PANDORA

by Rebecca Hamilton

  Movement on the side of the path caught my attention. The grass and bushes swayed, but with more of a natural grace than by a breeze or wind. I brushed my fingertips along a flowering vine that hung between two low tree branches. I gasped—I could actually feel life pulsing from not only the vine, but the tree it hung from.

  It was enough to alert the others several yards ahead. Aodhan’s hand went immediately to the hilt of the sword at his back. He hurried over to me, and gave me a knowing look when he saw my fingers splayed across the vine.

  “It’s a bit of a shock, no? This realm is utterly different from ours. The plants, the wild creatures, they’re all...aware.” He glanced again at where my hand had been. “They won’t harm you. They’re simply curious, I think.” He reached out his hand to stroke the delicate leaves on the vine, then titled his head toward the others. “Come on. Time to go.”

  As we continued over the top of a grassy hill, I could see a valley with a sparkling river snaking through it. Beyond the river, the land was rippled with green hills, and speckled in each hill were doors and windows, similar to Niamh’s. Farther along was a steeper hill, or maybe a low, green mountain.

  “It’s always just as breathtaking,” Aodhan said, quiet enough that I could just make out his words.

  “Is that the br—I can’t remember what you called it.” I could feel the flush rising to my face. “Is this where the king and queen live?” I rephrased.

  “Yes, that would be the Bruidhean,” Aodhan said over his shoulder. He continued walking after the others down the hillside, leading me toward god knows what.

  Chapter 10

  BlÁ ithÍ n reached the round, wooden doors of what they called the Bruidhean first. She pulled on the bronze handle and ushered us in. Inside the doorway was an impressive entry hall. Niamh’s advisor, Diarmuid, was walking up a stone staircase that curled around the room.

  At the sound of the door, he looked over his shoulder at us. He smiled, apparently not surprised to see us, until he saw Niall carrying Liam in his arms. Then he turned and hurried down to us.

  “He’s been stabbed with a steel dagger,” BlÁ ithÍ n explained. “When the dagger was removed, a piece broke off and is still deep in the wound.”

  “Follow me. Eithne is upstairs.” Diarmuid led Niall up the stairs in a flash.

  BlÁ ithÍ n turned and put her hand up. “We should wait here. I’m sure the queen will be here soon.”

  “You are quite right,” called a lilting voice from the hallway under the staircase.

  The skin tightened around Aodhan’s eyes, and I looked over BlÁ ithÍ n’s shoulder, freezing at what I saw.

  The woman from my dream.

  The memory was nothing compared to reality. Dressed in a white gown embroidered with delicate green vines along the trim and waist, the queen of TÍ r na n’Ó g was radiant. Her blonde hair was luminescent. Her skin milky white and flawless. But the most captivating thing about her was her eyes. The light made rainbows along their surfaces, like an opal.

  As she came closer I started to raise my hand to touch her face, just barely stopping myself when I realized what I was doing.

  “Welcome, Allison.” Saoirse’s smile drew me toward her like a flower drawn to the sun.

  I couldn’t speak.

  After a moment of being trapped in her stare, Saoirse looked over my shoulder.

  “It’s been a while, Aodhan.”

  “Yes, my lady,” Aodhan said.

  Saoirse focused her smile back on me then, causing warmth and joy to radiate through my veins again.

  “You’re here to see Niamh?” she asked slowly, each syllable gliding from her lips.

  After a beat, Aodhan spoke, the tension thick in his voice. “We realize Niamh already came to seek your counsel in finding Allison’s mother, but Liam has been injured and needs care.”

  “Yes, Niamh has explained the situation to me,” Saoirse replied, tilting her head slightly to one side. “Aoife has caused many problems.”

  I blinked at Saoirse, who smiled demurely back at me.

  “Why don’t we continue our talk in comfort?” Saoirse asked, walking out of the entryway without waiting for a response, her flowing gown and bell sleeves trailing behind her.

  She led us into a gathering room with high ceilings, and like Niamh’s house, the palace was framed by thick roots from a tree above the hill. Blue fabric was draped along the walls, and although there were no windows, tiny spheres of light were suspended to illuminate intricately embroidered flowers and trees. The effect was like a summer day, even though we were deep in the hillside.

