Chapter 9
ISAAC
Abeam of light hit me in the face.
Within seconds, I found myself back in Blue Orchard, the drop in temperature like whiplash.
“Welcome back, Sunshine One.”
“Whoa…” I moaned, taking an awkward step back.
The hag cackled, slowly moving around me in a circle. “Isn’t this temperature such a shock to the body?”
That wasn’t what shocked me.
The fae woman was no longer invisible, a faded image of her body flickering before me like a worn-out piece of film.
From what I could make out, she wore gray, tattered robes, and her hair fell to her shoulders in matted white curls.
A set of violet eyes fixed on me—the most vibrant feature on her.
They were the kind of eyes to peel back layers you didn’t want peeling.
But did she know I could see her?
“I have touched you,” she said, her worn brown boots crunching in the snow, loose shoelaces trailing behind her.
“We are connected, Sunshine One.” Her grin exposed a set of rotting teeth.
“I have you, I have Sweetvoice. How lucky for me to have two beautiful men visit my humble home whenever I wish.” She threw her head back, releasing another cackle.
Riley appeared beside me.
“Make that three beautiful men,” she added.
I let out a squeak. “What…what happened?”
“Got a shard to the left thigh,” he answered, eyes widening.
He looked at me like he was searching for an answer.
I offered him a small nod, hoping we were on the same page.
He nodded back, straightening his spine.
Although I wasn’t a hundred percent certain, I took his reaction to mean he saw her and understood I did too.
He played it cool. “So, this is the place she keeps dragging my boyfriend to?”
“And now both of you,” the fae answered, getting back to walking in a circle.
Riley took it in, subtly keeping his eyes off her. I liked his work, and I did the same while also keeping tabs on the vile piece of trash. In full spy mode, staying vigilant to any attacks.
I tried my powers, getting nothing but sputters as expected. And my bangle light was red, inactive.
The fae woman moaned as she walked, a gray tongue running across her lips. “The power of The Sun is warm, the power of The Moon is cool. What will The Star feel like? A tingle to match the twinkle?” She cackled, wiping at her hooked nose.
Was that a wart on its tip?
“When I taste all three, how will I feel?” she added.
I moved closer to Riley, plotting the next move. He shivered beside me, eyeing up the orchard.
“What are you thinking?” I whispered.
“I don’t know.”
The woman didn’t react to us talking, continuing to trundle through the snow. Waiting to strike? Taking the moment in? Contemplating her wart?
Riley released a shaky breath. “It’s so damn cold.”
The fae woman came running at me, cracking me in the side of the head with a brutal fist. Pow! Totally out of nowhere.
I went down, slamming into the snow face-first.
“Isaac!” Riley yelled.
Whoa. Was my jaw broken? It felt like something went snap in my face.
I rolled onto my back, spotting Riley trying to use his power. Nothing happened, and she delivered a kick to his stomach. He folded in half, falling to the ground.
Pushing through the pain, I scrambled over to him while the woman cackled.
For not really being here, it sure came with a lot of fucking agony.
“This place follows my rules,” the hag hissed. “I will not stand for gossiping.”
“I only said it was cold!” Riley retorted.
He sat up as I grabbed his hand. “You good?”
Energy vibrated in our joined hands. Our eyes met, my left eyebrow shooting up.
“What the fuck was that?” I muttered.
My brother used me to get back on his feet. “Something new?”
“What are you mumbling about now?” the hag questioned. I felt her voice lick at the back of my neck like a freezing breeze.
The vibration continued to hum between us, spreading down my arms, burrowing into my flesh.
Riley tightened his grip, my mind filling with images of the sun and the moon together in the sky. Like the beginnings of an eclipse, but without the blocking of the sun. More like an enhancement, a dance of the two, becoming one big circle of power.
Yes, power. A new power, an evolved power. Coming to life to meet the demands of our environment just as the shade-killing marks appeared to help us kill the fuckers.
The images passed fresh knowledge into me. Telling me the joining of The Sun and The Moon like this now gave us the power to protect ourselves. A special bubble of our own, warding against our enemies.
For a limited time, of course. Nothing came for free.
The power wove into the fabric of my being, becoming one with me. To use it, join hands with The Moon, then simply call to it together with the words Celestial Ward. No clapping required.
As long as we were joined, and the ward was properly charged between uses by resting, then we were good.
“Got that, little brother?” I thought at him, wondering if he’d hear me.
“Yeah,” he answered.
Hello, brand new telepathy—a.k.a. an extra boon with this power.
“Celestial Ward!” we cried at the same time.
Magical energy exploded from our bodies, blue tinged with silver-and-golden hues, wrapping itself around us in an egg-shaped bubble.
It glittered, flecks of sparkly magic falling around us like snow.
The lifespan of the ward connected to us, already beginning a slow countdown to collapse in our heads.
Thirty minutes and counting. Plenty of time to make something happen.
I loved how we got to break the apparent no-magic rule of being here.
Thank you, Hecate.
