Unbound, page 25
There was no way he was going to walk away from her after tomorrow.
Chapter 31
Odhran pulled the horse up to the front steps. Alannah swung her leg over and lowered herself down without his help. The last thing she wanted to do was touch him more than necessary. She stepped back to allow him room to dismount. Her fingers plucked at the hem of her green shirt
“You haven’t looked at me all morning,” he said, landing beside her. “Something wrong?”
“No,” she grumbled, looking at the front door instead of him. .
He sighed. “It’s not a big deal, Alannah.”
She held up her hand. “We don’t have to talk about it.”
Out of the corner of her eye, he shook his head, but he didn’t mention it again. She had woken up with him pressed to her chest and she couldn’t even be mad at him because it was her fault. Apparently, she had mistaken him for Mr. Pinkus. How? She didn’t know. But she would never live down holding him to her chest, and then questioning whether or not she actually wanted to let him go.
He had stared up at her with parted lips and sleepy eyes and she had wanted to kiss him!
What’s happening to me?
Alannah had never fostered feelings for anyone before. No one real at least, the characters in novels weren’t real and didn’t count. But now there she had Elliot and Odhran and her attraction to the latter baffled her. Perhaps she could chalk her feelings up to stress. A way to think about something other than the looming building in front of her and the bitch that lived inside.
“Alannah?”
She jumped. He lingered beside her, his hand touching her elbow, and he looked nervous. “What?” she asked, struggling to keep her voice even and unaffected.
“Before we go in, I wanted to say…” He let go of her arm and dropped his gaze. “I don’t apologize for things. Ever. I rarely feel sorry for the things I’ve done. I always find ways to justify my actions.” Odhran shook his head as if shaking his thoughts back into their proper place and drew in a breath. “You may not believe me, and I understand if you don’t, but I am sorry, Alannah.”
That was the thing. She did believe him. Did she forgive him? She wasn’t sure. “Thank you.”
Odhran drew himself back up and squared his shoulders. “Are you ready?”
Alannah’s eyes strayed back to the front door and she nodded. “Yes.”
They left the horse and walked up the front steps. Odhran pushed open the door to reveal an empty foyer. Muffled bits of conversation drifted down the stairs. The throne room sounded packed and they were there for her. Alannah’s heart raced and her hands shook. This was it. The end. The beginning. The moment she thought would never come. She was terrified, but ready. Odhran led her up the stairs, his hand hovering behind her back but not touching her.
Alannah placed her palms on the throne room doors and took a deep breath. You can do this. It’s almost over. Then you can go home. She pushed.
Fair Folk were packed into the throne room—clambering over each other to get a glimpse of Alannah—their voices buzzing around her. The hunters mingled in groups closer to Valeria and leered at Alannah. Some of the Fae stared at her in disgust while others looked at her with open curiosity. They had come for a show. They had come to watch Alannah’s failure. Something feral within her laughed at how disappointed they were going to be when Alannah revealed the truth.
Alannah’s gaze traveled over the sea of faces and limbs, looking for the one face that mattered most to her.
Elliot stood to the left of Valeria. She didn’t like that he was so close to the wretched woman, but Senna had placed herself between him and Valeria. Even Mr. Pinkus waited for Alannah in the throne room despite his protests about entering Valeria’s court. He wove himself around Elliot’s legs, his tail twitching back and forth and his eyes darting between the Fae. Elliot met her gaze and he took a step forward, but Senna put a hand on his arm to stop him. Selanna and woman Alannah didn’t recognize, kept the Fair Folk away from Elliot. The other woman was shorter than both Odhran and Selanna and had the same white hair. Some of it covered her face, but Alannah still saw scars peeking out from the fringe. Her visible eye darted back and forth.
“I’m surprised she came out,” Odhran murmured, guiding Alannah through the crowd with a hand on her elbow.
“Who?”
“Meralith. My younger sister.”
“Is it because of the scars?”
“Yes. Please don’t bring it up.”