  Saoirse folded herself onto one of the plush divans, gesturing for us to each do the same. She met my gaze and smiled, and I was lost in the strange beauty of her eyes once again.

  “Tell me about your dreams, Allison.”

  I licked my lips, trying to remember what dreams I was supposed to recall. “Well, sometimes I dream of things that might have happened in the past. But some of my dreams are of things that haven’t happened, at least not yet.”

  Saoirse nodded, her sweet expression not changing. “You have the blood of my people. It isn’t potent, but you are gifted with the Sight.”

  “I dreamed that my friend Ethan,” I started to say, but the sound of footsteps and low laughter stopped me.

  Two figures entered the room. Niamh froze in the entryway, her eyes wide. My breath was stolen by the laughing figure behind her.

  My mother.

  ***

  My mother was laughing. But when she stopped, her sparkling green eyes followed Niamh’s gaze to where we sat. The moment our eyes met, time froze, and everything else fell away. This woman was—and yet was not—my mother.

  “In TÍ r na n’Ó g your mother is as she should be,” Saoirse murmured.

  I stood and walked to my mother, even though my whole body felt numb and tingly. She drew her lips in, just like she did when she was playing the violin. She really was my mother.

  “Allison,” she whispered as tears pooled in her eyes.

  I felt my own tears welling as dozens of emotions buzzed around in my heart. Love, relief, awe.

  Her arms came around me and I hugged her back, my own arms shaking. “I never thought . . . ” She sniffled and laughed into my hair. “I never thought this could happen.”

  “I don’t understand,” I said, pulling back to look at Niamh.

  Her eyes flicked between mine and Aodhan’s. He sat completely still, staring straight ahead. The only thing that showed he wasn’t a statue was the trembling muscle in his jaw.

  “I promised your father that your mother would be safe,” Niamh said. “But Breanh can read minds, like me. If I had told either of you that I was taking Elizabeth here, Breanh could have read it in your thoughts. He would have come after you, Allison.”

  For the first time since I’d entered the Bruidhean, I felt the haze lift from my brain. It was quickly replaced by anger.

  “But, you let us worry,” I said, inhaling deeply. “You locked us out and left us with Thunder Bay as our only hope . . . where Liam almost died!”

  My mother gasped quietly. “Liam? He’s here?”

  “He’s going to be okay, Mom,” I said, rubbing her back. “He was already healing when we brought him here.” I had no idea how true that was, but I’d spent my entire life being cautious of my mother’s fragile mental state, and it was a habit.

  I took a breath and refocused on Niamh and Saoirse, Aodhan’s words sounding in my head. They don’t think like you. They’re not human.

  I let it drop. “So, since both of my parents are here, can we break the geis?”

  Saoirse sat calmly watching me from her perch, rubbing her finger lightly across her bottom lip. “From what I’ve seen, Aoife used a fhÁ illan amulet infused with drops of Liam’s and Elizabeth’s blood for the geis. In order to break it, we need the amulet that binds it.”

  Frustration mingled with despair in my heart. The chance to bring my mother b
ack was so close. “Do you know where the amulet is?” I asked.

  Saoirse looked into my eyes. “The amulet is hidden in Aoife’s home, but her lands have become polluted with iron and chemicals—it makes it difficult for even me to see.”

  I shook my head. No. There had to be a way. “But what if I—”

  “Allison,” Aodhan interrupted. “What about your friend?”

  Ethan. Anger licked at my mind for becoming muddled again.

  “Saoirse,” I said. “That’s another reason we’re here. I dreamed of my friend Ethan the other night, and the girl he was with was glamoured to look like me. Something wasn’t right about her—she looked at him... like a predator. And I think—”

  “Perhaps we could take a walk, Allison?” Saoirse asked. “I have something I’d like to show you.”

  Aodhan cut in before I’d even opened my mouth to reply. “Wherever she goes, I go.”

  I didn’t want to leave my mother, not when I’d just gotten her back. But I knew in my heart that Ethan was in danger—he had actually gone off with that girl, after all—and I needed to figure out a way to get to him.

