by Skye Horn
This surprised Thea. She’d assumed that Morrigan hated humans because of how Malachi had acted, but she’d never realized she hated the Fae too.
“What does that even mean?” Thea asked, a headache throbbing behind her temples. She’d thought she’d known what Morrigan wanted: death to all humans. However, what the Goddess was saying now didn’t fit that agenda. Perhaps Morrigan’s plans differed from her father’s… but where did that leave them now?
“It means you have been lied to,” she said, standing and glaring down at Thea’s unflinching face. “Your father was a fool to think I could be bent to his will. I am here to restore what my sister destroyed and to punish her for what she has done.”
Thea felt like her head might spin off her neck, but Morrigan only continued to speak.
“I offer you protection, power, and to fulfill your every desire. I could decide to kill each and every person you love instead if you continue to test my patience.” The Goddess’ words were like fire to Thea’s soul, but she didn’t back down from that unrelenting gaze.
“If you hurt anyone I love, I could just kill myself,” she said, summoning up the courage for the threat. She’d debated it before, knowing that if she ended her own life, it would end Morrigan’s—or at least, that was what she assumed would happen. There was also the slight possibility that Thea would die and Morrigan would only be injured. It wasn’t like they had anything to base this on. However angry her words were, though, the Goddess didn’t seem impressed. Instead, she laughed.
“Talking about death and actually experiencing death are very different things, Princess. I don’t believe you wish to die.”
Thea knew Morrigan wasn’t wrong. Thea didn’t want to die, but if it came down to her life or Morrigan’s, couldn’t she die to save everyone? Especially now that Kieran wasn’t there to tell her not to? She thought of the pain it would cause Ethel to lose her too, but she was young and would recover. Wouldn’t she?
“Your love for others makes you weak,” Morrigan mused, relaxing back onto her throne as her anger faded away. “Think about my offer.”
Thea didn’t believe love made her weak. Loving no one had made her father weak and easy to manipulate. She had people to fight for, people who were worth dying for.
“Join me and gain all the power that I offer you, or don’t join me and I will find you and lock you away for my protection.”
Thea swallowed hard and clenched her hands into fists.
“I’ll never join you, Morrigan,” she said without wavering, but the Goddess of Death only smiled at her refusal.
“We will see,” she said with a final wicked smirk. “The truth is coming, Princess. I hope you are prepared for it.”
Once again, Thea felt the effects of dark magic’s icy tentacles engulfing her, pulling her from the nightmare, but no matter how many more questions she had for Morrigan, there was no fighting its pull as it ripped her from Blackmire and shoved her back into her own body.
Chapter 7
“Owwww,” Thea groaned as she awoke to Ethel’s death grip on her shoulders. For a human, Ethel was strong. She shook Thea hard enough to make her already aching brain feel like it was being thrown from one side of her head to the other.
“Oh, thank the Goddess,” Ethel said, pulling Thea against her chest into an uncomfortable embrace. Thea shifted, trying to breathe, and blinked her eyes open.
“Maybe don’t thank her yet,” Thea mumbled with a frown as Morrigan’s words echoed through her head.
What had she meant she’d been lied to? Who had lied? And about what?
Mica and Derek, who had been pacing a few yards away, came and knelt at Thea’s side. They both looked paler than usual. After searching her eyes, Mica sighed in relief, but Derek stared at her, fuming.
“Thanks for catching me,” Thea said, shifting out of Ethel’s grasp to stretch her wings, making sure nothing was broken. She couldn’t meet any of their eyes, so she stared at her wet cloak instead, wondering how long she’d been unconscious.
“What was that?” Derek demanded. “What happened?”
Thea cast an anxious glance at Mica and Ethel, but knew she couldn’t keep this to herself. Derek had probably saved her life, or at least kept her from arriving in Gimmerwich with broken bones. The least she could do was be honest with him about why.
“We have a problem,” Thea said, meeting Derek’s gaze. “And if I tell you what it is, I expect you to keep it to yourself. I don’t want the council knowing about this.”