“I wasn’t raised by wolves, Odhran.”
Alannah shoved her way to the front and stopped in front of Valeria. The woman stared down at her from her throne, her lips curved in a genuine, albeit malicious, smile. Alannah had returned empty-handed and Valeria believed herself victorious. So did the Fae. They murmured amongst themselves, but their words reached her. Many wondered how Valeria would kill her. They reveled in the idea of her punishment.
The joke was on them.
“I see you were unsuccessful,” Valeria said, her ringing through the hall, silencing everyone. “I am surprised you returned with nothing.”
“I returned with everything. I found exactly what you asked for,” Alannah corrected.
The Fae drew in a collective breath.
Valeria’s eyes narrowed. “And yet I see no one with you.”
Alannah shrugged off her backpack and unzipped it. Her fingers found the soft fabric of the blouse the journal was wrapped in. Fabric unraveled and she pulled out the journal, flipping it open to her family tree and holding it out to Valeria. “See for yourself.”
Silence stretched between them, like a rubber band being pulled taut, ready to snap at a any moment. Valeria’s hands gripped her chair so tight the metal warped under her fingers with a screech.
“You knew, didn’t you? That’s why you tried to have me killed,” Alannah broke the silence.
But Valeria didn’t answer. She hadn’t torn her eyes away from the page.
“Oh.” Alannah lowered the journal. “You didn’t know.”
Valeria looked as if she was having trouble breathing. Her chest stilled and red crept up from her chest. She was a ticking time bomb. One of the hunters—Percivus, if Alannah remembered correctly—stepped forward to set her off.
“This has gone on long enough,” he said. “Let us finish what was—”
“Get out.”
He cocked his head to the side. “I beg your pardon?”
“Get out!” Valeria shrieked. “All of you! Get out!”
“This is—”
“Oh, stuff it you pretentious buffoon! I have had to listen to you whine and bitch and moan for the better part of a month and I am sick of it!”
The Fae filed out of the doors, grumbling under breath about the abrupt dismissal. The hunters were the last to leave, their leader shocked and offended at being treated in such a way. Alannah bit back a smug smile. The doors slammed shut behind them, sealing her in with Valeria. She wasn’t alone. Her companions, old and new friends, stayed in the room. Odhran remained behind her.
Valeria stood from her throne and descended the steps, the fabric of her stark white gown whispering against the floor. Alannah took a step back as Valeria grew closer. Valeria’s hand shot out and gripped Alannah’s chin. Silver-tipped fingers dug into her cheek but didn’t draw blood. She pulled Alannah’s face close. “The moment you walked into my court I should’ve killed you,” she hissed.
Odhran grabbed his mother’s wrist. “Let her go, mother.”
Valeria sneered at her son but didn’t let Alannah go. “And you even turned my own children against me.”
“It wouldn’t be hard to do,” Alannah shot back.
Valeria shoved her, sending Alannah stumbling back into Odhran’s chest. “You look so much like her. I hate it.”
Alannah straightened. “Moirne?”
“Yes.” She turned her back to Alannah. “We were friends you know. Once. Me, Elauthin, and Moirne.”
“How?”
“Moirne never cared for boundaries. She snuck into Morthilas often. That’s how we met.” Valeria straightened her long sleeves. “I didn’t have any friends really. My father was a particularly cruel man. I was written off the moment I was born, but Moirne didn’t know that and it was so easy to be friends with her. But introducing her to my betrothed, my beloved Elauthin, was a mistake.”
Alannah closed the journal and held it to her chest. “They fell in love.”
“Moirne was everything I wasn’t. Carefree. Open. Loving. I’m sure it was easy for him to love her in a way that he couldn’t love me.” Valeria tapped the ruby pendant resting against her throat. “They made a mockery of me. Those that knew, laughed at me behind my back. Do you have any idea how that feels?” The question was rhetorical. “I had to do something.”
“You cursed her entire bloodline. Did that truly feel right to you?” Alannah asked.
