The Banshee's Revenge (The Banshee's Embrace Trilogy) (15 page)

Toby cleared off the pool table, not ready to answer her question. He flinched at the sight of a dead Daniel on top of the other table.

"What happened there?" he asked.

"I helped his soul find peace."

Toby smiled and allowed a little sliver of hope to crawl into his heart.

"Come on. I won't you to lie on the table. Try to relax," Toby helped her up onto the table. "I didn't tell you the truth about Morrigan and the deal because I was afraid you wouldn't take it well."

"I won't let her kill our baby!" Jacqueline struggled to sit up, but a labor pain had her gasping for air. "How could you promise her that?"

"I didn't."

"Then what does Morrigan want, Toby?" Jacqueline pressed. "What did you promise her for getting me that charm?"

Before Toby could answer, Morrigan appeared in the room, her face flushed with excitement as she stared at Jacqueline's belly.

"How marvelous," she said. "And as for what he promised me, it's simple. I gave him a charm that would help you remember what it's like to be human. In return, he agreed that your baby will be Death's new vessel, her way back into the living."

Toby waited for her to say the rest, wondering if he'd made the right decision.

Should he have trusted Gwydion's mother and the ex-lover of Merlin?

"Once born, the baby will be mine and you will never see her again," Morrigan said with a smile that would haunt him for the rest of his days.

"No!" Jacqueline shouted. "No, she can't have the baby."

Morrigan smiled.

"I can and I will," she explained as if speaking to a small child. "You have no say in the matter now that the deal is done. Death needed a way out, you needed to be free of the rage in order to go about your business, and the scales of nature will once again be in balance."

"But my child, the baby, it won't really be alive." Jacqueline grabbed Toby's arm. "Toby, she's killing our baby."

"The baby will live," Morrigan soothed.

"But she won't be right. Her real soul will be dead, replaced by Death."

"So what? It won't be your problem, Jacqueline. Once the baby and Death are gone, you will die."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you realize that the only thing sustaining you all these months has been Death's essence and the growing life inside you?" Morrigan smiled. "Once both are gone, you'll die thus fulfilling your true destiny to become a banshee. You'll finally be whole and free of humanity. I mean, just look at yourself. That charm you wore helped you feel normal again, didn't it? Without it, you are nothing but anger and rage. How can a child live like that? Who would want a mother who couldn't love?"

The implications of all Morrigan said hit her. No more pain, no more anger or need for revenge. Just a quiet existence.

"Toby," she whispered. "How could you do this?"

"I'm sorry, but I didn't know how else to save you. You can't go on like this."

"It's not just you he's saved, Jacqueline, but the world.  If you continued along the path you'd set for yourself, everything in this universe would eventually be thrown off because of your actions." Morrigan reached out and placed a hand on each side of Jacqueline's stomach. "What's one child anyway for the greater good anyway?"

So many feelings rolled inside of Jacqueline. Remorse, exhaustion, bitterness--she could hardly keep up with them all.

She became conscious of a feeling of warmth spreading across her abdomen. Morrigan's eyes were closed and a white light spilled from her hands which were still placed on either side of Jacqueline's stomach. A sense of peace filled the room and a great heaviness was lifted from her.

A moment later, the shape of a small newborn child appeared in Morrigan's arms.

"There you are my darling," the goddess whispered to the baby. "I've got you now."

The sound of weeping filled the room, but it took Jacqueline a moment to realize that it came from herself.

*****

Toby tensed as Morrigan held his daughter.

It had taken every bit of self-control he possessed as a man and a wizard to not leap forward and grab the child. He'd made a promise and no matter how painful, he was going to see it through to the end. While he still wasn't entirely sure he could trust Morrigan to hold up her end of their bargain, hope still leapt in his heart and that hope had grown stronger with each passing moment.

Jacqueline's emotions were coming back to her--without the aid of the charm.

That had been the whole point of wearing it. She needed a taste of what it was like to be human, and hopefully that taste would lead to a need for more. Rage was getting shoved aside to let other elements of her humanity in. There was a small window of opportunity where she could defy the odds.

She could remain human.

The deal, putting the charm that accelerated the baby's growth--everything would be worth it if the next few minutes played out as he and Morrigan gambled they would. The only thing that worried him was that she'd taken the charm off too soon; that her trust in him wasn't strong enough to override whatever lies had been told to her.

"Please," Jacqueline whispered. "May I hold the baby?"

Morrigan smiled and bent over to hand the child to its mother.

But Jacqueline's waiting arms only filled with air as the baby suddenly disappeared.

"Well, aren't you a cute thing," Arwan cooed from the entrance of the pool room. In his arms, lay the baby who began to cry. "Too cute for this world."

"Arwan, what are you doing?" Morrigan demanded, her eyes flashing with anger. "That child belongs to me."

"Not anymore, mother." Gwydion pushed past Arwan and roughly took the child. "It belongs to me."

"No!" Jacqueline screamed and tried to get off of the table.  "Give her back!"

"She was never going to be yours. You were just the vessel," Gwydion sneered. "And now I'll make my own deal with you and your wizard."

"We don't make deals with you. Where is Gabe?" Toby stood, peering over Gwydion's shoulder into the other room. His heart thundered with fear at the unexpected twist in their plan. "If you harm my children, I will kill you myself."

"Gabe is in there lying next to that whore he fancies. He wasn't as strong as he thought he was." Gwydion said. "The baby will come with me. I will allow it to live as long as you stay far from me."

"My dear, you are hardly a suitable parent." Morrigan crossed her arms. "Someone like you should never be allowed to breed much less raise children."

