by Talia Vance
“It’s my necklace. She stole it from me.”
Austin puts his arms around me. “Maybe it’s for the best. You don’t have to fight. You can wait for the Gathering to play out.”
“No.”
“It’s too dangerous.”
“I’m not letting you fight alone. Someone has to have your back. Mick can’t be there to help you, and God knows no one else will.”
He brings his hand to my cheek. “You make me want to do something to deserve you.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. I wish I could take back all the things I did that hurt you.”
“Are you apologizing?”
“I’m more selfish than that. I’m afraid I’m not at all sorry. I would do everything all over again if I thought it would keep you alive.”
“That doesn’t sound selfish.”
“Trust me, it is.” His crooked smile is suddenly so close to me, I could touch his lower lip with my tongue. “Whatever happens today, promise me you’ll only remember the good parts.”
“Don’t talk like that. We’re going to get through this.”
His lips brush mine, so lightly, I might imagine them. “God, I hope you’re right.” And then he crushes his mouth to mine.
I wrap my arms around his neck and hold him to me. I may not have power, but I have Austin. It feels like enough.
I know it can’t be.
But right now, it feels like everything.
FIFTY-FOUR
Austin watches the sun drop from the window in my room. He’s dressed in a pair of gray slacks and a soft wool sweater, the kind with thick cables that I will always associate with Ireland. “You can stay here. I’ll come back for you when it’s over.”
I place my hands on his shoulders from behind, trailing my thumbs across the bare skin on his neck. We’ve already had this discussion three times. “I’ll keep my distance. And I have a sword if I need to defend myself. I’m not going to throw myself in the middle of the battle unless I have to.”
He flashes that crooked smile. “It’s the last part that concerns me.”
“I know I’m outgunned. I won’t do anything stupid. But it’s not like I can end this war if I’m not there.”
He nods, and takes my hand. “Let’s go.”
We walk through the house in silence, our hands forged, drawing strength from each other. We’re still alone when we get to the trail that leads across the field, but Austin says he can feel the others moving toward the beach from the sea.
By the time we get to the edge of the bluff, I see Liam standing on the rocky shore below. The tide is out, revealing the beach carpeted in small pebbles. Liam climbs atop a boulder. Sherri stands just below him, her hair pulled up in a tight bun. Her dress looks like a costume, with capped sleeves, a fitted waist and a skirt that flares out just below the ribcage. It’s blue with silver ribbons dotting the hem. A giant silver bow surrounds her waist.
I’m dressed to fight, in thick black leggings and a black long sleeved tee that will allow me to move. I carry nothing but the clutch of broomstraw tucked safely in my bra and the broadsword Austin gave me just before we left the house.
Austin stops. “You’ll be able to see everything from here.”
I step past him onto the switchback trail. “I won’t be able to get down there fast enough.”
“Fast enough to what? You’re staying out of it, remember?”
I nod, but don’t turn back. By the time we reach the beach, the sun is low enough that it nearly touches the horizon. When I glance back up the hill, I see the giolla on the bluff above. Samuel stands in the middle, flanked by Joe and Mikel. They look like avenging angels, dark coats flapping in the wind. But they’re not here to fight. They’re here to clean up after our mess.
A boat comes in from the south, the low tide keeping the water far enough from the cliffs that it makes it to shore without risk of smashing into the rocks on either side of it. The Sons climb onto the beach, led by Rush and Dr. McKay. Levi and Jonah fall in step beside them. Blake and the twins stay a few feet back. Micah flashes me a shy smile. His brother Jeremy doesn’t look at anything but his feet. I know they don’t want to be here, but they’re drawn along with everyone else, slaves to their DNA.
There’s no sign of the fuath. I’m not surprised. Braden knows the outcome is far from certain, and if the fuath intend to wait for a clear winner to emerge, they will stay away at first. Braden risked enough by helping me rescue Austin from the abbey.
The only person missing is Portia.
