Legend 4 - Free Falling (19 page)

A great many of them used their claws, which excreted a foul-smelling poison, but that poison was useless against Seelie Fae. They really never stood a chance against us. It was not the way I cared to do battle.

I did, however, find that the fighting left me breathless, so I supposed (as the queen warned) I did in fact still have an hour or so before I was fully recovered.

I watched Shee Willow as she brushed white gold hair away from her face and stabbed a charging leather-skinned, two-headed beast to death. She never hesitated but dove right at him.

Shayne had been standing with his back to hers, doing much the same. They were in sync, and they fought like demons possessed—never pausing to take a breath. I watched them, and I had to admit they made quite a pair … this Druid priest and his wee bride.

My mind as it always did shifted to thoughts of my Z, and I realized that I wanted my own wee love near me and safe and sound … in my arms, out of harm’s way … By Danu, I was turning into what human males would call
a sap.

Nuad appeared and shook off some of the remains of the feeble brains of one of his Unseelie victims. His white hair hung about his shoulders, but I could see a streak of green blood etched into his silky locks, and his face was drawn in grim lines.

“Nuad … when did the portal open?”

“Only moments before you arrived. Some of the Dark ones shifted to the village to feed on the residents there. We chased and made short work of them.”

For a few moments more it was chaos as the Dark Fae became desperate to return to the portal that Breslyn was in the midst of closing. The creatures knew they stood no chance against us and were trying to make it back to their world …

We didn’t allow them their escape …
we couldn’t
.

When we looked around at the dead bodies, we felt it—all of us felt it, an ounce of pity for these grotesque beings who’d never stood a chance, all their pitiful, useless lives …

Gais had unleashed these creatures, devils that they were, out into the human realm, and he had to know he was sending them to sure death. They were unarmed, and although killing them was necessary, it did not feel right to me—to any of us.

Breslyn and I looked at one another, and we both silently vowed to find Gais and run him through.

“Death, even a torturous death, will not be enough,” I said, thinking of what I planned to do to Gais.

Breslyn smirked and offered on a dangerous note, “You will have to stand in line, Danté, for I have first dibs—you must not forget that he had abducted Ete and harmed her not so very long ago.”

“Ah, but Breslyn, my friend, you must remember how many thousands of years I have on you. I don’t get into line for fledglings.” I know I looked grim as I spoke. It was how I felt; I wasn’t joking. The words conveyed exactly what they meant.

Breslyn threw back his head and roared at this. I didn’t see anything funny about it; besides I wasn’t really in the mood for any fun. I wanted my
enfant
,
and I wanted her on the spot safely in my arms.

The battle with these particular Dark Fae was over. The portal was closed, and enough of our team was now in Killarney to tend to the matter of ‘cleanup’.

All at once another portal began to belch open in the depths of the dark waters of the lake. It was small and oddly hazy, and for one moment we were all taken aback when we watched Gaiscioch step through …

Breslyn had the net in his hands and, without a word, sent it through air and space, but Gaiscioch had seen it and knew what he was about to do. He shifted, but both Breslyn and I shifted as well, anticipating his direction accurately.

I was astounded at his audacity … but even more so, I was confounded by what his reasoning could be for showing himself when he was so outnumbered. He couldn’t hope to win against Breslyn and myself, and we had Ete at our back—not to mention the Druid priest and Shee Willow!

Breslyn retrieved the gold netting before Gaiscioch could shift again. I shifted and was face to face with him before I realized … he wasn’t really there. He was but an illusion. He wasn’t there in the flesh. I stood back, and the three-dimensional image laughed and then laughed once more before it spoke. “You are bound to lose … tell your queen she and Tir will be mine … soon, very soon …”

And then Gaiscioch’s lifelike image was gone, and the portal closed. I turned to Breslyn and held his shoulder. “I am for the queen … and
my enfant
.”

“We will make certain no other portals remain.” Bres answered me on a hard note, and as I nodded, I was already so out of there! I had to get to my Z, because something told me she was already headed for trouble.

I shifted first to the queen’s chambers and found it empty. No queen …
no enfant.
Damnation! Bloody hell!

I scanned the royal palace for signs of them and found my queen busy with her Council members. I was a senior member of the Council but had no interest in their mundane matters. However, I shifted there and boldly interrupted Aaibhe’s conversation with a junior member to ask perhaps a bit harshly of my queen, “Where is she?”

