Demon Girl (26 page)

I raised my hands and let them fall to my
sides. He just couldn’t help himself. What I had done with Tomas
was none of their damned business. I refused to lower myself and
defend something that should not need defending. Yes, it was weird
and strange, but I was getting sick and tired of being discussed
and talked about as if I wasn’t even there.

I glared daggers at him.

“I belong to her,” Breandan said simply.

“And she you?”

“Now you all listen to me.” I took in a
breath and set my feet apart. “I won’t lie, I do care for Tomas
deeply. I don’t know why or how such a thing is possible and I do
not know how long it will last.” I walked up to Breandan and
pressed my fingers to his face. “I can’t promise I’ll love you
forever, because I honestly don’t know how I feel. You need to give
me time. I don’t know what will happen next, but I’ll never betray
you. If you trust me, I’ll trust you. Deal?”

His fingers curled around mine and held them
to him. Pulling me closer, he wrapped his arms around me and
crushed me to him.

“Do it,” he fired above my head.

“Breandan, I release you from you oath.”

There was a crack and Breandan staggered. I
held onto him, and fell with him as his knees gave out. Limbs
tangled we hit the floor hard. Air became a physical thing and
wrapped around my throat. It settled then faded. Breandan trembled
in my arms, head burrowed into my shoulder.

“Everybody get out,” I said. The fairies had
not moved they were still, shocked.

“Lochlann,” Conall said quietly.
“Please.”

The fairy-lord scowled at my brother then
turned on his heel and left. “Devlin, I wish to speak to you about
the human.”

Laying my head down I didn’t see them all
leave, but heard and felt it when we were finally alone.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I said.

“He was wrong.”

We were quiet for a long time, and I thought
hard on the reality of what was going to happen next. Breandan was
in a precarious position. He had broken away from his brother and
the Tribe, making him an outcast fairy. I had denied both Lochlann
and Devlin that made me an outcast too. Devlin knew I had the
amulets of power and wisdom, but Breandan and Lochlann had no
idea.

Gods, it was complicated.

There was something worrying me. The other
guardian must have been Conall, he had the amulet of protection,
but that was not the one Devlin had. Had the Tribe really managed
to steal it? Or did Breandan jump to conclusions again as it seemed
he was prone to do.

“Breandan, the amulet of protection, when did
it go missing?”

He snorted. “For all that has just happened,
that is your main concern?”

“Can’t you just answer the question?”

He sighed, rubbed his head against my arm.
“This morning. When I knew you needed me, I hid it so I wouldn’t
risk losing it. It was a place I’d hidden my secret things since
childhood.”

“How would a tribal fairy have found it
then?”

He shrugged. “Maybe they cast a spell or
followed me.”

It didn’t add up. I spoke my next words
carefully, mindful of his pride that could swell into something
nasty. “Don’t you think that’s not enough to base your whole theory
on?”

Breandan shifted to look into my face. His
eyes were sparkly and his cheeks had regained some colour. “You
know something,” he said. I nodded, and pulled the two amulet
pieces out from under my tee shirt. Breandan stared at them. “I
should probably be surprised, but I think the impossible will be
possible with you around. His forehead furrowed. “Wisdom and
power.” He touched the last empty place in the centre of the
amulet. “But where is the amulet of protection you took from
Devlin?”

“I took the amulet of power from Devlin.” I
shuddered at the memory of the power boiling my blood, and stroking
a darkness lurking beneath the core of who I was.

“Then where is the amulet of protection?”

“That’s why I think you were too hasty to
blame the Tribe. I don’t think Devlin has it.”

“Perhaps you are right, though I can think of
no one else who would have the inclination to take it. Its power
can only work for one fairy.”

We had waded into dangerous territory again.
It seemed all fairies believed they had a purpose, and I was slowly
coming to terms with what mine was, but I was not ready to openly
talk about it.

I traced the outline of one of his tattoos.
“Tell me what they mean.”

“We all have a purpose. Mine is to keep
order.”

I giggled. “Really? You’ve done nothing but
break the rules since you met me.”

