Shadow Keeper, page 16
He points at me then himself. And swipes both hands wide. We are not the same. He doesn't want me to become one of them. He actually looks revolted, going slightly green. So, he's probably one of the ones who reject Elle for being half Pwca then.
I purse my lips. "What then?" I have to do what they want. Rhydian bade me do whatever was needed to free the Dreigiau. Elis could make me torture myself. Or he'll make me take it without noise or with pleasure. Maybe he gets off on it.
Making the full rotation around the tree, he appears again in front of me, standing with legs wide to put us on eye level. He speaks now, moving lips slowly so I can read them. "Help me, and I'll help you," he offers.
My brows draw together. He has me hooked, we both know. The instructions are too vague, though. I could define "help" in many ways to appease the magic. Just listening to his dilemma now could be considered enough. "How?"
He cocks his head. Someone approaches. He flings a punch into my midsection. I double over in pain as much as the bindings will allow, coughing.
When I straighten, the other Ellyll spits on my face, sharing a smirk with Elis, who watches my torment with satisfaction, then the newcomer leaves.
"He," he thumbs after the departing comrade, speaking very slowly to give me time to lipread, "wants to know where"—he lifts palms in a question—"a till is."
"A till?"
His glamour shifts into Elle.
"Oh, Elle." I shake my head and shrug. "Is that how I help you? I can't. I don't know where she is."
He looks after the departing man then approaches on soft feet. And swipes a finger across his throat.
My eyes bug out. He rolls his. He adopts Elle's appearance again and does the motion again, lolling his head to the side, tongue out. His acting would be comical if he weren't so deadly himself.
"I won't help you kill her. I told you: I don't know where she is."
He huffs out a frustrated breath. He points at me. "You tell him"—he points after the other guy"—she's dead." He does the death scene again.
My brows pucker. "Why?"
He doesn't answer. I'm not going to get an answer.
"And how will you help me?"
He mimes slitting his throat again. His wings flutter in anticipation.
"Death?" Lloyd said there were worse things in store for me than death, so it could be a mercy. "Do I have an option other than death?"
His brows creep up. He pulls a hand back as if to punch me again.
"Okay, okay. I get it."
I think of my mother crawling across a bloody field of bodies, some battling, some motionless. Whatever way they do it, I'm dead here in the end. The Ellyllon win. The Bwbachod go extinct.
The bindings hold me, Rhydian's request holds me; the devious Ellyllon hold me. I don't have a choice. I never do.
"How will you do it?"
He shrugs, undecided.
"Do it fast," I beg him.
He taps his chin, taking the request into consideration.
That's the best I'm going to get. "Deal," I say before I can change my mind.
The gavel of his wings snap closed and open to seal the deal. "Tonight," he mouths, putting a countdown on my life. He departs.
At least, I've bought myself a few more hours to contemplate my own plan.
By the time the moon has risen, I've dozed off uncomfortably a few times, managed to wedge the dragon's tooth deeper into my duct tape hold, and rubbed my arms raw on the rope. I doubt I've even left a mark on the tree. And I have no plan.
My vitality seems to have come back stronger than ever, laying credit to Lloyd's claim that this place rejuvenates the Tylwyth Teg. However, everything else here is stronger than me.
I've thought of B, Da, Jaz and Daz, Carmen, Cory, Darnell, Jaxton, Shaylene, my many, many clients, Rhiannon, Zac, even Tarot, reminiscing with nostalgia, regretting, then feeling happy to leave them. I wonder what Rhiannon and Rhydian are doing, if they've made it home yet. Will Elle stalk them and request they keep the peace without me?
I've gone through several stages of frustration, rage, self-pity, grief, regret, and finally arrived at acceptance, which is good, because it means my tears are dried, my chin steady, and I face somber when Elis reappears silently.
"Everyone asleep?"
He gives me an incredulous look. "Nocturnal," he mouths.
"Then why do this now?"
He grins and mimes sneaking, then glamours into Jazz, pretending to sleep with hands beneath his cheek.
