Arden nods. "And the forgotten speech, or the lost spell, must be the verbal part of the ritual."
"I'll wager the druids already have that part," says the Far Darrig.
"But they might not have the other items," Aislinn says. "Stanley mentioned something that Maeve was going to give them as part of their arrangement— some special relics, very old and rare ones. He said she keeps them in a closet at the house."
"The Korrigan house?" I ask.
"Yes, she always had her special collection," Arden says. "Kept it locked away from the rest of us. Even I don't know what she has hoarded over the years." She glances at Aislinn. "Yet another reason to go back to the house and pay the others a visit."
"Wait, you're going back there?" I ask Aislinn.
"With Maeve gone, it's safe," she says; but the look on her face tells me she's not thrilled about it. She went through hell there, for years. They treated her wrong, beat her, locked her up and made her live in the darkness till she was seventeen, even though she could have done the Life-Stealing thing earlier and enjoyed the sunshine.
"I'll make sure she's safe," says the Far Darrig.
I'm trying to be nice to the guy, but the anger just boils up in me when he says that. Possessive, like it's his job to look out for her. That used to be my job before he stole her heart from me.
"Yeah, cause you got such a great track record of making her feel safe," I say.
"Stop it, guys. I can actually take care of myself; I don't need either one of you keeping me safe." Aislinn's green eyes flash with independence. Strong is a good look for her.
"A'right," I say. "Y'all do what you need to do with the other Korrigan and the house and the closet of old stuff. Let me know if you need anything. And you can have this back." I dangle the medallion in front of Aislinn.
"No," says Arden. "You're bonded to it now. You're a Seer."
The Far Darrig nods. "We need you to keep it and wear it, in case you can get any more clues out of those visions."
"To hell with that," I say; but Aislinn lays her hand on my arm. "Please," she says. "It might be the only way we get through this alive."
Sighing, I close my eyes and slip the medallion back over my head. "When you put it like that, I don't have much choice, do I?"
She gives me an apologetic smile. "Not much. I'm sorry about the nightmares though. Just another couple of months, okay? Till Halloween."
"A couple months? Girl, I just started college. You're asking me to be all sleep-deprived and nightmare-whipped while I'm getting used to school?"
"It's your choice," she says. "We would never force you to do this. But I am asking you to please think about it."
Those beautiful green eyes. Why am I such a sucker for that pleading look of hers? "You're killin' me, girl. You know that?"
She knows I mean more than just the dream thing, and the medallion. After all she and I shared while we were dating, it hurts me to be in the same room now, with our hearts so far apart.
But it's not all bad. Since I last saw her, the pain has faded enough to be bearable, and there's something else still there— a different connection. Like maybe we're still friends.
"I'll wear it," I say.
"One more thing," says Arden. "We need you to come with us to the house while we check out the closet— in case there's something in there that triggers a memory, or a vision. I'll let you know when we plan to go over there, so you can work it into your busy college schedule." She smirks.
"You got to be kidding me."
But I know she's not. And once again, here I am, snarled up in magic stuff.
Is my life ever gonna be normal again?
5
PAYBACK
Aislinn
I can't believe I'm here again, looking up at this house.
Everything looks the same— the tall pillars, the porch, the big windows and the gables, the dark shingles of the roof. The azaleas around the front porch are no longer in bloom, and the trees in the forest all around are starting to shed their leaves. The whole place has a faint air of desolation, of things just slightly not right.
A stiff breeze scours the porch, sending dry leaves scattering under our feet as we mount the steps.
Arden is first, with me beside her. Wynnie behind us. Kieran and Zane at the back of the group. They're the outsiders, the ones least likely to be allowed to enter.
Arden knocks, a loud, harsh sound in the silence.
Magnolia opens the door, obviously expecting us, probably waiting. Her red hair is frizzier and wilder than ever, and her pale face looks old and tired— I've never seen her without at least a little makeup on. She's wearing a T-shirt and sweats.