  “I’ll still be here when you come back, Allison.” My mother smiled at me, the way I’d been dreaming of since I was just a little girl. “And, I’d like to see your father.”

  ***

  Aodhan and I followed Saoirse through a door in the back of the hill. A stone path wound down to a lush garden nestled between the rises in the land. Trees heavily laden with fruit surrounded the garden walls, and the air smelled sweet like honeysuckle and apple blossoms, nearly making my mouth water.

  Saoirse led us to the farthest end of the garden, where a sparkling stream flowed into a pool at the bottom of one of the hills. The water in the rocky pool was as clear as pure glass. Saoirse gestured for me to sit on a smooth, stone bench along the shore.

  Saoirse sat down by my side, folding her slender fingers on her lap. “This is Danu’s Basin. It has been said that The Great Mother herself gained knowledge from this very pool before she traveled to The Land of Promise, Magh Mell.”

  Aodhan stood in the shade of a giant tree, but I could see that his eyes were in constant motion as Saoirse and I spoke.

  “You’re worried about your friend?” she asked.

  “Yes, Ethan.”

  “I am a Seer, but the future can change drastically with one simple decision. The visions I see in in the water, though, are absolute.”

  She held up her hands, and the water in the pool began to move in a circle like a whirlpool. Mist rose from its surface, and I looked over to Saoirse who had closed her eyes. She dropped her hands down, and as they fell, the mist cleared away. On the smooth surface of the water I could now see Ethan, walking into a room of six beautiful women. He was wearing only his jeans, and his eyes were dull, his smile bemused.

  The woman I recognized from my dream led him to a low bed where the others all sat, laughing and smiling at him. They crawled on all fours to get closer to him, their cold, bright eyes filled with lust and something else I couldn’t decipher. They reached out with greedy fingers to touch him and stroke his skin. So many voices were speaking, too fast to understand what they were saying.

  I closed my eyes, trembling with hurt and shock.

  “She’s seen enough,” Aodhan said from his place under the tree.

  Saoirse raised her hands, and the mist reappeared. When she folded them back in her lap, we were once again looking at the clear pool.

  I shook my head. “What was that?”

  “That was Aoife’s home. It appears that Breanh has provided himself with a new bargaining chip. Since your mother disappeared, he must be holding Ethan in exchange for Aoife.”

  “But, I can’t give him Aoife. I don’t even know where she is.”

  “No, it is for the best if she remains in the fey globe for now,” Saoirse agreed.

  “Who were they? And why were they doing that to him?” I asked. Despite the erotic way they touched him, there was something twisted and wrong in their eyes. Hot anger—and a bit of jealousy—shot through me. If they hurt him . . .

  Saoirse closed her eyes and sat still and silent. When she reopened them, she looked into my eyes. “You must go to Breanh. You are the one who must save Ethan.”

  I looked up at Aodhan who remained impassive. My heart was forming ice crystals as I tried to understand what all of this meant. “Has what I saw already happened?”

  Saoirse shook her head. “No, there is still time. But if this plays out, Ethan will become enthralled to whoever he is intimate with.”

  I ground my teeth together, trying to keep the anger at bay.

  “Don’t tell me you’re having a party without me?” an unfamiliar voice said from the path.

  I looked over my shoulder to see a man walking toward us. He smiled as he approached Saoirse. Like all of the Danaans, he was stunning. His hair was glossy black, his jawline pale and chiseled. When he smiled, it was smooth and rich, like butter on freshly baked bread.

  “Deaghlan, this is Allison,” Saoirse said, her lips forming an enigmatic smile.

  When I met his curious blue lapis eyes, longing coursed through my veins. Somewhere deep in my mind I knew that looking into someone’s eyes shouldn’t cause me to come undone like this, but my body wasn’t listening to the tiny voice in my mind. When he reached for my hand, I only stared at it for a minute before realizing I was supposed to give it to him. When he grinned at me, it was like he had a secret and he liked it that way.

  “Surely she isn’t just a human,” Deaghlan said.

