Facets of Feyrie Box Set, page 69
part #1 of Facets of Feyrie Series
These dreams of his are the result of his stupidity. He’ll have to deal with it like I have to deal with mine. In a way, this is Jameson growing up.
Turning away from him, I watch the Sidhe come into view. Standing tall against the snowdrifts around it, the familiar white paint and big windows draw me out of the car while it’s still moving. Running, I head right towards the wall that opens and welcomes me in. To me, it’s like running into the arms of my mother. Taken to the very heart of the Sidhe, the warm touch of the Magiks flow over me and embrace me in safety and comfort. For this brief time, I can let my guard down and let my battered soul breathe.
“I need your help. This ring eases the sickness—but not enough. Because I’m as weak as a baby, they took him from me.” Gritting my teeth, I continue, because the Sidhe is listening, “They took him, and I have to get him back, he’s my soul... he is the reason life has color again.” Speaking into the blackness, I’m floating in I wait for the Sidhe to respond. The sad notes whisper through my mind and encourage me to say the rest of it, “Ruthie… she betrayed me to them. She got her kind killed. She tried to have me killed. All because of someone’s dick!” The word echoes back at me, and through the snotty tears, I laugh. Hoarse and rough, it sounds like someone much older than me.
The music of the Sidhe flows through me, and I receive the answers I need. All around me roots raise, all different sizes. The Sidhe is offering me a solution, and I’m taking it. Closing my eyes, I exhale long and deep, feeling the pulse of power inside of me once again, the comfort of my home. The tip of each root piercing my skin stings, but I’ve suffered much worse, and the result is more than worth it. Each pain means that a small piece of the Sidhe enters me. In essence, the Sidhe is turning me into a physical part of it, a limb that can be away from the body. Changing me into something unknown, and it’s completely acceptable because I need to be stronger for what’s coming.
As I’m gently lowered to the ground, the Sidhe twists and shapes around me depositing me in the front room. Everyone jumps to their feet when I open my eyes and look at them. I can understand their confusion. I came through the ceiling. Any other time I’d have laughed, but not today—there are no laughs left in me.
Looking around at those gathered, taking note that someone listened and sent the children away as I requested, I think about what I need to say. I’m glad the kids are gone because Knox would be here and yelling at me for leaving. I imagine he would also be confused about what happened and why I have to do what’s next or delay what I have to do next as long as possible. My heart is at war with my mind on this one.
Feyrie law dictates that betrayal of Feyrie kind is a death sentence. One that I have to carry out on the perpetrator, in the absence of the king. Who at this point hasn’t been crowned and is the dumbass who went and got himself captured.
My eyes seek out Ruthie, who’s sitting on the loveseat, sandwiched in between Auryn and Licar. She looks squished and uncomfortable, and looking at her makes me sick to my stomach. Neither of them look directly at her either, but both of their eyes are glowing red. A quick look around the room shows that no one is looking directly at her. Everyone knows now, I’m sure. Gossip is alive and well in the Sidhe.
Jameson is gone, I assume with Arista and the other healers getting worked on. People have heard about Nika too since she’s standing with Adriem, who is in a position to stop her from leaving the room. She looks lost to the world and pale-faced. Michael is standing slightly behind her, watching me. He’s cleaned up, and his poor face has barely any bruising left on it. The look on it is all serious business, and I can tell he’s doing everything he can to not look towards Ruthie. She keeps looking at him with a frown between her eyes.
She still hasn’t realized the depth of what she did, the idiot girl.
Giving up on having the right words to say I turn to Nika, and say, “Nika. Are you aware that someone has been hijacking your body and using you to kill people?” When no surprise enters her eyes, I see that she suspected something was off, at least. That annoys the fuck out of me. “You should’ve come to me. You know that, right?” There is not one single ounce of guilt in my next words, “For now, you’re going to be imprisoned. I can’t trust you—understand?” She nods and hangs her head.
“Jameson is safe, and that’s all that matters,” she says then falls into silence. No one says anything in her defense, because there’s not much to say—it happened. Until it can be stopped, she needs to be somewhere she can’t hurt people.