A smile passes over her face when she sees me; and then it's like she remembers something and the smile is gone. Does she know that I'm the one who killed Maeve?
"Come in," she says, her voice low like she's trying to keep from being heard.
We enter the front hall, and Kieran closes the door behind us. There's a smell in the house that I can't quite identify— something sharp and sour. The console table by the wall— apparently they replaced the one I smashed— is coated with dust, and bits of grass and dirt and hair litter the hardwood floors. Magnolia hasn't been following her usual strict cleaning regimen.
Gillian appears in the doorway to the great room, her eyes fierce and her shrill voice dripping with venom. "Why is she here?"
She speaks a quick string of Gaelic, and I'm thrown backward with immense force, slamming into the wall by the door so hard that the drywall smashes behind me.
Pain. Little sharp white lights before my eyes. A faint hum of Kieran's voice, and Gillian and Magnolia tumble to the ground. Zane crouches in front of me, helping me up.
"Aislinn! Are you okay?"
My skull feels like it's split open, and my spine is shrieking pain, and my lungs have forgotten how to work.
Zane picks me up and carries me into the living room. Arden is saying something as he passes her, something apologetic to Kieran. "—didn't know she'd react like that—"
The great room where we all used to gather is in even worse shape than the entry. Papers, books, magazines, throws, and clothes hang over chair arms or sit in piles beside the twin sofas. From the couch where Zane puts me, I can see dirty dishes stacked on the kitchen counters and the island. Empty beer and wine bottles clutter the counters, too.
Kieran walks into the living area, eyes fierce, dragging Gillian and Magnolia each by one wrist. He hauls them to the space in front of the other sofa and leaves them crumpled on the floor. They don't move, but I can see their eyes flicking back and forth. He immobilized them with a spell.
The next second he's leaning over me, brushing my hair out of my face, his gray eyes churning with a mix of concern and anger.
"Are you all right?" he asks, but I can't answer yet.
"She got the wind knocked out of her," says Zane.
Kieran turns to Arden, who holds up her hands. "Like I said, I had no idea Gillian would react like that."
"You were glad to see Maeve gone," says Kieran. "Not everyone felt the same way, apparently." He steps back to Gillian and throws her body onto the couch in a sitting position. Then he leans close to her face, his voice tense and furious. "I should kill you for the things you've done, you worthless piece of—"
"Kieran," I say, and I force myself to sit up even though my head feels like it's splitting. "Don't hurt her. She's just angry."
He ignores me, taking Gillian's face roughly in his hand. Magic thrums through the room, an aura of power emanating from Kieran. Arden and Zane stand very still, fear on their faces, and Wynnie hides behind Zane like he can protect her.
"Muirnīn, stad!" I speak to Kieran in Gaelic, a spell and a plea. Darling, stop.
Of course my attempt at magic has no effect, but the word "darling" does. He turns to look at me.
"I'm okay," I say. "Just leave her."
"It's not only for you," he says. And I remember our shar
ed dream of his wife's death, how Maeve's women sliced his wife Etain apart with their swords. Gillian was probably at the front of the line for the bloodshed. "She hasn't paid her debt."
"Have you?" I ask.
He knows what I mean. He has done enough evil over the centuries to deserve some punishment himself. And he owes me for the pixie, and for what he almost made me do to Zane back in June.
Finally he releases Gillian's face. I know he wants to make her suffer— he might even kill her if I weren't here, even though killing by his own hand isn't really his thing. But he's listening to me.
When Kieran backs away from Gillian, there's an audible sigh of relief from everyone else. After throwing Magnolia on the couch beside her, Kieran sits on the coffee table, facing the two Korrigan, with his back to me. I can only imagine the look he's giving them— sheer terror shines from their eyes. To them, he isn't a handsome, powerful Tuatha Dé Danann— he's the Far Darrig, the Red One, cruel trickster and Curse-Maker.
"Arden, find the other one. Make sure she understands how this is going to go," he says. "You two. I'll release you, but if you speak a word of magic against me or anyone else here, you will suffer— I vow it."
