Dark Isle(32)

“Umm… yeah.” No need to share that memory with him, though he could probably guess. Which, by the way his face darkened and eyes narrowed, he was doing at that very moment.

He gave a small grunt, reached for my hand, and started towards the archway where Aednat stood waiting.

Following her through, we stepped from one forest into another, though there were subtle differences. Where we’d come from there’d been birds singing, a breeze blowing, the sounds of life on the edge of my senses—though I didn’t realize it until they were gone.

What had once been Cathedral grove, and was now an Enchanted forest, was silent like an old house the night the power goes out. The stillness was so unnatural that I couldn’t help the adrenaline that spiked through me. I let go of Luke’s hand, feeling the need to be ready for anything.

Aednat crouched behind a mid-sized cedar tree and beckoned us closer. She lifted her hand and pointed. I followed her direction with my eyes. There, only fifty or so feet away, was the shoreline of Cameron Lake and floating in the middle was the “baby” beast. Laying sanguine in the water, it sunned itself at the surface, tentacles floating and flipping randomly.

“Aednat will start to sing then you run and swim,” Aednat whispered. “You will have enough time to swim to Lir; then Aednat must go. Bad Queen will know Aednat is here.”

Crap, so we had to make it to Lir or we were toast. A small fission of excitement thrilled through me along with the fear. I was going to meet my father, face to face, a man I’d long thought dead.

Luke touched his fingers to my chin and placed a kiss on my lips, his words only for me. “Whatever happens, swim hard; no matter what happens you dive fast and deep. Don’t worry about anything except getting to Lir.”

I nodded and gave him a hug, holding him tight for a brief second.

Aednat took a big, exaggerated breath and began to sing, her voice gathering strength as the beast lay in the water, his body stilling even more.

“Now!” Luke said, half yanking me to my feet. We sprinted the short distance across the beach and dove into the water, the ice cold chill of the lake slamming into me, making my muscles contract. A twinge from my shoulder slowed me down as I forced myself to swim deeper, knowing that holding my breath wasn’t an issue. Of course, we’d found that out the hard way, Ashling and I; all Tuatha and Fomorii could hold their breath under water indefinitely. Aednat’s voice reached us even under the water, her tones weaving words I didn’t understand with a tune I’d never heard. Yet there was a part of me that recognized both the melody and words as a long ago lullaby.

Luke motioned for me to set the pace, so I took the lead. We swam right under the tentacled beast, its body blocking out the sunlight making the depths even darker. There were no fish to be seen, no life except for the creature above us, which was not exactly reassuring. My shoulder began to ache with each stroke, the bite from the Banshee awakening with the exertion.

The pressure of the water intensified, the light from above faded, and then the worst thing that could have happened, did.

Aednat stopped singing.





11

With the burst of fear whipping through me, I forced myself to swim faster, not really knowing how close we were to the prison that held Lir.

Call your Fire forth, Quinn. And calm yourself; the beast likely doesn’t even know you’re here, Cora said, her words calming me, if only a little. I didn’t slow my pace though. With an effort, I called up a ball of blue flames, an orb that I pushed ahead of me, lighting my way. Of course, that made me visible from above, but there was nothing I could do about it.

The water began to swirl around me, as if something far larger was making ripples in the water. Not good, not good at all. A heavy weight brushed against my left leg and I made the mistake of looking back over my shoulder. The “baby” was right behind me; Luke was nowhere to be seen.

I didn’t wait for the creature to figure out that I could be its next meal. Putting the last of my reserves into overdrive, I swam hard for the bottom of the lake, though even as I thought that, I remembered that Cameron lake was supposedly bottomless. Shit.

There was no way to communicate with Luke, even if I still had him in my sights, no way to explain that I’d made a mistake; but then, Aednat had assured us that Lir was down here. The creature’s tentacle bumped against me, then recoiled. It seemed as uncertain as I was. Maybe it was still dopey from Aednat’s singing. I kicked harder, the water beyond icy cold, the temperature seemed to have dropped into arctic climes.

Quinn, you must hurry now. I think it knows what you are. Cora paused then said, Food.