Chapter 50
Chapter Fifty
Aislan shook his head. “We have no idea. Hopefully, this means he is still in a position to rescue us, or I’m afraid—”
Sierra cut him off. “Don’t say it. We will find a way to escape with or without Aodhan.”
Braan groaned from across the room. “Did you, or did you not hear them say these are Fae cuffs? That means they are immune to all types of magic, and our increased strength is useless against them.”
Sierra was quiet for a moment, but no matter what Braan said, she refused to believe she had come this far—to have basically sacrificed her entire human life—just to rot in a Fae prison. “If you have that attitude, you will never find a way out. Where there is a will, there is a way.”
The words were out before Sierra even realized it, and the fact that the last part was something her mother had always said when she had been struggling in school made her heart clench. She pushed the feeling aside. She could mourn the past and the decisions she had made later.
“Let’s start by taking a catalog of what we have,” Sierra suggested.
“You mean absolutely nothing?” Aislan snapped back.
Sierra’s eyes searched his beaten face before drifting to Kaye, who hadn’t said anything else. “That’s not true at all,” Sierra insisted. “First of all, we have each other, so that is something. I can almost guarantee they won’t consider how powerful a team can be when everyone works together.
“Second,” she continued, pausing as a wave of pain rolled through her midsection. The pain overall was lessening, and she hoped that meant she was healing. “Aodhan said most Fae have gifts. Aislan, you can sense emotions, right?”
“Yes, but I don’t see how that is going to help.”
“Just listen,” Sierra said, she was getting a little annoyed by Braan and Aislan’s negative attitudes. “Braan, what is your magic?”
Braan didn’t even lift his head. “I’m a dream catcher.”
Sierra’s breath caught. “A what?”
“Dream catcher,” he said again. “I can see other people’s dreams. I can also send dreams or stop certain dreams from happening.
Back when the magic was stronger, those with my gift could also make changes to dreams as they were happening.
My father could, but I have never mastered that aspect of the magic. ”
Sierra breathed out. “Do you think you could send Aodhan a message through a dream?”
“I don’t think so. I need to be fairly close in distance to use my talent. Though the distance does increase when I am trying to affect the dreams of someone I know well.”
The wheels in Sierra’s mind were turning at full speed. They obviously hadn’t noticed yet that she was also Fae, or if they had, they hadn’t said anything. But either way, they had more variables at hand than they thought.
“Okay, could you affect the dreams of Conlan, maybe?”
“Possibly,” he answered. “I’ve been sending dreams to Slaine—that’s how we’ve been communicating with her.”
“Hmm…” Sierra thought out loud.
She didn’t know if it was the confidence in her previous statements, but Braan finally looked up, his eyes immediately settling on her ears.
“You…changed…”
At his words, Aislan and Kaye lifted their heads, and Sierra grimaced at the sight of Kaye.
Being human, it was clear she was not able to sufficiently heal between beatings, and she looked worse off than both Braan and Aislan.
She didn’t say anything before lowering her head, probably because she couldn’t see Sierra anyway.
“So, what is your magic?” Braan asked.
Sierra wasn’t really sure how to explain what had been happening, but she figured if anyone could put a name to what she had been doing, it was Braan. “I’m not sure,” she started, “But when I was making my way here, I was able to…communicate with the elipags in the forest.”
“So, you can communicate with animals,” Braan surmised.
“Something like that.”
Now Braan was the one hmming as he, too, realized their situation may not be as bleak as they originally thought.
“Also,” Sierra added, “When I was captured, I was at Fia’s house, and she wasn’t there. I assume that means she saw what was going to happen and escaped. So, we aren’t the only ones that know we are here.”
Silence settled over as the four of them began to consider the possibilities. Aislan spoke up first. “I have an idea.” Braan turned to look at him. “There’s bound to be an animal, such as a rat, around. Perhaps Sierra could communicate with it and get it to bring the keys.”
“That could work,” Braan commented before Sierra could even get a word in. “But I don’t really like the idea of leaving our future in the hands of a rodent.”
“I agree,” Aislan continued, “Which is why, in the meantime, you’ll be sending dreams to whoever you can reach.
If you can reach the guards, you could send them good dreams to distract them and increase our chances of any key they have on hand being stolen.
