“Faro, will you stay here for when Melinda comes to report to you? I have some preparations to make.” A small smile tilted my lips at her firm tone, and pride bubbled up in my chest.
Linne’s old trainer nodded firmly, and I followed her as she marched with renewed vigor towards the front of the house. She had her ups and downs, but she could shore herself together no matter how much she fractured.
And I loved watching it.
“Derek, I need your help,” Linne said. Emerging from the large house, I nodded instantly, and she paused at the bottom of the steps to whirl around. Fire flickered in her eyes, and my smile grew.
Suddenly, her face wasn’t so pale – so gaunt.
“I am putting everyone to sleep. I need you.”
“Everyone?” Alarm thickening my voice, my slight smile soon morphed into a deep frown. I tensed as Linne nodded firmly, and I felt the urge to roll my jaw even as I reached to hide my darkening grimace. “Can you safely do it?”
“We can do it. You and I. There will be no dreams – only the abyss.” My mate held out her hands, palms up, and stretched her wings wide. Her expectant gaze tore away at my resistance, and I took the short steps down roughly.
My heart throbbed, beating furiously, as it thundered in my chest. Touching my palms to hers, I laced our fingers together, and she never once wavered as the familiar sensation of magic flooded my body.
I wasn’t the best at using magic in my human form, but Faro had forced me to control it in my shifted form.
The hairs on my arms and legs stood on end, and goosebumps washed over my skin in thick sheets. Above us, the nice, bright day flickered and dulled, but I couldn’t tear my eyes from my mate.
Spreading her wings wide, she only looked away when her eyes rolled back in their sockets, and I squeezed her hands.
And then, there was nothing.
Nothing but the abyss.
The sun disappeared, and a void overtook the entire city just as it had not too long ago.
Magic flared and burned my ribs, and I ground my teeth hard to keep myself on my feet. I could see perfectly fine, like I was wearing night-vision goggles, and Linne could as well. Everyone else, though, was completely blind. If she hadn’t put them to sleep, their screams would pierce the very atmosphere, rising high towards the heavens.
“Don’t forget about Jon – ” The thought flew from my mouth before I could stop it, and Linne’s fingers flexed around my own. That dumbass human – sometimes, he got on my nerves just for being alive. Our one and only conversation flashed in my inner eye, and I sucked in a tight breath.
“We are ready.” The tension slithered from Linne’s arms, and her voice drawled thickly, imbued with the power that surged between us.
When her palms broke away from mine, the abyss around us didn’t lighten, and my shadow pride rippled, mustering in the air around us. “Let Bareiijnr come.”
CHAPTER NINE
Linne
“How do we even know he’ll be here?” My ears twitched at Alpha Jackson’s pensive question, and I tilted my head back. The sun had disappeared, and I tightened my grip on Derek’s hand. My mate squeezed my fingers, and the beta female of his shadow pride nuzzled my leg stiffly.
“Melinda will not fail us.” Derek declared with conviction, and my heart beat steadier in its cage. Pursing my lips tightly, I peered up into the abyss above through narrowed eyes. There wasn’t even the slightest stream of light, and I nodded absently to myself. Faro had confirmed that even he, with all his magical talents, couldn’t see in this darkness.
Which meant that Bareiijnr, and everyone he brought with him, wouldn’t be able to either.
“I’m getting a sense of déjà vu. This is eerily similar to your dream, babe.” Nodding dumbly at Derek’s ominous declaration, I pursed my lips tightly. “I hope it doesn’t end like it did last time.”
The murmur sent a shiver tearing down my spine, and I felt a familiar buzz of adrenaline starting to thrum through my veins.
Derek tightened his grip on my hand.
My wings fluttered in the breezeless, fake night, and I exhaled slowly before the familiar prickle of magic raced down my back. My eyes flew upwards, widening at the sight of the Veil as it began shimmering brilliantly.
And Unseelie came tumbling out in droves – half a dozen – then a dozen more than that.
