Secret Worlds (128 page)

“Okay. You?”

“Fine.” The air blasted his face. Freezing. Which wasn’t all bad, the numbing effect kept the facial abrasions from burning. He shoved on a pair of sunglasses from the console to keep his eyes from watering.

Skye clamored back in her seat. “Oh man, this truck is totaled.”

The hood was smashed in the middle, and the passenger side crimped in. The right headlight was dead.

“At least it’s still running,” Kheelan said.

Smoke rose out of the engine and it gave an ominous hiss, followed by the telltale high-pitched careening of a slipped belt. He slammed his hands on the steering wheel. “Just what we needed.”

They were on the outskirts of town surrounded by more trees than buildings.

“Maybe we should go to my apartment if your truck can make it that far.”

Kheelan swore softly. They were closer to Skye’s place than his, so it was the best option. He did an abrupt U-turn. “Guess so. The Unseelies will by lying in wait, but so will the Seelies. They know what’s happening by now. We’ll run for cover while they battle it out.”

Two blocks from the apartment the truck gave one last careening death knell and sputtered to a stop.

Kheelan drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and Skye shot him a questioning look.

“I wonder if we would be safer staying inside this hunk of metal and waiting for the Fae – good or bad – to find us again.”

Skye opened the door. “I vote for getting out. It’s freezing, I’m hungry, and I’m dying for a hot bath.”

Kheelan caught up with her and threw his coat over her shoulders, covering up her exposed wings. In the distance they heard an unnatural honking, as if the sky were covered by low-flying geese. They stopped and looked up in the night sky, but none were visible. Kheelan grabbed her hands and tugged urgently. “Let’s go.”

He held her hand and started forward, but she stumbled behind. “My knee. Claribel zapped me there.”

Kheelan scooped her up in his arms and ran. His lungs burned in the frosty air. The noise was even louder than before and the full moon cast ominous shadows in their path. He didn’t slow down to see what caused them.

A loud fluttering of wings came at them from behind. He dropped to the ground, shielding Skye’s body beneath his own. Something with sharp claws ripped through the flesh on his back in a long swiping motion from his neck to the top of his jeans.

Agony.

Kheelan fought to stay conscious and protect Skye. He was dizzy and disoriented. Skye screamed and the noise sounded far away. He fought through his black haze of pain, seeking her.

Skye was at least twenty feet below him.

I must be in shock
. Some sort of optical illusion maybe? He twisted his neck and saw giant claws wrapped around his belt. He was being carried skyward. An overpowering stench of decaying flesh made it difficult to breath.

Sluagh. And where there was one, more would follow.

That honking noise in the sky they heard earlier was a host of sluaghs, spirits of the dead that traveled by air after sunset. The most feared, most powerful of the Unseelie Court fairies. He had only seen them a few times before, and always from afar. They traveled in great swarms and often fought each other, littering blood on the rocks and soil beneath.

Kheelan didn’t try to see its face. He had heard stories of their bloodshot eyes, evil leers and a sharp intelligence that could pick your brain apart quicker than their giant beaks could break your bones. That intelligence could pierce through glamours and illusions to your very soul, pinpointing your hidden secrets and greatest vulnerability.

There, in the clutches of the Dark Fae’s most evil creature, Kheelan knew his greatest weakness. Knew the one thing he loved above all else. And it wasn’t his freedom.

He stared down at the rapidly disappearing spot of red that was Skye’s hair. For a second, he saw her staring up at him, huge eyes full of despair set against the alabaster skin of her face. She raised a hand, beckoning him to come back to her.

If only he could.

The rustling wings of sluaghs signaled more approaching. One, faster than the others, was headed straight toward Skye. Her eyes were aimed upwards at him and she didn’t see the predator. Kheelan yelled a warning and pointed – but it was too late and he was too far away. The sluagh was upon her.

Their unyielding evil suck the light around him until the night engulfed his soul.

Kheelan spiraled skyward, encased in the talons of a beast – a creature she could never imagine in her deepest nightmares. Skye reached an arm skyward, as if to pull him back. They locked eyes as he was relentlessly lifted higher . . . higher, beyond human reach.

One heartbeat, one moonbeat, and then a roar and a rush of movement surrounded her. The same kind of beast that snared Kheelan had multiplied to a flock of rapacious Fae, so dense their collective bodies blocked the orange moonlight.