They're on the hunt for changelings. So we're alone.
"Well, I asked for quick." I lift my chin and close my eyes, taking a deep breath in. Even with my preparation, sudden panic zings through me, and I quiver, tears leaking down my cheeks again. The anticipation plucks at my strung-out nerves, letting fear unfurl into full-blown hysteria.
My breath rushes out and heaves back in. "Elis?"
My eyes pop open, and immediately, I forget about my impending death. Another Ellyll battles Elis, both of them swooping through the air and launching into the ground. Light wings clash with dark.
"Elle!"
Holy fuck, I'm saved. I sag in my bindings, the sudden drop of tension wiping me out. "Go, Elle!" I cheer. "Get him!" She seems to have the upper hand—surprise of the attack may have given her a head start, except he's bigger and his wings being smaller allows him to maneuver more agilely.
She's flung into the tree next to me and drops to the ground, trying to get back up.
"Elle!" I kick out my foot urgently.
She kicks her foot, following my suggestion. Thankfully, it does catch Elis in the kidney.
"Not what I meant." I kick my foot again. She can't see what I'm getting at. "The dragon's tooth is attached to my boot."
She snatches it from my foot, torquing my toes. If she gets me out of here, I'll forgive her. If she doesn't, well, that'll be the mildest of my injuries.
She whirls, doing a sort of reverse kick-boxing move into Elis's throat. He gasps, and his wings stutter. He drops toward the ground. She dives after him and slashes with the boot. He rolls aside so it just clips the edge of his wing. She slashes again, and this time, she slices skin.
Elis flings out a punch like he did to me earlier and hits her bad eye. She stumbles back, holding the boot out in front of her. She can't see where he is.
He tries to fly above her, but his sliced wing causes him to lose altitude and veer off course. He uses that, coming at her from an odd angle.
"On your left!" I shout. She spins but not far enough. "Eleven o'clock!" She pivots without question and thrusts the boot out. It pierces Elis's thigh. "Yes!"
He lands with a stumble and rises with a snarl. He turns to grab for me, to cut off her assistance.
"Three o'clock!" I squeak, wrestling with my bindings. "Five feet and growing! Now, now, now! Ah!" I turn my head aside and squeeze my eyes shut.
Warm liquid splatters across my face. I don't feel anything. Delayed pain? I peek one eye open and immediately wish I hadn't.
Elis's grimacing face floats inches from me, a dragon's tooth jabbed through his eye, the worst kind of lobotomy. Elle wheezes behind him, one eye swollen shut. Elle removes the hand wrapped around the tooth. Elis immediately slumps between us, landing on my feet.
I recoil as blood seeps into my sock, the scent permeating the air.
Elle kicks him away, rolling him onto his back. Then she raises a boot and stomps on the tooth, driving it deeper into his brain. I gag. She bends down, twists his head, snapping his neck, and removes the tooth, and she does it all with an impassive expression, not bothered in the least by the horrific gore or that she just committed the murder of a peer on her home turf, which she never wanted to return to.
"Y-you came for me?" I gibber as she approaches, exhausted and gory herself.
She mutely uses one of her own daggers to slice my bindings.
I drop to my knees in the pool of blood. My arm remains broken, and the other is numb from being tied up tightly, so my cheek crashes onto Elis's unmoving chest. The unnatural angle of his chin makes me want to puke again.
I lurch back. Pain wings through my broken arm and pierced palm. I put the useless arm back into the makeshift sling. Elle holds out a hand to assist me up. I place my work glove in it and stand. She hands me the dragon's tooth. With some hesitation over the gruesome slime on its tip, I take it, wipe it on the grass and hide it back in my pocket.
Then I just stare at her, and she stares back. I don't know what to say.
Her head whips to the side, hearing something I don't. She grabs me and launches into the sky, making a habit of flying away with me.
I have no energy to fight. I almost died tonight.
And I almost accepted that fate.
Instantly, I'm mad at myself. I shouldn't be relying on Elle to rescue me. I need to help myself. That's what Rhydian instructed me to do. I need to focus on becoming reliable for myself or else how will I ever stand up for myself, able to make my own choices and not be used and discarded?
