But then what the hell am I thinking? A few minutes alone with Elegast so he can beat the snot out of me before Nicnevin finishes me off in some way only she and a few demons in hell could imagine? They think I killed Goibniu, too? I didn’t even know he existed. Sure, I knew she had a smith, but it could have been Santa Claus for all I knew. Fuck this. If I was about to die, I was going to take at least one of these fairy clowns with me.
I couldn’t help but gaze back and forth from Elegast to Nicnevin, confused and dumbfounded at their statements, as I shifted the shivs in my hands, ready to attack Elegast and whoever else I could reach before they ripped me apart. I knew my name had been used as a sort of boogeyman among Parans for centuries, but I’d never been accused of something I hadn’t actually done. And all of what I had done was honorable, face-to-face and for very specific reasons. I had never attacked a fae of either court unprovoked. I wanted to on any number of occasions, but I always managed to restrain myself. Until now.
But an instant before I attacked, something in the rational part of my brain raised an alarm. Don’t commit the crime for which you are being blamed. The balance between humans and Parans was too delicate for selfish and rash actions, particularly between humans and the Unseelie Court. Humans are the damned reason there are two courts to begin with. The Unseelie fairies wanted to commit wholesale genocide. Not that the Seelie Fae wanted to protect humans; they had simply concluded it was better to leave people to their own devices. And I’d been accused of doing something that could upset the entire balance. And I didn’t even do it. At least I didn’t remember doing it.
My skin went cold, and the hair stood up on the back of my neck. Was it possible that someone or something had manipulated me into assassinating two members of the fairy courts without me knowing? It wasn’t impossible. Highly improbable, but not impossible. It would take immense power far beyond all but a very few humans—and most fae, for that matter. But I couldn’t recall any missing periods of time.
I tried to figure out who would stand to gain from such strife. I didn’t get far before Nicnevin’s voice cut in. “I will admit I am reluctant to grant the request made by your Queen, Lord Elegast, but in the interest of maintaining… peaceful… relations between the Courts, I will allow it—on one condition.”
“May I first express my appreciation for your willingness to hear my liege’s request in this matter and, might I add, for receiving me with such… graciousness,” Elegast said, again flamboyant in his gestures.
Man, do I hate politics. The obvious contempt on both sides was palpable.
“Very well, then,” she said. “Anything you wish to do must be done here and with an observer appointed by me.”
“My lady, I understand your reticence in this matter, but I would prefer to conduct my queen’s business privately. Queen Titania is more than willing to trust Queen Mab’s proctor to carry out her punishment as she sees fit, without benefit of a witness on my queen’s part. I will not kill him, and I will add that I will leave him in healthy enough condition that your punishments, whatever they may be, will not be diminished in their efficacy.”
Well, that sure makes me feel better about Elegast showing up. And I really did hate being talked about as if I weren’t actually standing right there.
Suddenly, my concerns about starting an unfounded war didn’t strike me as a very big deal anymore. I was going to die for something I didn’t do, and I had no way out. For a second, I considered waiting until I was alone with Elegast to attack, knowing my odds of surviving would increase only slightly, but some part of me wanted all of the fae who’d gathered there to see what I was made of—that the human spirit would not be broken, even in the face of certain death. I let the wooden shivs slide a bit, until the points protruded just past my fingers. Then I attacked Elegast, slashing at his flank with my left hand, but he must have known the attack was coming. He simply sidestepped it, throwing me off balance. Before I could right myself, Elegast brought both arms down across my back with a hollow thud that knocked the breath from my lungs. I fell flat on the ground, and both shivs skidded from my limp hands as I blacked out.
Chapter 9
I woke up in a haze, with everything progressing in slow motion. The two ogres, including the one I had dropped back in the passageway, were dragging me by the arms down a featureless corridor, probably the one we’d traveled before. All at once, time sped back up, and an involuntary shudder went through my body. My attack had failed, and they had apparently reached some sort of agreement.
