at me and patted my hand. “Besides, if you arrive outside her circle you will be poisoned with the Danu dust trap Gais has set for you.”

  “She is sacrificing herself for nothing!” Danté roared. “You must give us the coordinates for Monlow and allow us to do the rest, and we need it now … not tomorrow, not even later this evening. Samhain is upon us, and they will walk the earth. Will you allow them to do so?”

  “It isn’t I allowing it or not, my dear Prince,” Rysdale offered sadly. “It is my dear friend Queen Aaibhe’s wish that I leave it to her wisdom. It is my wish to at least give her just a bit more time.” He put a hand on Danté’s shoulder. “And in the interim, I am working on a shield to keep you safe from the Danu dust … give me the time I ask for.”

  “How much do you ask for?” I put in as Danté looked frustrated as hell. I felt that Rysdale had a point. No sense rushing in like fools and being shut down by poisonous dust. Besides, Queen Aaibhe was formidable. It occurred to me that she probably did indeed have a plan that might be better than ours, which was kind of willy nilly, spur of the moment.

  “Two hours more—by then it will be nine o’clock, leaving us still three more hours before magic can be used at its worst,” Rysdale answered.

  “I’ll agree to one more hour,” Danté responded unhappily.

  “You will agree to two,” Rysdale answered solemnly.

  “Wait—make it one and a half hours, Rysdale, and then Danté will agree without further argument,” I stuck in.

  Rysdale’s aged eyes twinkled. “Very well, we have a bargain.”

  Chance had been sitting and listening in on this. At this juncture he got to his feet and said, “My sister and I are for home, as apparently we can do no more here. We need to gather our forces and meet Breslyn and Ete in Dublin.”

  “Right then,” Danté agreed.

  “I’m going with them,” Trevor announced as he got to his feet and took Lana’s hand. Chance walked over and gently separated the two once more, and I thought this time the giggles would just take over. I held myself across my middle with a hand over my mouth.

  “You are going to the Tuatha Dé Council as soon as we leave for Monlow. You will be our liaison, and I won’t argue, Trevor. It is your duty,” Danté told him roughly.

  Trevor frowned, but he was a loyal Seelie Fae and nodded his head. “As you wish, brother.”

  I heard a small, satisfied grunt escape Danté’s lips. We were in serious straits, no time for giggles, I kept telling myself, though this made me want to burst out laughing as well. How odd it is that life, in spite of threats and dangers, can still make you giggle.

  And then I saw Trevor lean into Lana and say something in her ear. She smiled warmly and blushed, and that made me smile. They were adorable, only a few years younger than I actually, and so completely innocent still. I didn’t feel innocent and knew I never would ever again.

  When this was all over, I decided, I would ask Danté to take me off to our own private island … when it was over.

  And then reality struck at us with a boom and a clap of thunder the likes of which I never want to experience again.

  Breslyn called for help!

  * * *

  Breslyn’s call had come in loud and clear, and after a quick exchange of explanations with Rysdale, whom we left to work his magic, we were about to shift when Chance detained us as he tried to get his sister to return to Dravo.

  She would not, however, and held her sword high. “I killed a Dark Royal, didn’t I? Think I can handle myself, Chance.”

  He grunted and told her, “That was pure luck.”

  She shrugged. “Mostly skill, and I am joining in this fight. It was what Da has trained me for.”

  And then we were there, on the bridge at the River Liffey. We found Breslyn, Ete, Shee Willow, and S
hayne working against a horde of Unseelie, trying to hold back a battalion of the Dark Fae that had just emerged from a small portal—and it wasn’t Gaiscioch leading them, but Pestale and his brothers. The scene looked like something I had imagined hell would look like.

  There was no time to do anything but jump into battle. I looked around for Pestale, but he and his brothers were suddenly nowhere to be seen as we slashed through the screaming, howling uglies. We were so outnumbered, but we had death weapons, and the monsters did not.

  Traffic had stopped because there hadn’t been an opportunity to ‘spell’ the battle. People were getting out of their cars and complaining, apparently thinking it was a Hollywood movie—until a few uglies got past us and managed to get their appendages on the humans and suck them dry.

