Memory's Wake Omnibus: The Complete Illustrated YA Fantasy Series (82 page)

The seelie queen shrieked with laughter, clapping her hands faster.

Mina crumpled, her wings flashing and fluttering as she hit the floor and stayed there. When she looked up her face was devoid of expression but there was still rage in her voice. “You take him from me and you will pay!”

“Mina! Your ploy didn’t work. You’ve lost your pet. Let them free,” Aine said sharply. “We honor our laws, here.”

Mina argued back, but Memory wasn’t listening anymore. She ran to the cage as it thudded again from inside.

“Open it!” Memory screamed.

No longer amused by the proceedings, Aine’s voice was hard and deep, barely human. “Take him and go.”

The cage opened, and Will was there, his bloodied fists still pressed against the wall.

Memory reached in for him, and he growled at her touch. His shirt was shredded down the front, hanging in strips off his arms and shoulders. His eyes, the brilliant blue she knew so well, flickered and roamed, not settling on her.

“It’s me, Will. It’s Mem. Can’t you see me?”

He winced, shaking his head, gaze still not focused. “Mem?”

“Come on. You’re free.” Memory reached again for his hand, and took it in hers. His hand shook as she helped him up and out of the tight, dark space, and then tightened around hers.

“What have you done to him?” Memory yelled at Mina, who skulked below Aine’s throne.

Mina hissed, and with a flick of her chin, vanished away.

Memory turned to Aine for answers.

The look on the seelie queen’s face said she would get none. “I said take him and GO!”

The roar was so loud the floor shook beneath Memory.

Memory squeezed Will’s hand and he followed her blindly as she led him through the silent crowd of fae around them.

No matter what, I have him again.
Memory’s heartbeat accelerated in relief but she dared not show it, or allow the smile that was tugging at her mouth to crease her face. She was seriously outnumbered and things could change at the queen’s whim.

Just as Memory and Will reached the doorway, a deep voice spoke softly. “Water from the well down the stairs in the courtyard will clear his eyes.”

Memory looked and saw Lugh standing before her; Aine’s human consort, said to have been with her for decades, maybe centuries. He was like a golden god of a man, strong, tall, with shimmering silver-blonde hair. His expression seemed almost bored, but his eyes glittered with sadness.

Memory stopped and looked up at him, her heart swallowing itself. “What about… what about you? Is there anything I can do?”

Lugh looked as though he could laugh, but his smile quickly became small and sad. “Child, strange as it may seem, I am here of my own choice. But thank you, and good luck.”

“Thank you,” Will said.

Out through the doors, Memory wanted to run. It was only Will’s blindness that kept her pace slow and steady down the long glimmering corridor and out into the courtyard.

Across to her side, Memory could see a wide section of steps leading down into the earth in a V-shape, starting wide and becoming narrower as they descended.

“This better not be like the briar path again,” she grumbled, and supported Will as she took him carefully a step at a time.

He said nothing, just let her guide him. The warmth of his chest leaning on Memory made her feel safe and sad at the same time.

Memory recognized the pants he wore as the same he had on when Mina stole him, but they were tattered and torn, worse than her own clothes. In a fit of self-consciousness, she suddenly remembered what she looked like, and what Will would see when his eyes worked again.

He won’t care if I’m a mess. It’s one of the reasons I love him.

The steps were level and smooth, as were the walls beside them. Fist-sized gems of brilliant aqua, set into the walls, cast a fresh light into the stairwell as they reached a depth the brightness of the world above didn’t touch. There was no roof, just a cut in the earth that seemed to go forever, deeper and deeper into the earth.

Just when the sky above was nothing more than a thin ribbon, they finally reached the bottom. A small pool opened up before them, glowing with the same aqua light as the gemstones. Memory dipped her hands in to scoop up some water, and the scratches on her fingers washed away as though they were nothing but splashes of paint. She was desperate to wash her face in the magical pool, but reached her hands up to Will first.

“Tip your face back,” Memory said softly. “And maybe duck down a bit. You’re a freaking giant you know.”

Will did as instructed, kneeling down and turning his face up to the sky, and Memory dripped the water into his eyes.

He blinked three times fast, then one slow, then looked straight up into Memory’s eyes.

