I dropped the Barrier. “You see, we are on your side . . .” The men swarmed over Bres, but when I went to aide him, he shook his head. “No, it’s what I expected.”
Nuadha strolled up beside me. “He is a traitor, two times over. Why would you protect him?”
I frowned up at the silver-haired man. He was everything Luke had been when I’d first met him, arrogant and cocky, only compounded by years of truly believing that he was the best.
“I trust him, with all my heart,” I said.
The men around us laughed, as if I’d said something dirty. Nuadha just grunted. “Take him to the stocks. The Council will deal with him.”
He grabbed me by the arm, his fingers tightening painfully around my bicep. “And you, Quinn, what are we to do with you?” He yanked me alongside himself as if I were a child. I jerked backwards, forcing him to let me go or get in a tug of war.
“I am here to help you stop Chaos. That’s it. You can keep your stupid leadership spot; I sure as hell don’t want it,” I snapped.
His lip started to curl upwards, but he stopped it mid-rise. “Again, I believe that we shall let the council deal with you.” He gave a sharp whistle. “Guards, take her to the stocks with her pet Fomorii.”
Three guards rushed me and I didn’t know what to do. These were supposed to be the good guys, the ones who stood with me, as I faced down Chaos.
Bres tried to calm me. Don’t fight them, Quinn. Luke will get us out. They don’t call him the Charmer for nothing.
His words didn’t soothe my anger, but they kept me from lashing out, which would have been a disaster with the strength of not only my power, but Card’s too.
They hauled us off down the beach, over a sand dune and into the sparse edge of the forest. Carnwennan was taken from me, but I wasn’t too worried. I could feel the bond with it even more strongly than I had when it was only a dagger. I had no doubt I could Call the weapon to my hand when I needed to.
We were tossed onto a rough patch of dirt and sand; individual Barriers were put around us, each with our own guards.
“Well ain’t this a kick in the ass,” I muttered. So much for being the Chosen one.
I looked over at Bres, who just smiled. “This isn’t my first time in trouble with Nuadha. He’ll come around.”
Laughing, I said, “Somehow it doesn’t surprise me that this isn’t your first time.”
He leaned back against the Barrier, his eyes sparkling with devilry.“First time with you.”
Heat rushed up my face and I shook my head. Flirting at a time like this? What was wrong with us?
The guards turned their backs to us, taking their watch seriously. Of course, I took the opportunity to Call Carnwennan to me the moment they turned around, and bury it under a thin layer of sand. The sun continued to rise, and the heat in my Barrier was increasing faster than it should have been, as if I was in a hot house and not just sitting on the sandy beach. By noon, I was panting; the need for water was beyond anything I’d previously experienced.
A thought trickled through my mind like the water I so desperately craved. Reaching out with my senses and Card’s power, I found a seam of water deep below me. Calling it upwards, I coaxed the fresh water into my prison until I had a bubbling spring that I could drink from. The water was icy cold, a bit gritty from coming through the sand, and the best thing I’d ever drunk in my life. Drinking my fill, I splashed the water over my face, the back of my neck and chest. My guard glanced at me once, frowned, and then looked away. All the better. Now it was time for Bres. Pulling on the water again, I coaxed and cajoled it into rising below Bres, creating a spring for him.
His eyes widened. I gave him a nod. At least we wouldn’t die of dehydration. Dying of something else, say a sword thrust from Nuadha —that, I wasn’t so sure we’d be able to avoid.
Down the beach I could hear shouting—screaming actually. I rolled to my side, my head propped up on my arm, my fingers resting just over the hilt of Carnwennan. It was the most effort I was willing to make, even for a scuffle.
A petite figure was screaming into Nuadha’s face, body cloaked, but obviously feminine. I sat up. Twice she screamed my name, asking where I was, and what had been done to me.
“Mom?” Her hood slipped back revealing the curls both Ashling and I had inherited. I stood up. “MOM!”
She spun, saw me and started to run across the sand. Even at this distance, I could see tears tracking down her face.
Nuadha yelled at her to stop, but she didn’t listen. I had a split second to see and understand what was about to happen. Nuadha raised his hand, with power circling around him as he prepped a power bolt.
I Called Carnwennan to my hand, sliced through the Barrier and ran towards Darcy. “Get down!” I yelled. The glint in Nuadha’s eye told me everything. This was a setup. Darcy dropped to the ground as Nuadha’s power bolt skimmed over her head and straight to me.
