Demon Dark (26 page)

He snapped his fingers.

I know a Vodoun trick or two. I ve even learnt how to break past that shield you used against me. That was done by a Houngan was it not?

I nodded, no point denying it now he knew how to break past it.

The man who gave it to me said I d need it. At the time, I didn t know anything about you. I still know little.

Sensing a rare opening to reason with him, I stepped forward, my face open.

Cael, I don t want us to be like this. Why? Why does this have to happen? You could just stop, right now. There are times when I look into your eyes, and I see past the madness and I see you. Just stop this before more people get hurt.

I stood in front of him, staring up into his beautiful face.

Now was my chance.

My hand brushed the hilt of the dagger Breandan had given me.

Cael was hesitant, and had allowed me to approach him. Would he listen? Would he stop this? I didn t want to kill my brother. If he would stop of his own will I wouldn t have to deal with the grief of another member of my family dying.

Cael gazed down at me and brought his hand up to cup my cheek. I sucked in a breath, expecting him to switch on me. Leaning down, he pressed his forehead to mine. This affection was a stark contrast to the chokehold he d had me in just moments ago, and it felt good, better than I dreamed it could feel.

He was family.

My hand slipped from the knife, and I fisted my hands in his cloak, feeling real hope for Cael for the first time since I d discovered he was kin.

Ah, Rae,

Cael sighed and kissed my brow.

You silly girl.

Cael s softly spoken contempt made my heart leap into my throat. The sinister taint of his magics slid over me and locked over my own. I reached for the Source, and my influence glanced off, an invisible barrier between it and me.

Breandan s warning rang in my ears,

You mustn t hesitate to kill.

I pushed Cael away, even as I beat on the barrier, terror gushing over me in tidal waves of panic, but he gripped my arms and held me.

Rae! I thought we were going to hug. Isn t that what brothers and sisters do? Embrace each other.

His voice was sweetly sane, breathed into my ear with sinister glee. Cael tried to tug me closer, and I leaned away, making small sounds of fear as his grip on me tightened.

Don t you want to talk anymore? Tell me how much you love me and want to make things right?

He released me abruptly and I staggered back, tears in my eyes. My heart thumped hard, my breath came hard, and I pressed a hand to my chest. I managed to stop my feet from galloping away, but could say nothing or do nothing that would take back the stupid mistake.

The barrier Cael used on me was similar to what Ana had done to keep Breandan and I apart when gripped by the frenzy of our bond. Witchcraft. Though this spell was just as hastily erected, it was darker, thicker.

I mentally scooted around the edges, feeling my way around as I tried to remember how I had torn Ana s down. Already, I faced a losing battle. Last time I hadn t done it alone, Breandan had been with me, the shield had been weaker, and I d been frantic trying to get to the one I d been separated from.

Cael inhaled deeply, and his head fell back. Unknown forces rushed past to rally to him. The lines of his body were deceivingly relaxed as the tendons in his arms and neck bulged. He raised upturned palms to the sky, and his body glowed.

The air quieted.

The sounds of battle below were drowned out by nothingness. Gathering clouds above churned, but no maelstrom wind caused the overcast to roil.

Cael s body was racked with shivers then clenched. He roared, and unleashed a torrent of uncontrolled magic onto the world in a pulse of hot white light.

Radiant burgeons of heat exploded skyward, and the trilling scream of magic was deafening.

I cried out and slapped my hands over my ears, crouched when bolts of power slingshot out from the twists of magic surrounding Cael, and struck the ground, scorching the wood.

I centered myself, looking away from the frightening sight I barely comprehended.

Cael worked his spell, and I needed my magic. He wouldn t have taken the time to disable me this way if it wasn t crucial to stopping him. I tried again to grasp the Source, but got nothing.

There was no time for me to sit here and do nothing, so in a snap decision born of desperation, I did what Cael had said before to mock me. I followed my instincts.

Caution was spat at the wind as I launched myself forward, sprinted at him, screaming. He was taken by surprise, and we crashed to the floor.

I let my fists fly.

I smacked him across the face and again on the other side. I grabbed handfuls of his hair and yanked his head this way and that already running out of ideas now the element of surprise was gone.

He shifted up into his knees and gripped my wrists. I yelped as stabs of pain raced up my forearms.

Releasing his hair, I pulled to get away, and ended up brining my knee up into his chin in my panic.

His head snapped back, and he let me go.

The clouds above stopped churning and began to dissipate. The unnatural stillness in the air past, and the intensity in the atmosphere eased.

Cursing me, Cael rolled on the floor. His bloodied face buried in his hands.

Panting, startled my plan had worked, I used the time to focus on the shield he d erected around my magics. His vanity wouldn t keep him distracted forever.

The more I tried to figure out how to move past the buffer blocking my magic the harder it became. I screeched my frustration and yanked on the ends of my hair. My power equaled Cael s for brute force; I just had to stop being such a fool about it. Forcing myself calm, I reached out to the Source, all the while telling myself the barrier was not there, and even if something was there my magic needn t heed it.

My mental hands passed through the obstruction and magic flooded me.

I turned back to Cael with a beatific smile of triumph on my face. My eyes fluttered open, and he stood before me.

His crooked nose cracked back into place, and his eyes glowed with an unholy fire.

He gripped my arms, swung me overhead, and tossed me away from him. Curled into a ball, I landed hard on my upper back and bounced. It hurt the odd kind of pain that hurts too much to try and understand. My tail and wings squished beneath me, and my fangs sliced into my bottom lip the impact jarred so much.