They were here for her now.

The incredible stink immobilized Skye with hopelessness and she buried her face in her hands. Let them get her. Maybe the Unseelies would take her wherever they took Kheelan and she wouldn’t be alone.

The pain was sudden and sharp. Claws sunk into her shoulders like hypodermic needles aiming for bone. She screamed but couldn’t hear her own voice over the beasts, but the vibration of it burned her throat.

The claws retracted as suddenly as they had entered her flesh. Skye rolled onto the frozen ground, trying to escape getting captured again. When she ventured a quick look back she saw one of them a few feet away with bloody claws. Her tormentor stared up, his long, pointed beak and ears twitching as if a new, more interesting scent had captured his attention.

The wind shifted and the Unseelie fairies’ loud screeches increased. Another swarm of identical beasts appeared from the east and those nearest Skye, including the one who had sunk his claws into her, rushed upwards en masse. The two black clouds of Fae flew directly into one another and began to battle. Black feathers and drops of blood rained down upon the earth.

It went on forever. She didn’t want to leave, hoping that in their blood thirst for battle, the beast who had stolen Kheelan would drop him in its powerful need to wage war with its own kind. She huddled in the coat Kheelan left behind, searching for his body to drop from the sky.

In a series of advances and retreats, one group of sluaghs gained the advantage. They pushed back the other flock and kept pursuing. Skye listened intently to the fading noise of flapping wings.

A pause of terrifying silence descended.

Still no Kheelan.

The moon receded and a grayish light from the cloud-covered sun dawned upon the unpromising morning of Samhain.

He was in hell.

The painful roar of wind and sky and screeching was almost as hard to bear as the incredible stink. An airborne cesspool of rot and waste. The deep lacerations on his back burned so bad, even the winter frost couldn’t numb the fire. The beast’s talons sank ever deeper into the flesh of his shoulders.

And then the grip loosened and he was falling –

—falling so hard and fast he couldn’t suck in air. Looking down, Kheelan saw only a black void rising up at a dizzying rate. His eyes watered and he shut them.

This was it then. The End.

No freedom, no Skye, nothing but pain and howling wind. All thought fled until the only sensation was free-falling downwards and the wild, caged beating of his heart.
Thump, thump, thump, thump . . .

His body landed on something icy. Kheelan braced himself for more pain before the violent stillness of death.

Lilies of the valley. He gulped in air and scent and his heart slowed a few beats. Enough for his brain to kick in with questions.

What had happened? He could still feel ice on his back and legs.

It hit him then. The cold pressure, the smell of lilies . . . Annwynn.

He opened his eyes and saw her pale face, violet eyes and rainbow hair. Those deeply slanted eyes bore down on him intently, as unreadable as ever.

“How did you –?” He shook his head to clear it. The frigid hands withdrew and he was on solid ground.

“We were with ye when the sluaghs –”

“—Where’s Skye?” Kheelan searched frantically, saw nothing but Annwynn’s usual entourage of pixies glowing in the distance. No signs of buildings or people anywhere. Only deep thickets of pine in all directions.

“She is being watched. The Seelies are guarding her closely.”

“So close she almost got killed by the sluagh.” He couldn’t stop the bitterness from creeping in his voice.

“We were there. The Seelies started the fight with another sluagh faction to distract them from the two of ye. They’re strong, but not the brightest of Fae creatures.”

“Not to sound ungrateful, but a few minutes before I got clawed would have been more helpful.”

“Let me take care of that for ye.” She removed a vial of potion from a sporran at her waist. A fairy version of the fanny pack. He pulled off his shirt and turned around. The pain relief was instant. Kheelan put the shredded shirt back on, for all the protection it was in the cold. He supposed he owed her a thank-you. “I appreciate everything, Annwynn. Please take me to Skye now.”

“No. I told ye she is guarded. Ye needn’t fear her safety.”

“Yeah, well, excuse me if I can’t trust you one hundred percent.”

“Ye have turned into a bitter mortal, my sweet.”

Kheelan winced at the old endearment, it gnawed at his heart. How many times had Annwynn comforted him with those same words as a child when he cried to her about the fairy children laughing at him? Always she was there, stroking him with those cold hands and whispering soothing words. He felt like that scared, lonely child of five again. Against his will, the hurt of the past erupted from his throat. “You left me.”

