Chapter 18 #2
Peering back at him, something caught my eye in the forest. I couldn’t see her, but I could feel my mother’s gaze on me, an innate awareness of her.
Gritting my teeth together, I grabbed the handle of the door, about to step in when I swore I heard a whisper across the back of my neck.
“I love you too, daughter.”
Killian’s top-shelf whiskey slid down my throat, the smooth burn warming my belly and numbing the pain I was trying to lock back in a box. It also ebbed the call to the nectar, and the possessive need to run back outside and snatch it up, to take what was mine.
“Obviously, you all escaped High Castle after we left,” I prompted Tad. He sat in his chair across from me, pillows stuffed behind his back, keeping him propped up.
“Yes.” He smiled warmly up at Eliza when she set a cup of tea down on the table next to him.
She returned to the sofa, where Simon had cuddled up to his uncle, not wanting him out of his sight. The little boy tried so hard to stay awake. Zander, as usual, stayed out of the way, but I noticed he was always near Eliza, helping her with the tea or watching her anytime she moved.
“I remember little as you well know; I was not really coherent when you departed.”
Tad had been shot by HDF several times, bleeding out. I had been sure he’d die on that hill.
“When I woke up, all the soldiers either escaped or were dead, and my wounds were already starting to heal.” He took a sip of tea, his hand trembling slightly with old age.
“Eabha and Morgan healed me enough. And I was able to do the rest.” He lifted his cup to me. “Which I feel is all thanks to you.”
I wanted to believe my mother wouldn’t have left Tad to die, but even if she only helped him because of me, I was grateful, whatever the reason.
“When did they start to change back?” I rolled my glass between my hands, my knee bouncing with energy, though I felt so drained and exhausted.
“Ahh . . . you are testing my recollection.” Tad took another swallow before setting it on the table.
“I find it easier to recall something over two hundred years ago than a few weeks ago.” He closed his lids as if he was filing through his memories.
“Now I think about it, it was right after the night at High Castle when I noticed a slight shift in them.”
“Is it my fault they are turning back?” I barely heard my voice leave my mouth, guilt weighing down on me, feeling in some way I was to blame.
“As you know, magic and nature are a balance. They used a lot of magic barricading us against the attack that night. Then saving me.” My mind recalled the blood-red aura I saw streaming from the clan as they murmured a spell, putting up the protective shield to save us.
“You certainly have a link to your mother through the nectar since it is a part of her as well—why she will always protect it. So, there might be some truth to your fear, but their magic as witches wasn’t infinite.
There is always a cost for using so much magic. ”
“The cost for protecting us . . . me . . . was their human lives?”
Tad didn’t respond, his blue eyes telling me all I needed to know.
My head bowed, the burden of everything growing heavier. Another thing I had to shove away when other things were more critical. Things I could change. Taking a deep breath, I focused on another topic.
“Warwick and I just came from Istvan’s labs.
We know what he is doing.” I glanced over at the Legend.
His arms stretched over the back of the sofa, one ankle crossed his knee, Simon snuggled into his side, sound asleep.
Warwick appeared relaxed, not a care in the world, but I could feel his energy, the intensity with which he peered back at me.
If anyone walked through the door, he would be up, already slicing into their throat before we even registered movement.
The Wolf was always ready to fight. To kill his prey. Protect his family.
“It’s far worse than anyone knows. His reach and connections extend farther than I think most of us thought.
Prague, Ukraine, Romania, and probably many more countries are with him now.
Soldiers from all these places are taking the pills, making them fae-like.
Istvan is building the largest army anyone’s ever seen, while getting powerful leaders under his control. ”
“He also has fae working with him,” Warwick added.
“What do you mean he has fae working with him?” Zander jolted.
Right. I forgot how much they were unaware of. “Boyd, for one,” I stated.
“Boyd? He’s working with Istvan?” Zander exclaimed.
“Are you really surprised?” I countered.
Zander blinked, taking in my question. “No, I suppose not.” He scoured his head.
“Also, Killian suspected someone on the inside blew up the palace.” I swigged down the rest of my drink, setting the glass down. “He was right. It was Iain.”
“Iain?” Zander stood up from his perch on the end of the sofa. “No way . . . I trained him. He was satisfactory at best and not the brightest bulb. There is no way he could pull that off.”
“Clearly, he was smart enough to fool you, pony-boy.” Warwick shot Zander a look. “He was playing you. It was all an act so no one would suspect him.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“It’s true.” I pressed my palms down on my jittery knees. “He was at Věrh?za.”
