“SNAKESKIN.” Cora yelled over the rushing wind. Bres gave me a jerk; I gripped the edge of the helicopter, my fingers biting into the metal. I loved my family but I couldn’t do this—I just couldn’t.
“Luke!” I screamed, knowing he would save me from this; he would stop this madness.
Luke spun in time to see me wrestling with Bres as he peeled my hands out of their death grip. “Time to go meet your destiny Quinn,” Bres said.
My last finger slid off the cold metal; Luke jumped towards us and Cora struck, her body coiling around Luke’s legs and dropping him to the corrugated floor with a clang.
“Bres, what are you doing?” Luke yelled.
Bres saluted Luke. “I be changing the world, Luke; changing destiny.” I struggled in his hands, jerking my body left and right, the helicopter dancing under the lurches.
“You guys settle down back there, I can’t keep her straight!” The pilot shouted back at us, totally unaware of what was going on.
With a final yank Bres pulled me to his chest, his arms snaking around me. “Hang on,” was all he said before he jumped off the edge, taking me with him
Behind me I heard Luke screaming; and then only the rush of air filled my ears. The helicopter veered away from us and for a brief moment it felt as if I was floating. Time slowed down as I stared out at the Pacific Ocean. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. I glanced at Bres, his violet eyes full of laughter and sorrow intermingled. Then I looked down.
The ocean rushed towards us; Bres tipped us into a diving position. Facing the water, he yanked our hands above our heads, my body still pressed tight against him. “Whatever you do, don’t let go of me,” he said as we picked up speed.
Fear filled me up and already I found myself pulling back, trying to somehow stop our headlong rush into the waves below. A single breath—then my fingers split the water and we were submerged, our momentum driving us deep.
As the speed began to slow I started to fight, memories and panic stripping me of any cohesive thought. I had to get out of the water. Now.
I spun and kicked hard, all my muscles focused on one task. Getting the hell out of the water and back to dry land as fast as possible.
But Bres wasn’t about to let me go. He kept a hand clamped around my waist and started to swim downwards, the fight between us took us into cold, dark waters. Very quickly the light from the surface was lost, and we were swimming blind. With each stroke he took I tried to reach back to the surface, praying he would tire and I could get away. His power swirled out around me again, binding my limbs so that I could no longer fight him.
Panic clawed at me. Though Cora had said I didn’t need to worry about holding my breath, I wanted to breathe. I didn’t know how much longer I could hold my breath and the darkness was disorienting me, the pressure on my eardrums intensifying. Something circled around my ankles.
I fought like a wild animal, every memory of the shark attack hitting me at once, my body and mind fighting to stay alive.
A light bloomed and Bres held a globe of fire—how it managed to stay alight in the water I didn’t know, but it showed my attacker clearly. A Fomorii clung to my leg, its mouth open and ready to chomp down on my calf.
Do not make that mistake. I am bringing her to Balor. He will decide what to do with her. Bres’ voice filled my mind—and, obviously, the mind of the Fomorii as well since it shrank away from him, releasing my leg. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to hear that? Bres was a traitor; the Tuatha should have known, he was Balor’s son, how could he be trusted? Maybe he was trying to fool the Fomorii?
Two Fomorii snaked towards us, their bodies undulating through the black water, mouths open, claws outstretched.
Bres started to swim towards them; his attention wavered and with it the bindings on me suddenly gave way. I jerked out of his arms.
With everything I had I swam upwards—away from Bres, away from the Fomorii. My heart cried out at the coward I was, that I didn’t have it in me to save Ashling, no matter how I said I wanted to. I would plead for her with the Council; surely they had the strength to bring her back.
Grab her. The command was simple—Bres giving orders to his Fomorii brethren. Hands and claws gripped each of my limbs and started to tow me back to the depths
With the Fomorii hanging off me and Bres leading the way I was dragged into the ocean’s depths, fighting them every second. Fear dug at me, sharper than the Fomorii clawed hands; the panic so bad that at one point I passed out. I don’t know how long we went downwards, I only knew that the pressure on my ears was increasing; the darkness seemed to be pressing in on us and the small globe that Bres held afloat.
Leave her to me. Bres commanded and the Fomorii obeyed. I was exhausted from fighting the Fomorii and Bres; the fear that had ridden me so hard was only a bare flicker in my belly. Bres grabbed my hand and dragged me forward. I kicked, helping us along. Bres turned surprised eyes my way; I tipped my face away from his. I was here now. I would try to free Ashling and Mom.