"I could say the same for you, mother. And you should know a great deal about being an unsuitable parent."

"Now you're just trying to hurt me," Morrigan mocked, but her tone changed to one of warning. "I don't want to harm you, son, but I will if you don't return the baby to me."

"Not a chance." Gwydion turned to Arwan. "Let's go."

"Morrigan," Toby pleaded. "Do something?"

Before she could respond their attention turned to Jacqueline who moaned in pain. He was shocked to see how pale her face had become. A thin line of sweat dotted her forehead and the smell of decay filled the room.

"She is dying," Morrigan said. "Her time has at last come."

This wasn't how it was supposed to go. Frustrated, Toby glared at Morrigan who only shrugged her shoulders.

"Even the best laid plans can go wrong, my dear," she said to him.

"I never should have trusted you." Toby's anger rose. Why had he made a deal with her? If only he'd known about the Merlin angle. "You're doing this because Jacqueline is Merlin's daughter? Some sort of revenge thing, right?"

"Wait a moment, Gwydion." Arwan grabbed the wizard's arm, watching Jacqueline struggle. "She's one of mine. I'd like to make sure she makes the transition."

Angela and Gabe staggered into the room. Gabe's hair was standing on end as if he'd plugged his finger in a light socket and his face had a pale, sweaty sheen to it, but other than that, he was alert.

"What's going on?" Angela said, holding a hand to a cut on her forehead. "Where did these people come from?"

"Gabe, get her out of here," Toby ordered.

But Angela rushed past and hurried over to the pool table.

"Oh, god, Jacqueline," she whispered, taking in the sight of her best friend's pale, agonized face. "What's wrong with her, Toby?"

"She's dying."

Tears filled Angela's eyes and she gripped one of Jacqueline's hands.

"Can't you do anything to stop it?" Angela asked. She looked over her shoulder at Gabe. "Can't anything be done?"

Her words echoed the question Toby had been asking himself over and over the last few months. He thought about how he'd hunted everywhere for Jacqueline, how he'd never stopped loving her. He remembered the way she smiled and the look of delight in her eyes when she made him laugh. The scent of her perfume, the toss of her head, the way she ran her fingers through his hair during their moments of passion--it all rushed at him--along with anger.

He always had done the right thing. Never being someone to act rashly, Toby liked to weigh every action, every use of magic done carefully in order to make sure that his actions never harmed another. It was a code he lived by.

But right now…rage just about blinded him.

What was happening to Jacqueline, to their child, was so unfair.

Toby Williams had had enough.

Leaning over, he kissed Jacqueline on the forehead and then turned to face Gwydion. The old wizard lifted an eyebrow and grinned.

"Careful, Toby. You wouldn't want to do anything to hurt the child."

Saying nothing, Toby walked slowly towards Gwydion. It pleased him when Gabe fell into step beside him.

"Give me the child, Gwydion, or face the consequences," Toby said. "Or are you too much of a coward to fight me?"

"I am far more powerful than you," Gwydion said.

"You keep saying that, but I noticed you didn't exactly stick around to prove it at our last encounter. A wizard's snare is a pretty easy way out."

"I have always loved a good wizard fight, Gwydion." Arwan held out his arms as the wizards squared off. "And you assured me that you didn't run away the last time you faced them. So finish it now. Hand me the child."

Gwydion hesitated a moment before using a transport spell to send the child to Arwan.

The old wizard rubbed his hands together.

"Let's begin."

*****

"There is no need for you to die in such pain. You can be saved from that," Morrigan whispered to Jacqueline.

All around them the fight raged in the pool room.  The three wizards tossed fireballs at each other that hissed in the air and the smell of sulfur from their exertions lingered everywhere. Yet, Jacqueline was only dimly aware of it.

The taste of iron was in her mouth. Bitter and metallic, she recognized the sharp tang of blood as her body shut down, organ by organ.

"Listen to her, "Angela urged, as she cowered next to the table to avoid getting hit by one of the wizards.

A blue wash of light circled the pool table and Jacqueline watched as a fireball bounced off it.

"I've cast a small protection shield that will keep us safe," Morrigan explained." As I said, there is no reason for you to die like this. You can be saved from all this pain."

"How?" Jacqueline croaked out the word, trying hard to focus.

"Kill the child."

She shook her head, rejecting the thought.

"I know it seems harsh, but it's the last shred of humanity that connects you to this world. With that part of you dead, you can quickly pass on. The nightmare will be over. All this fighting ends."

Over.

The pain would stop.

Oh, but that did sound nice.

"Arwan," Morrigan commanded the god. "Bring that child here."

Without hesitation, he walked through the blue shield.

"But I thought he was on Gwydion's side," Angela said. "I'm so confused."

"A ruse. My son is an idiot. A god like Arwan will always be faithful to me." Morrigan smiled at Arwan. "Isn't that so?"

"Indeed," Arwan said. "Gwydion needs to be taught a lesson. I knew he was out of line the moment he first approached me about killing Jacqueline. I went to Morrigan to better understand the situation. It's amazing the clarity you can find in a goddess's bedroom."

"You mean, you two…?" Angela shook her head. "And I thought I got around."

"I owed Morrigan a favor. So I agreed to stay help stir up trouble, to bring things to a head. It wasn't hard with Hades on my back."

"Your baby is dead, Jacqueline," Morrigan said, softly. "What you gave birth to was no longer even your child. Death killed its soul."

"No," Jacqueline cried, grief overwhelming her. "No!"

"I’m sorry to break it to you like this, but everything going on is part of greater plan," Morrigan took the baby from Arwan, bouncing it soothingly. "Death has been reborn."