  Saoirse smiled. “You sense the mark of our people on her, too?”

  Deaghlan waved his hands dismissively, but didn’t take his eyes off me. Something in the way he had scoffed at my being “just a human” caused the fog in my head to clear.

  “As much as I enjoy being the topic of this discussion, I need to go to find Ethan.”

  Then I noticed the way Aodhan stood, so rigid with tension he might snap. “Right. We appreciate your help, Saoirse, and we’ll return this way when our business is through.”

  “Aodhan! I didn’t see you there,” Deaghlan exclaimed. “Don’t leave on my account. I meant no offense to the girl.”

  Aodhan’s calm facade stayed firmly in place. “Of course not. But Allison and I really must be going.”

  Aodhan walked down the little hill and grabbed my elbow, a bit forcefully.

  “Surely you aren’t leaving before the night rains? I insist you join us for food and drink and wait to leave until the first light of day,” Deaghlan said. He smirked as he looked at Aodhan, but his tone was commanding.

  I opened my mouth to argue, but the look on Aodhan’s face made me shut it immediately. His expression said no one argued with the king of TÍ r na n’Ó g.

  Chapter 11

  I couldn’t decide what the texture was like, exactly. It felt smooth, like silk, but it was soft and comfortable like cotton. The way it hugged my skin was something like spandex, but it was flattering in a way that spandex could never be. The dress fit me so perfectly, like it had been made just for me. The color was a glacier blue, precisely the same shade as my eyes.

  I shook my head, trying to get my thoughts to refocus. For the moment, my parents were safe. My mother had not returned from her reunion with Liam. I desperately wanted to know how he was, but no one would tell me anything.

  “He’s like a wolf,” Aodhan muttered from where he sat at my side. His gaze flickered around the gathering room, constantly vigilant.

  “Hmm?” I asked, wondering if he was even speaking to me.

  “At one point, I worshiped Deaghlan. He seemed so strong when I first met him.”

  I followed his gaze to where Deaghlan stood among a group of other Danaans.

  “Don’t let him fool you. Don’t think for a second that he doesn’t see every move you make.”

  “You really do hate them, don’t you?” I asked, knowing I was crossing some unspoken line but not
letting it stop me.

  “I won’t let myself care about them enough to hate them,” he said, leaning back. He crossed his arms and went back to scanning the room.

  Beautiful men and women were scattered around, laughing and dancing, eating and drinking. The women wore dresses similar to mine, floating in flowing jewel-toned gowns of sapphire, amethyst, and emerald. The men wore embroidered tunics in earth tones of moss, bark, and sand with pants tucked into their boots.

  Lights twinkled from the spheres high in the ceiling, sparkling off silver chalices and platters as the sounds of laughter and music mingled in my mind with the scent of ripe fruit and fresh cream. Plates were piled with scones topped with berries ripe enough to burst, and the silver cups were full of a shimmering golden liquid. My senses were overwhelmed—I felt dizzy trying to take in the extravagance of this world.

  When a plate and cup were placed on the table in front of me, Aodhan leaned in to speak in my ear. “Eat only what you must, and drink very little. You don’t want to get a taste for their food; you’ll never want to eat human food again.”

  I stared longingly at my plate, and a voice spoke from behind me.

  “I hope you don’t think I’m rude, Allison,” Deaghlan said smoothly, taking the chair on my other side.

  He chuckled at my startled expression. I wanted so badly to be annoyed by his smugness, but his eyes were so deep and so blue that I couldn’t look away.

  “You’re my guest, and I haven’t paid you any attention,” he went on.

  I pulled my eyes away and focused on the bowls of flowers in the center of the table. “No,” I answered, trying to put an edge in my voice. “I don’t even want to be here, so it doesn’t matter.”

  Deaghlan laughed again, and I knew it was because rather than sounding firm, my words came out shaky.

  “You’ll need to eat and get some sleep so that you’ll be of use to your friend, Allison.”

  The way he said my name caused a shiver to pass through me. I stared down at Aodhan’s fisted hands as they rested on the table. The muscles in his forearms were taut, showing how he reacted to Deaghlan’s presence.