The ground quaked with the impact of so many bodies, and they fell on top of one another with grunts and groans. The air circled, and I automatically released Derek’s hand to hold my palms out.
Magic surged through me in powerful waves, and my wings stretched out wide, as far as they could go.
More – more – more… So many lives, wasted. So much magic, squandered. All of it, gone in mere seconds.
Dropping onto my knees, my magic rippled through the grass and threatened to tear the earth itself apart. Strong, familiar palms pressed firmly against my back, and I ground my teeth hard against the ache in my gums.
None of these Unseelie were Bareiijnr, though; I could tell that as I ripped through their minds and locked them in thick chains.
The darkness crept up on me, and I arched sharply as my claws dug into the dirt. Relying on Derek to keep me centered, I couldn’t stop the bubble of sick laughter that burst from my throat.
Idling on tense legs, I swayed back and forth as the urge to pounce nearly overwhelmed me. But the Unseelie continued to fall. More of my own kind than I’d ever battled before.
It was too much for me to reach them all, and I gasped harshly as some of them slipped out from under my net. Launching forward, I let out a feral cry, saliva dribbling in ropes down my sharp teeth as they extended down.
Derek brushed heavily against me, his soft fur sending electricity skittering across my skin. He was all I needed. Gathering everyone else together was merely a precaution.
Tearing through the pile of limp bodies, I let the void suck me in and relished the taste of blood in my mouth. Snarls and growls, the crunch of bones, created a symphony throughout the park, but I ignored everything around me in my search.
Glancing up, I narrowed my eyes as hunger welled up inside me.
Another body tumbled out of the Veil, and a second one after that.
Rushing to the spot where I predicted they’d land, I released a howling cry that reverberated through me, down to my very bones.
My nose caught a scent, the smell tickling at my nostrils, and my body froze. Before I knew what was happening, my eyes rolled back as memories bombarded me.
The black dome that encased the city began to shimmer with light, and my pupils blew out at the scene that played like a translucent chimera on top of what was reality.
Even time itself seemed to stop, while I watched an image of my child-self struggling to flap wings that were too big for my body. I was so tiny that they sent me tumbling to the floor.
Then, without warning a loud, piercing wail struck my ear drums like a dozen piercing needles.
Suddenly, a familiar feminine form emerged from the corner of my eye, and my breath caught. No, it was impossible…
For an instant my mind went blank, eyes staring, fixated on the face of the female as she came closer and closer.
I would never forget that face…
It was the face belonging to my mother.
The woman stopped in front of me, and carefully hoisted me to my feet. She wiped my phantom’s face with gentle thumbs, and my own cheeks tingled hotly.
‘It’s okay, Linne. You’ll master your wings one day, I promise.’ My phantom sniffled but nodded, and I hiccupped loudly as my memory played out. ‘Just remember that you have to try really hard, okay? I have faith that you can do this, but you need faith in yourself, right? Do you think you can do that?’
The little me nodded again, more firmly, with a slight jut of her chin.
‘I can do it, Mayma.’
Right before my eyes, the scene swirled in a cyclone of magic, sparkling and shimmering as it ref
ormed. Not daring to move a single muscle, I watched those vaguely familiar faces shadowed deeply in lamplight. They were fighting – the man and the woman – intensely arguing while trying to keep their voices low and quiet.
‘We can’t hide her anymore, Jjse… We need to do what’s best for Linne and send her to Court where she’ll be safe. We don’t have the ability to teach her what she needs to know.’ The man glanced at the stairs, and the vision wobbled dangerously. ‘That woman will be back, and Linne must go. We have no other options, my love.’
‘How can she be safe at Court – she’s a Lower Unseelie.’
“Linne – watch out!” Alpha Jackson’s voice caused the entire scene to disappear, and a hard body crashed into mine.
Magic shot past me, at the exact spot I had just been, and I tumbled across the ground. Faro’s grunts and groans filled my ears, and the hard snap of his wing brought me back from the darkest, deepest recesses of my mind.
Whirling around onto malformed arms and legs, I barreled past the curled, shivering bodies of my parents. Their scent almost drew me in once again, but I shook my head viciously as a monstrous bellow crackled through the air.