Screw everyone. I'm going to live my own life now that I've got a second chance at it.
As soon as Elle carries me to safety... assuming that's where we're going.
Chapter
Nineteen
HELP ABANDON
The problem, of course, is that my chariot has terrible eyesight. Somehow, she manages to maneuver through the forest.
She follows an unseen path by muscle memory, I think. Treehouses appear around us, a few with lit windows. I don't have long to tense as we alight on the porch of a treehouse in the back, somewhat separated from the others.
Lowering me to my feet, Elle doesn't let me go as she listens. Ignoring the throbbing in my arm, I take her cue and look through a window near us.
"I don't see anyone," I whisper. "It's dark in there."
She nods and leads me to a second window instead of the front door. She tries to lift it. When it doesn't budge, she kicks the glass out without warning. She gestures to indicate that I should pass through first.
I hesitate for only a second, checking the treehouses in the distance over my shoulder, before climbing in, careful to avoid the jagged edges of glass. Larger than me, Elle cannot miss all the sharp pieces. Her leather suit protects where it covers; the exposed areas are slick with blood.
She passes through a gloomy living room without looking around. She's familiar with this home. At the bottom of the stairs, Elle lifts her nose and sniffs. She beckons, and dutifully, I follow, because what am I going to do, jump from the tree?
At the top of the stairs, we detour into a room off to the side behind a closed door. It holds an unmade bed, a wardrobe left open, and broken glass on the floor next to a broken window.
I wander over to the wardrobe, finding it full of leather bodysuits. "This is your room, your house."
I turn and catch her correction: "Was." A sour expression has taken over her face as she stares forlornly at the glass.
She abandons the melancholy, detouring around me to extract a new outfit. She also finds an extra pair of boots that she thrusts at me. She sequesters herself in a bathroom.
I give her privacy to clean up while I sit on the edge of the bed and kick off the one remaining boot. It slips off easily, and I bite my lip as I wiggle my toes. With difficulty, I use one hand to jam on Elle’s boots, bracing against the sting in my palm.
The Ellyllon-made footwear is thinner, more flexible, and fits my feet better. There’s no pressure or rub against the new blisters I’ve earned as I roll my ankles and flex my toes. And once I can get someone with two working arms to lace them up, they’ll hug my ankles to stay in place. I wonder if Elle skinned a deer to make them with the Tylwyth Teg's penchant for using only natural materials.
I scrutinize the room while I wait. There's a quill of arrows and a bow in the corner. Nothing personal decorates the space.
She emerges after a few minutes, bruised and banged up but clean. She smells like lavender. With her, she brings a wooden mortar containing a used-baby-diaper-hued mush in which I can identify pulverized twigs, shreds of leaves, and the skin of berries. It smells like a litter box too.
I frown. She holds out a spoon. If I can't trust her, I can't trust anyone.
With a sigh, I move the pestle out of the way, scoop up a tiny bit, and shove it into my mouth. If my other hand functioned right now, I'd pinch my nose to mute the disgusting taste. The bitter grit coats my tongue and scrunches up my face. I search for a drink of anything to chase it with. Elle brings a cup of water from the bathroom, and I gulp it greedily, trying to rinse my tongue off.
With a flash of pain, my ears pop. I scream, clapping my hands over them. I rip off the useless hearing aid and toss it aside. The pain flares again. A tempestuous ache worms its way deep into my ear canals. I fold over my knees, trying not to pass out.
As quickly as it hit, the sensation wanes, leaving me in silence again.
It's more silent than usual. Where's my tinnitus ring? And my arms… With delayed reaction, I register that they’re working. I gawk at the straight bone and rip off my work glove to inspect the healed skin where there was a hole.
"You're welcome."
I scream again. Elle's voice comes at me loud and clear. I stare at her then my hearing aid across the room, slowly lowering my hands. "W-w-w...?" That hits me too loudly as well. "What did you do?" I whisper as quietly as I can, overwhelmed.