Derek’s back straighten as he said, “You are my princess. Our future queen. We will always be loyal to you above all else.”
The words surprised Thea, who had figured the soldiers would be loyal to the council over her. Or perhaps she’d been feeling insecure because of Kieran’s broken oath. Whatever the reason was, Thea hadn’t expected their loyalty but was happy to hear she had it.
“Get the others, then,” she told Derek and Mica. “And I’ll meet you back at the camp.”
Derek looked ready to argue about leaving her side, but Mica grabbed him by the upper arm and pulled him away from Thea and Ethel before he could say a word. Thea let out the breath she’d been holding. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to trust additional people, but she didn’t feel she actually had a choice anymore. If Morrigan could get into her head, then she needed all the help she could get, which meant letting the guards who wanted to protect her do their jobs.
“What happened, Thea? You were hardly breathing,” Ethel said after they were gone. There were tears in her eyes.
“Morrigan,” was all Thea said. She stared up at the darkened sky. Clouds covered the moon, casting shadows over their small clearing.
“How?” Ethel asked. “Derek said one minute you were fine and the next you were screaming. When he caught you, he could hardly find a heartbeat.”
Ethel’s voice cracked, and her panicked eyes looked at Thea with questions she didn’t have the answers to. It made Thea regret what she’d thought earlier about Ethel getting over her death.
“She said no one has taught me how to keep her out of my head.” Thea frowned, looking at Ethel, hoping she might know something about that. “She said a lot of things.”
Thea rubbed her temples and watched Ethel’s confusion grow.
“Like?”
“Like she wanted to make me an offer.” Thea pressed her palms into the ground to push herself up into a standing position. Her legs shook, but she got to her feet with Ethel’s help. “The usual villain offer: join me and I’ll give you all the power you desire. She even said she’d make Kieran fall back in love with me, as if that might be something I’d want forced down his throat.”
Thea rolled her eyes and began brushing the snow off her pants. She was wet, tired, and sore—not to mention confused about everything Morrigan had said. This entire night was turning into a disaster.
“She thought that would actually work on you?” Ethel asked, removing her hand from Thea.
“She moved on to threatening the people I loved when she realized it wouldn’t work.” Thea’s shoulders lifted into a shrug. She unbraided her tangled hair, letting it fall around her face, and rolled her neck to relieve some of the aching tension in her shoulders. Whatever magic had knocked her unconscious had left her entire body hurting.
“So she’s worried about the connection, then,” Ethel said as they started walking back toward camp. They weren’t far away. Thea could even see the glow of the flames beyond the tree line. As they pushed their way through the low-hanging branches, Thea saw Mica and Derek walking alongside Brayden and Rolan from the opposite side of the camp. Jami appeared to be the only one missing, but Thea assumed he was in the skies, finishing the patrol Morrigan had interrupted.
Her stomach growled at her, and Ethel cast an amused glance her way.
“C’mon,” she said, pulling Thea toward the fire where the stew still hung to keep warm. Ethel scooped out a large ladleful and handed Thea a bowl. “Eat and tel
l me what else happened before the boys get back.”
“She threatened to lock me up if I didn’t agree to her terms, but I just don’t see how she plans to do that. I’m well-protected in Ivandor, even against her. She wouldn’t risk me getting hurt, or me hurting myself.”
Thea shoved a spoonful of food into her mouth, savoring the starchy taste of potatoes as she chewed and ignoring the stinging burn on her tongue. She picked up a piece of bread and dunked it into the broth of the stew, soaking up the flavors with a groan of satisfaction. Apparently, meeting with the Goddess of Death gave her an appetite.
“You wouldn’t do that, though,” Ethel said. “There is no guarantee she wouldn’t just find another way to come back.”
