Puca

by Penny Ash

  * * * * * *

  Kian stood before Finvarra and resisted the urge to shred the arrogant Elf where he stood. He would not give the Elf the satisfaction of seeing his anger.

  “Welcome, Puca, I’ve been expecting you,”

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  Finvarra said smoothly. He looked down his nose at the Puca.

  “Let’s not be playing about, you knew I’d no choice but to come here,” Kian said, his voice pleasant, hiding the disgust he felt for the Elf.

  “Of course. I have enjoyed meeting your little human toy. She has such a pleasing scent. Such softness,” Finvarra laughed softly.

  Kian’s eyes flashed and he clenched his fists.

  “You’ve taken what’s mine, Elf. I’ve come to take her back; she is not a toy for your sport.” He heard the shuffling of the Red Caps as they moved behind him and prepared himself.

  “Ah, Puca, your stiff-backed honor will kill you one day, perhaps even this day.” The Elf waved his hand.

  Kian spun to face his attackers. The Red Caps leapt at him with a loud screech. He waded into them, slashing with black claws that were soon red with the blood of his enemies.

  There seemed to be thousands of them coming at him from all sides. Kian kept dispatching the nauseating creatures, steeling himself with a vision of the woman he was fighting for. He took strength from the memory of Emma’s smile and the knowledge she was safely away with Aiden by now.

  Kian stood alone at last, facing Finvarra over the bodies of the King’s Red Cap assassins. He reached up, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth and glaring at the Elf King. “You’ve none left to do your evil, Finvarra, stand and face me for yourself 218

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  now,” he said. his voice low and menacing.

  “Puca, you forget your place,” Finvarra said with a smirk.

  “Ah, no, as my Emma would be saying, this is America and we have no Kings here,” Kian said. He smiled wickedly at Finvarra’s look of shock and rage.

  “Oh, aye, plans do not always work out the way we would be wishing.”

  Finvarra glanced at the Fir Durgs, his clan of Rat Boys, and gave a slight jerk of his head. Two of the Rat Boys scuttled off toward the cells where prisoners were kept. The Elf King drew himself up to his full height, crossing his arms and looking down his nose at the Puca. “We will see, Puca. We will see. Your lies will be your undoing, and I shall enjoy the spectacle as your human toy is destroyed while you watch.”

  Kian Puca raised one eyebrow, his burning green-hazel eyes locked on the icy grey eyes of the Elf. He waited for them to discover what he already knew.

  The sound of a commotion reached them from down the passageway. The Rat Boys came running in and fell groveling at Finvarra’s feet. They hissed their message, earning a vicious kick from their master.

  Kian grinned knowingly. He flexed his fingers, extending his panther’s claws, bracing himself for the attack he knew was coming. The creatures shrieked and flung themselves at him. The Puca answered with a snarl and waded into battle. He became a whirlwind, reaping destruction through the Elf King’s minions.

  Kian dispatched the last of the Fir Durg clan and 219

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  searched the hall for Finvarra. The Elf had fled the carnage. And how else would a coward and a black-hearted villain be behaving, the Puca thought tiredly.

  Turning to begin his search of the inner halls, he stopped short. Two humans stood on the steps of the throne where no human should ever have been.

  Kian recognized the men who stood before him.

  The Puca bared his teeth in a threat at Officer Steven Daniels and the faithless Brian. He took a step toward the men intending to shred them where they stood.

  “Stop right there,” Daniels said, raising his service revolver. “I told Emma you needed to be put down.”

  He fired.

  Pain ripped through the Puca’s side, dropping him to his knees. He tried to stand. Daniels fired once more and the Puca dropped to the floor. The policeman walked over and looked at Kian with a cold smile. Without a word, Daniels kicked the Puca.

  Officer Steven Daniels smiled coldly and holstered his revolver. He looked at a rather green Brian and raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong, no taste for blood?” he asked.

  Brian glared at the policeman. “That was stupid.

  What if he knows something important about that forest?”

  “There’s nothing important about that forest except as a piece of land some developer wants to build a shopping mall on,” Daniels said. He turned and headed for the hall Finvarra had disappeared down.

  Brian quickly followed.

  Kian slipped in and out of consciousness. At 220

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  Daniels’s words, he suppressed a grimace. He was thankful that neither of the humans could sense the magic in the living forest.

  He heard Daniels and the weasel Brian leaving and slowly pushed himself up, his arms shaking with the strain. Breathing hard, he shut his eyes and tried to steady himself, a wave of pain washing through him as he stood. Taking another deep breath and pressing his hand against the wound in his side, he took a step, his only thought to get back to Emma.

  The Puca staggered heavily, bracing himself with one hand against the wall, his other hand pressed tightly to his side. Bright blood soaked into the white linen shirt and turned the black leather of his pants slick. Another wave of pain crashed over him. He clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes tightly shut, fighting to take another step toward Emma.

  He was dying. He knew that. He wanted to die in his love’s arms. He could feel her presence just a few feet away and he knew she would hold him, soothe him.

