The Waking Magic (Winter's Blight Book 3)

by M. C. Aquila

  “No need,” Alvey said, turning her head away, cheeks flushing.

  Sheesh, she gets embarrassed at anything. Deirdre let out a watery chuckle. But she’s doing her best. I wouldn’t mind if I had a little sister like her…

  Letting out a long, shuddering sigh as she wiped her face, Deirdre realized that the thought of a sister, her real family, didn’t shake her in the slightest anymore.

  As if anything they do or say could make me feel any worse than how I feel right now, she thought glumly, letting out a sigh and leaning forward. Although…

  “Alvey?”

  “Yes?”

  “Do you…” Deirdre looked up at her. “Do you think my parents will care? I mean, you grew up in the Summer Court—you knew the people there? You must have some idea who my parents are. Do you think they’ll care that… this has happened?”

  “I am not sure… Let me feel your face. That way I can know what you look like.”

  “You can really do that?”

  “I can, after much practice. The faeries in the realm did not mind my practicing on them. They found it funny.”

  “Well, sure then.” Deirdre wiped her eyes and nose one more time.

  Deirdre guided Alvey’s hand to her face, then the younger girl felt the lines and bones quickly with her fingertips, her movements precise, like someone quickly and expertly carving a statue.

  “And your hair is ginger, yes?” she asked, frowning as she felt Deirdre’s jawline.

  “And curly. Really curly.”

  “And your eyes?”

  “Light blue—though I guess they are violet. I used to think it was a trick of the light, but it’s possible—”

  “Because you are a faery, aye.” Alvey lowered her hand. “There are a few families in the realm who match your description somewhat. Not my parents though… neither of them are ginger nor have curly hair. Or have your rather weak cheekbones.”

  Deirdre tilted her head, wondering what that had to do with anything.

  “But we shall explain what happened, and any of them would understand.” Alvey pursed her lips. “What did happen? What caused this?”

  “It was…” Deirdre shuddered and curled up. “Alan, Iain and James’s father, he had this weird machine. I think it did it.”

  “A machine? What sort of man-made thing—”

  “Can we please not talk about it?”

  “Fine.” Alvey huffed, then pulled the lever to re-elevate her seat. “I am starved; they should have dinner started by now…”

  “Alvey?” Deirdre called out as the girl began to roll away.

  “What?”

  “Thank you.”

  “I… I didn’t do anything special,” she snapped, turning and rolling away faster.

  Deirdre grinned at her outburst, but the smile vanished when she saw James passing Alvey and heading straight toward her.

  “How’s, um, how’s your ankle?” James asked, gesturing to it.

  Deirdre looked down at the makeshift splint and bandages Kallista had set. “It’s holding up.”

  “Good. Good.”

  There was a prolonged silence, finally broken by Deirdre asking, “So tomorrow, where are you and Kallista going?”

  “What?”

  “It didn’t sound like she wanted to go to the Summer Court, right?”

  James shook his head. “No. I mean, yes. I mean… we’re going. We’re all going.” He glanced at Cai a few yards away, who was apparently asleep, Kallista finished with patching him up. “Don’t know about him though… or care.”

  Deirdre’s shoulders loosened, and suddenly it was easier to sit up straight. “You and Iain and Kallista are all coming? For sure?”

  Nodding, James gave her a light smile. “For sure. So…” He put his hands in his pockets. “Alvey was, um, saying something earlier, about your magic? That something happened to it?”

  “Yes.”

  “We had to give you that faery fruit—do you remember that?” After Deirdre nodded, James went on, “What happened? Iain wouldn’t tell me anything. Was it some sort of iron poison or… or maybe a curse? Or—”

  “It was this machine thing.” Deirdre wiped her eyes again. “I don’t really—”

  “A machine?” James sat down. “What was it like?”

  “I don’t know. There were these cords—” Deirdre shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “But if we know what it’s like, maybe this could be fixed and your magic would be fine! It’d come back!”

