Dark Fae (20 page)

She smiled. “Be safe, Quinn. Keep following your heart. It hasn’t led you wrong, not once.” She bent and kissed me on each cheek. “Tell Darcy,” her voice caught and she put a hand to her lips. “Tell her that I love her and I want her to be happy. And that I’m sorry.”

I blinked and when I opened my eyes, it was Ashling in front of me, tears streaming down her face.

“Hey
,”
I said, my throat dry.

“Quinn, I thought
you were gone!
” She collapsed on me and I wrapped my arms around her.

It’s okay now. It’s all done.
I said softly in her mind.
You saved me.

“I didn’t
.
I
t was him.” She pointed to a
slumped-
over Don, his body still in death. One
of his
palm
s
faced
upwards,
showing
the faded image of the cauldron etched into it. I
knew he hadn’t been able to save his Mary, but
now he
had
saved me.
I hoped that he was with her now, that they’d been re-united.

“How did you know that it would work?”
she
whispered in my ear. “How did you know you could break the spell and heal me and it would all work out okay?”

I let out a laugh and sat up. “I didn’t
, I didn’t know anything of the sort
.”

Her eyelids fluttered and her mouth dr
opped open. “But then, why?
”

“I couldn’t do it, not even for the world could I be the one to take your life.” I ran a hand over her
head, brushing against her shorn hair
. “And I trusted that you would fight for me as hard as I fought for you.”

She burst into tears anew and buried her head into my shoulder.
“I couldn’t give up on you either.”

“Then why are you crying?” I asked, setting her back from me. “Chaos is gone, you’re here, I’m here, what in the world could possibly be wrong?”

“What if something else happens?”
she
asked, wiping the tears away. “Do you really think that will be the last evil the world will face?”

I let out a sigh. “No, but I think we can take a break from it all, at least for the weekend. Don’t you? Maybe we could go take those surf lessons. Someone did promise us a free lesson, didn’t he?”

We turned to look at Luke, whose eyebrows were in his hairline. He lifted his hands up in mock surrender. “You’re right, I did promise you lessons.”

A hand on my shoulder turned my head. Bres smiled down at us. “You did it
, Quinn
.” I put my hand over his.

“No, love conquered, just the way it should
.”

The next week was a flurry of activity. Ashling retained her spot as leader of the Fomorii.
Gormley
had been killed by Bres after she’d tossed me into the thron
e
.

It was a hard adjustment for all of them
,
Ashling learning to lead and the Fomorii getting used to a leader who wasn’t after power
, but instead truly cared about their well
-
being
.

Nuadha stepped down as leader of the Tuatha and Luke stepped into his rightful position.
The Council backed Luke completely, giving him the support he needed. He appointed Bres to the Council
,
which
both
surprised and pleased me. They
may
not ever be fast friends, but they worked well together
when they had a common goal
.

Lir hadn’t been able to rouse any of the old gods, so he’d
decided to
continue trying to wake them, to make them an active part of the world. Though he’d forgiven me for killing my brother, he’d left shortly after with no promise to return. That had hurt. I’d thought for a brief time
that
I’d finally have some semblance of a family.
Slowly, however,
I realized that I
already
did. Ashling and the boys were all I needed.

I barely saw
Luke t
hat week
. He spent
many hours drafting up an accord with Ashling
, one that would bind the Tuatha and Fomorii together
,
and one that would allow them to come out to the humans. I still wasn’t sure that was a good idea, but it wasn’t up to me
.

Of course,
all
t
hat was after our surf lessons
,
which were spent more in the water than on the boards.
It had been a good day, our laughter chasing away the last of the darkness we’d faced.

I passed on Cora’s message to
Darcy
, and she
left to be with Wil. She
’d
cried and hugged me
, then did the same for Ashling. Ashling forgave her without a second thought
, as I knew she would
. They promised to stay in touch.
I did not, but I held no ill will
for
my mother. How could I
,
knowing the truth?

The morn
ing of the eighth day Luke woke me early for a walk with him. I slipped into a calf length dress that floated on the ocean breeze and tied my hair into a loose bun.

“We haven’t had a chance to talk all week
,” he
said.

“I know, but you’re busy and I don’t really fit in here anymore.”

He frowned.
“Don’t say that.”

I shrugged, bent
,
and picked up a sand dollar, turning the slightly fuzzy disc in my hand. “It’s the truth
.
I burnt out my powers bringing Ashling back. I’m pretty much a human with some interesting genetics.”

Silence hovered between us, awkward and uncomfortable.
Nothing was the way I’d thought it was going to be. Every day that passed, I could feel him drawing further away from me. It hurt, but deep down, I wasn’t surprised. The Council had released the original prophecy that Nuadha had
suppressed
. It said nothing about the Shining One being with the Chosen one. Only that there would be a union to bind the Fomorii and Tuatha together.