Zander’s forehead crumbled. “As a prisoner?”
“As a guest,” I replied.
“I don’t understand.” Zander shook his head.
Warwick scoffed, ready to respond to that comment, but stopped when I shot him a glare.
“Iain was working as a spy, like you, but just not for someone we would have thought.” I stood, not able to sit still for another moment. “For Prime Minister Leon.”
“What?” Eliza shook her head in disbelief. “He was working for a human leader? Why the Czech prime minister?”
“Because he is the son of Sonya. One of the old Seelie queen’s ladies-in-waiting.” Warwick responded to his sister with a knowing look.
“Sonya?” Her mouth fell open. “That insufferable bitch who is shacking up with Leon?”
A groan bayed from Zander, his hands scrubbing his face. “They want her to sit in Killian’s seat.”
“Yep.” I leaned on the mantle. “A front to deceive the fae, while Istvan and Leon grab more control, eventually flipping the power struggle and taking over.”
“Basically, we’re heading for another fae genocide.” Eliza leaned her elbows on her legs, rubbing her face. “I don’t understand people like Sonya, willing to hurt their own kind. For what?”
“Power and money.” I shrugged a shoulder. “Sadly, coming from her other son, Lukas, she’s always been this way. She will turn on anyone to get where she wants to go. But I feel Sonya thinks at the end of this, she will come out on top. I see her turning against Leon and Istvan once she’s seated.”
“Sounds like her.” Eliza frowned. “We’ve heard about her for a long time. She comes from old noble blood from the Otherworld—ones who believe they are the rightful heirs to power. Now her being with Leon makes sense.”
“If she thinks it will get her to what she wants in the end, there are no limits to what she will do, like Istvan.”
“Our number one priority, though, is getting everyone out of Věrh?za. Every day we wait, more could be dying. Tortured, starved to death. Let’s just say Věrh?za makes Halálház seem a little less horrendous.”
“Really?” Zander blanched, our gazes meeting. For one minute, I could see we both were thinking of the moments we spent together in the holding pen before I was forced out into the Games. The support he gave me, the terror I felt, both of us thinking I might never come out again.
“Istvan has turned it into a labor factory for making fae bullets and sewing uniforms. All preparing to take over Hungary. But he won’t stop there.
He will take control of the entire Eastern Bloc, and if he figures out how to use my blood or gets his hands on the nectar, he’ll go after the Unified Nations. ”
“And let me guess, he has your blood.” Eliza sighed, sitting back on the sofa again.
“Yes.” I nodded. “We set him back a little when I blew it up, and we escaped the hell hole, but I guarantee he still has some of it.”
“Blew it up?” Tad pipped up. “What do you mean?”
I hesitated.
Warwick curved his brow at me. “You gonna tell him, Kovacs?”
“I got very upset, and I don’t know—sometimes power comes out of me. It destroyed the entire lab.” And killed dozens of men who were in the tanks.
“Was that the first time?” Tad eyed me cautiously.
“No.” I stared down at the borrowed boots on my feet, which were two sizes too big. “I also slaughtered dozens of wild animals with my magic when we were put in the pit to fight them.”
Tad’s eyebrows went up.
“It’s why we need to get them out of Věrh?za now.” I shifted the topic back, not wanting to get into the details. “And since you spelled it. I need your help to undo the spell.”
Tad studied me for a long time, the crackle of the fire snapping in the background, along with the hums of Simon’s soft snoring.
“You think it would be so easy?” Tad tried to adjust his back.
“No.” My arms went out. “But we have to try. I won’t let them die in there like that. Can you do it? Can you unspell the prison?”
Tad sighed, his mouth pinching together.
“I can only do it from the inside. I would have to be taken as prisoner and get in to do it.”
“What?” Eliza sat fully up. “No.”
“There is no way I can unspell some of those enchantments without being right there. I purposely made them that way, so no one could even bend or twist them.”
“That would have been good information to know earlier,” I muttered to myself, thinking how cocky I was, imagining I could pull down Tad’s enchantments.
“There is no way you are going in.” Eliza stood up, her hands on her hips. “Absolutely not!”
“El . . .” Zander reached for her, his hand touching her back, his figure moving close behind hers.
“He can barely get out of bed. I will not let him go back in there, especially under Istvan. He will kill him!”
“Hey, hey.” Zander’s voice was low and soothing. “It’s okay.”
