Ever Wrath (19 page)

THE SOUNDS WERE
familiar, yet related to a time passed, long ago, like a dream faintly remembered. Shade flicked her eyes open, her heart already racing before her vision cooperated.

White. There was nothing but white, a blinding sort of wash
ed-out light which made her wince immediately and shut her eyes again.

Where am I?
she wondered. Was this heaven? Was she dead? It was very well possible. She’d been bleeding to death in the Withering Palace, after poisoning the Unseelie king into eternal slumber. But what had become of her? If this was heaven, it sure sounded a lot like a busy city hospital.

It smelled like one
, too.

“Shhh. Shade, try not to move too much.” Dylan’s voice
sent her heart jumping. Her breathing quickened as she felt his careful fingers stroke her hair. He was here, too? This wasn’t heaven, it couldn’t be….

“Dylan?”
Her throat was dry and raspy. How long had it been since she’d had a drink?

“I’m here.”

Blinking away the brightness of the room, she focused on the tan smudge which slowly morphed into his welcoming face, her eyes slowly aligning his double images. It was Dylan all right, in the flesh. And he looked as healthy as an ox.

“Where am I?” She attempted to sit up
, but her body protested as a violent attack of pain shot through her bones.

Yeah…
better not get up.

“D
on’t move. You’re healing really slowly, like a human. Whatever you did to Arthas drained your powers almost completely. It will be weeks before you’re at full power again.” He gently cradled her and set her head back on the pillow, fluffing it so she could sit up a bit more.

“Thank you.” H
er harsh voice sounded parched, as if it had been freeze dried. “How long?”

“How long
what?” Dylan’s eyes shone in confusion.

“Have I been out of it?”

A short silence filled her with apprehension, hoping the answer wouldn’t be weeks. His frown wasn’t reassuring.

“E
ight days.”

“
Eight days! Are you kidding me?” She shook her head, licking the dry, cracked skin on her lips. “Really?”

“Yeah.
Like I said, whatever you did, it almost killed you. Plus, that wound in your side would have been fatal if you hadn’t summoned Camulus when you did. He got to you almost too late.” His voice cracked, but he covered it as he cleared it and breathed in deeply.

Tears stung the back of her eyes, causing her to
also take a deep breath before she lost it. No more tears. No more crying. She’d had enough. “And Benton? Did he make it out?”

Please say yes…
.
The thought of losing any more family would send her over the edge.

“Yes
, he did. He’s fine. Just resting back at the hotel. He’s been here all week with you. Anna and James are fine, too. Nautilus sent word that the Scren is safe and sound. They can’t wait to see you again.”

Shade nodded, closing her eyes and letting the relief wash over her, relishing it amongst the ruins of her body. “
The Unseelie, what becomes of them now? Will they pick a new ruler?”

“Well,
it seems we have new allies.”

“What?”
She flung her eyelids back open. “Who?”

“Your a
unt, Evangeline. She’s stepped up a lot. She came back to our side with Jack, actually. It seems a long-standing wedge between them was just a misunderstanding and has been taken care of. She wanted to help in any way she could, especially because you’re her niece. Guess she’s feeling guilty for not being involved with you and your brothers and sister before. Who knew?” He smiled and slipped his hands into hers. They were warm and comforted her. She didn’t know how he was always able to calm her, but it was most welcome. “When she heard you’d taken out the Unseelie royals, she and Jack agreed to temporarily take over the Unseelie court until the Seelie rulers decide what to do with it. They’re holding Arthas’s body until you’re strong enough to seal the sarcophagus chamber again. Someone has to, right?”

She nodded softly, closing her eyes as she thought of the last few months.
It was still overwhelming, but not as much as it had been in the beginning.

“What about Kilara?”

Silence followed her question, making her turn her head toward her fiancé. “Dylan? What happened?”

Something was
very wrong.

“She—
she’s disappeared. Corb fought with her outside the Unseelie palace. She was trying to destroy it the entire time we were in there. She wasn’t going to wait until we escaped and he had to struggle with her to stop. When she saw he wouldn’t be letting her destroy us, it sent her fleeing somewhere. Corb said she’s weaker in power than she should be, but he doesn’t know why. There’s no telling where she went. No one seems to know, not even Corb.”

Shade swallowed down a hard knot. Her anger with her ancestor settled in her stomach like a bad meal.
Kilara had been nothing but trouble since she’d awoken her, and it hurt to know she’d never meant anything to her. How could she? Her betrayal was a bitter taste in her mouth, and she faced the window to let her tears silently drip down the side of her face.

She was Kilara’s
direct descendant, and no one should have been more on her side than Kilara. She’d have to deal with that later, when she was well and could stand up to that wretched Ancient. Right now, she had to stifle her disappointment.

“I’m sure there’ll be a time to deal with her later.”
Swallowing the rest of the tears, she motioned to Dylan for a drink, and he twisted the cap off a bottle of water sitting on the bedside table and handed it to her. “What matters now is putting the wards back up.”