With everything I had, I threw a flat Barrier up, deflecting the power bolt, bouncing it back towards a wide-eyed Nuadha. He dropped to the ground, the bolt whipping out past him and into the ocean with a tremendous thump of water and air.
Running to my mom’s side, I helped her stand. “What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you. The visions, they’ve changed,” she whispered. “There is a chance that you can still save Ashling.”
Her eyes were as wide and as sincere as I’d ever seen them.
Nuadha broke the moment. “Traitor! Give me that sword!” I could see the hunger in his eyes and I stepped back, taking my mother with me. “Nope, can’t do that. It’s mine.”
He snarled, “Give it to me now!”
Darcy and I scrambled back, Nuadha following. I didn’t want to have to fight him, I knew I couldn’t win on skill alone, and I’d kill him if I just used my powers.
“Nuadha, stand down!” An older man stepped into sight, Luke at his side. I couldn’t stop the grin that split my face when I saw him. He gave me a salute and a wink.
Nuadha froze, a snarl twisting his lips. “You will not take my place.”
“I don’t want it,” I said.
“It’s not a choice you or I make!” he roared. His face was mottled red and white with his rage, and he didn’t lower his hand.
The man who had stopped him shook his head. “Nuadha, this is a decision for the whole council. . . you have let your fear rule you.”
I saw the moment that Nuadha made his decision, saw the calm acceptance that he would end this now.
Crap, crap, crap. I pushed Darcy down and sprinted towards Bres. Darcy screamed behind me, “Nuadha, no!”
It was the only warning I had. I dropped to the ground as a power bolt sizzled over top of my head. Leaping to my feet, I made it to Bres and smashed through the Barrier with Carnwennan.
Bres shouldered me aside, “Stay out of ta way!” as Nuadha rushed us.
Three strides behind Nuadha was Luke, pulling his sword free of his scabbard. Nuadha glanced over his shoulder. “Good, Luke, keep Bres busy.”
Nuadha never saw the blow coming. Luke smashed the hilt of his sword into the back of Nuadha’s head, dropping him to the ground in an unconscious heap.
“What the hell was that about?” I gasped out, adrenaline coursing through my veins.
Luke snapped his fingers. “Guards, put him in chains. Now.” There was no arguing that voice. The power and Charm that he put into his words made doubly certain that he was obeyed.
Guards milled about, putting Nuadha into chains before he came to.
Luke stared after Nuadha. “He’s been off the whole time I’ve been back. He’s not the leader I remember him to be.”
Bres shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. “I know what happened to him.”
Everyone paused what they were doing, looked to Bres for the understanding of Nuadha’s sudden madness.
“Chaos.”
13
With Nuadha in chains, we made our way to a tent city the Tuatha had set up. The largest structure in the middle of the makeshift camp was the Council’s and Nuadha’s. The Council hushed us all on the way there.
I tried to query the Council as we walked, but the only response I got to my questions was—“We will discuss all behind the walls of the Council.”
Darcy gripped my hand the whole way, and Bres and Luke stayed right behind us, guarding my back.
As we walked, my hand gripped in Darcy’s, I realized it was the first time in many years she’d willingly taken my hand, or touched me at all.
It’s because she is the oracle and her visions one day will cease, and yours will start. That is why she wouldn’t touch you, Cora said, surprising the hell out of me.
I thought you had left me, I said, unable to keep the bitterness out of my mind. Cora had kept so much from me, so much that could have helped me understand, and maybe could have stopped some of this hurt and madness.
I can’t remember everything anymore, Quinn. It’s why I came to you when Ashling and you first came to the West Coast. It’s why I’m with you now. I am doing my best, with what I have left, even if you don’t believe me.
Ah, a punch in the gut would have been preferable to the shame that filled me. I’m sorry. Why did you keep Wil and Darcy apart?
I felt her shift as if adjusting herself. Because he wasn’t good enough for her. A smith! She was to be the oracle; she needed a strong man, like Lir, to love her.
This conversation would take us nowhere. Okay, fine. Whatever. Tell me about why she wouldn’t touch me, hug me, or hold me, even as a child.
Cora let out a sigh. Because as you saw in the helicopter, her visions can be passed to her offspring, as one or both could become an oracle in their own right.
I squeezed Darcy’s hand. She looked over at me and gave me a half smile. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
I untangled my hand from hers and slipped Wil’s ring off my thumb and pressed it into the palm of her hand. “I understand better now. He still loves you.”