Dark Fae (3 page)

Bres bumped up against me. “Call to Ashling.”

I tipped my head up to look at him. “What?”

“Call her, see if you can get her to respond.
There’s a small chance
s
he’s
still in there.” He made a slight motion with one hand and the Banshees around us growled.

My heart thumped, pain coursing through it instead of blood, of that I was certain. “And if she can’t hear me?”

Bres lowered his head, a single tear dripping from one eye. “Then I’ll help you kill her.”

My throat tightened to the point of
closing off the words that wanted to spill up and out.
My f
ingers curled around mine and Bres
tried to
pull me into a half hug
, but I
jerked
away
.

“I tried to stop them, Quinn. But I wasn’t strong enough on my own.”
Bres’ voice broke on the last word.

I
didn’t bother
to hide the tears that slid down my cheeks. He’d tried to protect her, even from me, and I couldn’t fault him for that
, much as I wanted to
.
His actions towards me didn’t mean he didn’t love Ashling.
Taking a deep breath
,
I nodded
acknowledgement
.

With the Banshees following in a loose semi-circle, we made our way back into the bower. Chaos had pulled back from the mirror. Hand on her hips, she tapped her foot while glowering at
Fianna
. “Answer me Banshee.”

Fianna
lifted her head, but it was me who spoke first. “Ashling
! If
you
’
re still in there
,
y
ou’ve
got to fight with everything you have
,
you’ve got to fight!” I wanted to lay my hands on the mirror and pull her through, shake her
‘
till Chaos was thrown out.

Adrenaline raced through me but there was nothing physical I could do. I couldn’t fight this part for her
.
I couldn’t even try to rescue her
;
I had no idea if it was even possible
. “Ash, please, try.” I whispered.
She was stronger than me
,
fearless in everything she did
.
I hoped that it would be enough
,
that the strength of Ashling’s heart would help her fight off Chaos.

Nothing happened
.
T
here was no change in Chaos’ eye, no glimmer of the little sister I’d tried to protect at all costs. I’d hoped that Bres had been right, that there was some small piece of Ashling left
,
that we could help her be free of the evil that had taken over her body.

Chaos threw back her head and laughed, the sound ripping through the air with a force that caused me to stumble to one knee. “You think to call your little sister? Ha, she buckled under me in minutes.
But go ahead, call her.
”
She winked at me
.
I shook my head. There was
nothing I could do or say to bring Ashling back
,
and it killed me to admit that even to myself. I dug my hands into the mossy ground, the cold damp earth grounding me.

It is all you can do, Quinn. You must let her go. Her soul will move on, when she finally gives up fighting Chaos.
Cora’s words didn’t exactly soothe me.

Chaos snorted and waved at us. “Kill them or die you
rself. If you do not do as I ask, I will sink this
i
sland, just like the last place that defied me, Queen.
”
S
he
sn
arled the last wo
rd.

Fianna
drew herself up. “I do not believ
e that you will honour what you say you will do
. So, I will stand by the one
who
was chosen to defeat you long ago.”
Relief coursed through me
.
A
t least we hadn’t lost our one a
l
ly.

Fianna
clapped her hands and the mirror began to shrink. Chaos flipped her head back and bared her teeth at us. “So be it
.
” She paused and her eyes narrowed, but it was me she stared down, not
Fianna
. “
Y
ou will regret this moment
;
I will make you wish the Banshees had finished you off
.”

In a blinding flash of light the mirror exploded, shard
s
flying every which way. Bres tackled me to the ground, a Barrier springing up around us
. The ringing of gla
ss bouncing off the Barrier would have been almost pretty if it weren’t for the fact that it was interspersed with the cries of the Banshees around us.

I made a move to get up, but Bres held me to the ground. “Let the last of ta shards fall.”

My face was buried in his neck, his hair tickling my nose and I made a mistake of taking a deep breath. Our bodies were flush against each other, held down by the Barrier, but that deep breath pushed us even closer together. My eyes flew to his as the violet iris
es
disappeared under the instant flush of heat, his pupils dilating with desire.
I tried to focus on what Luke had told me. Bres had used his Charm on me, which was why I was feeling this way. Knowing that didn’t really help as much as I’d hoped.

“Off
,
”
I said, scrambling to push him off.
“Get off me.”
All I
succeeded
in was tangling our limbs more as I rolled us so that I was on top. Nope, that was not better. “
Bres, let the
Barrier
down
!”

His
Adams
apple dipped
,
and he gave a nod. The Barrier dropped
,
and I leapt off him. Everywhere he’d touched me was
as
if I’d been scorched
,
my skin tingled
,
the intensity of that brief contact
cutting
straight through me.

“Damn it
,
”
I muttered to myself.

Shake it off, Quinn. It was only a moment.

The last thing I need right now, Cora, is to have you make comments about awkward moments
,
I
thought
back
at her
.

