“Never. You should never have been born. I was to be his heir.” He spat the words at me, his eyes sunk into his head, full of hatred and fury. “There can be only one of us.”
Tears pricked my eyes. “Then this is it.”
He grimaced, took one last swing at me, his fist bouncing feebly off my forehead. I closed my eyes, prayed that this would be the last death on my hands, and took the last drops of his power, and, with it, his life.
7
Bres lifted Card off me, rolling his body to one side as he gathered me up into his arms. I was sobbing; I didn’t remember starting to cry, didn’t remember the Barrier coming down.
“Quinn, you be all right.” Bres’ hands rubbed my back. “Come on, we have to go. If you want to be saving Luke, that is.”
He was right, there was no time to feel this sorrow, we had to move fast. Wobbling to my feet, a rush of awareness I’d never had filled my senses. Every drop of water was mine to command, from the lake, to the rain, to the moisture beading on Bres’ forehead.
I took a slow even breath, gingerly holding my broken arm against my chest. “Let’s go.”
Pausing, I stared down at Card’s shrunken body. “Fianna . . .” was all I managed before she interrupted me.
“We will take care of his body.” She inclined her head to me.
Bres took off his shirt and twisted it into a bandage to bound up my broken arm. It hurt, but already I could feel the break knitting up, the split in my lip and my swollen eye healing. Running full tilt the rest of the way, we burst into the Banshee’s bower, startling the guard.
“Where’s Luke?” I asked.
She pointed to the back of the bower, and the trees leaned outwards to reveal the way. With Bres at my heels, I bolted down the path, skidding to a halt in a second clearing. Luke lay on a bed of flowers, his hands folded over his still chest.
“No,” I whispered. We were too late.
Bres grabbed my good arm. “The old man said there was a time that you could call Luke back from death.”
The Banshee guard followed us into the clearing, Fianna close behind. “How long has he been dead?”
The guard shrugged. “A while, I suppose.”
Fianna stepped up. “With the time that has already passed where he can be brought back, you will have wasted the healing power of the cauldron if you use it.”
“I’ll take that chance,” I said.
Dropping to my knees beside Luke’s body, I reached out, then paused, staring at Card’s blood still cooling on my fingers. I closed my eyes to block out the sight.
Damn, I knew there was something I’d forgotten. “How do I make the Cauldron work?” I asked.
Fianna came to my side and pressed my hand over Luke’s silent heart. “Here. It is like all magic; you must will the healing to begin.”
Pressing my palm hard into his cold skin, I prayed we weren’t too late. The warmth in my arm slid down to my fingers, the skin on Luke’s chest around my hand slowly gained colour. “Come on, Luke, this isn’t the end, not yet. I still have to kick your ass for lying to me,” I whispered.
Bres crouched beside me. “He’s a fighter. We aren’t too late.”
But nothing was happening. Luke didn’t take a breath; he didn’t pink up other than around my hand. “Come on, please don’t die on me. I’ll let the whole lie about Bres slide, if you just come back.” There was nothing, not even a glimmer of movement. This wasn’t fair! We’d fought so hard! I wanted to hit something, to lash out. Anything to not feel this gaping hole. I couldn’t lose him. I couldn’t lose another person whom I cared about.
Slipping my broken arm out of the sling, I put my other hand on his forehead. “Damn it, Luke!” I yelled, “Don’t you dare back out on me now!”
A bright flare of heat snapped between my hand and his chest, jerking his body like an electric shock. The intensity of the light dulled my eyes; I turned my head, but didn’t let go of him.
“Ashling? Quinn?”
My head whipped around so hard I smacked into Bres, giving me temporary stars. “Luke?” I was afraid my eyes were deceiving me. He had rumpled hair, bags under his eyes and a gaunt frame from the poison burning through his system, but he was alive.
Luke started to sit up, but I pushed him back down. “No, you can’t. Not yet.”
“I feel fine.” He paused, “I thought for a minute there that you were your sister. What happened? Where’s Aednat?” he asked. Then his eyes flicked to Bres. “What the hell?” Rolling away from me, Luke got to his feet and shot a ball of fire at Bres, who ducked the flames and spun out of the way.
“Luke, stop!” I yelped, ducking under a second gout of flame. “He’s on our side! It was Chaos who turned him against us!”
Bres continued to dodge the fire, though I could see it was wearing on him. I did the only thing I could. Running to Bres, I pressed my back against his chest and faced Luke. “Stop this, I need you both to stand with me. Please, Luke. Bres helped me save your life. He was ready to give up his own to save yours.”