Dylan flashed his disarming smile, happy to
see the determination settle back into Shade. “Already on it. Evangeline and Braelynn have rounded up more witches and warlocks to help with the reconstruction of the wards. Including Benton. But there’s another problem with that.”

Shade groaned, tired of bad news. “What happened?”

“Well, for the short time that all the wards were down, while we were in the castle, several Unseelie escaped into the mortal world. A huge group of them broke off from the main army and siphoned into the human realm, slowly of course. Most couldn’t bear the iron in the cities and either retreated to Faerie or hid in the surrounding forests of the human cities. Others dispersed into the world.”

That’s not what I wanted to hear…
.

Shade gulped back her anxiety and straightened, knowing this was going to take a while. “Al
l right. We get the wards back up and take teams to hunt down the rogue Unseelies. We can’t have them out there, running rampant. They’ll wreck the mortal world.” She sucked in a breath, her heart pounding in her head. “Seelie faeries in the human world are one thing, but Unseelie? Not good.”

“I agree. Benton and I discussed it
, and he’s already assembled some teams to hunt them down. Soap has also assembled some mercenaries near the southern border to either kill off these rogue faeries or capture them.”

Shade was surprised. She
never thought her brother would be so on top of things. “Really? Wow, that’s great. Impressive.”

“Yeah, I think
Benton’s grown up a lot these last few months. But that mouth of his….”

They both laughed. It was relaxing to know things were going
as smoothly as they could, given the circumstances.

“Where’s Rowan?”

Dylan sat back in his chair, the plastic creaked under his weight. “She wants to see you when you are better. She won’t speak to anyone besides you now, but she did say that she has plans and only you can fulfill the prophecy…or some crazy line like that. I don’t know about her, Shade, she’s kind of way out there if you know what I mean. She could be dangerous. All the Ancients are.”

“
She’s not, I just know somehow. I don’t deny that she’s hasn’t lost several marbles in her bunch though, she’s really paranoid, but I don’t blame her.”

“Yeah, me neither.”

Excusing herself with fatigue, she pulled the blanket up to her chin, feeling cold in the hospital. It was a human hospital, not a faery one. She watched as the IV line dripped silently. The dark red blood from the IV felt cool inside her veins. Closing her eyes, she called her fire magic to warm her up. It flickered like a spark at midnight, flaring up slightly. It was weak but still brought on warmth that soothed her stiff joints. It was enough.

Even if everything was looking up, why did she always feel the grey sky looming overhead? Why did the dread never
completely disappear from her bones? It gave her shivers that extended down her spine and all the way to her toes. It was over, right? Arthas was asleep, Aveta was dead… Kilara… well, who knew what had become of her.

But no,
it wasn’t over yet. Even if the Unseelie were tamed for now and the ones who got loose would soon be returned or dead, there would always be someone else to replace the wrath of the Unseelie, one way or another. There must always be balance in the world, good and bad.

“Dylan?”

“Yes?”

She focused on his deep steel-
colored eyes, a sight she never got tired of. “I love you.”

He bent over her, his fingers glid
ing across the soft skin of her cheek while his eyes twinkled, a soft glow of blue fire burning within them like a midnight sun. “I love you back, just as much.” His lips met hers, and the heat from them was consuming and more than enough to recharge her spirit.

At least this queen had her king
, and as she ran her fingers through his pitch black locks, she was reminded of something she had wondered about within the walls of the Withering Palace, when he had lay there dying of Darkling poison.

“Dylan, our blood b
ond is gone.” She peered into his eyes, watching the surprised shock flood his.

He pulled back a bit, a concerned look
filling his features. “How can you be sure?”

It was puzzling
, but how could she be sure?

“I—
I don’t know how, but I just know. Around the moment I killed Darren, I felt it break. The pain from your injury was killing me, too. We’re to have equal injuries, remember? But it stopped the moment I killed him. The blood requirement has been fulfilled. Faerie doesn’t hold us bound anymore.”

“That’s great, Shade!” He smiled
, pulling her into his embrace and squeezing her tightly. “Now we don’t have to worry about you getting hurt when I get injured and vice versa. That’s fantastic!”

It was fantastic. But w
ould she feel lost without it?

“But
how will I know if you’re hurt? I’d want to know if something happens to you… if you need me.” Shade didn’t want to let go, even as Dylan carefully pulled away to look her in the eyes.

“We’ll never be disconnected, Shade. You know that
, right? This….” He lifted his finger, and the shiny engagement ring flashed under the rays of sunlight seeping through the hospital mini-blinds. “This binds us still. And when we marry, we will seal the bond. We’ll be forever bound then, in a good way this time. You won’t die if I get hurt, and I won’t bleed if you get cut. But we will be always connected and know how the other is doing. Our hearts will be one.”

Shade smiled, touching foreheads with her beloved. “That’s what I was hoping for. I can’t lose you. You and my siblings, that’s all I have left. I’d give up the world if I could make sure you guys would be safe.”

“No, you don’t ever give up the world. You make us safe just being here, being you. You’re blessed, remember?”