I think it rocked him, realizing that he didn’t
have
to be with me. That it wasn’t pre-ordained.
That what he’d started to feel for someone else was not only okay, but allowed.

We headed towards the water, taking advantage of the fact that the tide was out. “We need to talk about
...
things
,”
Luke said.

As we walked
,
I turned the dream I’d had the night before over in
my mind.
It came easily.
Luke and Ashling.

Was this the start of my time as my mother’s successor? It hurt me far less than I would have thought, but it was only because I loved them both and could see that he would make her happy, that he would treat her like the princess she was.
Not to mention, the signs had been there when I looked back.

I held my hand out to him. “It’s okay. I know.”

He blinked several times. “I do love you, but . . .”

“It’s not like we were led to believe
,”
I said. He shook his head.
I thought about the moment that I’d been able to speak mind to mind with him. Cora had told me, when I’d first met her
,
that to speak mind to mind required either shared blood or love. I did love Luke, just not the way that I loved Bres
, but maybe it was more that he was important to me and he needed to hear me in those moments. Maybe the rules were bent just a little so that we could survive
.
A tug across my shoulders, like the ghost of Cora tightening around me gave an affirmation to that thought. Yes, rules were made to be broken
,
even that one it would seem.

“
I have to tell you,
something
happened, while I was
floating between life and death
. Ashling came to me; stayed by my side
,”
he
said
, a frown creasing his brow
.
“She told me stories about her childhood, about her and you. I think that she was trying to tell me all the reasons that you were amazing, but all I could see were all the reasons that she was amazing.”
His frown deepened and I didn’t understand why at first. “
And then she kept coming to visit me, whenever I slept. One night,
I got a glimpse of her most recent memories. With Card.”

My jaw tightened, but before I could say anything, Luke went on. “All I could think about was how much I’d wished it had been me to finish him off, how much I wanted to protect Ashling and how much she needed me.” He turned to face me. “You never really needed me, Quinn. I wanted you to, but you didn’t ever need me.”

I smiled
, though my heart ached
,
he was right. He’d wanted to be my white knight, and that had never been the case. Nor had I wanted it to be. “I
f you hurt her, I will break you in half like a twig.” I made snapping motion with my hands.

He laughed and the awkwardness dispelled. Far down the beach, standing on the rocks
,
was Bres
.
Luke nodded towards his at-times rival
. “Besides, I don’t think it’s fair that I keep both of you. Seems a little selfish, don’t you think?”

Luke
hugged me and kissed my forehead. “I guess I
’d
better get used to calling you sis
then
, huh?”

I smiled, “Yeah, though I should warn you that being part of the family is not all it’s cracked up to be.”

“I think I can manage.” He let me go with a wave
,
and jogged back the way we’d come.

Heading towards Bres, I thought of all that we’d been through, all that we’d seen and done. It was a lifetime of trust and love crammed into a short space of time. Which made it all the more precious. But I was worried.

T
he Council
,
a
ll of them except for Bres,
had
insisted that I was not worthy of being bound to the Tuatha de Daanan leader without my powers
. I didn’t think that had anything to do with Luke’s decision, but it worried me. Would it matter to Bres that I no longer had any abilities?

Bres walked towards me. “Hello beautiful,
did
I see you speaking to our might
y
leader?” His mouth twitched and that sparkle in his eyes was back
—the
one that said he was ready to stir up some trouble.

“Only to let him know that if he hurt Ashling I would snap him like a twig
,”
I said, trying to keep my tone light.

He spluttered, “Wait, what? He can’t have you both!”

I laughed, clutching my stomach. “Oh my God, Bres, he was telling me that he didn’t love me, not like he wanted to. Ashling
is
the rest of the prophecy
;
he’s being drawn to her
,
and vice versa
. He can’t fight it
, nor do I think that either of them
really
want to fight
what’s happening between them
.
” I found myself repeating the prophecy, the version that Aednat had known, the o
ne that seemed to stick with me, the one the Council had released.

“
The line of the snake will bring forth a saving light at the darkest hour. Binding all the realms as one
. H
er sword will strike down the evil that haunts the land and she shall lead the Fae to victory. Filled with power, her heart will remain pure. Through a union, peace shall reign and the world will know the Fae for all that they are
,
and her sword will forever be at her side.”

I tossed the sand dollar I still held into the surf. “It makes sense. It was my sword,
Carnwennan
that struck down Chaos, and all the Fae were victorious, not just the Tuatha. The union doesn’t say anything about me or Luke.”

Bres frowned. “
Luke turning you away
has nothing to do with you not being able to defend ta realm?”

Twisting my hands into his
,
I gave a half shrug. “Does it matter if I
don’t
have any power?”