“Don’t blame yourself. We all trusted him–oh! Did you catch him? Did he get away?”
“Don’t worry about that right now. Try to be still and let Brynneth help you,” Jess looked anxiously at the medic who was still framing major spells over her battered body.
“Jess–this talking in your head thing. I did that. With a spell. I kept trying to reach you, to use the connection we have, but it wasn’t enough. I mean I could reach you, but you couldn’t hear me or feel me. I didn’t know what else to do so I–I used a spell from the grimoire. The spell to create permanent energy sources,” Allie felt his surprise and rushed on, trying to get it all out. “I used my own pain and my own emotions and I focused all the energy on strengthening our connection through my empathy so that I could communicate with you. And it worked but I don’t know exactly what I did or how I did it, and, um, I kind of think it might be permanent too and I don’t know how to fix it.”
She had expected him to pull away or be angry, but he simply tilted his head to one side thoughtfully. “Interesting. So your spell amplified what was already there into something stronger, strong enough to allow you to–what? Project yourself into my mind somehow?”
Brynneth gave Jess a strange look from the corner of his eye, but the Guard commander ignored him.
“Do you know what the extent of this is yet?”
“Extent? You mean what can it do? Well not entirely, but I can feel what you are feeling, kind of all the time now. And if I push I can reach out to you and hear you in my head, and see what you are seeing, and what you are hearing–and of course you know you can hear me if I speak to you.” Allie was glad for the distraction of talking with Jess, instead of thinking about how much her body hurt. Brynneth was having a hard time getting her ankle to heal; she could feel the spell he was trying to set on it slipping a little each time he tried to use it. When she closed her eyes she kept reliving those last instants when she had been stabbed in the sides and found herself unable to draw a breath, and the memory left her terrified and shaking, even knowing she was safe now. She’d rather talk about her spell mistake than ever think about it again.
“Interesting,” Jess said again, thoughtfully, “although perhaps these effects will fade with time.”
Allie wasn’t so sure about that, knowing the nature of the echo-power spell, but she didn’t want to argue with him. Brynneth finally straightened up, looking unhappy.
“Aliaine, I have done as much as I can. Your life, at least, is in no further danger, but the damage to your ankle is partially beyond my skill to heal. I have done what I can for it.”
Jessilaen frowned, “How bad is it still?”
“She should not walk on it, not now and not for a few days at least.”
He hesitated and then spoke directly to Allie, “I fear that even with time you may have a permanent limp and it may always give you some pain.” Brynneth sounded frustrated as he spoke, but what Allie felt from him was regret.
“That’s okay, really. You’ve done more for me anyway than I can ever repay, and at least I’m alive to have a limp,” Allie said trying really hard not to think about the feel of the hard boot sole impacting her broken ankle. It seemed that every little thing was bringing back memories of the events that had caused each injury, and she swallowed hard, trying not to cry.
“You owe me nothing Aliaine, truly,” Brynneth said. “There is no debt between us.”
“How can there not be?” Allie asked, feeling tired and confused.
Brynneth sighed, “Alright, then I release you from any debt you owe me. You have done more to help us find the one who killed my niece than we could ever have done on our own, and it would be ill grace of me, after what you have suffered for helping us, to ask any repayment.”
“And any debt you owed I would pay anyway,” Jess said briskly. “So do not fret about it.”
She shook her head, feeling worse, since they had needed to come rescue her and had to heal her, it seemed wrong somehow to have that all wiped away. Jess reached down, gathering her up into his arms, and she tucked her head against his chest, suddenly wanting desperately to be anywhere else except this horrible place.
“Please get me out of here.”
He stood easily with her in his arms, and for the first time since Syndra’s funeral, she felt safe.
****************
Zarethyn stood and extended his hand to the other elf, helping Bleidd to his feet. The Outcast hesitated a moment and then accepted the hand up wordlessly. The backyard was oddly silent now, without even the normal night sounds of the forest to fill the air. Zarethyn quickly assessed the rest of his squad, hoping that the others might have managed to capture the second Dark Court elf.
Jessilaen was emerging from the shed carrying Aliaine, who was pale and bloody, but seemed alert; Brynneth stood next to them his hand on her shoulder. His brother looked ragged, although there was no indication he had suffered any injury. Zarethyn felt a momentary twinge of worry and found himself wondering, not quite idly, what would have happened if they had arrived too late to save the girl; he felt a grim certainty that for good or ill his brother’s life was irrevocably intertwined with Aliaine’s now. What that would mean for his future Zarethyn could not guess.
Natarien stood at the back of the open space holding pressure on a bleeding gash in his side, his eyes searching the tree line where the other squad had disappeared chasing the remaining Dark Court elf. The Guard Captain had little choice but to accept that at least one agent of the Dark Court had escaped them, although he could be satisfied in knowing the more dangerous of the two was going nowhere. The fallen mage lay still in the grass, Bleidd’s knife still embedded in his back. Zarethyn worried about the elf who had escaped, but that was a worry for another day; nothing could be done about it now. The squads he had called for backup should be arriving soon and they could be sent out to see if any trail could be found, and as well the human police would be swarming. He could already hear the sirens wailing in the distance.
