Chaos continued to thrash, her desire to live strong, but even she couldn’t fight the pull of the gem.
“Ashling, fight. Fight for me!” I yelled, grabbing her hands while blood poured out of me. I couldn’t save us both.
Her nails dug into my fingers as she yanked me off balance. We tumbled to the side, Chaos ending up on top of me, pinning me to the ground.
“If I’m going to be trapped, then I am taking you with me.” She had her black sword in her hand, and I had nothing to block her with. In the back of my mind, I knew I could hit her with a blast of power, but I didn’t want to hurt Ashling anymore than I had already.
As the blade came down, I braced myself. “I love you Ash.”
She stopped in mid swing, a look of pain rippled across her face. “Quinn?” Beautiful, pristine green eyes widened as she slid off me, slumping into the sand, her body shuddering once, and then going still. My mind skittered away from the possibility of failure. Not this time, this time I would save her. Clutching my wound, I scrambled over to her.
I pulled Carnwennan out of her, the stone a deeper shade of green and blue, but otherwise unchanged. Chaos was trapped. “It’s going to be okay, Ash. Trust me,” I whispered.
My hand still had the etching of the Cauldron on it.
Don’s words came back to me. “If you use the Cauldron a second time, you will likely lose your life.”
“Likely?”
“Well, let’s just say that it will take everything you have and then keep on taking.”
Taking a deep breath, I lay it over Ashling’s wound, her blood warm; I was dead either way. The wound from Chaos’ sword was on fire. The pain was racing through me and making my heart thump erratically.
Warmth spread through me as I willed the Cauldron to heal her, pouring my powers from it into her. Her skin flushed pink and began to knit together, the clean slice from Carnwennan closing over in a thin, white line. I felt myself growing weaker by the moment.
But Ashling still wasn’t breathing. I used what Gormley had taught me, not to just try to use my powers, but to actually give them up. For Ashling, I would give it all up; it was the last thing I could do for her.
Everything I had went into those moments. First Card’s power was taken, then I felt my own power begin to be drawn from me.
“Come on Ash,” I whispered. Her body jerked and her chest rose, once, twice.
“She’s breathing!” I screamed, unable to believe that it was working, that I was able to heal her.
Gormley shuffled over to us. “There is only one problem.”
I lifted my eyes to hers, but didn’t take my hands from Ashling. The world around me was starting to tilt. The blood loss was too much.
“We do not want her as our leader,” the old woman said. She lifted her hand, power swirling around her. I wasn’t sure that I had anything left to stop her with.
Ashling began to stir. It would have to be enough; it wouldn’t matter if I healed her completely if I had let the Fomorii kill her when she was still helpless.
Literally powerless, using the last of my strength, I leapt at Gormley, tackling her to the ground. The blast of power hit me square in the chest, throwing me backwards. Time seemed to slow. I saw Bres and Luke, running out of the water towards us, Lir close behind them. I saw Ashling sit up, a hand to her head. Her eyes were clear.
I hit the throne, my back snapping with the impact. The bones crunched, splintering. I couldn’t stop the scream that ripped out of me.
I am here, granddaughter. The pain will be but a moment.
I’d given Ashling everything to heal her. She would be okay. It was the only consolation I had; I could feel my body dying.
18
Brilliant white light filled my vision and there was the sound of water on the sand, the soft shush of waves whispering in and out of the ocean. Blinking, I looked down to see that I was still in my khaki pants, tall boots, and white shirt, though the “white” could be taken into question.
My back didn’t hurt and the wound from Chaos’ sword was gone, but I had a cut on my leg that was bleeding all over the pristine beach, leaving a trail that was not being swept away by the water. Weird.
Across the sand came two figures. The first didn’t surprise me, her red hair floating on the wind. The other, though, shocked the hell out of me.
Balor.
He looked younger, the weight of years and worry had been erased, and he looked a great deal like Bres.
They approached slowly, almost languidly, as if there were no hurry.
“Cora,” I said, rushing forward and hugging her. She squeezed me back. “I’m so sorry, for everything, Quinn.”
“Don’t be. It’s okay now. Ashling’s all right,” I said, meaning it.
Balor reached over and took my hand. “You are an amazing woman, Quinn. I see why Bres loves you so.”
I blushed, not sure what to say, opting for a simple. “Thanks.”