“You’re okay?” Memory’s voice was barely a breath.

“You saved me.” He looked at her with wonder. “I owe you all over again.”

Will got to his feet and reached for her.

Memory frowned, stepping away. There wasn’t much space, and her back hit the wall.

“You owe me nothing. Will, you are free, of Mina, and of me. I release you of any ownership or any debt. You don’t belong to me, or anyone, not ever again.”

The wavering light from the water lit aqua lines across Will’s face as his expression changed through shock, relief, confusion, and sadness.

He looked down at his bare feet. “Don’t you want… can I still be by your side?”

Memory drew a trembling breath. She felt all of her seventeen years old, staring up at the most beautiful boy in the world. “I do. I mean, if it’s what you want. Not for anything you feel you owe me. Only if you want to. Only if you want… me.”

Will’s gaze stole straight into her soul as he bent his face to hers. “I want you.”

The kiss Will placed on Memory’s lips then was one that burned with the truth of what he just said. And as her lips parted to meet his again, they burned with love in return.

“I love you,” Will gasped between kisses. “I have loved you so long. Since the day you saved me until this day. I’ve fallen in love with you over and over. I loved who you were. I loved who I remembered you were. Then I loved who you became.”

“I love you too,” Memory whispered, tangling her fingers into the dark twists of Will’s hair. Will clutched at Memory, pulling her tight against his body.

Tears came to Memory and she let them run, tasting the salt of them between her mouth and Will’s.

Gently, he let her go. “What’s wrong?”

Memory brushed her hand down Will’s cheek, wiping away a tear there.
Mine or his?
“You’re free. That’s the good news.”

“I’m free,” Will murmured, smile wide on his face and eyes closed. He opened them again and looked around and up the stairwell behind them.

His dark brows dropped low. “Where are your friends? Did you come alone?”

Memory sighed. “That’s the bad news…”

As Memory explained to Will her journey through the fairy realm so far, and what had happened to the others, she pulled Will’s iron awl from a loop in her belt and handed it over to him. His hand wrapped around hers as he took it, and he lingered there, feeling the fragile coolness of Memory’s slim fingers in his. There was also a tremble there that made Will want to pull Memory into his arms and hold her again.

Memory had lost her friends because of him. She’d risked everything to save him, they all had. And he couldn’t be upset because he knew he would have done the same if the situation was reversed. And he knew that together they would risk everything again to save Eloryn, Roen, and Erec.

Will dabbed the healing well water across Memory’s face and his jaw grew tight. He knew Memory planned to save her friends at the Unseelie Court. And he knew he would go with her, anywhere. But he still wished that they could simply go home, be safe, where nothing more could hurt the girl he loved. He wished it with every aching nerve in his body.

But he knew a quiet, safe life was never the destiny of this girl. Maybe he’d always known it. She always had the fire of a hero burning within her. He could see her great and terrible fate on her as clearly as the scratches that marred her skin. He couldn’t stop whatever was to come, but he would do everything in his power to protect the body and the heart of the young woman before him.

Will bent to collect some more well water and Memory held him back.

“That’s enough,” she said. “As nice as it feels right now, we’re only going to get scratched up again. Plus we’re on the clock.”

Will nodded, and they strode up the deep stairwell and out of the Seelie Court.

A light breeze seemed to chase them from the court, out through the tinkling metal trees and over the tiled ground, so polished it reflected like a mirror. They found the briar pathway quickly, and a petite white creature emerged shyly from where she had been crouched in the shadows.

“Got him back, then?” she bleated, one long ear twitching.

Memory nodded. “Will, this is our guide, Shonae. She’s… well… She’s been helpful.”

Shonae grunted, spat, and turned her back, taking the lead into the briar tunnel.

“Mostly,” Memory muttered.

A giant spider skittered past along the twigs overhead, its shadow sending chills down Will’s spine. Although he knew of the spiders and the briar path, this was all new to him. He’d never been through here before, because he’d never travelled outside of the Seelie Court. He’d never been free.

The concept still staggered him. For sixteen years he had been a pet to Mina. Neglected, toyed with, put on display, or put in a cage. He’d felt free, at times, when Mina had left him alone in Avall’s forests for long stretches, but the choke of an invisible collar had always remained.

