“SON OF A BITCH!” I yelled, wishing I could kill him all over again. Any regrets I’d had were washed away in that moment of rage; it was enough to make me believe that I was one of the dark Fae. There was nothing righteous about this anger, only bright pulsing fury that left me shaking, and sick to my stomach.
I paced the bower until I began to calm. He couldn’t touch her anymore. That was the only upside I could see.
Moving slowly, I went back to my bed. Staring straight up at trees that covered us, I couldn’t see the night sky or the stars. Tears trickled out the corners of my eyes and down the sides of my face. Bres shifted on my one side and pulled me into his arms, cradling my body against his. He said nothing, only held me against the warmth of him. Reaching out, I touched Luke’s hip and urged him closer, tucking his back against my belly. I tucked one arm up under Luke’s head, and reached back with the other hand to pull Bres tight against me.
Held between the two men, I fell back asleep, my tears drying, fading into determination with the knowledge that Ashling was still waiting for me to save her; that for the moment, she was still there inside her body.
And if there was one thing I’d learned, it was that while love might not always conquer, it never gave up.
8
Morning dawned coolly, and I was even happier to be pressed between my two Fae men, their body heat fending off the chill of the early dawn. Not to mention it was a damn nice sight to wake up to the two impossibly handsome guys.
“Morning.” Bres rumbled in my ear, his lips taking advantage of their proximity to my sensitive lobes. Luke cradled my hand over his heart, but there was no heat there, not like what I was receiving from Bres. Still, it was very nice to be stuck between them.
“Mmm.” This was too good to be real. I had to still be dreaming.
“I think we’d best get moving,” Luke said, breaking the spell, as he let go of my hand and stretched out on the ground, his vertebrae popping and cracking. I let out a sigh and sat up, looking down on my grubby clothes. Scrubbing my hand over my face and into the tangle of knots that had once been my hair I let out another sigh. “What I wouldn’t give for clean clothes and a shower.”
Bres laughed. “What’s the point? We just have to go deeper into ta forest to find ta three Smiths.”
“You’re a guy, you wouldn’t understand,” I grumped, stretching as I stood up, feeling several vertebrae of my own pop. Despite sleeping on the ground and dreaming of Ashling, I was completely refreshed. Glancing over my shoulder at Luke and Bres, I had no doubt they were the reason.
They had their heads bowed together, dark and light nearly touching. Luke nodded, “That seems to be the best course of action.”
I frowned. “What does?”
Both of them looked over at me, their eyes far too innocent for anything good. “We were trying to figure out who should go to Nuadha,” Luke said.
Bres dusted his hands off onto his pants. “We were thinking that you and Luke should go to Nuadha, speak to him, and try to convince him that Chaos is here and is a true threat.”
Lifting an eyebrow I said, “And?”
“Then Bres will go deeper into the forest and try to find a gateway to the three Smiths. I don’t believe even Fianna knows which one it is,” Luke said.
“Let me think a minute,” I said, turning my back on them. Cora, please, please still be here.
I am here.
Lir didn’t trust Nuadha; he even made Balor promise to keep me away from him, I said. I can’t go with Luke, can I?
Nuadha may see you as a threat to his power. You are, after all, supposed to take his place. Go with your instincts, Quinn. They won’t lead you astray.
There was one other thing I needed to ask Cora, no matter how awkward it was. Ashling thought Cora had led me wrong and I had to ask.
Did you lie to me? About Card’s powers and freeing Ashling?
She retreated deep within me and no amount of prodding could make her come forward again. Her silence damned her and her lies. Scrunching my eyes shut, I took a few deep breaths to calm my hurt and the crushed hope that had started to bloom again.
“Do you be alright, Quinn?” Bres asked. I waved at him over my shoulder. “Give me a minute.”
Cora had lied to me. But why? Just so that I would fight harder? I knew that was the answer. I might not always fight hard for myself, but for Ashling I would give everything I had, and Cora knew that about me. Damn.
Without being able to speak with her, I had to go on what I did know. I agreed with Cora about following my instincts; the only problem now would be trying to get the boys to see the truth of it.
Turning back to them, they tensed the minute I met their eyes. “You’re right, Luke, you need to convince Nuadha of the danger that is coming.” They started to relax and I lifted my hand. “But I can’t come with you. Nuadha . . .he will not welcome me. I will go with Bres to the three Smiths.”
Bres’ eyebrows shot up, and a small smile played along the edge of his lips. Luke frowned. “Do you really think that’s the best course?”
