Ever Wrath (4 page)

SWIMMING TO THE
surface was much easier than reaching the bottom. Shade had let the leader of the merfolk enchant them, allowing them to surround themselves with an air bubble of sorts, sending them careening to the surface so fast it had left Shade’s head spinning. At least her thoughts about not being affected by the pressure were right on. She felt as normal as ever.

Dylan’s strong arms reached into the water and lifted
her out, giving her a sense of home. She slumped into one of the vinyl chairs of the boat and deeply heaved in a breath. The air felt much lighter than the water had felt in her lungs. Even the old, musty air in the underground cavern had felt heavy and gross. It made her have to bend over to let the fresh air clear out her lungs, leaving her sputtering as if half drowned. Her lungs screamed at the difference, but she had little time to wallow in it as she watched Dylan and Nautilus help Kilara into the boat.

Her dress clung to her frame and curves, soaked
, but she wasn’t shivering. Her translucent skin looked even paler in the bright sunlight, reflecting its glow off her enough to make Shade shield her eyes. It might’ve been an easier swim to the surface if Kilara had been able to use her magic. That fact alone had Shade wondering how long the Ancient would abstain from using her magic. She understood the reason for it; having Arthas on their back would not be good. But depending on Shade’s magic alone was going to be a challenge. Not that she was that weak—her magic was one of the strongest in the land, a fact that still didn’t quite feel comfortable to her—but it was still nothing compared to an Ancient’s abilities.

“We head east.”
Kilara’s gaze fixed toward the lakeshore. Her lips were tainted with a deep blue from the cold. Shade slipped down next to her to turn up her fire power for warmth. They both needed to dry off fast.

“How far?” Shade
enquired.

The Ancient turned toward her with a stiff frown on her pretty face. “Too far from here. I need to g
et Corb. Do you know how to find him?”

Shade cringed
and her dread grew. If there was any other way besides using Corb, she would take it in a heartbeat. The Ice King was not to be trusted. Even bound to Shade, his trickery lurked just beneath the surface.

“Do we have to get him involved?” She still remembered his icy touch and the way
he’d trapped her and Dylan inside his frozen domain, erasing their memories of all they’d held dear. Only being near death had saved them both from his eternal imprisonment in The Great Divide Palace. “You said you were hiding from him, too.”

Kilara
’s glare bore into her like ice picks. “Without magic, I cannot get us there fast enough. He’s the only one who can. I don’t want to bring him into this, but I have no choice. He’s the lesser of the two evils. Rowan must not be discovered by Arthas. If he gets to her before we do, our chances of bringing down the Unseelie fall a thousandfold.” She stepped forward, kneeling down before Shade. “Call to him. Now.”

“Okay.”
Shade nodded, gulping down the desert in her mouth. Kilara in person was much different from the Kilara in her dreams. Why was that? The Ancient in the flesh was entirely more frightening than anything she could’ve imagined, even more so than Aveta. At least she knew she could wrangle Corb’s magic. She was just really reluctant to. But Kilara was wild magic, uncontrolled and freed.

Scanning
the horizon, the buildup of power within her focused on Corb’s face in her mind.

Corb, I need you to find me. We need
you to come to us. Kilara is here, she needs your help.

Nothing happened at first
, but when a small wave rocked the boat a bit too much, Shade wished they had waited until they were on the shore to call him. With another sonic boom, they were all sent flying from the boat back into the cold water. Thrashing in the water, Shade kicked her way back to the surface to find the boat sitting on top of a patch of ice, next to Corb, who was completely focused on Kilara, standing on the ice before him.

“Hey!” Shade called out to them and tried to pull herself up onto the ice. It was freezing
, slippery and frozen over with water sloshing over it.
Dammit
! She concentrated on her water powers and felt the waves heave her up onto the ice. Stumbling to her feet, she glared at the two Ancients who watched her with stoic faces, apparently not impressed.

Stupi
d!
Where’s Dylan
? The thought sent her eyes darting about before she spotted him and Nautilus treading water nearby. Focusing her energy onto them, she used her water affinity magic to send a wave to topple them over the threshold of the ice. Finding their footing, they flicked their gazes to her before turning back toward the Ancients.