"I did nothing. Nature heals."
I flinch at her volume even though I can tell she's far from shouting. Elle speaks with a warm gravel I never picked up on before. "Like Lloyd said." Underhill revives us. I must have been born here.
"Who's Lloyd?"
"Hmm? Oh. One of the Dreigiau." I widen my eyes at Elle. "If you take me, they lose their chance to come back. They'll be after me."
She shakes her head. "They handed you over. They got their payment." She gazes toward the hallway. "It's Elis who lost you."
"Then the Ellyllon will hunt us."
She snorts, and the noise blasts into my brain. "No more than they already were."
“What payment did the Dreigiau get? I mean, they’re back in Underhill, but Gwynn—the guy who showed up at the tavern—said they would get something returned to them in a trade.”
She takes a minute, which seems intentional to me, to return the mortar to the bathroom. When she returns, the moonlight glints in her clouded eyes. “What do you know about the Dreigiau’s history?”
“Uh. Not much. I mean they told me about avoiding the war and going out into the human realm and then losing those who could—uh, had birthing abilities.”
“Losing, yes. When they chose not to support the Ellyllon in the war, they captured one of them—a young female.”
I don’t like where this is going. “They killed her?”
“No. They used her as a threat.”
“A threat for what?”
“When they took a stance not to be involved, the threat forced them to keep away lest they interfere in the shifting of power. The Ellyllon are not more powerful, just more strategic.”
“So, now they’ll be able to revive their population,” I surmise. That’s why they were willing to let Rhiannon go if they could come back.
Elle snorts. “If the Ellyllon honor the trade.”
My earlier revelation pops to mind. “Gwynn thought I would be a surprise to the Ellyllon when he brought me here.”
“You were.”
“I was? But—”
“My mission was confidential. The crown knew about your mother and sent me. I was to remove the issue before others became aware and unrest arose. I was not informed of a child ahead of time. I discovered you when I arrived. Presumably Elis was debriefed before being dispatched in my wake. But my—the crown would not want anyone else to know about this…oversight.”
I kind of liked that I was keeping everyone on their toes, defying the odds. My mother left me as a take-that on behalf of our ancestors. “So, will there be unrest now?”
Elle’s lips curled up slowly into a vindictive grin that put her teeth on display. “Yes.”
The Ellyllon, all of them, are vicious, unscrupulous, and remorseless, I’ve learned.
I gather my wits to address the elephant in the room. "Why did you come for me? Isn't it completing your original, uh, mission to let me be ... you know." I don't want to swipe my finger across my throat; the memories rub on raw wounds. I drink more water, swallowing too fast. I cough and dribble down my chest.
"As you said, you're my mission." She scowls. "Elis may not claim your death."
That isn't reassuring. "Are you going to kill me then?"
"Not right now. We have a bargain."
Cool. So, as long as I keep the peace in Austin, she'll let me live. No pressure. "How did you find me?"
Her grin makes me shuffle away on the bed. "I'm a tracker. The best tracker. I'll always find you."
A promise or a threat?
"Great. Um. Should we ... go or ... ?"
She nods. "The Coblynau will not open the gates for us."
"Crap. I forgot. We need, like, a sacrifice or something."
"I do not harm animals," she informs me.
Does she not know humans are animals? I leave that alone. "Then how—?"
"I have an old friend here."
"They'll get you out? Isn't that dangerous for them? Your people could take offense to them aiding your escape." Then I remember what Elis had wanted from me. "Do they think you're dead? The Ellyllon?"
She focuses on me.
"Elis wanted me to tell them you were dead. That was his request. And in return, he'd give me a merciful quick death before I was tortured. At least, I think. We had to talk through gestures because he didn't give me any of your healing stuff."
"He is not as well-versed in the uses of plants," she says offhand while contemplating what I've told her.
"Why did he want me to say you were dead?" I didn't believe he wanted to aid Elle in getting away. They weren't friends. I'm not sure Elis had any.
Her expression smoothes out. "He wanted to claim responsibility."