She gave me a cold look but relented and said, “Where would she be but in my chambers where I left her?”

“She is not—and that is what I have been telling you. She is not like any other. She doesn’t obey for the sake of honor … she does what she thinks important … and she never stays where she is told to stay.”

“Apparently not,” said the queen with a touch of irritation.

“Gaiscioch has a new trick,” I told her with a shake of my head. “He can project his very believable image from what appeared to be a portal to the Dark Realm.”

“A parlor trick … and of no consequence. You were merely startled by it, which is what he wished to accomplish for no other reason than to amuse himself.”

“He had a message …”

“What message?”

I repeated Gaiscioch’s message to her, and her brilliant eyes darkened for the fraction of a moment before she said, “Thank you, my Prince. Now I think you must go and find our wayward princess.”

Right … I thought,
find her
—easier said than done, but damn it all to perdition, that was precisely what I was going to do, as quickly as I could! By Danu, who knew what got into her busy brain and where it had taken her …

* * *

“Z …” I told myself, “You have been strictly instructed by your queen to wait for her here in her chambers.” Hmmm—yes, so I had, but after a few moments had gone by, and I had nothing to do but twirl my hair, it seemed silly. There were things that had to be wrapped up—like, let us not forget,
the warlock.

I had my little gold link belt around my jean-clad hips, and Rolo, who was about six inches in diameter, hanging from it. Rolo had woven an invisible spell around himself that would prevent humans from detecting its presence. A Fae—Dark or Light—would still recognize its presence.

I shifted back to the open grassy field where I had last seen the warlock’s dark van and was surprised to find the van totally abandoned.

I had thought to track the blasted thing back to its owner’s dirty little den. Well, that plan had just gone kablooy. So many plans do, you know. I was eating my bottom lip as I tried to figure out what next I could do.

I shifted to town …

Why? I don’t know why … it was as though something called me there. I stood on the quiet avenue and looked across the street at the bank idly wondering what the bank employees thought of Jaffrey’s disappearance, because they must already know he was gone … and I knew this because the garda’s white vehicle was parked outside.

And then I remembered time on Tir was way different than our time, and I suddenly realized an entire day had passed while I had been there learning how to shape shift.

“Some strange goings-on,” said a familiar voice at my back.

I spun around and relaxed to smile at Aaron Dunbar. “Hi, Aaron … apparently so—though I can’t imagine what it could be.” I planted an innocent look on my face and added, “I was just going to go in … but I think I’ll put the bank off for another day.”

“Aye … with all that I have seen on the way over here, I am beginning to wonder just what kind of a little village I’m living in.”

I frowned over this. What did he mean? What had he seen? So, I asked (because I was nothing if not direct), “What do you mean?”

“As I passed the MacClennys’ bed-and-breakfast establishment … I thought, no, I know, I saw lights—strange lights flashing inside the MacClennys’ utility shed.”

I stiffened and said cautiously, “I thought they were away from home.”

“Are they? Didn’t know—then who can it be that is inside their shed?”

“Well …” I realized I didn’t have a car. I couldn’t very well shift off in front of him. I had to get away, but just how had become momentarily problematic.

And then he said, “Want to drive over there and cover my back with your cell phone, and I’ll have a look?”

Not a bad idea, I thought. “Sure.”

He led me to his black Porsche, and I raised a brow. “It looks all buff and purty …”

He grinned. “Yes, I think so.”

It didn’t take long for us to get to the MacClennys’ place, and Aaron kept up a brew of idle chatter. He was quite charming, but the entire time I felt uneasy. Something was off, my senses were screaming, but it wasn’t until we arrived at the MacClennys’ that I realized it was my sense of smell kicking in and trying to tell me something …

However, it was Rolo who finally made me understand. “
Him 
…
warlock 
… him … couldn’t get a reading at first, but know now 
… him
!”
Rolo said into my head.

I looked at Aaron and tried to hide what I was thinking, but I suppose something must have displayed itself on my face because his eyes narrowed and he sneered, “Ah … figured it out, have you?”

So saying he actually grabbed my arm and growled low and threateningly, “Shift out, little Fae Princess, and your very annoyingly rude Sally is dead.”