Derek went flying overhead, claws extended and rage twisting his muzzle, and we hit the Unseelie at the same time. My jaws wrapped around muscular flesh, and his entire body jerked as his pained cry was cut short abruptly.
Shuddering violently, I lost myself in the primal instinct that drove me – this one gift that Derek had given me. My human mind backed away, and I drove for anything at all that moved.
Red seeped into my vision even as my mate fixed his magic, but this time, it was tinged with blood.
So much blood. Rivers of blood. There was no oxygen in the air, only the metallic smell.
“My, my… Look how much you’ve grown since being banished, Linne… I see you have a new set of skills.” Bareiijnr’s silky smooth baritone rattled down my spine, and I whipped around towards the sound.
Shock ripped through my chest at his white wings, and my eyes narrowed into slits even as his wandered. He couldn’t see me, but he could sense me. “Who knew you were such a busy little girl? Let us see how far you’ve come.”
The stolen wings shivered and flexed, and I paused as Bareiijnr grabbed a body by the head. My mother’s pained whimper drowned out the sound of my furiously beating heart, driving me closer and closer to insanity. An insanity which threatened to overtake me.
‘We don’t care about the money – please, just keep her safe. Give her the best life you can.’ That same feminine voice sounded, but there were no pictures swirling around me this time.
Bareiijnr must have a dredges’ wings to have such a power. That, in the least, my half-crazed brain could piece together. Dredge weavers were Seelie – healers who used their powers to find the best memories inside someone’s mind, and reminded them of these.
‘You have my word.’ Kaslni’s triumphant tone echoed around me, followed by Bareiijnr’s scornful laugh as he dropped my mother carelessly. The thickened hairs on my body bristled, and my lips peeled back in a nasty snarl.
“Her word – and how reliable was her word, Linne? All she did was use and abuse you – manipulate the manipulator. She didn’t even let your parents see you no matter how many times they tried. Once you were in her custody, she told you that they wanted you to focus and grow. But they tried – oh, how they tried to see you. Not only that, but she told them they could, and she just never did. She gave them a place to be, and they went, but you were never there.”
“I don’t care!” The hoarse shout ripped from my throat, as I panted raggedly. Bareiijnr laughed. A mocking, scornful sound, and his eyes slid over me as I stalked him slowly – silently.
“I brought them with me because I wanted to show you that I’m not like Kaslni. I don’t even want to kill you. We don’t have to fight, Linne. Just give me Kaslni, and I’ll leave this disgusting realm and your parents behind.”
But I didn’t believe him, and my eyelid twitched in agitation.
“I have control over the entire Unseelie realm. I have no need to hunt you down, now. You can live like an animal and never worry about me again. Why don’t you think it over? Why are we fighting, anyway?”
“Don’t believe him, Linne. He’s the animal.” A slick smirk spread across Bareiijnr’s face at the strained tone as Faro spoke up.
He’s trying to trick us. The realization slammed into me, bringing a snarl to curl at my lips.
Bareiijnr was trying to turn Kaslni into a common enemy. Trying to connect with us to lower our guard.
“Faro! Wonderful of you to join us, cowering in the dark. What do you say we bury the hatchet? My offer extends to you, as well. Give me Kaslni, and I’ll leave you alive and unthreatened until your untimely, early death. I don’t usually make an offer twice, but you’re a powerful enemy to have.”
“I don’t know where she is, and I wouldn’t hand her over, anyway,” Faro scoffed.
Creeping closer and closer to Bareiijnr, I licked my teeth hungrily as the glint in his eye became brighter.
Faro’s pained words resonated deep inside me, and my tail swished threateningly along the tops of the grass.
“If you came here for an ultimatum, why all the extra bodies?” Faro retorted, refusing to be deceived.
“Don’t be stupid, now,” Bareiijnr said, his voice rumbling with unrestrained laughter. “I couldn’t just come through the Veil,” he continued, and the grin on his face turned nasty. “Your little bird friend gave me everything I needed… After I captured him trying to spy on me.”
