by Bonnie Lamer
Kallen’s eyes harden. “The Kegan I know is not too cowardly to try.”
Tabitha’s eyes harden to the same degree. “Neither is this Kegan. It is Dagda who refuses to put Kegan’s life in danger. We have tried to rescue him but he refuses to have any of it. He will not come with us.” She stares at me long enough for me to understand she is glaring accusingly, and then turns back to Kallen before continuing. Whatever she is going to say next is obviously my fault. “With the passages closed, where would he and Kegan hide if he escaped?” Yup, my fault.
Not liking the idea that I am responsible for my biological father’s continued imprisonment, I insist, “I would protect them.”
Tabitha snorts. “Protect a man you despise?”
“I don’t despise him,” I protest.
Hands on her hips, Tabitha laughs. There is not a trace of humor in it. “You could have decided that a while back. Things might have been different.”
Oh. I guess I didn’t come to Dagda’s rescue even though I hated him in this reality like I did my own. Feeling sheepish, I admit, “Yeah, I probably should have.”
Kallen wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me close. “Can you bring us to Dagda?”
Nodding, Tabitha says, “That is the easy part. Getting to the archives will be the tricky part.”
“We must try,” Kallen insists.
“Then let us go and get this over with. If there is even the slightest possibility of changing this reality, I would like to see it done sooner as opposed to later.”
“Wouldn’t we all,” I concur.
14 Chapter
We make our way through the woods to the palace. Tabitha leads us around to the back and we sneak in through a side door. Considering how much magic the three of us are exuding, and the fact that Fairies would be able to sense it, I suspect the palace Fairies simply do not care that we are here. Considering the fact Xenia is their Queen, they probably do not care about much. Maybe they are hoping we have come to save them. Which we have, so it all works out. At least, I am hoping it will. Otherwise, this reality will end in a natural disaster and we will all die. Probably not the worst thing which could happen at this point.
Inside the palace, we quickly make our way to the cells. I skid to a halt when I see Kegan pacing back and forth before a door. He glances up in surprise when he feels us approaching. He blanches. “What are you doing here?” He’s talking to me.
No sense in easing into this. We don’t have time. There must be at least a few guards who are loyal to their Queen. If only because they don’t want to lose their heads. “We came to get him out of here.”
“Right,” Kegan scoffs. Standing to his full height, he says, “I will not let you kill him. I understand he wronged you, but that is not the Fairy he truly is.”
I roll my eyes. “I know that. And I am not going to kill him.” Geez, what kind of reputation do I have in this reality?
Looking to Tabitha for confirmation, Kegan asks, “Is she telling the truth?”
Tabitha shrugs. “As best as I can tell.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I mutter.
Kegan’s eyes shift to Kallen and Kallen gives him a slight nod of encouragement. After a long moment, Kegan decides to take their word for it. He opens the door behind him. As I walk past, he says softly, “I will be watching you.”
I could point out to him that I could easily take away his vision so he could, in fact, not watch me, but I do not. No sense in putting him even more on edge than he already is. I do not want to hurt him if he decides to do something stupid.
Inside the room, I stop short. All thoughts of Kegan or anyone else flee from my mind. A Fairy I barely recognize is lying on a bare cement floor. His black, stringy hair is past his shoulders. He has a matted beard which is just as long. He is dressed, but barely. His clothes are in tatters, singed around the torn edges. This is from the reaction of iron burning Fairy skin. When we were told that Dagda was in iron, it was not an exaggeration. At least seven different bands of iron are circling various parts of his body. One on each arm and leg. One around his torso and another around his neck. The cruelest by far, though, is the one wrapped around his mouth. That makes my taking his voice away from time to time seem kind in comparison. Okay, not kind exactly, but certainly much less psychotic. I brush at my eyes, pushing the gathering tears away.
I didn’t realize I was moving closer to the cell until Kallen’s hand catches my arm. “I am certain there are alarms,” he says softly.
