I thought for a moment, my mind rolling over the possibilities. “What if we used Nuadha? We could set him free.” They gasped, and I kept talking, “and use him to draw her here. If she thinks she has an ally in Nuadha, she won’t hide from him.”
Bres began to pace. “It might work. If we had someone in camp who could report back to us about her movements, we could find someone who to influence Nuadha.” He glanced up at Luke. “You could do it. We’d be able to trust you, and you’ve always been able to bend Nuadha to your way of thinking.”
Tapping his fingers on the edge of a chair, Luke nodded. “Yes, that would work. You and Quinn could wait just outside of the army’s camp for my signal.”
I lifted my hands up. “Whoa, I wasn’t thinking of leaving Luke behind. I was thinking someone else could do this, one of the council members maybe.” That sounded feeble, even to me.
Luke smiled. “Who else would you trust?”
“What if she figures out that you’re on our side?” I whispered, thinking of the black tendrils that had devoured the Fomorii, her own army. I started to shake. “I can’t lose you.” I looked to Bres. “Either of you. There has to be another way.”
Though we spent the next hour working through different scenarios, none worked as well as the first. I fought the two boys on it, in spite of the fact that it had been my idea at first, but in my heart I knew it was the only chance we had to get close to her. The plan was to set Nuadha free that night, before any suspicion could be roused.
When the Council came back, I informed them that we would have an answer for them in the morning. They left as quickly as they’d come, seemingly happy to be out of the presence of their new “leader.”
We had several hours before it was even dark, and both Bres and Luke insisted that I try to rest while they readied the plan. After the ride in on the Aughisky, and the time spent in the scorching hot Barrier, I didn’t argue.
I was shown to a darkened tent where a bed and clean clothes were laid out for me. A basin of hot, soapy water had never looked so heavenly. I stripped out of my jeans and t-shirt and scrubbed far too many days worth of dirt, fear, and blood off my body.
Slipping into the clean clothes, I wondered at how well they would fit. Snug khaki-coloured pants that tucked into a pair of leather knee-high boots, and a white blouse that was nearly see-through, clung to me as if tailored for my body. If it hadn’t been for the camisole, it would have been indecent. Fully dressed, Carnwennan in its sheath and strapped to my hip, I lay down, sleep claiming me instantly.
“Quinn, please, I don’t have much time.” I opened my eyes to Ashling leaning over me in the same white dress as before, her eyes full of fear. It was a dream, but it felt real.
“Ash.” I pulled her into my arms and hugged her to me, feeling how frail her body had become.
“I can’t help you, there is nothing I can do, but I wanted to see you again, one last time,” she whispered into my hair.
“Don’t say that.” My words caught in my throat. “We are not saying goodbye; that isn’t how our story ends.”
She started to cry and I rocked like I had when we were younger, and when she’d been afraid of the dark. “Ash, we can get through this, just like everything else.”
“Don’t lie to me,” she said, pulling back so she could look me in the face. “I know you had a sword made, one that would kill Chaos. I’m not angry. I understand, but don’t lie to me.”
I closed my eyes, tears spilling down my cheeks. “I don’t know if I can do it.”
She grabbed my shoulders and shook me. “You are the strongest person I know, Quinn. You are my hero, the one person I look up to. Don’t let me down. Don’t let her win.”
I put my hands over hers. “Do you remember when we used to wonder about mom, if there had ever been someone she really loved?”
The change in subject caught her off guard. I told her about Wil, about how Cora had forced Darcy to produce a child with Lir, and then Balor, And how Wil was still waiting for her.
“I think you’d like him. There’s something about him that seems so calm, so easy to just be yourself,” I said. Ashling was sitting beside me, our arms around each other. “It’s amazing to think he’s waited all this time for her.”
“Love makes us do crazy things,” she whispered. “I think I’m falling in love with someone, but I can’t tell him that. Not now, not knowing what is coming. But it doesn’t stop me from going to him as often as I can, just to talk to him.”
Her confession surprised and hurt me. Ash deserved a chance to have a shot at love, to find out all about what that meant, how it felt to love someone with all her heart and have that given back to her tenfold. It hurt that she would rather spend time with this new man in her life rather than me, but I did understand. Just the thought of leaving the two boys made my own heart ache with enough pain to steal my breath away.
“Yes, love does make you do crazy things.” I said, holding her tight, as if that would keep her here with me.
