Dark Isle(34)

Lir hauled me to a sudden stop. “No, you don’t mean to tell me that you believe all the prophecy, the one the Tuatha have twisted?”

“Can we discuss this some other time? Like when I don’t think someone I care about is hurt or dying?” I snapped, unable to stop the anger flowing out of me. “It’s the least you could do after leaving me with Darcy. I know you knew I was your daughter before this past year.” A bloom of hurt and anger welled up. Why was it that I got the short end of the stick when it came to both parents?

Lir nodded, his lips tight. I didn’t want to be a bitch, but he had to understand how important this was. A life could be hanging in the balance. The worst part was that this time, I was right.





12

There was no issue with “Morty” as we swam to the surface of the lake. Lir made a small motion with his hand and the beast floated backwards, humble to the core, though it did give me the hairy eyeball with its remaining eye and a snap of its parrot beak.

“Yeah, well, I ain’t too fond of you either, Morty,” I said to it, giving it the one-fingered salute.

“Don’t tease the wildlife, daughter,” Lir said, giving me his hand and helping me out the last few feet of the lake. Cars slowed down along the edge of the highway, people staring at our bedraggled forms. But their stares were the least of my problems. Luke was nowhere to be found.

“Are you sure Luke isn’t in the lake?”

Lir nodded. “I would have sensed him. I would hazard a guess that the new Banshee Queen has him.” He looked at me with compassion. “We don’t have time to find him, you know. We need to stop Chaos.”

I hesitated, hating myself, knowing that I was about to do something very stupid. “I have to find him, I can’t leave him. But you can still stop Card?”

My father, the man I hoped I’d get a chance to know at some point, stared down at me. Then he gave me a smile. “Be brave, Quinn. You are making hard choices, but good ones. I will contact you to let you know if I am successful in stopping your brother.”

He turned and dove back into the water, his words ringing in my ears. My brother, father. They were foreign to me, in so many ways. I shook those thoughts off, no time for them now. Right now it was about finding Luke.

The ground felt squishy under my wobbling legs though I could see it was firm. The fatigue from the swim had exhausted me.

A shout ripped the silence apart, quickly shifting into a blood-curdling scream. The adrenaline I’d thought I’d run out of flipped back on and I was running towards the source of the scream with very little thought.

Quinn, it’s a trap; you can’t fight in this condition! Cora said, her voice bringing me to a stop. She was right, damn it.

Another scream, from an all-too-familiar voice. Luke!

“I can’t leave him there,” I said, my voice cracking under the strain of standing still. All around me the trees seemed to crowd in. “They’re killing him.” I gulped out, my throat tight, my body trembling and on the verge of collapse.

Aednat’s voice behind me caught me by surprise. She stood still, her hands lifted in supplication. “They won’t kill him. Torture yes, but kill, no.”

I had spun upon hearing her voice, falling to my knees with the speed of my movement.

“That’s not really a comfort, Aednat,” I said, glaring at her. “Why’d you stop singing?”

“Shining boy came out of water to protect me from Banshees, but they overwhelmed him. Aednat sang as long as she could,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “He’s a good Tuatha, only one Aednat knows who would protect a Banshee with his own life. They take him deep into forest, no hear him now.”

“You have to help me save him,” I said, grabbing her arm, my fingers tightening over her tiny bones.

She shook her head. “There are too many. First we must take the bad Queen’s power; if we don’t do that, we can’t save him. It will be impossible. But if we take away her power, then we can stop them from hurting the Shining boy. That is most important of all.”

“Are you sure? Is there no other way?”

A sharp shake of her head. “It is only chance to save your Shining boy. There is no other way.”

Another task; it was like I was living in some twisted tale of ‘how much can Quinn handle without dying, or losing her mind?’ At least she was right about one thing—I couldn’t hear him anymore. It was a small blessing, one I felt guilty about even as I thought it. I was worried about listening to him scream, while he dealt with being tortured. Nice, real nice, Quinn.

“Lir is on his way to try and stop Card,” I said, getting to my feet, though each time a muscle flexed, my body quivered with the pain.