The Steward (58 page)

“Then yes, it is.”
She smiled. “Would one of you mind seeing that Chalen is deposited in the Seoladán. He will not be able to return to physical form as long as he is in Aether, and shortly, I’ll be up to ensure that he never comes through that portal again.”

Ozara turned to me and her face twisted with anger.
“Leave Immediately. I will come
and
speak to you soon. Do no more harm and do not leave the Weald until I have returned.”

“What about him?” One of the Unseelie
asked,
pointing to Billy.

“What of him?” Ozara’s voice sounded dismissive.

“The law demands that he be punished for coming onto the island out of cycle.”

Billy laughed.
“That part of the agreement was never intended to aid you while you attack a Steward—I know, it was my idea. I am her
Treoraí
--I
t’s my duty to protect her. Besides, you blithering fool, that rule wasn’t violated. I am not Seelie. The language doesn’t apply to independents, and yes, that was my idea
,
too.”

“He is correct, Zarkus, he is, foolishly, no longer a part of the Seelie clan.”

“Like so many others.”
Zarkus laughed and shot Ozara a smug look.
“He is free to go.”

“Let’s go Maggie,” Billy whispered.

THIRTY
-
TWO

THE BRIEF RESPITE

I
started the boat and steered it away from
the
shore
,
guiding it
through an opening Ozara created in her barrier. Zarkus and Ozara watched me
speed away
until I
could no longer see them
. As soon as we were
far
away from them
,
I started crying
.
I couldn’t stop. I
had
thought
I would die—convinced
of it in fact.

Billy pulled me away from the wheel and moved over me. The boat swung hard to starboard—I hadn’t realized we were heading straight for the first island.

As we approached the cove, Billy
said
, “I need you to pull it together, Maggie. You
have
to calm down.”

He killed the engine
to
silently
guide
the boat down the cove and into the dock.
While
I collected my thoughts and calmed down
,
h
e quickly
pulled the boat’s cover into place
. He was right
—I
couldn’t go back into
the
cottage looking or acting like this.

“Ozara has left the island. I assume she has gone to inform the Council,” he said.

I took deep breaths,
and watched
him
secure
the last few knots. I was numb, but grateful to be alive. He grabbed me by the arm and hurried me through the woods
,
back up to where the car was parked
.
He put his hand on the boulder and it transformed back, exacly as it had been—a perfect, pink, ‘57 Thunderbird.

Sara appeared,
dropping
out of the sky as a blue jay and
landing
on her feet in human form. I was too numb to
be
startle
d.
She exchanged a quick glance with Billy—they were both quiet.

“What are you saying?” I asked,
a little
annoyed.

They continued for a few moments,
then
Sara closed her eyes, shaking her head.

“What?”

“Maggie, you used your abilities to attack a Fae, several in fact,” she said. Worry filled her face.

“I had no choice.” I was irritated that I had to defend my actions to her.

“She did not
. T
hey would have killed her. It was a trap, just as you suspected. Thank you for finding Ozara on such short notice,” he said to Sara.
“She arrived at the last possible moment
, but t
here was no other Aetherfae.”

“I’m not judging you Maggie
.
I’m proud of your courage but
,
nonetheless, the Council will not take this lightly.”

“I will explain it to them when we meet after midnight
. O
h my
…
what time is it?”

“You’ve been gone sixty-three minutes. Midnight is still an hour away. We’ll go back down soon,
so
relax—you can’t see anyone in this state,” Sara said.

“I’ll calm down, don’t worry. An hour, wow, it felt so much longer than that
,
”
I said, still dizzy. I began taking deep breaths again, working through my calming techniques.

“I will go to the Council and see if there is any news.”

“I was just with the Council, Billy. They’ve pulled the guard, so one of us should return
to
the cottage immediately.”

“You go with Maggie. I will see if I can gather any more information—I’ll return as soon as I can,” Billy said. With that, he was gone.

I started the engine and drove back down the hill.

