The Aughisky spun on their haunches and I shouted my farewells. This was going to be a long ride, even at the speed that our mounts could manage.
Quinn, love, talk to me. Bres’ words whispered across my mind and I finally relented, letting him in.
I’m going to have to do it. It’s just hit me that this is the weapon I’ll use to take her head. The words were painful, and I hadn’t even said them out loud.
I glanced over at Bres, his face pale with the shock of my words. You don’t know that.
Turning my face into the wind, I hunched over the saddle, the hilt of Carnwennan digging into my side. The problem was, while I wanted to believe I could save Ashling, everything was pointing to her death being the only way to save the world. How could I tell people I gave up the world for a single life? Even if that life was the whole world to me?
12
The Aughisky did just what the three Smiths said they would. They ran at a speed that no one could match, taking us all the way to the West coast. It was early morning, just as dawn was breaking through the cloudy skies when we reached the coast. The scent of the ocean reached me and my mount at the same time.
“Quinn, dismount. Right now,” Bres said, his words brooking no argument.
But my body was sluggish after a night in the saddle and it didn’t want to obey me. My mount snorted and spoke, shocking the hell out of me.
“Lady of the Sea, dismount. I cannot contain my urge to take to the water much longer.”
I slid off, my knees buckling when my feet touched the ground, but it was enough. The Aughisky bolted towards the water, bucking and tearing the saddles from each other’s backs. We watched as they dove into the water, their sleek black bodies disappearing under the waves.
“Thank you,” I said, knowing that they couldn’t hear me, but saying it anyway.
Letting out a groan I tried to stand. “I’m so sore, everything hurts.”
Bres chuckled, mimicking the three Smiths. “Ah, it weren’t so bad, lass.”
I took a swat at him, though it was only half-hearted. “Don’t tease, we have to find Nuadha.”
The sound of multiple swords being drawn from their scabbards was the only warning we had. Bres spun, pulling his own sword, barely in time to parry what would have been a fatal blow.
“Put down your weapons, Fomorii!” our attacker cried out. His armor was polished to a sheen and reflected the weak light of the morning in bright flashes.
“Stop!” I yelled, foolishly thinking that they would listen. Others slipped up behind us, and I did the only thing I could think of—I flipped a Barrier over Bres and me, protecting us from the men who’d surrounded us.
“Drop your Barrier, Quinn.” I recognized that voice, but not because I’d ever met him in person. Slowly I turned to face Nuadha, leader of the Tuatha de Daanan. His hair was shorn, not the long silver braid it had been at his battle with Balor where he’d cursed the Fomorii.
“Nuadha, we aren’t here to fight; we’re here to help,” I said.
“Then drop the Barrier.” His eyes showed no warmth nor malice.
A glance over my shoulder to Bres for some sort of indication of what we should do only gave me a half shoulder shrug to go on. I don’t know, Quinn.
Damn. Where was Cora now? Nowhere. I couldn’t even feel her. A hitch in my throat caught me. Now? She abandoned me, now?
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.