You could also send dreams to Slaine; maybe she could help on the other end somehow. ”
Sierra had to admit, Aislan was definitely on to something. “Could you at least try to send dreams to Aodhan and Fia? Maybe if they are nearby, you could send a dream of us here, so they know where we are.”
“I can try,” Braan replied. “I was never close to Fia, but I have met her a time or two, which could help if she isn’t close, but I also feel she likely already knows, so it might be better to concentrate my efforts on Aodhan.”
“At this point, I think anything we try is better than waiting for someone to realize we are here and make their own rescue plan,” Sierra said.
“Well, I’ve already been sending dreams to Slaine, so she knows at least, but I can send new dreams now showing you are here, as well as your magic. Maybe she will have some ideas we haven’t thought of.”
“I wish there was something I could do to help,” Kaye said at last, and Sierra immediately realized why she hadn’t been talking much before. Her voice was gravelly, and it sounded like each word pained her, which was probably true.
“There’s one more thing you should know, Sierra.” Aislan’s voice was pained.
Sierra’s heart dropped to her stomach. “What is it?”
“Conlan has been taking other humans since you escaped.”
Sierra’s throat constricted in shame. This was all her fault.
Aislan, sensing her emotions, shook his head. “You aren’t to blame. It’s his own delusions that are causing him to do this.”
Sierra knew that, deep down, but it didn’t quell her despair. “Is he taking them from the human world?”
Aislan pressed his lips together.
“We think so,” Braan said sadly from across the room. “If he was taking the humans who are servants here in Sidhe, another council member would say something and make him stop.”
“Are…are they okay?” Sierra had to force the words out.
It was Braan’s turn to swallow a lump in his throat, his eyes drifting to his injured wife. “I don’t…Slaine has shown me that she will see them once, but then not again. It’s a new human everyday…” He trailed off, answering Sierra’s question.
Silence and tension filled the cell as they all realized how gruesome this situation was becoming.
Sierra pushed the thought aside, knowing that dwelling on it wouldn’t change what was happening. “Are you all…tortured here?” Sierra asked. Looking around the room, a second idea formulated in her mind.
“Unfortunately,” Aislan replied. “We had already thought about options for escaping when we were removed from the room, though it seems like Conlan had considered that too by ensuring that we are never allowed to leave.”
Sierra mentally reviewed her last experience being imprisoned by Conlan, figuring her new idea was likely not to work, but she knew Kaye would feel better about the situation if she had a job like the rest of them.
“In my experience, during my last imprisonment, it didn’t seem like Conlan, or the guards, had much idea of what humans really needed to survive. ”
Aislan raised his eyebrows.
“I, uh…” Sierra hesitated. Although she was learning to be okay with her disease, she was so used to not speaking about it that it was a little hard to get the words out.
“When I came here, I had a disfiguring skin condition. Conlan thought that was the reason the prophecy wasn’t being fulfilled, and he sent me to Slaine for her to heal it.
” She took a deep breath. “But Slaine, like myself, knew it wasn’t an illness, but a deeply rooted internal disease that was incurable.
Regardless, they brought me to Slaine daily for healing. So here’s my idea…”
She looked over at Kaye, who once again had her head down. “Kaye, you should play dead—well, as close to dead as possible. Of course, we can’t stop your heart, but if you stop responding and breathe as little as possible, I think there is a chance they will take you to Slaine for healing.”
Braan was now staring at Sierra intently. “And if they don’t care and leave her here to die?”
Sierra tried to shrug instinctively but found she couldn’t with her arms restrained as they were.
“That’s a risk we have to take. There may also be a chance they dump her in the forest.” Sierra grimaced at the thought of Kaye being dumped in her current state.
“That wouldn’t be ideal, obviously, but maybe Fia would see it, or Aodhan would find her.
I would also try to pass information through my animal communicating abilities.
But either way, it is a risk Kaye would have to be willing to take. ”
Before Braan could argue more, Kaye opened her mouth.
“I’ll do it.” Her eyes shifted to her husband’s shocked face.
“I know that it’s risky, but anything is better than sitting here and wondering how much more torture I can take before it really is the end.
At least in the forest, I’ll have a chance, however slim. ”
Braan’s lips pursed together, he clearly didn’t want to put his wife in danger, but he also seemed to realize that they didn’t have many options, and being here was just as dangerous as being dumped in the forest injured.
“Alright, it’s a plan,” he said at last.