  * * * * * *

  Emma and Molly tried to calm the agitated Brownies.

  Suddenly the kitchen door swung open. Pin clutched her sister’s arm and Tilly clasped her hands to her mouth in shock, both looking past Emma in horror.

  Emma turned. All the blood drained from her face and she felt faint at the sight that greeted her.

  Kian leaned heavily against the doorframe, ghostly 221

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  pale, blood pooling beside his foot. He held his shaking hand out toward her.

  “Emma,” he said, his voice barely audible.

  She snatched up the sheet she had been folding and ran to him. His knees began to buckle and she caught him, pulling his weight against her. Pressing the sheet against his side, she sank to the floor with him. He looked up at her, his bright hazel-green eyes dulled with pain.

  “Emma,” he whispered thinly, “hold me, love, tight and strong, for it’s terrified of dying I am.” He laid his head against her and quietly passed out.

  “No, you can’t do this to me, Kian,” she said, blinking back tears. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Pin standing beside her.

  “It’s the c-cold iron, it is,” Pin said gently. “It must s-still be in-in the wound.”

  Emma looked into Pin’s sad eyes and then back down at Kian. She tossed the bloody sheet aside and tugged at the sodden linen shirt. “Then we’ll get it out.”

  Her urgency galvanized Molly and the Brownies, and they helped her move him to her bedroom. Tilly ran to fetch hot water and her herb basket while Pin collected bandages.

  “He can’t die, Molly, not just when I’ve found him,” Emma said, her voice shaking.

  “Then we have to do everything we can to make sure he doesn’t,” Molly said. She squeezed Emma’s shoulder and looked up at the sounds coming from the front of the house. The guests were arriving back 222

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  from their evening in town.

  “Oh no, what will we tell them?” Emma asked panicked.

  “I’ll handle it,” Molly said. She took a deep breath and walked out into the hall, closing the bedroom door firmly behind her.

  Kian lay on the bed, his breath shallow and the injury in his side oozing blood. Emma looked at the two Brownies, then to
ok a deep breath and began to probe the wound.

  Exhausted Emma sat back with a deep sigh. She brushed Kian’s sweat-matted hair back from his greyly pale face and looked up at the Brownies. They had no encouragement to give her. She bowed her head, tears dropping like rain.

  Emma refused to leave Kian’s side, refusing to allow anyone else to tend to him. She bathed his face and hands gently with cool water, humming a quiet tune her Great-Aunt Chloe had always hummed for her when she was ill. When night came, she lay beside him and watched, her hand on his chest attuned to his shallow breathing.

  Lost, Kian wandered through the darkness. There was nothing to show him his way, and he despaired of finding the path back. About to give up he suddenly heard a soft sound, a simple melody. A joy flooded through him as the darkness began to lighten.

  Thirty-eight hours without rest caught up to her and Emma dropped into a deep sleep, still humming.

  She lay on her side facing the Puca, as close as she could, the warm, sweet scent of his skin comforting 223

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  her.

  * * * * * *

  He slowly opened his eyes. As they adjusted to the dim light of the room, he made out the canopy overhead and smiled weakly. Something heavy on his chest caught his attention, and he reached up to find Emma’s hand lying over his heart. Kian blinked away the tears that stung his eyes and turned his head to see her lying next to him. He shifted painfully and watched her sleeping. Her lips moved and he could hear the soft sound of her humming, the song that had led him out of the darkness. Sighing, he lay there and watched her.

  Emma started awake. Her eyes flew open and she froze for a long moment. She gazed into the Puca’s mossy hazel green eyes. He smiled at her, a shy, little-boy smile she had never seen before.

  “Morning, love,” he said in a soft whisper.

  Emma reached out and gently brushed her fingers over his cheek. She smiled at him, blinking back tears.

  “Morning sweetheart, how are you feeling?” she asked.

  “Tired,” he said and sighed.

  Emma sat up and leaned over, brushing her lips against his forehead. “Rest, everything is going to be all right.”

  “Aye, I’m home now.” He closed his eyes.

  Emma watched Kian sleep for a few minutes. She 224

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  got up and walked out into the hall, quietly pulling the door closed behind her. She sagged against the wall, covering her face with her hands.

  Pin walked out of the kitchen and saw Emma. She froze for a second, then called Tilly and hurried to where Emma was sitting on the floor. Aiden and Molly stepped out of the kitchen and watched. “M-miss E-emma, is-is h-he...” Pin asked fearfully.

  Emma looked up at the Brownies and smiled.

  “He’s fine, he’s sleeping now.”

  Pin stepped around Emma and slipped into the room to reassure herself about her son.

  Tilly smiled and held her hand out to help Emma up. “Come and have a cup of tea, dear.”

  Emma stood and followed Tilly down the hall. She smiled at Molly and Aiden and they all went into the kitchen together. The atmosphere of gloom in the house lifted with the news Kian would live.

  * * * * * *

  Kian lay in bed swaddled in two quilts, three pillows under his head and shoulders. He waited for Emma to come in and check on him. I am miserable, he thought sourly. No one in the history of the world has ever been this miserable.