Luke looked down at me, his eyes full of confusion. “What happened?”
I quickly explained about Aednat, the poison, and the Cauldron. When I got to the part about Card, the pain of it hit me in the gut like a punch. I sank to my knees. I’d killed my brother, and though I didn’t love him like I loved Ashling, what did it say of me that I could do it at all?
Luke’s arms gingerly went around me, and I let my body collapse against his. I was exhausted and heart sore, and we still had so very, very far to go. Excalibur, the three Smiths, and Chaos all loomed ahead of me, of us.
A second set of hands touched my back and I reached for Bres. Luke stiffened up. “I need you both,” I said. He relaxed and Bres gripped my one hand, his fingers interlocking with mine.
“We have to keep her safe,” Bres said, as if I weren’t even there.
“Agreed,” Luke answered.
I grunted and closed my eyes, feeling grateful for this one moment of respite. It was far from perfect, but I suspected it was all I was going to get.
Fianna came to stand beside us. “You should rest before you seek out the three Smiths. Luke, while you may be feeling up to the task, your body should still heal. Bres and Quinn, you should rest too after your fight for the Cauldron.” She never mentioned Card, for which I was glad.
We were let to a third bower. This one was smaller and cozy. Three beds were made up of cedar bows, moss and maple leaves. They looked heavenly.
I crashed on the middle one, my eyes shutting as the two men spoke softly in the background. I didn’t care, as long as they didn’t start fighting, they could talk all night.
“Why did ya tell her I Charmed her?”
“Because I could see how hung up she was on you turning against her. It was better that way, for her to believe it was a clean break. How was I to know it was Chaos making you turn? I didn’t think you’d be coming back.”
“Next time, perhaps you should consider telling ta truth. Women always find a man’s lies, no matter how well he thinks he’s hidden them.”
Luke grunted, and with that they went quiet, apparently satisfied.
I relaxed and sleep claimed me immediately—but then, so did the dream. I was still in the bower but both boys were sleeping. They had moved their beds close to mine, one on either side.
How was it that I could love them both? I brushed the hair back off Luke’s forehead, feeling the silken texture of it run across my fingers. Turning to Bres, I did the same, my heart beating hard for both of them.
“Well that’s a problem I’d like to have.”
I stood up, my eyes seeing her, but my mind not believing it. Ashling stood across from me, her petite frame wrapped in an off-the-shoulder white gown that was fitted over her hips, flaring into a wide skirt. I looked down at my grubby jeans and t-shirt, surprised that they were even still intact.
She stepped towards me and I held up my hand. “How do I know it’s you and not Chaos?” Gods, the pain in her eyes nearly buckled my knees.
Ashling started to cry. “Please, I only have a short time. While she sleeps, my spirit can wander.”
That was all I could take. There was still a chance it was a trap, but I would run that risk. Three strides and I pulled her into my arms, her sobs muffled into my shoulder. “Quinn, I’m so scared, I’m not strong enough to fight her. She’s crushing me.”
I held her tight, not knowing what to say. “I’m still fighting for you; you can’t give up.”
“You have to kill my body; it’s the only way to stop her.”
“Hush, don’t talk like that. It isn’t the only way. Cora said I could free you if I took Card’s power,” I said, smoothing her hair down her back. The curls tangled in my fingers. In such a short time, we’d come so far. My hands still had spots of Card’s blood, there was swamp mud under my fingernails and the faintest etching of the Cauldron remained on the palm of my hand. Against her strawberry blonde hair, my hands looked as if they belonged to a criminal.
“I think Cora lied to you,” Ashling said, pulling back so she could look up at me. Her green eyes spilled over with tears. “I want to believe that you can save me, Quinn. I want to. But . . . “
I shushed her. “No, we won’t end up apart. I promise you that. I won’t give up.”
“Say hi to Luke for me,” she said, her eyes brightening. “I stayed with him, while he floated in between life and death.” Then she nodded, and flinched. “I have to go, she’s waking up. I’ll try to come again. And, Quinn… Thank you for stopping Card. Chaos has been rewarding him by . . .” she swept her hand up and down her own body. “Even though it’s not really mine anymore . . .” her voice broke and she stepped back, she lifted her hand and disappeared.
Anger like I’d never felt before ripped through me. Card had been using Ashling’s body for a play toy.