I reached to take another stroke and my hand broke the surface of the water, my head popping out right behind. Though I didn’t seem to need to breathe while under water, no matter the length of time, I still found myself gasping for air now that I could breathe. The world swayed and this time it was no earthquake. Lightheaded from holding my breath so long, I struggled to pull myself to the edge of the cavern.
Bres tread water beside me and I took a deep breath and asked, “How long have you been playing both sides?”
I stared at him, my temper rising even more as he answered in clipped tones.
“Perhaps you should think twice before speaking. Maybe, just maybe, we should try to get in, find Ashling and your mom and escape with as few Fomorii knowing we be here as possible. Hmm?”
He hoisted himself out of the water, bent and pulled me up, holding me so that my feet dangled in the air and my face was right in his.
“You aren’t on my side, you’re a traitor.” I said.
“I am on your side. Remember that you wanted to be here, that you said you trusted Cora. She thought this was best for you and I agreed.” His eyes now flashed with temper too. He let go of me unceremoniously and I hit the ground hard, my feet stinging with the impact.
My legs were wobbly but they would hold me up. I took a few steps away from him and wrung out my hair, squeezing as much water as I could from my curls and clothes.
“Why are you helping, if it can be called that. What did Cora say to you?”I wished it was Luke, not this virtual stranger with the disturbing eyes that stood across from me, helping me.
Bres scrubbed his fingers though his dark hair. “Look, you don’t have ta strength yet to save your family without help. Plus, if we get caught I may be able to talk us out of it. I am ta son of Balor, remember?” He held his hand up and the glowing ball of fire appeared over his fingertips. “Cora convinced me that this be a part of your destiny, that you must be here now, that you must be allowed to follow your heart. But she was concerned your fears would hold you back and that you would need help to get this far.”
I flushed. They were right; I couldn’t have come this far on my own, my fears crippling my ability to move forward. Even if I’d found my own way through the Barrier I doubted if I could have made myself go in the water. No, not doubted—I knew I wouldn’t have been able to go in the water.
A large boom sounded deep with the cave and the underwater cave we’d just swam out of sealed off, a cap of rock sliding over the opening. Bres stared at me. “We’ll be lucky if we survive it.”
I frowned, my heart picking up speed. “Survive what?
He laughed at me and started walking. “We’re in the Labyrinth, Quinn. It’s designed to keep people out; those that enter uninvited are never seen again.”
15
The Labyrinth’s walls were lit from within and the illumination was enough to see by, though not well. The ground was wet and slippery with algae, and it took a lot of concentration not to stumble with every step. On a closer inspection, it wasn’t the walls that were glowing but the algae itself, a soft green glow that gave everything a fuzzy and indistinct quality.
Bres kept up a running commentary as we navigated our way. “There be a number of challenges we could face. Fire, poison, temptations and, of course, ta more twisted Fomorii are kept here. With each challenge we pass ta next will be more difficult. I know of only one person who ever made it all ta way through ta Labyrinth and he was nearly dead when he crawled out. That made it easy for my da to kill him.”
I didn’t want to think about Balor right now. “Tell me about the Tuatha, how is it that they’ve hid from the world all these years?”
Bres shrugged and helped me over a pile of rubble where the roof had started to cave in. “Like anything with magic, there requires a certain amount of belief and faith to keep it alive. Ta Fomorii have flourished because ta world has continued to produce monsters and darkness of varying kinds, which feeds their power. Ta Tuatha are, for ta most part, full of light and compassion. That’s still in ta world, of course, but not to the extent that fear is.”
We came to a T junction, our first decision. “Why are you being so up front with me now?” I asked. “Before I could barely get you to say two words to me.”
Bres laughed, took my hand and rolled it over, exposing my wrist. Very slowly, his eyes never leaving mine, he lowered his head and placed a kiss on the sensitive skin, his tongue trailing a pattern of fire over me. I jerked my hand away, a feeling of guilt following the flush of heat his tongue imbibed me with. It was Luke that I wanted, not Bres. Why was he doing this?
He lifted his head and I blushed; there was no way he could miss the way my heart was hammering out of control. It seemed to me to be echoing between the walls.
“Prophecy or not, I don’t think you even know what you truly want. Why not give you some options? As Cora suggested, you should be following your heart to your destiny, not what others ‘spect of you.” Bres gave me a long slow wink that stole the moisture from my mouth.