Ever Wrath (15 page)

TORTUROUS MINUTES
TICKED
by. She had poured the fluid down Dylan’s throat, but she didn’t know how much to give him or if she was too late. The Darkling poison had colored his skin black across his thigh, like a blackened stain. It was different than what the Darkling’s kiss had done to her arm. It made her hopeful that the antidote would work, especially since Dylan had stilled and was no longer writhing from the excruciating pain. His glamour had slipped back on the moment they’d run into Darren and the Unseelie warriors. His tan skin was still pale, but it wasn’t getting any worse.

He can’t die. Not m
y Dylan. If he dies, I die. It’s the way of a faerie blood bind.

Her
thoughts echoed in her head while large, glistening tears slid down her cheeks. She wiped at them, sniffling as she gathered her wits and ripped off a strip of her linen shirt, standard clothes for faeries. She wasn’t too fond of it, but right now, its soft, woven threads soaked up the blood as she tied it around his seeping thigh. A few more strips left her stomach bare but his leg well wrapped, with no further blood staining the outer strips.

Sh
ade wiped her face on her sleeve, keeping an eye out for the Unseelie soldiers, but none approached. Only the rumbling returned, sending showers of dust and rubble sprinkling down around them, speckling her hair and skin.

“Dylan?” She leaned down to feel his warm breath against her ear.
It was regular and soft, giving her hope that the antidote had worked. How she longed for those lips of his to kiss her once more, to hear his husky voice and melt into his embrace. She rubbed her ring, feeling its weak pulse and cool surface. It sent a panic through her and left her gasping for a breath. It was so faint, his life force. What would she do without him? He was her mate, her one and only. She wouldn’t be able to bear it. She had to get him out of there, back to the Seelie camp where he could be healed further.

She grasped at her pack, still strapped securely onto her back. Bringing it around, she fumbled to remember what she needed.
It was here, just think Shade….

The orb graced her fingers
, and her heart jumped.

“Camulus…
.”

The orb flashed blue right before a voice boomed
from behind her, making her drop the orb back into her pack.

“Your mate lies dying
, and yet you stay here while Kilara tries to destroy my kingdom. Is he so special to you?”

Shade jumped and sc
rambled to her feet, grabbing the sword she had dropped nearby, ready to pounce.

Arthas.

“You.”

H
e laughed, his grin showing off a set of perfectly aligned white teeth. Were there any ugly faery rulers? She doubted it. Beauty seemed to be the rule, not the exception, in Faerie. Unless, of course, you were so tainted by evil, like the Unseelie, that you devolved into dark, lost creatures. They were faeries no longer.

“
Yes, me. Why so much distain when you look at me, Shade?” He stepped forward, ignoring her sword, as if she was merely holding a twig. She held it tightly, her mind running a thousand million miles a minute as she sifted through spells, tricks and charms she might be able to use against this Ancient. Where was Corb when she needed the bastard? Nowhere to be found, of course.

“You’re destroying Faerie. We end this now.” She stepped back as he reached the metal of her sword. It vibrated in her hand as he snatched it from her, blade first. Rich
, red blood slithered down his wrist, dropping to the stones beneath their feet like spatters of paint. His expression was not pained as he tossed the worthless metal to the side, sending it clattering across the platform and over the edge into the deep abyss. Shade sidestepped away, hoping to lead him from the unconscious Dylan. He had stopped moaning and looked peaceful, as if sleeping away the night. She hoped he really was doing just that and that the poison had dissipated inside his veins.

But what to do about Arthas? His malevolent grin sent shivers down her spine
, and she pulled a dagger from a sheath strapped to her thigh. For a moment, she wished she carried a gun. It would be so much faster to just shoot the damn Unseelie king and get it over with. Unfortunately, they didn’t work in Faerie. The land rendered all the human weapons useless. She wondered if grenades and types of bombs were useless, too. Why hadn’t she asked these questions before? Now it was definitely a bit too late.

“You can’t see it as an end, my dear.
It’s a beginning, a new way to live.” Arthas danced around her as he made it around back toward the edge of the platform, and Shade had to peek over her shoulder at the depths below.
Stairs. Nothing but steps leading every which way.
Sliding away from the edge, she focused the dagger on Arthas, who was studying her with an amused smirk playing across his face. He wanted something from her. Whether it was her death or something else, she couldn’t say. She was having a very hard time reading him.

“You can change things here. W
hy bring it to the human world?” She almost tripped over Darren’s still leg but managed to catch herself as she kept on moving. “This will all be gone soon, and your minions will all be dead.” The wall touched her back and she froze, the dagger ready to stab the Unseelie Ancient as he crept slowly forward.

“I know of Kilara’s plans
. I’ve had my seers look into the far future for me, to tell me what was coming, what can be done to change things and what I have to do to make my wishes come true.” He sighed, his frustration at the resistance of everyone around him showing plain on his face.

Shade
lunged forward and swiped the blade across his chest, breaking his unblemished skin, drawing a thin red line of blood. She bolted, but he managed to grab her wrist before she could swing the dagger back around and plunge it into his chest.