That wasn’t awkward
.
T
hat was unresolved passion.

My eyes popped open wide and I couldn’t stop the gasp that slipped out past my lips.

You can try to deny it, but it was there from the beginning. Luke loves you, of course, but
...

“Shut up!
”
I shouted and the world around me went still.
Fianna
stared at me, her eyebrows lifted, a cut dripping blood down the side of her face. The rest of the Banshees froze and I didn’t dare turn to look at Bres.

“Quinn, do you be alright?” Bres asked, his brogue rolling over me, reminding me how good it felt to be up against his hard body.

I ignored him
;
it was the only thing I could do.
To Cora I add
ed
,
That was Charm, nothing else!
I closed her out of my thoughts and turned back to the Queen.
“Fianna, you were going to take us somewhere.”

Her eyebrows were still high, but she placed her hands together and gave me a nod. “Of course. It is deep in the forest
;
we will speak as we walk.”

Raising one elegant hand, she beckoned for us, Bres and I to follow her. I jogged to catch up to her, making sure to keep Bres out of my line of vision.

“Can we go faster?” I asked, thinking of Luke, lying there, his life slipping away from him.

Fianna paused. “If you wish to go faster we can, but you will not be prepared to face the choice if you are taken there too swiftly.”

Bres walked a few steps behind us, and while he hadn’t said a word, every part of me was aware of him. Damn it, this was the last thing I needed right now.

I grit my teeth. I was meant to be with Luke, that’s what the prophecy said and so far, the bloody thing had been right. Just because I was attracted to Bres did not mean I loved him.

I had to help Luke
;
there was no other choice. If I couldn’t save even a single person, how would I save the whole world? Admitting I was afraid was
not an option anymore, not with the number of people
who
were depending on me to somehow
find a way to kill
Chaos. So what choice was there? I felt that Luke was needed
.
T
he prophecy said he was to be at my side, or at least one version of the prophecy said he was to be at my side. This was a side journey I had to take, no matter what anyone else thought.

Fianna paused at the edge of a tree line I hadn’t even noticed. “Here begins the swamp
.
I
t is deep within this that we will find out if your destiny brings you here, or some foolish desire to save one who is meant to die.”

Before I could come up with any snappy response, she continued to speak, stepping into the swamp and sinking up over her knees.

“What you seek is the Cauldron. It is the one relic of the past that can save your Luke. Within it is the power to heal all wounds, and at one time,
it could
even
bring back the dead
.”

I sloshed into the swamp, the tepid water and murk hiding
g
od
s
only knew what. “If that’s true, why hasn’t it been found already?”

It was Bres who answered me. “Because it is hidden, not only by conventional means, but by your own heart.”

That didn’t make any sense. Fianna half turned to look at us. “Bres speaks truly
.
Y
ou must be honest within your heart for the reasons you seek out the Cauldron. A single lie and you will disappear into the fog
of the gateways forever
.”

Her words didn’t really make sense, but before I could ask more, something shifted in the water ahead of us. Long, sinuous and fast.
Fianna lifted her hand,
and made an attempt to command the snake, but it
shot past her, right at me. In the brief seconds before it attacked,
all I could take in was the sheer size
,
and the diamond green and black pattern on the
two
-
foot
-
wide head.
This was
not
a natural predator here on the Island, not even close!

Knee deep, I didn’t have a lot of room to
maneuver
. Dagger out, I met the
open
-
fanged snake as it struck, lunging up at me, teeth dripping with venom.
The dagger caught the edge of its mouth and it hissed, curling back away from me its black eyes glittering.
A flash of gold in its irises and I knew what I was dealing with
—
my brother Card. It wasn’t the first time he’d attacked me via an animal.

“Quinn!” Bres shouted, charging forward
.
I didn’t have the luxury of waiting for him.

Again the snake struck
out at me
, and again I managed to dodge the bite that I had no doubt would prove to be far more painful than the sting of Cora’s fangs.

When it lifts its head to strike, the throat is exposed.

Cora’s words distracted me, and I stumbled back, the water sloshing over my body as a coil from the snake wrapped around my legs, jerking me down and under. Even though I knew I wouldn’t drown, something kept me from opening my mouth in the darkness that closed over my head.

Clawing at the coils, I slashed at them with my dagger, feeling the flesh part under the tip of my blade. A hand grabbed my hair and pulled me to my feet. “Already Chaos sends death our way.” Fianna said as she steadied me on my feet.

“Not Chaos.” I grunted. “Card!”

A shout and the heavy thunk of blade meeting flesh spun me around. Bres stood over the now lifeless body of the massive snake. Dripping wet, he turned just his head, sword gripped in his hand. “Are you al
l
right?”

“Yes.” That was about all I could manage. My mouth was dry, my heart pounding.