by Amy Sumida
“But what if you were attacked by a group of fey?” Teagan was undeterred. “Wouldn't a crossbow help you?”
“It might,” I agreed, “but it also has a greater potential for harming innocent bystanders. A sword is more precise. And frankly, Councilman, if an extinguisher can't fight his way out of a fairy attack with only his sword, he doesn't deserve the title of Extinguisher.”
The rest of the council applauded.
Teagan gave me a respectful nod, “I concede.”
“Good, now can we get back to the fairy-killing arrows?” Bress growled.
I made a derisive snort and Bress looked to me in surprise.
“Sorry,” I waved to him, “that wasn't in response to you. I just realized the negatives of being half-human.”
“We can be poisoned by either arrow,” Killian whispered.
I didn't even think about it, I just reached over and took his hand. Killian was the only person who could truly understand me. He had been a blend from the beginning, and now he was less human than he'd been when he was born. We had a lot in common, but a shared weakness could bind you more firmly than a shared strength. We stared at each other, and something passed between us. A fortitude that we offered one another. Our vulnerability made us more determined to see this through. And to stand together.
Murdock cleared his throat.
I blinked, realizing what it must look like to everyone. To Tiernan, who had gone quiet behind me. I let go of Killian's hand and glanced back at my ex-boyfriend. Tiernan was scowling, staring at the empty spot between me and Killian, where our joined hands had been just moments before. He lifted his eyes to mine, and I saw a shocked understanding there. Tiernan swallowed roughly, and then gave me a crisp nod. I looked away. I wasn't ready for any more proof of where my heart was heading.
“Ambassador Killian,” Murdock cleared his throat, “we'd like you to head over to Mr. Morris' shop, and see if you can find anything we missed. It was ransacked before we searched it, but maybe you can sense something.”
“Sure,” Killian agreed. “I'll take the Princess with me.”
“We'll all go,” I agreed.
“Thank you,” Murdock nodded. “Now, you said you made some discoveries in Iceland?”
I sighed and then launched into our own report.
Chapter Twenty-Two
San Francisco has everything. Including a forge, evidently.
I was impressed with the one-man operation. Once you looked past the overturned barrels and scattered paperwork, you saw the evidence of an orderly workshop with everything necessary to make medieval-style, as well as modern, weaponry. It was a shame Mr. Morris would never return to it.
“Why'd they have to ransack the place?” Conri stuck his hands deep into the pockets of his leather jacket. “This is just rude.”
“It's a crying shame that they shot such a craftsman to begin with,” Killian hefted a longsword aloft. “What a damn waste.”
“They were looking for something,” I toed some papers out of my way. “The question is, what?”
“Alright,” Gradh waved her hands to the rest of the Star's Guard, “let's get going. We need this floor cleared.”
They started collecting everything, putting things in piles on one side of the room, as Killian began touching every object he came across. Killian scowled as he roamed the room, picking up item after item, before putting them aside with an air of frustration. I went to help my Guard clear the debris, leaving Killian to his work. Bress even helped. After an hour or so, we had most of the floor clean. Then Conri called me over.
“Look at this,” he pushed against a metal wall, and the whole thing pivoted. “It was hidden behind this cabinet.”
“How did you find it?” I peered into the room beyond. It was small, with only a desk and some filing cabinets, but there was a good amount of light coming in through a bank of windows behind the desk.
“I smelled the ocean,” Conri tapped his nose, then pointed to the windows. One of them was cracked open, letting in a gentle breeze.
“Damn, that's a good sniffer you got there,” I patted his shoulder, and slipped into the room.
“Thanks,” Conri strode in after me.
“Get the others in here,” I said to him. “I'm going to need help going through these files.”
“Aye, aye, Captain,” Conri saluted, then took off.
Cat gave me a pained look.
“He's silly, but we like that about him,” I told her.
She made a happy huff. Yes, we did.