His grip was iron
, and her bones screamed under the pressure of his crushing fingers. “It’s rude to injure a royal in Faerie.” His lips pressed hard together, so much that his jaw twitched under the strain of his anger. He was also holding back, purposely trying to not break her wrist. She could feel him slowly losing the battle to stifle the growing anger deep inside him. It was painful watching him battle his demons, especially with her wrist near the breaking point. Her tears welled up in her eyes from the pain, but she swore she wouldn’t cry anymore, especially not in front of a crazy Ancient.

H
e gradually calmed down, an ocean of serenity overtaking his burning stare, but he never let up on his grip. “I can be a very generous man if given the right opportunity, Your Highness. Get on my good side, and I’ll show you your dreams.”

H
e pulled her arm, sending her hurling toward Dylan’s still body. She fell to her knees near him. She cradled her wrist as it swelled and filled with fiery pain. Looking up through the tangles of her long brown hair, she called to her magic, any of it, to come and help her.

Please aid me now…
fire…water…ice…earth….

Ice responded.

The ground shook once more as a ring of ice grew from beneath her, spreading out in wide rings, crystalizing each and every stone it graced. It even went as far as to climb up Arthas’s boots and encircle his legs before finally stopping at his knees. Scanning the frozen ice still settling and popping around him, he smiled wickedly and took a step forward. Or tried to. His boots refused to budge, completely frozen to the ice encasing his lower legs.

“Corb has los
t his powers, I see. What a fool to lose them to a weak halfling like you. I’m not sure whether to congratulate you or laugh my bloody head off at the ridiculousness of it all.” He waved a hand, and the ice began breaking up around him. Large melting shards cracked and then burst into slivers.

Fire.

Not bothering to pull back the ice power, Shade let her fire elements reign. She sent funnels of fire and ash into the Unseelie king. He didn’t so much flinch but did have to shield against it, giving her time to scramble to her feet. Her wrist now felt numb, letting her flex her fingers. She conjured several fireballs, her brother Benton’s favorite weapon, and hurled them with all her might toward the Unseelie Ancient.

Arthas swat
ted each away like insignificant flies, sending them exploding on the brick walls or sailing over the edge of the platform into the staircases below, as if they were nothing but an annoyance. He wasn’t even breaking a sweat, and she could barely catch her breath.

Shade waited
, breathing hard from the effort but focusing her mind as best she can.

Lana, dear grandmother. How do I defeat an Ancient?

Lana stirred in her memories, sad and frightened, for she’d never faced one so old in her lifetime. If only Camulus was here to whisk them away or to find an Ancient Oak tree to beg for sanctuary. Here, there was nothing between her and the wrath of the Unseelie Ancient but whatever magic she could hurl at him. But it didn’t seem to be enough.

How does an Ancient d
ie?

He does not
, Shade. They live forever, never dying, never withering, never fading.

Then how? How do I subdue him?

Arthas was studying her curiously, watching her face react to her inner conversation. “What are you doing, Shade? Are there still voices in your precious little head telling you what you should or shouldn’t do? Such annoyances. I can make them leave. I can make them silent for all of time.”

“No!” Shade felt the trickle of rain as it poured down, even
though they were indoors. It matched the tears spilling down her cheeks as she searched the floor for Dylan and ran toward him. His body disappeared in a flash.

“Give him back to me!” She turned, finding Arthas looking a bit stunned
, but not surprised.

“I don’t have him.”

“Yes you do, give him back to me!” She felt her ring, feeling her fiancé’s soft heartbeat still beating through it.
He’s okay. But where is he?
Her breath came out ragged, full of rage and terror. “Don’t take him from me, please….”

“I didn’t take him. I’m not sure what you mean, but he’s not mine to take.
Besides, it’s not him that I want.” He stepped forward, reaching out toward her as the tips of his fingers brushed her chin. Flinching, she narrowed her eyes, throwing him a deadly stare. She wasn’t done fighting. He could take everything and she still would never give in to him.

“Don’t touch me.”

Arthas stepped back and turned, laughing at her defiance as he clasped his hands behind his back and walked nonchalantly away. “Very well, halfling. I can hold off on that. I only want a truce. We can do so much together. Aveta has no real magic, no real potential, but you… I can feel how potent the magic you hold is. It’s more powerful than any I’ve ever seen a mortal possess.” Her silence was concerning, so he turned back to find her gone.

S
hock filled his face as his eyes met with Aveta staring back at him. “Where is she?” he stammered. Spinning around, he found no one else besides the Unseelie queen.

“Where is
who, Master?” Aveta stood still, unchanging and unconcerned. “I saw no one here. I’ve been looking for you. Seems the son of Corb and an Elvin-Pixie teleporter have taken Rowan, M’Lord.”

“What?
No!” His rage boiled underneath the surface of his reddening irises. Even his skin was darkening, purpled with anger threatening to burst at any moment. “Where is Shade? She was just here!”

Aveta didn’t look surprised. In fact, her lack of emotion made him even
angrier. “I don’t know, M’Lord. I would tell you if I’d seen that halfling nothing hanging around here. Did she slip out of your grasp so easily? I would think such a pathetic human wouldn’t be able to have the cunning to trick you. Surely the Seelie must have come for her. I can’t sense her in my palace.” Aveta narrowed her eyes, and a challenging undertone hovered in her voice.