“What is this?” the fae woman demanded.
“Safety in numbers, bitch,” I retorted, squeezing my brother’s hand.
“No! No! No! You will not be slippery fishes. I won’t allow this. Come out and wait properly for me to taste you. My servant is on the wing. Soon I will have you.”
On the wing. Got it. She’d just given her game away. The crystal shades were taking parts of us, carrying them back here for her.
“Why can’t you taste us now?” Riley asked.
“You know too much.” She circled the bubble, clearly not stupid enough to attack it.
What a pity.
“We do,” I interjected, “so you might as well fill us in on the details now.”
She paused, staring right at me. “You see me, don’t you?”
I nodded. “Just a tad and it’s not pretty.”
The hag lifted a hand, running it back and forth across the surface of the bubble. “Fascinating. Yet it feels incomplete. Lacking starlight.” She grinned. “I am looking for him. Closing in.”
“You are?” Riley said. “Where is he?” He grunted. “Why did I even ask that?”
“He hides with shadows. Empty. Lost.”
A pang of sadness landed even thinking about it.
We’ll find you, Preston.
“Out of place,” the woman continued. “Who is he? Why is he drifting?”
Okay. Not weird at all. “Are you sensing all of this?” I asked. “Are you an empath?”
“You could say that,” she replied. “I feel, I see, I know. Not everything, of course. There are conditions on me because of the Winter Queen, but I am too great to be fully contained.” She grinned again, throwing her head back.
“But soon I will leave this place. Soon I will walk the lands beyond my prison, including yours. Soon you will cower, soon you will see me for who I truly am.” She stepped back, lifting her arms. “I will taste of you and I will destroy you.”
So much for not wanting to hurt us. By Hecate, these villain types were always full of shit.
“The tides are turning. I can feel it. I can feel the becoming, I smell the flood of death and change. But where is she hiding, the one who piques my interest the most? She speaks to me in my dreams. She whispers of her greatness. Her voice slipped in, carried by the wind. Too late. Too late to act.”
A wave of goosebumps passed over my body. Another potential threat? She? I asked who the hag was talking about, only to be met with her menacing glare.
She licked her lips again. “Cower in your bubble. Fight on, be brave, try to stop the coming storm. You will not stop me. You will not stop the march. For greatness is rising, and you will fall from your skies like delicate flakes of nothing.”
My brain throbbed. “I guess you won’t be giving us any more than that, eh?”
She turned her back on us and walked toward the cottage. “No. I will wait to taste you and—” A scream tore from her body. She grabbed at her hair, thrashing about angrily. “No! Not again! Not again!”
“Someone’s not happy,” I drawled.
Another scream, this one so vicious I covered one ear with my free hand, holding tighter to Riley. If I let go, this bubble would burst.
The fae woman shuffled her body around to face us. “Slippery fish only get so far. Slippery fish will be mine.”
Her jaw dislocated, her hair withering into dust.
What the fuck?
Her eyes burst, the skin melting off her face. The rest of her body collapsed in on itself until she was nothing but a pile of bones, her liquid flesh oozing across the snow.
I looked to Riley. “I guess she won’t be tasting us tonight.”
We returned to the mansion driveway, hands no longer joined, Aaron’s voice coming at us with constant pleas for us to wake up.
“You’re back!” Aaron cried, bending over to catch his breath.
“What—”
He straightened, pointing over to the fence. “It’s Ollie. He’s badly hurt. An ambulance is coming but—”
Without a second thought or listening to another word, I tore across the grass, vaulting over the fence and landed on a small patch of grass beside Ollie.
He was unconscious, his mum holding his hand, Jake’s hands over a wound to the stanch the bleeding. A deathly pale sheen infected his lovely face, the rise and fall of his chest indicating his lungs were doing the bare minimum.
Absolutely not. He wasn’t dying today.
I called to my Healing Light, golden sunlight sparkling in my hands. I pressed them to his body, feeling his lifeforce like a gentle caress on my palms. He was still here, tethered to life. He hadn’t crossed the line yet, so I didn’t need Riley’s help like when I’d saved Erin.
No dying for Ollie today, his body bathed in golden light, putting him back together again.
Whenever I healed, my body flushed with warmth like I was spending a lazy day laid out on a sun lounger. Pleasant but tiring. It drained my energy levels quickly.
When Ollie gasped, his body arching as he drew in a sharp breath, those lovely hazel eyes open again, I took a tumble onto my backside.
Phew. Exhausting work.
I wasn’t sure if there was a spell in the celestial room to help with the fatigue. There was for Riley’s Moon Illusion power, which weakened after each use. It required a restoring ritual in the celestial room to recharge it.
Was there a similar thing waiting for me behind that locked door?
“Ollie?” Erin whispered, grabbing his shoulders. “Son?”
“I… I…” His eyes met mine. “I…”
I yawned and fell backward, body going limp.
“Isaac?” Riley said.
With another yawn, I curled into a ball. “Just need to…just need to…just need to…sleep.”
I passed out.