Chapter Twenty-Two
Declan
Nimai loomed, eyes wild with that nasty little temper of his. Declan bared his teeth, reached for power, that dark writhing hum off himself, and found it wanting.
Every pull came with less, and gilded with an edged, medicinal taste. Mint?
A burn like metal left in the sun. Antonio’s anger, eating away at the strangeness, a blast of sand over crumbling leaves, as sharp edged as the tendrils of magic Declan snapped toward Nimai’s face, only for the brownie to stagger out of the way.
A collective gasp filled the air. Through the crisp bite of mint, lilac ink blossomed, spilled over, flooding his veins with a force that nearly knocked Declan off his feet. The sudden return of his magic hit like the aftermath of a needle.
Nimai’s handsome face twisted in shock, then a rictus of horror. Declan faltered, fell still entirely when the brownie’s mouth opened in a raw, guttural scream. Anguished. Ripped from the depths of his soul.
Deep lungfuls of smoke and steel engulfed Declan for a second time, another rush, the scrape of copper and stroke of leather at odds with Nimai on his knees, expression still twisted and that primal sound torn from him again and again.
The urge to look back, to see what was going on, tugged at Declan. A rash, suicidal instinct. Instead, Declan approached Nimai and clapped his hand over that shrieking mouth. Nimai scrabbled at his arm with blunt, frantic nails, those lovely blue eyes streaming tears and fixed on Declan’s face.
Declan, who smiled with all his teeth. Who dug his nails in, cut deep into cheeks, and dragged Nimai up, in.
Who hissed in his ear, “Pathetic. You deserve worse.” Who then forced all those pretty, glittering rainbow shards of glass through the brownie’s back and neck, and sealed them closed with his slick, oozing magic, then twisted until he heard the pop of vertebrae.
Nimai fell silent. Slack.
Declan dropped the body to the floor, already turning on unsteady knees. Red on silver blades greeted him. Kylan’s crumpled form collapsed to the ground as the swords disintegrated like so much sand.
Antonio stood just there, unharmed, staring down at the qilin’s corpse. Shock reverberated through the bond, though the man’s expression remained blank.
“Antonio!” Declan skirted around Kylan’s broken form with barely a glance. He took hold of Antonio’s arm, relief and concern bright in equal measure.
Antonio blinked numbly, then glanced behind Declan. Recognition, there, in the bond, and the cold creeping voids Declan knew from his own first foray into self defense.
“I told him.” Antonio’s voice was flat. His eyes, when he looked back to Declan, were pleading. “I told him to stop. He wouldn’t stop.”
“I believe you. I do.” Declan cupped Antonio’s cheek to turn him away from Nimai’s body. He pressed his forehead to Antonio’s and swallowed back ash. “He’d have cored me out before I realized.”
Antonio leaned into his touch, his lips twisting upwards in a ghost of a smile. Through the bond, there was only the discordant, eerie silence, icy in a way Antonio never was.
“I don’t like fae parties. I think it’s the music.”
“Not enough strobe lights,” Declan agreed. He offered Antonio a faint smile in turn. It was the least he could do.
“The human dies.” Kesk’s voice rang out, the sidhe pull strong enough for Declan’s eyes to cut to the side. He didn’t turn, though. “He killed a fae. A respected Councilor.”
Hyacinth laughed nearby. Stomach-churning discomfort rippled through the bond, the alarming cold of steel cracking. Antonio grabbed Declan’s arm, knuckles white. Declan slid his hand back, fingers curled around the back of Antonio’s neck in reassurance.
He would burn down Faerie itself before he let Kesk anywhere near Antonio.
“I will not permit Antonio to come to harm. If Kylan hadn’t interfered with my magic, he would still be alive,” Declan said, sharp and deliberately loud.
“My bond broke no rules. That respected Councilor died with sluagh magic in him of his own volition. Don’t twist Protocol simply because Nimai couldn’t cheat himself into a win. ”
“We cannot condone humans going about killing fae,” Kesk snapped with a quick flick of his fingers. Kylan’s body faded from existence, only to reemerge next to Nimai, not that the sidhe looked at it. “Whatever the justification, allowing such a precedent to be set is unacceptable.”
“I don’t know that ‘a Hollow defending their bond mid-duel when that bond’s energy is siphoned by a qilin’ is too concerning a precedent.” Hyacinth’s voice remained an amused purr, unchanged from years past.
Sickly tendrils clung to Declan with every word. Antonio’s hand tightened, his eyes fixed on Declan’s face as he clearly struggled to remain standing. The ebb and flow of disorientation rose each time Kesk or Hyacinth spoke.