“Sally?” I know I shrieked. I wouldn’t be able to bear it if Sally were drawn into this and hurt in any manner. “What do you mean Sally … are you saying that you have Sally? If you are, you will regret it. If you have hurt her, I will kill you … because I am half human and don’t have to adhere to the Treaty!”

“That’s convenient.” He pulled a face at me and commanded harshly, “Get inside. I believe you already know your way around.”

“Sally wouldn’t have gone anywhere with you! She would have put up a ruckus to bring in the town around your head …”

“It was easily done. All I had to tell her was that we had been visiting friends and that you fainted—and had called for her. She couldn’t go with me fast enough.”

“Terrible, awful pig,” I spat at him. I had to stay calm. I had to find a way through this. I had to find Sally and free her. He had a gun pointed at me. That wouldn’t kill me … it would slow me as my immortal body healed itself, but it wouldn’t seriously hurt me, but the damn bastard had my Sally—could point the gun at her …

If I shifted away I could find her before he got to her—and then as though reading my mind, he said with an air of superiority, “I have her attached to a bomb.”

~ Eighteen ~

BRESLYN, ETE, AND I had already searched Dunbar’s home; there had been no sense of her Radzia inside this house—no scent of hers. So I didn’t waste time searching it again.

We had also made a thorough search of the MacClennys’ toolshed, and all had seemed quiet there as well—again it lacked her scent.

Odd though—the pit that I had not dismantled on my queen’s direct orders had seemed strangely dark and inactive. I should have dismantled it—I knew it at the time.

We were dealing with unpredictable humans. You could not leave such a thing amongst them.

At any rate, I realized I should have paid closer attention to the pit earlier. Portals are alive. If one listened, one—a Fae that is—could hear it breathe. Definitely should have closed that portal. No sense keeping it alive. I would do that as soon as I located my Z.

Perhaps she had returned home? Not likely, but there was the outside chance—
no,
there is not
,
said a knowing voice in my head
.

She would not have disobeyed the queen for nothing. What could have prompted her to take off? The warlock—she would have seen him as unfinished business, and being Z, she would have believed herself capable of handling him herself.

She hadn’t thought it out. She didn’t realize that Gais was pulling the warlock’s spidery strings, making Aaron Dunbar more powerful than he really would otherwise have been.
Right, best go to visit Sally on the outside chance Z has stopped by there, if only to pay her a short visit …

Would Sally know where Z had gone off to? No. It was a hopeless errand, as I had come to know my
enfant
,
and she was forever running about without informing Sally, anyone actually, where she was going.

Still, and because I wasn’t sure at that moment what else I could do, I shifted to MacDaun and went to the kitchen in search of the housekeeper. What I found was Sally’s apron thrown carelessly onto the table …

That was not like the MacDaun’s loveable housekeeper. I scanned the house for her and realized she was not inside. And then it came to me in a wave—
his scent, the warlock’s scent
. Why had I not picked it up as soon as I entered? Because I hadn’t been looking for it—that was why. I hadn’t been tracking as I should have been.
Damn the man’s lost soul
. He had been here, and Sally’s scent was mingled with his. My eyes closed involuntarily.
Dunbar had Sally.

Z would do anything to save the dear woman. However, it was an odd ploy for Dunbar to use. Warlock he might be, but he was nothing compared with a Fae Daoine princess. She could shift in, touch Sally, and shift out with her. Later she could do a memory spell to ease Sally’s mind regarding the shifting …

So then, taking Sally would be a fruitless effort. Why had he done so? Something was there that I wasn’t seeing. He must have the housekeeper somehow out of Z’s reach or power. He would use that fact against my Z—he would threaten to harm Sally.

The question now was, where had he taken the housekeeper, and had he already gotten his hands on
my enfant
again?

I went outside and began tracking. This time, Treaty or no, this warlock was about to make his way to hell!

* * *

Aaron Dunbar looked at me like I was a meal and he was famished. “You have got to be kidding!” I sneered at him.

“Radzia, don’t you realize that you and I … could make a deal … outside Gais’s instructions?” he offered.

I collected my temper, and this time I smirked at him. “You are an idiot.”

“Am I? Look who has who!” he snapped.

“Precisely,” I said. “You must know by now what I am capable of? You must know I am a Daoine princess with unimaginable powers, and with the flick of a finger, you could be dead?”

He stepped away from me and towards the black pit before he said on a hushed note, “You don’t want to do anything rash, Radzia. You have fifteen minutes to do as I ask, or Sally goes boom.”