Liam raises his hand and a loud cracking sound comes from the rocks behind him. Austin moves toward the rocks. He turns to look over his shoulder at me, but it’s clear that he’s compelled to keep walking to opening that’s forming in the wall of rock. White light spills out of the fissure, lighting up the beach in an eerie glow.
A rock rolls against my foot from the trail behind me. I glance up. Portia picks her way down, her steps unsteady. Her hair is wild, blown in every direction. Her jeans and sweater are caked with dirt, as if she’s fallen somewhere on the way. Once she gets to the bottom, she runs to stand behind the others, forming a semicircle in front of the Gateway.
Liam raises both of his hands and shouts into the wind. “Fearadh na Failte.” The air lights up with a hundred strikes of lightening at once, crackling as they reach to the ocean in jagged arcs.
Liam smiles, obviously proud of his display. “Tonight you are called to the source of all power, so that you may use the gifts that have been bestowed by your forefathers as it has always been intended. Tonight, the gods place their fate in the hands of their children.”
I move closer, watching as the Sons move single file toward the opening, their eyes locked on Liam. Levi steps through the crack, disappearing in the light. Rush follows, then Blake and Dr. McKay. Micah and Jeremy trudge behind them slowly.
They’re going into Avernus? Once the Sons are inside, Sherri takes Portia’s hand and leads her in after them. Austin gives me one last glance before he follows.
I push my way through the rocks until I get to the opening. I hope I can still travel inside. I may not be able to access my powers, but I still carry Danu’s DNA. I’ve been to the spirit realm. To Avernus. To Avalon. To the past.
I take a tentative step into the blinding light. Then another. Blake’s eyes meet mine from a flat boulder I recognize. The unearthly white light reflects off the water in the river at the bottom of the canyon that separates the barren rock floor.
Austin puts his hand on my shoulder. “Go outside.” “I can’t do anything from the beach.”
“You don’t have any power remember?”
Liam steps in behind us and the rock wall seals shut with a shudder. I couldn’t leave now if I wanted to.
No one says a word. We’re all trapped together. Seven Sons of Killian. Three bandia. A former god and his successor. Austin wraps his arms around me from behind. “You remember how to get out?” he whispers in my ear. “Through the river?”
I nod. Last spring, when I said the spell that sealed the gateway and banished Austin, he pushed me into the canyon, into the river that runs to the underworld, and I had been washed back onto the beach outside. Mortals can’t pass through the river, which carries the souls of the dead to their final resting places.
Mortals can’t stay in the underworld. It’s why Austin was able to come back just a few months after being banished.
“Do you remember the spell?” I ask. Liam brought us through the gateway. The banishment spell should work here.
Austin shakes his head. “Only the last.”
Liam turns on us. “Enough!”
Austin drops his hands and steps forward, drawing Liam’s attention away from me.
“You should have done this centuries ago.” Liam stalks toward Austin. “Tonight you will rectify the error of your ways. You will make the opening strike.”
Austin disappears in a flash of golden light, and Liam smiles. Can Li
am command Austin here? Can he force him to kill?
Austin materializes in the same spot, his sword drawn and pointed right at Liam’s throat. Blood spills from Liam’s neck as he falls to the ground. Not exactly the opening strike Liam expected.
No one moves.
Then Sherri screams and a blast of blue fire sails at Austin’s head. He disappears and the fire lands harmlessly on the rock wall behind him.
Liam grunts from the ground, his hand on his neck. He moves to his knees and then stands. Blood stains his shirt, but there’s no longer any sign of a cut on his neck.
Austin appears again next to me. “Get to the edge of the river. Be prepared to jump.”
I work my way closer edge of the canyon, clutching my sword.
Portia stares at Liam’s bloody neck, frozen.
“What are you waiting for bandia?” Liam stalks toward her.
Rush steps forward, grabbing Portia’s wrist. “You shouldn’t be here. This is no place for a breeder.” Portia’s hand fills with fire. Rush jerks his hand away. He stares down at his red fingers in disbelief. “Impossible.”
Portia chokes on a sob. She points her fiery palm at her father. She stands frozen, eyes wide as she watches the blisters rise on her father’s palm.