She turned to him, taking a deep breath, not noticing Warwick was catching every single nuance of their interaction. His gaze burned into them, a nerve in his cheek twitching, his jaw locking. He was about a second away from lurching up and tearing Zander’s hand off his sister.
“Look.” I tried to distract him. “I wish we could keep Tad far from there too, but thousands of lives are counting on us. Do you want Ash or Killian to die in there? Kitty? Sloane? Almost the entire Sarkis army?” I flinched at the last part, fighting to keep back the haunting memory at bay.
Sarkis was leaderless now.
“Of course not.” Eliza folded her arms.
“Brexley?” Zander ambled closer to me, concern etching his face. “What aren’t you telling us?”
“Andr—” I cleared my throat. “Andris.” My nostrils burned with tears. “He and Ling are both dead.”
“What?” Zander jerked back as if he had been shoved. “Andris is dead?”
All I could do was bow my head.
“Istvan killed him?”
“Yes,” Warwick growled.
“No,” I replied at the same time.
“Istvan is the reason Andris is dead,” Warwick stated, his gaze drilling into me. “Ling, Zuz, and Maddox too.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I am.”
“No, you aren’t. Do not put that on yourself,” Warwick’s shade hissed next to me, but my focus stayed locked on the man. I wouldn’t hide from the truth.
“Istvan pitted Andris and me together in the Games.”
“Oh, gods,” Zander uttered. He knew what that meant better than anyone. Only one walked out.
Sorrow started to worm back up, wrapping around my esophagus.
“The blame is on Istvan,” Warwick spoke. “He had Andris thrown into a firepit, burning him alive.” Eliza gasped, putting her hand over her mouth. “She was only putting him out of his misery.”
“Brex . . .” Eliza twisted to me. “I’m so sorry.”
I didn’t want to think about it. I didn’t want to discuss it.
“I will do everything I can to get the rest of his people out. Everyone in that hell.” I lifted my chin, clamping tightly down on my emotions.
“We can’t do it alone.” Tad slumped deeper into the chair, appearing exhausted. “The prison is too much for just us to take on. And it will take me some time to break all the spells. What we need is a distraction.”
“Now that I can do,” Warwick smirked, his hand absently running over his nephew’s head, the boy sleeping soundly through all this.
“We need more than bombs. They are a good diversion, but not enough. Bombs won’t hurt the prison since they made sure to build it deep.
” I tracked back and forth over the rug.
“What we need is an attack on the prison. For all the HDF to be so focused outside the walls, then they won’t realize the prisoners are breaking out from within. ”
“And where do you plan to get these people to attack?” Warwick lifted his arms. “We’re not swimming in numbers here, Kovacs.”
“But my uncle is.” I faced the group, the fire flaming behind me.
“The leader of Povstat should probably be aware of what his prime minister and fae mistress are doing.” The plan formed in my head.
“He has a lot to lose too. His people are also in the prison. If Istvan wins, the entire Eastern Bloc goes down. Prague has just as much stake in this as we do.”
Everyone let it soak in, a sober mood descending on the room. Tad barely staying awake.
“So, we head to Prague tomorrow after dark.” Warwick nodded, rising from the sofa, picking up Simon with him. “We can plan in the morning, but I think right now, all of us could use some sleep.”
Eliza moved to take her boy, but Warwick shook his head. “I got him.”
She smiled, motioning for Warwick to follow her down the hall.
“I can’t believe Andris is dead. And Ling.
” Zander stepped to me when they left, wrapping me up in a hug.
“I am so sorry for your loss. Andris was a true hero.” He squeezed me, patting my back.
“Get some rest. You can take Killian’s room at the end of the hall.
Warwick can sleep on the porch like a good doggie. ”
I batted his arm with a bemused chuckle. “Better be careful. I think he noticed.”
“Noticed?” Zander stepped back.
“Please, I see the way you look at Eliza. And so does he.”
“We’re just friends.” He tried to deny it, but his cheeks colored.
“Sure,” I scoffed. “He’s gonna kill you anyway, so you might as well go out being more than friends.”
Zander made a noise in his throat as if I were being silly, moving over to Tad.
“Come on, let’s get you to bed.” Zander helped Tad up to his feet. The old man shuffled past me and stopped, peering back at me.
“You are a mystery to me, my girl. What you are. What you are capable of.” Tad’s eyes narrowed, as if he were trying to see into me. “Which at one time I would have found exciting. There is not much I don’t know. However . . .”
“However, what?”
“I’m beginning to fear you.”