changeling chronicles 03 - faerie realm (30 page)

Vance. My heart lifted at the sight of him stalking towards me, even though he didn’t look happy. Oh, boy.

“Problem solved,” I said, with a false attempt at bravado. I needed to figure out what in the hell to do with these swords.

Vance didn’t say a word. He just walked up to me and hugged me, hardly seeming to observe the two swords. Only now did I notice the silence. Magic had kept up a constant humming noise in my ears ever since I’d first used it against the Lady. Not anymore. This realm was quiet, void of the tremor of magical energy.

I said nothing. Just hugged him back.

Vance released me. “The beast. What did you do?”

“Sealed it in the Grey Vale. I’ll tell you about it later, but we need to get this talisman somewhere safe before anyone realises what it is.”

“The council can wait. They’ll have to go through me.” His eyes narrowed at the sword. “Don’t keep it with you. I’ll seal it in our stores.” In response to my raised eyebrow, he said, “Nobody’s ever broken into the Invocation chamber. It’s not possible.”

True. The inner chamber was more secure than my flat. And I’d rather not have a deadly object like that inside the mages’ manor, either.

“The others. Wanda. Did she make it?”

“Drake told me she’s alive.”

I released a breath. “Thank god. It looked bad.”

“We’ll check on her once the talisman’s sealed. I’d rather the shifters didn’t know about it.”

“Good point.”

Vance transported us directly inside the mages’ store building, right by the door into the room where the Invocations and various other dangerous magical objects were sealed. I was all too happy to let go of the talisman when Vance took it, eyeing the other sword in my hand.

“I can take care of this one,” I said, running a hand over the hilt. I hadn’t had chance to look close, but the edge was engraved with unfamiliar symbols. A shiver ran down my back and the glyphs wavered, as though on the brink of revealing their meaning. I turned back to Vance. “The sword goes where I do. Suppose I should think of a name. I’ll ask…” Crap. “Isabel.” I scrambled for my phone.

Vance walked into the room with the talisman, while I skimmed through a dozen frantic messages from Isabel.
George is missing, Ivy. What’s happening?

Ivy???

Are you alive???

You’d better call me, Ivy.

The last message said,
oh god I saw a dragon. Tell me you’re not with it.

I sent her a quick message:
I’m okay. George is, too. Are you?

IVY. Tell me everything. I’ve had three phone calls telling me you and the mages were fighting that dragon and it
vanished.
Call me NOW.

I exhaled, leaning against the wall.
Wait at home. I’ll tell you everything. Have to deal with something urgent first. I promise I’ll come home.

“Isabel’s okay,” I said to Vance. “Where’s George?”

“With his family,” he said, sealing the door to the Invocation chamber. His phone appeared in his hand. “No news from Drake. We should head back.”

We landed in the middle of the field, beside the giant hole. The air above it was no longer shimmering, and the cloudiness had cleared. Easily a hundred shifters crowded around a small group of mages. Others were scattered throughout the field. My heart plummeted at the sight of at least twenty unmoving bodies. Shifters, back in human form.

Vance swept amongst the crowd towards a redheaded man leaning over a pale woman.

“Wanda,” he said.

“She’s alive.” Drake deactivated a healing spell in a rush of blue light. “She’s okay.”

My heart plummeted. “A shifter… no. It can’t be passed on that way, can it?”

“No,” said Vance, and I breathed out. “Get a high-strength healing spell on her, then take her back to the manor.”

Several of the other injured had already been carried off. As Mage Lord, Vance was meant to stay behind, but I could tell he wanted to intervene and make sure everyone got the attention they needed.

“Three mages seriously injured,” he muttered to himself. “Sixteen shifter deaths, all caused by other shifters. No doubt they’ll try to blame the mages either way.”

“The two who attacked me…”

“Dead,” said Vance. “You killed them both.”

“Yeah.” Everything had happened so fast. The Lady was dead, too, and even that was of little comfort to me. Another battle had claimed lives and ruined others. “Hope Wanda… I hope she’ll be okay.”

“So do I.” Vance stood still, hands clenched at his sides. “I’m glad the shifter curse can’t be passed on through blood.”