  I cannot lie about like this, he grimaced, for certain Finvarra was plotting his next move. He struggled to sit up. Several minutes later he was dressed and shuffling painfully down the hall.

  Kian sat at the kitchen table sipping a little 225

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  whiskey. He was pale and still weak, but he was tired of lying in bed staring at the ceiling or the wall. Bed was only tolerable when Emma was there to hold him. He heard a sound and looked up, hoping to see Emma.

  Lissie stood in the doorway, dressed in a skimpy little halter-top and shorts. Kian’s stomach knotted up and he felt a little nauseous; he really was not up to dealing with the teenager. He watched as she sat down across from him.

  “We’re leaving this afternoon,” Lissie said.

  “Ah, I wish you and your family a safe trip home,”

  Kian said, keeping his voice neutral.

  “I could—” she began.

  “Stop, don’t be saying something you don’t really mean,” Kian said, raising his hand and cutting her off.

  “But—” she tried again.

  “No. You don’t. One day you will find someone and you will know when the time is right. But that time is not here and not now and I am not that someone,” he said firmly.

  Lissie got up and stormed out, passing , who was just coming in. Emma watched the girl walk to the door and go outside. She looked back at Kian, her eyes questioning.

  “What are you doing in here? You should be in bed resting,” Emma said.

  “I’m tired of resting. I’ve had enough of walls and ceilings the only scenery about,” he said peevishly.

  “Well, I think we can do something about that.”

  She smiled at him and reached down to pat his hand.

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  Kian sighed and squeezed her hand. Alarmed at his weakness, Emma stepped closer and rubbed his shoulders. He leaned against her with a sigh. “I must regain my strength soon, Finvarra will not give up,”

  he said.

  “But he won’t try anything today, you need to come back to bed and rest,” she said.

  “Aye, I think I will at that.” He stood and wrapped an arm around her waist.

  Emma led him back to the bedroom and made him lay down. She began to unbutton his shirt and helped him sit up enough to take it off.

  “Emma, you’re a treasure,” he said.

  “I know,” she said, smiling. She tossed the shirt onto the bedroom chair and began unfastening his belt and the button on his jeans.

  “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” he said sourly.

  “Of course not, don’t be silly,” she answered him.

  Unzipping his jeans, she patted his hip. “Up,” she ordered, sliding his jeans down when he rose up enough for her to push them down over his backside.

  She pulled them off along with his boots and covered him up.

  “You cannot fool me, poppet, you women are all alike,” he said smugly and burrowed into the pillows.

  “Oh, go to sleep,” she smiled and leaned over to kiss him. He answered with a soft snore and Emma slipped out of the bedroom, closing the door quietly behind her.

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  Chapter Twenty-Two

  mma saw the last of the guests off and shut the Edoor. She sighed heavily and leaned her forehead against the stained glass window. They had several days before the next batch of guests arrived, and she was not looking forward to it. She turned and walked back to the kitchen, where everyone had gathered for tea.

  She sat down next to Kian and took a sip of her tea.

  He smiled at her and rested his hand on her thigh under the table. Tilly and Pin were bustling about, making sure everyone had what they wanted, and Molly and Aiden were bristling at each other. If she wasn’t mistaken, those two would soon be inseparable.

  “Emma, I’ve something to tell you,” Kian said seriously.

  “What?” she asked, a touch of fear in her voice.

  “When I fought Finvarra’s creatures, he had two humans to help him,” Kian said.

  “Two humans?” Aiden asked, shocked.

  “Yes. He had brought the policeman, Steven Daniels. It was he that shot me...” Kian trailed off, looking into Emma’s worried brown eyes. She covered her mouth with her hand.

  “And one other,” he said apologetically. “I’m sorry 228

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  to be telling you this, love, Brian was there.”

  Emma pulled him into her arms and held him tightly. “You d
on’t have anything to be sorry for. I should never have gone out with Steven or Brian,” she said unhappily.

  “Ah, no, the arrogant policeman has had a grudge against me for years. We had a difference of opinion on the treatment of women at one time,” Kian explained. “But that is all far in the past. What I am wondering now is what has attracted Brian to Finvarra’s service.”

  “That’s an easy one; with Brian, it has to be money,” Molly said derisively.

  “True,” Emma agreed sadly. “But there’s no chance of getting any money from me.”

  “Ah, but there is, my love. He spoke of a developer of land wishing to buy the forest,” Kian said.

  “But I’m not selling, I told them that,” Emma said.

  “Does Brian know about these people who want to buy your land?” Molly asked suspiciously.

  “I don’t know, anything is possible,” Emma said with a note of panic in her voice.

  Kian reached out and pulled her close. “I will deal with Brian in due time, my love, there’s naught to worry your pretty head over.”

  “But...” Emma began.

  “Hush now, this forest has belonged to Pucas for many years, they’ll not be letting it go so easily,” Kian said.

  “Y-yes, L-let me ta-talk to Ma-mahon. In h-his po-position h-he wi-will know w-what c-can be d-done,”

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