Valeria stared at her, her eyebrows nearly disappearing into her hairline. “Of course.”
Alannah shook her head. “No wonder no one liked you. You’re horrible.”
“I am what others have made me,” Valeria said. “Perhaps if Moirne had chosen death then you wouldn’t be here, begging for me to remove the curse. Perhaps if two people I loved hadn’t snuck behind my back, we wouldn’t be here at all this very moment.” A tear dripped down her cheek—staining her porcelain skin red—where it hardened and fell to the ground as a ruby.
A small part of Alannah felt bad, but not enough that she would ever forgive Valeria. Her family didn’t deserve this. She didn’t deserve it. And now she was going to be rid of it. “We had a deal,” Alannah said. “I found a person of Fae and witch blood. You will remove my curse.”
Valeria cocked her head to the side and regarded Alannah with a smug smirk. “Are you certain? You will no longer have the safety of the fringe. With the coming days, you may wish you still had that safety.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Alannah demanded.
“It means, dear Alannah, Underhill is not the place you imagine it to be. Removing this curse will not grant you the freedom you desire.” Valeria leaned closer and lowered her voice. “In fact, this place just might kill you.”
If that curse doesn’t kill you, the other will.
Alannah stepped closer. “You know something.”
“Perhaps.”
“She’s goading you, Alannah,” Selanna snapped. “A deal is a deal, mother. You should stop delaying and hold up your end of the bargain.”
Alannah couldn’t put her finger on why she felt like Valeria knew something. Teasing aside, Valeria stared at Alannah as if waiting for her to ask the right question. Waiting for a chance to crush Alannah’s notion of what life would be like without the curse. A final barb before Valeria had to fulfill her promise.
“What do you know of my future?” Alannah asked, unsure if it was the correct question, but she didn’t know where else to start.
“You are going to have to be more specific than that.”
“This is ridiculous,” Odhran snarled. “Stop toying with her, Mother.”
“What makes Moirne and I similar?” Alannah asked. “You said we looked alike, but that isn’t all, is it?”
“No,” Valeria said. “Your role in this life is what makes you and Moirne one and the same. You could say my curse saved her life in order to give rise to yours and if I lift the curse, you will fulfill the purpose she abandoned.”
Alannah huffed and looked up at the ceiling in annoyance. “You don’t know anything.”
“I do.”
“Then stop speaking in riddles and tell me!” Alannah crossed her arms over her chest, her fingers digging into her arm. “Otherwise, this is all a ruse to scare me into complacency because you can’t handle that you’ve lost.”
Valeria’s eyes lit up and her smug smile turned into something more facetious. “The only one who is going to lose Alannah, is you. If you keep the curse, you lose. If I remove the curse, you still lose. Because you see, your life doesn’t belong to you. In the end, it will either belong to me or the Morrigan.”
“What do you know about the Morrigan?” Alannah snapped.
“What do you know about the Morrigan, Alannah?” Valeria shot back. “Stories are nice but they are hardly ever the truth and you have been lied to your whole life. Riona lied to you. Your “goddesses” lied to you.”
“How do you—”
“The spell the Morrigan used to stop Reluvethel is incomplete. She didn’t have the power to completely freeze time and when she relied on her friends to help her, they betrayed her and kept their power. So much for the witches being better than us,” Valeria teased, walking back and forth as she spoke, but her eyes never left Alannah.
“You’re lying,” Alannah said.
Valeria waved a hand at Alannah. “You and I both know I cannot.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Let it go, Alannah,” Mr. Pinkus warned, finally speaking up.
“She can’t,” Valeria said. “Because she needs to know and I will be more than happy to tell her that the only way the spell remains is because every hundred years three children are born with the mark of the Morrigan. Three powerful children that grow and mature until the Morrigan calls on them and siphons their power to keep Reluvethel at bay. Every hundred years until I cursed Moirne and destroyed the balance.” She touched Alannah’s cheek, the silver point of her forefinger dragging across Alannah’s skin. “You were born to be sacrificed, Alannah, just as Moirne was. I gave her a gift. A lineage she wouldn’t have had if I hadn’t cursed her.”