Detective Riordan crouched over Walters’ body, talking quickly into his radio, but Zarethyn doubted the injured killer would survive. He felt a sense of satisfaction, despite the apparent escape of one of the Dark elves, and a nagging concern that Walters may not have acted alone. His people had all survived, they had arrived in time to save Allie, and Aeyliss’s killer was dead or dying.
When it had become clear that her killer was human the Guard Captain had faced a moral quandary: to let the human justice system handle the killer, and risk the man being set free, or to seek his own justice and risk the fragile peace that held the two communities together. This outcome, he felt, was ideal.
Looking up, his eyes met the Outcast elf’s and he came to a decision. Pitching his voice loudly enough that everyone still in the yard could hear him, he said “You named yourself wolf once, after being Outcast by the Elven Guard, but I say now that you have acted with honor and are an honorable person. I declare you Outcast no more, Morighent of Clan Soileireacht.”
The former Outcast’s eyes went wide at the sound of a name he had not heard spoken in over 50 years. He stood still for a moment, unsure what to say. Such a thing had never been done before; being Outcast had always been a death sentence for those who suffered it and no one had ever had it repealed. As a Guard Captain though Zarethyn had the authority to speak judgments of law that could not be overruled, except by the Queen herself, and while it hadn’t been done before he was within his rights to do it. Finally Bleidd–Morighent–nodded slightly and then walked over and pulled his blade out of the fallen mage’s back. Zarethyn smiled slightly to himself, wondering what the strange elf would choose to do with his life now.
****************
Jess carried Allie into the house, wrapped in his cloak since her dress was ruined. He had argued that she should stay at the Outpost but she refused, wanting to see her cousin and Jason, and be in her own room. As soon as they entered the house they found Liz waiting in the entry way
, looking exhausted.
“Oh my God, Allie. Are you okay?”
Her cousin hugged her, almost pulling her out of Jess’s arms, and she felt a surge of fear, anxiety, concern, and anger. She caught the sideways glance Liz threw at Jessilaen and tried not to sigh.
“I’m alive, Liz, which is more than I can say for Detective Walters.”
“Oh my–what? What happened?” Liz looked truly stunned, leaning back against the wall as if she needed the extra support.
“I’m sorry I thought you knew–Jess can you put me down on the couch?” Allie asked, distracted.
“Absolutely not. You should not be walking on that ankle,” he said in a tone that brooked no arguments.
“Fine, carry me to my room, and Liz you come with us and I’ll catch you up,” Allie said, exasperated.
“What happened to your ankle?” Liz asked weakly.
“It was pretty badly broken,” Allie winced as she tried to talk to Liz over Jess’s shoulder while he carried her up the stairs. “Walters kidnapped me at the cemetery.”
“What?” Liz shook her head, disbelieving. “No. That’s not possible. He’s a cop.”
“It’s true Liz. He knocked me out and took me to his parents’ house and locked me in this shed. He was the killer, the one killing all the girls, and he was going to hand me over to the, um, the other people looking for grandmother’s book, the ones who hurt me at my store last week. He had some kind of deal with them to trade me for their help.”
“I don’t believe it,” Liz said shaking her head.
Allie felt Jess stiffen, thinking her cousin was questioning her word.
“I know it seems crazy but it’s true,” she said quickly, as he carried her into her room and set her gently on the bed. “But the Guard and Detective Riordan got there before the bad guys–I mean Detective Walters and the other two–could get out so they tried to kill me.”
Liz made a small noise in her throat and Allie stopped.
“I’m sorry Liz. I’m okay, but Walters was shot and he died before the ambulance got there.”
Liz went and stood in front of Allie’s window, looking out over the garden. “But it’s all over now, right?”
Allie looked at Jess, who sat down next to her and took her injured ankle into his lap.
Jess spoke quietly. “Walters said it would never be over. I fear that he knew something we didn’t, even at the end, and that it may not be finished yet.”
“You’re just saying that because you don’t want to leave,” Liz said.
“Liz, don’t say that…”Allie started, but her cousin interrupted.
“We’ve had the Guard here all night. I had to call out of work tonight because how could I go in followed by two armed guards? And we had Syndra’s funeral this afternoon and then you disappear. I’ve been sick with worry all night. I just want this all to be over with. Allie. I want our lives back,” Liz said plaintively.
“I know Liz. I’m sorry. I think, maybe, it is over now,” Allie said, flinching away from her cousin’s distress.
Liz gave her an inscrutable look, threw one last hostile look at Jess and then left. Allie looked down, and Jess shifted, easing her ankle off his thigh so that he could sit next to her. She leaned against his shoulder, something she felt she’d been doing far too much of lately. “Do you really think it isn’t over yet?”
He kissed the top of her head, easing both of them down until she was lying comfortably on the bed, still leaning against his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, my love. Try to rest and heal, and let tomorrow worry about itself.”
She shook her head, feeling the weight of many unresolved things hanging over her, not the least of which was the hum of his thoughts and feelings in the back of her mind. It was something like always having a television on in the background, and while she was starting to get better at ignoring it, the implications were depressing.