Kegan confirms this. “If the glass is tampered with, it immediately alerts Xenia.”
“The glass?” I repeat.
Kegan nods. “Yes. If anyone attempts to bring down the glass barrier, she will be instantly aware.”
“Is anything else alarmed?” I ask, glancing around the small room hoping that I haven’t already triggered something by mistake.
“There is no need,” Kegan says with a shrug. “There is no way to rescue him without the removal of the glass.”
I was hoping he would say that. I also hope all my powers work in this reality. Time to test it out. In a blink, I am on the other side of the glass. It turns out the glass is soundproof, because I can only see Kegan and Tabitha’s reactions, not hear them. Kallen’s lips curl up into a proud smile and he winks at me. He turns to his cousin and Tabitha and must explain my ability to teleport because they are gawking at me in wonder now.
My focus turns to the tortured Fairy before me. My heart breaks as I take in his damaged skin up close. He is burned to the bone around his wrists. I can’t believe he hasn’t died of infection. I can’t stand the sight of it, but I refuse to close my eyes as I pull magic. If he is brave enough to endure this torture, then I can be brave enough to face him. After all, in this reality, it is partially my fault that he has ended up like this. It only takes a second to free him of the iron. I almost vomit when I see his face once the iron is removed from his mouth. His lips are completely gone. His teeth and gums are charred.
Pulling more magic, I must force myself to proceed slowly. I want him to be healed instantly, but I can’t do that. Healing can hurt almost as much as the injury itself and the faster it happens, the worse it can be. I don’t go too slowly, though. We don’t have that much time. So, I must grit my teeth and try not to cover my ears to avoid Dagda’s anguished cries of pain as I heal him. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Kallen restraining Kegan. He must believe I am intentionally causing Dagda more harm. He will understand in a moment that I am not.
When it is finally done, I sit back in relief. I seem to be the only one relieved, though. Dagda scrambles away from me, cowering in the corner. It breaks my heart. The fear in his eyes has not eased, it seems to have tripled. What the hell?
“Have you come to heal me so you can think of another form of torture worse than the one imposed by Xenia?” Dagda demands.
I stare at him in shock. When I find my voice, I snark, “Wow, if gratuity was an art form, you would be a mind numbing amateur.”
Nonplussed, Dagda stares at me for a long moment. Finally, all he can say is, “What?”
I roll my eyes. “I am not here to hurt you. I am here to rescue you.”
This has him shaking his head. “I do not believe you. And even if I did, I will not put young Kegan’s life in danger along with mine.”
“That is noble and all, but I’m still rescuing you. I’ll make sure Kegan isn’t hurt.”
“No.”
Okay, this is getting us nowhere. I reach a hand out toward him and Dagda flinches. Wow, being bound in irons for lord knows how long has definitely made him skittish. Or it could just be me. Regardless, I simply move closer so I can touch him. In a blink, I am back on the other side of the glass with Dagda in tow. He stumbles and Kallen must reach out and grasp him to keep him from falling down.
Kegan shakes his head in wonder. “You are amazing.”
I do not like how doe eyed he looks at the moment. Apparently, neither does Kallen. A
s soon as my husband rights Dagda, he punches his cousin in the arm. Kegan now has pain instead of lust and adoration in his eyes. I give Kallen an appreciative nod. Besides, once Kegan remembers he is married to Alita, he’ll feel badly about this moment.
“Put me back!” Dagda hisses.
Scowling, I snark, “Because iron is your color?”
“What?”
I roll my eyes yet again. The Fairy simply does not get my sarcasm. A quick glance around the small room tells me no one else does, either. Oh well.
Tabitha comes to my aid. “We need to get into the archives. We need you to do it. If you want to come back here afterwards, so be it.”
