Ever Wrath (16 page)

“I’M GLAD I
found you.” Aveta’s long black hair with violet highlights encircled her bare shoulders like a death shroud. Shade found herself holding her breath and let it out slowly, trying to find a way out of this. There was no way back, who knew where that would lead? The only way was forward, wasn’t that what Rowan had said? So what now?

“Aveta.”

The Queen tilted her head, her black eyes barely reflecting the torchlight, as if they were absorbing most of it. A sly smile danced on her lips as she studied Shade. There was no malice in her dark black eyes, fluid like swirling oil. At least, they didn’t seem evil to Shade, like they had so many times before. It was confusing to see her this way. What did this Unseelie queen want? Shade felt more dread creep in, and her stomach lurched. She would probably not be able to eat for weeks after absorbing the evil emanating from this forsaken place—if she ever got out. And that was a big “if.”

“I’
ve thought long and hard about Arthas’s quest to destroy the mortal world. I used to think it was what I wanted, what we faeries had been made for. It was our mission to see it through.”

“You’ll destroy the world.”

“Wait.” Aveta placed a finger to her lips, her wide black eyes blinking in amusement. “I’m not finished.”

Shade
pulled another sword from her pack and squeezed it in her grip, where it creaked from the pressure. Listening to Aveta was trying her patience. All she wanted to do was find her love. “Where’s Dylan?”

The queen stared at her, confusion playing across her features. “I know not what has happened to your precious mate. Know this
, though: Arthas cannot win. He cannot break these wards that hold all of Faerie intact.”

“Where’s Dylan?”

“Listen!” Aveta stepped forward, desperation replacing the smile as she held out a shaking hand.

Shade
was also shaking, her fear amplifying as she waited, desperate to get to Dylan and not truly willing to listen to what Aveta had to say.

“What do you care what
happens to the wards of Faerie, to the humans, to us? You helped him! You’ve destroyed it all!” She contemplated shoving past the queen but feared she’d get bested in her frantic determination. “You’re nothing but a weak pawn in his hands to do whatever he wills. Pathetic! You call yourself a queen of Faerie? You don’t even understand what you’ve done to Faerie!” Her voice shook, but she wasn’t holding back the rage that boiled under her skin.

“I understand
, Shade. But listen to me first, before you make such judgments.” Aveta’s face was reddened, but only sadness filled her eyes, mismatching the rage Shade was feeling toward her. “I’ve been forced to do so much I wouldn’t have done without him here. I am his descendant… one of seven. I can’t defy him. I don’t have but a fraction of his power. If I did, I’d be able to stop him. I’m not like you… you have full power to match your ancestor, for you’re the only descendant left in her line. The power isn’t split as mine is. You are as equal to an Ancient as anyone could ever be.”

Nothing surprises me anymore
, Shade thought.
What the hell does she want from me?

“What are
you talking about?” Shade asked.

“I’m trying to tell you
that I can’t defeat him without you.”

Well, t
hat was unexpected.

“
Wh−what?” Shade stuttered, her mouth wide opened.

Aveta smiled
genuinely. It was an odd and foreign thing which Shade had never seen her do. “Yes, halfling. For once, we are not at odds on our quests, but allies in our mutual goals.”

“He’s your ancestor!
You’re betraying him.”
Why am I defending him?
Shade shook her head, feeling silly. “How can you say that? Why would I ever trust you?”

“
Circumstances change such trifling things as what side you’re on, don’t they?” With that, Aveta pulled a vial out from her dress. “I need a drop of your blood and mine. With this potion, we can give him eternal sleep, bind him once more. But I can’t give it to him myself.”

“What good is it
, then?”

Aveta frowned, her patience
also failing. “You must use your powers to douse him with it. Use your air magic and swirl it around him, onto every part of his skin you can get. Once he breathes it in, he’ll be incapacitated and ready to seal in an eternal slumber once more.”

“And why would you
help me do that, Aveta? You’re on his side. Your army killed my family. My grandmother, my father and my mother! Why would I ever help you do anything?”

“Blurred is the way of magic
, dear Shade. Faeries are not meant to leave the Land of Faerie. I only wanted to rule Faerie, not the mortal world. I cannot have him desecrate our land in such ways. It will kill the land until Faerie is nothing but soot and ash. I will have nothing left but the wretched human’s lands to rule. That must never happen. It’s sacrilege to desecrate Faerie.”

“Doesn’t sound that bad.” Shade rolled her e
yes at the Unseelie queen, not willing to fall for anything the woman said.

Aveta grabbed Shade’s wrist, the one
Arthas had nearly broken, and hissed in her face. “You have no respect for such things. This I know, mortal. But hear this… you must heed what I say, or we all die, including your precious Dylan and your cherished siblings. Nothing will be left for
any
of us.”

