Chapter 13 #4
'Stop!' I hear Bryn say as she runs into the room, but she’s caught as well. Her feet stick to the stone, and she struggles.
Fiana rolls her eyes hard.
'How did I know that this was all about the Kismet?' she says.
Morgan comes barreling in after her a moment later, and she stops him where he is too. Whatever she is doing to Locke, she begins to do to us as well. I can't draw breath. My dagger clatters to the floor as my hands claw at my throat, but there's nothing there to pull away.
Bryn’s eyes dart between all three of us, widening in fear.
‘Wait! Don’t kill them. Please! We can…make a deal.’
No!
I struggle, my eyes finding hers as I shake my head vigorously.
‘A deal?’ Fiana asks, and I find that my throat unlocks just enough to wheeze in a breath.
‘Yes,’ Bryn says clearly.
Fiana steps closer to her. ‘What do you propose, Kismet?’
The fae queen is playing with her. This is just another diversion for her twisted mind.
Bryn opens her mouth to speak, but then something begins to happen to the fae queen. The color drains from Fiana's face and she grabs her stomach, bending over with a groan, falling to her knees.
My eyes fly to Bryn’s. She’s taking Fiana’s magick!
'What's happening to me?' the fae queen wails.
She looks up at Bryn and lets out a scream of anger.
‘No, Kismet! I’m more powerful than you as well!’
She hits the floor hard with her hand, a conjure bursting from her so powerfully, that I would have fallen over if my feet weren’t stuck.
Bryn’s eyes narrow, not moving from Fiana, focusing on taking her magick, trying harder. She steps forward, now able to move, but when I try, I still can’t.
Fiana looks surprised and a bit afraid now. She puts out her hand, and the dagger that I had dropped slides across the floor. She grabs it, gets to her feet, and puts it to Bryn’s throat as she moves behind her quicker than I’ve ever seen anyone move.
But as she stands at Bryn’s back, the fae queen looks tired now. Whatever she did to stop Bryn has taken its toll. She may have nothing left in her.
We need to take care of her now!
I try with renewed vigor to move, but even my feet inside my boots are stuck. I see the others trying to do the same.
'Well, this has been quite the diversion today,' she titters, ‘but it’s time for me to go.’
‘Kismet,’ she digs the blade into Bryn’s neck enough that our female lets out a grunt of pain. ‘You will take me to the Black Lake. Now. If you do, perhaps I’ll spare your friends. There’s a deal for you.'
She glances at Locke. 'Last chance, Locke. Join me. Come with me to the Black Lake. Become a god. Have everything you desire, and more. We could be great together, achieve what no others ever have.'
Locke spits in her direction. ‘Never! I have everything I desire. Or at least I will soon.'
His fingers move at his side as if to conjure, and she tries to block it with whatever power she has left in her, but, instead, it’s a knife in his other hand that he throws at her.
Taking her by surprise, it buries itself in her shoulder before she can stop it with magick and she lets out a scream. Bryn, sees her chance and bares down, grabbing Fiana’s arm with both hands and forcing the dagger at her throat away from her before she twists free.
Fiana staggers to the side and slowly pulls the knife Locke threw out of her shoulder. She throws it and the other one down angrily.
‘You’ll regret this!' she snarls. ‘You and the Underhill! If I can't have the Kismet, no one can.'
Bryn’s body goes rigid, her eyes bulging. She falls to her knees and then heavily to the floor, her mouth open in a silent scream. Her nose drips blood onto the floor and her body begins to seize.
Fiana smiles, but then winces, doubling over.
'She doesn't have long,’ the fae queen rasps out. ‘You could save her, Locke, or you could come after me.'
She gives him a triumphant look. 'But you can't do both.'
She lurches backward, and I realize she's opened the Breach behind her. She disappears into it. Morgan, suddenly free, runs for it, but it closes before he can get through.
'Fuck, Locke,' he snarls, fumbling for the amulet in his pocket. ‘We need to?—’
But Locke isn’t focused on Morgan or going after Fiana. He’s already at Bryn's side. I’m finally able to take a step and I stumble to them.
Morgan blanches when he realizes that Bryn is unmoving on the floor. ‘Bryn?’
Locke’s eyes are closed, his hands moving over her as he whispers words.
Seconds pass, and Bryn's body is still convulsing, still bleeding. We both kneel next to them.
'Is there anything I can do?' I whisper, dread and despair winding through me like iron chains.
Locke shakes his head, continuing to murmur his incantations quietly.
Dane bursts through the doorway and sees us around our human. 'What's happening?'
‘Help me,’ Locke snarls, taking his eyes from Bryn for just a moment.
Dane wastes no time, he falls to his knees in front of Locke with Bryn between them on her back, and begins to murmur the same words.
Bryn is still, and we all look on in horror.
Morgan strokes her hair, talking to her softly.
‘Keep going,’ Locke grinds out. ‘Don’t stop!’
Dane keeps up his incantation, and moments pass that feel like years.
But then Bryn’s eyes flutter, and she gasps.
‘Bryn!’ I take her hand. ‘It’s all right. You’re all right.’
The mages stop conjuring and Dane leans back, breathing heavily as Locke scoops Bryn into his arms.
She gives him a small smile as her eyes focus on him.
‘Where is Fiana?' she whispers, her hand fluttering up to caress his cheek.
‘Gone. Escaped.’
She winces. ‘You saved me instead?’
'Of course I did!’ He hugs her to him.
I catch Morgan’s eye and breathe out a long sigh of relief.
I hear a boot against stone and look up to see Lia in the doorway.
‘Dane?’
She looks hurt.
I’m on my feet as Dane turns and she practically falls into his arms.
There’s blood on her tunic.
‘Lia?’
‘One of the humans,’ she whispered. ‘In a thrall. He got me twice.’
I already have a vial of healing potion out and I un-stopper it quickly, putting it to Lia’s lips.
She gulps it down quickly, her eyes on me worried, and I know why.
‘We need to get her and Bryn to Halsford!’ I say. ‘Quickly. Carry her.’
Dane stares at me, his lips thin even as he picks Lia up carefully. ‘What aren’t you saying?’
‘I’m with child, Dane,’ Lia breathes. ‘I’m sorry. I was going to tell you. But I wanted…’
‘Gods,’ Dane mutters. ‘You bloody foolish female!’
She winces. ‘I’m sorry.’
I turn to find Locke and Morgan ready, Bryn in Locke’s arms.
Morgan takes the amulet out of his pocket and the Breach opens almost immediately.
'But I was supposed to catch her,' Bryn says brokenly against Locke’s chest. 'They won't let me stay.'
Locke’s face is grim as we leave the fae queen’s court.