  “James—”

  “What else do you remember besides the cords? How did it work? Did it make your magic visible in any way? Were there any particular scents or—”

  “I don’t want to talk about it!” she burst, face red, slamming her fists on the ground.

  James paled, rising to his feet and looking away. “I’m just trying to help.”

  “Help?” She scoffed, throwing her arms in the air and then wincing as her shoulder ached. “Sure, you’ve been plenty of help, starting with ditching me to run off! What on earth were you even doing?”

  “I had to leave.” James met her gaze, expression serious. “I was trying to figure something out to find Mum. I was learning things, learning magic that saved my life and Alvey’s and Mum’s—”

  “Learning magic?” Deirdre scoffed again.

  “Just ask Alvey; she’ll tell you!”

  “That doesn’t make sense! Who were you with? Who taught you? Those crazy cultists?”

  James shook his head. “I knew you wouldn’t understand.”

  “So you went behind my back, behind everyone’s back!” She pointed at him. “Even though you promised you’d tell me or Iain about these sorts of things!”

  “Well, what about you, Deirdre?” James gestured to her. “You ditched me when I wanted to help you. If you had let me come with you, then I could’ve done something, and… and—”

  “You’re blaming me for what happened?”

  James looked stricken. “Deirdre, no. I… I wouldn’t do that—” he stammered. But as Deirdre turned away from him, he went silent. She heard him walk away.

  Letting out a frustrated scream through her clenched jaw, Deirdre threw herself down on the turf and shut her eyes. The faint sounds of everyone’s voices was unusually irritating, so she focused with all her might on the sound of the wind in the leaves overhead, in the woods around her. Since she’d never connected with the magic in the wind, there was little pain in listening to its sweeping, groaning, and rustling.

  After a minute, the wind began to carry the smell of warming spices and soon the sound of footsteps approaching.

  “James, I’m sorry for yelling, but I’m not in the mood to talk,” she said in a weary voice, covering her closed eyes with her hands.

  “Er, Deirdre, are you hungry?” Iain’s voice came. “The food should be ready in a half hour.”

  She opened her eyes and pushed herself to sit up. “No. Thanks though.”

  He crouched down, asking, “Are you feeling any better?”

  “Not really. Iain, did James tell you he ditched me?”

  Iain’s brow furrowed. “What?”

  “He left me in the festival, after you stayed to talk with your aunt. I tried to find him, but that’s when I ran into Kallista. At first I thought he just got lost, but…” She linked eyes with Iain. “He left me on purpose.”

  Iain scratched his chin, looking sternly at the woods over Deirdre’s shoulder. “Did he give a reason?”

  “Something about learning magic, which is ridiculous. I don’t even think that’s possible…” Deirdre shrugged. “I knew James was nerdy and… reckless, but I always thought he was normal and good enough. Not that’s he’s bad, but…” She groaned, shaking her head. “I’m not making any sense.”

  “It’s fine. I understand.”

  “I think I’ll just sleep.”

  “Do you want to come closer to the fire?”

  “No. I don’t feel cold or warm.
I’ll move if I need to.”

  “Right.”

  As Iain rose to leave, the sound of his boot snapping a small twig triggered a memory, and Deirdre called out, asking, “Iain, did you help me?”

  “What?” he asked, kneeling close, expression full of concern. “Do you need something?”

  “No, I meant, after I was in that truck and everything, did you help me escape? I remember somebody, but…” She suddenly realized that their faces were the closest they’d ever been and looked down, running a hand through her hair. “It’s all quite blurry.”

  “I was there, with Cai.”

  “Right.” Deirdre yawned, her head suddenly feeling murky and heavy. “I’m sorry it was such a waste.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You helped me so much with my magic, and I… I lost it. I went and lost it.” She let out a mirthless chuckle then buried her face in her hands. “What am I going to do? James and I were first friends because he was looking for Kallista and then because of my magic. And now you both got her back.” Deirdre gestured toward the fire. “And my magic is gone. What do we even have in common anymore?”

