“She was trying to fight back; I thought maybe she was sick,” I said. I looked at Bres. “It was right after I gave her the ring from Wil. I think that gave her the strength to fight Chaos off for a few minutes.”
Luke gave a “huh?” which I chose to ignore. We didn’t have time to re-hash my mother’s sad love life.
As we finished tying her up, the Council filed back in, minus three members. “We have them all rounded up.” The older gentleman, who seemed to be the speaker, announced. Then his mouth dropped upon seeing Darcy tied on the floor.
“Not the oracle, too!”
“Yes, though I believe she was trying to fight for us, showing us the mark,” I said. I let out a deep breath, bending at the waist, my hands on my knees. Bres put his hand on my lower back.
“Just breathe, Quinn. You can do this, love.”
The silence in the room took me a minute to absorb. They were waiting on me to lead them. Well, crap.
“Okay, put all those with the mark somewhere safe. When Chaos is defeated, I think the mark should go with her,” I said, hoping I was right. I picked out two of the younger-looking council members and sent them to do that. Guards came and moved a screaming, ranting Nuadha and a sullen Darcy.
When they were gone, silence again reigned. I licked my lips. “Tell me what you know so far.”
What came next was so very much worse than I could have expected.
Chaos had been as busy as I had, putting the world into a tailspin of destruction. Natural disasters had ravaged across all the continents. Hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis and every imaginable force of nature had been unleashed on the world in the space of only a few days.
“How many have been killed?” I whispered.
“Hundreds of thousands. The death toll is rising every day. The humans are calling it the apocalypse,” one of the Council members said. “They are waiting for a Savior.”
The world seemed to tilt under my feet. Bres slipped an arm around my waist, and Luke touched my arm, but wouldn’t even take my hand. “You couldn’t have stopped this any sooner,” he said, his blue eyes holding my gaze. “Don’t you dare think this is your fault.”
Bres tightened his arm around me. “He’s right. This be her doing, not yours.”
The Council members that were left said nothing, their faces left carefully blank. No doubt they were used to dealing with Nuadha, which said a great deal about their reaction to the situation. How long had Chaos been leading Nuadha by the nose? How long had they been forced to do what she wanted through his bidding?
“I need...a moment.” I pointed to the Council. “Leave us here, return in an hour.”
They filed out, obedient without question. Not a good thing in a council that was there to advise a leader.
“Chaos has been running things for a while, I think,” I said.
Luke grimaced. “I bet that’s why Nuadha and the Council forbade me from coming after you, Chaos was already in control then.”
“Good thing you disobeyed them.” I attempted a smile, though inside, my heart was breaking. So many people had died because of Chaos —because I hadn’t stopped her.
Bres dropped his forehead to my shoulder. “It was my pa that did this.”
“He did and didn’t,” I said. “I’ve no doubt Chaos has been planning this for a long time. She’s been putting all her pawns into place. Don’t you remember what Fianna said? Aednat had been swayed by Chaos years ago, even while she was locked away. Now it’s up to us to stop her.”
I stepped away from the two boys, my thoughts racing. “Do you think Chaos will meet me in open battle?”
Both of them shook their heads. Luke answered first. “No, not a chance. Not now that you have Carnwennan.” He motioned to the sword at my hip. “She’ll know it is the one thing that can destroy her, and you are prophesied to do just that.”
Bres was nodding his agreement. “It’s too great a chance that she’ll lose to you. I think she’ll try and kill you from a distance, use assassins and such to get close to you.”
My blood chilled at what they were saying. We were in a full-blown war. “Then we have to find a way to draw her out, to trick her into meeting me.” I refused to think about the reality of what I was saying, of what it would mean when I did face her.
Death for one of us, maybe even both.
Luke folded his arms, “Do you have something in mind?”
I thought for a moment, my mind rolling over the possibilities. “What if we used Nuadha? We could set him free.” They gasped, and I kept talking, “and use him to draw her here. If she thinks she has an ally in Nuadha, she won’t hide from him.”