The accusation trembled in the air between them.

“I had no choice in the matter, my sweet. Ye know that.”

Kheelan jerked his head from those violet eyes. “And you lied to me. My parents aren’t dead.”

A frigid finger stroked his jaw in a feather-light caress. “I did what I had to do, what I thought was best for ye. Knowing they were alive would have made it even harder for ye than it was.”

“You shouldn’t have lied,” he insisted.

Annwynn sighed softly. “I am sorry, Kheelan.”

He was astonished to see real tears pooled in those impossibly purple eyes. No one had ever apologized to him before. No one had ever shed a tear on his behalf.

Except Skye. She was the one who mattered. The one who needed him to escape from this Samhain night without being sucked in by any fairies – good or bad. “If you ever cared about me, if you are truly sorry, then take me to Skye.”

“I cannot.”

“I’m not going to stop her from activating your precious crystal.”

“Of course ye won’t. Ye plan on asking a boon of the Queen. It’s yer only chance for freedom.”

Kheelan’s hands fisted at his sides. “You knew that all along, all of you. I led you right to your legend. You’ve been sitting back waiting until the time was right to separate us and then snag her for your own selfish purpose.”

“Maybe yer more like us than ye thought.”

The accusation stung like a horde of wasps on his soul. “Okay, maybe in the beginning . . .” his words trailed off. Kheelan kicked at some broken twigs on the frozen ground, dismayed to discover his dream had not quite died. “Why shouldn’t I escort her to the ceremony? It won’t hurt Skye if I call in the boon.” His spine stiffened. “She wants my freedom as much as I do.”

Again, those unfathomable fae eyes stared at him unblinking. “I am forbidden to take ye to her –”

His hope plummeted.

“– but the Queen didn’t explicitly say ye couldn’t follow along tonight.”

“You mean . . . there’s still a chance I could be set free?”

Annwynn patted her hair and fluttered her raspberry wings. “Ye must choose wisely, my sweet. Yer freedom may cost Skye hers.”

His mind wrestled with Annwynn’s warning. “The Seelie Court Fae have no intention of letting Skye go after she does them this huge favor,” he said slowly. “They will trap her forever.”

“Ye have to see it from our side. Yer Skye knows all about us, will be shown our most sacred relic, one that protects us from the Dark Fae.”

“Skye would never betray you.”

“Perhaps. But I don’t think our Queen will take that chance.” Annwynn snaked a frosty hand on his arm. “Ye would still be rewarded, Kheelan. A nice Fae girl to warm yer bed as long as ye like.”

Kheelan shook off her arm. “I don’t want another fairy girl. I want Skye.”

“Foolish youth.” Annwynn shook her head. “Yer Skye would be well-treated. She is our legend, The One, and the Seelie Fae would love her for her kindness and power.”

“It’s still enslavement. No matter how you say the fairies would worship her.”

Annwynn’s face took on its sly gleam. “It is what the lass has always wanted, isn’t it? To be loved, admired, and accepted?”

He gazed bleakly at his former Guardian, the only fairy who had ever showed him any semblance of love. “You don’t know what it’s like to be separated from your human family, from having friends of your own kind.” Kheelan tamped down his pride. “Please. Don’t do this to Skye. I don’t want her to suffer.”
Like me
, he added silently.

The wind through the trees stirred up, creating a mournful cry.

“Remember what I told ye about choosing wisely,” Annwynn said at last. She reached in and brushed Kheelan’s cheek with the faintest draft of cool air from her red lips. “My sweet,” she whispered so softly he might have imagined the words. She pulled away. “Hefeydd and Ealdun will escort ye to shelter until the ceremony tonight.”

Annwynn left as suddenly as she had arrived, her scent evaporating in the void.

Kheelan knew what he had to do.

***

Cold and shivering, Skye paced the sidewalk. No one else stirred in the street lined with houses and apartments. Here and there a light went on behind a curtained window and she heard the sound of an occasional car from the highway a few miles south. As cold as she was, Kheelan had to be much colder since she wore his coat. Unless . . . no, she refused to think he was no longer capable of feeling the bitter chill.