He was starting to trust me; I only hoped that I wasn’t making the wrong decision. “Yes. Go to the camp, and then send word back to Fianna. We will find you from here. Hopefully, with a weapon that has the power to destroy Chaos.”
Luke stepped forward and pulled me into his arms, hugging me tight. “Be safe, Quinn. Please, please be safe.” I tilted my head up for a kiss, but he brought his lips to my forehead in a gesture that was almost brotherly. Was he feeling awkward around Bres? That seemed the most likely cause. Luke stepped away, heading out the far side of the bower towards the lake. “You be safe too. I can’t bring you back from the dead again.” I tried to smile, but my lips were trembling too much. Something had changed between us, and it was more than just Bres being back. It was subtle, but there nonetheless.
Watching him go, I wished I didn’t have to see him walk away from me. It felt too much like a final goodbye. Too much like it wouldn’t ever be the way it was before. Without knowing how, I knew that this was a turning point, whether for good or for ill was all that was left to be decided.
“We should get moving,” Bres touched my arm. We turned to see Fianna waiting behind us, hands clasped in front of her.
“I have no help to give you on this next leg of your journey, Quinn. Only I bid you to take this.” She handed me a brown drawstring bag that was about the size of a golf ball. “Do not open it now. You will know when the time is right.”
Tucking the bag into my back pocket, I smiled. “Thank you for all your help.”
She smiled back and my heart flipped over; it was so like Aednat’s grin. I led the way out of the bower, the pain in my heart driving me with the memories of the little Banshee. It seemed like I was destined to be the one to kill, to end the lives of those around me. Bres caught up to me, matching his pace to mine.
“Do you know where we be headed?”
“No.”
“Then . . .how exactly do you think we are going to be finding ta Smiths?” He asked.
I paused in mid-stride. “I don’t know.”
“What about your pa? Could he help?” Now there was a thought. Of course, Lir was off on his own quest, hopefully having better luck than we were. The only way I knew how to contact him involved taking a nap, and I didn’t think that would happen any time soon.
Bres put his hands on his h*ps and dropped his chin to his chest. “You took Card’s powers. Can you use them to seek out ta Smiths?”
I opened my mouth to answer him that I didn’t know, then snapped it shut. The birds had gone silent around us, even the air seemed to have stilled. Bres’ head turned slowly, and he pulled his sword free of his scabbard.
Lifting his hand, he pointed for me to stay behind him. Trusting his judgement, I followed a few feet back, far enough that if he swung his sword, I wouldn’t be in the way, but still close enough that I could help if need be.
He pointed at a thick bush, one that was heavy with foliage.
Ever so slowly, he slid his sword into the bush, then stopped. “Come out. Before I slit your throat.”
His sword followed our stalker’s movement. I couldn’t believe who it was on our trail.
Balor.
Bres dropped the tip of his sword and his jaw. “Pa.” Then as if realizing just who it was, his sword snapped back up. “You’ll not be getting past me to her.”
Balor shook his head, his arm clutching his middle. “I’m not here for that. I’m . . .dying.”
He held his hand out and a gush of blood flowed from his side through a wound I couldn’t have spanned with both my hands. He gripped his body once more, barely staunching the flow. But Bres, surprising me, didn’t go to him.
“Chaos,” I whispered, knowing it to be the truth. Balor nodded, and sunk to his knees.
“Yes, she stole Ashling from us. I was so wrong to fear you, Quinn, when it was me who brought Chaos on us all.” His head drooped, yet I still didn’t know if I could trust him, or if it was some sort of sham he was pulling on us.
“Bres, can you do anything to help him?” I asked. Bres shook his head, his jaw tight.
I crouched down so that we were eye to eye. “Can you help us find the three Smiths?” I asked. “That is all you can do now to help us stop her, to right the wrong you loosed on this world.”
Again he nodded. “There is a rhyme of sorts that I remember from when I was a boy. You have to understand, it was a silly rhyme, one that meant nothing to me then, but perhaps now it might help you find your way to them.”
“Over the hall,
Through the fall,
Cross the vale,
Between the shale,
There the Smiths of three prevail.” He let out a cough, and the only thing I could think of was how bad a rhyme it was. But if it helped us find the Smiths then it didn’t matter how bad or how corny it seemed.
“Thank you,” I said.
“You will try to save her, won’t you?” Tears streamed down his face as he lifted his eyes to mine, a father’s tears for his only daughter.