It may sound even sillier to you that I talk to Cat, her being a puka (a type of fairy dog) and all. But Cat had been touched by Danu, and she understood far more than most animals did. On top of that, she had a way of communicating. Especially with me. Half the time, I could just look at her and know what she was thinking. She was my best friend, a friendship that went deeper than any I could have had with a person.
So when Cat went to the back of the desk and nudged it with her nose, I paid attention. I eased around her to investigate. There was a little piece of metal wedged between the desk and the wall. I started pulling the desk out just as my Guard came in. They rushed forward to help me. Not that I needed help, but... princess. Sigh.
As soon as the desk came clear of the wall, something clattered to the floor. I bent and picked it up. Then I shouted for Killian. When he came rushing into the room, I held the arrow aloft. He smiled brilliantly and took it from me. Then he flinched, and his gaze went distant.
“Yep, you're welcome,” Conri crossed his arms and smirked.
“Did you find that arrow?” Gradh asked him.
“No, I found the room the arrow was in,” Conri grimaced.
“But you didn't find the arrow.”
I gave them both a look, and they shut up. Killian started coming out of the trance. He blinked, then looked around the room. A couple of steps took him to the filing cabinet. Killian pulled out a drawer, then went unerringly to a folder. He didn't even look at it, just handed it to me.
“There's the list of everything they ordered,” Killian said.
I flipped open the folder and took a deep breath, “Twenty-thousand arrows and five-thousand crossbows.”
“Fuck me,” Conri whispered. “It'll be a slaughter.”
“Did you get anything else from that arrow?” I asked Killian.
“Well, it's definitely Moire who's in charge,” Killian huffed. “She ordered the stuff herself. But unfortunately, she didn't do that dumb villain thing and spout off her plans to Morris.”
“Shit,” I sighed. “I guess that was too much to hope for.”
“But I think we need to warn Bress,” Killian grimaced and looked back towards the forge. “His mother is searching for him.”
“For Bress?” I dropped my voice so it wouldn't carry out to him. “Why?”
“She wants him with her,” Killian grimaced. “That was the one thing she did rant about to Morris. On and on about how she was going to get her son back, and he was going to be a king.”
“A king?” I blinked. “She can't possibly think to put Bress on the Unseelie throne.”
“It's Moire,” Conri rolled his eyes. “Who the fuck knows what that bitch is thinking.”
Gradh gave Conri a look.
“What? I can say 'bitch', I'm a bargest,” Conri huffed. “It's like a black man using that word humans hate.”
“Moist?” Ainsley asked.
“No, that's just Councilman Simmel,” Torquil chuckled. “The word Conri is talking about is-”
“Well, I can say bitch because it's accurate when you refer to Moire,” I cut Torquil off before he said something awful, and then I called out, “Bress! Could you come in here, please? We need to talk to you.”
Nothing.
Gradh went to the door, “Lord Bress?” She froze, then ran out into the room.
We all rushed after her. The forge was empty. Bress was gone. There was, however, a clear set of drag marks through a patch
of uncleared floor.
“Bress!” I shouted and ran for the door.
I made it to the street and scanned the area. There was no sign of him. People walked by as if nothing was wrong, only stopping to give me surprised looks when I shouted again. I didn't care. I ran down to the end of the street, calling for my cousin. My Guard caught up with me at the corner.
“Everyone, spread out and search,” I growled.
The Star's Guard ran to obey me, but Killian just put a hand on my shoulder.
“You know he's gone,” Killian said gently. “She's got him. It had to have been Moire. She must have been watching this place, waiting for us to return.”
“Get the fuck out there, and do something to find my cousin, Killian!”
Killian flinched and then ran off to help.
“Bress,” I whispered, my hands clenching into fists. “I'm so sorry.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
“We've searched the city,” Murdock was saying to me. “Moire must have taken Bress elsewhere.”
I was sitting between Killian and Tiernan, staring at the wall above Murdock's head. I wasn't trying to ignore him, I just couldn't focus on him. I was too busy imagining the horrors Moire was probably putting her son through.