He winced. “The tattoos signify my skills and
accomplishments. Some are for protection. Others guide me and help
me see the truth.” He paused thoughtfully, slid a considering look
my way that held an undercurrent of something else. “You have asked
me a question, now may I ask you one you will answer?”

Shifting on the floor that was quickly
growing cold, I curled into a ball at his side and thought about
it. For a while there was only the sound of our breathing and the
warmth of him. My eyes felt all droopy, and my mind slid into a
lazy sleep pattern.

“Well, that depends on the question,” I said
sleepily.

“Tomas.”

My lids slammed wide open. Breandan didn’t
sound angry, but mildly disgusted.

“A name is not a question, and I’ve already
explained this to you as best I can. Leave it alone.”

He snorted. “He will come back and I want you
to stay away from him.”

I hissed my disapproval. He ran a finger down
the bridge of my nose, over my lips. I kept my face set, refusing
to be distracted.

“He is vampire. It is not natural the way
they are. They bring death wherever they go,” he said with as much
heat as an ice cube.

I thought back to the strange urge I got when
I was around Tomas. It made me shudder. I could not deny he felt
unnatural to me, but it didn’t mean it was right. Breandan was
quiet for a long time, and eventually I knew he was not going to
speak again. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep right then
and there.

I dreamed I was dying. I watched my last
sunset and Breandan held me close. We raced were-cats through the
forest and the sun shined from within us. The moon rose and
Breandan handed me to Tomas, who cried tears of blood and showed me
dark things. He fed from me and called me his love.

It was the cold hand clamped over my mouth
and pulsing dark that woke me.

“Wake,” a voice whispered in my ear.

I peeked an eye open, remaining still. I kept
my breathing even and glanced at Breandan’s face. Eyes closed and
brow relaxed his breath came steady and even. I blinked up at
Tomas. Had my dream called him to me? He took his hand away from my
mouth and pressed a finger to his lips, then looked at Breandan. I
got the message loud and clear. Stay quiet. I carefully shifted
away from Breandan, rolling to my hands and knees I crawled
backwards.

I stood up and smiled at my vampire-boy. I
was happy to see him. Tomas led me out of the tent, and I shivered
in the cold. It was quiet and everyone was sleeping, as you
generally do in the middle of the night. Tomas took my hand and led
me away into the trees. I tugged on his hand to get him to stop
when I realized he was not going to.

“What are you doing here,” I said in a low
voice. “I thought you’d gone back to your nest.”

“I followed you.”

My heart rolled over in my chest. “Why? I
mean, do you have something else to say?”

“Trouble comes.”

“What kind?” I asked sharply. “The kind where
I get beat up or the kind where I die?”

“In the last few hours the fairies have been
negotiating the release of a human-girl. The ones that follow the
white haired fairy have taken a human from the Temple. They are
trying to trade her for him. The one they call Lochlann, has
refused and it is only a matter of time before they attack.”

“When did this happen?”

“As you, and the fairy who was supposed to be
protecting you, slept. The night is fading, but we can be far away
before sunrise.”

I didn’t respond. It took me moments to make
up my mind, but considerably longer to work up the courage to say
it out loud. I couldn’t go. I felt a responsibility to stay and
help the human if I could.

Tomas read the look on my face. “Now is not
the time to be selfless. This will vicious.”

“We can tell Breandan. He can help.”

“He won’t go against his brother and you know
it.” He took my hand again. “Now we leave.”

“But I– How– It doesn’t make any sense. Why
would the tribal fairies think stealing a human would influence
Lochlann in anyway?”

Conall stepped out of the shadows, his mane
of hair wild and bristling. His breathing was hard and he hummed
with tension.

I thought I could smell his fear.

“Because they hoped your connection with his
brother would sway his mind.” His chest had a shallow gash from his
breastbone to the opposite end of his ribcage.

“You’re hurt,” I pointed at the slash in case
he missed it. “Why are you not healing?”

He rubbed at it dismissively. “My energy is
diverted elsewhere. Our bodies focus on the greatest threat to our
being. I am tired so my energy is saved to keep me quick and
strong.”