Ah. Another lovely boon of being a Hollow.
Declan glanced past Antonio to Hyacinth. Hyacinth, whose clever, amused gaze focused on Declan as soon as he smiled.
“Speaking of Hollow, my friend, it appears they have a unique reaction to sidhe charms. Humor me, and speak without while we stand close? I’ve seen firsthand just how compelling you are even without it.”
Hyacinth considered the ask, the glorious prick. With his penchant for not loathing humans and appreciation for compliments, Declan didn’t fret over whether he would agree. Especially not with Kesk’s cruel laughter in the air.
“Your bond is truly a gem, Declan.” Somehow, Kesk’s voice carried more pull than before.
Bastard.
“Pulling the wings off butterflies again, big brother?” Hyacinth asked, voice free of magic. “Some of us prefer sport that can fight back. I suppose you might have finally found your level.”
“That may have something to do with some of us not requiring reassurance from a measuring stick to sleep at night, Hyacinth.” Declan added with a one-armed shrug. “I hear some fae are sensitive about their wingspan.”
“’m good,” Antonio said, low and quiet. He leaned into Declan’s touch, dragging in a deep breath. “’m fine.”
“Pathetic, how they cling to base vulgarity,” Kesk said to Veroni. Without, Declan noted, the ringing sidhe drag to his words.
Veroni laughed. “It’s as you say, love. Blood always tells and like calls to like.”
“One who can do no better, and the other soft for his own kind. No wonder they’re so protective of a rabid beast.”
“A future Councilor,” Declan said. “We claim the seats we’ve won.”
“The Council will never seat you,” Kesk sneered. “Besides, a bond is required, and the mortal dies tonight. Don’t spout off about ‘recompense’ and refuse to pay when others demand the same.”
Declan had killed one fae today. He would repeat the act, if necessary. If Kesk thought himself beyond that particular fate, he’d not mind proving him wrong.
“Aye, recompense,” he echoed. “You don’t speak for all fae.
Antonio didn’t harm you, your bond, or your House.
You’ve no right to demand satisfaction for injuries not your own.
Unless, perhaps, you and Nimai had business great enough that his death would bugger up something permanent for you.
Do you happen to know who guaranteed that irrevocable allotment to be granted to my killer? Nimai didn’t have the chance to say.”
“Why, by Summer, would I know that?” Kesk pressed his hand over his heart. “Someone did Nimai a favor. Debt is debt, after all.”
“We agree on something, big brother. Debt is debt. And Protocol is Protocol.” Hyacinth stepped closer still, wings falling open in that relaxed way Declan knew spelled trouble to someone fucking with one of his.
Knew, too, that amused, easy smile aimed at Declan (which he returned, with teeth).
“And I, as witness, judge that no one’s behavior broke Protocol.
Else I’d have stopped the little qilin from nearly causing my friend’s death.
If you don’t want the bonds to murder each other mid-duel, you really should say so ahead of time. ”
Nothing good came from Hyacinth smiling like a shark.
For others, mainly. It always worked out rather well for Declan, that razor-edged malice.
It came with an arm around the shoulders or, in this case, half-mantled wings on shoulders too relaxed to be casual.
And when Hyacinth had his group of friends near, their eyes fixed on a scene with interest, all the more so.
Even Tsuri looked half a second from pouncing, the wings at their hips open and teeth bared.
“If everyone’s going to be all fae at each other, can we do it somewhere not so bloody?
” Talia’s high, bright voice broke through the tense moment.
“Or better yet, could we just agree that everyone hates each other, no one’s killing Antonio, and move on?
Some of us have a lifespan, and we’d rather not waste it. ”
“I haven’t conceded that,” Kesk objected, and while his voice held the caution most showed with Talia, there was something else there too. Nothing pleasant. “The human killed a fae.”
Antonio flinched, as he had with each bloody reference to Kylan.
“My bond acted to protect me,” Declan said, voice hard. “Kylan took what was mine.”
“That sounds like a Council matter.” Hyacinth was all affected boredom, his gaze roving absently toward the crowd. “And anyway, these aren’t our lands, brother. You don’t get to carry out justice here.”
“No,” Yenah’s bell-like voice rang out from the crowd. “You don’t.”
“There. See?” Hyacinth glanced toward Yenah, eyebrow raised. “You’re not about to murder Declan’s bond and start a blood feud. I hear his mother has all sorts of wicked little secrets stashed away for such emergencies.”
Yenah smiled a warm, polite fae smile that didn’t reach her eyes, her attention fully on Kesk and Veroni. Charil, well known for their mildness, watched the pair without expression.