Chapter 24 #3
“That wind . . . the lightning. That fire you caused . . .” Her head wagged. “You shouldn’t be able to do that. Not like that. Why could I feel it? Like it was mine?” She shook her head. “So I will ask again. Who the fuck are you?”
Warwick’s shoulders twitched, a noise coming up his throat. “Let me get this straight. You’re here to kill her and you expect her to answer you? I don’t think so.”
Eli countered Warwick, stepping slightly in front of the girl, a warning coiling in his throat. “If she wanted you dead, you already would be.”
Warwick scoffed in humor, though everything in him was strained, ready to act.
“I’d like to see you try, dweller. I think you’d find it wouldn’t be our bodies left behind in pieces.
” Warwick was bigger than Eli, but if he was in his dweller form, Warwick might not be able to fight him.
And without knowing who she was, I still could feel her magic, the power bristling at the seams.
What freaked me out was it felt familiar. Like something I already knew.
As if the same magic was in us both.
A gust of air stepped me back, my mind going to a conversation with Tad I had so long ago. “Every person has a special signature of magic, and every family has one too. Aneira’s magic is part of you; her family line is in you.”
I remembered he said Aneira’s sister, Aisling, had the power of fire.
Her daughter would carry the same magic, the niece of the old Seelie queen.
The one I had seen when the fae book took me back to the moment Aneira died.
It showed me that for a reason. The same girl before me now stood next to Queen Kennedy as Aneira’s head had been cut off.
When I had been just outside being born.
With Aneira’s death, the last part of the wall between worlds fell.
“Megbasz,” I whispered. “You’re Aneira’s niece, Ember.”
Her mouth opened, shock fleeting over her features before it dissolved2, hidden under a neutral mask.
“Yes? Why?” Her grip tightened on the sword at her belt.
How did you even start to explain our connection?
But standing in her presence, it felt like I met a half-sister I never knew I had.
A family member you knew without knowing.
A lot of our magic was alike, coming from the same family line.
Though hers was genuine and mine was unnatural, siphoned from a queen who didn’t want to let go and a mother who would do anything for me to live.
“You’re a fucking Dae.” Warwick inhaled, his shoulders rolling back. “King Lars’s daughter.”
Her lids narrowed. “You have a problem with that?”
“What’s a Dae?” I glanced between them. The name sounded slightly familiar, but it wasn’t like I was brought up knowing every single kind of fae out there, only the main ones.
“Offspring of a high demon and pure fairy,” Warwick replied, cautiously watching her. “They were highly illegal in the Otherworld because of the blend of powers. Most would go insane because the mix of magic was too much to handle.”
“Oh, she’s insane, but not because of the magic.” Eli grinned down at her, making her shake her head. “The Dark Dweller in her keeps her somewhat rational.”
“Let me guess, you’re talking about your dick and not the fact I actually am a dark dweller too.” Ember nudged Eli.
“Wait. You are also a Dark Dweller?” Warwick’s head wagged. “How is that possible?”
“She’s a super freak.” Eli lifted his brow, hinting at more.
“I kinda have one of those too,” Warwick’s low voice said near my ear.
“The Seelie queen, my aunt, had a problem with anything more powerful than her. Druids. Dae. She had them annihilated. I’m probably the only one left.”
My mouth opened to tell her I was pretty sure I had seen another, the girl in Carnal Row, when a buzzing sound caught my ear.
“My lady! My lady!” A small voice cut through, turning me to something flying toward us.
Squinting, I saw what looked like a blonde pixie, but instead of wings, it had a motorized contraption letting it fly.
He was dressed in an old pilot suit with a cap.
Another pixie zoomed in behind him with dark hair, wearing jeans and a Woody Woodpecker shirt.
“Uh, girlie . . . it’s time to go. That ugly cracker-hole is here.”
“Seriously? Crap on ashbark, that guy is getting on my last nerve.” Ember tightened her ponytail. “Been on our ass since we left Budapest.”
“I’m the only one who gets to ride your ass, Brycin.” Eli smirked, causing her to smile and blush, their shared look one of complete love, respect, and adoration.
“Budapest?” Warwick stiffened.
“Who?” Though I had this weird feeling I already knew.
“He was once known as Hazem . . . but I think he goes by Kalaraja now,” Ember replied.
What I feared.
“Fuck.” Warwick ran his hand over his head. We both knew he was using the bounty hunters to lead him right to us.
And they did.
A bullet zipped between us, splintering the wood only centimeters from my face.
“The whole killing us thing,” I glared at the pair, already pivoting on my heel. “It’s gonna have to wait.”