Cora took my other hand. “You will not be here long.”
“What?” I whispered, confusion filling me. I was dead. This was where dead people went, to be with their ancestors. I’d felt my heart stop beating, felt my body die.
“Why are you here?” I asked Balor.
He shrugged, a soft smile lighting up his face. “To say goodbye, I think,” he answered.
Balor turned me to face the water. “What do you see?”
I squinted, the images dancing over the waves, became clearer. Ashling was bent over my body, her mouth open wide in a scream I couldn’t hear. Bres grabbed her, pulled her away from me, and put his fingers to my neck.
Then Ashling was there again, her hands on my face. She shook her head.
But what surprised me was Don. He was on the beach, and he had put one hand against my chest and one on my forehead.
Balor gently turned me back to face him. “I did you wrong; I judged you based on a skewed prophecy, instead of who you were, who you are.” He cupped my face. “Can you forgive me?”
I nodded, tears streaking down my cheeks. “Yes. But only because I know you did it for Ashling, because you love her too.”
He touched his forehead to mine, then turned and walked away. I blinked and he was gone; all that was left of him were his footprints in the wet sand.
“I too need to ask forgiveness, and say goodbye,” Cora said, her hands turning me to face her now.
“No, you said you wouldn’t leave me,” I whispered. “I don’t know you as my grandmother, but you are my friend.”
She smiled. “Be safe, Quinn. Keep following your heart. It hasn’t led you wrong, not once.” She bent and kissed me on each cheek. “Tell Darcy,” her voice caught and she put a hand to her lips. “Tell her that I love her and I want her to be happy. And that I’m sorry.”
I blinked and when I opened my eyes, it was Ashling in front of me, tears streaming down her face.
“Hey,” I said, my throat dry.
“Quinn, I thought you were gone!” She collapsed on me and I wrapped my arms around her.
It’s okay now. It’s all done. I said softly in her mind. You saved me.
“I didn’t. It was him.” She pointed to a slumped-over Don, his body still in death. One of his palms faced upwards, showing the faded image of the cauldron etched into it. I knew he hadn’t been able to save his Mary, but now he had saved me. I hoped that he was with her now, that they’d been re-united.
“How did you know that it would work?” she whispered in my ear. “How did you know you could break the spell and heal me and it would all work out okay?”
I let out a laugh and sat up. “I didn’t, I didn’t know anything of the sort.”
Her eyelids fluttered and her mouth dropped open. “But then, why?”
“I couldn’t do it, not even for the world could I be the one to take your life.” I ran a hand over her head, brushing against her shorn hair. “And I trusted that you would fight for me as hard as I fought for you.”
She burst into tears anew and buried her head into my shoulder. “I couldn’t give up on you either.”
“Then why are you crying?” I asked, setting her back from me. “Chaos is gone, you’re here, I’m here, what in the world could possibly be wrong?”
“What if something else happens?” she asked, wiping the tears away. “Do you really think that will be the last evil the world will face?”
I let out a sigh. “No, but I think we can take a break from it all, at least for the weekend. Don’t you? Maybe we could go take those surf lessons. Someone did promise us a free lesson, didn’t he?”
We turned to look at Luke, whose eyebrows were in his hairline. He lifted his hands up in mock surrender. “You’re right, I did promise you lessons.”
A hand on my shoulder turned my head. Bres smiled down at us. “You did it, Quinn.” I put my hand over his.
“No, love conquered, just the way it should.”
Epilogue
The next week was a flurry of activity. Ashling retained her spot as leader of the Fomorii. Gormley had been killed by Bres after she’d tossed me into the throne.
It was a hard adjustment for all of them, Ashling learning to lead and the Fomorii getting used to a leader who wasn’t after power, but instead truly cared about their well-being.
Nuadha stepped down as leader of the Tuatha and Luke stepped into his rightful position. The Council backed Luke completely, giving him the support he needed. He appointed Bres to the Council, which both surprised and pleased me. They may not ever be fast friends, but they worked well together when they had a common goal.
Lir hadn’t been able to rouse any of the old gods, so he’d decided to continue trying to wake them, to make them an active part of the world. Though he’d forgiven me for killing my brother, he’d left shortly after with no promise to return. That had hurt. I’d thought for a brief time that I’d finally have some semblance of a family. Slowly, however, I realized that I already did. Ashling and the boys were all I needed.