Bress and I had a rocky start, but after meeting Moire, I had understood why my cousin was so messed up. I started to sympathize with him, despite the depraved things he'd done. When Bress saved my father, he had won me over even more. Then he had come to live in Twilight, and I had slowly grown to respect, and even like, my cousin. To have let him be taken right back to the psycho world he'd started in, felt like a personal failure, and a betrayal. I didn't have a lot of family left, even less whom I actually liked. I had to get Bress back.
“We'll search again,” I whispered. “Expand to include nearby states.”
“Seren,” Tiernan took my hand, “we'll find him. I promise you, we will get him away from her.”
I looked to him. Tiernan. He was my Tiernan again, the man I remembered. When did that happen? Did it even matter? He was saying precisely what I needed to hear, just as Tiernan always had. I didn't want to hear the truth; that Bress was long gone and we'd probably never find him. Not until Moire wanted him to be found. I couldn't hear that, wasn't ready for it, and Tiernan knew it. Gods, my heart was hurting so much. Bress was gone, and now Tiernan being Tiernan again... but I couldn't have him. Both men were lost to me.
I put my face in my hands and wept.
“Seren!” Killian's arm went around my shoulder as the room went silent.
“Stop it,” Tiernan said in a cold tone, shocking everyone, including myself. “That won't help him,” Tiernan slipped his hand around my face and angled it to his. “We're not giving up. Bress is alive. If there's one thing Moire won't do, it's kill her son. She needs him. She wouldn't have taken him if she didn't. And as long as he's alive, he can be saved. But your tears will not help him. If Moire were here, she'd laugh at you. She'd drink in your pain like the finest fairy wine. So stop pouring it out, Seren.”
I sniffed, wiped my eyes, and stared at Tiernan. His silver eyes were flashing, and I suddenly realized that this was him, this was the real Tiernan. I had wondered who he truly was after things had ended between us. He seemed to have softened himself for me early on in our relationship, and I'd thought that maybe it was an act, that the real Tiernan had shown himself in the end. But he was neither of those men.
The truth was somewhere in between, as all the best things were. Tiernan was neither gentle nor harsh but could be either depending on the situation. He comforted me, and then pulled me back from self-pity. Just what I needed in that moment. And that was the true Tiernan; a man who knew me well enough to roll with every mood which took me. A man both compassionate and cold. He had used his perception to hurt me once, and it had ended us. Now it looked like he was back to using it to help me.
“Harsh much, dickhead?” Killian asked as he eased me closer to him.
“Tiernan's right,” I gave Killian's hand a squeeze, to let him know I still appreciated his concern. “Tears are useless, and so is self-pity. They have no place at this table. Bress definitely wouldn't appreciate them. I can just see him now, rolling his eyes at me. My apologies, everyone. It's been a rough day.”
“Not at all, Princess,” Murdock said kindly. “You've lost a family member, and we know... well... your father,” Murdock cleared his throat. “What I mean to say is, we all know it's been not just a rough day, but a rough year for you. No one thinks less of you for having an emotional response. It's only human, and half of you is still of that race.”
“Thank you, Councilman,” I took a deep breath, and tried to let go of the panic rising in my chest. I could talk big all I wanted, but it wouldn't change my worry for Bress. “If you would please keep a patrol looking for Bress, I would appreciate it.”
“Of course I will, Your Highness,” Murdock said. “I'll notify you immediately of any evidence we find.”
“Thank you,” I stood. “Now I need to return to Fairy. I have to report to King Raza and my father. I'll make sure the suvanis flowers get to you. I'll leave it to you to distribute them as you see fit.”
“Thank you, Princess Seren,” Murdock stood to escort us out. “We've just cleared the neighborhood this morning, so you should be fine to leave.”
We headed out of the Council House, a somber group of fairies, humans, and those of us in between. Oh, and Cat, we mustn't forget Cat. I suppose she was one of the betweens too, not exactly a puka, yet not a person. It was a quiet procession, each of us lost in our own thoughts. The only good news I'd taken from the meeting had been the fact that the Coven had agreed to lend its support on an even larger scale. Not only had General Soren come to my aid, but there were other witch teams currently on the look out for Moire. I didn't have high hopes for them finding her, though. Moire was with the elves now, and it seemed that elves were indeed good at hiding. Even when you knew exactly where to find them.