Sherri lobs a fireball right at Rush’s chest, sending him to the ground with blast. Portia backs up, her hands still filled with fire, staring at her father’s body. Silver flashes light up the bluff as the Sons all dematerialize at once.
There’s no choice but to fight now.
Blake reappears first, next to Portia. He drags her away just as the rest of the Sons descend on the area where Sherri stood. But she’s ready for them, moving off to the side, and sending fire at the first flash she sees, making another hit on Levi.
Austin moves in front of me, sword drawn.
Portia lobs her fire into the air wildly, aiming at nothing. It crashes into a rock before disappearing. She collapses against Blake, crying.
A silver flash to my right is the only warning I get before Jonah appears at my side. I thrust my sword forward, barely blocking Jonah’s knife as it comes at my throat.
Austin comes behind Jonah and holds his sword at Jonah’s neck. “We’re on your side,” Austin growls.
Jonah disappears as soon as he realizes that Austin hasn’t cut him.
Sherri runs toward us. “I could use a little help here.”
Dr. McKay flashes to her right. She hits him with a blast of wind, knocking him backwards.
Jeremy flanks her on the left, charging with his sword. Sherri loses her footing, falling to the ground and away from Jeremy’s blade. There’s an explosion of blue fire. Jeremy blasts through the air. His head makes a sick cracking sound as he hits a wall of rock. He lands on the ground in a heap. Micah screams and runs to his brother’s lifeless body. A pool of blood forms beneath Jeremy’s head.
I stand frozen next to Austin, too stunned to move. Rush is dead. Jeremy isn’t moving. Levi lies whimpering on the ground. Blake still tries to keep Portia together, holding her shaking form, but at least she stays out of the fight.
Jonah and Dr. McKay dematerialize, but even with Portia out of the battle, the momentum is lost. Sherri’s already on her feet, fire licking at her fingers. The Sons are losing.
Liam grins at the carnage from atop a large boulder.
I reach for Austin’s shoulder. “We have to fight. They need our help.”
Austin holds his sword in front of us like a shield. “You are not fighting anyone without your powers.”
“We can’t let Liam win.”
Sherri waits for Jonah and Dr. McKay to dematerialize and then sprints toward Blake. I raise my sword and charge after her. She turns on me, hitting me with a blast of wind that knocks me back. I fall hard, rolling to the side and taking the brunt of the blow with my shoulder. I push myself onto my knees just in time to see Sherri send a blast of wind at Blake and Portia, blowing them both into the air at once.
Blake lands on his back, temporarily stunned.
“No!” I scream just as Sherri raises her hand to send a ball of flame at Blake. Before she can get off the shot, there’s a flash of gold to her left and a sword at her chest. Her blue dress turns a dark shade of purple as blood soaks through.
The air goes still.
Austin lays Sherri on the ground.
No one says a word. Austin stands with his sword still dripping blood, staring down at Sherri’s lifeless body, like he half expects to be dragged back to the underworld for another thousand years.
Liam slides down from the boulder and moves toward Austin with grace befitting a god. “What have you done?” His voice is so quiet, I have to strain to hear it. “You are a failure in every sense of the word. It shouldn’t come as a surprise after all this time, but still, I find myself at a loss.”
Austin steps forward. “I think I just chose a side, friend.”
Liam laughs. The sound echoes across the canyon until it’s finally swallowed by the river below. “You were a pathetic excuse for a god, and you’re an even worse human. A traitor to your own cause. For what? A mortal who will die anyway?”
Austin raises his sword as Liam gets closer.
“Your sword can’t hurt me for long.” Liam circles Austin. White light arcs from his fingers. “You are a disgrace, Arawn. It is only fitting that you will die like one. A true death.”
Jonah and Micah move toward Dr. McKay, standing together.
Blake crawls to Portia. She sits up, trembling as she stares at Sherri’s bloodied body.
I step forward, trying to deflect Liam’s attention away from Austin.