“Are you… are you feeling okay?” He hadn’t shifted, but everyone was shaken up by the fight.

“I didn’t try and fight a dragon,” he said softly. “What were you thinking? Wait, don’t answer that.”

“It’s done.” I glanced at the new blade sheathed where Irene had once been. “I sealed it away.”

“Good. This isn’t a curse anyone else should have to suffer.”

I blinked. “Curse? You aren’t cursed.”

“You saw the creature that shares my blood.” He paused. “It’s said the Sidhe unleashed it on humans as a punishment.”

“Who says that? The mages?” I crossed my arms. “Please. If shifters are cursed, then so’s every half-blood. Every faerie. Hell, even necromancers. I’ll bet some of
them
think they’re cursed after so many people have tried to break the veil.”

“I don’t doubt it,” said Vance darkly. “As to Lord Evander, we need to speak with him. If he doesn’t already know one of his Guardians was aware of the Lady of the Tree and her plan, he will now. They need half-decent leadership, and they need to stop picking fights.”

“They’ll start hosting parties in the crypt before they apologise to me,” I said.

The sound of several vehicles cut through the general noise.

“Speak of the devil,” Vance muttered.

Oh, boy. Those weren’t mages. The black-clad figures emerging from the cars at the field’s side weren’t people I recognised. Except for one, a short man wearing a suit and a scowl.

“All right,” I said. “Let’s get this over with.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

The impromptu ‘meeting’ between shifters, mages and necromancers lasted all of five minutes before the shifters started yelling at the mages again. Vance went to talk to the council, leaving me with Lord Evander. His eyes remained glued to the sword in my hands. I guess it
did
look impressive.

“I’d introduce you, but I haven’t named her yet,” I said.

“Ivy Lane,” said Lord Evander. “I’d have thought almost dying would have taught you some humility.”

“I trapped a god,” I said. “This is as humble as I get. Speaking of, thanks for the help.”

“Enough,” said the necromancer. “I don’t have to stand here and listen to you.”

“You came here for a reason.”

“To see what damage you wrought on the veil this time.”

“I
repaired
the damage,” I said. “Using a form of necromancy to cross realms. You must have felt it. If not, ask old Frank.”

Lord Evander’s face paled. “What?”

“Frank. Your old buddy. We’re friends. He helped me out while you turned a blind eye.”
He also doesn’t like you.

Shaking with fury, Lord Evander turned his back. “I won’t listen to any more of this.”

“You’ll meet with us later,” said Vance, appearing behind me. “And we’ll discuss the future of your arrangement with the Mage Guild.”

“I won’t be ordered—”

I pointed my sword at him. “Listen to me, if you won’t listen to the Mage Lord. I can do magic with this which would make your rogue undead look like cuddly bunnies. Trust me.”

He flinched. I lowered the weapon and turned away to join Vance.

“The god wasn’t dead,” said Vance, once we’d left the necromancers behind. “It was never dead, only sleeping. I suspect the necromancers had a hand in its burial. They once used iron to bind the dead. Maybe that’s the reason.”

I stared. “What?” Lord Evander
had
said the guild’s headquarters was sealed in iron because of an old superstition. But had they really been involved with the Sidhe so long ago?

“That’s why I wanted to repair our arrangement with them,” said Vance. “Lord Evander might be a fool, but his guild contains power we might need for our survival.”

“Yeah,” I murmured.

“We’ll talk about it later,” said Vance.

***

‘Later’ took a long time to come. First, the mages and shifters had to sort out their differences, but it was plain that the shifters once again blamed the Mage Lords for not being able to prevent their kin from attacking one another. Others blamed the half-bloods, but Vance cut in and said they weren’t at fault for what the Lady did.

The necromancers hung around being creepy for a bit, then sloped off back to the guild. Vance, after giving orders to the various groups of mages, set his attention on his uncle. Wyatt stood with his wife and Anabel, staring across the pit. Even if their house was intact, they couldn’t live there anymore. Not with the giant hole on the doorstep.

“You,” said Wyatt, approaching us.

“Uncle,” said Vance, his voice flat.

“Once again, you endangered my family.”