The girl he loved had freed him, and if he didn’t think he could love her any more, maybe he could, for that.

They continued down the twisting briar tunnel until the entrance disappeared behind them. Just as Will took a deep, free, breath of relief, a familiar twinkle caught his eye.

“Stop!”

In a sparking explosion of fairy dust, Mina appeared before them, blocking their way down the narrow path. Fury lit her eyes like a fire within.

“I won’t. I won’t let you go.” Mina stomped a foot on the ground. Her wings sent sparkling drops of red light into the air and Will had to squint to protect his eyes from the brightness.

“Mina, let us pass.” Will’s voice was firm and strong. “Go home. Don’t make this difficult.”

Mina came towards them.

Will saw Memory’s fingers tightening on the handle of her blade. “You don’t own him anymore, Mina. No one does.”

Will put a hand on her slim shoulder, wanting her to back off—to let him handle this. She seemed to receive the silent message and stilled.

Mina flew right in front of Will, clutching at the tattered remains of his shirt with both hands. There was desperation in her eyes as they stared deep into his. “You love me. I know you do. Say it and stay with me. Stay here. Be mine.”

Will kept his gaze steady, locking eyes with Mina. “You saved my life. I will always thank you for that. But I am free now. I choose to leave.”

Her eyes filled with tears. The glitter falling from her wings turned to dust, black and heavy. “Are you really leaving me? I love you, I need you. Please don’t go.”

“Mina, you don’t love me. You don’t know what that even means. You just know you want me, you want your pet. Love is not the same thing as thinking you should have what you want just because you want it. It’s not keeping someone with you when they want to go. It’s not spells or tricks or keeping someone in a cage. That is not love, Mina, and until you know that you are never going to know love in return.”

“You don’t know how I feel!” Mina’s face twisted, anger tightening her lips until they spread, baring thin teeth. “I will not let you just walk away from me. You’re mine!”

“He was released by your queen,” Shonae said. She shook her head at the sprite, a small warning, fae to fae.

Memory had a look on her face Will did not like. She was testing the edge of the blade with one finger and eyeballing Mina as though she was trying to get a bead on where to stick that sharp weapon. “Stop being the bad ex and just go home.”

The light in the tunnel grew as Mina hissed, her firelight glow raging under her skin. “You. Everything was fine before you stumbled out of the Veil. Stealing my boy.” Mina’s snarl became a wicked grin. “Well, you have won Will, but you lost all your other friends to the Unseelie Court, haven’t you? They won’t be so easy to get back.”

Memory said nothing. Her shoulders were rigid and her mouth pressed down into a thin line that told Will exactly how afraid she was that what Mina had just said was true. Will pushed Mina’s hands off his shirt and walked back to stand beside Memory, his love for her like a magnet, drawing him in. “It’s going to be okay. We’ll get everyone home safe. Come on, let’s go.”

Will brushed the back of one finger lightly across Memory’s cheek.

“No! You can’t choose her over me,” Mina shrieked. “I don’t care what the queen said. You might be free, but that doesn’t mean you’re protected. If I can’t have you, no one can.”

Mina ran at him, screaming. A bright gold light flashed in her hand, her inner light reflecting off the wide fairy gold dagger she held there. It took a moment for Will to believe it was real, that Mina would really try to kill him. She was many things, but he didn’t believe her truly capable of such violence. That moment of confusion brought the dagger to his chest, the razor edge of it cutting through the remains of his once fine shirt. Distantly he heard Memory cry out as though far away, despite being right beside him.

Will sidestepped, sliding with the thrust of the weapon, rolling away from it before it broke his skin. Will grabbed Mina as she passed him, his fingers slipping over her arm and her hair smacking him in the face as they spun together.

He grabbed her small wrist, applying pressure. The fae were strong but brittle, much like their gold.

Mina screamed again. “You are hurting me!”

“I’ll break you if you don’t drop the blade.”

The dagger clattered to the ground.

Will let go of Mina and picked it up, holding it defensively against her.

Mina backed away, her face glowing with rage.

“Do you honestly think you are going to get away from here without a fight? I have more friends here than you do!”