The big ogre wore a nasty shit-eating grin full of crooked, broken teeth.
“Ah, you’ve finally awoken,” Elegast said from behind me. “Let him walk.”
The ogres both grunted. I tried to focus on the walls, searching again for anything—anything at all—that I could use to get out or at least take one of the fucking ogres with me before I went. Why not—they couldn’t kill me any deader than dead. My captors pulled me up to get my feet under me so that I could walk rather than be dragged, and I jerked my arms away in defiance.
“I got it, you turd blossoms. I’m up.” I straightened my ruined fishing shirt with my bloody hands and started walking behind them, wondering if I could hit an ogre in the neck hard enough to break it.
After a few yards, a hand grabbed my shoulder. It startled me at first, but while firm, the grip wasn’t rough.
“Slow it down, Diomedes,” Elegast whispered hoarsely.
I slowed to match his pace as he kept a hand on my shoulder. The ogres maintained their steady gait, progressing down the passage slightly faster than we were.
“Trust me. I’m going to get you out of here, but it’s not going to be easy. Just go with me on this,” Elegast said once the ogres were ten yards ahead.
I nodded ever so slightly, and my heart raced with relief. He barely tapped his fingers on my shoulder reassuringly. He hadn’t killed me back in the chamber when I attacked him, so presumably, I could trust him.
After an indeterminable amount of time spent walking down the hall illuminated by the eerie light that had no discernible origin, the ogres stopped, and a hole opened in the wall across from them. When we caught up a few seconds later, Elegast shoved me through hard enough that I lost my footing and bounced off the far wall, landing hard on my butt, sending a shockwave of pain through every injury I’d sustained over the past few weeks. I could hear the cracked laughter from the ogres outside the door. I was disoriented, sore, and hungry, but I resolved that if I ever got my hands around the big foul-breathed creature’s throat, it would take a crowbar to pry my fingers loose.
Wincing, I sat there on the floor with my arm over my knees until Elegast grabbed my shoulder, only this time much rougher. With a viselike grip, he practically picked me up off the floor. I scrambled to get my feet under me and relieve the pain of his grasp. Once I was up, he shoved me at the back wall. This time, I caught myself and turned to face them.
I may or may not have been in the same cell from before, but it appeared identical. The opening into the cell was gone, and the big ogre stood against the far wall, grinning like an idiot, while his companion stood in another corner, with Elegast a few feet in front of me. Again, the fairy knight winked then placed his hand on the pommel of a dagger at his waist.
Faster than the blink of an eye, he closed the distance between us and grabbed my right shoulder and pulled me close, forcing my hand toward his dagger. I may have been a little fuzzy on what day it was, but the primal part of my brain instantly understood his intention. I grabbed for the dagger, and he caught me with his left arm and shoved me backward.
Already on unsteady legs, I tripped, but not before my fingers closed around the knife’s grip. I tucked the long, delicate blade along my forearm as Elegast grabbed my shoulder again then threw me across the room—right at the smaller ogre.
The creature didn’t have time to act b
efore I hit him. The impact itself wasn’t forceful enough to cause injury, but the ogre certainly wasn’t expecting it. By the time I bounced off and hit the ground, the guard had regained his balance and bent over to pick me up. I rose up to meet him with every ounce of my remaining strength, thrusting the fairy-made stone blade into the flabby skin under his jaws. Pushing with both hands, I drove the ogre back upright, embedding the knife deep in the creature’s skull. His eyes rolled to white, I pulled the knife free from his jaw, and he tumbled backward against the wall, making a slight gurgling noise as he fell.