I scowl at her. There is no way I am going to let him come back and volunteer to have his lips melted off with iron. I am about to say this when Kallen gently squeezes my shoulder and gives me a pointed look. Play along his eyes are telling me. Fine. I’ll keep this bit of knowledge to myself. The rest of them will find out soon enough. Instead, I say, “If you all touch my arms, I can simply teleport us to the archives.”
Tabitha shakes her head. “No, there may be Xenia’s guards there. They routinely attempt to break the spell around the archives.”
“Are we just supposed to wait for them to leave if they’re around?” I ask.
“What choice do we have?” Kegan responds with a shrug.
Kallen grins at his cousin. “You do not know my wife, do you?” His grin fades as soon as he realizes what he said. Around us, mouths are gaping open. We are not married in this reality. “Soon to be wife,” he amends, which still doesn’t have their mouths closing.
“How about we move this along,” I hurry to say. We have more important things to talk about right now than whether or not Kallen and I are married. Which we definitely are.
“Yes, we should,” Tabitha agrees. She is not going to let us off the hook that easily, though. “We will be returning to this topic very soon,” she warns and I give her a resigned nod.
Without another word, we enter the hall again. We only come upon a couple of Fairies who work for the palace. Even though they do not scream or run for help when they see that we have freed Dagda, I still feel compelled to take away that option. I send out my magic and put them to sleep. They slip to the floor and are snoozing comfortably by the time we walk by.
“Nice,” Kegan whispers.
“Just one of my many talents,” I tell him with a wink. This earns me a jealous glower from my husband. I roll my eyes. Like I would flirt with Kegan.
When we finally reach the archives and find the entrance free of Xenia’s guards, I turn to Tabitha expectantly. “What now?”
“Now, the two of you lay your hands upon the door,” she says.
I nod at the simple brilliance. Since in this reality it was unlikely that Dagda and I would be willing to be in the same place together, let alone on the same side of a battle, who would guess this is what it would take to break the spell. Plus, there is no way Xenia or her guards could ever force me to place my hand upon the door. They simply aren’t strong enough. Pure brilliance. I’m going to assume this was my idea.
Dagda takes a step closer but hesitates. He turns to Tabitha. “How do we know for certain which side she is on.”
He is accusing me of being a traitor? I open my mouth to rip into him but Kallen speaks first. “She has forgiven you,” he says. Now, my mouth drops open even farther. My eyes shift to Dagda. Is that all it will take for him to believe me?
He doesn’t seem to believe it. “Impossible,” he says with a furtive glance in my direction. “Not after what I did.”
“You mean sending mercenaries to kill me?” I ask. I need to be clear on what I am supposedly forgiving him for. He may have done other things in this reality that may simply be unforgivable. What am I thinking? Nothing that he remembers happening is real and we need to get on with this.
Dagda’s eyes are planted firmly on the floor. “Could there be anything worse?”
I snort. “Oh, yeah. I could make a list of things other beings have attempted against me which are much worse than that.”
Doubt is written all over Dagda’s face, but he pushes forward. “Do you truly forgive me?”
I barely refrain from rolling my eyes. “Yes, now can we get on with it?”
Despite the clear frustration in my voice which could lead one to doubt the sincerity of my words, Dagda nods. He steps to the door and lays his hand upon it. I move forward and do the same. As soon as our hands make contact, a burst of magic shoots forth and surrounds us. Not all of us. Just me and Dagda. In a flash of light, the two of us are suddenly in the archives. Which startles the hell out of the ancient scribe. He screams and faints dead away. Well, I hope not dead away. I don’t like the guy, but I don’t want to have inadvertently had something to do with his death twice.
Come to think of it, I guess I never really knew the Fairy. When I had interactions with him before, it wasn’t really him. Tana was impersonating him. Great, now I feel even more guilty about the fact we may have just killed him. He could have been a really nice guy for all I know.
Reading my worried expression, Dagda assures me, “He is still breathing.” But there’s not a lot of conviction in his voice. I think he’s just trying to be nice.