“I don’t think that is a card you can play.” I had to bluster and bluff.

“And why not?”

“Because you harm Sally, and you are not only dead, you are dead slowly …painfully … begging for release,” I told him with the intensely I felt.

“It doesn’t have to be this way,” he offered.

“It doesn’t? How does it have to be?”

“I want you to meet our king … yours and mine. He will rule this world, and you with your many abilities might be able to ingratiate yourself with him.” Aaron shrugged. “I don’t promise that—only he can promise that—but he knows you want to meet with him, so here is your chance.”

“Here is my chance? Why, Aaron—is he going to make an appearance?”

“No, but—”

“Then I will meet with him, but on my terms.” I cut in on him sharply.

“Then Sally dies,” he spat out.

I had to do something. Stalling was a double-edged sword. She had only a few minutes, but getting him irritated might make him slip with information that might be useful. He wasn’t expecting me to be unconcerned, was he? I decided to put on a very good act and this time, I was the one to shrug. “So … then she dies.” It hurt my heart to say those words. It made something catch in my throat. It burned a hole in my mind.

“You know, I don’t believe you mean that.”

“We are talking about the fate of the world here, Aaron. If I have to sacrifice a beloved, so be it. I have already lost my father. Do you think I will allow anything or anyone to stand in my way when it comes to butchering Gaiscioch? I don’t want to lose my Sally, but if I must, I must—so long as I take you down first, and believe me, Aaron Dunbar
, I will take you down
. As long as she is alive—so then are you.”

“Then … let’s get it over with.” He called my bluff and reached for what looked like a remote control. “Let’s blow up Sally together, shall we …” His finger went to the button.

Bluff was over and done. I couldn’t let him hurt Sally. I reached for the remote, but he moved out of range, taking a stand closer to the dark pit with its pulsating walls.

I moved in on him, but I was worried about that trigger finger of his and thinking about where Sally could be hidden. It had to be close enough as the remote he held was the average-variety kind—no high-tech there; then it dawned on me. She had to be in the MacClenny house. It was an empty house with the MacClennys away, and any warlock worth his evil salt could have gotten into it. I wondered if Sally were unconscious, if she was suffering, and I steeled myself. And then, I knew what to do—I called for Danté!

* * *

Danté—think!
I told myself. What was wrong with me? Why did I doubt myself? I had tracked Sally and the warlock to the den he was using.

I shifted inside the MacClenny house, and there I found poor Sally. She was unconscious and strapped to a chair in the middle of the room with rope, but what was unthinkable even beyond that was the fact that a bomb was strapped to her middle. It was crude, but a bomb nonetheless.

That was what he had over my Z.

And that confirmed it in my mind. The warlock had my
enfant!

I sent the bomb with an impatient flick of my wrist to the desert dimension and touched Sally’s wound. I would heal her later when she awoke. She was in no real danger, but with another flick of my wrist, she was untied. I carried her to the sofa and laid her there to recover on her own.

I would attend to her later. Now … I had to find where he had taken Z. Then all at once I knew, and Z was calling my name …

I shifted to the MacClenny toolshed and immediately took in the situation. The warlock was holding a remote, and Z was too close to the pit.
“Enfant
 … come to me, now!”

She was near tears as she wailed, “I can’t—he has Sally!”

“You want her—go get her …” Dunbar shouted as he threw the remote into the pit.

In horror, before I could tell her Sally was safe, I saw my
enfant
dive after it.

* * *

Danté came … he’d heard me. I wanted to run into his arms, but Aaron had stalled me with a wave of the remote. I had to get it from him. I had to …

Danté called me to his side, and I wanted to run to him, but how could I with Sally attached to a bomb that would ignite if Aaron pressed the button? And then I was terrified. The wicked creature that called himself a man threw the remote into the pit …

It could hit the walls and trigger the bomb! I didn’t think; I reacted and dove after it. If I thought at all, I thought that I could just shift back once I had it in my hands.

I caught it and immediately shifted, but instead of going forward—instead of finding myself out of the pit and standing in the toolshed—I found myself falling through a black abyss.

I don’t know why I closed my eyes, but it was what I did. When I opened them again, it was in a bleak world and one I never thought I would enter: I was in the Dark Realm, and Gaiscioch was grinning as he walked towards me!