The big ogre stepped forward, cudgel in hand. He stopped to stare down at his fallen companion, and I lunged, driving the blade into his shoulder hard enough to snap the stone blade. The ogre roared and took a wild swing at me with the heavy wooden club. Even in my current exhausted state, I was fast enough to avoid the blow, but too worn out to counter as quickly as I wanted. Still, I stepped in, pinning his arm across his body, and hammered my fist into the toothy mouth, breaking off a protruding canine. I continued to pound until he pushed me back, slightly dazed while taking an awkward and weak backhanded swing. I stepped close enough in that I caught the arm then brought my forearm down on his elbow with a satisfying snap. Again, the ogre screamed. The heavy cudgel fell from his broken arm, and the ogre slumped forward, drooling thick ropes of black blood from ruined lips.
Catching my breath, I picked up the cudgel with both hands and swung at the ogre’s head, feeling the skull crack. The brute slumped to the ground, and I dropped the heavy wooden weapon. I bent over, with my hands on my knees, to catch my breath, too worn out to feel as vindicated as I’d hoped. Tension slipped from Elegast’s shoulders, and the wrinkles on his forehead melted away as he relaxed somewhat.
“We don’t have much time,” he said in a hushed voice.
“What the fuck is going on here?” I asked.
“Someone killed that insufferable ass Indronivay using a high-powered rifle at nearly a third of a league.” He took a deep breath. “Goibniu was killed by a smaller firearm at what you call ‘point-blank’ range. Both courts are convinced these attacks were carried out by a human, because of the weapons involved. Since the skill level that was displayed in not only the shots but also the infiltration suggests not only human, but super human, and given that your reputation among the fae is less than favorable, the assumption is that no one but you could have accomplished these attacks against such powerful fae. I have scant bits of intelligence that point elsewhere, but I cannot convince anyone in Titania’s retinue to look beyond you. I also have reliable information that suggests recent human unrest in the Middle East has had, how should I say… help… from nonhuman sources and that several human leaders are also in imminent danger. The whole thing threatens to cause massive strife across all races unless the real culprit can be stopped.”
I didn’t know what to say, but Elegast’s expression was telling—he pressed his lips into a tight, deep frown. He actually appeared haggard. Even more striking was the concern evident in his eyes under his heavily furrowed brow. If guns were used to perpetrate the attacks, then that ruled out almost all Fae. Almost. And if the courts concluded that the attacks were beyond a mundane human, then that left very few possibilities, with me right at the top of the list. But I didn’t do it.
“You’ve got to stop whoever it is. But first”—he peered down at the dead ogres—“we need to get you out of here.”
“I’m up for that part. Why can’t you—”
He cut me off with a wave. “You know fae don’t care to be involved with human concerns. Moreover, your death at the hands of fae under these circumstances would cause an uproar among those humans ‘in the know.’ And…” He lowered his head and exhaled heavily. “Because I’m going to be very injured.”
I jerked upright.
“For you to escape, it’s going to have to appear as if you overpowered me and then used me to escape. You’re going to have to make it very convincing. Very. Do you understand?”
I didn’t know what to say to severely injuring the guy who had offered to save my life. I understood his line of reasoning, but that didn’t make it easier to swallow. Still, he was right. While human groups like the Guardians, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Pugnus Dei, the Odin Brotherhood, and others familiar with Parans and Old Ones might try to wage war, they didn’t have the strength to take on either fae court, even collectively. Moreover, fae generally weren’t willing to expose themselves to humanity, either, which was why open war between the races had never occurred before. My execution, along with the death of human leaders and fae royalty, all ostensibly at the hands of opposing factions, might give them all reason to try.
“No, there has—”
Elegast held up his hand. “This is our only option, and we don’t have time to argue.”
I finally nodded. “Look, I don’t even know where I am or how long I’ve been here.”
“Poveglia. For about thirty days, as far as we can tell. Someone is waiting above to help you off the island. Andunail sent them for you,” he said, closing his eyes and cringing. “Now hit me.”
In my haze, it took me a second to piece together everything he’d said. Poveglia was an Italian island, off the coast of Venice. It was considered to be one of the most haunted locations in the world. Every human attempt to inhabit it has been met with disaster, and for good reason: the island had long been a stronghold of the Unseelie Court, and its powerful and very nasty genius loci, or prevailing spirit, didn’t need a physical form to cause issues for creatures within its realm. Like the Unseelie, the genius loci despised humans, and it worked for Queen Mab. She has used the island since long before my time, and I doubted she had plans to give it up anytime soon.
