Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
MERI
A disguised Madoc stands in front of the cottage, waiting for Hyne to join him. They’ll take the shadows back to the port and enter the portal there in case Brixton has spies.
“You look good with blue hair,” I tell him, smoothing it behind his ears as I place the cap on. “There.” Tilting my head, I consider the full picture. “Definitely more approachable.” My fingertips tingle from touching him, and I press them into my thigh.
Madoc stares down at me with an unreadable expression on his face.
It’s completely unnerving. “Try to keep your eyes down or at least away from Brixton. You’ll ruin the whole effect with that fierce predator look on your face.”
A wolfish gleam enters his eyes, and he leans in close to whisper, “Guess I’ll have to find some prey.”
Him breathing hard against the back of my neck, stalking me in the dark, makes me want to run… so he can catch me. What is wrong with me? Maybe all this time we’re spending together is addling my brain.
Swallowing hard at the slew of images, I take a step back. “Be careful. Try not to kill anyone until it’s time.”
His look hardens. “Keep your damn shield up.”
Instead of answering, I return his black look and stroll over to Cormal and Hyne, who are stepping out of the cottage.
“Have you heard from your men?” Cormal asks Hyne.
“They were able to lead the Phoenix a fair distance inland to a lake,” he replies. “They’ve taken to the underwater caves as the Phoenix search for them.”
Cormal hands them both a tracker and an earpiece. “Good. That should give us time. Here. Hide the tracker. Wait to put the earpiece in until you’re sure Brixton won’t see it. Follow the plan.”
When they’re gone, Cormal erases every trace of our presence from the one-room cottage. Dressed in dark clothing, thick jackets, and boots, we head down to the shore and take a seat in the boat, facing each other. Small and wooden, the little boat rocks back and forth, bobbing on the rough waves. Nervously, I grip the sides, praying it doesn’t tip over.
Once we’re sitting, Cormal uses magic to cloak us from anyone’s sight. Wind slices through the water around us, stirring the waves higher, but we sit and wait. My foot taps restlessly against the bottom of the boat.
Drawn to Cormal, I stare at the dark man across from me, still amazed we’re together. Cormal’s eyes are glued to the trackers moving on his phone. Water splashes on his face, but his concentration never wavers.
For years, all I saw was his ruthless, selfish side. It’s still there. He hasn’t turned into a saint but watching him do everything to save Rivan… it means more to me than if he had told me he loved me.
I lift my gaze from him and find the island across the sea.
We’re coming, Rivan.
Hurry.
I gasp at hearing the reply in my head, and Cormal looks at me sharply.
In a stammer, I explain. “I don’t know if it was Rivan’s voice or another’s, but we need to hurry.”
He looks down at the phone. “They’re on the island.” Waves crash against the shore behind us. For several minutes, he stares at the phone. Dark brows pull together. He holds the phone up higher. “Either the technology isn’t working or something is wrong. The trackers haven’t moved away from the portal.”
Heart racing, I can barely breathe.
Cormal curses.
The cry of a bird startles me, and I look up to see it fly past.
“They’re moving… into the bailey,” Cormal says with a frown still on his face. “They’ve stopped again. Their progress is too slow. My gut says they’re in trouble.” He looks up at the cliffs fading above us as day turns to night. “Can you get back to the cliffs? I want to check it out, and it will be easier if I’m alone.”
Mulishly, I shake my head. “No, we’re going together.” Lifting my arms, I channel the wind into a single stream and send the boat farther into the sea. Then I lift up a hand behind me and motion to the water. A wave forms, pushing the boat forward as I use the wind to keep us straight.
“Damn it, Meri!” Cormal yells across the boat. “Who the hell is going to save us if we head straight into a trap?”
I think about it for a second. “Kavi. You told him what we were doing, right? He can grab Lux, Aamon, and whoever else he needs. Callyx. Vargas. Arden and her cadre. We have people to save us. Rivan has nobody.”
Cormal thought about bringing the others to save Rivan, but the balance between the Fae and The Underworld is delicate. The only reason Vargas and Callyx were there when I gave up the crown was because a Fae had kidnapped Solandis.
He runs a hand down his face. “Drop me off at the opening. I’ll unravel the traps, then head inland. You’ll continue into the grotto by boat. If we split up, they may not catch us both.”
Fierce determination settles on his face, and the sight of it eases my fears. It’s his best look. The one that says his will is stronger than our enemies.
Unlike Hyne, it takes me closer to twenty minutes to get us across. From the water, large boulders block our view of the island, but that’s good because it means the remaining Phoenix likely can’t see us either, unless they’re in the air. I look up and see a perfectly blue sky. Maneuvering the boat close to the craggy shore, I hold it still.