  At that point people stopped yelling and shouting and stared hard in a silence that was deafening as a ‘new dawning’ took over their comprehension. Then they began to scream, and the screams were picked up by other groups who didn’t even know or see what was happening. Terror filled their hearts, and they began moving without thought or direction; cars collided into one another in drivers’ attempts to U-turn and get out of the immediate area. Some people left their cars and took to the streets, crying and screaming at the top of their lungs.

  Chaos worked its power over the humans, and we strove hard to keep the battle contained. Shee Willow went after a few of the Dark Fae that escaped us, because even in the midst of the battle these uglies wanted—needed—a quick meal.

  Her mate Shayne was immortal (I didn’t have that story yet), but he couldn’t shift, so he stayed back to back with Ete and was fighting like a demon.

  Chance and Lana fought side by side, and Trevor had his back to them, taking on the strays as they moved in and tried to use numbers in lieu of skill and weaponry.

  I did what worked best for me. I shifted in, slashed, killed, shifted out and repeated the series of motions over and over and until I felt like a spinning top. If I’d thought about it, I think I would have been exhausted, but I shut off my human and was totally in Daoine Fae warrior mode.

  I realized suddenly I was a killing machine. Not sure I liked that. These things, these uglies were created through no fault of their own … and although they needed to be killed before they killed and fed on innocents, one should not lose oneself in the action. I wanted to take them down, and I wanted to acknowledge it from a human perspective.

  No time for philosophy like that. A spider goes to bite you, you make sure it doesn’t. That was what I was doing: squashing danger and blood and gore and guts and brains, ugh … everywhere.

  I knew what this was—a diversion—and suddenly I saw Pestale; he was looking at Lana with pure hatred on his face. Something in the pit of my stomach sent an awful feeling through me—just awful.

  I shifted to her side and screamed for Chance, “Get her away … now! Pestale is here, and he means her harm.”

  “I’ll take her,” Trevor said and immediately had her hand and shifted off, and I knew he’d taken her to the Isle of Tir, where we were certain the Dark Royals could but would not dare go just yet. They still feared what the Seelie Fae could do to them.

  Chance nodded to me, and I saw the gratefulness in his eyes, but then there was no time for more as we tried to stop the numbers of Dark Fae from getting into the city.

  They didn’t stand a chance. Their thought process was limited. They had no weapons of import they could use against us. They only had numbers and a hunger that made their desires put them in direct danger. I know it’s ludicrous, but I felt a twinge of pity, though I quickly banished it. They were what they were—soulless, heartless, feeding machines. They were as the Fae had always called them—abominations.

  We fought for what seemed hours but was in fact only thirty minutes. At some point when we had their numbers under control, both Danté and Breslyn went to the portal. It took their combined powers to manage to shut it down. It spluttered into lifelessness, and because it was a small portal, they were able to transport it elsewhere. This done, Breslyn grinned, slapped Danté on the back, and said, “Well then, old man, one more portal down … who knows how many more …”

  It was no laughing matter, and yet we laughed hard, I suppose because the tension was so great it needed release.

  “How did you do it?” I asked, as I had thought only the queen had the power to close the portals.

  “An old spell the queen taught us,” Danté said, and then we all grew serious once more.

  Danté turned to Bres and said, “We have to return to Rysdale … can you manage the disposal of corpses and stray runaways without us?”

  “Aye … go on, find our queen,” Breslyn said gravely.

  “What of Pestale?”

  “We will have to get a fix on him…”

  They locked opposite arms, and their eyes met in a silent vow for a moment. Then Danté put an arm around my waist, thought us both clean, and shifted us back to the wizard’s abode.

  We stepped out of the ‘wormhole’ so to speak and into the wizard’s weaponry room.

  He stood with that sweet smile of his as a greeting, but I saw something in his eyes—sadness—and I felt a deep misgiving.

  “Are you ready to give us the coordinates?” Danté asked at once.

  “No … in fact, your queen seems to be blocking all my efforts to do so.” He shook his head. “However, I think I may have a shield designed to protect you from the dust trap.”