Liam smiles at me, and my stomach twists into a tight knot. “Is this your moment then? Will you end the war with the Sons?” He pushes Sherri’s body to the side with his foot, clearing a path for me. “As a sacrificial lamb?” He sends a bolt of white light at my chest. It bursts in front of me, sending me flying backwards. I land on my back, breathless. I reach for my chest but I’m fine. It’s not until I sit up on my elbows that I see Austin on the ground.
The light I saw was gold, not white.
No.
No, no, no.
I scramble to Austin. His body shakes and quivers from the shock of Liam’s blast. His skin is red where he was hit, but his chest still rises and falls as he sucks in air. I look for Dr. McKay, pleading with my eyes. Help him.
Liam laughs again. “Utterly predictable. Arawn’s fall at the hands of a girl.”
“At the hands of a tyrant.” I glare at Liam as he moves closer. “You can’t kill him. You’ll be banished.”
“He’s not dead, is he?” Liam kicks Austin hard in the ribs. Austin curls away and lets out a grunt. “Didn’t think so. He’ll just wish that he were.” He kicks Austin in the small of his back, right over a kidney. “Then you will do the deed for me.”
I leap to my feet, sword at Liam’s throat. I slash. Blood splatters everywhere. In my hair, my eyes, my mouth. The iron taste is thick and sour. I spit at the ground, but I keep slashing, hacking and chopping at his neck. I don’t stop until he lays on the ground unmoving. I stand over him, sword still pressed against his neck. Skin grows back over the gash, repairing itself before my eyes.
Liam coughs and sputters. “Stupid girl. You can’t kill me.”
“Maybe not, but I can make you wish you were dead.” I cut his neck again, then hack away until he’s unconscious, ignoring the second wave of blood that sprays on me.
I wait for the skin to regroup. Then I do it again.
And again. I keep going, chopping until I feel spine. The muscles in my shoulders ache from the effort, but I push past the pain, past everything.
A hand rests on my shoulder.
“Stop.” Austin stands beside me. “You have to stop sometime.”
I drop the sword and throw my arms around Austin, hugging him to me, feeling his warmth. He hugs me back, undeterred by the blood that covers my clothes and hair.
“I love you
,” I say.
He laughs in my ear. “It’s okay. I already knew. I’ve been waiting for you to figure it out.”
“I should have told you.”
“You did.” He lifts his hand to my face, wiping a drop of blood from my lips. “A long time ago.”
The movement behind me barely registers, but I catch it out of the corner of my eye. I spin around to face Liam. I raise my sword, but he’s too far away.
All I see is white light as it comes at Austin and me. A crack of pain as we fall to the ground. Then nothing.
FIFTY-FIVE
Everything hurts. My head throbs in time to the sharp stabs in my chest. My hands and feet are numb, but prickles of pain poke along my skin, threatening to prod my nerves into an all-out assault. My mouth feels hot, tinged with the taste of rusty metal.
“She has a pulse.” I recognize Dr. McKay’s voice, although it sounds tinny and far away. I can’t be sure if he’s talking about me.
“Kill her then,” says another male voice. Maybe Levi. I can’t be sure. “It’s what we came for.”
Everything goes numb at once. Then I’m floating, drifting. I open my eyes, but there’s nothing to see but foggy blankness. It’s cold and disorienting.
Then I see him, just a silhouette in the clouds, reaching for me. I know him now. Once, he had been just a shadow in the fog, but now he is my heart. My Austin.
I stretch to reach him. Our fingers brush, and his hand closes around mine, pulling me the rest of the way to him. His touch ignites something primal and strong inside me, filling me with a strength that has a magic all its own.
“You can’t stay.” I feel the soft lilt of his voice inside my head. It’s as if we’re trapped in a dream where nothing is truly physical. Everything happens on the inside.
I don’t argue with him. I’m completely out of my element here. Surrounded by an icy mist that threatens to swallow me whole. “Come back with me.”
His sigh is a vacuum, stealing my own breath, smothering me. “You already know I can’t do that.”
My heart doesn’t make a sound as it shatters. I don’t cry or scream or even beg for things I know I can’t have. I just hold on.