Cormal smashes his lips against mine. “They’re not fucking around. Take no prisoners. Kill them first. Got it?” He jumps out of the boat and onto the rocks. “And as Madoc would say, keep your damn shield up.”
Great, now he’s got Cormal saying it. “Don’t have too much fun!”
Magic slips from his hands and hovers over the mouth of the cave. Mouthing words I can’t hear, his fingers dip in and out as he unravels the traps. Once he’s done, he signals to me, then disappears into the shadows. I say a little prayer to the keepers to keep him safe. Although he has an uncanny knack for coming out on top, luck only goes so far.
I maneuver the boat into the grotto’s entrance and spot a hook on a rope suspended above me. With a twirl of my finger, I pull it down and loop it around the slats in my seat. Once the boat is secure, I put my palm on a nearby boulder to steady myself.
My palm heats the second it touches the rock, and I barely refrain from hissing. Shoving aside the pain, I step out of the boat and onto the rocks. Heat sears my hip, and I bite the inside of my cheek to stop from crying out.
What the hell?
Voices echo across the cave. Loud curses bounce off the surrounding stone walls, Hyne’s booming voice easily recognizable. Cormal was right. They’re in trouble.
I carefully climb up to the top to peer farther into the grotto. Hyne’s yelling threats at a tall man in front of him and shaking his cuffed wrists. I’ve never met him, but Cormal described Brixton as a big man with a warrior’s build and flaming red hair. That has to be him.
I move up another inch and find Madoc. Held between two men, with a third behind him, his face is impassive, but his eyes are busy, darting around the cave, likely looking for something to use. His wrists are also bound in gold handcuffs.
The cuffs look remarkably similar to the ones we used at the palace to prevent Estrella from using magic during her interrogation. Would the same key work? Solandis said I still had access to the library but does that extend to other areas of the palace? I close my eyes and concentrate until I can see the interrogation room. Gold cuffs hang on the wall near the door with the key in the lock.
Opening my eyes a second later, I sway. I must have used more magic than I thought. A large hand reaches out and yanks me to my feet.
“A Phoenix can sense power, didn’t you know?” a smooth voice chides me.
I straighten and jerk my arm from his hold. “I did, actually, but thanks for the reminder. You must be Brixton.”
A line appears between his brows. “And you are?” He holds up a hand. “Wait, don’t tell me. The light Fae’s former queen, Meri, right? Wow. You certainly didn’t get the height, did you?” He throws his head back and laughs loudly. His men join in his mirth until the entire cave rings with their laughter.
Thanks to Theron and the information his brother, Oryn, gave us, I know Brixton’s working for Denir, or at least, with his support. I smile at him. “No, maybe I take after my father… King Denir. You know him, don’t you?”
His laughter stops, and he shakes his head. “Denir has no children.”
“Oh, but he does. And even now, he’s turning over every stone to find me.” My voice rings with truth. Granted, it’s not in the way I’ve implied, but sometimes the truth is nothing but simple words spoken out loud. They have no meaning until you give it to them.
Power ripples over me, and he flashes a thunderous scowl. “Dark Fae royalty. Light Fae royalty. How is that possible?”
“If I told you, he’d kill you,” I tell him. Also, true. Like Nyssa, the last thing Denir wants people to know is how I was created.
He shoves me toward the cave’s entrance and his other two prisoners. Stumbling on some rocks at the last minute, I fly forward, letting the momentum carry me into Madoc. My hands brush his for a brief second. One of the guards jerks me away and shoves me back toward Brixton.
Madoc’s elbow whips up and catches him in the throat. “Don’t you fucking touch her.”
The guard bends over, coughing, and Madoc whips the cuffs over his head and chokes him to death.
Brixton laughs. “He’s going to be pissed when he regenerates.”
Madoc snarls back at him. “He shouldn’t touch what isn’t his.”
Impulsively, I swipe my foot across the ashes, sending them into the water beside us, then use the wind to send the rest out of the mouth of the cave. “It might take him a while.”
“Bitch,” Brixton snarls, back handing me across the face. “We’ll make sure to scatter your ashes to the four corners. See if Denir can track you there.”
I spit out the blood in my mouth. “Weak. Leandra hit harder than you.”
Leandra’s name does what Denir’s didn’t, and a sliver of fear crosses Brixton’s face. “How do you know that old hag?”
I snort. “Say it louder. She’s got ears everywhere. The last person to call her a hag ended up in The Pit.”
Yep, that was me. It was literally the last word I threw at her before she sent me into the depths of hell. This is fun. Who knew the truth could be so freeing?
His lips clamp together as he contemplates me. He motions to one of Madoc’s guards. “Lock her up. Send Nya to Denir to ask about her.”