Shade’s sneer melted from her face at the
mention of her fiancé and her family. “Don’t say his name… and don’t ever speak of them to me.”

“He will
die. His line will die. All of us will die. It’s a death sentence to break the wards of Faerie, and Arthas knows this. But he doesn’t care or probably wants to die, and he wants all of us to join him. I can’t have this. You give me your word you’ll do this. You must, or we are all done. Give me your blood.”

Shade
was stunned enough to not pull away as the queen handed her the vial filled with black, inky poison and continued to hold her injured wrist. Shade cradled the bottle in her free hand and winced as Aveta made a small cut on her finger. Taking the bottle back once more, she uncorked it and let a tiny bead of blood on Shade’s finger drop into the vial.

S
he then cut her own finger and did the same with her blood, swirling it around to mix, and sealed it. After corking it, a thrilled, satisfied smile played on her face, which brightened her features once more.

“There. It’s done. Now…
.” Aveta held out the bottle and Shade slipped her fingers around its cool, simple exterior. It hummed with concentrated magic, enough to make Shade’s head swim. “Save Faerie, and we can resume our differences later. We ally for now.” Aveta turned away and swished her long dark red skirts down the hall and out of sight, leaving Shade alone and in utter disbelief.

“Did that just happen?”
She watched the fluid waver inside the dark green glass. It whispered magic to her, and she pushed it away as she peered about. Which way now? Which way to Arthas? Where could Dylan be?

A
memory flickered, and she remembered she had been trying to summon Camulus with the orb he’d given her. Had he taken Dylan? Had he even come when she needed him? If he had, why had he left her there? Why hadn’t he returned to take her away?

Leaning against the wall, her weariness reminded her of her
very fragile mortality. Every little ache amplified as she thought about it, making her wish she had some aspirin or something for the throbbing in her bones and the small headache growing behind her eyes. Faerie healing potions would be quite delightful right about now. She focused some healing in those parts, and the searing pain slowly ebbed away but not nearly enough. She was exhausting her magic rapidly. She prayed she’d have enough to face Arthas.

How
much longer until this is over for good?

She gulped down her fear as she checked the cork on the bottle and tossed it into her pack,
tying the end closed.
It will never end, will it?

She jumped
, flicking her eyes around her, but nothing came. Something was here, though, watching her and waiting. Why couldn’t she see anything? Echoes of screams and soldiers sounded off but were too far to be close enough to throw her senses into full alert.

Your Dylan is gone. H
e left with the green man.

What?
Who said that?
Shade thought, peering around for the source of the voice.

Dylan is safe. He’s not here anymore. The green man took him.

Shade spun around, and the breathy voice faded again. She stared at a stone wall and it dawned on her. Lana had never told her that the Withering Palace was alive. She’d never mentioned it in anything she’d taught her about the Unseelie. How could a place be alive? How could it be speaking to her, right into her head as if it were standing right in front of her?

Of course, t
he Land of Faerie was alive. Why would a castle in Faerie be any different?

She wondered if the Scren Palace was
also alive. She’d be sure to pay more attention to it the next time she was there.

If I ever get back home
, Shade thought. Thinking of Anna, James and Benton made her choke up, but she brushed the tears away. She had to focus, had to get this done. If Aveta was lying, she’d find out soon enough. What other choice was there? She had to find out if she really had what it took to take down Arthas.

Aveta would
have to wait for another day.

Still,
why would the Withering Palace be helping me now?

Our Queen commands it.

Shade laughed out loud. Her voice echoed down the hall, and she clamped a hand over her mouth.
Wow. We’re really, truly… allies. Who’d have guessed?

“How do I get out of here?” s
he asked the walls, hoping she hadn’t offended the entity by laughing so foolishly.

A
soft rumble and the walls moved in response. The ground groaned and shifted a bit under her, and she stumbled to grab on to something for balance. Before she could, the floor stopped moving, and a long hallway leading to her right appeared.

This way to Arthas
, the whispers hushed across her ears like a cold winter breeze.

Of course getting out
of here wouldn’t be so easy.
Shade bit her tongue and pressed on, knowing there would be no escape from this pit of hell until her agreement with Aveta had been fulfilled. At least she still had her summoning orb. Knowing Camulus had saved Dylan eased her aching heart and made it so much easier to press forward, down the hall, following the moving walls as they led her toward Arthas… toward possible death.

There was n
o better way to die than to know it was coming. Still, the feeling of urgency clung to her like a sticky coat of sadness, even though she was protesting each and every step, screaming inside as each one took her closer and closer to the end.