Dark Fae(3)

Fianna put her hands on her hips; she let out an exaggerated sigh. After several seconds of staring at Bres, her eyes narrowed, she finally shrugged. “Fine, but if she fails, and the world falls, it will be on your head. I can take you to the place that crosses over, but it will mean your death and hers. I do not want to be the one to end our singular hope against Chaos.”

Luke’s fingers were icy, as if he’d been dunked in water and then set in our freezer back home that kept the ice cream so hard we couldn’t scoop it out. I shook my head knowing that the tangent my brain was running off to was an attempt to escape the truth. Luke was dying.

“I can’t just let him die, not if there’s a chance we could save him,” I said. Guilt clawed at my guts. It was my fault that Luke was dying, just like it was my fault that Ashling had been taken by the Fomorii in the first place. I couldn’t save Ashling, but maybe I could save Luke. Bres nodded his agreement.

You don’t have that luxury. You have other things you must do. Luke understands that; he wouldn’t want you to put your life in danger for him.

I didn’t answer her. I just put Luke’s hands back on his chest, and then stood up. There was no longer any hesitation. I couldn’t be afraid, not when the people I cared about were dying around me.

“Let’s go to this place, Fianna.” I knew that this was only the first step. We still had to find the Three Smiths in the hope that they could make a new Excalibur, a weapon that would be the death of my sister. Suppressing that thought, I steeled my resolve. Save Luke first, get the sword after. Don’t think about the final step, not yet.

You are a fool, girl.

I nodded, but didn’t answer her. I didn’t need to. Fool or not, I was doing this my way.





2

As we prepared to leave, a willowy Banshee bolted into the Queen’s bower. She was shaking, and sweat dripped off the edge of her chin. Her eyes—a beautiful hazel—were huge and dilated. Fear radiated around her, infecting the other Banshees. The entire group began to shift, distancing themselves from the messenger. “Calling mirror,” she whispered, handing a silvered mirror over to Fianna. I recognized it; it was the one Aednat had brought me to Call Ashling on.

The thought of Aednat made me sick to my stomach. I’d killed her. Only a few short days ago I’d been like any other twenty six year old. How could it be that, in that time, I’d changed so much that not only was I capable of killing someone, but of killing Aednat, who reminded me so much of Ashling. Aednat had brought out the protective side of me, but I had still killed her, without hesitation. Me. I’d ended her life. Squinting my eyes shut, I took a deep breath, held it, and then let it out slowly. The world had spun on me, flipped my perception of it inside out, and I had to change in order to survive the shift. That didn’t mean I was happy with that fact.

Fianna accepted the mirror and swirled her hand around it. The silver-edged Calling mirror slipped from her hand but didn’t fall to the ground. Instead it hovered in mid air, shimmering and bending as it flexed its borders. The mirror stretched until it was about two feet wide and nearly six feet tall, large enough for a person to see her entire outfit. Or, in this case, it was large enough for Ashling to be completely visible.

“Ash!” I shouted, starting forward in excitement. She had perfect timing. I’d broken through the mirror once, which had allowed Ashling to heal me. Maybe she could do it again for Luke.

“No, Quinn, it isn’t her anymore.” Bres said, the urgency and fear that laced his voice stopping me. “Look at her, really look at her.”

The same strawberry blond curls, the same petite figure, the same eyes . . . no, that was the difference. Her eyes, once the colour of new spring grass had darkened to the green of mold and damp things. Things shuffled and shimmered in those now darkened irises. Her head remained half cocked to the right, as if she was listening to music only she could hear. She stepped forward, her joints jerking and popping as if she were a marionette. I couldn’t stop myself from stepping back. I knew that mirror could be passed through, I’d done it myself.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” I said.

Ashling sneered at me. “You should listen to Balor’s weakest link. He is actually helping you stay alive, more than he could do for your little sister.” Her voice was heavy and thick, as though she were speaking underwater and I was only hearing the echo of it. She snickered. “For now. Soon this world will be mine as it should have been from the start. Chaos will reign.”

Ashling’s voice and words wreaked havoc on my heart. Lir had been right. He’d told me before he’d left that seeking out Ashling would end the only chance we had at stopping Chaos. Seeing her now, I knew in my heart that he was speaking the truth; Ashling was gone forever.