15 Chapter
Despite his words, Dagda does kneel down and check the scribe for a pulse. We are both relieved when he finds one. Rising, the King glances around. “What are we looking for?”
How much do I tell him? “I need a spell or ritual that will show me a very powerful spell caster and what I can do to stop him or her.”
Dagda cocks a brow. “I do not believe one spell or ritual could do both.”
“Okay, then one which will expose him so I can stop him however I can.”
He studies me a moment. “I assume you believe dark magic is being used, otherwise we would not need to be here.”
I nod. “I’m pretty sure. And it is really powerful stuff.” I take a deep breath and yet again break the agreement I made with Kallen to keep this between ourselves. The more Dagda knows at this point, the better he is going to be able to help me. “Someone is changing realities. This,” I wave my hands in the air, “isn’t real. Our lives are much different than this.” There, it’s out there.
Giving me the same unbelieving, and somewhat pitying, look Tabitha did, Dagda says softly, “I understand that your life has been turned upside down in devastating ways. I am afraid that is your reality now.”
I barely restrain a frustrated sigh. “I really do not need a fatherly lecture right now. I need a spell. If you don’t believe me, that’s fine. In this reality we don’t really talk much and you don’t know me very well, so why should you believe me? That doesn’t change the fact I’m right.” As an afterthought, I add, “If it helps motivate you, in the reality I come from you and I have an actual father/daughter relationship. You trying to kill me is a distant memory neither of us dwells on.”
Is that a glimmer of hope I see in his eyes? Either that or he is plotting something evil. Or he has gas. I’m going with the hope theory. “Truly?” he asks, his eyes going all soft and puppy doggish.
“Yes, now tell me where to look.”
With purposeful strides, Dagda heads toward a section dangerously close to the dark magic section. He looks almost regal as he makes his way down the aisle. He would look even more regal if his clothes weren’t hanging in rags from his body. I’d make him new ones but I still try to refrain from that. Changing everyone’s outfit in the palace would most certainly alert Xenia of my presence. If any of his unmentionables were hanging out, I’d give it a shot anyway. I shudder at the thought. Thankfully, they’re not.
Dagda stops so abruptly, I run into him. He manages to keep from falling by reaching out and grabbing a shelf. He yelps and grabs his hand back when a book seems to bite him. Yes, we really are close to the dark magic section. I’m going to assume we are in the gray magic section right now.
“Are you okay?
” I ask, moving to get a closer look at the book that bit him. It has no title but it definitely has teeth in its spine. Creepy.
“I am fine. Do not touch that book.”
I roll my eyes. “I am not stupid.”
Chagrined, he hurries to say, “I did not mean to imply that you are…”
I wave off his apology. “What book should I be looking at?”
He moves across the aisle and pulls a forest green, leather bound book from the shelf. “I believe you may find what you seek in here.” He hands me the book. I take it carefully after assessing it for teeth. I don’t find any, thank goodness.
Opening the stiff leather, I leaf through the thick, faded pages hoping a spell will pop out at me. Sometimes, magic books will open to the page you need. Sometimes, they don’t. This would be one of those latter times, of course. Frustrated and eternally impatient, I flip back to the front of the book and reluctantly begin to peruse the pages more closely, still hoping something will just pop out at me.
I didn’t realize I was pacing until my hair is suddenly holding on for dear life lest it be wrenched permanently from my scalp. Dagda is by my side in an instant, trying to disentangle my hair from the book with teeth. The thing has a death grip, though, and he doesn’t have much luck. Meanwhile, I am being pulled closer and closer to it. How? Because the stupid thing didn’t just bite my hair, it seems to be swallowing it, too. More and more of my long black hair is disappearing inside the book. I am just a couple of inches from it being able to bite my scalp. How is this not a dark magic book? I suppose there is nothing inherently evil about a book having teeth or thus book eating hair, but still. This is so wrong. Fearing the feel of teeth sinking into my scalp, I do the unthinkable. I lash out with magic. Lots and lots of magic.