“A gift!” Alannah exploded. “And what? You’re giving me a gift of knowledge now? How would you even know any of this?”
“Like I said, Moirne was my friend once. There was a time where I tried to help her solve how she could help the Morrigan and still live.” Valeria leaned down. “There is no solution, Alannah. Your life will end. How many of them will you drag down with you?” she whispered, turning her gaze to Elliot and her children and Mr. Pinkus.
The puzzle pieces clicked into place. Eleanor’s warning. Telling Alannah that Alannah never belonged to her mother. Riona’s dismissal of Eleanor. She probably knew. Perhaps Makenna was one of the others and that’s why Riona had said nothing to Alannah. The dream. Her mother’s words. Valeria had handed Alannah the missing pieces knowing the misery it would cause. Alannah had fought her way to the truth and back and she still lost.
Not fair.
What was the point of any of it? The point of Mr. Pinkus’ encouragement and friendship. The point of her blossoming feelings for Elliot and, possibly, Odhran. The friendships. Eletha. Senna. Selanna. Makenna.
Not fair.
Alannah hadn’t even realized she started crying until Valeria withdrew her hand and the teardrops clung to her fingers. “Oh dear. Poor, poor Alannah—”
“That’s enough, Mother,” Odhran’s low and threatening voice stopped Valeria midsentence. “You have said more than enough and I won’t hear another word from you that doesn’t involve lifting her curse as you have promised.”
“You are far too involved, my son. You are betting on a dead woman.”
“I would rather bet on a dead woman than a pathetic, sorry excuse for a mother,” he shot back, his hand coming down to rest on Alannah’s shoulder. “It’s time to accept your defeat with grace so Alannah and her companions may return home.”
Valeria sighed. “But does she even want me to now that she knows the truth?”
Having heard enough, Elliot pushed past Senna before he could stop them. He ignored Valeria—stepping in front of her to block Alannah from her view—and cupped Alannah’s face. “She’s fucking with you. Trying to get inside your head. Don’t let her,” he whispered.
Alannah shook her head. “She’s not lying, Elliot. I knew this was too good to be true,” she hissed. “What am I going to do?”
“You’re going to demand that she remove the curse and then we’re going to figure everything else out later.”
“Later,” Alannah spat. “You’ll be free, Elliot, why would you stay?”
“Because I care about you,” he murmured, brushing hair away from her face. “Because I’m not going to abandon you to figure this out on your own.”
“Elliot, I—”
“This is very touching, but you have a decision to make Alannah,” Valeria interrupted. “I can remove your curse and send you on your way to die or you can return to your home and live your short miserable life until you die naturally. I’ll even let you keep him.” She gestured to Elliot. “And I’ll return his friends as bargained. The curse will remain and you will never step foot in Underhill again.” Valeria outstretched her right hand, fingers wrapped around a dagger, and pointed it Alannah. “If you wish to remove the curse, all you need to do is allow the dagger to pierce you. If you want to return home, you need only to leave and never come back. What is your choice?”
Alannah reached up and gently pulled Elliot’s hands from her face. She held them briefly in between her hands before letting them go.
“Alannah,” Elliot whispered her name. Nothing followed.
Alannah had made her choice. Only one route made sense. Only one gave her a chance at a life she wanted. “You…the Morrigan…” Alannah said, shaking her head. She wrapped a shaking hand around Valeria’s wrist. “I don’t belong to any of you.”
In a swift motion, she plunged the dagger into her chest.
Chapter 32
Alannah woke in a cloud of softness. Her fingers trailed over the familiar quilted surface of her bedspread. She rolled over and sniffed her lavender scented pillow. Finally. She had found her way back to her own bed. Unless everything had been a terrible and wonderful dream. A dream in which she had traveled with companions and made friends and broke her curse and—