  Iain laid a gentle hand on her undamaged shoulder. “Deirdre, I promise we’ll be all right. I… I mean—you and James, and everything, it’ll be fine. Somehow. And no matter what happens with the Court or your magic, we’ll be there.”

  She hugged her knees to her chest. “I hate that things change.”

  He smiled, his eyes sad. “Me too.”

  Chapter Thirty

  “No, don’t put the salt in now, the oil is too hot. The oil should never get this hot. We need to weaken the fire first.”

  Cai opened his eyes from a dream of a hen fussing over her brood only to see Kallista hovering over the campfire as James began to prepare the meal. Alvey was on the other side of the fire, leaning back in her seat and dozing.

  “These spices should wait until the food is nearly finished,” Kallista said, snatching a box from James’s hands. “They can’t handle too much heat.”

  James frowned, scratching the back of his head. “But, um, this is how we’ve always done it.”

  Kallista’s mouth parted. “Well, you are at least still cooking the meat and vegetables separately and boiling the utensils, aren’t you?”

  Instead of replying, James cringed, which spoke volumes.

  With a sigh, she gave the spices back to James, stepping back from the fire and from her son, eyes darting around uneasily. Then she spotted Cai and marched over to him.

  “How do you feel? How much pain are you in?” she asked, coming to sit behind him and check over his bandages. Cai vaguely remembered her patching him up after they’d found this campsite.

  “Probably the same as I was,” he said, sitting up a bit straighter and wincing. His insides were twisting in pain, and his head spun, making him nauseated. But he still forced the question: “We haven’t been here all that long, right?”

  “Not very long, no.”

  “How’s the girl?” Cai spotted Deirdre several yards away just as she reclined on the ground, looking paler than ever. Iain was kneeling beside her.

  The sight of them together briefly took him back to the forest and to Alan Callaghan attacking them with that strange magic. Cai clutched his side, aching more just at the memory of the pain of that moment when the magic latched onto him, twisting all the old wounds.

  I was sure I’d black out, Cai thought, gritting his teeth. I was so sure I wouldn’t be able to keep fighting…

  Deirdre had dozed off. Iain stood up and made a beeline for his brother, his back a rigid line, arms stiff, and hands clenched.

  I know that look, Cai thought with a small grin.

  Iain yanked his younger brother up to his feet by the arm, making him yelp in surprise.

  “Ow!” James’s cry dripped of the theatric. “Don’t tear my arm off!”

  Kallista twisted around, gaping at them. At the same time, Alvey jerked up in her chair, sniffed the air, muttered something about the food not being ready, and then settled back down.

  Locking eyes with his brother, Iain said, “You’re going to tell me what’s going on with you, right now. Why did you ditch Deirdre? And why did you lie to me about it?”

  James, eyes wide, mouthed a response, but no words came out.

  “That’s enough!” Kallista hurried over and tore Iain’s grip off James. “Don’t be so rough with your brother.”

  “He left Deirdre behind at the festival,” Iain said, not looking away from his younger brother. “And when we talked about it, he lied to me. And he told Deirdre he was off learning magic, with who knows what sort of people—”

  “That doesn’t matter! You’re being too hard on him.”

  James shuffled his feet, glowering, not looking at either of them, clearly torn between gratitude at his mother’s defense and indignity at being mollycoddled.

  Finally Iain looked her in the eye. “I don’t want to ignore what’s happening, what’s going on right in front of me.”

  Kallista blanched slightly. “I’m not ignoring anything. It’s been a long day, and we’re all worn out. If there’s anything really important to talk about, it can wait until tomorrow.” She raised her chin. “Understand?”

  Iain considered his mother and brother for a moment, then turned away toward the fire. “Fine, tomorrow.” And he sat down, picking up where James left off cooking. His motions were tense and fierce, and he dashed in a pinch of salt like he was throwing something at a sworn enemy.

  “Oh, stop it!” Kallista scolded. “You’ll contaminate the food with your bad attitude.”

  “Er, sorry, Mum…” Iain ducked his head.

  James inched away quietly, sitting down a few feet from the fire behind Iain and giving him a dark look.