“Glamour, the humans will see!”
Nautilus hissed as he sent out his glamour magic to cover up the ice patch they stood on. Shade complied and sent out her own magic to cover up the frozen circle which had appeared in the middle of the lake. If anyone had seen it, they saw nothing but water now as it suddenly disappeared from human eyes.

Dylan had also linked to their powers as he boosted the glamour magic. His face was red and angered. This game of the Ancients was wearing them all out.

“You need me, Your Grace?” Corb let a small, smug grin upturn the corner of his mouth as he studied Kilara with cold, calculating eyes. She didn’t smile back but turned toward the boat and climbed back in.

“You will find Rowan and break the seal of her
sarcophagus for me. I can’t use my magic until we do that, or Arthas will know of our return.”

“I’m not your lover any more
, Kilara. I don’t just fall to my knees at your every whim.” Corb’s voice was as icy as the snow now falling about him. His smile was wiped clean from his face. Instead, his icy blue eyes flickered back into the mother of pearl white they had been at his full power, back in his kingdom The Great Divide.

Sha
de signaled for Dylan and Nautilus to get back into the boat. She had a feeling the two Ancients were going to break up the ice plateau they sat on any minute. Sure enough, the moment they all jumped back into the boat, it sank into a crevice of ice, splashing into the water where the ice was now disintegrating. Except for Corb, who still stood on a small disc of ice on the lake, his arms crossed and his stance tall, the four of them waited as the moments ticked by.

“That may be true
, Corb,” Kilara said, answering him, “but I am still Queen of the Summer realm and of the Seelie powers of Faerie, so don’t defy me, or you will never sever those chains a halfling has placed on you.” She turned toward Shade. “Make him come to the boat. I’m not wasting any more time on his petty stubbornness.”

“Make him? He’s an Ancient…
.”

“You hold all his magic,
don’t you know that? He is bound completely by you. Without you, he’d be less than human. You’ve loosened your reins on him far too much, now use the bond and make him come here, or you will see what wrath I can bestow upon you both, even without magic.” Her face was contorted and purple with rage. Nothing had ever sent Shade into a swallow of fear more than Kilara at her worst. Not even Darren’s evil could compare.

“Yes, Kilara.” Shade
pressed her lips tightly, placing her hands on the edge of the boat’s port side, gripping the ties until her knuckles turned extra white. She stared at Corb, his stubborn feet planted on the disc of ice. She focused on it and pulled it toward them, feeling the ice power coursing through her as she channeled it more and more, draining Corb’s ability to use it.

A
moment later, Corb was next to the boat, facing her down with a fiery anger swirling in his once again human-like blue eyes. Was that a trickle of fear in them? Shade wasn’t sure, but she snapped at him to get into the boat, her own fear leaking from her large brown eyes.

What the hell did we get ourselves into?

“You’ll regret this, Shade. You choose sides unwisely. Kilara may be your ancestor, but she knows nothing of true honor and loyalty. She’ll twist all your wishes and dreams, give them to you while sending you screaming as you run away from what you believed you wanted. Nothing she brings will ever be given the way you want it. It is the way of the true Sidhe Seelie faeries.” His voice sent silvery waves of frigid air coursing through her, making her shake before he gripped her forearm to make sure she’d heard his whispers. “Not so unlike the Unseelie, we are. Her promises will only bring you pain and suffering. Do not trust her. Do not forget my words.”

“Into the boat, Corb. Now,
” Shade hissed. The strain of the ice power was wearing her out, adding to the exhaustion from swimming through the cold lake. She needed sleep and food, something these Ancients could do without.

Corb
climbed in and sat on one of the vinyl seats, looking somewhat defeated, but he quickly replaced his expression with one of boredom and superiority.

Shade turned toward Kilara, the powers receding from her and leaving her achy and tired.
“Now, which way do we go?”

Kilara nodded, looking smug and satisfied.
She pointed, and as she spoke, her cold voice sent even more shivers down Shade’s spine. “We go east, toward the city you call Chicago.”