  * * *

  “Gaiscioch,” Queen Aaibhe said softly. “Your Dark Royals are free and roaming the Ireland you say you love so much. They will leave it a wasteland if you let them.”

  “Free? How?” I stopped my pacing and scanned her face. She wasn’t lying to me. I could always tell when Aaibhe tried to dissimilate.

  “Pestale has been keeping secrets from you,” she answered quietly.

  “How do you know?”

  “You know very well … I have the ‘sight’, and it came to me earlier, when you left me to do whatever it is you had to do.”

  “It is not always accurate—this ‘sight’ of yours,” I told her roughly, but I knew that it was.

  “It does not always forewarn me, if that is what you mean. If it did, I would have known my Conall was in danger. I would have known that you were a traitor to me and to our Realm. I would have—”

  “Shut up! You know nothing. I was yours … all yours. I would have given my life for you. And you repaid my loyalty by turning your back on me—and for what? For a human! Love? You call what you had with him love?” I felt my control break into a thousand pieces as I slapped my chest and felt the old hurt permeate my mind. “Here … inside of me was love, and devotion—but you threw it all away. Now, I shall make you forget him. You will drink from the Cauldron and forget everything save me … I shall be your world, and you will have none before me.”

  “Ah, so that has been your plan—to make me drink from the Cauldron and forget?” She smiled sadly. “Do you not know, Gais? Have you not wondered how I maintained my sanity without drinking from the Cauldron? I am the queen and immune to the libation of the Cauldron. I cannot be made to forget.”

  She stopped me in my tracks. I had not thought of that. I had just thought she was strong enough—like me—to withhold against the madness. Oh, I knew they thought me mad, and perhaps my single-mindedness had sent me over the edge, but I was not mad. My reason remained intact. I stared hard at her and felt anger well up against her, and in spite of what I knew was true I told her harshly, “You will forget everyone else—by Danu, you will forget all save me.” I clutched the gold weave of her prison wall and shook it at her. “You are here to stay, Aaibhe, and in the end … I am all you will have.”

  “Pestale has set his plan in motion, even now as you waste precious time with me, your plans will be for naught as Pestale reigns supreme. He is much stronger than you because he is a Royal.”

  “Damn you, I will return to you and throw his head
at your feet. Royal, is he? But nothing next to me. I will show you who is stronger!” I told her and shifted away from the golden threads of her prison. I damn well meant to do just what I promised. I was after Pestale’s head, and I was going to deliver it to her dainty feet! Then we would see who true royalty was. I would show her, and by damn I was going to have her grovel at my feet and beg for my kisses, and my love.

  * * *

  “What do you mean—she is blocking your efforts? How can she do that—no, never mind that, why would she do that?” Danté’s face was drawn in dark lines of concern.

  “I have no idea what her reasoning is, but I do know Queen Aaibhe always has a reason,” Rysdale said gently.

  “Then it is true—she means to sacrifice herself to kill him,” I whispered. “There is no other explanation.”

  “I am inclined to agree with you, but perhaps, just perhaps, that might yet be avoided,” the wizard offered with a touch of excitement.

  “What do you have in mind?” Danté inquired hopefully.

  “As I said, I believe I have developed a shield against the fatal dust, but, of course, we won’t know that until you are actually faced with it.”

  “Oh great,” I said, but no one was paying any attention to me.

  “Come with me … let us look at this map I have put together.” Rysdale went ahead, and Danté followed.

  I hung back. I had an idea all my own, and it was taking root. Danté turned to me. “Don’t you want to join us, enfant?”

  “Yes, yes … in a moment …”

  He looked at me for a second and then turned and followed the wizard out of the room. I went to the garden window and stared out onto the vast forest just past the wizard’s manicured lawn. Something called to me. It whispered a plan just beyond my imagination, and I was trying hard to grasp hold when I was diverted by the touch of a hand on my shoulder. Startled, I turned, and a small gasp escaped me.

  “Oh … I am sorry, dear,” Charm said in that gentle manner that was all her own. Faded and yet darkly hued amber eyes twinkled at me.

  I waved away my concern. “No … my fault. I was off in never never land.”