Thea chewed her guilt away, keeping her mouth full of stew. Arguing with Ethel about the morality of the situation wouldn’t get them anywhere. As a queen, she wondered if sacrificing herself to save her people would be noble. Her mother had sacrificed herself to make sure Thea lived, but Thea supposed even that hadn’t changed things—so maybe Ethel was right. Fate had control of this, whether or not they liked it.
The question was whether the Goddesses controlled fate, or something else did.
“You said Kieran’s name while you were under that spell, or whatever it was,” Ethel whispered. Thea saw Jami land a few yards away—she’d been right about his scouting the skies.
To Thea, it didn’t matter if people knew she had a soulmate, especially now that he’d chosen to leave, but Ethel and Iris had claimed Kieran would become a target of attack if people knew. Just like her father had used him.
She swallowed her last bite of bread and said, “I thought I heard him… before I saw Morrigan. I was drowning in black magic, trying to fight my way out, and I swear I heard him screaming for her to leave me alone.”
The muscles in her back tightened, and she lowered her eyes, knowing she’d probably only imagined it. It seemed impossible that he could have been there—let alone that he would try to protect her.
“I think I’m just a little unstable,” she added. The corners of Ethel’s lips pulled down into a frown.
“I’m sorry the High Council is making you go through all of this,” she said. “I know you don’t plan on actually doing it, but it still isn’t fair.”
Thea didn’t need to ask Ethel to clarify what she was referring to, but she also didn’t feel like discussing it.
“I don’t think fair is part of my job description,” Thea said with a shrug of her tense shoulders. “Everyone just seems to want something from me. When I first arrived, everyone wanted me to stop my father. Now, everyone wants me to stop the Goddess of Death, who’s just tried to recruit me. And then there is the council who wants me to pick the Queen’s Guard and put off my coronation until I marry a stranger…”
“And then there is Kieran,” Ethel murmured.
“And then there is Kieran,” Thea agreed. “Who wants nothing to do with me at all.”
Her ranting turned into a heavy sigh, and she leaned her head against Ethel’s shoulder, yawning.
“You must be exhausted,” Ethel said, but Thea didn’t know if she meant from her ordeal with Morrigan or the journey. Either way, it was the truth.
“I am, but I won’t sleep after that.” A slight tremble rumbled beneath Thea’s skin at even the thought of sleeping and falling into another nightmare.
No, she would stay awake until someone explained to her how to make sure no one else popped into her head uninvited.
“You should get some rest though,” Thea said as Ethel tried to hide a yawn of her own. “I promise I will be okay. I told Derek I’d tell him what was going on. So I can’t just go to bed, anyway.”
Thea didn’t plan on sleeping even after she told the others what had happened, but she didn’t need to tell Ethel that. The younger girl would probably never go to bed if she did.
“Are you sure?” she asked with hesitation.
“Positive,” Thea replied. “Here they come now.”
Thea angled her head at the rest of their companions, who were approaching now. Derek appeared to be filling Jami in on the fact that Thea seemed to be fine, but they were all staring at her in a way that made her want to disappear with Ethel into the tent.
“Okay,” Ethel said, looking defeated. She stood, stretched, and headed for her tent with one last glance at Thea before disappearing.
“Ready to talk?” Thea asked the boys as they approached, looking from one concerned face to the next. Mica took the spot nearest to her and the rest sat around the fire.
Their silence indicated that they were waiting for her to talk, but Thea had to gather her thoughts. It wouldn’t be easy to explain all of this, and she still couldn’t tell them everything, but she had to start somewhere. So she started with the easiest piece of news she could think of.
“The Goddess of Death is getting stronger.”
Kieran rolled out of bed, landing on the hardwood floor with a loud thump.
“Dammit,” he cursed, rubbing his aching wings where they folded beneath his knees. The buzz in his head was a mixture of too much alcohol and whatever magic had transported him, but Goddess-be-damned if he would let that stop him from getting himself straight again. He blinked at the harsh sunlight blinding him from the single window in the room and then noticed the figure sitting on the end of his bed. The realization that he wasn’t alone sent his hand flying for his sword, which was halfway across the room and far out of his reach.