We reached the sidewalk and said goodbye to Murdock, and the few extinguishers who had escorted us out to our waiting vehicles. I hadn't seen Abby there, and that was exactly what I was thinking when I looked up and saw a fairy staring at me. He was across the street from us and appeared to be human. I wouldn't have even noticed him except I'd felt a strange sense that someone was watching me. I'd automatically switched my vision into aura mode, and analyzed the man with my psychic senses. He was glowing with magic.
I froze and was about to send my Guard over to him when he turned and ran.
“Seize him!” I pointed after the fleeing fairy, and my Guard leapt into action.
Only Killian, Tiernan, and Cat remained behind to guard me. We watched as the others chased after the stranger. They rounded a corner, and we waited anxiously for several minutes. Finally, my Guard returned empty handed. Well, almost empty handed. Conri held a scrap of material, torn from the man's clothing.
“Here, snake-psychic,” Conri gave the fabric to Killian. “See what you can make out of this.”
Killian didn't bother with a comeback, just snatched the material and closed his eyes. Then he made a disgusted face and tossed the fabric to the ground. Cat went forward and took a deep sniff. She looked up at me and whined.
“That was gross,” Killian made a disgusted face. “Whomever he is, he's Moire's lover.”
“Moire has a lover?” I was shocked.
“He's probably an elf,” Tiernan said.
“No, that much I could tell,” Killian shook his head. “This guy felt... shiny. I think he's a sidhe. And kinky. Really fucking kinky.”
“He's a she? You think he's a woman?” I blinked, momentarily forgetting the term for the most human-looking of the fey, and how it was pronounced “she”. They all stared at me until I caught my mistake. “Oh, right. Sorry. I'm not thinking straight.”
“We need to get back to Fairy,” Tiernan's stare was concerned. “I won't feel good about your safety until we're in Twilight
again.”
“I agree,” Killian looked like he wished it were otherwise. “I'm going to stay in San Fran and do a little more investigating. I'll twilight over tomorrow. You should be able to get home by then, right?”
“Late tomorrow,” I said. “And I may be heading to Unseelie, so I don't know if I'll be in Twilight for long.”
“I'll scry you first then,” Killian leaned over and kissed my cheek. Then he smirked, “'Seize him'? When did you turn into the Queen of Hearts?”
“The line is 'Off with her head',” I huffed.
“You can save that for when we catch Moire,” Killian said as he walked away.
“Let's go,” Tiernan kept his eyes on Killian's departing figure. “I don't like it here.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Traveling in Fairy could be a pain in the butt, like literally. Most of the time it was done on foot or horseback. We twilight fey had the wonderful option of using twilight magic, but when Tiernan was with me, that option was useless. Tiernan may have defected to Twilight, but that didn't change his DNA. He was a seelie sidhe, nothing could change that. Which meant he couldn't use the In-Between like the rest of my Star's Guard. It was kind of a downer sometimes.
Every time we left Fairy, we had to leave a camp of men behind in Fairy, to care for the horses we couldn't take through to HR. This particular time, though, I'd left Fairy through the Between, and Tiernan had met up with me in HR. That meant I hadn't left any men behind. So it was a good thing that he had. Tiernan had journeyed to a rath with Bress and left a group of soldiers behind with their horses. It had been a long wait for them, and they were thrilled to see us. They weren't so happy to hear about Bress though. It looked as if I wasn't the only one who had grown fond of my cousin.
Several of the guards had ideas on what to do about Bress' disappearance, but I knew we had to let the Extinguishers handle the search for the time being. As much as I hated to even think it, we had more important issues to focus on. Like why Bress had been taken in the first place, and what Moire was planning to do with him and in general. Oh, and why the hell Danu had sided with that bitch.