Saved from instant death, at least. My eyes meet Madoc’s, and he nods. When the guard steps away from him to grab me, Madoc slams into Hyne, knocking him into the sea.
Brixton chortles and grabs for Madoc only to rear back in astonishment, gold handcuffs clamped around his wrists.
Something tickles my side, and I turn to find the guard trying to stab through my shield. I open my hand, hoping the Killian blade will appear but nothing happens. The next time he thrusts it forward, I change it to a feather.
“Sorry, not ticklish.” I sneer, then add power to my fists. With a right cross and left hook, I hit him hard enough to knock him backward.
In response, he gives me a maniacal grin and rushes forward, tackling me to the ground, but instead of attacking me, he raises the knife and slices across his throat. Faery fire erupts across his body, and I hear Madoc yelling behind me. Unable to do anything, I hold my palms up and throw everything into my shield. A thin, silver stream appears between the two of us, then wraps itself around him. His mouth opens in a silent scream as he turns to ash.
Coughing from the dust, I scramble away from his remains and stand. Eyes glued to the ground, I plant my feet and wait for him to regenerate.
Grunts behind me has me shuffling to the side until I can see Madoc. The first guard, whose ashes I swept into the water, finally regenerated and made it back. Madoc is fighting fiercely, but every time he kills one, the other keeps him busy until his friend regenerates.
Brixton erupts into flames, killing himself, and the cuffs drop to the floor. Madoc shifts until his back is to the wall and continues fighting. Brixton’s ashes swirl in a tornado like wind and begin to reform.
Damn, that’s fast.
I swivel around to the one I somehow killed a moment ago, but he hasn’t regenerated. Puzzled, I step closer. There’s a silver sheen laying across the ashes. Is that preventing him from returning?
Desperate, I replay the scene in my head. All I did was raise my palms. I hold them up toward the guards fighting with Madoc, but nothing happens. I turn further and hold them out toward Brixton’s ashes, but they continue to swirl and reform.
I step toward one of the guards battling Madoc and tap him on the shoulder. He turns and throws his hand out, but I duck and punch him in the balls. His face scrunches up in pain, but it doesn’t slow him down. Fire balls don’t deter him either. A large fist connects with my head, and pain explodes across my temple. It recedes a second later.
Harnessing the wind, I wrap it around him and let it carry him out, but large fiery gold wings snap out, and he stops himself. No wonder the war went on for so long. Phoenix are damn hard to defeat.
Cormal emerges from the shadows at the mouth of the sea and binds him with magic, then hangs him from the hook I saw earlier.
Two massive blue serpents rise out of the sea, teeth snapping, and grab him. With a single jerk of their heads, his body tears in two, each of them swallowing their half before disappearing again beneath the surface.
Cormal puts his back to Madoc’s. Dividing the final two guards, they quickly eliminate them. This time, they’re able to cast magic against them regenerating. Separating, they both turn to face Brixton.
Fire and magic rip through the cave as the battle starts.
Suddenly, a massive plume of water shoots out of the sea like a geyser, and Hyne comes surging up with it in kraken form. Eyes the blackest of black stare down at all of us in one of the most terrifying sights I’ve ever seen. No wonder Fisk thought I’d be afraid to fight Hyne. If I had seen him in this form, I would have peed my pants and begged for mercy.
In a flash of light, Hyne’s human form emerges, and he throws the gold cuffs on the ground. “Bastard. Don’t kill him until I get a piece.” A spear of water forms in his hands.
Hurry.
It has to be Rivan’s voice. I rush toward the entrance, careful to step over the ashes from the guard I fought. When I do, I see the silver is spreading across the surface of the cave.
“Cormal!” I yell, pointing to it. “I don’t know what it is, but I wouldn’t step in it.”
Brixton roars in disbelief. “No! Somehow you’ve woken the island.” He scrambles backward. The serpents appear beside him, heads swaying like a snake eyeing a snack.
“Fuck!” In a flash of wings and fire, Brixton flies out of the cave, leaving the island and us behind.
Hyne curses. “Bastard escaped. Damn it. I was this fucking close to ending him for good.”
Cormal waves a hand in Hyne’s direction immediately clothing him. “Another time. We need to find Rivan and get out of here.” He eyes the small boat beyond the serpents. “Can you control them?”
Hyne scoffs. “Only the island controls the creatures around here. I’m thankful they respected me enough to leave me alone while I got out of the cuffs. Took me a while. Dropped the damn key.” He looks at Madoc. “Thanks, quick thinking.”
Madoc joins us. “I knew you wouldn’t drown. Better than letting Brixton kill you.”
Cormal steps over the silver stream of magic or whatever it is. “There’s a couple of ships berthed at the harbor. We’ll have to grab one of them. First, Rivan.”