“Who did they take?” I asked, curious.

There was a wail in the far distance and an
answer came a moment later.

A silky hiss that followed from Tomas
slithered up my spine. “How long do we have?” he demanded. His hand
slipped from mine, and I took it as a signal to stay put.

“I killed a scout moments ago. I was the
messenger sent to the Tribe to decline the offer. They are to
sacrifice the human under a full moon, a perfect tithe and war cry.
The peace Lochlann is fighting for will be impossible. Devlin is
trying to create confusion and fear and it will work.” Conall
looked at me. “Rae, we’re going to lose,” he said. “You need to
leave. Do you have your amulet?”

I placed a protective hand over it. “Whatever
is coming we can face it together. I’m not going to hide. We have
to go wake Breandan up.”

Conall stared at me.

“What?”

“You have to escape. Your friend is
lost.”

The words rocked my world and not in a good
way. I blinked slowly, breaking the stalemate, yet my body held its
rigid pose. My clenched fists relaxed. I forgot all about amulets
and crazy fairies fighting each other.

“Who have they taken from the Temple?”

“If you die here there is no hope. Devlin
would want you alive but his consort, she knows about your bond to
Breandan. To her you are a threat to her life mate, and she will
not be merciful if she catches you. Running into the midst of
powerful enemies is no place for a fledgling soldier. You are
strong.” Pride flashed across Conall’s face. “But this you must
entrust to me. I will get Lochlann and Breandan out safely.”

I knew, of course. I knew who the tribal
fairies had taken to try and influence Lochlann through me. Just
like I had known the last pure fairy, and Priestess was my mother.
Just like I had known Conall was my brother. There was only one
human I would risk everything for.

“Who have they taken,” I repeated.

“Skin the colour of coca and hair like the
sun,” he said and wrinkled his nose. “Blonde.”

There was a hitch in my breathing. Alex. They
had my best friend. How, I didn’t know, but she had been taken
because of me. At what point did I condemn her to this fate? The
first time I went beyond the Wall. The first touch between Breandan
and I, or was it when I refused to give Devlin what he wanted?
Devlin, he must have told them who she was and where to find her.
He’d seemed mighty interested in her all of a sudden. He had even
touched her with fingers infused with light.

He had marked her.

“This ritual what will they do to her?”

“They will tie her down to revel in her
flesh. Slit her throat and drink the blood.”

Everything became painful. The realization I
was about to lose my friend made the air filling my lungs feel
heavy. I tried to imagine her bound and tortured, but my mind shied
from the image. My throat closed up.

“You heard the fairy,” Tomas said. “They are
going to lose. We must go.”

The pressure of the day’s issues, and all the
decisions I had not made weighed down on me. “Wait,” I said and
tried to figure out the right action. There was nothing but panic
and fear. “I can’t think straight.” I pressed my fingers onto my
eye sockets to relive some pressure. “I need a minute.”

“The longer we wait the greater risk Wasp
will catch you.”

Someone shouted behind us, and a flash of
light in the distance lit the trees.

Conall darted away. “Take her,” he yelled
over his shoulder at Tomas then was lost to my sight.

Before he could stop me, I turned and raced
back the way we came. I was faster than him now I’d had a chance to
sleep. My vampire-boy had two choices, leave or follow. He chose to
follow. We broke into the clearing and it was chaos. Fairies
wrestled each other to the ground, hissing and snarling. The shouts
were everywhere.

I raced back into the tent but Breandan was
gone.

The women and children walked through the
camp terrified, but unharmed. They were surrounded by a handful of
fairy-men who cut down any tribal fairy that got too close.

Which way did I go? I tried to feel through
the bond but only got a vague impression that Breandan was close.
My panic kept throwing my concentration and I couldn’t pin down a
direction.

“Calm it down girl,” I told myself. “Now is
not the time to fall apart.”

I breathed in and out several times to steady
my thought. He was close, so close and… in front of me? My eyes
popped open and I searched through the dark. I spotted him in the
middle of the fray back to back with Lochlann, fighting Devlin and
Wasp.