“Who dug a hole in the ground?” I interjected before I could stop myself.

Wyatt’s eyes swung around to my sword. I’d taken to carrying it in plain view. It seemed to shut most of the idiots up.

“I was being manipulated. So was Anabel.”

“Welcome to the club,” I said. “All of us were manipulated. You’re lucky to be alive.”

“No thanks to you.” He directed this at both Vance and me. “Your position makes me a target.”

Uh, no. Your shifter blood does.
But that wasn’t fair to Anabel. Vance himself had nearly fallen prey to it.

“Faeries are evil little shits,” I said. “But we can beat them. If you’re not on our side, you can’t blame us if they decide to attack you again. You’ve made your whole family into targets.”

His eyes flashed a dangerous grey colour reminiscent of Vance’s eyes… and the beast that gave him his blood. I wondered if shouting an Invocation in his face would put
him
into an endless sleep.

“She’s right,” said Vance. “The Mage Guild would be happy to provide you with new accommodation in a location of your choosing, warded against faeries and all other dangers.”

“I won’t bow to the Mage Lords.”

“Not for your daughter’s life?” I asked. “They targeted her, too, you selfish bastard. Think before you make other people’s decisions for them.”

Rita, who’d been silent the whole time, said, “We’ll accept your offer.”

Wyatt turned to her. “What? I make the decisions—”

“Then you can stay behind.” I gave him my sweetest smile, letting the tiniest bit of magic ignite the blade in my hands.

He managed not to flinch, I’ll give him that.

“I’ll choose where,” he said, through clenched teeth, and stalked off.

“That went well.”

Vance shook his head. “The fool. He’ll come around, grudgingly accept the offer, then blame us for something else in a month.”

“Dick,” I said.

Vance grunted in agreement. I scanned the other shifters, spotting Henry, Susie and George leaving the field together. By now, most of the mages had peeled away from the group, while the shifters carried away their fallen companions.

Henry saw me and stopped. His eyes narrowed at the Mage Lord, and he slowly approached us. Before Vance could step in, I moved in front of him and went to meet Henry halfway.

“We’re moving,” he said bluntly. “I think it’s best we don’t live upstairs anymore.”

“Oh. Okay.” His decision made sense, and after the dead body showed up on the lawn, it was probably a matter of time. “It’s your choice.”

“Are you mocking me?”

“Not in the slightest. I’m tired.” I paused. “Were you aware that the first shifters likely came from Faerie?”

“What?” Shock flashed across his face. “No.”

“Well. They probably did. I’d tell your friends that, if they’re considering stirring up trouble on half-blood territory again.”

My blade flashed. His eyes widened, and he cast a protective glance at his wife and son. Then he walked away.

“What will you do now?” Vance asked me.

I shrugged. “Go home. Talk to Isabel. Figure out how we’re going to get new neighbours. We can’t mention the corpse on the lawn in our ad.”

“Or you could turn it into an office,” said Vance. “For your freelance business.”

“What? Where in hell would I get the cash to… no. Absolutely not.” I turned to give him a glare.

“Why not?”

“Because I owe you entirely too much already.”

“You don’t owe me anything,” said Vance.

“Hello? You got me a job, you’re the reason I’m not out on the streets now…”

“You did most of it yourself. Besides saving the world as we know it.” He half-smiled. “I’ll let you think about the offer. We can come to an arrangement.”

“See what the landlord says,” I said. “We’ve already had a dead body on the lawn and thorns in the road.”

“Speaking of which,” said Vance, “is she dead for sure?”

“Positively dead,” I said. “She was pure faerie. No cheating death.”

“Good.” He looked around. “Chieftain Taive hasn’t deigned to show his face.”

“Figures. We’ll talk to him later.” I looked around. “He’ll be thrilled to know I killed another faerie with a Sidhe lord’s power. Might even give me a medal this time.”

Just as long as thorns weren’t involved.

***

“Impossible,” said the Chief from across the clearing.

I’d been hearing that a lot lately.

“Nope.” I swung my sword, ‘accidentally’ brushing the front of his armoured coat. “This is the real deal. According to your rules, I’m equal to a Sidhe now.”