Their limp arms and legs return to their control, and they sit there, Gillian glowering through her fear and Magnolia looking terrified.
Wynnie creeps out from behind Zane, and Magnolia's face switches from terror to shock.
"Wynnie!" she gasps.
Wynnie runs straight to her and Magnolia wraps her up in a hug. Wynnie's mother was one of the Korrigan who died centuries ago, but from what I'm seeing now, Magnolia was like a surrogate mother to Wynnie, as she was to me.
Gillian's eyes widen, but otherwise she doesn't react— because she's a psychopath who likes to punish little girls with a heavy wooden stick. Probably used to treat Wynnie like she did me— doing the dirty work for Maeve when I disobeyed or talked back.
"We looked for you," says Magnolia, her voice breaking. "We couldn't find you."
"The druids had me," Wynnie says. "The ones who made the deal with Maeve."
"What? No." Magnolia shakes her head. "That can't be. Did Maeve know you were with them?"
Wynnie nods. "They told her, back when she first came to them about stripping Aislinn's powers. She came to see me once, when I was in human form." Her voice quivers. "I begged her to take me home. She said I wasn't part of the bargain."
With those words, something changes in Magnolia's face. I've never seen her angry before— worried, unhappy, scared, yes— never angry.
"I wouldn't have believed it of her," she says. "Did you hear that, Gillian? Maeve left one of our own with the druids."
"She would have tried to get her out eventually," says Gillian. "But is a broken doll really worth saving?"
"Yes," says Zane, his deep voice firm and sure. Wynnie gives him a grateful glance.
"What are you doing here, human?" Gillian snaps. "You're not Fae, or Korrigan. Are you still playing boyfriend to the Far Darrig's slut?"
I see Kieran's fists clench. She's going to get herself in big trouble with him if she doesn't watch it.
But Zane steps forward, and crouches down in front of Gillian. "You call Aislinn that ever again, and you'll regret it. She's worth more than both of you put together. And watch what you say about Wynnie, too."
"So I'm supposed to sit back quietly while Maeve's murderer and her friends overrun my home?" says Gillian.
"We came here to talk," says Arden, entering the room again with Gemma in tow. "I thought you and Magnolia and Gemma were okay with this."
"We would have taken you back, Arden," Gillian says. "But I never agreed to talk with the Korrigan-Killer and the Far Darrig, and this human."
"And why would you take me back? Because you're running out of money? Because everything is falling apart with Maeve gone?" Arden gestures to the room around us. "The three of you have no idea how to function normally without her. It's tragic, really."
"Don't pity us," Gillian hisses. "We were loyal servants to our queen, unlike you, traitor."
I stand up, fighting the pain in my back and head. "That's enough." I step around the coffee table and sit beside Kieran. "Listen, I killed Maeve because I had to. She tried to kill me, and if she hadn't done it then, she would have tried later. She let the druids torture me, and she was going to leave me there with them, to be a slave and an experiment, like Wynnie. She didn't care about anyone but herself, ever— not even you three."
"Lies," says Gillian.
"Look around!" I say. "Like Arden said, you can't function without her. She had you all so locked down and in step with her that you're just collapsing on your own. It's time to find a new way to live, a new purpose. Without her, you can go where you want, do what you want. You can be free."
"Freedom is scary," says Gemma, pouting like a kid instead of the centuries-old soul that she is.
"Yes, but it's amazing, too. And you can travel! You can have jobs, friends— everything she wouldn't let you have before."
"And lose them all again in ten or twenty years, when we're supposed to age and we don't, and we have to move again?" Gillian snorts in disgust. "You act like we've never tried this before. You're a fool."
"You've never tried this without Maeve before. And having friends for ten or twenty years is better than not having any at all, isn't it?"
They don't look convinced, but Gemma and Magnolia at least seem to be listening. Gillian, on the other hand, is just getting madder.