“Sara, what d
id
you mean by that—the Council pulled the guard?”

“I wasn’t permitted to listen to their discussion or take part in the decision, but I did hear the Council order the guard to return. I think they were preparing for a confrontation, but that is merely conjecture. Honestly, I don’t know why
—t
hey could be back
within the
hour. But Maggie, there is something else—you won’t be meeting with the Council tonight.”

I pulled up to the rock wall, weaving between cars
,
and shut the engine off. The Seelie in the garden were gone. I could only sense two Fae
—S
ara beside me, and Billy
, who
was downstairs in the basement. Apparently
h
e hadn’t gone to the Council after all and had beaten us down the hill.

Before we went inside, I listened to the laughter and music coming out of the house. It helped me relax. Thankfully, everything was just as I had left it.

“Why?” I asked. I finally succumbed to my curiosity over the cancelled meeting.

Sara smiled, trying not to look worried.

“I understand you did what you had to do to survive, but I fear it may have created an enormous problem. By now, Ozara has told the Council that you are Water inclined—that you’ve deceived them. Depending on how much she saw, she may have told the Council what Billy told me—that you, not even
a
Maebown yet, are more powerful than some individual Fae. Those on the Council who were wary of you to begin with will have even more reason to distrust you. The fact that you nearly destroyed Chalen, that you knew to wound him to make him vulnerable—that will have a deeper impact.” She closed her eyes for a moment before looking at me again.

“The news that you are, after all, most likely a Maebown will win you some support on the Council, because it likely means there is another Aetherfae out there somewhere. With that in mind, many will lobby to keep you here as Steward.”

“Keep me here?” I was stunned.

“Yes, Maggie, the reason you will not be meeting with the Council as planned is because the decision is not up to you
anymore
. They know your desire, you made it clear in your confrontation with the Unseelie, but the Council will now decide what to do with you.”

I was numb again, and too emotionally spent to care at the moment.

“Fine, I’m sick of this, Sara. I nearly died tonight. I was on that island alone with
f
ifty of them—well, forty-nine.”

“You were very brave, but you were never completely alone. Billy was there the entire time, waiting to help you if he could. We both assumed, correctly, that you’d be too headstrong to wait at the dock like you were told.”

Of course he was there, that’s why I miscounted.
“He did help,
and
he saved my life several times.”

“He told me, and he said that you did the same for him. I have to believe the Council will decide in your favor
. I
t took
great
courage and a great deal of power to do what you did. But enough of that right now
—w
e should go inside. I’m sorry I left the
c
ottage unattended, but I had to warn the Council. Had I not...”

“I would have died, and Billy, too. Ozara saved us both.”

“Yes, she did.”

“Tell her I said thank you, and please, tell her I want to stay.”

“She will be here later so you can tell her yourself. But now, we need to get you back inside before your mom and dad form a seach party and com
e
looking for us.”

I relaxed a bit more and made myself smile.

“There you are!” Doug grabbed me as I walked into the living room. I clung to him, pressing my face into his muscular chest, and exhaled loudly. He squeezed a little harder and laughed.

“Wow, Havana, I guess you
we
re right about the distance thing.”

I checked the room, and everyone seemed to be having a good time—oblivious to the danger they’d been in. I allowed myself to relax a little more. Coming down from the experience
completely
was apparently going to take
some time
.

I was grateful to have Sara close to me and to have Billy downstairs.
When I
smiled at Sara
,
she had
a st
r
ange look on her face. Candace
asked
her something, but she was distant. I caught her eye. She appeared worried again and quickly looked away. She was sensing something. I extended my mind to the yard. The conspicuous absence of the Seelie guards was
disturbing
, but I couldn’t sense any others.
Except for
her and Billy,
I couldn’t sense any Fae at all near the cottage
.

I followed her eyes
as she stared
at Mitch’s friend, Scotty. He
said
something to his mom, and appeared to be upset. I walked closer to hear.