Roots spring forth from the floor and wrap around her, dragging her down to a place that the Magiks won’t reach her. Not even a wannabe god can find her there. She’ll be comfortable and taken care of while she sleeps. At least, she had the dignity to accept her current fate, and my opinion of her climbs a little. Hopefully, I can figure out how to save her—if not, I’ll kill her or leave her sleeping. There are no other options available.
Slowly, I turn to Ruthie. “Give me every single fucking detail. If you leave even one small, itty-bitty thing out, I’ll beat you within an inch of your life. Heal you, then do it again. Do you understand me?” Ruthie opens her mouth to argue then closes it. I’m dead serious. I might consider Ruthie a child in some ways—a foolish belief on my part, but her actions were those of an adult. She got people killed, and Phobe captured. There’s no leniency left in me for her, only a stabbing pain in my heart.
“You were supposed to be the one they took!” she yells, then crosses her arms, face mutinous.
“And?” I prompt, taking a single step towards her.
“They planned on killing you because somehow killing you empowers the Light side and they’ll be able to more easily take over the Earth and others.” She was willing to betray me, knowing they’d kill me. Yeah, she made adult decisions, so from this moment forward I’ll treat her like one.
“You’re okay with that?” I ask. She shrugs and continues to give me dirty looks.
“The Guide’s power is only temporary. Once the battery in his necklace dies, he’s afraid you’ll beat him. He’s coming after you because he knows how big a pussy you are now.” She’s going for smug, but the shaking of her hands shows how afraid she is.
“Where was this bravery you’re pretending to have when you were asked to betray your people?”
“I wasn’t betraying them. I was getting rid of you.” She's so obstinate about it that she hasn’t truly looked at what she did. Getting rid of me is betraying them.
“Why?” I have to know. There’s got to be more to it than that. She gets Michael and an old house that won’t listen to her. She starts to cry, and for the first time since this awful day started, I think they’re real tears.
“You’re going to take it all away to fight some stupid war. Our home, our men—all of it, for your shitty war. He told me if I helped them that they’d leave everyone alone that I asked them to, and we’d get to live out our lives in the Sidhe that I’d get to be in charge.” What a petulant, selfish way to repay the kindness of the people here, to believe something so flawed, and untrue, for purely selfish reasons. Nothing in life is ever that easy, and nothing comes without strings—especially when dealing with people who want to kill you.
“You idiot, without me the Sidhe will kick your ass out if it didn’t murder you outright for betraying everyone. It thinks and feels for itself, I have nothing to do with it, and no one can control what it does!” I pat my healed hair to calm it down. It wants to wrap around her neck and squeeze. I can feel its murderous intent. “The war is coming, whether any of us want it to or not, and we all have to fight, not just the men. How they convinced you of that idiocy, I’ll never know.”
The more I think about it, the madder I get. She fell for the manipulation tactics of complete morons. “They won’t stick with any deals or promises, they’ll kill anyone who represents any kind of threat, and that’s every single Feyrie here—including you! Believing that nonsense shows how ignorant you are of the real world.” How stupid is she to entertain that she could be the Shepherd without any kind of ability to do so, that people would listen to her? “You let yourself be blatantly manipulated by a fucking tool. I’m ashamed to know you right now.” Roots fly out of the floor and grab her.
“She does not sleep. I want her to sit here, stared at by everyone while she thinks about all that she’s done.” I feel the music of the Sidhe and Ruthie is dragged screaming into a cage made of the same material of the Sidhe. She’s not getting out of there any time soon.
“Iza… you know the laws,” someone says from behind me. The voice eventually registers, it’s Auryn, and she doesn’t sound happy about it. Still, I say nothing to her. Ruthie’s life is forfeit now because she didn’t just betray me, she betrayed everyone. That’s treason, and the sentence for that is death. Killing her is not something I’m in a massive hurry to do. Regardless of what she did, she’s still that girl I pulled out of a trunk.
One problem at a time.