“Relax,” Amara said, coming into focus as he exhaled a relieved breath. “If I wanted you dead, I’d have killed you while you slept like a baby. What kind of soldier are you? You didn’t even hear me come into the room.”
She raised an eyebrow at him as he bared his teeth. He wasn’t in the mood for the bickering this morning, or afternoon, or whatever time of day it was.
“Thea is in trouble,” he said, ignoring her jabs at his abilities as a soldier and meeting her eyes. The mocking smile on her face disappeared.
“How do you know that?” she asked.
“I just do.” He pushed himself up from the ground, ignoring the pain in his head. “I need to find her.”
“Slow down.” Amara held up her hands and motioned him back to the bed. “You look worse than the merrow, and they are nasty creatures, so that is saying something.”
A low growl vibrated from his chest. “I don’t have time for this, Amara. Your sister is in danger.”
“I heard you the first time, cousin, but you’re in no shape to fly right now.” She placed a hand on each side of his face, turning him to look at her, and frowned. “What the hell happened to you?”
The world had been spinning since he’d woken up, but it righted itself now, just for a moment, so that he could look at her without wanting to puke. She was right; there was no way he could fly, and it wasn’t because he’d had too much ale. Something else was wrong with him.
“Morrigan,” he said in an exhale. “Morrigan said…”
He didn’t want to repeat what she’d said, but the words crept down his spine one vertebra at a time.
I taste darkness on you.
“You saw Morrigan?” Amara’s face had gone ghostly pale as she stared at Kieran. “How? When?”
“I told you. Thea is in trouble. Somehow I knew, and then I was there. Morrigan attacked her. Or something, I don’t know. I don’t think she was trying to hurt her, but I saw Thea fall from the sky.”
“I’m sorry, WHAT?” Amara looked like Kieran felt. As if none of this made sense.
How had he seen Thea? How had he been able to talk to Morrigan? He knew it had to have something to do with the fact that he and Thea were soulmates—Morrigan had said as much—but that didn’t explain the rest. That didn’t explain what the Goddess had told him.
“Find her, Amara. I need to know she’s okay.”
Kieran’s face slackened as he looked at his cousin with pleading exhaustion. No matter how much he needed to go after Thea, he
didn’t have the energy to do it. The magic had drained him.
“How am I even supposed to do that?” she asked, glaring. “She’s going to be surrounded by guards who won’t let me near her.”
“She’s your SISTER. Don’t you care at all?” Kieran snapped. The words were not kind, but he didn’t care. His mind was racing with the possibility that something might have happened to Thea.
You would know, he told himself. If Thea were gravely injured, he’d feel it. For now, that small reassurance had to be enough.
“I also care about my own life!” Amara growled, but she was heading toward the door, taking his sword with her. “If I’m not back soon, my death is your fault.”
And as the world around him began to fade, Kieran smiled at his cousin, grateful to know at least some good existed in her.
Chapter 8
“You should have told us this before we left Ivandor,” Jami growled as Thea finished explaining her connection with Morrigan to them. She left out the part about Ainé possibly being dead, not wanting to panic them about any more than was necessary.
“Why?” Thea asked, watching Jami pace on the opposite side of the fire. “Would it really have changed anything? Either you would have told the council and they wouldn’t have allowed me to leave the castle, or Morrigan would have gotten into my head anyway.”
“They asked me to teach you,” Jami said, looking downcast into the flames. The shadows danced across his grim face. “That was the entire reason they picked me for this mission.”
Derek and the others were silent. Mica seemed alarmed at the recent information he’d received, but calm. Whatever questions he had, he seemed to be saving for when he and Thea were alone.
“What?” Thea asked, trying to keep her voice level as she stared at him. “Look at me.”
The last three words were full of command, and his head snapped up to attention. His eyes were wary and scared, which almost made her gaze soften. She didn’t want people to fear her, although others had told her it would be necessary. She wanted them to trust her, but trust went both ways.