CHAPTER TEN
Derek
The black abyss which embraced us inside a swathe of magical night, protecting us, vanished in less than the time it took to blink. And then the sun was beating down on me once again, and I got my first good look at Bareiijnr.
He would’ve been a handsome man, I thought. If he wasn’t such a fucking monster.
Plus, his wings were white, which was pretty freaky.
His gaze settled on Linne, and Bareiijnr’s expression softened slightly – so slightly that I only barely noticed it. It almost seemed like he sympathized with her shock, not caring that she was within pouncing distance of him.
My heart thundered in my chest, as I watched him reach a hand under a fold in his robe. The action sending dread prickling down my spine.
I gasped, as I saw his hand emerge, holding out a small black lump in his palm.
Muss’ body wasn’t at all bloodied, mangled, or tortured; the damn bird was just on his back, all of his eyes closed and wings flowing over Bareiijnr’s outstretched fingers.
Linne’s reaction was immediate. She let out a loud, high pitched wail that curdled my blood and twisted my gut, before she rushed forward, towards Bareiijnr to snatch Muss’ body away.
He grinned, letting Linne take Muss’s body from him without a fight.
Crouched over his stiff, lifeless form, she whimpered in a mix of shock and despair. And when Bareiijnr caught my gaze, I instantly knew that he hadn’t wanted Muss to die.
“I couldn’t stop him. When I caught him, he told me – showed me – everything, and then poisoned himself. I did not think he was so stupid as to come back to the Unseelie realm. There was not even time to stop him.” Bareiijnr sighed heavily, and his smirk died as he shook his head mournfully. “It’s such a waste. Despite what I do, wasting talent is one thing I cannot forgive.”
“Why would we believe anything you have to say after everything you’ve done?” Jackson spoke up, but his voice was laced with curiosity rather than disgust. Things had turned a complete one-hundred-and-eighty degrees, and I glanced at my mate through sad eyes. She rocked Muss, touching his beak and trying to open his eyes, but he was in full rigor.
“What do you know for a fact that I have done? Everything you know, you know because Kaslni has told you. Even Faro, who knows to be weary of her, has been deceived. Yes, I do trade in wings, but it is a practice that is as old
as time itself. There is no way to stop it. There will be worse traders after me – as there were before me. The wings I trade in are exclusively voluntary – ”
“How can they be voluntary if you have to rip them out while the person is still alive? Who would agree to that!” My ears twitched at Jackson’s outraged voice, but Bareiijnr made no move even as my muscles gorged, itching to rush at him.
The Unseelie with white wings only shrugged, reaching to stroke his chin. “Do you not have the practice? Are there not humans that will give their lives for their family? Their organs? When an Unseelie or Seelie begins to fail physically, he or she can…donate…their wings. They are usually Lesser beings, yes, but it is fully their choice. I will not deny that there are those that ruin unwilling lives for particular magics, but I am not one of them.”
Truth rang in Bareiijnr’s tone, and he glanced down at Linne’s parents with disgust. “Like these two, who did not want Linne to mature because of her obviously powerful magic. They planned to sell her to me for her wings – their own child, used as a pawn for their greed.”
“But we just saw – ”
“You saw what I needed you to see. I had to calm Linne down enough to initiate a conversation.” Cutting Jackson off, Bareiijnr scowled, and his eyes flickered sympathetically to Linne, curled up around Muss’ body. For once, I wondered if he wasn’t the bad guy; he had a point, after all.
Linne’s word couldn’t be trusted because the only information she had was fed to her by Kaslni.
“I will show you what they talked about when she wasn’t around. Memories do not lie. Neither Unseelie nor Seelie have that ability.” Reaching down to grab the male by the scalp, Bareiijnr flexed his wings, and my ears twitched and perked.
Even my own heart beat faded into the background, as a feeling of anticipation filled my entire body, smudging out all other thoughts in my mind. Soon enough, I heard the sound of voices.
Retribution Page 5