A hum built in the air, and the light brightened until the glare made Will wince. Memory raised her arm to shade her eyes. “What’s happening?”

Shonae nickered a gasping high pitched sound. “We’re for it now.”

Will’s breath caught in his throat. “We have to run.”

Sprites flew up the tunnel behind them, like swarms of fireflies. In their smaller form, they seemed no more threatening than a tangle of Christmas lights, but Will knew better.

He grabbed Memory’s hand and dragged her along the briar path. Shonae ran beside them squealing as the flying creatures harried and tormented her.

Sharp stabs of pain marked Will’s arms, his neck, and cheeks. The sprites buzzed about him, their tiny faces puckered with unholy mischief, their hands holding needle-like blades that sliced like paper cuts.

Laughter rang out from every corner. The buzzing of wings beat all the way inside his head. Memory fell, pulled to her feet by a mass of the tiny beasts in her hair. She shrieked in anger and pain.

Will hauled her to her feet, swatting at the fairies with his iron hook that Memory had returned to him. He kept a tight grip of her hand.

They ran, beating their way blindly through the cloud of sprites. The sting of the fae’s attacks blended with the scratching of stick and thorn as they crashed against the walls of the briar path.

“Don’t stray,” Shonae cried out. “Don’t stray!”

Her warning came too late. In a burst of dry and broken twigs, Memory and Will stumbled out and clear of the briar pathway, with Shonae falling behind them.

Will blinked in the sudden darkness, trying to adjust. The sprites were gone, the attack was over. He closed his eyes to fight away the trails of light burned into his retinas. Opening them again he saw black trees hanging over their heads and dead grass below his feet. Behind them there was no sight of the briar pathway, no entrance, no thorny walls, nothing. “Where are we?”

“Lost.” Shonae grunted. Her shoulders were hunched and she licked at a bleeding cut on her forearm. “We strayed from the path, and now we’re lost far from where we should be and I’ll never be rid of you.”

Memory sat on the ground, catching her breath. “Mina and her buzz-buddies are gone at least. They forced us out here but didn’t follow us. This looks like the unseelie lands. Is that why they didn’t keep chasing us? How far could we be from the court?”

Shonae huffed. “How far could it be from one side of your world to the other?”

Memory scrambled to her feet. “No, don’t be with your riddles now. Are you saying we’re not going to make it in time?”

“We got shoved out of the briars mid pathway. We could have come out anywhere.” Shonae slouched and turned away.

Memory looked to Will with crushing fear in her eyes.

Will moved to stand in front of Shonae. “Please, can you try and tell where we are? Is there anything you can see?”

Shonae sighed, and turned her face up to the empty gray sky. She tilted her head side to side, her goat-like ears angling around independently.

“There’s nothing up there. What do you see?” Memory asked, looking at the sky herself.

“Our sun is dim, nearly dead, but she is there.”

Memory turned back to Will. “We’re not going to make it in time.”

Will didn’t answer. He just wrapped his arms around Memory and drew her close.

She murmured into his chest, “I don’t know how long I’ve been here, how long since Eloryn, Roen, and Erec were Branded. I have no clock to know when their Brands will kill them. Nyneve said a turn of the sun and the moon but I can’t even see them in this awful world!”

Shonae sniffed, then leaped up onto an outcrop of rocks that formed a small peak, hopping up them like a mountain goat.

When she reached the top, she looked all the way around, and then extended one arm. “That’s the way we need to go.” She pointed with her long white finger. “But it will take at least three days to walk there without the briar path.”

“Three days.” Memory’s voice was a harsh breath.

“Let’s go then,” Will said. He knew it was hopeless, but what else could they do?

“We could Veil door there. Maybe. I don’t know if I can do it in Tearnan Ogh or where we are going but I can try.” Memory was babbling. Her face was pale and tired, and Will wondered how long it had been since she’d eaten or slept.

“You made an unbreakable oath not to use your magic. We only just escaped the Seelie Court. Let’s not provoke them again.” Will tried to smile, to win a smile from Memory, but it was a lost attempt.

“I have to do something.”

“You will. I don’t know how, but you will save them. You’ll save everyone. You’ve always been my hero, and heroes always win.”