“I have to get Phobe first, then we’ll worry about punishing people, okay?” No one argues, not that it would change anything if they did—I’m going to go after him no matter what they think.
“Iza.” Hearing my name spoken so softly grabs my attention as nothing else has. I turn, and Jameson is standing, pale and shaky, in the doorway. He’s sporting new scars and missing a finger, pretty sure he’s a good twenty pounds lighter too. Otherwise, he looks mostly intact. Looking at him leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
“I’m glad you’re alive, but I can’t look at you right now. Ruthie’s backstabbing bullshit and your dick might cost me everything, and that makes me hate both of you a little. Go do something productive before I kill you myself.” I’m not sure where the words come from, but they’re true, and I won’t apologize for them.
He looks sad and ashamed, but it doesn’t move me one bit. For once in my life, I’m laying blame where it’s due. After staring at me, his brown eyes flicking over my face with a defeated look on his own, he turns and limps out of the room. There’s nothing left in me to spend on sympathy for stupidity. Not one single fucking drop.
“What are you going to do?” Auryn asks.
“Kill things until someone decides to give me the information that I want.” Turning on my heel, I head towards my room. I need clean clothes for this and weapons, lots of weapons. Already I feel ten times better than I did when I got here. Separation sickness won’t be an issue again. The Sidhe made sure of that.
Absently I rub my chest, right over my heart. Usually, I feel fullness there, because it’s where I feel the bond between Phobe and I. The lack of it is disturbing and giving me anxiety so bad that I might need to find a paper bag to do that breathing exercise. Killing things will help, though. Lots of stuff. I want to make bloody snow angels in their guts. Growling under my breath, I grab the leathers out of my closet and start stripping.
On TV a lot of people wear them to look sexy. I’m wearing them because they stand up against claws and teeth. A lot better than cotton and jeans. These are thick, hardy, and flexible enough to not restrict me from moving the way I need to move. After zipping them, and filling the various pockets and loops with knives, guns and other odds and ends, I put on a plain leather jacket.
The boots were a present from Phobe. They’re resting on my bed, new and untouched. A perfect fit and designed for high movement and durability. They’re steel-toed and heavy enough that if I kick you in the face with these on—it’ll hurt. Giving a mean smile to my reflection in the mirror, I shove my phone and wallet into my inner pocket, zip the coat, and head out the door.
There are a million places to go and not a lot of time to do it, if I start with the vampires I think I’ll get more answers. They seem to be neck-deep in the fucking mess, maybe—
“Iza… you need to come out here.” The seriousness in Adriem’s tone is enough to make me want to stop and vomit. I hate that tone, it means it’s something awful, and I don’t wanna fucking know! Taking a deep breath, I close my bedroom door and follow him to one of the main family rooms. There’s a TV the size of the wall in there and on it is the smug face of the Guide.
“What the fuck is this?” I demand.
“They call it face-timing, isn’t it lovely?” My eyes narrow on the man’s face, the inflection in the voice isn’t the same as before. The eye color isn’t either… fuck… he’s being ridden. This isn’t the true face of my enemy.
The camera swings around, and Phobe’s battered face comes into focus, a concerning sight to see. There’s also a webbing of Magiks wrapped so tightly around him that it’s cutting into the darkness that makes him what he is. He isn’t healing, at all, something I’ve never seen before. They’ve got him strung up on a metal pole, eyes full of fire and glaring hatred at the Guide.
Those fiery eyes turn to the camera, and when they meet mine, I know he can see me. For the first time since I’ve known him, they fill with something so unbelievably soft, and it takes my breath away. That emotion hovering like a drop of water is so far beyond love, there isn’t a word for it, and it pulls my heart right out of my chest. Kill them all, Iza. He mouths to me, his eyes filling with an apology.
“I love this kind of human invention. They give you freedoms you wouldn’t normally have. For example,” the Guide-possessed person starts talking again and shoves his face in the camera, “I was going to draw things out, make you suffer, simply because that idea appeals to me… but, you tend to come out on top, even in horrible circumstances. Plus, I made a deal. However, I can’t leave things to fate. It gets messy when you do that.” My heart is beating so fast I can hear it in my ears. My vision narrows on that screen like I’m looking down a long tunnel. “I’ll settle for the suffering I can get from making you watch while I do this.”