She looked up at me, pinned me with her gaze. “Don’t let it make you do anything crazy, Quinn. You can’t change this. I know you love me, but this is the way it’s going to be.”
Ashling flinched as though she’d been hit. I frowned and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “What’s wrong?”
“I have to go.” She kissed me on the cheek. “Be brave, Quinn. She will try to trick you, will try to use me against you, just be brave and do what you must.”
Her image shimmered, and I was left alone in the tent. A hand on my shoulder brought me fully out of the dream. Bres leaned over me. “Everything’s ready. It’s time to go.”
15
Bres and I were alone behind a sand dune about a half mile from camp. The moon was overhead, the night clear of any cloud cover. “Do you think it went okay?” I asked for probably the tenth time.
He didn’t get upset, just took my hand and lifted it to his lips. “Luke is a fighter, he knows what he’s doing, Quinn.”
We lay on our bellies looking towards the camp. The fires were burning, which we could just see at this distance. Suddenly a great shout went up and I knew that Luke had released Nuadha and all those taken by Chaos’ mark.
The plan was that he would tell Nuadha that he’d never believed in me, not once did he see how weak I was. Both Bres and Luke thought the Tuatha leader would buy it, not seeing past his own arrogance.
There was a lot of movement in the camp, and then silence. The stillness was broken by a great crashing of symbols, and then we could hear someone shouting.
“That’s Nuadha,” Bres said. “But I can’t make out what he’s saying.”
I strained to catch a word, phrase, anything, but we were just too far away. “Should we get closer?”
Bres shook his head. “No. Luke said he would talk to Nuadha about bringing Ashling…Chaos here. We have ta be patient.”
A part of me wanted everything to just hurry up and get on with it. I had to face her. That wasn’t in doubt, but the waiting was killing me.
Suddenly there was a burst of flame and the clash of swords. I sat up and strained my eyes. “That’s Luke’s fire,” I said. “He shouldn’t be fighting. Not unless . . .”
“Shit,” Bres said, scrambling to his feet. “Nuadha didn’t fall for it.” He pointed to two figures battling across the night sands, out into the waves. I saw Nuadha lift his blade, saw him disarm Luke. No. I couldn’t let this happen!
I beckoned the water into a wave and it crashed into the two men. It saved Luke, but only for a moment. Seconds later a figure walked out into the water and plucked Luke up. Darcy held him up as if he were a wet rag doll. I heard her words as if she were standing next to me.
“She will not come for Chaos if we hold his life on the line. She loves him. He’s the perfect piece of blackmail.”
My heart clenched. What had we done?
Bres pulled me back down onto my belly. “Don’t do anything. They won’t kill him. We can figure this out.”
A soft scuffle of bush behind us spun us both around. Skulking towards us was the humped back shape of a Fomorii. With its head down, eyes towards the ground, it lifted its hands in supplication. “I mean no harm. I come in peace. Please, we need to be free of her. She is not Fomorii any longer. Bres, you know this.”
I’d pulled out Carnwennan and steadied myself on the sloping sand as the Fomorii spoke. “How do I know you tell me the truth? Why shouldn’t I make sure there is one less of you on the battle field?”
Now it did lift its head. Both eyes were clear of Chaos’ mark. “Your sister tells me that you speak of a past love of your mother, Wil. She said to tell you to trust me. I served her when she was still a little bit Fomorii.”
The Fomorii lowered its head again. I wavered. There was no way it could have known what Ashling and I spoke of without her telling it. Damn.
Carnwennan went back into the scabbard. “Alright. What do you propose?”
The Fomorii lifted its head, its tongue flicking out past the wicked sharp teeth its mouth barely contained. “I teach you, like I teach the other girl. You need help, I give it. One lesson only.”
Bres leaned in to me. I know Gormley. I trust her. She has some strange abilities, but I think she might have something to offer.
I lifted an eyebrow. “One lesson?”
Gormley ducked her head. She scratched a claw through the sand. “Yes, one lesson. Only one spell you need to know.”
She backed away from us and I shook my head. “No, I’m not going with you. Teach me here or not at all.”
A snap of her teeth and a kick of her feet in the sand preceded some heavy muttering. “Just like the other girl. Stubborn.”
Lifting her head along with one claw, she acquiesced. “Fine. I teach you here, but she might hear and then we are dead.”