  When Kallista remained standing and gazing with concern at her two sons, Cai, hoping to distract her from a problem she couldn’t fix, asked, “Where were you all this time?”

  “W-what?” She distractedly pushed her hair behind her shoulders.

  “These boys were looking for you because you were gone, right?”

  “Yes… I was away.”

  Cai pushed himself painfully to his feet, clenching his jaw. He trudged over closer to the fire, sitting down by Alvey’s chair with a groaning sigh, then looked up at Kallista, his vision blurring with pain.

  “Where were you?” he asked, his voice thin.

  “I…” Kallista noticed both her sons looking at her as well and folded her hands on her stomach. “I was on the moors, in an old mansion, working for the Master.”

  “A Cait Sidhe, correct?”

  “Yes.” Kallista’s reply was so bitter both her sons reacted, James hugging his knees and Iain jerking, raising the wooden spoon he was stirring with as if he was about to strike something.

  “Did you really take James’s place?” Cai asked. “Or was that all some big faery trick?”

  “You certainly know a lot about private family matters,” Kallista said, sniffing and pushing her hair behind her ears.

  “We…” James gulped. “We kind of told him what we figured out.”

  Kallista sat beside her youngest son, letting out a small sigh. For a moment she was quiet, then she reached for and took one of James’s hands into hers; he started slightly but did not pull back, his expression softening.

  She squeezed his hand, meeting his gaze. “I did take your place. I did succeed in that. But it did not nullify any new deal the Master might make, which is what he wants now.

  “But”—she smiled wearily at both her sons—“we’re together. We’re together now, and we’ll be fine. We just have to stay away from him. I even tried to kill him… I stabbed him, and he survived. He’s dangerous. So we just have to stay away from him, and we’ll be all right.”

  Suddenly Alvey, who had been breathing deeply in sleep, let out a noticeable snore. James choked on a laugh; Cai elbowed her chair, shaking it.

  “W-what?” She
sat up again, head jerking around. “Pray, what is it?”

  Cai shook his head, grinning. “Just thought I heard a bear.”

  Alvey sniffed the air. “I do not smell any bears.”

  “Nah, it was more like… a bear sleeping in a wheelchair and snoring loud enough for them to hear us down in Neo-London.”

  “’Tis a funny observation, coming from you.” She raised her eyebrows. “Shall I compare you to a humid, sticky summer’s afternoon, whereupon the breeze carries the scent of an old badger who just ate rotten greens not meant for his digestive system?”

  Kallista scoffed loudly and made a face while Cai laughed; immediately he winced and clutched his sides, laughter worsening the pain.

  “Alvey.” Kallista suddenly leaned forward, asking, “Are you from the Summer Court?”

  “Aye.”

  “There was a member of the Court in the Master’s estate.”

  “Who is the Master?” Alvey sneered openly at the term.

  “The Cait Sidhe who has the deal with their father,” Cai whispered quickly.

  “Ah.”

  Kallista continued, “The faery there was Puck, and—” She broke off, her eyes widening in recognition. She looked at Alvey as if seeing her for the first time, smiling. “I met Puck many years ago. He helped a dear, sweet friend of mine smuggle a half-Fae infant out of Neo-London. She was going to perish if she did not receive aid from the Summer Court—you are that child!”

  James’s jaw dropped, and Iain choked on a spoonful of food he was testing.

  Alvey suddenly was on the edge of her seat, clutching both armrests, rigid like a cat about to spring. “Repeat that. Now.”

  Kallista frowned, saying a bit slower, “You were—”

  “Nay, not that part.” Alvey waved her hand like she had heard this story before. “The part about the faery who aided you, the one at the estate.”

  “The faery there was Puck?”

  “Wait.” Alvey suddenly put her fingers to her temples, tucking her chin down. “And this is a Cait Sidhe who makes deals? And he is quite a force to be reckoned with, aye?”

  “Yes…” Kallista shifted in her seat, looking around, uncertain.

  “Alvey, what’s this about?” Iain asked.