He turns the phone back to Phobe, and all the hair stands up on my arms when I see the flash of light. Phobe’s eyes widen but stay on the screen, looking unerringly into mine. I know that look, I’ve seen it before—I just never thought to see it in his eyes. It’s goodbye. Nononononono. It’s impossible!
“Now you have to admit that I am the supreme being, brother.” The Guide says with such hatred in it. It gives me chills.
Phobe laughs a full-on belly laugh that brings the barest hint of a reluctant smile to my lips. It’s a sad smile, the last one I’ll share with him, but I won’t keep it hidden. He wants to see, I know it.
“You’re no brother of mine.” He turns to the Guide and smiles, all monstrous teeth, then continues, “The light can be extinguished, but darkness is eternal.” Those words seem cryptic, and I decide to hold onto them, maybe because I’m desperate to have something to hold onto. “When you’re wiped from existence—because it will happen—you will only be remembered as a wannabe god who didn’t get enough hugs from his mommy.” I have never loved him more than I do at that moment. Phobe is channeling me, my sarcasm, my mouth. The smile changes into that rarely seen happy smile. Looking into the camera unwavering, as the light flashes again, I watch in horror as the body that holds him begins to unravel. All the while, he keeps smiling for me, just for me.
Helpless, I stand there and as the man who means more to me than anything—than absolutely anything, is turned into nothing but smoke. There’s a flicker of blue in the heart of it, that’s gone so fast I barely catch it. Towards the edge of the screen, one of the stone-faced shifters steps forward—with familiar eyes so blue they glow—and snatches a piece of smoke out of the air. When I blink, he’s already standing back in his position, amber eyes blank.
Why is Life there doing weird shit? Why didn’t he step in and save him?
Clenching my hands so tight my claws bury themselves to the root in my skin, and I face the Guide when he puts the camera back on him. “Wow, what a show! A genuine shame that there will never be another. I’m afraid he was one of a kind.” He considers me and then shakes his head a little. “I didn’t expect the sentiment he showed you, Shepherd. It looks like it’s you who made him weak enough to die so easily.”
“If you hadn’t locked him up for a thousand years, he’d own your ass, fuckface. His fist would have given you a second asshole, that’s how hard he’d have owned you. That’s how hard I will.” I vow it right then. I will annihilate all his ilk, his little helpers. Every. Single. Fucking. One.
“Little girl, I’m not afraid of you. You’re only real weapon is no more.” He smiles and waves his hand towards the empty pole that once held Phobe. “I will accept your surrender now.” The only thing that gloating bastard will accept is my foot up his ass.
“You’re pissed off that Phobe’s Magikal dick is bigger than yours,” I say, smiling a toothy smile and crossing my arms over my chest. Pulling on every shred of inner strength I have, I make myself relax and not give away one iota of the wrenching grief inside of me. This motherfucker isn’t going to see my pain. The only thing he’ll see coming from me is the knife in his face.
“I’m going to enjoy killing you,” I say with a light voice and an easy smile.
“I can say the same,” he grits out between his clenched teeth.
I hold up my pinky and wiggle it at him. His eyes flash, and the call cuts off. Taking two breaths, my knees give out, and I hit the floor, hard. Phobe is gone, my beautiful monster is gone. He wasn’t supposed to be able to die. He was supposed to be indestructible. This… this—was never supposed to happen.
Grabbing my head with my hands, I scream out my sorrow. One long, lonely roar, while I kneel there letting the tears fall, uncaring of who’s watching me. For once, I let the grief fully have its turn, let it consume me and burn through my body like acid.
Every moment we shared, every kiss, every hug. Every single fucking laugh is scorched into my memory. The look in his eyes, in the end, will haunt me forever. The emotion in them was so earth-shattering, so deep that I could drown in it happily. Gods, I want to die with him. I want to see him again. I will see him again.