"We had a good life, and you ruined it! You ruined it all!" She's practically spitting and shrieking, almost crying. "Maeve was wise, and proud, and beautiful, and she had the strongest soul I've ever known. And you ended her. You filthy, murdering, traitorous piece of trash— we should have strangled you the second you were left in our care, you little wh—"
"Ciúnas!" says Kieran, and although Gillian's lips keep moving, we can't hear her voice anymore.
I give him a look. "Really?"
"I warned her. So did Zane."
"She's grieving," says Arden. "Give her time, and we'll all work something out."
Arden is being a little too optimistic. Something tells me I shouldn't turn my back on Gillian, ever again.
Kieran slaps the coffee table with both hands and stands up, and the three Korrigan on the sofa nearly jump out of their skin. He grins, and then speaks in Maeve's voice, "Now the three of you sit there like good children while we check on a few things."
Rage on Gillian's face, shock and sadness in Magnolia's and Gemma's expressions.
Arden jerks her head toward the door. "Get him out of here, Aislinn, so I can talk to them. Wynnie, you stay with me."
"Come on." I take Kieran's arm and lead him out of the room. "That last bit was just mean," I say, once we're in the entry hall again. "Using Maeve's voice on them? Not cool."
The sparkle in his eyes tells me he's not sorry, not even a little.
Zane follows us to Maeve's study, but by the time we get there my head is pounding harder. "I need ice for this lump," I say, touching the back of my head gingerly. "And pain pills."
"I'm on the ice," says Zane, heading back to the kitchen.
"Do you have pain pills somewhere upstairs?" Kieran asks.
"Yes, there should be some in my old bathroom."
As we climb the stairs, he keeps his hand at the small of my back. The touch sends shivery sensations up my spine and down again, softening the pain. It's not actual magic— just the magic of him, and the feelings he creates in me.
We walk through the dim, silent hallway upstairs, and I have the urge to peek in Maeve's room. But I don't, not yet. The office closet comes first.
When we step into my room, I stop, shocked. I don't know what I expected, but it definitely wasn't this.
Everything beautiful about the room has been stripped away. The comfortable bedding, the art on my walls, my chair and pillows, all my personal possessions. Arden couldn't bring everything when she packed f
or me, so I was hoping to get some of my other things while we're here. But it's all gone, pared down to bare furniture and empty drawers. There's a thin blanket over the bed, and that's it.
Maybe this was going to be part of my punishment when Maeve brought me back here from the druids' place. She intended to make me realize just how good I had it before I ruined everything— how much worse they could been treating me all these years.
Why do I feel like crying? They were just things, anyway, and I've been living fine without them for months now.
Kieran looks at me. "Are you all right?"
"They took all my stuff out of here," I say. "Arden packed as much as she could when we left, but there were still a few things I wanted to get."
"Oh. I'm so sorry." He wraps an arm around my shoulders, and I turn to him, resting my forehead against his chest, breathing the scent of him. I can hear his heart beating. Is it my imagination, or is it thumping a little faster than usual?
I tip my head back and meet those dark-lashed silver eyes of his. Such a sweet, tender expression in them.
"I found ice," says Zane from the doorway. I jump back from Kieran, and Zane salutes me with the ice pack and a wry smile.
"I'll check for the pills," says Kieran, and he disappears into the bathroom.
"So this is your room," Zane says. "It's— simple."
"It used to be much prettier," I say. "They took all my things out. Everything. That's why I was— Kieran was—"
"Look, you don't have to be nervous about it with me," he says. "I know you guys have a connection, okay? It's cool, I can deal."
Kieran appears in the bathroom doorway with a bottle of pain reliever. Tossing it to me, he walks past Zane and out into the hallway. I hear the steps creaking as he descends them.
"What was that about?" Zane asks. "Is he mad?"
"He's— I don't know," I say. "He's still stuck on the whole friends thing. We're not— together, like as a couple, right now. I think he's giving me time, or something."
"Do you want time?"
"No."
Samhain Page 5