I rolled to the verge, and my body mass suddenly weighed nothing as I fell off the platform face first.

I flung out my arms and legs to scramble for a hold. The edge of the platform dug into the crook of my elbow slowing my fall, and jerking me to an odd angle. It was enough.

I caught the thick lip and hung on until my other hand grabbed a hold too. My arms strained under my weight, already tired from fighting. My booted feet kicked the air uselessly. Mind blanked by shock, I screamed. Utterly pointless, but I couldn t help it. The others had fallen, and now I knew first hand how terrifying it was.

Unlike them, I couldn t fall. I had to stay.

Puling myself together, I stopped wasting my energy kicking nothing and worked out a strategy. My wings extended and my tail worked in tandem with my legs, flicking side to side in broad strokes. Swinging my body, I was easily able to hook a leg back up onto the edging and lever myself up.

Grunting, I used all my limbs to drag myself onto the platform.

Lying on my stomach, I looked down over the edge and saw the fighting carried on below. I didn t have time to seek out my friends, though I could sense all their auras were close, some closer than others. I moaned when I worked out how high I was, and what the fall would have done to me so unprepared for it.

I rolled onto my back. I gave my muscles a moment to relax in case they cramped then I really would be screwed.

The shrill trilling of magic stopped. I didn t think that was a good thing.

I looked over at Cael, genuinely wondering why he hadn t come over to finish me off.

My insides turned to ice.

He hadn t wasted anymore time on me, he d returned to his spell. He stared at me as he worked his magic, the saddest expression on his face.

None of you loved me, wanted me. I was always alone, never accepted,

he said quietly. Somehow, through the blustery currents of wind I heard him.

I was a child. Conall let them abuse and defile me because he was ashamed of what I was. He let them make me a monster. The fairy lords knew about me and they did nothing. They brought this on themselves.

I tried to remain calm, but my gaze kept being drawn to the growing column of power sucking in all the magic it could find, gorging itself on the natural energy emitted from the earth.

Its main power came from Cael. It drank magic direct from the Source through my brother, using him as a never-ending supply. It should have stripped him of his vitality, his strength, but it didn t phase him.

I crawled forward, words to console him ready on my lips, but he scuttled back, unexpectedly afraid. The weird reaction startled me, and I stood up, ready to defend myself against his latest trick.

I remained where I was watching him carefully.

Cael took a few more steps away, held up an accusatory finger, and jabbed it at me.

Don t come any closer,

he bellowed.

I want you to be one of the last. You must see the suffering you ve caused.

His eyes were wide as he took in the spectacle around us. The longer he looked the more gleeful he became, excited, and agitated.

I was at a loss what to do or say. What did Cael want from me? He clearly thought I was the only person that could give it to him or he would have killed me the first time we met as I am sure he could have done if that was his true goal.

Love your family and all will be well.

Papa Obe s voice floated through my mind as if someone had just whispered it in my ear.

Did I love Cael? Could I? Staring at him, his golden eyes narrowed in concentration and his chin jutting out stubbornly, I knew I could, if he would let me.

Look at me,

I said urgently.

The Wyld collapses around us, you re tearing our true home apart. Look at where I am. I m here, with you.

Not to help me,

he said.

You re not here for me, you re here for them, all of them. I m alone, always have been, and I always will be.

You re right. I was here for them. I always will be, but right now, I m here for you.

He batted my words away even as pain flashed in the depths of his eyes.

Liar.

He muttered the word and then blinked, remembering I was pureblooded fairy and couldn t lie even though over the last few days I had I really, really wanted to.

The platform shook, and I wobbled, careening back and forth.

I used my wings and tail to counteract the abrupt moments unsuccessfully. I lurched to the right as I was thrown to the left. I fell hard to one knee, the fall unexpected and jarring. My palms slapped against the wood, splinters slicing into my skin. I stayed down as the tumult leveled out.

The platform to my right broke away and crumbled, falling down the levels of Clan Tree, endangering any body down there not looking up.

I slid further away from the fissures creeping from the edge of the platform, and sidled closer to the centre that looked more stable. That was also closer to Cael, but he seemed more concerned as to what the magic was doing above us.

Swirling winds were a never-ending screech that set my teeth on edge. The brightness of the lights overhead intensified. I glanced up absentmindedly before my head snapped back and I stared in horror.

Cael s magic spread down like an upturned bowl, the rest curving up, a spike embedding itself into the sky.

It ll reach past the clouds,

Cael muttered.

It ll burn a hole through the heavens and set fire to the air.

He looked more closely at the magic that was seeping downward, his expression rapt and fascinated.

Why does some return to earth? I think this place of power is so great it cannot help but be attracted.

He nodded to himself.

As he spoke, the magic that had been melting down to earth suddenly gushed like a waterfall. Its tinkles of doom were inexplicably beguiling as it smashed into the dirt at the bottom of ClanTree, cutting us, and anybody else on the inside of the magical line, off from everybody else.

The space inside the magical bubble increased in pressure and temperature, the air hot and sticky.

Pushing the hair from my face, ignoring the dangerous drop if the platform was to fall from under me, I focused on my brother. With all my heart, I willed him to come back to sanity.

Cael, please, look at me. You re not alone, you never were. I thought I was alone too until I realized I closed myself off from everybody around me because I was hurt. I thought I had been abandoned and that my family were worthless to me, but it was never true. All I wanted was to be loved by them, an explanation as to why they left me. Conall gave that to me, and I can give it to you if you just listen.