I rolled my shoulders and squeezed my fists, trying to loosen up or maybe even delay what I was about to do to Elegast—to a friend. Maybe an alternative idea would pop into my addled brain.
But why was the name Andunail familiar? Andunail… wait, that’s what fae call Athena. Given her mindset since our days together at Troy over three thousand years ago, she would not have chosen to interfere directly—even for me. But I knew there was no way she would abandon me. Considering what Elegast had told me about what else was happening in the world, at least I knew why she hadn’t acted.
Because of the damned genius loci, the Unseelie would know I was escaping almost instantly, and they would know exactly where I was. Fear crept into my mind, but I pushed it away. I would rather die trying to get out of here than die on my knees. Especially for something I did not do.
Elegast opened one eye and arched an eyebrow high on his forehead as he noted my slow comprehension of the gravity of the situation. “We must act with haste. Now,” he said through clenched teeth. “Hit me!”
I was weary and nowhere near ready. But I had no choice. And no time.
Elegast opened his mouth. “I said—”
I laid into him. Despite being exhausted and sore, I had to make the beating realistic. To make things worse, I also needed him alive and awake. Among Elegast’s many unique abilities was opening any lock, door, or portal simply by asking. But he has to be able to ask. That wasn’t his only trick, but it was the one I would need most.
Elegast fought back, though halfheartedly. Less than that actually, because Elegast at half speed was one of the deadliest beings I knew. I tried desperately not to think as I kicked and punched him until he finally sagged beaten to the ground and peered at me through swollen eyes. Holding up his hand to stop me, he nodded slowly. I was numb, but some part of my will forced me to act.
Grabbing Elegast, I threw one of his arms over my shoulder and dragged him to the wall where I guessed the doorway was.
“Open it,” I said.
Somewhere down the long hallway behind us I could hear the clatter of weapons and shouting echoing toward us. My head s
tart was damn short.
“Craich,” said Elegast, in a cracked voice, pronouncing the Sidhe word for “open” through swollen and bloody lips.
The opening in the wall appeared, and I dragged Elegast out.
“To the right,” Elegast said. “All the way down to the end…” and his head dropped.
I could tell he was still alive, but he was out of it for right now. Meanwhile I shuffled as fast as I could, given my condition and the fact I was dragging a three-hundred-pound fairy. I could feel the passage come to life—which was an understatement. The walls, the floor, and even the rocks reacted to my presence, turning soft under my feet and shifting as I stepped, making me dizzy. The light began to pulse from inside the walls at rapid intervals as if the genius loci had set off an alarm. I could only imagine it was like being in the middle of a rave while stoned. I kept my legs churning, placing one foot in front of the other as fast as I could manage, until I hit another dead end. The entire passage began to tremble. I laid Elegast down and gently tried to wake him. In desperation, I finally slapped him.
He gazed up at me through slits in his swollen face, and I could barely see his eyes shift back and forth as he recognized where we were. “You realize I’ll have to come after you now, too. You better find this guy before we find you.” He coughed and spit a gobbet of purple goo onto the floor. “Craich,” he said as loudly as he could manage then passed out again.
At first, nothing happened. Then one wall fell away, forming into a stairway. I gently laid Elegast down and stumbled upward.
Chapter 10
The stairs ended in a white hospital-like tiled room in a seriously dilapidated building with no roof and only the moon for light. All around me, the air buzzed with electricity, and I could feel a malevolent presence surrounding me, coming up out of the ground. While I couldn’t see it clearly, I could feel the energy reach for me like a plant, trying to entangle my legs and arms. I kept trudging forward on weary legs.
Chaos Unbound (The Metis Files Book 2) Page 7