“I don’t know how to not worry about things,” she sighed as he magically changed his armor for regular clothes, and she settled into against him. “Is this how courting always works?”
He laughed, “The emotional closeness, yes. The rest of it seems…unique to you.”
She smiled with him and then sobered, “Are you sorry? That you ever met me? I wouldn’t blame you if you were, I haven’t done anything but cause you trouble.”
He stroked her hair, “Never, Allie. I cannot imagine my life without you.”
She resisted the urge to shake her head. Certainly he had changed her life for the better in many ways, but she couldn’t see how she had done anything positive for him. She was exhausted and her ankle ached persistently, but despite herself she found her eyes growing heavy and closing. Allie had been afraid she would never be able to sleep again after the things she’d gone through in the last few hours, but with Jessilaen holding her, with his emotions swirling around her, she fell asleep quickly and slept without dreaming. She would deal with her worries about tomorrow when tomorrow came.
****************
They’d gathered hastily as word had spread; everyone was agitated and the atmosphere of the small spare room was tense. The half dozen people talked in low voices among themselves, muttering and whispering as if they were afraid of being overheard. When the door finally opened and their leader strode in, the group’s relief was obvious, although the tension was no less.
One of the young men standing against a wall spoke up immediately, “He failed. What do we do now?”
Silence reigned as they all waited for direction. “He failed because he didn’t listen. He decided to go his own way, against the group.”
The words fell like stones into a still pond. Everyone shifted uncomfortable, meeting the speaker’s eyes and then looking away. “We can still succeed–will still succeed. But we have to stay together and stay strong as a group. We have to remain true to the cause.”
Piercing eyes caught and held a frail woman’s gaze, “Why are we doing this?”
“Because the Sundering is a sickness that has to be cured,” the woman said, straightening as she spoke and pushing her brown hair behind her ears.
An older man across the room was next to be questioned. “What is our reward?”
The man’s voice was confident, “The world will be returned to normal. We’ll get our world back and send the elves and other creatures back from whence they came.”
“And what is this worth?” The leader asked a middle aged woman hovering next to the man.
“Anything,” she replied, her voice catching.
The woman next to her spoke without prompting, “Any sacrifice for the cause is worth making if it helps us ultimately succeed.”
“That’s right,” The group’s leader said, as several people began nodding. “Anything. Walters’ failure is unfortunate but he did forward the cause, and he died without telling them anything about us. If he had listened to what he was told, he would not have failed, but even so, we can salvage the situation.”
The last member of the group, a young man with a rose tattooed prominently on the side of his neck and was wearing a battered Bomber jacket, finally spoke.
“How?”
The leader met his eyes and he didn’t look away as the others had. “Listen carefully. This is the new plan…”
Epilogue
“I don’t understand” The hurt in Jess’s voice cut at Allie’s heart, but she knew she could not allow herself to relent. She sat on her bed, rubbing her bad ankle; it still ached although it was healed as much as it was likely to and she was learning to walk with her new limp without drawing too much attention to it. The weeks since the funeral and confrontation with Walters and the Dark elves had passed in a blur. The Guard and police had been unable to find any trace of the surviving Dark Elf or any proof of a conspiracy, despite searching Walters’ apartment and house thoroughly. Jessilaen had come to tell her that the Guard was being withdrawn back to the Outpost and the case closed, and he had asked her to go with him.
“I can’t go with you Jess. My life is here,” she tried to keep her voice even.
“You do not love me then,” he said sounding resigned.
“Of course I love you, you idiot.” she said, angry and unable to hide it. She took a deep breath. “I love you. I don’t know why, or how, and the Gods know I shouldn’t. But I do, and I accept that I do, whether I want to or not.”
She winced, “Sorry that didn’t exactly come out right.”
“No, I understand. That is how Elven emotions are,” he sounded grimly amused.
“Well then I can see why you all work so hard to avoid them. It’s a kind of madness, isn’t it?” she quipped. “Besides thanks to this amplified soul-bond thing I gave us, you know how I feel. You can feel how I feel.” She reached out and took his hand, letting her feelings wash over him even as his misery and worry flowed into her.
His breath caught. “Allie, please. You must come with me. I cannot stay here and I cannot bear the idea of living without you.”
“No,” she repeated.
He put his head in his hands and grabbed fistfuls of his hair, “Why? Why can you not?”
“Because,” she repeated, literally feeling his frustration, “my whole life is here. Everything that isn’t you. My home. My business, what’s left of it anyway. My family, such as that is. My friends.” She swallowed hard, “For Gods’ sakes, I can’t just drop everything and walk away because you want me to. How would you feel if I was asking you to do that? Leave the Guard, leave your family, your duty, everything, and come live in my life?”
He looked away, the muscles in his jaw working.
“Jess–I just buried my best friend. There is a part of me that wants to go with you because it would be easier to not deal with my life right now. But I’d regret it later. It would be me running away from my problems, not choosing you, do you understand that?”
Murder Between the Worlds: A Between the Worlds Novel Page 25
